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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76973-0.txt b/76973-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9cb39c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/76973-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9501 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76973 *** + + + + + + BLACKWOOD’S + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + NO. CCCCLIV. AUGUST, 1853. VOL. LXXIV. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN, 129 + SOUTH AMERICAN TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE, 140 + NAPOLEON AND SIR HUDSON LOWE, 159 + NEW READINGS IN SHAKESPEARE, 181 + THE INSURRECTION IN CHINA, 203 + LADY LEE’S WIDOWHOOD—PART VIII., 220 + THE MARQUIS DE LAROCHEJAQUELEIN—FRANCE IN 1853, 245 + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; + AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + BLACKWOOD’S + + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + NO. CCCCLIV. AUGUST, 1853. VOL. LXXIV. + + + + + THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.[1][2] + + +When a distinguished man sinks into his grave, from the midst of many +rivals in a common race, the strife of opinions in reference to him is +instantaneously allayed; personal feelings, if not quenched, are +repressed and hushed; and, like the heroism of the triumphant warrior, +when he is caught by the anxious eye emerging unscathed from the battle +and the smoke, his merits appear now unclouded and confessed. Such, we +believe, is the general feeling among the members of his own profession +in regard to the author of the valuable work now before us. Snatched +suddenly from the midst of his labours, before the third edition of his +_Materia Medica_ was completed, there are few in any way familiar with +the subject who will not regret the sudden extinction of so much +learning, and, apart from all private considerations, that the world +should have so prematurely lost the benefits of his ripening judgment +and experience, and the results of his extended reading and research. +Yet how many precious cabinets of collected knowledge do we see thus +hurriedly sealed up for ever! How often, when a man appears to have +reached that condition of mental culture and accumulated information, in +which he is fitted to do the most for the advancement of learning, or +for promoting the material comfort of his fellows, how often does the +cold hand suddenly and mysteriously paralyse and stop him! He has been +permitted to add only a small burden of earth to the rising mound of +intellectual elevation, scarcely enough to signify to after-comers that +_his_ hand has laboured at the work. Nevertheless, he may have shown a +new way of advancing, in some sense, so that to others the toil is +easier and the progress faster, because he has gone before. The more, +however, the true-hearted worker in the cause of progressive science +becomes familiar with its actual condition and its great future, the +more he becomes satisfied also of the vanity of attempting to associate +with an individual name the merit of this or that advance—the more +earnestly he trains himself to find the best reward for individual +attempts in the growing conquests and dimensions of the field he +cultivates, and in the consciousness that he has not been unhelpful in +widening its domain. Such a consciousness Dr Pereira might well +entertain, and we trust he found in it something to alleviate the +regrets the best of us naturally feel, when compelled to leave a +favourite task unfinished. + +We should be forsaking widely the field we usually occupy, were we to +attempt to lay before our readers any analysis of a work so elaborate +and so purely professional as this of Dr Pereira. We propose, however, +to take it as our text-book, in considering a subject of great general +interest—one scarcely of more importance to the professional physician +than it is to the physiologist, the psychologist, and the economical +statist. The book is replete with scattered information on the subject +of the _Narcotics we Indulge in_, and some of this we propose to bring +together in the present article. And among other sources from which we +mean to draw the materials necessary to our purpose, are the +_Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_, long, long ago noticed in our +pages, but, to us who have been reading it to-day, as fresh and new as +ever—as full of interest, as suggestive of profound reflection. We who +are ourselves somewhat scientific, can scarce restrain a selfish sigh +when we think how fresh and new, how sure of human sympathy this actual +burning experience of a living man will continue to be when the heavy +and toilsome tomes of Pereira shall have become mere records of the +progress of science, and be turned up only to illustrate the ignorance +of the most learned or trusted in their professions about the middle of +the nineteenth century. + +In ministering fully to his natural wants, man passes through three +successive stages. First, the necessities of his material existence are +provided for; next, his cares are assuaged and for the time banished; +and lastly, his enjoyments, intellectual and animal, are multiplied and +for the time exalted. Beef and bread represent the means by which, in +every country, the first end is attained; fermented liquors help us to +the second; and the third we reach by the aid of narcotics. + +When we examine, in a chemical sense, the animal and vegetable +productions which in a thousand varied forms, among various nations, +take the place of the beef and pudding of the Englishman in supplying +the first necessities of our nature, we are struck with the remarkable +general similarity which prevails among them naturally, or which they +are made to assume by the artifices of cookery, before they are conveyed +into the stomach. And we exclaim, in irrepressible wonder, “by what +universal instinct is it that, under so many varied conditions of +climate and of natural vegetation, the experience of man has led him +everywhere so nicely to adjust the chemical constitution of the staple +forms of his diet to the chemical wants of his living body?” + +Nor is the lightening of care less widely and extensively attained. +Savage and civilised tribes, near and remote—the houseless barbarian +wanderer, the settled peasant, and the skilled citizen—all have found, +without intercommunion, through some common and instinctive process, the +art of preparing fermented drinks, and of procuring for themselves the +enjoyments and miseries of intoxication. The juice of the cocoa-nut tree +yields its _toddy_ wherever this valuable palm can be made to grow. +Another palm affords a fermented wine on the Andean slopes of Chili—the +sugar palm intoxicates in the Indian Archipelago, and among the Moluccas +and Philippines—while the best palm wine of all is prepared from the sap +of the oilpalms of the African coast. In Mexico the American aloe +(_Agave Americana_) gave its much-loved _pulque_, and probably also its +ardent brandy, long before Cortez invaded the ancient monarchy of the +Aztecs. Fruits supply the cider, the perry and the wine, of many +civilised regions—barley and the cereal grains the beer and brandy of +others; while the milk of their breeding mares supplies at will to the +wandering Tartar, either a mild exhilarating drink, or an ardently +intoxicating spirit. And to our wonder at the wide prevalence of this +taste, and our surprise at the success with which, in so many different +ways, mankind has been able to gratify it, the chemist adds a new wonder +and surprise when he tells us, that as in the case of his food, so in +preparing his intoxicating drinks, man has everywhere come to the same +result. His fermented liquors, wherever and from whatever substances +prepared, all contain the same exciting alcohol, producing everywhere, +upon every human being, the same exhilarating effects! + +It is somewhat different as regards the next stage of human wants—the +exalted stage which we arrive at by the aid of narcotics. Of these +narcotics, it is remarkable that almost every country or tribe has its +own—either aboriginal or imported—so that the universal instinct has led +somehow or other to the universal supply of this want also. + +The aborigines of Central America rolled up the tobacco leaf, and +dreamed away their lives in smoky reveries, ages before Columbus was +born, or the colonists of Sir Walter Raleigh brought it within the +chaste precincts of the Elizabethan court. The coca leaf, now the +comfort and strength of the Peruvian muletero, was chewed as _he_ does +it, in far remote times, and among the same mountains, by the Indian +natives whose blood he inherits. The use of opium and hemp, and the +betel nut, among eastern Asiatics, mounts up to the times of most +fabulous antiquity, as probably does that of the pepper tribe in the +South Sea Islands and the Indian archipelago; while in northern Europe +the hop, and in Tartary the narcotic fungus, have been in use from time +immemorial. In all these countries the wished-for end has been attained, +as in the case of intoxicating drinks, by different means; but the +precise effect upon the system, by the use of each substance, has not, +in this case, been the same. On the contrary, tobacco, and coca, and +opium, and hemp, and the hop, and _Cocculus indicus_, and the toadstool, +each exercise an influence upon the human frame, which is peculiar to +itself, and which in many respects is full of interest, and deserving of +profound study. These differences we so far know to arise from the +active substances they severally contain being chemically different. + + +I. TOBACCO.—Of all the narcotics we have mentioned, tobacco is in use +over the largest area, and by the greatest number of people. Opium comes +next to it; and the hemp plant occupies the third place. + +The tobacco plant is indigenous to tropical America, whence it was +introduced into Spain and France in the beginning of the sixteenth +century by the Spaniards, and into England half a century later (1586) +by Sir Francis Drake. Since that time, both the use and the cultivation +of the plant have spread over a large portion of the globe. Besides the +different parts of America, including Canada, New Brunswick, the United +States, Mexico, the Western coast, the Spanish main, Brazil, Cuba, St +Domingo, Trinidad, &c., it has spread in the East into Turkey, Persia, +India, China, Australia, the Philippine Islands, and Japan. It has been +raised with success also in nearly every country of Europe; while in +Africa it is cultivated in Egypt, Algeria, in the Canaries, on the +Western coast, and at the Cape of Good Hope. It is, indeed, among +narcotics, what the potato is among food-plants—the most extensively +cultivated, the most hardy, and the most tolerant of changes in +temperature, altitude, and general climate. + +We need scarcely remark, that the use of the plant has become not less +universal than its cultivation. In America it is met with everywhere, +and the consumption is enormous. In Europe, from the plains of sunny +Castile to the frozen Archangel, the pipe and the cigar are a common +solace among all ranks and conditions. In vain was the use of it +prohibited in Russia, and the knout threatened for the first offence, +and death for the second. In vain Pope Urban VIII. thundered out his +bull against it. In vain our own James I. wrote his “Counterblaste to +Tobacco.” Opposition only excited more general attention to the plant, +awakened curiosity regarding it, and promoted its consumption. + +So in the East—the priests and sultans of Turkey and Persia declared +smoking a sin against their holy religion, yet nevertheless the Turks +and Persians became the greatest smokers in the world. In Turkey the +pipe is perpetually in the mouth; in India all classes and both sexes +smoke; in China the practice is so universal that “every female, from +the age of eight or nine years, wears as an appendage to her dress a +small silken pocket, to hold tobacco and a pipe.” It is even argued by +Pallas that the extensive prevalence of the practice in Asia, and +especially in China, proves the use of tobacco for smoking to be more +ancient than the discovery of the New World. “Amongst the Chinese,” he +says, “and amongst the Mongol tribes who had the most intercourse with +them, the custom of smoking is so general, so frequent, and has become +so indispensable a luxury; the tobacco purse affixed to their belt so +necessary an article of dress; the form of the pipes, from which the +Dutch seem to have taken the model of theirs, so original; and, lastly, +the preparation of the yellow leaves, which are merely rubbed to pieces +and then put into the pipe, so peculiar—that they could not possibly +derive all this from America by way of Europe, especially as India, +where the practice of smoking is not so general, intervenes between +Persia and China.”[3] + +Leaving this question of its origin, the reader will not be surprised, +when he considers how widely the practice of smoking prevails, that the +total produce of tobacco grown on the face of the globe has been +calculated by Mr Crawford to amount to the enormous quantity of two +millions of tons. The comparative magnitude of this quantity will strike +the reader more forcibly, when we state that the whole of the wheat +consumed by the inhabitants of Great Britain—estimating it at a quarter +a-head, or in round numbers at twenty millions of quarters—weighs only +four and one-third millions of tons; so that the tobacco yearly raised +for the gratification of this one form of the narcotic appetite weighs +as much as the wheat consumed by ten millions of Englishmen. And +reckoning it at only double the market value of wheat, or twopence and a +fraction per pound, it is worth in money as much as all the wheat eaten +in Great Britain. + +The largest producers, and probably the largest consumers, of tobacco, +are the United States of America. The annual production, at the last two +decennial periods of their census returns, was estimated at + + 1840, 219,163,319 lb. + 1850, 199,752,646 „ + +being about one-twentieth part of the whole supposed produce of the +globe. + +One of the remarkable circumstances connected with the history of +tobacco is, the rapidity with which its growth and consumption have +increased, in almost every country, since the discovery of America. In +1662, the quantity raised in Virginia—the chief producer of tobacco on +the American shores of the Atlantic—was only 60,000 lb.; and the +quantity exported from that colony in 1689, only 120,000 lb. In two +hundred and thirty years, the produce has risen to nearly twice as many +millions. And the extension of its use in our own country may be +inferred from the facts that, in the above year of 1689, the total +importation was 120,000 lb. of Virginian tobacco, part of which was +probably re-exported; while, in 1852, the quantity entered for home +consumption amounted to + + 28,558,753 lb. + +being something over a pound per head of the whole population; and to +this must be added the large quantity of contraband tobacco, which the +heavy duty of 3s. per lb. tempts the smuggler to introduce. The whole +duty levied on the above quantity in 1852, was £4,560,741, which is +equal to a poll-tax of 3s. a head. + +Tobacco, as every child among us now knows, is used for smoking, for +chewing, and for snuffing. The second of these practices is, in many +respects, the most disgusting, and is now rarely seen in this country, +except among seafaring men. On shipboard, smoking is always dangerous, +and often forbidden; while snuffing is expensive and inconvenient; so +that, if the weed must be used, the practice of chewing it can alone be +resorted to. + +For the smoker and chewer it is prepared in various forms, and sold +under different names. The dried leaves, coarsely broken, are sold as +canaster or knaster. When moistened, compressed, and cut into fine +threads, they form cut or shag tobacco. Moistened with molasses or with +syrup, and pressed into cakes, they are called cavendish and negrohead, +and are used indifferently either for chewing or smoking. Moistened in +the same way, and beaten until they are soft, and then twisted into a +thick string, they form the pigtail or twist of the chewer. Cigars are +formed of the dried leaves, deprived of their midribs, and rolled up +into a short spindle. When cut straight, or truncated at each end, as is +the custom at Manilla, they are distinguished as _cheroots_. + +For the snuff-taker, the dried leaves are sprinkled with water, laid in +heaps, and allowed to ferment. They are then dried again, reduced to +powder, and baked or roasted. The dry snuffs, like the Scotch and Irish, +are usually prepared from the midribs—the rappees, or moist snuffs, from +the soft part of the leaves. The latter are also variously scented, to +suit the taste of the customer. + +Extensively as it is used, it is surprising how very few can state +distinctly the effects which tobacco produces—can explain the kind of +pleasure the use of it gives them—why they began, and for what reason +they continue the indulgence. In truth, few have thought of these +points—have cared to analyse their sensations when under the narcotic +influence of tobacco—or, if they have analysed them, would care to tell +truly what kind of relief it is which they seek in the use of it. “In +habitual smokers,” says Dr Pereira, “the practice, when employed +moderately, provokes thirst, increases the secretion of saliva, and +produces a remarkably soothing and tranquillising effect on the mind, +which has made it so much admired and adopted by all classes of society, +and by all nations, civilised and barbarous.” Taken in excess in any +form, and especially by persons unaccustomed to it, it produces nausea, +vomiting, in some cases purging, universal trembling, staggering, +convulsive movements, paralysis, torpor, and death. Cases are on record +of persons killing themselves by smoking seventeen or eighteen pipes at +a sitting. With some constitutions it never agrees; but both our author +and Dr Christison of Edinburgh agree that “no well-ascertained ill +effects have been shown to result from the habitual practice of +smoking.” The effects of chewing are of a similar kind. Those of +snuffing are only less in degree; and the influence which tobacco +exercises in the mouth, in promoting the flow of saliva, &c., manifests +itself when used as snuff in producing sneezing, and in increasing the +discharge of mucus from the nose. The excessive use of snuff, however, +blunts the sense of smell, alters the tone of voice, and occasionally +produces dyspepsia and loss of appetite. In rarer cases it ultimately +induces apoplexy and delirium. + +But it is the soothing and tranquillising effect it has on the mind for +which tobacco is chiefly indulged in. And amid the teasing paltry cares, +as well as the more poignant griefs of life, what a blessing that a mere +material soother and tranquilliser can be found, accessible alike to +all—to the desolate and the outcast, equally with him who is rich in a +happy home and the felicity of sympathising friends! Is there any one so +sunk in happiness himself, as to wonder that millions of the +world-chafed should flee to it for solace? Yet the question still +remains which is to bring out the peculiar characteristic of tobacco. We +may take for granted that it acts in some way upon the nervous system; +but what is the special effect of tobacco on the brain and nerves, to +which the pleasing reverie it produces is to be ascribed? “The pleasure +of the reverie consequent on the indulgence of the pipe consists,” +according to Dr Madden, “in a temporary annihilation of thought. People +really cease to think when they have been long smoking. I have asked +Turks repeatedly what they have been thinking of during their long +smoking reveries, and they replied, ‘Of nothing.’ I could not remind +them of a single idea having occupied their minds; and in the +consideration of the Turkish character there is no more curious +circumstance connected with their moral condition. The opinion of Locke, +that the soul of a waking man is never without thought, because it is +the condition of being awake, is, in my mind, contradicted by the waking +somnambulism, if I may so express myself, of a Moslem.”[4] + +We concede that Dr Madden might find in England, in Germany, and in +Holland, many good smokers, who would make excellent Moslems in his +sense, and who at the close of long tobacco reveries are utterly +unconscious and innocent of a single thought. Yet we restrict our faith +in his opinion to the simple belief, that tobacco, with a haze such as +its smoke creates, tends to soften down and assuage the intensity of all +inner thoughts or external impressions which affect the feelings, and +thus to create a still and peaceful repose—such a quiet rest as one +fancies might be found in the hazy distance of Turner’s landscapes. We +deny that, in Europeans in general, smoking puts an end to intellectual +exertion. In moderation, our own experience is, that it sharpens and +strengthens it; and we doubt very much if those learned Teutonic +Professors, who smoke all day, whose studies are perpetually obscured by +the fumes of the weed, and who are even said to smoke during sleep, +would willingly, or with good temper, concede that the heavy tomes which +in yearly thousands appear at the Leipsic book fair, have all been +written after their authors had “really ceased to think.” Still it is +probably true, and may be received as the characteristic of tobacco +among narcotics, that its major and first effect is to assuage, and +allay, and soothe the system in general; its minor, and second, or after +effect, to excite and invigorate, and, at the same time, give steadiness +and fixity to the powers of thought. + +The active substances, or chemical ingredients of tobacco or tobacco +smoke, by which these effects upon the system are produced, are three in +number. The _first_ is a volatile oil, of which about two grains can be +obtained from a pound of leaves, by distilling them with water. This oil +or fat “is solid, has the odour of tobacco, and a bitter taste. It +excites in the tongue and throat a sensation similar to that of tobacco +smoke; and, when swallowed, gives rise to giddiness, nausea, and an +inclination to vomit.” Small as the quantity is, therefore, which is +present in the leaf, this substance must be regarded as one of the +ingredients upon which the effects of tobacco depend. + +The _second_ is a volatile _alkali_, as it is called by chemists, which +is also obtained by a form of distillation. The substance is liquid, has +the odour of tobacco, an acrid burning taste, and is possessed of +narcotic and highly poisonous qualities. In this latter quality it is +scarcely inferior to Prussic acid. The proportion of this substance +contained in the leaf varies from 3 to 8 per cent, so that he who smokes +a hundred grains of tobacco _may_ draw into his mouth from three to +eight grains of one of the most subtle of all known poisons. It will not +be doubted, therefore, that some of the effects of tobacco are to be +ascribed to this peculiar substance. + +The third is an oil—an empyreumatic oil, it is called—which does not +exist ready formed in the natural leaf, but is produced along with other +substances during the burning. This is supposed to be “the juice of +cursed hebenon,” described by Shakspeare as a _distilment_.[5] It is +acrid, disagreeable to the taste, narcotic, and so poisonous that a +single drop on the tongue of a cat causes immediate convulsions, and in +two minutes death. + +Of these three active ingredients contained in tobacco smoke, the +Turkish and Indian pipes, in which the smoke is made to pass slowly +through water, arrest a large proportion, and therefore convey the air +to the mouth in a milder form. The reservoir of the German meerschaums +retains the grosser portions of the oils, &c., produced by burning; and +the long stem of the Russian pipe has a similar effect. The Dutch and +English pipes retain less; while the cigar, especially when smoked to +the end, discharges everything into the mouth of the smoker, and, when +he retains the saliva, gives him the benefit of the united action of all +the three narcotic substances together. It is not surprising, therefore, +that those who have been accustomed to smoke cigars, especially such as +are made of strong tobacco, should find any other pipe both tame and +tasteless, except the short black _cutty_, which has lately come into +favour again among inveterate smokers. + +The chewer of tobacco, it will be understood from the above description +of its active ingredients, is not exposed to the effects of the oil +which is produced during the burning. The natural oil and the volatile +alkali are the substances which act upon him. The taker of snuff is in +the same condition. But _his_ drug is still milder than that of the +chewer, inasmuch as the artificial drying or roasting to which the +tobacco is subjected in the preparation of snuff, drives off a portion +of the natural volatile oil, and a large part of the volatile alkali, +and thus renders it considerably less active than the natural leaf. + +In all the properties by which tobacco is characterised, the produce of +different countries and districts is found to exhibit very sensible +differences. At least eight or ten species, and numerous varieties, of +the plant are cultivated; and the leaf of each of these, even where they +are all grown in the same locality, is found to exhibit sensible +peculiarities. To these climate and soil add each its special effects; +while the period of growth at which the leaves are gathered, and the way +in which they are dried or cured, exercise a well-known influence on the +quality of the crop. To these causes of diversity is owing, for the most +part, the unlike estimation in which Virginian, Cuban, Brazilian, +Peruvian, East Indian, Persian, and Turkish tobaccos are held in the +market. + +The chemist explains all the known and well-marked diversities of +quality and flavour in the unadulterated leaf, by showing that each +recognised variety of tobacco contains the active ingredients of the +leaf in a peculiar form or proportion; and it is interesting to find +science in his hands first rendering satisfactory reasons for the +decisions of taste. Thus, he has shown that the natural volatile oil +does not exist in the green leaf, but is formed during the drying, and +hence the reason why the mode of curing affects the strength and quality +of the dried leaf. He has also shown that the proportion of the +poisonous alkali (nicotin) is smallest (2 per cent) in the best +Havannah, and largest (7 per cent) in the Virginian tobacco, and hence a +natural and sound reason for the preference given to the former by the +smokers of cigars. + +As to the lesser niceties of flavour, this probably depends upon other +odoriferous ingredients not so active in their nature, or so essential +to the leaf as those already mentioned. The leaves of plants, in this +respect, are easily affected by a variety of circumstances, and +especially by the nature of the soil they grow in, and of the manure +applied to them. Even to the grosser senses of us Europeans, it is +known, for example, that pigs’ dung carries its _gout_ into the tobacco +raised by its means. But the more refined organs of the Druses and +Maronites of Mount Lebanon readily recognise, by the flavour of their +tobacco, the kind of manure employed in its cultivation, and esteem, +above all others, that which has been aided in its growth by the +droppings of the goat. + +But in countries where high duties upon tobacco hold out a temptation to +fraud, artificial flavours are given by various forms of adulteration. +“Saccharine matter (molasses, sugar, honey, &c.), which is the principal +adulterating ingredient, is said to be used both for the purpose of +adding to the weight of the tobacco, and of rendering it more agreeable. +Vegetable leaves (as those of rhubarb and the beech), mosses, bran, the +sproutings of malt, beet-root dregs, liquorice, terra japonica, rosin, +yellow ochre, fullers’ earth, sand, saltpetre, common salt, +sal-ammoniac”[6]—such is a list of the substances which have been +detected in adulterated tobacco. How many more may be in daily use for +the purpose, who can tell? Is it surprising, therefore, that we should +meet with manufactured tobacco possessing a thousand different flavours +for which the chemistry of the natural leaf can in no way account? + +There are two other circumstances in connection with the history of +tobacco, which, because of their economical and social bearings, are +possessed of much interest. + +_First_, Every smoker must have observed the quantity of ash he has +occasion to empty out of his pipe, or the large nozzle he knocks off +from time to time from the burning end of his cigar. This incombustible +part is equal to one-fourth or one-fifth of the whole weight of the +dried leaf, and consists of earthy or mineral matter which the tobacco +plant has drawn from the soil on which it has grown. Every ton, when +dried, of the tobacco leaf which is gathered, carries off, therefore, +from four to five hundredweight of this mineral matter from the soil. +And as the substances of which the mineral matter consists are among +those which are at once most necessary to vegetation, and least abundant +even in fertile soils, it will readily be understood that the frequent +growth and removal of tobacco from the same field must gradually affect +its fertility, and sooner or later exhaust it. + +It has been, and still is, to a great extent, the misfortune of many +tobacco-growing regions, that this simple deduction was unknown and +unheeded. The culture has been continued year after year upon virgin +soils, till the best and richest were at last wearied and worn out, and +patches of deserted wilderness are at length seen where tobacco +plantations formerly extended and flourished. Upon the Atlantic borders +of the United States of America, the best known modern instances of such +exhausting culture are to be found. It is one of the triumphs of the +chemistry of this century, that it has ascertained what the land loses +by such imprudent treatment—what is the cause, therefore, of the +barrenness that befalls it, and by what new management its ancient +fertility may be again restored. + +_Second_, It is melancholy to think that the gratification of this +narcotic instinct of man should in some countries—and especially in +North America, Cuba, and Brazil—have become a source of human misery in +its most aggravated forms. It was long ago remarked of the tobacco +culture by President Jefferson, in his _Notes on Virginia_, that “it is +a culture productive of infinite wretchedness. Those employed in it are +in a continued state of exertion beyond the powers of nature to support. +Little food of any kind is raised by them, so that the men and animals +on these farms are badly fed, and the earth is rapidly impoverished.”[7] +But these words do not convey to the English reader a complete idea of +the misery they allude to. The men employed in the culture, who suffer +the “infinite wretchedness,” are the slaves on the plantations. And it +is melancholy, as we have said, to think that the gratification of the +passion for tobacco should not only have been an early stimulus to the +extension of slavery in the United States, but should continue still to +be one of the props by which it is sustained. The exports of tobacco +from the United States in the year ending June 1850, were valued at ten +millions of dollars. This sum European smokers pay for the maintenance +of slavery in these states, besides what they contribute for the same +purpose to Cuba and Brazil. The practice of smoking is in itself, we +believe, neither a moral nor a social evil; it is merely the +gratification of a natural and universal, as it is an innocent instinct. +Pity that such evils should be permitted to flow from what is in itself +so harmless! + +II. The HOP, which may now be called the _English narcotic_, was brought +from the Low Countries, and is not known to have been used in malt +liquor in this country till after the year 1524, in the reign of Henry +VIII. In 1850 the quantity of hops grown in England was 21,668 tons, +paying a duty of £270,000. This is supposed to be a larger quantity than +is grown in all the world besides. Only 98 tons were exported in that +year; while, on the other hand, 320 tons were imported, so that the home +consumption amounted to 21,886 tons, or 49 millions of pounds; being +two-thirds more than the weight of the tobacco which we yearly consume. +It is the narcotic substance, therefore, of which England not only grows +more and consumes more than all the world besides, but of which +Englishmen consume more than they do of any other substance of the same +class. + +And who that has visited the hop grounds of Kent and Surrey in the +flowering season, will ever forget the beauty and grace of this charming +plant? Climbing the tall poles, and circling them with its clasping +tendrils, it hides the formality and stiffness of the tree that supports +it among the exuberant profusion of its clustering flowers. Waving and +drooping in easy motion with every tiny breath that stirs them, and +hanging in curved wreaths from pole to pole, the hopbines dance and +glitter beneath the bright English sun—the picture of a true English +vineyard, which neither the Rhine nor the Rhone can equal, and only +Italy, where her vines climb the freest, can surpass. + +The hop “joyeth in a fat and fruitful ground,” as old Gerard hath it +(1596). “It prospereth the better by manuring.” And few spots surpass, +either in natural fertility or in artificial richness, the hop lands of +Surrey, which lie along the out-crop of the green sand measures in the +neighbourhood of Farnham. Naturally rich to an extraordinary degree in +the mineral food of plants, the soils in this locality have been famed +for centuries for the growth of hops; and with a view to this culture +alone, at the present day, the best portions sell as high as £500 an +acre. And the _highest_ Scotch farmer—the most liberal of manure—will +find himself outdone by the hop-growers of Kent and Surrey. An average +of ten pounds an acre for manure over a hundred acres of hops, makes +this branch of farming the most liberal, the most remarkable, and the +most expensive of any in England. + +This mode of managing the hop, and the peculiar value and rarity of hop +land, were known very early. They form parts of its history which were +probably imported with the plant itself. Tusser, who lived in Henry +VIII.’s time, and in the reigns of his three children, in his _Points of +Husbandry_ thus speaks of the hop:— + + “Choose soil for the hop of the rottenest mould, + Well-doonged and wrought as a garden-plot should: + Not far from the water (but not overfloune), + This lesson well noted, is meet to be knowne. + + The sun in the south, or else southlie and west, + Is joy to the hop as welcommed ghest; + But wind in the north, or else northerly east, + To hop is as ill as fray in a feast. + + Meet plot for a hop-yard, once found as is told, + Make thereof account, as of jewel of gold; + Now dig it and leave it, the sun for to burne, + And afterwards fense it, to serve for that turne. + The hop for his profit, I thus do exalt: + It strengthened drink, and favoureth malt; + And being well brewed, long kep it will last, + And drawing abide, if ye draw not too fast.”[8] + +The hops of commerce consist of the female flowers and seeds of the +_humulus lupulus_, or common hop plant. Their principal consumption is +in the manufacture of beer, to which they give a pleasant, bitter, +aromatic flavour, and tonic properties. Part of the soporific quality of +beer also is ascribed to the hops, and they are supposed by their +chemical properties to check the tendency to become sour. The active +principles in the hop consist of a volatile oil, and a peculiar bitter +principle to which the name of _lupulin_ is given. + +When the hop flowers are distilled with water, they yield as much as +eight per cent of their weight of a volatile oil, which has a brownish +yellow colour, a strong smell of hops, and a slightly bitter taste. In +this “oil of hops” it has hitherto been supposed that a portion of the +narcotic influence of the flowers resided, but recent experiments render +this opinion doubtful. It is probable that in the case both of tobacco +and of the hop, a volatile substance distils over in small quantity +along with the oil, which has not hitherto been examined separately, and +in which the narcotic virtue resides. This is rendered probable by the +fact that the rectified hop oil is not possessed of narcotic properties. + +The hop has long been celebrated for its sleep-giving qualities. To the +weary and wakeful, the hop-pillow has often given refreshing rest, when +every other sleep-producer had failed. It is to the escape, in minute +quantity, of the volatile narcotic substance we have spoken of, that +this soporific effect of the flowers is most probably to be ascribed. + +Besides the oil and other volatile matter which distil from them, the +hop flowers, and especially the fine powdery grains or dust which, by +rubbing, can be separated from them, yield to alcohol a bitter principle +(lupulin) and a resinous substance, both in considerable proportion. In +a common tincture of hops these substances are contained. They are +aromatic and tonic, and impart their own qualities to our beer. They are +also soothing, tranquillising, and in a slight degree sedative and +soporific, in which properties well-hopped beer also resembles them. It +is certain that hops possess a narcotic virtue which beer derives from +them;[9] but in what part of the female flower, or in what peculiar +chemical compound this narcotic property chiefly resides, is still a +matter of doubt. + +To the general reader it may appear remarkable, that the chemistry of a +vegetable production, in such extensive use as the hop, should still be +so imperfect—our knowledge of its nature and composition so +unsatisfactory. But the well-read chemist, who knows how wide the field +of chemical research is, and how rapidly our knowledge of it, as a +whole, is progressing, will feel no surprise. He may wish to see all +such obscurities and difficulties cleared away, but he will feel +inclined rather to thank and praise the many ardent and devoted men, now +labouring in this department, for what they are doing, than to blame +them for being obliged to leave a part of the extensive field for the +present uncultivated. + +Among largely used narcotics, therefore, especially in England, the hop +is to be placed. It differs, however, from all the others we have +mentioned, in being rarely employed alone except medicinally. It is +added to infusions like that of malt, to impart flavour, taste, and +narcotic virtues. Used in this way, it is unquestionably one of the +sources of that pleasing excitement, gentle intoxication, and healthy +tonic action, which well-hopped beer is known to produce upon those who +drink it. Other common vegetable productions will give the bitter +flavour to malt liquor. Horehound and wormwood, and gentian and quassia +and strychnia, and the grains of paradise, and chicory, and various +other plants, have been used to replace or supplant the hop. But none +are known to approach it in imparting those peculiar qualities which +have given the bitter beer of the present day so well-merited a +reputation. + +Among our working classes, it is true, in the porters and humbler beers +they consume and prefer, the _Cocculus indicus_ finds a degree of favour +which has caused it, to a considerable degree, to take the place of the +hop. This singular berry possesses an intoxicating property, and not +only replaces the hop by its bitterness, but to a certain extent also +supplies the deficiency of malt. To weak extracts of malt it gives a +richness and _fulness in the mouth_, which usually imply the presence of +much malt, with a bitterness which enables the brewer to withhold +one-third of his hops, and a colour which aids him in the darkening of +his porter. The middle classes in England prefer the thin wine-like +bitter beer. The skilled labourers in the manufacturing districts prefer +what is rich, full, and substantial in the mouth. With a view to their +taste, it is too often drugged with the _Cocculus indicus_ by +disreputable brewers; and much of the very beastly intoxication which +the consumption of malt liquor in England produces, is probably due to +this pernicious admixture. So powerful is the effect of this berry on +the apparent richness of beer, that a single pound produces an equal +effect with a bag of malt. The temptation to use it, therefore, is very +strong. The quantity imported in 1850 was 2359 cwt., equal to a hundred +and twelve times as many bags of malt; and although we cannot strictly +class it among the narcotics we voluntarily indulge in, it may certainly +be described as one in which thousands of the humbler classes are +compelled to indulge. + +It is interesting to observe how men carry with them their early tastes +to whatever new climate or region they go. The love of beer and hops has +been planted by Englishmen in America. It has accompanied them to their +new empires in Australia, New Zealand, and the Cape. In the hot East +their home taste remains unquenched, and the pale ale of England follows +them to remotest India. Who can tell to what extent the use of the hop +may become naturalised, through their means, in these far-off regions? +Who can predict that, inoculated into its milder influence, the devotees +of opium and the intoxicating hemp may not hereafter be induced to +abandon their hereditary drugs, and to substitute the foreign hop in +their place? From such a change in one article of consumption, how great +a change in the character of the people might we not anticipate? + +This leads us to remark, that we cannot as yet very well explain in what +way and to what extent the use of prevailing narcotics is connected, as +cause or effect, with peculiarities in national character. But there can +no longer be any doubt that the soothers and exciters we indulge in, in +some measure as the luxuries of life, though sought for at first merely +to gratify a natural craving, do afterwards gradually but sensibly +modify the individual character. And where the use is general and +extended, the influence of course affects in time the whole people. It +is a problem of interest to the legislator, not less than to the +physiologist and psychologist, to ascertain how far and in what +direction such a reaction can go—how much of the actual tastes, habits, +and character of existing nations has been created by the prolonged +consumption of the fashionable and prevailing forms of narcotics in use +among them respectively, and how far tastes and habits have been +modified by the changes in these forms which have been introduced and +adopted within historic times. The reader will readily perceive that +this inquiry has in it a valid importance quite distinct from that which +attaches itself to the supposed influence of the different varieties of +intoxicating fermented drinks in use in different countries. The latter, +as we have said, all contain the same intoxicating principle, and so +far, therefore, exercise a common influence upon all who consume them. +But the narcotics now in use owe their effects to substances which in +each, so far as is known, are chemically different from those which are +contained in every one of the others. They must exercise, therefore, +each a different physiological effect upon the system, and, if their +influence, as we suppose, extend so far, must each in a special way +modify also the constitution, the habits, and the character. + +Our space does not permit us, in the present Number, to speak of the use +of opium and hemp; we shall return to these extensively consumed drugs +on a future occasion. + + + + + SOUTH AMERICAN TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE.[10] + + +We here associate two books which have little in common beyond their +relation to the same region and races of men; the one is chiefly +scientific and statistical, the other deals largely in the +characteristic and romantic. Dr Weddell, physician and naturalist, and +member of various scientific societies and commissions, who had +previously travelled in and written of certain districts in South +America, was induced, two years ago, once more to cross the Line, bound +for Bolivia. His former journey had had a purely botanical object: he +had gone to make acquaintance with the trees which produce the Peruvian +bark. His researches were crowned with success; but he was attacked with +fever and dysentery, and quitted the unwholesome shores, vowing never to +revisit them. A handful of sand which he carried away with him caused +him to break through his resolution. Deposited in the Museum of Natural +History at Paris, it attracted attention by the beauty of the golden +spangles it contained. Dr Weddell again sailed for America, this time +with a double mission. The administrators of the Garden of Plants +confided to him certain scientific researches; and a number of persons, +whose objects were more material, commissioned him to examine and obtain +concessions of tracts of land upon the Tipuani—a stream which, rising +amongst the snows of the Cordilleras, flows over golden sands to its +junction with one of the chief tributaries of the mighty Amazon. + +Mr Theodore Pavie has been a great traveller. In the volume before us we +find him alternately in India, Africa, America, on the banks of the +Nile, on the Coromandel coast, in the forests that fringe the Sabine. +His book includes even a Chinese legend; but that he confesses to have +derived from a missionary, the companion of one of his voyages. His most +interesting chapters are a series of South American sketches—in the +Pampas, Chili, and Peru. He makes half an apology for having mingled +fiction with facts he himself witnessed. The system he has pursued is +perfectly allowable, and has been adopted by many travellers of wider +fame. We may instance Sealsfield, Ruxton, and a host of other +precedents. Like them, he has brought home from his distant wanderings a +portfolio of rough sketches, which he has filled up, coloured, and +completed by his own fireside. The landscape, the character, the +figures, even some of the incidents, are true to nature; but he has +thrown in a little artificial action, rendering the picture more +attractive. + +From the Peruvian port of Arica, which he reached, _viâ_ Southampton and +Panama, in the spring of 1851, Dr Weddell started at once for the +Bolivian town of La Paz. After passing Tacna, where they were detained +for some days by purchase of mules and travelling stores, the doctor and +his two companions, Mr Borniche and Mr Herrypon (the latter a civil +engineer), soon found themselves in the mountains, and suffering from +the painful sensations produced by the great rarefaction of the air. +This effect of the sensible diminution of the atmospheric pressure upon +the circulation and respiration is there called the _soroche_, and is +ignorantly attributed by the natives to metallic emanations from the +soil. At the height of about 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, the +travellers came to the first _apacheta_. In former days the Peruvian +Indians, upon attaining, with a burden, the summit of a mountain, were +accustomed to offer to their god Pachacamac the first object that met +their view. The custom was not costly, for the object was usually a +stone. They accompanied the offering by several repetitions of the word +_apachecta_, which was a sort of prayer. In time, this word, slightly +altered, was applied to the heaps of stones which the superstition +accumulated, and then to the mountain-peaks which these heaps +surmounted. Apachetas are found upon all elevated points of Peruvian +roads. Around one of them, at the summit of the Pass of +Gualillos—estimated by Dr Weddell, and by the English traveller +Pentland, to be nearly 15,000 feet above the sea—were numerous skeletons +of asses, mules, and lamas, which had perished of fatigue on attaining +that prodigious elevation. The three Frenchmen felt almost as much +inclined to lay their own bones beside those of the defunct brutes as to +push on further; but they managed to continue their route over one of +those vast mountain platforms known as _puñas_, of which the German +doctor Tschudi has given so striking an account. They passed the night +in the village of Tacora, and had regained their wonted courage and +activity when aroused next morning by their muleteer with intelligence +that four vicuñas were grazing close at hand. Stealing up to them under +cover of a wall, Dr Weddell and Mr Herrypon got within fair shot, fired, +and missed. Three of the animals took to flight; the fourth stood its +ground, and gazed boldly at its enemies. The doctor, supposing that a +wound was the cause of its immobility, quitted his cover and approached +the vicuña. When he got within a certain distance, the animal ran. It +was too late. The doctor fired his second barrel, and the ball broke its +spine. It was not, as Dr Weddell had supposed, a wound that had delayed +its flight. “When a herd of vicuñas is pursued,” he says, “the most +vigorous of the males, who act as chiefs, invariably remain the last +upon the place of danger, as if to cover the retreat of the others. This +is a fact of which we were more than once witnesses during our journey, +and hence it is much easier to obtain male than female vicuñas. I have +been twenty times within shot of males, but not once of females. The +vicuña (_Camelus vicogna_ Gmel.) is the most numerous species (it and +the _guanaco_) of the camel tribe in the New World. It is met with in +all the elevated regions of the Andes, from the equator to Magellan’s +Straits. The places it best loves to haunt are those where man and the +condor alone can follow it. The condor, that mighty bird of prey, which +is to the Andes what the eagle is to the Alps, prefers carrion to a +living prey, and seldom makes war upon it; and man, until our own days, +has rather encouraged its multiplication than aided in its destruction. +This explains the abundance of the vicuña at the period of the conquest +of Peru.” The old Spanish chroniclers relate that the vicuñas, although +wild, were regarded as the exclusive property of the Incas, and any who +hunted them incurred severe penalties. At fixed seasons—about once +a-year—a general hunt took place, under the personal superintendence of +the Inca and his chief officers; but only once in every four years was +this monster _battue_ allowed in the same district. The chase was on a +prodigious scale. Fifty or sixty thousand hunters—even more, if some +writers are to be believed—armed themselves with poles and lances, +traced an immense circle, and drove to a common centre all the animals +it enclosed. A selection then took place. Roebuck, guanacos, and other +inferior animals, were killed, especially the males; their skins were +used for various purposes, and their flesh was divided amongst the +hunters. This meat, cut in thin slices and dried, was called charqui, +and composed the sole animal food of the lower classes of Peruvians. The +vicuñas, of which thirty or forty thousand were often thus collected, +were more gently treated. They were carefully shorn, and then set at +liberty. The wool was stored in the royal warehouses, and issued as +required—the inferior qualities to the people, the better ones to the +nobles, who alone had a right to wear fine cloth. The tissues then +manufactured from the best vicuña wool are said to have been as +brilliant as the finest silks, and to have excited, by the delicacy of +their tints, the envy of European manufacturers. At the present day, no +salutary law protects the graceful and useful vicuñas; they lose their +life with their fleece, and have greatly diminished in numbers. The +Indians drive them into enclosures, knock them on the head with cudgels, +or break their necks across their knees, strip off the skin, and sell it +for half a dollar. The wool sells as high as a dollar a pound upon the +coast of Peru. It is chiefly consumed in the country, to make hats and +gloves. Only two or three thousand dollars’ worth is annually exported +from Peru. + +Dr Weddell makes numerous interesting zoological observations during his +journey up the country. Whilst traversing the frozen puña, he was +greatly surprised to find a ruin—in which his party slept, with snow for +a counterpane—infested with mice, whose sole nourishment, in that barren +and inhospitable district, must have been grass. The next halt was at +the farm of Chulunguiani, the highest point upon the road from Tacna to +La Paz. Here the party slept under a roof, and found a _pulperia_ or +little shop, where they were able to obtain sardines in oil, +sheep’s-milk cheese, and bad Bordeaux wine. A day was passed here in +duck-shooting, and in hunting the _viscacha_, a small animal of the +chinchilla tribe, having a dark grey fur, very soft, but less esteemed +by furriers than that of the chinchilla. It is about the size of a +rabbit, burrows amongst rocks, and is found only at a very great +elevation, equal to that habitually preferred by the vicuña. Dr Weddell +and his host shot two specimens. When the doctor went indoors to skin +them, he found that the animals had lost the tips of their tails. The +farm-steward, who had carried them in, explained that he had thus docked +them to preserve them from decomposition, the extremity of the tail +having the singular property of producing the corruption of the whole +animal, if not cut off almost immediately after death. Dr Weddell was +not very well satisfied with this explanation, but, to his astonishment, +he afterwards found it everywhere the custom to sever the end of the +viscacha’s tail. + +Whilst at the farm (it was a sheep-farm—oxen live but do not thrive at +that altitude) Dr Weddell did his utmost to get an alpaca, knowing that +there were some in the neighbourhood. He was unsuccessful; and as to +buying one, it is a most difficult matter in that country, where the +Indians have an extraordinary dislike to parting with their domesticated +animals, except sheep. During his stay in Bolivia, he repeatedly offered +five or six times its value for an alpaca, and was refused. The alpaca +wool, which constitutes one of the most important branches of Peruvian +commerce, and is consumed chiefly in England, varies greatly in price, +the pure white selling for thirty or thirty-five dollars a +hundredweight; other colours at an average of twenty-two dollars. The +weight of the fleeces ranges from three to seven pounds. “I have seen +some of these animals,” says Dr Weddell, “whose virgin fleece almost +swept the earth; when they attain that state, their faces are hidden in +the wool that surrounds them.” From a priest, who afforded hospitality +to the travellers at their second halt after they quitted the farm, they +obtained some instructive details concerning the country, and a most +marvellous story of a natural phenomenon observed by him during his +rambles in the province of Yungas. “This was nothing less than a +bird-plant—that is to say, a bird which, having alighted upon the +ground, had there taken root. More than a hundred persons, the _cura_ +said, had seen this wonder, and verified its reality. The person who had +discovered the bird, unfortunately forgot one day to take it food, and +it died. We were not informed how it had lived before it found a +master.” It is odd to be able to trace a coincidence between the wild +tale of the Peruvian puña and a tradition of Asiatic-Russian steppes. +Edward Jerrmann, in his _Pictures from St Petersburg_,[11] tells of the +_baranken_ or sheep-plant, supposed to produce the fine silky fleece +that was in reality obtained by ripping unborn lambs from the mother’s +belly. + +At La Paz, which the little caravan reached after much fatigue, some +severe hardship, and a few misadventures, but without serious disaster, +one of the first things the travellers did was to avail of a letter of +introduction from the Bolivian minister at Paris, to obtain an audience +of the president of the republic, General Belzu, who had just recovered +from wounds inflicted by assassins. One ball had struck him full in the +face, and his visitors looked curiously for the trace. A scarcely +perceptible scar, at the angle of the nose, was all they could discern. +The bullet remained in the head, but occasioned no inconvenience; and +the general said that his health was even better than before the +occurrence. Some time afterwards he consulted Dr Weddell about his +wounds, and the doctor learned, from the best source, the particulars of +the attempt upon his life, which he briefly recapitulates. + +“Raised to the presidency after the battle of Yamparaës, in which he +discomfited the adherents of Velasco, General Belzu had not only to +struggle against the remains of that party, but to defend himself +against the secret and much more formidable attacks of General +Ballivian, Velasco’s predecessor. It is said to have been at the +instigation of Ballivian that the plot I have spoken of was formed; and, +in support of this assertion, the remarkable fact is adduced that, upon +the very day on which the crime was committed at Chuquisaca, Ballivian +and one of his intimates quitted Copiapo (in Chili), where they were +staying, and rode in great haste towards the frontiers of Bolivia. + +“The day selected for the crime was the 6th September 1850. In the +afternoon the president left his palace, accompanied by an aide-de-camp, +and by Colonel Laguna, one of the principal members of the senate, and +betook himself to the public walk. Scarcely had he reached it, when four +men assailed him. He stood upon his defence, but at that moment a bullet +struck him in the face, and he fell to the ground. The shot had been +fired so near that his beard was burnt, and his cheeks were speckled +with grains of powder. A second shot was fired, but without effect. When +the assassins saw him stretched upon the earth, they fired three other +shots at him, but, strange to relate, each time the weapons flashed in +the pan. The chief of the brigands—a mulatto named Moralès, who was +mounted—then tried to trample him under his horse’s feet, but without +success. After several efforts, he at last urged his horse close up to +his victim, and, leaning over him, put a pistol to his head and fired a +last shot. ‘The tyrant is dead!’ he cried, and, spurring his horse, he +galloped through the streets to the barracks, to excite the garrison to +revolt. Meanwhile Laguna, the senator, stood by with folded arms, and +when the crime seemed fully consummated, he walked away with its +perpetrators, thus affording good grounds for suspicion of his +complicity. He was shot a few days afterwards. + +“As to the president, whose existence, with two bullets in his head, +seemed almost impossible, he had not even, he himself assured me, lost +consciousness for a moment; and when Moralès and his band left him, he +got up unaided, and reached, bathed in his blood, a neighbouring hut, +inhabited by a poor Indian. The news quickly spread that the chief of +the state still lived, and the projected revolution was stifled in its +birth.” + +The preservation of the president’s life was little short of a miracle. +One of the bullets had glanced off the skull without doing material +damage beyond occasioning complete loss of hearing with the left ear; +but the other had gone so deep into the head that it could not be +extracted. Dr Weddell probed the wound, and satisfied himself of the +course and position of the ball. A few hairs’-breadths farther, or a +copper bullet instead of a leaden one, and all was over with General +Belzu. + +The travellers made some stay at La Paz, where they soon became +acquainted with the principal people in the place. They passed their +time in paying visits, in seeking useful information relative to the +objects of their expedition, and in getting dreadfully out of breath by +the ascent of steep streets in an atmosphere so rarified that a +newly-arrived European can hardly take ten steps without a pause. +English housewives will read with interest Dr Weddell’s account of +Bolivian edibles, with disgust his sketch of the filthy horrors of a +Bolivian kitchen, with wonderment and incredulity the recipes he gives +for the manufacture of certain Bolivian dishes and delicacies. The mode +of using potatoes is very original. As it freezes nearly every night of +the year in the upper regions of the Andes, and the people have no means +of preserving potatoes from frost, they anticipate its action, in order +to regulate it. “They spread the potatoes on a thin layer of straw in +the open air; they water them slightly, and expose them to the frost for +three successive nights. When the vegetables subsequently thaw in the +sun, they acquire a spongy consistency; in that state they are trodden +under naked feet, in order to get rid of the skin and squeeze out the +juice; then they are left in the air until perfectly dry.” This +delectable preparation is known as the black _chuño_; and when wanted +for food, requires soaking in water for six or eight days. White _chuño_ +is prepared in another way, but one description of the sort will +probably satisfy everybody of the untempting nature of the diet. Besides +the animal and vegetable kingdoms, the mineral reign contributes to the +gratification of South American epicures. An important section of the +market at La Paz is occupied by sellers of a species of light-grey clay, +very greasy to the touch, and called _pahsa_. The Indians alone consume +it, mixing it with water to the consistency of thin gruel, and eating it +with salt. At Chuquisaca, Dr Weddell was informed, a sort of earth +called _chaco_, similar to the _pahsa_ of La Paz, was sold and eaten in +little cups, like custard or chocolate; and he heard of a _señorita_ who +thus ate dirt till she killed herself. The moderate use of this queer +article of food is not injurious, but neither does it afford the +slightest nourishment. + +The beefsteak was long in making its appearance one day at Don Adolfo’s +_gargotte_, where Dr Weddell and his companions usually took their +meals, and an impatient Frenchman started from his seat to visit the +kitchen and inquire into the delay. “Do not so!” cried a more +experienced customer; “if you see how it is done, you will not eat for a +week.” Dr Weddell had opportunity of inspecting more than one _Pazeña_ +kitchen. Besides the cooks—which we take to be something indescribably +abominable, since he describes them merely as a degree or two more +disgusting than the scene of their operations—those kitchens contain +three things,—shapeless earthen pots, black and greasy; heaps of dried +lama-dung, used as fuel; guinea-pigs _ad libitum_. Guinea-pigs are the +rabbits of Bolivia, where European rabbits are curiosities, called +Castilian conies, and kept in cages like some outlandish monkey. The +guinea-pig has the run of the kitchen, where he thrives and fattens, and +is ultimately slaughtered and cooked. + +Dr Weddell went to a ball, given in celebration of the birthday of a +young and amiable Peruvian lady, recently allied with one of the best +families of La Paz. His account of it gives a curious notion of the +degree of civilisation of the best Bolivian society. No illuminated +portals, liveried lackeys, or crowd of carriages indicated to the doctor +(who had not yet been at the house) the scene of the festival, when he +issued forth, at eight in the evening, white-waistcoated, and draped in +his cloak. The street was dark and deserted. By inquiring at shops, he +at last found the door he sought; it stood open. A little Indian girl, +whom he encountered in the court, pointed to the staircase, up which he +groped his way. At the end of a passage, upon the first floor, he +discovered a faint light. Following this beacon, and passing through two +doors that stood ajar, he reached a small room, where several of the +guests were smoking cigars round a table, on which stood half-emptied +cups and glasses. In a corner two _señoras_ were squatted, making ice; +and a little farther off an old negress was putting sugar into a caldron +of punch. The ice-makers were the mother and sister of the heroine of +the day; the master of the house was amongst the smokers. Dr Weddell +paid his respects, got rid of his cloak, and passed on into antechamber +No. 2. This was in darkness, save for the glimmering rays of light that +shot in from the adjacent rooms; and the doctor, seeing nothing, and +advancing quickly, ran up against a soft substance, which he presently +made out to be another _señora_, enveloped, even to the crown of her +head, in a vast shawl. The room was half full of shawled ladies, seated +on either side of the passage left open for the guests, some on chairs, +others on trunks, and two or three upon a bed. These _señoras_, the +doctor learned, were mothers, friends, or relatives of the guests. Not +being sufficiently smart to show themselves in the foreground of the +festival, they yet would have a view of it. They came as _mosqueteras_. +Antechamber No. 2 contained what is called, in that country, the +_mosqueteria_.[12] Another step took the doctor into the ball-room. +Thence shawls and cigars were banished, and replaced by silks and lace, +white gloves and black patent leather. Dr Weddell looked down with some +shame at his boots, which he had himself blacked before leaving home. +Silence reigned in the saloon. The ladies were on one side, the men upon +the other, waiting for the military band, which was behind time. The +first tap of the drum electrified the mute assemblage. Smiles and +animation beamed upon every face. At the same time were distributed the +fragrant contents of the caldron which the black Hecate had brewed in +anteroom No. 1. Cups of punch circulated, and were not disdained by the +ladies. Dancing began. The doctor, who, whilst climbing mountains, three +days previously, in quest of flowers and simples, had suffered terribly +from the _soroche_, and had counted a hundred and sixty throbs of his +pulse in a minute, was feverish and ill at ease, and did not intend to +dance. But he was borne away by the torrent. After the quadrille came +another distribution of punch, and a proportionate rise in the ladies’ +spirits; then came the ices which mamma and sister had so industriously +manufactured, and which were, of course, pronounced excellent; then +(Bolivia seems a very thirsty country) bottles of champagne and sherry +made their appearance, every gentleman seized as many glasses as he +could carry, and challenged the _señoritas_, who were not allowed to +refuse. The fun now grew fast and furious. A new phase of the ball +commenced. For formal quadrilles were substituted national dances. +These, Dr Weddell acutely remarks, have little merit unless danced as +soup is eaten—hot. The military orchestra played the airs of the +_bailesitos_ with infinite spirit, one of the musicians accompanying +them with words, in which there was some license and much wit. The +_zapateado_ was danced amidst vehement applause. The good-humour of the +evening was at its height. Farther they could not go, thought Dr +Weddell. He was mistaken. In an interval of the dancing, it was decided +that a colonel there present, who, in the doctor’s opinion, was +abundantly gay, was not sufficiently so, and he was condemned to be +shot. The sentence was forthwith carried into execution. The victim was +placed upon a chair in the middle of the room, the band played a funeral +march, and the unhappy (or happy) colonel was compelled to swallow, one +after the other, as many glasses of champagne or sherry as there were +young ladies present. This done, the dead-march ceased, and the culprit +was released. The German students have a custom somewhat similar to +this, _Der Fürst der Thoren_, when one sits astride upon a barrel, and +imbibes all the beer, _schnaps_, and Rhenish presented to him by his +boon-companions. But with the exception of Lola Montes, who smoked her +cigar and drank her _chopine_ in a Heidelberg _studenten-kneipe_, the +fair sex in Europe do not generally mingle in orgies of this kind. After +a substantial supper, Dr Weddell was condemned to be shot, and shot +accordingly. Other executions followed, and the jollity reached its +climax by the men voting the execution _en masse_ of the whole of the +ladies—a sentence which was resisted, but at last carried out. The +Bolivian _señoritas_ must have strong heads, for we read that dancing +recommenced and continued vigorously until five in the morning, when the +band and the majority of the guests beat a retreat. A guitar was then +procured, and the lady of the house and two or three of her friends, +with half-a-dozen of the most active of the _caballeros_, danced on, and +kept up the ball until one in the afternoon! After which, all we have to +say is, Brava, Bolivia! + +Dr Weddell, who had been unwell before the ball, was very ill after it, +and lay in bed for six weeks. When his strength returned, he made an +excursion to La Lancha, a point about four leagues from La Paz. The +steps he and his companions had taken to obtain concessions of land on +the Tipuani had not led to the results they anticipated; so they +temporarily directed their attention to the river Chuquiaguillo, upon +which La Lancha is situated. In the opinion of the natives, this place +is _un pozo de oro_—a well of gold. Early one morning in May the three +Frenchmen set out for it, upon mule-back, passing along a road +enlivened, during its early portion, with various kinds of shrubs, +bearing flowers of brilliant colours. At this part of the doctor’s book +we come to a good deal of scientific detail, accompanied by woodcuts, +all very interesting to miners and intending gold-seekers, but on which +we shall not dwell. The gold of the Chuquiaguillo is found in the form +of _pépites_, or nuggets, very various in shape and size. One of them, +sent to Spain by the Conde de Moncloa, is said to have weighed more than +twenty kilogrammes—forty-four English pounds. At various periods, and +much more recently, nuggets of several pounds’ weight have been found. + +“During the presidency of General Ballivian, an Indian came from time to +time to La Paz, to sell pieces of gold, which had the appearance of +being cut with a chisel from a considerable mass of the metal, and many +persons judged, from the colour, that the mass in question must proceed +from the river Chuquiaguillo. No bribe or promise could induce the +Indian to reveal his secret. The affair got to the ears of the +president, who expected to obtain without difficulty the information +refused to others; but the Indian held out, and would say nothing. +Finding gentle means ineffectual, the general tried threats, +imprisonment, &c., but all in vain. Finally, the poor man was condemned +to life-long service in the army, as guilty of disobedience and +disrespect to the chief of the state! From that day forward nothing more +was heard either of him or of his treasure. Some persons in La Paz told +me that he perished under the lash.” + +La Lancha (the word signifies a boat) is neither town nor village, but a +marsh. On approaching it, up a ravine, the travellers came to an immense +dike or barrier of rock, through one extremity of which the river had +wrought itself a narrow passage. This dike had evidently long been an +immense obstacle to the waters that flowed down the ravine of +Chuquiaguillo, and it was a rational enough conclusion that, since those +waters washed down gold, a good deal of the metal must still remain +behind that natural barrier. But it seemed more probable that the river +gathered its gold _after_ than _before_ passing the rocky wall. It +struck Dr Weddell as pretty certain that Count Moncloa’s nugget would +have remained behind the dike instead of being washed over it. The +conclusion was reasonable enough. Behind the dike La Lancha begins, +terminating a quarter of a league above it, at the foot of another rock, +which rises vertically to a height of thirty feet. Over this rock the +river dashes, covering its surface with great stalactites of ice, and +then winds along the right side of the marsh, where it has made itself a +channel. + +“At one point of its surface the Lancha contracts, and thus presents the +form of the figure 8. Perhaps one should seek the figure of a boat, to +which the site has been compared, in the combination of the marsh and of +the mountains of bluish schist that rise abruptly around it. According +to this manner of viewing it, the surface of the marsh would represent +the deck of the vessel, and the gold would be in the hold—that is to +say, on the rock which is supposed to form the bottom of the basin. +Several attempts have been made to ascertain the existence of the +precious metal, and we were told a multitude of attractive tales—much +too attractive to be credible. The upshot, however, which could not be +concealed, was, that all attempts had ultimately failed, owing to the +infiltration of water into the wells sunk in the attempt to reach the +_veneros_ (strata of argillaceous sand) in which the gold is found.” + +Nevertheless, the doctor thought the place worthy deliberate +examination, and to that end established himself, with Mr Herrypon the +engineer, and with Franck, their carpenter, under a tent, within which, +during the night, the thermometer rarely stood at less than three +degrees below zero. When the sun shone, the climate was genial and +agreeable; but at three o’clock it dipped behind the mountains, which +was the signal for the wanderers to creep under canvass, wrap themselves +in blankets, and feast upon the hot stew their Indian cook had passed +the morning in preparing. They had neighbours: several Indians had built +huts on the ledges of the mountains, and daily drove their sheep and +alpacas to graze upon the herbage of the marsh. From one of them Dr +Weddell subsequently obtained an alpaca for his collection. Vicuñas +occasionally strayed near the camp, and Franck managed to shoot one, +which, with viscachas and a few wild ducks, improved the campaigning +fare. + +“Of the feathered inhabitants of the district, the most curious, +unquestionably, is a species of variegated woodpecker (_Picus +rupicola_), which, notwithstanding its name of _carpintero_ (carpenter), +has all the habits of a mason. Instead of working at trees, as do its +congeners, it finds nothing in that graminaceous region but rock and +earth upon which to exercise its beak. These birds are invariably met +with in isolated pairs; they skim the ground in flying, and settle, +after a few moments’ flight, upon a sod or rock, uttering a long, +shrill, cooing sound. If one is killed, it is rare that its mate does +not come and place itself beside the dead body, as if imploring a +similar fate—a request which the sportsman is not slow to comply with, +for the _carpintero_ of the Cordilleras is a dainty morsel.” + +Whilst Dr Weddell herborised, adding nearly a hundred species of plants +to his collection, the engineer studied the Lancha with other views, and +at last resolved to sound it. Mr Borniche, who had remained at La Paz, +obtained authorisation from the Government—_el derecho de cateo_, or +right of search, in the whole of the Lancha, during a fixed time, at the +end of which he might, if he thought proper, purchase the ground at its +rough value, fixed without reference to any mineral wealth it might +contain. All this in accordance with the Mining Code. But poor Herrypon +knew not what he undertook. He had no idea of mining difficulties in +Bolivia. In this single operation he took the measure of the country’s +capabilities. A month and a half passed in hammering out, in a forge at +La Paz, a common and very clumsy Artesian screw, such as would have been +got ready in three days in a European city, and at a cost considerably +less than that of the coal consumed in the Bolivian smithy. The mere +hire of the forge and bellows-blower was four dollars (sixteen +shillings) a-day. When at last the instrument was ready and applied, +layers of solid rock and a thick bed of diffluent clay long frustrated +all the miners’ attempts. Finally, a deep well was sunk, but no gold was +found, nor signs of any, and the miners quitted the place, where nothing +less than the certainty of ultimately reaching a rich vein would have +justified them in continuing their costly and laborious researches. + +A second illness, by which he was attacked before he had fully recovered +from the debilitating effects of the first, determined Dr Weddell to +seek change of air. Whilst his engineering ally was still sinking wells +and unprofitably probing the Lancha, he set out with Mr Borniche for +Tipuani. Passing the magnificent Mount Illampŭ, which is upwards of +seven thousand English yards high, and the great lake of Titicaca, they +reached the town of Sorata, after an easy journey of thirty leagues. A +toilsome one of forty remained to be accomplished before they should +reach Tipuani. The roads were difficult, their muleteers fell ill, their +mules were stubborn and restive, and _mal-pasos_ (dangerous places to +pass) were numerous; but after a few small accidents and much fatigue +they reached the village, which derives its name from _tipa_, the name +of a tree that produces a gum known in that country as _sangre de +drago_—dragon’s blood. This tree, it is said, was formerly very abundant +in the valley of Tipuani. In the _aymara_, or Indian tongue, the +particle _ni_, added to a word, implies possession. The village consists +of fifty or sixty houses, built chiefly of palm trunks, placed side by +side, thatched with leaves of the same tree, and partitioned, when +partitions there are, with bamboos. “I found the place somewhat +increased in size since my visit in 1847, but no way improved with +respect to healthiness and cleanliness. At its entrance, stagnant water, +covered with a green scum, filled old excavations, or _diggings_, and +told that there, as in California, gold and fever are inseparable. It +sufficed, moreover, to behold the pallid countenances of the +inhabitants, to judge of the atmosphere we breathed.” This was hardly +the place for an invalid to recruit his health and strength in, and, +after visiting the mines, Dr Weddell set out for the Mission of Guanay, +boating it down the rapid and rocky Tipuani—a rather dangerous mode of +travelling. The priest of the Mission was an _aymara_ Indian, a native +of La Paz; his parishioners were _Lecos_ Indians, considerable +savages—although they had abjured paint, or only secretly used it—and +very skilful with gun and bow, as well as in the capture of several +large species of fish found in the river Mapiri, hard by which they +dwelt. Some of these fish attain the weight of nearly a hundred pounds. +They are taken with strong hooks, shot with arrows, or _hocussed_ and +taken by hand. This last practice prevails amongst some other South +American tribes. + +“The substance employed for this purpose by the Guanay Indians is the +milky juice of one of the largest trees of their forests, known by them +under the name of Soliman. It is the _Hura crepitans_ of the botanist. +To obtain this venomous milk, they cut numerous notches in the bark of +the tree, and the sap which exudes runs down and soaks the earth at its +foot. This earth, enclosed in a large sack, is thrown into the river, +and as soon as the water becomes impregnated with it, the fish within +the circle of its influence float inanimate upon the surface, and are +collected without trouble. A creek or small branch of the river is +usually selected for this operation. In other parts of Bolivia, and +especially in the province of Yungas, they use, to poison the water, the +green stalk of a small liana called _Pepko_ or _Sacha_, of which they +crush, upon a stone, a fathom’s length or two, in that part of the river +they wish to infect. Its effect is said to be as speedy as that of the +Soliman sap, and I was assured that the fish thus taken could be eaten +with impunity. It is not to be thence inferred that the sap, like the +poison used for their arrows by the Indians of Guiana and on the Amazon, +may be taken by man without injury; it is to the extreme smallness of +the dose swallowed with the fish that its apparent harmlessness is to be +attributed. The sap of the Soliman has, in fact, such caustic qualities, +that its mere emanations cause violent irritation of the organs which +receive them. We saw at the Mission a person who had lost his sight in +consequence of a few drops of this juice having accidentally spirted +into his eyes; and Messrs Boussingault and Rivero related that, having +subjected the sap of the Soliman to evaporation, with a view to analyse +it, the person who superintended the operation had his face swollen and +his eyes and ears ulcerated, and was cured only after several days’ +medical treatment.” + +Bolivia is evidently a fine field for the botanist. Dr Weddell mentions +a number of vegetables unknown, or little known, in Europe, but +interesting and valuable by reason of their medical properties or +economical uses. When in the province of Yungas, he briefly refers to +two or three of the principal of these: “The _Matico_, a shrub of the +pepper tribe, whose leaves, which resemble those of sage, have +remarkable vulnerary properties; the _Vejuco_, a curious species of +_Aristolochia_, whose crushed leaves are said to be an infallible cure +for the bites of serpents; and a sort of _Myrica_, or wax-tree, whose +berries, soaked in boiling water, yield in abundance a green wax, used +to make candles.” Concerning the _Quinquina_, or Peruvian bark tree, and +the _Coca_ shrub, whose leaves the Indians chew, the doctor gives many +interesting particulars. When descending the river Coroico in a _balsa_ +or Indian canoe, he frequently encountered his old acquaintances the +_cascarilleros_, or bark-gatherers, who pursue their wild and solitary +calling in the interior of the forests, dwelling under sheds of +palm-leaves, and exposed to many dangers and hardships. Whilst seeking, +one evening, a good place to bivouac, the doctor, and the _padre_ from +the Guanay Mission, who was then his fellow-traveller, came upon a +_cascarillero’s_ hut, in front of which they beheld a horrible +spectacle. A man lay upon the ground in the agonies of death. He was +almost naked; and, whilst yet alive, he was preyed upon by thousands of +insects, whose stings and bites doubtless accelerated his end. “His +face, especially, was so much swollen that its features could not be +distinguished; and his limbs, the only portion of this corpse which +still moved, were in an equally hideous state. Under the roof of leaves +was the remainder of the poor wretch’s clothes, consisting of a straw +hat and a ragged blanket; beside them lay a flint and steel, and an old +knife. A small earthen pot contained the remains of his last meal—a +little maize, and two or three frozen potatoes. For a few seconds the +missionary contemplated this piteous object, then made a step towards +the unfortunate man, and was about, I thought, to offer him some +assistance, at least of a spiritual nature, but his courage failed him; +and, suddenly turning away, he walked hastily to his _balsa_, and had +himself rowed to a place some hundred yards farther, upon the opposite +bank of the river.” In fact, the tortured bark-gatherer was beyond human +aid, and on the brink of death. Dr Weddell covered him with his blanket, +and returned to the boats. + +We have dipped but into a few chapters of this compendious volume of +nearly six hundred pages. A large portion of its contents are more +interesting to naturalists and miners than to the general reader. Dr +Weddell’s investigations are of a comprehensive nature, including the +animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, extending to an analysis of the +various Indian languages of the country, and even to Bolivian music, of +which he furnishes specimens. A map, some useful illustrations, an +excellent table of contents, and headings to the chapters, give the work +a completeness not so common in French as in English publications of +this nature. Having adopted it for examination as a book of travel, and +not of scientific and mining research, we recommend the numerous +chapters we have not touched upon to those classes of readers to which +they especially address themselves, and turn to Mr Pavie’s sketches of +countries adjacent to those in which Dr Weddell has more recently +wandered. It does not appear, from the former gentleman’s book, that his +rambles had any more serious motive than love of locomotion, and a +curiosity to view strange lands. The form he has adopted, and the modest +pretensions announced in his preface, relieving him of most of the +responsibility to which writers of travel usually hold themselves +subject, he gives no account of himself, is very desultory, and does not +take the trouble to supply dates. We collect, however, from his volume +and preface, that some years have elapsed since his travels were +performed, and that he was then a young man, eager for adventure, and +enthusiastic for local peculiarities and national characteristics. It is +with a view to variety, he tells us, that he has jumbled the sections of +his book, and irregularly distributed those of them which have a natural +order and sequence of their own. It was about twenty years ago—as we +gather from the internal evidence of the chapters—that Mr Pavie left +Buenos Ayres for Valparaiso, by the route across the Pampas. The moment +was not particularly well chosen for such a journey. Anarchy was at its +height in South America, and especially in the country of the Argentine +republic. There was strife between federalists and unitarians. The +Indians, resuming the offensive, had committed many depredations, and +defeated the volunteers of the province of Cordova. The roads were far +from safe; impediments and stoppages were numerous, and two months were +consumed by the journey from La Plata to the Cordillera, a distance of +three hundred leagues. When at only four days’ march from the Andes, +snow fell, and a halt was called in the poor little town of Mendoza. The +mountains were white from foot to summit; there was no possibility of +crossing them; patience must be cultivated, and spring waited for. In +these dull winter-quarters Mr Pavie had abundant leisure to note down +the incidents of his two months’ journey, to gather characteristic +traits of the people, and striking anecdotes of the war. We shall take +him up, however, at an earlier period of his expedition, when he was but +a week out from Buenos Ayres. He had traversed the province of the same +name and that of Santa Fé, and hoped to reach the town of Cordova upon +the following night. A forest succeeded to bare and monotonous plains. +The horses trotted briskly over a light sandy soil, refreshed by +numerous streams; the country was smiling, the vegetation rich. It still +wanted two hours of sunset, and another league would bring the +travellers to the post-house of the _esquina_—the Corner—situated at the +junction of the two high-roads which connect the Pacific and the +Atlantic—one leading northwards, to Bolivia and Peru, the other +south-west, to Chili, passing through St Luis and Mendoza. Mr Pavie +would have availed himself of the remaining daylight to push on a stage +farther, but a young Cordovan, who accompanied him, and who was a lively +and pleasant fellow, urged him to pass the night at the _esquina_. It +was kept by a widow, he said, a certain Doña Ventura, whose eggs with +tomata sauce were quite beyond praise, and whose daughter Pepa sang like +a nightingale. It was a long road from that to Santiago de Chili—three +hundred leagues, besides the Andes to cross, and the season was +advanced, but Mr Pavie was unwilling to disoblige his friend. + +“An old _gaucho_, the widow’s managing man, came out to receive us. +Whilst the horses were unharnessed, a lad of twelve or thirteen, +beautiful as one of Murillo’s shepherds—who was hurling stones at the +wild pigeons perched upon the fig-trees—threw his sling across his +shoulder, and ran into the house, crying out—‘Mother! mother! here is +Don Mateo with some foreign señores.’ Don Mateo, our Cordovan friend, +went to see after dinner, and to inform the post-mistress that we should +not need horses before the next morning. The travellers’ room was +tolerably clean, and very large. Its sole furniture consisted of a small +lamp burning before an image of the Virgin, and of a guitar suspended +from a nail. When dinner was ready, Doña Ventura brought in immense +arm-chairs, covered with leather and gilt nails, and evidently made at +Granada in the time of the Catholic kings. Some very brisk peasant girls +(_cholas_), who said nothing, but looked a great deal, laid the table, +and placed upon it the promised eggs and tomatas, and large salad-bowls +containing lumps of roast meat swimming in gravy. Pimento had not been +spared. The soup was brought to us, according to the custom of the +country, at the end of the repast. The post-mistress, seated upon the +estrade or platform that extended completely round the room, triumphed +in our famous appetites, and proudly drew herself up whenever one of us +paid her a more or less exaggerated compliment on the excellence of her +dinner. Pepa, a handsome girl, with a remarkably white skin and fresh +complexion, stood near her, smoking a cigarrito, and gazing about with +her great blue eyes, which were shaded by long dark lashes. Juancito, +the boy with the sling, rambled round the table, and unceremoniously +tasted the Bordeaux wine in our glasses. Dinner cleared away, Mateo took +down the guitar and presented it to Pepa: ‘Señorita,’ he said, ‘these +gentlemen would be enchanted to hear you sing; favour them with a +ballad, and they will consider you the most amiable girl—_la mas +preciosa niña_—in the entire province.’ We were about to add our +entreaties to those of Mateo, but the young girl had already tuned the +instrument; and, without coughing, complaining of a cold, or waiting to +be asked again, she sang half-a-dozen very long songs. At the end of +every verse Mateo applauded. Pepa certainly had a charming voice, which +she did not badly manage. Gradually her countenance grew animated. From +time to time she stopped and exclaimed—‘Ay, Jesus! I am dead!’ and then +went on again. Doña Ventura at last began to accompany her daughter’s +song. At every chorus we slapped the table with the palms of our hands; +and Mateo, imitating castanets with his fingers, danced like a madman in +the middle of the hall.” + +This thoroughly Spanish-American scene was interrupted by the arrival of +fifteen waggons, each drawn by six oxen, and laden with dried fruits, +cotton, and bales of horse-hair. They drew up in line upon the open +space in whose centre stood the post-house. The oxen, unharnessed, +joined the reserve drove which followed the convoy, in charge of a dozen +horsemen; and from the innermost recesses of the vehicles there emerged +bullock-drivers, women, children, passengers of all ages and of motley +aspect, who had joined the caravan in order to get over three hundred +leagues at small expense. Some ran to cut wood, others to fetch water. +Fires were lighted, and enormous slices of meat set to roast before them +upon spits stuck in the ground. Every convoy of this kind is under the +orders of a _capataz_ or chief. This one was commanded by a certain Gil +Perez, whose arrival seemed of strong interest to Doña Ventura and her +daughter. Pepa hastened to adorn herself with a silk shawl, the gaudy +product of a Lyons loom, and with a fashionable Buenos Ayres comb, a +foot high. His camp established, Gil Perez entered the house with a +beaming countenance. He had brought presents for everybody;—a scarf and +satin shoes for Pepa, a Peruvian gold chain for her mother, a dirk for +Juancito. In Spanish countries acquaintance is soon made. His gifts +distributed, Perez sat down and chatted with Don Mateo and the other +travellers; whilst the bullock-drivers, the _cholas_, and the postilions +of the _esquina_, were dancing outside. By and by, Perez, who had been +out to look after his people, announced the approach of more travellers, +indicated by a cloud of dust in the south-east. Juancito went out to +reconnoitre, and reported that the muleteers from San Juan were close at +hand. Pepa and her mother exchanged a rapid glance. The muleteers halted +at some distance from the posting-house, and unloaded their beasts, each +of which carried two barrels of brandy. Their chief dismounted and +walked towards the house, his saddle-bags over his shoulder. Walking +rapidly and on tiptoe, on account of the long steel spurs which he +dragged at his heels, he knocked at Doña Ventura’s door. Juancito +answered. + +“Gil Perez looked at the muleteer pretty much as an admiral might look +at the humble master of a merchantman. The muleteer, disconcerted at +finding the room full of strange faces, to say nothing of that of the +_capataz_, which seemed greatly to incommode him, paused near the door +for some seconds. + +“‘Come in, Fernando,’ said Doña Ventura; ‘you are surprised to see my +Pepita in full dress, eh, my lad? We have had an arrival of gentlemen. +Will you sup? I have some _puchero_ at hand.’ + +“‘Thanks, señora,’ replied Fernando; ‘I want nothing. You know that I +never pass this way without calling to see Pepita. I have brought you a +little barrel of the best brandy that has been tasted at San Juan for +many a year.’ + +“‘Is the brandy for Pepa?’ said Gil Perez. + +“‘Don Gil,’ replied the muleteer, ‘every one gives what he has, and +according to his means.’ Then, turning to the young girl—‘Pepita,’ he +said, ‘when you were a child you liked the tarts made in our mountains; +I have brought you some, and of the best peaches.’ + +“Whilst speaking, he drew from his saddle-bags the little barrel of +brandy, and a dozen square cakes filled with a thick marmalade, which +seemed particularly grateful to the gums of Juancito. Then he sat +himself down near Pepa, and looked proudly at the captain of the +waggons. + +“‘How many beasts have you?’ said the latter. + +“‘Fifteen, besides saddle-horses.’ + +“‘Just as many as I have carts. Not so bad, really. You carry thirty +casks—half a load for one of my waggons. Pshaw! what can you earn? A +poor trade is yours, my lad, and you will follow it long before you grow +rich.’ + +“‘When I am tired of it,’ replied Fernando, ‘I will try another.’ The +muleteer spoke these words in a singular tone. + +“‘Fernando is stout-hearted,’ said Doña Ventura, ‘and he will do well +yet; and he will find, somewhere in his own province, a pretty girl with +a good dowry. Eh, Fernando?’ + +“Fernando made no reply, but pulled down his little pointed hat over his +forehead;—his eyes glittered like those of a cat. Seizing the guitar, +which lay upon the bench beside Pepa, he strummed it with an absent air, +like one absorbed by his thoughts. Juancito, who stood before him, +waiting doubtless for the end of the prelude, and for the commencement +of some lively mountain ditty, pushed his arm, and said—‘Fernando, have +you seen the fine presents Gil Perez has brought us?’ Without raising +his eyes, the muleteer sang, in a low voice, this verse of an old +ballad:— + + ‘No estès tan contenta, Juana, + En ver me penar por ti; + Que lo que hoy fuere de mi, + Podrá ser de ti mañana,’[13] + +Then suddenly throwing down the guitar, he jumped upon the estrade, +extinguished the lamp that burned before the Madonna, and clapped his +hand to his knife. Pepa took refuge close to her mother. At the cry she +uttered, Gil Perez stood upon his guard; but Fernando passed close by +him without looking at him, and reached the door. ‘Ah, Pepita!’ muttered +he as he went out, ‘you will drive me to harm!’ And he disappeared.” + +This stormy episode broke up the party. Agitated and alarmed, Doña +Ventura and her daughter betook themselves to their bedchambers. The +travellers wrapped themselves in their blankets—Mr Pavie establishing +himself, according to his custom, in their _coche-galera_, or +travelling-carriage, where he slept but little, owing to the songs and +dancing of the waggon-drivers, and the screaming of innumerable parrots. +The night passed without incident, and at daybreak he was roused by +Mateo. The horses were ready; the San Juan muleteers were already on +their road; Gil Perez, foot in stirrup, was directing the departure of +his convoy. That evening the travellers reached Cordova. + +Several months had elapsed since the scene at the _esquina_, and Mr +Pavie, after rambling through Chili and Pern, returned to Santiago, the +capital of the former country. Looking on, one night, at a dance in a +public garden, he fell in with his old acquaintance, Don Mateo, somewhat +threadbare, but still a passionate lover of song and dance. One of the +political changes so common in South America had driven him across the +Andes. He was an exile, proscribed in his own country. His party had +fallen, his patrimony had been swallowed up by fines, and he deemed +himself fortunate to have saved his neck. + +“Do you remember,” said Mateo, as he leaned beside his French friend +upon the parapet bordering the Tajamar, and gazed at the summits of the +Cordillera, which still reflected a last gleam of sun—“do you recollect +one evening at the _esquina_? Well, of all the persons then assembled +under Doña Ventura’s hospitable roof, and including her and her +daughter, how many, do you suppose, still live? Two, you and I! The +first scene of the drama passed before your eyes. I will narrate those +that ensued. You have not forgotten our merry supper at the +posting-house, Gil Perez and his waggons, and Fernando, the little +muleteer with the long spurs?” + +Mr Pavie perfectly remembered all that had passed at the _esquina_. +Mateo took up the tale from the moment of their departure. Although +Fernando and Gil Perez started nearly at the same moment, they met no +more until they reached Buenos Ayres. The _aria_ (string of mules) +trotted briskly over the plain, whilst the heavy waggons lingered in the +ruts. Four days had elapsed since Fernando’s arrival, when Perez reached +his usual halting-ground near the hill of the Retiro, and, after turning +out his cattle to graze, rode into the city. As soon as he was gone, the +bullock-drivers, a vagabond and insubordinate race, gathered round the +camp-fires to discuss the news that had reached them of insurrections in +the inland provinces. Most of these wild _gauchos_ felt sorely tempted +to exchange goad for lance, and join the armed bands then scouring the +country. To gallop in boundless plains, to pillage isolated farms, and +attack hamlets—such was the fascinating perspective that offered itself +to their imagination. Whilst they were debating the probable course of +events in the _tierra adentro_, Fernando came by. He was on foot; his +long spurs were still at his heels. + +“‘Ha!’ cried the bullock-drivers, ‘here is the little muleteer, the +brandy-merchant from San Juan! Give us a barrel, Fernando, and we will +drink your health.’ + +“‘Give me something to eat,’ replied the muleteer, ‘I am fasting since +yesterday.’ + +“And cutting a slice off a great piece of beef that roasted at the fire, +he took one end of it in his fingers, put the other into his mouth, and +swallowed it at a single gulp, as a lazzarone swallows an ell of +macaroni. Then he wiped his knife on his cowskin boot and lay down under +a cart to sleep. When Gil Perez returned and walked round his camp, he +saw the muleteer, who was snoring on the grass. + +“‘Hallo, Fernando!’ he cried, ‘what do you there, my man?’ + +“‘Resting myself,’ replied Fernando, rubbing his eyes, ‘I have passed +four days and nights playing at cards.’ + +“‘Have you won?’ + +“‘Lost everything—my load of brandy, my mules, all I had in the world. +Lend me twenty dollars, Gil Perez?’ + +“‘To gamble them?’ + +“‘Perhaps. See, I was a steady man; I never played, and you are cause +that I am perhaps about to become a robber. I have known Pepa from her +childhood; her mother received me well, saw that I loved her daughter, +and encouraged me to work and increase my little trade. Every trip I +made I never missed calling at the _esquina_, and every trip I found +Pepa prettier than before. She received me joyfully, and I was happy. +But since two years that you have gone that road, all is changed. With +your gold chains and silk shawls you have turned their heads. Lend me +twenty dollars, that I may make them presents and regain their favour. +You are rich, Gil Perez—you will find a wife in the towns, at Salta, +Cordova, where you please; I am poor, but I love Pepita, the only girl +who would not refuse me, ruined though I be.’” + +Surprised at the muleteer’s frank explanation and request, Gil Perez +offered him the twenty dollars, but laughed at the idea of abandoning +his pretensions to Pepita. Fernando refused the money, and departed with +a muttered threat. That night he took to the plain, mounted on a fine +horse and bearing gold in his girdle—the spoils of a traveller he had +waylaid and murdered. The die was cast; the honest muleteer had become a +_gaucho malo_. + +A few days after this, Fernando rode up to the _esquina_. Little +Juancito ran to kiss him. Torribio, the steward, surprised to see him +come alone, riding a valuable horse and without his usual retinue of +mules and muleteers, hurried out to meet him. “_Amigo!_” he cried, +“whence come you, thus finely equipped? It seems the San Juan brandy +fetches a good price in the market!” Without replying, Fernando abruptly +opened the door and addressed the two women, astonished at his sudden +appearance. + +“The _gauchada_ is about to take the field,” he said, “and I greatly +fear that one of its earliest visits will be for you. I have friends in +its ranks; give me your daughter, Doña Ventura, and I answer for her +safety and yours.’ + +“‘Since when are you allied with the brigands, Fernando?’ indignantly +demanded Doña Ventura. + +“‘Pepita,’ said the muleteer, evading reply, ‘will you have me?—You +tremble—you turn away your head!—Are you afraid of me, Pepita? Do you +take me for a bandit?’ + +“There was something terrible in the sound of Fernando’s voice, which +even the passionate love he still felt for Pepa was insufficient to +soften. The young girl in vain endeavoured to speak. + +“‘Fernando,’ cried Doña Ventura, ‘when last you were here, you left my +house like a madman, your hand on the haft of your knife; you enter it +to-day like a bandit, with threats upon your lips. Begone, and return no +more; I need not your protection.’ + +“‘Ha! you mean to say that Gil Perez will protect you. Reckon upon that! +There are times when fine shawls and gold chains are not worth sabre and +carbine. After all, I too have gold! See here. Once more, Pepita, will +you follow me? I am no longer a muleteer; it was too base a trade, was +it not? Shall I carry you off on my horse’s crupper into the sierra of +Cordova and to Chili?’” + +Pepa, frightened at the _gaucho’s_ fierce voice and vehement manner, +burst into tears and fainted in her mother’s arms. Fernando hastily left +the house, his love—the last good sentiment his heart retained—exchanged +for bitter hate. + +It was not long after this incident, early upon a winter’s morning, that +Gil Perez, riding ahead of his waggons, which had camped on the banks of +the Rio Salado, discerned at the horizon a dozen black specks that +rapidly approached him. Soon he made them out to be horsemen, armed some +with lances, others with rifles. Deeming them suspicious, he rode back +and formed his caravan in order of battle. The waggons were arranged in +a circle, the bullocks inwards; arms were distributed to the men, and +from between the waggons the muzzles of pistols and blunderbusses +menaced those who should assail the fortress. These arrangements were +scarcely made when the party of horsemen slackened speed, and one of +them rode forward alone. At twenty paces from the waggons he drew rein +and removed the handkerchief, which partly concealed his face. + +“‘Don Gil,’ cried the horseman, ‘confess that the little muleteer +Fernando has given you a famous fright.’ + +“‘It is you,’ replied Perez, ‘what do you here? what do you want of us?’ + +“‘I have changed my trade, _amigo_; did I not once tell you that when I +should be tired of mule-driving, I had another trade in view? I am now +an ostrich hunter. A fine flock escaped from us this morning. Have you +not met it?’ + +“‘Another poor trade that you have taken to,’ replied Perez. ‘If that be +all you have to say to me, there was no need to charge down upon us with +your comrades like a band of robbers. When you first came in sight there +were some ostriches about a mile in front of me; if those are what you +seek, continue your hunt and leave us to continue our journey.’ + +“During this parley, the bullock-drivers, believing danger past, ceased +to stand upon the defensive; Fernando’s comrades slowly approached and +carelessly mingled with them, rolling their cigarritos and entering into +conversation. Although suspecting no treachery, Perez hesitated to +resume his march so long as Fernando and his band were there. Thus the +halt was prolonged, and the ostriches, no longer frightened by the +creaking of wheels, reappeared upon a rising ground behind which they +had taken refuge. + +“‘Don Gil,’ exclaimed Fernando, ‘I will wager that my horse, which has +already done ten leagues to-day, will overtake one of those birds sooner +than yours, fresh though he be.’ + +“‘I have no time to try,’ replied Perez, annoyed at the delay; ‘the +place is not safe, and I am in haste to see the houses of Cordova.’ + +“‘Pshaw! a five minutes’ ride,’ said the muleteer; ‘come, one gallop, +and I will rid you of my company, and of that of my friends, with which +you do not seem over and above pleased.’ + +“‘So be it then,’ answered Perez, ‘and then I must be off;’ and he set +spurs to his horse. Fernando rode so close to him that their knees +touched. The _gauchos_ and drivers shouted to excite the two horses, +which seemed to fly over the plain; and the ostriches, finding +themselves pursued, fled their fastest, stretching out their necks, +beating the air with their short wings, and furrowing the ocean of tall +herbage by rapid zigzags right and left. The two horsemen gained upon +them. The furious race had lasted at least ten minutes, when Fernando +fell into the rear. Gil Perez, looking back to calculate the distance +that separated them, saw him brandishing a set of balls as big as his +fist.[14] ‘_Amigo_,’ cried he, without stopping, ‘those balls are big +enough to catch a wild horse.’ Whilst he sought, in his girdle, the +small leaden balls he proposed throwing round the ostrich’s neck, his +horse fell, his fore-legs entangled in the ropes that had just quitted +the muleteer’s hands. The violence of the fall was in proportion to the +rapidity of the ride. On beholding his rival roll in the dust, Fernando +uttered a triumphant shout. Perez, who had fallen upon his left side, +sought to extricate his sabre in order to cut the terrible cord which +shackled his horse’s legs. The poor brute, panting and covered with +foam, struggled violently for release. Before Gil Perez could draw his +weapon, the muleteer was on foot and held him by the throat. + +“‘You are a traitor and a coward!’ cried the unfortunate Perez, giddy +from his fall, and trying to shake his enemy off. ‘You have led me into +a snare to murder me!’ + +“‘That is not all,’ coolly replied the muleteer. ‘Look yonder; you see +that smoke, it proceeds from your waggons. The plain is on fire. ’Tis +you whom I was hunting, _carretero_ (waggoner); but for you I should +still be a muleteer. I have become a brigand. I have seen Pepa; she +rejects me. The traitor, I say, is you, who have ruined all my hopes.’ + +“Perez was active and vigorous: on equal terms his enemy would not have +dared contend with him; but surprise and terror paralysed his strength. +After deliberately stabbing him, Fernando passed a rope round his neck, +and, as he still breathed, dragged him to a neighbouring stream and +threw him into the water.” + +Gil Perez dead, most of his men, who had arms and were more than a match +for the banditti, joined the latter, plundered the waggons, killed the +oxen, and departed with their new comrades, those who had no horses +riding double. Fernando promised to take them to a place where they +could mount themselves well. He kept his word. One night, old Torribio, +who, ever since Fernando’s visit and the commencement of the civil war, +had kept vigilant watch, and frequently patrolled the neighbourhood of +the _esquina_, thought he heard voices in the forest. He bridled up the +horses, which he always had ready-saddled in the stable, and entreated +his mistress and her daughter to escape by the Cordova road. The two +women got upon the same horse; Torribio, armed with sabre and carbine, +mounted another, to escort them; Juancito, not understanding the danger, +leaped, light and laughing, into his saddle, whip in hand, and his sling +over his shoulder. The little party set out. They would have escaped an +enemy to whom the locality was not familiar. But Fernando had placed +spies round the posting-house, and lay in ambush upon the road to +Cordova. A bullet from Torribio’s carbine grazed the brigand’s cheek; +the next moment the faithful old servant lay in the road, his skull +cleft by a sabre-cut. Juancito escaped into the forest. His mother and +sister did the same, but were captured and taken back to the +posting-house, which was pillaged and afterwards burnt. The outlaws then +departed. Doña Ventura had supplied them plentifully with brandy, hoping +to escape during their intoxication, but Fernando drank nothing. When +the moment came for departure, he lifted Pepa upon his horse, repulsed +with his foot her despairing mother—who in vain struggled and clung to +her child—and rode off. Pepita, more dead than alive, uttered lamentable +cries. The muleteer heeded them not, but sang the lines he had sung upon +the memorable night when he found Gil Perez at the posting-house, and +left it with a sombre prediction that Pepa would drive him to evil. + + “No estès tan contenta, Juana, + En ver me penar por ti; + Que lo que hoy fuere de mi, + Podrá ser de ti mañana.” + +Doña Ventura’s fate is not upon record; she is believed to have perished +of hunger, misery, and cold. Juancito lost his way in the pampas. +Although bred in the desert, the poor boy had not sufficient experience +to guide himself by sun and stars. It was never known how long he held +out. Not many days after his flight, there was found, upon the frontier +of the Indian country, a child’s corpse, which was supposed to be his. A +whip hung from the wrist, and a sling was over the shoulder. The birds +of prey had made a skeleton of the body. + +The fate of poor Pepita was far worse even than that of her mother and +brother. Forced to follow the fortunes of the _gaucho malo_ and his +band, she was compelled to enliven their bivouacs by song and dance. At +first, even the rude desperados amongst whom she had fallen, were +inclined to pity her sufferings, but soon they imitated the contempt +with which Fernando treated her. Elegantly dressed, she accompanied them +everywhere; she was their ballet-dancer and opera-singer. Her duty was +to amuse those who rarely addressed but to insult her. She was known in +the country as the wife of the _gaucho malo_. Sometimes, in the night, +when the robbers, overcome by fatigue, slept to the last man, she might +have escaped; but whither could she fly? Their halts were generally in +places remote from all habitations; and even had she reached a farm or +village, what sort of welcome would there have been for the supposed +wife of the _gaucho malo_ and accomplice of his misdeeds? + +“After several months,” Mateo continued, “passed in rambling about the +plains, Fernando, emboldened by impunity and success, approached the +villages. Other bands, better organised and more numerous than his own, +spread terror through the province of Cordova. He profited by the +general confusion to take share in the fight, like a privateer who +spreads his sails in the wake of friendly frigates. The militia, called +out to oppose the insurgents who threatened the town of Cordova, were +beaten. The town remained in the power of the horsemen of the plain, and +the militia could not return to their homes, of which the enemy had +taken possession. They were forced to fly, exchanging a few parting +shots with roving corps that sought to impede their escape. I was of the +number of the fugitives. The company to which I belonged daily +diminished. Every man secretly betook himself to the place where he +hoped an asylum. Only twenty of us remained together, resolved to make +for the western provinces, and to cross the Andes into Chili: we had two +hundred leagues to get over before putting the frontier between us and +the enemy. + +“One evening, as we were riding through the sierra of Cordova, we +noticed a bivouac amongst the rocks. ‘Shall we reconnoitre that camp?’ I +asked of the officer who commanded us. ‘They are _gauchos_,’ he replied; +‘it is almost dark, we can pass them unperceived: the robbers are not +fond of fighting when there is no chance of booty;’ and we silently +continued our march. By the light of the bivouac fires, we made out a +dozen horsemen seated on the ground upon their saddles. Their lances +were piled in a sheaf in the middle of the camp; before them a woman was +dancing, her figure and movements clearly defined against the bright +fire-light. They did not hear us; we marched at a walk, pistol in +bridle, hand and carbine on thigh. We had already passed the bivouac +unperceived, and were closing up our files preparatory to starting off +at a gallop—it was no use fighting, the game was already lost—when a +young man in the rearguard imprudently fired at the group. In an +instant, the _gauchos_ were armed and on horseback. Then they paused for +a moment to see whence the danger came. We set up a loud shout, which +the echoes repeated. The _gauchos_ were terrified. Whilst they hesitated +to assume the offensive, we turned their camp. They fired half-a-dozen +carbines at us, but hit nobody. Those who had no firearms went about and +ran, and their example was quickly followed by the rest of the band. +Their flight was accelerated by the shots we sent after them. A few +fell, but we did not stop to count the dead. This useless victory might +betray our flight; our best plan was now to hasten on through the +ravines, and avoid for the future all similar encounters. + +“During the skirmish, the woman who had been dancing before the fire had +disappeared. We thought no more of her. Suddenly, as we formed up, a +shadow passed before the head of the column. ‘Who goes there?’ cried the +officer, and we quickly reloaded. ‘Who goes there?’ he repeated, probing +with his sabre the bushes that bordered the path. We listened, and +presently we heard a plaintive moan, followed by sobs. ‘It is a wounded +man,’ said the officer: ‘so much the worse for him, the devil a doctor +have we here!’ + +“‘Señores caballeros,’ cried the mysterious being that was thus hid in +the darkness, ‘have pity upon me—save me! He is dead! I am free! Ah! +mother, mother!’... + +“The officer had dismounted; a young girl threw her arms round his neck, +repeating the words: ‘Save me—he is dead!’ We had all halted. ‘It is the +dancing-girl,’ said the men; ‘she detains us here to give time to her +friends to return. It is the wife of the _gaucho malo_.’ + +“‘I am Pepa Flores,’ she vehemently replied, ‘the daughter of Doña +Ventura of the _esquina_! Ah, _señores_, you are honest people, you are! +Never, never have I been Fernando’s wife. Is there none here who knows +Doña Ventura?’ + +“I at once recognised Pepa’s voice. ‘She speaks the truth,’ I cried; ‘I +will answer for her. Come, Pepita, you have nothing to fear with us.’ + +“Fernando had perished in the skirmish. It was perhaps my hand that had +terminated the career of the formidable bandit, and liberated Pepita. +When she learned that her mother was dead—I myself was obliged to impart +to her the mournful fact, which everybody else knew—she shed a flood of +tears, and begged me to take her with me. A proscribed fugitive, I had +enough to do to take care of myself; but how could I resist the +entreaties of an orphan, who had neither friend nor relative in the +world?” + +All the fugitives pitied the poor girl, and were kind to her. Her +character had been changed, as well it might be, by her abode with the +_gaucho malo_ and his band. She was no longer the timid, indolent +creature whom Mateo had known at the posting-house; she was quick, +alert, courageous, and gave little trouble to anybody. At halts she made +herself useful, and was particularly grateful and attentive to Mateo, +whom she called her saviour and liberator. At the town of San Luis, he +would have left her in charge of a respectable family, but she wept +bitterly, and begged to follow his fortunes, disastrous though they +were. He was then for the first time convinced that she had never loved +either Fernando or Gil Perez. The poor girl had attached herself to the +man who had delivered her from dreadful captivity, and shown her +disinterested kindness. At Mendoza he again attempted to prevail on her +to accept of an asylum under a friendly roof, but with no better success +than at San Luis. The season was far advanced, snow rendered the passage +of the Andes dangerous and very painful. Mateo’s companions urged her to +wait till spring, when she might rejoin them at Santiago. She would not +hear of delay. Her vision was fixed upon Chili and its Paradise Valley, +Valparaiso. Providing themselves with sheepskins for protection against +the cold, and abandoning their arms, now a useless encumbrance, the +party commenced the toilsome ascent. They got on pretty well until they +reached the region of snow. There they were obliged to quit their +horses, and to climb on foot the steep and frozen acclivities, bearing +on their shoulders heavy loads of provisions and fuel, their legs +wrapped in fur, and handkerchiefs tied over their ears. Pepita, her head +and neck enveloped in a large shawl, marched stoutly along, and often +led the way, bounding like a mountain goat. Three days passed thus. +There were frequent falls upon the frozen snow, many narrow escapes from +death in a torrent, or over a precipice. The enormous condor hovered +over the heads of the weary pilgrims, as if hoping a repast at their +expense. At last they reached the foot of the Cumbre, the last steep +they had to climb before commencing their descent into a milder climate, +and a land of refuge. An icy wind blew, a driving snow fell: it was +doubtful whether the Cumbre could be ascended upon the morrow. The +wanderers halted early, in a hut known by the ominous name of _Casucha +de Calavera_ (the Cabin of the Skull). They had still a little wine in +their ox-horns, which they heated and drank, and then wrapped themselves +in their blankets and lay down to sleep. At midnight the wind was still +high, but the snow had ceased, and they determined to proceed. The +reflection of the sun from the snow had so fatigued their eyes, that +they travelled in the night as often as they could safely do so. Their +next stage was almost perpendicular, but it was unbroken by precipices, +and they thought they might risk progress. They would have done more +prudently to await daylight, but they were eager to cross the +frontier—to reach the summit of the Cumbre, the boundary-line between +Chili and the Argentine provinces. They began to ascend. Poor Pepa’s +feet were swollen, and she suffered in walking, but she was as +courageous as ever, and made light of hardship. Soon the travellers +entered a dense fog: they no longer saw the stars; all around them was +white as a shroud. The fog became sleet; they plodded wearily on, +supporting themselves with their sticks, sometimes on hands and knees. + +“I was so weary,” said Mateo, “that I thought I was in a dream. I had no +sensation in my body, but my head was very painful. A few paces off, I +heard the frozen snow crack gently under Pepa’s feet, and I discerned +her form accompanying me like my shadow. Snow succeeded the sleet; it +fell in heavy flakes, and accumulated so rapidly as to threaten burial +to laggards. The path—or rather the track—was invisible; in spite of all +my efforts to follow it, I felt that I was deviating. I called to Pepa, +but neither her voice nor the voices of my comrades replied; we were +scattered. I walked on at random, I know not for how long. When daylight +came, I found myself in a deep ravine, amidst snowdrifts and glaciers. +Right and left, as far as I could see, was a vista of similar valleys. +Not a vestige of Pepa or of my comrades. My strength failed me. With +great difficulty I crept into a sort of cave amongst the rocks. There I +fell asleep.” + +He would have perished but for Pepa, who, on discovering his absence, +spurred his comrades, by her reproaches, to a search for the friend whom +their own terrible sufferings and fatigues would have induced them to +abandon. There was, indeed, little chance of finding and saving him, and +the men would have been fully justified in consulting their own safety, +and pushing forwards. But a woman’s courage shamed them. Pepa, _esperaba +desesperada_—despairing, she still hoped. She nobly paid her debt of +gratitude to her deliverer. His life was saved, but hers was lost. Her +hands and face cut and bleeding from the cold, her legs scarcely able to +support her, she traced him out. It was still in time; friction restored +him to consciousness. But the sunlight had scarcely greeted his eyes, +when a cry of distress reached his ears. A treacherous crust of snow, +covering a crevice of incalculable depth, gave way beneath Pepa’s feet, +and she disappeared for ever. + +The whole of this sketch—of which we have given but a bare outline, +omitting many incidents—is full of life, interest, and character, +although it is to be remarked and regretted that Mr Pavie’s style is +deficient in that terseness and vigour which enhance the fascination of +narratives of adventure. He is too diffuse and explicit, dwells too +lovingly upon details, distrusts his readers’ intelligence, and is +rather sentimental than energetic. “Pepita” is decidedly the best of his +South American sketches. That entitled “The Pinchegras” has interest. +For several years after the battle of Ayacucho had finally overthrown +Spanish dominion in Chili, an armed band, known as the Pinchegras, from +the name of their chief, still upheld the banner of Castile. Pablo +Pinchegra began his singular career with his brothers and a few +vagabonds for sole followers. They formed a mere gang of robbers. +Presently he was joined by several Indian caciques and their warriors, +and then by a Spaniard named Zinozain and five-and-twenty men, who +carried arms in the names of Ferdinand and Spain. Thenceforward +Pinchegra adopted the same rallying cry; at the end of 1825 the +“royalist army” numbered eight hundred men, including Indians, and +gained an important advantage over the Chilian troops at Longabi, where +a squadron of cavalry was annihilated by the long lances of the Indians. +The Spanish faction in Chili, encouraged by this unexpected success, +recognised Pinchegra as their champion, and supplied him with arms and +munitions of war. Deserters from the army of the Republic, adventurers +of all kinds, flocked to his standard, beneath which a thousand men were +soon ranged. With these and his Indian allies to support him, he found +himself master of a large track of country, attacked and pillaged towns, +carried off cattle and women to his camp in the Andes, and made his name +everywhere dreaded. It was found necessary to send large bodies of +troops against him. These accomplished little; and it was not until 1832 +that his band was completely defeated and broken up—or rather, cut to +pieces—he himself having previously been betrayed to his enemies, and +shot. No quarter was given to the fugitives, and the victor’s bulletin +(but Spanish bulletins are proverbially mendacious) stated that only +four men of the army—for it then really was a small army—escaped the +slaughter. The Indian auxiliaries had run at the beginning of the +action. With one of the four survivors, a _caudillo_, or chief of some +mark, named Don Vicente, Mr Pavie fell in at Mendoza, during the winter +he passed there. The Pinchegra was silent and mysterious enough; but a +young French physician, settled in the place, told his countryman the +history of the last body of men that maintained with arms the right of +Spain to her South American colonies. It is an interesting narrative, +comprising much personal adventure, and numerous romantic episodes. The +story of _Batallion_, an Indian foundling, adopted by a cavalry +regiment, in whose ranks he serves and is slain, and that of Rosita, a +lovely _Limeña_ who loved and was abandoned by an English naval officer, +and whom Mr Pavie saw in the madhouse at Lima, where she inquired of +every foreign visitor whether the frigate had returned, complete the +South American portion of a very interesting book. + + + + + NAPOLEON AND SIR HUDSON LOWE.[15] + + +One of the most distinguishing features of public life in England is the +judgment exercised upon the character of its public men. In other +countries the public man is generally seen through a haze of opinion. +The minister of a foreign monarchy stands in the clouded light of the +throne. If eminent, his fame is the result of secret councils, unknown +circumstances, and personal influences almost purposely hidden from the +national mind. If unsuccessful, his failures are sheltered under his +partnership with the higher powers. He is hidden in the curtains of the +Cabinet. At all events, he divides this responsibility with the monarch +whose choice has placed him in office, and whose influence retains him +in power. There are no publications of private correspondence, no +despatches, except garbled ones; no secret instructions, hereafter to be +developed. All the materials for forming a true estimate of the minister +are withheld, by suppressing all the materials for forming a true +estimate of the man. Even if a biography of the individual is written, +either by a friend or an enemy, it is generally greatly destitute of +that evidence from which alone posterity can come to a rational +conclusion. But in England—and it is to the honour of England—the career +of the public man is almost incapable of misconception. He has seldom +been chosen by the caprice of power. He must have given pledges as to +character. Parliament has been the point from which he has launched into +the navigation of public life; his principles must have undergone a +probation before his possession of office, and the whole course of his +after life is registered by correspondences, despatches, and authentic +memorials, which may be made public at the requisition of any member of +the Legislature. The twofold advantage of this publicity is, that public +justice is sure to be done to character, and that every man acts under a +sense of that enlarged responsibility which is the safest guardian of +public honour. If even to this feeling there may be exceptions, this +view is the true theory of Ministerial life; and, among the imperfect +motives of all human virtue, it is not the least that the documents are +in existence, hourly accumulating, and sure to be brought forward, which +shall testify to the nation and the world against every act of +individual shame. + +The record to which we now advert is a collection of letters, +despatches, and orders, on a subject which formed some years ago the +chief topic of Europe—the detention of Napoleon at St Helena. The +treatment by the British officer to whom he was given in charge, the +commands of Government, and the character of his captivity, are now, for +the first time, laid before the world on the testimony of unanswerable +documents; and an authentic form is now given to the narrative of that +melancholy period which closed on the most eventful, disturbing, +changeful, and dazzling era of Europe for a thousand years; the fifth +act of the most magnificent drama of the modern world; the thunderstorm +which, combining all the influences of a world long reeking with +iniquity, the feculence of earth with the fires of heaven, at last burst +down, perhaps to purify the moral atmosphere, or perhaps to warn nations +of the still deeper vengeance to come, and startle them into +regeneration. + +We now give a brief sketch of the governor of St Helena. Sir Hudson Lowe +was born in Ireland, in Galway, in July 1769. His father was an +Englishman, who had served as a medical officer with the British troops +in the Seven Years’ War, and whose last service was as head of the +medical department in the garrison of Gibraltar, where he died in 1801. + +Shortly after the birth of Sir Hudson Lowe, his father’s regiment, the +50th, being ordered to the West Indies, he was taken out with it, and +thus underwent the first hazard of a life of soldiership. On his +return to England he was made an ensign in the East Devon +Militia—probably the youngest in the service, for he was but twelve +years old. In 1787 he was appointed to an ensigncy in the 50th +regiment, then at Gibraltar—arriving while the place was still in +ruinous confusion from the memorable siege. “The whole rock was +covered with fragments of broken shells and shot; and there was not a +house in the town, nor a building within the batteries, which did not +bear the marks of its devastation.” O’Hara succeeded to Elliot as the +governor, and seemed resolved to signalise himself by his discipline. +“I was once,” says Sir Hudson, “proceeding with the escort, in order +to reach the barrier-gate by daybreak, with my head down, to stem, as +well as I was able, the tremendous gusts of rain and wind, when I +heard myself very sharply spoken to by a mounted officer, who desired +me to ‘hold up my head and look what I was about, for it was not as a +mere matter of form I was ordered on that duty.’” This officer was +General O’Hara. “This,” says the narrator, “is the only _real rebuke_ +I ever experienced from a superior officer during the whole course of +my military life.” He approves of the rebuke. On another occasion, on +parade, when the late Duke of Kent happened to have done something +which displeased the General—on a rebuke, in the presence of the +officers, the Prince said, “I hope, sir, I shall always do my duty.” +The General’s reply was, “And if you don’t, I shall make you do it.” +It, however, happened that this man of fierce tongue showed himself at +least _unlucky_ in the field; for, having been sent to take the +command of Toulon, then in possession of the Allies, he was taken +prisoner in an unsuccessful sortie, and carried off by the besiegers. + +On leave of absence, after four years’ duty in the garrison, Lowe, then +a lieutenant, travelled into France and Italy, and made himself master +of the languages of both; an accomplishment of prime value to a soldier, +and which was the pivot of his fortunes. On his return to Gibraltar, the +war having broken out, the 50th was ordered to Corsica, and garrisoned +Ajaccio—the residence of that family who were afterwards to enjoy such +splendid fortune. + +In a memorandum he says, “We were all delighted with our change of +quarters to Ajaccio. The town was well laid out, spacious, well built, +and the citadel had excellent accommodations, but not sufficient for all +the officers. One of the best houses was occupied by the mother and +sisters of Bonaparte. An officer of the 50th, of the name of Ford, was, +for a short time, quartered in the house, and spoke with much +satisfaction of the kind manner in which the family acted towards him. +The young girls—for such they were at that time—ran slipshod about the +house, but hardly any notice was taken of them. There were several balls +and parties given after our arrival there, but Madame Bonaparte was not +invited to them, on account of the situation of her two sons (in +France). She shortly after removed to Cargese, originally a Greek +colony, to a house which had been built or occupied by Count Marbœuf +while in the administration of that part of the island. It is not from +my own recollection I mention those circumstances, because, strange as +it may appear, I was not aware of the residence of any of the Bonaparte +family at Ajaccio during nearly two years when we were in garrison in +that town. I used frequently to hear Napoleon spoken of, but not as +connected with the exploits generally mentioned as giving the first +celebrity to his name—his share in the expulsion of the British from +Toulon.” + +The 50th subsequently served in Elba, Lisbon, and Minorca. To this last +place flocked a large body of Corsican emigrants, who were formed into a +corps called the Corsican Rangers, the charge of which was intrusted to +Lowe, then a captain. In 1800 they were attached to the Egyptian +Expedition under Abercromby, Lowe having the temporary rank of major. In +the famous landing at Aboukir, on the 8th of March 1801—one of the most +brilliant exploits ever performed by an army—the Corsican Rangers fought +on the right of the Guards, and were warmly engaged; they were present +also at the battle of Alexandria (March 21, 1801), when the dashing +attack of the French on the English lines was most gallantly +defeated;—an action which, in fact, involved the conquest of Egypt, for +the French fought no more, the rest of the campaign being a succession +of marches and capitulations. In this campaign the Major had the good +fortune to save Sir Sydney Smith’s life; for a picket, mistaking Sir +Sydney for a French officer, from his wearing a cocked hat (the English +wearing round hats), levelled their muskets at him, when Lowe struck up +their pieces and saved him. His activity in command of the outposts +received the flattering expression from General Moore—“Lowe, when you +are at the outposts, I always feel sure of a good night’s rest.” Moore, +in writing to Lowe’s father, said—“In Sir Ralph Abercromby he lost, in +common with many others, a good friend; but his conduct has been so +conspicuously good, that I hope he will meet with the reward he merits.” +In Sir Robert Wilson’s history of the campaign, Lowe is mentioned as +“having always gained the highest approbation,” and his Corsican Rangers +as exciting, from their conduct and appearance, “the general +admiration.” + +On the Peace of Amiens they were disbanded, but Lowe was confirmed in +his rank of Major-Commandant; and after being placed on half-pay, was +appointed to the 7th or Royal Fusileers, on Moore’s recommendation; +adding, “It is nothing more than you deserve; and if I have been at all +instrumental in bringing it about, I shall think the better of myself +for it.” This generous testimony continued to influence Lowe’s fortunes; +for on his arrival in England, in 1802, he was appointed one of the +permanent Assistants Quartermaster-General. “I have known you,” said +Moore, “a long time; and I am confident your conduct, in whatever +situation you may be placed, will be such as to do honour to those who +have recommended you.” He soon obtained a mark of still higher +confidence. Before he had been many weeks in England, he was sent on a +secret mission to Portugal, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of +Oporto and the neighbouring cities. On this occasion he expressed his +opinion of the practicability of defending the country by united British +and Portuguese. Thus he gave an opinion contradictory to that of Europe, +but subsequently realised with the most admirable success by Wellington. + +He then proceeded to the Mediterranean, with an order to raise another +regiment of Corsican Rangers. In the course of service with this corps, +he commanded at Capri, in the Bay of Naples; and as the loss of this +place formed one of the chief themes of foreign obloquy on this officer, +we enter into a slight statement of the facts, less for the clearance of +his character, than for the more important purpose of showing how truth +may be mutilated, partly by negligence in the general narrative, and +partly by exaggeration in the personal enemy. + +The island of Capri, in May 1806, had surrendered to a British squadron. +Its possession was of value as blocking up the Bay of Naples. Colonel +Lowe, with five companies of his regiment, and a small detachment of +artillery, were sent in May to garrison the island. The whole regiment +was subsequently sent. In August, Murat took possession of the kingdom +of Naples, and his first expedition was to Capri, whose possession by a +British force, seen from the windows of his palace, continually molested +him. Accordingly, on the 4th of October, an embarkation under General +Lamarque attempted a landing near the town of Capri. Lowe with his +Rangers hastened to the spot, and drove the enemy back to their ships. +The island is three miles long, and about two miles across, and had 4000 +inhabitants. Lowe had demanded a force of 2190 men for its defence. The +whole number under his command were 1400, of whom 800 were a regiment of +Maltese, of a miscellaneous description, and but imperfectly +disciplined, though commanded by a gallant officer, Major Hammill. Lowe +placed this regiment in Ana-Capri, an elevated district, on a platform +of rock, to be ascended only by 500 steps of stone. The French landed +2000 men there. The Maltese regiment dispersed themselves, +notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Major Hammill, who, disdaining to +follow their flight, was killed; finally, the whole of the Maltese +regiment were taken prisoners. Thus the 1400 men were reduced to 600, in +the presence of a French force of 3000! Lowe’s object was now +necessarily confined to defending the town of Capri, which he did +vigorously, for ten days of frequent attacks, in the hope of being +succoured by the English squadron, which would have turned the tables on +the besiegers, and caught the French General in a trap. But, from some +cause not easily accountable, the fleet did not appear, and the Corsican +Rangers were left to the rotten and unprepared ramparts of the town. On +the 15th the French cannon had made a practicable breach. Lowe still +held out, and attempted to erect new defences under the fire of the +French guns; but the walls were crumbling, and the cannon of the town +were rendered nearly unserviceable by the enemy’s fire. The French +flotilla also approached. In the evening Lamarque sent in a flag of +truce, demanding the surrender of the garrison as prisoners of war, with +the exception of Lowe and five or six of his officers. Lowe would permit +no distinction between his officers and soldiers, nor suffer the words +“prisoner of war,” positively refusing to accept of any other terms than +“to evacuate his post with his arms and baggage.” On these terms alone +the town was surrendered, and on the 20th the garrison embarked at the +Marina, “with all the honours of war.” In addition, it deserves to be +remembered that, on Lamarque’s demanding that several of the foreigners, +who had enlisted in the British service while prisoners, should be given +up to him, Lowe’s spirited answer was, “You may shoot _me_, but I will +never give up a single man.” + +On this occasion he received many flattering letters on his defence of +the island under such difficulties; and among the rest, one from +Major-General Lord Forbes, expressing the sense which must be +entertained by his superior, Sir John Stuart, “of the unremitting zeal, +ability, and judgment which his conduct had displayed, under the trying +circumstances of Capri.” + +After various services on the Italian coast, Colonel Lowe with his +regiment was ordered on an expedition against the Ionian Islands, then +garrisoned by the French. On their conquest, he was appointed governor +of Cephalonia and Ithaca, with a recommendatory circular from General +Oswald, commanding the expedition, and congratulating the people on the +government of an officer “who had shown himself the common father of all +ranks and classes of their communities.” In 1812 he obtained the rank of +full Colonel, and returned on leave to England. “I was then,” he says, +“in my twenty-fourth year of service, and had never been absent a single +day from my public duty since the commencement of the war in 1793. I had +been in England only once during that time.” His services were still +required by Government in matters of importance; in inspecting foreign +regiments to be taken into English pay; in attendance on the +negotiations for the accession of Sweden to the Grand Alliance, &c. &c. +At the Swedish Court he met the “Queen of the Blues,” the celebrated +Madame de Stael, talking politics as usual. She had begun her +performances in Sweden with writing a letter of thirty pages to +Bernadotte, _instructing him_ how to govern the Swedes; but she was not +always guilty of this extravagance of _presumption_. Silly in her +political ambition, she was hospitable in her home. A little theatre was +formed in her house—for the French, even in exile, cannot live without +the follies of the theatre—where she and her daughter exhibited scenes +from the _Iphigenie_ of Racine. How her physiognomy might have agreed +with the requisitions of the stage, it is difficult to conjecture, for +Nature never clothed a female with a more startling exterior. She +afterwards performed in a farce of her own, in which her daughter +exhibited as a dancer! And those were the entertainments for ambassadors +and princes!—for Bernadotte, then Prince-Royal, came in, but soon +disappeared. We should by no means wish to see the manners of foreign +life adopted by the pliancy of Englishwomen. + +The prince is thus described: “I have never seen so remarkable a +countenance as that of Bernadotte; an aquiline nose of most +extraordinary dimensions—eyes full of fire—a penetrating look—with a +countenance darker than that of any Spaniard—and hair so black that the +portrait-painters can find no tint dark enough to give its right hue: it +forms a vast bushy protuberance round his head, and he takes great +pains, I understand, to have it arranged in proper form.” When we had +the honour of seeing the prince, which we did in Pomerania, when he was +about to march his army to the camp of the Allies, every lock of his +hair was curled like a Brutus bust displayed in the window of a Parisian +_perruquier_. From Sweden Colonel Lowe was summoned by Lord Cathcart, +then ambassador to Russia, to join him at the Imperial headquarters in +Poland. After an interview with the Czar, he joined the Allied troops, +and was present at the hard-fought battle of Bautzen on the 20th and +21st of May. Here he first saw that extraordinary man, whom he +afterwards was to see under such extraordinary circumstances of change. +In his correspondence with Lord Bathurst, the Colonel says—“Between the +town of Bautzen and the position of the Allies is a long elevated +ridge.... In the morning a body of the enemy’s troops was observed to be +formed on its crest. In their front a small group was collected, which +by our spyglasses we discovered to be persons of consequence in their +army. Among them was most clearly distinguishable Napoleon himself. He +advanced about forty or fifty paces, accompanied only by one of his +marshals (conjectured to have been Beauharnais), with whom he remained +in conversation, walking backwards and forwards (having dismounted) for +nearly an hour. + +“I was on an advanced battery in front of our position, and had a most +distinct view of him. He was dressed in a plain uniform coat, and a +star, with a plain hat, different from that of his marshals and generals +(which were feathered); his air and manner so perfectly resembling the +portraits that there was no possibility of mistake. He appeared to me +conversing on some indifferent subject; very rarely looking towards our +position, of which, however, the situation in which he stood commanded a +most comprehensive and distinct view.” + +In October, through Sir C. Stewart (now Marquis of Londonderry), he was +attached to the army under that great and bold soldier, Marshal Blucher, +and was with him in every battle from Leipsic to Paris. His description +of the horrors of the French retreat, after the battle of Leipsic, +unfolds a dreadful picture of the sufferings of war. “For an extent of +fifty miles, on the French route, there were carcasses of dead and dying +horses without number; bodies of men, who had been either killed, or +died of hunger, sickness, and fatigue, lying in the roads and ditches; +parties of prisoners and stragglers brought in by the Cossacks; blown-up +ammunition waggons, in such numbers as absolutely to obstruct the +road.... Pillaged and burning towns and villages marked, at the same +time, the ferocity with which the enemy had conducted himself.” + +In the close of this memorable year, Colonel Lowe was ordered to Holland +on a commission for organising the Dutch troops who were to join Sir +Thomas Graham’s army; but (as it appears), at his own request, his +destination was changed for the Prussian army, under Blucher, then +crossing the Rhine. He was present at all the battles fought by that +army on their march through France, forming, with its four German +actions, no less than _thirteen_—of which _eleven_ were fought against +Napoleon in person. + +In all those campaigns he gallantly took the soldier’s share, being +constantly at the Marshal’s side; being present, on one occasion, when +he was wounded; on another, when the Cossack orderly was shot beside +him; and on two others, when he narrowly escaped being made prisoner, +being obliged to make a run of it, with the whole of his retinue, +through a party of the enemy; Bonaparte also having been nearly taken by +him in the same way, on the same day. He was present at the conferences +of Chatillon, where he strongly joined those opinions which were in +favour of the “March to Paris;” and he had the honour of bearing the +despatch to England announcing the abdication of Napoleon; which was +instantly published from the Foreign Office, in a “Gazette +Extraordinary.” Colonel Lowe was received with great distinction. The +Prince-Regent immediately knighted him; and the Prussian order of +Military Merit was conferred on him, with the order of St George from +the Emperor of Russia. + +In 1814 Sir Hudson Lowe was promoted to the rank of major-general, and +appointed quartermaster-general to the British troops in the +Netherlands, commanded by the Prince of Orange. In that capacity he +visited the fortresses on the frontier, and drew up reports on their +restoration. It is remarkable that among his plans was the +recommendation of building a Work at Mont _St Jean_, as the commanding +point at the junction of the two principal roads from the French +frontier, on the side of Namur and Charleroi, to Brussels, and the +direction in which an army must move for the invasion of Belgium. How +much earlier the battle of Waterloo would have terminated, and how many +gallant lives might have been saved by the possession of a fortress in +the very key of the position, we may conjecture from the defence of +Hougomont, where the walls of a mere farmyard, defended by brave men, +were sufficient to resist the entire left wing of the enemy during that +whole hard-fought, decisive, and illustrious day. + +The news of Napoleon’s escape from Elba roused all Europe. It was at +once the most dexterous performance, and the most unwise act, of the +great charlatan of empire. He ought to have delayed it, at least for a +year. The negotiators at Vienna were already on the verge of discontents +which might have broken up the general alliance; the troops were on the +point of marching to their homes: thus Europe was about to be left +without defence, or even to a renewal of hostilities. But the escape of +Napoleon sobered all. The universal peril produced the universal +reconciliation. And the Manifesto was issued in the shape of a universal +declaration, proclaiming Napoleon Bonaparte the enemy of mankind. + +The position of Sir Hudson Lowe at Brussels made his advice of +importance. The question was, where the Allied armies should expect the +attack? The Prussian generals were of opinion that they should be +prepared on the side of Switzerland and Mayence. Sir Hudson Lowe, more +sagaciously, affirmed that Brussels would be the object. Count +Gneisenau, the Prussian quartermaster-general, finally decided to wait +for the opinion of the Duke of Wellington on his arrival in the +Netherlands. At this period, while matters remained in a state of +uncertainty as to the movements of France, Sir Hudson Lowe was offered +the command of the British troops at Genoa, intended to act with the +Austro-Sardinian army, and the squadron under Lord Exmouth, against the +south of France. Unwilling to quit the great Duke, he waited on him for +his opinion. As all recollections of Wellington are dear to his country, +we give his few words, in which, after saying that Sir W. Delancy (as +his successor) might not at once be _au fait_ at the business of the +Office, and as Sir G. Murray, “who had been with him for six years, was +only on his return from Canada, still he did _a good deal of his own +business_, and _could do business with any one_.” In short, “it was a +case that must be left to himself.” + +Accordingly, he remained with the Duke until the beginning of June, and +then went to take his command. On his way through Germany, he met at the +Imperial headquarters Blucher, Schwartzenberg, and the Czar. With the +last he had the honour of a conversation. The Czar received him in his +cabinet, quite alone; took him by the hand; said that he was glad to see +him, but that it was an unfortunate circumstance which compelled him +(the Czar) to come forward; that oceans of blood might be again spilt; +but that, while that man (Napoleon) lived, there would be no hope of +repose for Europe; that armies must be kept up by every nation on a war +footing; and that, in short, there appeared no other alternative than +carrying on the war with vigour, and thus bringing it to the speedier +close. The Czar spoke in English. He asked many other questions; but +seemed most gratified by knowing that the force under the Duke of +Wellington, instead of being 60,000 men, was, with the Allied forces of +the Netherlands, not less than 100,000. + +On reaching Genoa, the expedition sailed to the south of France; but all +the cities having suddenly hoisted the white flag, the war was at an +end. + +Now began the only portion of his prosperous and active career, which +could be called trying and vexatious. On the 1st of August 1815 he +received an order to return immediately to London, for the purpose of +taking charge of Napoleon Bonaparte. + +On his arrival in Paris he had communications with all the Cabinet. Lord +Castlereagh asked him his opinion of the possibility of Napoleon’s +escape. He answered that he could see none, except in case of a mutiny, +of which there had been two instances at St Helena. But on being +informed of the nature of the intended garrison, he answered that its +chance would be proportionably diminished. This was the only +conversation which he ever had with Lord Castlereagh. On reaching +London, he received the Ministerial orders for the charge of his +memorable prisoner. By Lord Liverpool’s authority, he was told that if +he remained in charge for three years, the royal confidence, and, we +presume, the royal reward, “should not stop there.” Lord Ellenborough, +Chief-Justice, assured him, “that in the execution of the duty the law +would give him every support.” On the 23d of August, the Directors of +the East India Company appointed him governor of St Helena; the command +of the troops, with the local rank of lieutenant-general, was given to +him; and his salary was fixed at £12,000 a-year. + +The regulations for the safe keeping of Napoleon, adopted by the +Secretary of War and Colonies, Lord Bathurst, and delivered to Sir +George Cockburn, were (in outline) as follows:— + +1. When General Bonaparte shall be removed from the Bellerophon to the +Northumberland, there shall be an examination of the effects which the +General shall have brought with him. + +2. All articles of furniture, books, and wine, which the General shall +have brought, shall be transhipped to the Northumberland. + +3. Under the head of furniture is the plate, provided it be not to such +an amount as to bespeak it rather an article of convertible property +than for domestic use. + +4. His money, diamonds, and negotiable bills of exchange, are to be +given up. The admiral will explain to him that it is by no means the +intention of Government to confiscate his property, but simply to +prevent its being converted into an instrument of escape. + +The remainder consists of details. In the event of his death, the +disposition of his property was to be determined by his will, which +would be strictly attended to. + +Bonaparte was to be always attended by a military officer; and if he was +permitted to pass the boundaries allotted to him, the officer was to be +attended by an Orderly. No individual of his suite was to be carried to +St Helena but with his own consent, it being explained to him that he +must be subject to the restraints necessary for the security of +Bonaparte’s person. All letters addressed to him were to be delivered to +the admiral, or governor, and read by them. Bonaparte must be informed, +that any representation addressed to Government would be received and +transmitted, but must be transmitted open to the governor and admiral’s +inspection, that they might be enabled to transmit answers to any +objections. If Bonaparte were to be attacked with serious illness, the +governor and admiral were each to direct a medical person, in addition +to his own physician, to attend him, and desire them to report daily on +the state of his health. Finally, in the event of his death, the admiral +was to give orders for the conveyance of his body to England. + +It would be difficult to conceive arrangements less severe, consistently +with the urgent necessity of preventing another war. + +On the embarkation on board the Northumberland, the arms were to be +taken from the French officers on board; but to be packed carefully, and +put into the charge of the captain. Napoleon’s sword was not taken from +him, and the swords of the officers were restored on their arrival at St +Helena. Of this order, Count Montholon made a handsome melodramatic +story, in the following style: “His lordship (Lord Keith) said to him, +in a voice suppressed (assourdie) by vivid emotion, ‘England demands +your sword.’ The Emperor, with a convulsive movement, dropped his hand +on that sword, which an Englishman _dared_ to demand. The expression of +his look was his sole answer. It had never been more powerful, more +_superhuman_ (sur-humaine). The old admiral felt thunderstruck +(foudroyé). His tall figure shrank; his head, whitened by age, fell upon +his bosom, like that of a criminal humbled before his condemnation.” +This theatric affair Mr Forsyth declares to be _pure fiction_. The story +is contradicted even by Las Cases, who says, in his journal—“I asked, +whether it was possible that they would go so far as to deprive the +Emperor of his sword? The admiral replied that _it_ would be respected; +but that Napoleon was the only person excepted, as all the rest would be +disarmed.” The perpetual habit of frequenting the theatre spoils all the +taste of France. The simplest action of life must be told in +rhodomontade, and even the gravest facts must be dressed up in the +frippery of fiction. + +On the 7th of August 1815, Bonaparte was removed on board of the +Northumberland, with a suite of twenty-five persons, including Count and +Countess Bertrand, with their three children; Count and Countess +Montholon, with one child; and Count de Las Cases, with his son, a boy +of fourteen. As Mengeaud, the surgeon who had accompanied him from +Rochefort was unwilling to go to St Helena; O’Meara, the surgeon of the +Bellerophon, was chosen by Bonaparte, and allowed by Lord Keith to +attend him. + +They hove to at Madeira for refreshments, and landed at St Helena on the +15th of October. + +A letter of O’Meara to a Mr Finlayson at the Admiralty, gives a +characteristic detail of the voyage. “During the passage the ladies were +either ill the whole time, or fancied themselves to be so; in either of +which cases, it was necessary to give them medicine, in the choice of +which it was extremely difficult to meet their tastes or humours, or +their ever-unceasing caprice. What was most extraordinary, they never +complained of loss of appetite. They generally ate of every dish at a +profusely supplied table, of different meats, twice every day, besides +occasional tiffins, bowls of soup, &c. They mostly hate each other, and +I am the depositary of their complaints—especially Madame Bertrand’s, +who is like a tigress deprived of her young, when she perceives me doing +any service for Madame Montholon. The latter, to tell the truth, is not +so whimsical, nor subject to so many fits of rage as the other. + +“Bonaparte was nearly the entire of the time in perfect health. During +the passage, Napoleon almost invariably did not appear out in the +after-cabin, before twelve; breakfasted either in bed or in his own +cabin about eleven; dined with the admiral about five; stayed about half +an hour at dinner, then left the table and proceeded to the +quarter-deck, where he generally spent a couple of hours, either in +walking, or else leaning against the breech of one of the guns, talking +to De las Cases. He generally spoke a few words to every officer who +could understand him; and, according to his custom, was very inquisitive +relative to various objects. His suite, until the day before we landed +(three days after our arrival), invariably kept their hats off while +speaking to him, and then, by his directions, remained covered. He +professes his intention, I am informed, to drop the name of Bonaparte, +and to assume that of a colonel he was very partial to, and who was +killed in Italy. + +“He is to proceed in a few days to Longwood, the present seat of the +Lieutenant-governor, where there is a plain of above a mile and a half +in length, with trees (a great rarity here) on it. He is to have a +captain constantly in the house with him, and he is also to be +accompanied by one whenever he goes out. None of his staff are to go +out, unless accompanied by an English officer or soldier. + +“I had a long conversation with him the day before yesterday. Among +other remarks he observed, ‘Why, your Government have not taken the most +economical method of providing for me. They send me to a place where +every necessary of life is four times as dear as in any other part of +the globe; and not content with that, they send a regiment here, to a +place where there are already four times as many inhabitants as it can +furnish subsistence to, and where there are a superabundance of troops. +This is the way,’ continued he, ‘that you have contracted your national +debt—not by the actual necessary expenses of war, but by the unnecessary +expenses of colonies.’” + +Napoleon was in the habit of predicting the ruin of England, and +pointing out, we may presume, with no intention of warning, the +_blunders_ of that policy which, however, had rescued Europe from the +French yoke, and sent himself to moralise in a dungeon. “This island,” +said he, “costs, or will cost, two millions a-year, which is so much +money thrown in the sea. Your East India Company, if their affairs were +narrowly scrutinised, would be found to lose instead of gaining, and in +_a few years_ must become bankrupt. Your manufactures, in consequence of +the dearness of necessaries in England, will be _undersold_ by those of +France and Germany, and your manufacturers will be _ruined_.” All this +train of ill omen is profitable, if it were only to show how little we +are to depend upon the foresight of politicians. Here was unquestionably +one of the most sagacious of human beings delivering his ideas on the +future, and that not a remote future, not a future of centuries, but a +future within the life of a generation; and yet what one of these +predictions has not been completely baffled? The East Indian territories +of England have been constantly aggrandising for nearly forty years of +that period which was to have seen their bankruptcy. The manufactures of +England, instead of total failure, have been growing to a magnitude +unequalled in the annals of national industry, and are rapidly spreading +over the globe. England, instead of struggling with exclusion from +foreign commerce, and domestic disaffection, has possessed a peace, the +longest in its duration, and the most productive in its increase of +opulence, invention, and power, that Europe has ever seen. But if the +malignant spirit of her prisoner may be presumed to have perverted his +sagacity, his opinions were the opinions of the Continent; and every +statesman, from Calais to Constantinople, occupied himself by counting +on his fingers the number of years that lay between England and +destruction. Yet England still stands, the envy of all nations; and will +stand, while she retains her loyalty, her principle, and her honour; or, +rather, while she retains her religion, which includes them all. + +The exterior of St Helena is unpromising. “Masses of volcanic rock, +sharp and jagged, tower up round the coast, and form an iron girdle. The +few points where a landing can be effected are bristling with cannon.” +The whole has the evidence of the agency of fire; and from the gigantic +size of the strata, so disproportioned to its circuit, it has been +supposed the wreck of a vast submerged continent. But the narrow +valleys, radiating from the basaltic ridge forming the backbone of the +island, have scenes of beauty. A writer on the “Geognosy” of the island, +even describes those valleys as exhibiting an alternation of hill and +dale, and luxuriant and constant verdure. Even Napoleon, in all his +discontent, admitted that it had “good air.” Or, as in some more +detailed remarks transmitted by Las Cases—“After all, as a place of +exile, perhaps St Helena was the best. In high latitudes we should have +suffered greatly from cold; and in any other island of the tropics we +should have expired miserably, under the scorching rays of the sun. The +rock is wild and barren, no doubt; the climate is monstrous and +unwholesome; but the temperature, it must be confessed, is mild +(douce).” + +It is of some importance to the national character to touch on those +matters, as they show that Napoleon was not sent for any other purpose +than security of detention. A West Indian island might have unduly +hastened the catastrophe. A letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson gives +even a more favourable testimony than has been generally conceived. He +had been a resident for several years. + +“Lying within the influence of the south-east trade-wind, which is +usually a strong breeze between the Cape and St Helena, the tropical +heat is moderated thereby to a delightful temperature, and perhaps there +is no finer climate to be found than in certain parts of St Helena. In +the town, I rarely saw the thermometer above 80°, while the general +height may have been about 75°. But I write from memory, having lost my +register of the temperature. Between Longwood and Jamestown there is a +difference of eight or ten degrees. A fire is rarely necessary, unless +perhaps as a corrective of the dampness produced by fog, to which the +elevated portions of the island are occasionally liable. I believe the +average duration of life to be much as in England.” + +Mr Henry, who was stationed in the island as assistant-surgeon during +Napoleon’s residence, gives even a more decided testimony. “For a +tropical climate, only 15° from the line, St Helena is certainly a +healthy island, if not the _most_ healthy of the description in the +world. During one period of twelve months, we did not lose _one_ man by +disease out of five hundred of the 66th quartered at Deadwood. In 1817, +1818, and 1819, Fahrenheit’s thermometer, kept at the hospital, ranged +from fifty-five to seventy degrees; with the exception of calm days, +when it rose to eighty. In Jamestown, from the peculiar radiation of +heat to which it was exposed, the temperature was sometimes upwards of +ninety.... There is no endemic in the island.... The upper parts of St +Helena, including the residence of Bonaparte, are decidedly the most +healthy, and we often moved our regimental convalescents from Jamestown +to Deadwood for cooler and better air. The clouds moved so steadily and +regularly with the trade-wind that there appeared to be no time for +atmospherical accumulations of electricity, and we never had any thunder +or lightning. No instance of hydrophobia, in man or any inferior animal, +had ever been known in St Helena.” + +We shall limit ourselves to an outline of the transactions referring to +Napoleon. He landed at Jamestown on the evening of the 17th of October, +where he remained for the night, and on the next day removed to the +“Briars,” the country house of Mr Balcombe, who afterwards became +purveyor to the residence at Longwood. Two proclamations were +immediately issued by the governor, Colonel Wilkes, one cautioning the +inhabitants of the island against any attempt to aid the escape of +“General Napoleon Bonaparte;” and the other, prohibiting all persons +from passing through any part of the island (except in the immediate +vicinity of the town) from nine at night until daylight, without having +the _parole_ of the night; and a third, placing all the coasts, and +vessels or boats, under the control of the Admiral. A despatch from the +Admiral, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, explained the choice of +Longwood for the residence of the prisoner. “I have not hesitated on +fixing on it. Longwood is detached from the general inhabited parts of +the island, therefore none of the inhabitants have occasion, or are at +all likely, to be met with in its neighbourhood; it is the most distant +from the parts of the coast _always_ accessible to boats.” He then +mentions it as having an extent of level ground, perfectly adapted for +horse-exercise, carriage-driving, and pleasant walking. The house was +small, but it was better than any other in the island (out of the town) +except the governor’s; and by the help of the ships’ carpenters and +others, was capable of convenient additions. Repairs were accordingly +made, and everything was done that could fit it for a comfortable +residence. + +The system of discontent, remonstrance, and, we must add, +misrepresentation, was begun. A letter from the “Grand Marshal, Count +Bertrand,” led the way. It protested against everything, and +frequently applied the term “Emperor” to Napoleon. The Admiral’s reply +was fair and manly. It expressed regret for the necessary +inconveniences, and a desire to consult the wishes of General +Bonaparte; but said that he was authorised to apply _no_ title which +had not been given by his Government. This refusal was perfectly +justifiable, though it made one of the clamours of the time. The +custom of European diplomacy is _never_ to acknowledge a new title but +by treaty, and in return, if possible, for some concession on the part +of the claimant. The embarrassments connected with the opposite +practice are obvious. Where is the line to be drawn? If every ruler, +however trifling his territory, or however recent his usurpation, were +to fix his own title, all the relations of public life might be +outraged. The creature of every revolution might be authenticated the +legitimate possessor of sovereignty—an upstart received into the +family of kings, become a living encouragement to political +convulsion. All the declamation which was lavished on the denial of +the Imperial title to Bonaparte, amounted to the maxim, that success +justifies usurpation. If, in general life, no man can bear a title +without the sanction of the laws—to avoid the disturbance of the Civil +order, why should not the same sanction be demanded where the result +of concession without cause might influence the highest interests of +public life? There can be no question that the Imperial title, +continued to Napoleon by the credulity of Alexander, laid the +foundation of the renewed disturbances of France and Europe. It had +placed him within sight of power again; it had fixed the eye of French +conspiracy on him; it had conveyed to all his partisanship the idea +that he still was an object of fear to Europe, and it thus revived the +hope of his restoration. This dangerous concession made him, while at +Elba, the virtual Emperor of France—prompted him to contemplate the +resumption of the sceptre—pointed him out as a rallying point for +disaffection—connected his mock crown with his former sovereignty—and +left the peace of the world to the hazard of the die which was thrown +at Waterloo. + +If it be said that the concession which was dangerous at Elba was +trifling at St Helena, we have no hesitation in accounting for the +sudden forgetfulness of Napoleon exhibited by France to the refusal of +the title. “General” Bonaparte lived only in the recollection of a +broken army; the “Emperor” lived in the pride and passions of the +people. It was essential to dissolve this combination; to show that the +_prestige_ of his name existed no longer; that he was an object of fear +no more; and especially, that his connection with title-loving France +was to be cut asunder for the remainder of his existence. All this was +done, and could alone be done, by refusing to continue that title to the +prisoner, which England had loftily refused to him in the height of his +power. + +Even Napoleon himself was so fully convinced of the contradiction +between his present state and his former, that he subsequently wrote a +Memorial addressed to the Governor, containing this declaration: “Seven +or eight months ago Count Montholon proposed, as a means of removing the +little inconveniences which were ever recurring, the adoption of an +ordinary name.... I am quite ready to take any ordinary name; and I +repeat that, when it may be deemed proper to remove me from this cruel +abode, I am resolved to remain a stranger to politics, whatever may be +passing in the world. Such is my resolve; and anything which may have +been said different from this would not be the fact.” + +Unfortunately, it was wholly impossible to rely on any declaration of +this kind, and it would have been absolute folly to have hazarded the +peace of Europe on the contingency of Napoleon’s keeping his word. He +had gone to Elba with the same protest against politics, he had publicly +declared that his political life was ended; and the weakness of giving +credit to that declaration cost the lives of perhaps fifty thousand men, +and might have cost a universal war. + +If the strictness of the regulations at St Helena have been matter of +charge against this country, it is to be remembered that the highest +interests might have been endangered by his escape; that no royal +captive was ever so indulged before; and that England was but a trustee +for the tranquillity of the world. The instructions were the most +lenient possible, consistently with his safe keeping. A captain was to +ascertain his presence twice in the twenty-four hours. Whenever Napoleon +rode or walked _beyond_ the boundaries where the sentinels were placed, +he was to be attended by an officer. Napoleon and his attendants were to +be within his house at nine o’clock every night. + +If these restrictions might be considered severe, it is to be remembered +that they were only severities against the necessity of a second +Waterloo. It is to be observed, also, that these regulations all took +place before the arrival of Sir Hudson Lowe. The English mind revolts +against confinement of any kind; but the limits of Napoleon’s grounds, +within which he might take exercise _unattended_ by any officer, +embraced a circuit of _twelve_ miles! The ground was nearly flat, and +well covered with turf. On the plain of Deadwood, adjoining, was an +excellent race-course, a mile and a half long, of which one mile was in +a straight line. The house at Longwood had been used by the former +governor as a villa; but it was small, consisting only of five rooms. To +these, however, additions were made; the whole being merely a temporary +residence until the completion of a house on a larger scale, which was +preparing in England. + +It became the peevish custom of the French, on the arrival of Sir Hudson +Lowe, to contrast his conduct with that of Sir George Cockburn, and +speak of their satisfaction with the latter; but they quarrelled equally +with both. A letter from O’Meara to his correspondent Finlayson (not +printed in his volumes), says: “Napoleon inveighs most bitterly against +the English Ministry for sending him here. He has been for sometime back +at Longwood, where he is tolerably well lodged, considering the island.” + +As to his displeasure at being sent to the island, he should have +regarded himself as peculiarly well treated; for what must have been his +condition in the custody of any other government? He must have been sent +to a fortress with no other liberty of exercise than within the space of +the ramparts; he must have had sentinels everywhere on his steps, and +have been subjected to all the rigid regulations of a garrison, and +perhaps altogether separated from his attendants and general society. +The greater probability of escape in Europe would have required the +greater strictness; and the necessity of the case must have made his +confinement little better than that of the dungeon. What liberty was +allotted to Louis Napoleon in Ham for six years? What liberty was +allotted to Toussaint Louverture by Napoleon himself?—a damp dungeon +until he died. What liberty was allotted to the State prisoners under +the Empire?—or what liberty was allotted to the English officers +confined in the casemates of Biche? Instead of such restrictions, he had +a large space of a healthy island in which he might move, without watch +or ward, with a crowd of attendants of his own choice round him, with +such society as he chose to receive, with a sumptuous table kept for +him, and every deference paid to his fame and rank, compatible with that +essential point, the prevention of his escape, which he appears to have +been constantly meditating. + +An order prohibiting the general access of the population to Longwood +was now issued. Napoleon at this was in great indignation. He said to +O’Meara, “It was absurd to prohibit people from visiting him, while he +was at liberty to go out and call upon them.... I will never receive any +person coming with a pass from the Admiral, as I will immediately set +down the person receiving it as being _like the donor_, and a spy upon +me.”... Then becoming more warm, he said, “Who is the Admiral? I have +never heard his name as the conqueror in a battle, either singly or in +general action.... It is true, he has rendered his name in_famous_ in +America; and so he will now render it here, on this desolate rock.” + +Stopping then with much agitation, and looking at me earnestly—“Next to +your Government exiling me here, the worst thing they could have done, +and the most insufferable to my feelings, is sending me with such a _man +as_ HE. I shall make my treatment known to all Europe. It will be a +reflection and a stain on his posterity for centuries. What! does he +want to introduce Turkish laws into the Rock? Other prisoners under +sentence of death are allowed to communicate, by the laws of England and +all other civilised nations.” + +The fact was, that Napoleon wished to accomplish an object incompatible +with the purpose of his being sent to the island; he demanded all the +conveniences of perfect freedom—of course for the purpose of escape. +However, to avoid all shadow of cruelty, the passports were finally left +to the distribution of Bertrand. + +O’Meara further says, “He has since discovered that the Admiral’s +conduct has been most grossly and shamefully misrepresented and +blackened to him. The people he is surrounded by at present give me some +faint idea of what the court of St Cloud must have been during his +omnipotent sway. Everything here is disguised and mutilated.” + +Napoleon’s theatrical rants were sometimes amusing. Foreigners can rail +fluently enough at misfortune, but they always forget the share which +they had in bringing it on themselves. “Behold the English Government!” +said he one day, gazing round on the stupendous rocks which encompassed +him; “this is their liberality to the unfortunate, who, _confiding_ in +what is called their national character, in an evil hour gave himself up +to them! But your Ministers laugh at your laws. I thought once that the +English were a free nation; but I now see that you are the _greatest +slaves_ in the world. You all tremble at the sight of _that_ man.” + +“Another time, talking to me (O’Meara) about the island, he said, ‘In +fact, I expect nothing less from your Government than that they will +send out an executioner to _despatch_ me. They send me here to a +horrible rock, where even the water is not good. They send out a +_sailor_ with me, who does not know how to treat a man like me, and who +puts a camp under my nose, so that I cannot put my head out without +seeing my jailors. Here we are treated like felons: a proclamation is +issued for nobody to come near and touch us, as if we were lepers.’” + +O’Meara’s description of the officers in attendance on Napoleon is +sufficiently contemptuous. Of Montholon he speaks most offensively. He +admits Bertrand to be a “good man;” but he thus characterises Gourgaud, +whose quarrel with Sir Walter Scott once made some noise: “Gourgaud is +now recovering from dysentery. During his illness, I never saw a man +betray so much fear of dying as he did on various occasions. One night a +large black beetle got into the bed, and crawled up alongside of him. +His imagination immediately magnified the insect into a devil, or some +other formidable apparition, armed with talons, long teeth, and ready to +tear away his lingering soul from its mortal abode. He shrieked, became +terribly agitated and convulsed; a cold sweat bedewed his pallid face; +and when I entered he presented all the appearance of a man about to +expire, with the most terrific ideas of what would be his future lot; +and it was not till after a considerable time that he could be restored +to some degree of composure.” Gourgaud had in some degree provoked this +description by his previous _fanfaronades_. When he arrived in the +island he had produced a sword to the daughters of Mr Balcombe, on which +he had himself represented in the act of killing a Cossack who was about +to take Bonaparte prisoner, with a pompous inscription narrating the +feat. At the end of the blade he made them observe a spot, as if stained +with the blood of two Englishmen, slain by him at Waterloo. He gave the +last finish to this “passage of arms,” by saying, that in the same +battle he _might_ have made the Duke prisoner! “but that he saw the +business was decided, and he was unwilling to produce any further +effusion of human blood!” (“Credit—believe it who will,” says O’Meara.) +During Gourgaud’s illness, however, he seemed to have forgotten all his +chivalry—as, one day, “whining and lamenting over his state, he said, +with many _tears_, ‘He did not know for what he was exiled, for he had +never done harm to mortal man.’” + +O’Meara’s own history was a varied one. He had begun his course as an +assistant-surgeon in the 18th, in 1804; but a duel happening in the +regiment, in which he acted as second, a courtmartial was the +consequence, and he retired from the army. He then served as a naval +surgeon, for many years, in the Mediterranean and the West Indies, with +Maitland (captain of the Bellerophon), who gave him an advantageous +character. He was then selected as the surgeon in attendance on +Napoleon. The quick observation of that sagacious personage saw +instantly that O’Meara might be useful in more capacities than those of +his profession; he flattered him with his confidence, and converted him +into partisanship. + +Nothing but the extraordinary selfishness of Napoleon’s character could +have stooped to those perpetual complaints. A man who had sat upon the +first throne of the Continent ought to have felt that nothing, after +such a catastrophe, could be worth a care. A man of true grandeur of +mind, after having seen all the diadems of the Continent under his feet, +ought to have scorned any inferior degree of power—been utterly +indifferent to title, wealth, or the homage of dependents. A philosopher +would have despised the mockery of ex-emperorship; rejected the +affectation of a power which he was to possess no more; and, having been +once forced to submit to a change of fortune which displaced him from +the summit of society for ever, would have been contemptuous of living +on the fragments of his feast of supremacy. But Napoleon had no sense of +this generous and lofty disdain—he clung to the wrecks of his royalty. +He was as anxious to sustain the paltry ceremonial of kissing a hand, as +when he saw kings crowding to his palace; and showed as much fretfulness +at the loss of the most pitiful mark of respect, as he could at an +insult to a throne which threw its shadow across the civilised world. +This anomaly is easily explained. The spirit of selfishness belongs to +all foreign life. Its habits, its amusements, its perpetual passion for +frivolous excitement, its pursuit of personal indulgence in every shape, +high or low, utterly extinguish all the nobler attributes of +mind—substitute fierceness for fortitude, rashness for decision—and +feeble repinings against fate, for the dignity which makes defeat but +another occasion of showing the superiority of man to fortune. Napoleon +was selfishness embodied, and was as important to _himself_ at St Helena +as in the Tuileries. + +On the 10th of January 1816, Sir Hudson Lowe received a despatch from +Earl Bathurst, stating that, on his arrival at St Helena, he should +notify to all the attendants of Napoleon that they were at perfect +liberty to leave the island for Europe or America; but that those who +remained should declare, in writing, that they were prepared to submit +to the necessary restrictions. To Sir Hudson the orders were—“You are to +continue to treat Napoleon Bonaparte as a prisoner of war, until further +orders.” + +The governor reached St Helena on the 14th of April, and on the 16th he +visited Bonaparte, having given him previous notice of his intention. +The visit was unlucky, for even the hour was constituted into an +offence. Las Cases thus mentions the visit: “The new governor arrived at +Longwood about ten o’clock, notwithstanding the rain, which still +continued. He was accompanied by the admiral, who was to introduce him, +and who had, _no doubt_, told him that this was the most suitable hour +for his visit. The emperor did not receive him—he was indisposed; and +even had he been well, he would not have seen him. The governor, by this +abrupt visit, neglected the usual forms of decorum. It was easy to +perceive that this was a _trick of the admiral_. The governor, who +probably had no intention to render himself at all disagreeable, +appeared very much disconcerted. _We laughed in our sleeves._ As to the +admiral, he was quite _triumphant_. The governor, after long hesitation, +and very evident marks of ill-humour, took his leave rather abruptly. We +doubted not that this visit had been planned by the admiral, with the +view of prepossessing us against each other at the very outset.” + +The English reader of this incident will find in it the key to the whole +conduct of Napoleon and his attendants; _he_ was determined to turn +everything into an offence, and they were equally determined to turn +everything into an intrigue. The narrative foolishly and malignantly +represents the conduct of a naval officer of high character in the light +of a paltry _ruse_, and for no imaginable purpose but ill-will. “_They +laughed in their sleeves_” at the success of this ruse. The admiral was +_triumphant_, _because_ the governor was vexed; and Napoleon was, of +course, conqueror on the occasion. This is the most pitiful of all +gossip, and is unworthy of even the nursery. Let this be contrasted with +the manly account by the governor himself of the first interview which +took place next day at four. “I was accompanied by Sir G. Cockburn. +General Bertrand received us in the dining-room serving as an +antechamber, and instantly ushered me into an inner room, where I found +him (Napoleon) standing, having his hat in his hand. Not addressing me +when I came in, but apparently waiting for me to speak to him, I broke +silence by saying, ‘I am come, sir, to present my respects to you.’ ‘You +speak French, sir, I perceive; but you also speak Italian. You once +commanded a regiment of Corsicans.’ I replied, ‘the language was alike +to me.’ ‘We will speak, then, in Italian;’ and immediately commenced a +conversation which lasted about half an hour—the purport of which was +principally as follows. He first asked me, ‘where I had served?—how I +liked the Corsicans? They carry the stiletto; are they not a bad +people?’ (looking at me very significantly for an answer.) My reply +was—‘They do not carry the stiletto, having abandoned that custom in our +service. They have always conducted themselves with propriety; I was +very well satisfied with them.’ + +“He asked me if I had not been in Egypt with them; and on my replying in +the affirmative, he entered into a long discussion respecting that +country. ‘Menou was an imbecile. If Kleber had been there, _you would +have been all made prisoners_.’” To this ungracious remark the governor +seems to have abstained from any reply. How easily might he have +reminded Napoleon of Acre! and the difficulty which he found then of +taking prisoners even the crews of two English ships, who drove him from +the walls at the head of his army, and virtually, after hunting him from +Syria, drove him into the desertion of Egypt. In the French narratives +of war, the general who has been beaten is always an _imbecile_. It is +an extraordinary _trait_ of character in Napoleon to have ventured on +the subject at all. Yet he expatiated on it, as if he had never known +defeat on its shores. “He blamed Abercromby for not having landed +sooner, or for not proceeding to another point. Moore, with his six +thousand men, ought to have been all destroyed.” He admitted, however, +the bravery of the generals. “He asked me if I knew Hutchinson, and +whether he was the same who had been arrested at Paris” (for the escape +of Lavalette). “His question on this point betrayed great interest.” The +subject of Egypt was resumed. “It was the most important geographical +point in the world, and had always been considered so. He had +reconnoitered the line of the Canal across the Isthmus of Suez; he had +calculated the expense at ten or twelve millions of livres (half a +million sterling, he said, to make me understand more clearly the +probable cost of it); that a powerful colony being established there, it +would have been _impossible_ for us to have preserved our empire in +India.” + +This remark is an example of the dashing way in which foreigners settle +all the affairs of the world. If Napoleon had been asked to show how a +French colony in Egypt could have overthrown an Indian empire, he must +have been profoundly puzzled. A French colony would, doubtless, have +prevented the overland passage. Yet, _without_ that passage, India had +been ours, or in the direct progress to be ours, for a hundred years! +What could a colony in Egypt have done while the Red Sea was blocked up +by English ships? How could it transport an army over the Desert—through +Arabia, Persia, and the passes of the Himalaya?—and without an army, +what could they do in India? The much greater chance was, that a French +colony would have been starved or slaughtered, as the French army in +Egypt would have been, but for its capitulation. The same absurdity is +common to other services. The Russians, from the peasant to the throne, +think that India is at their mercy, from the instant of a battalion’s +appearing on the verge of Tartary, while they are forced to acknowledge +that the Desert is impassable by any army in summer; and General +Perowsky, in an expedition which decimated his army, half way to Thibet, +has proved it to be equally impassable in winter. Or, may we not ask, if +this mighty conquest is so much a matter of calculation, why have not +the poor and feeble tribes of the Caucasus been conquered in a war of +twenty years, within a stone’s throw of the Russian frontier?—while in +India, after a march across swamps, sands, and mountains, they would +have to meet an army of two hundred thousand men (easily increased to +half a million), led by British officers? + +The people of the United States are equally absurd in their speculations +on the conquest of Canada. They pronounce it ready to drop into their +hands, like fruit from the tree. Yet, every attempt at the invasion of +Canada has resulted only in ridiculous defeat! + +Napoleon again railed at Menou, and concluded with the remark, which he +pronounced in a very serious manner: “‘In war, the gain is always with +him who commits the fewest faults.’ It struck me as if he was +reproaching himself with some great error.” + +In this curious interview, Sir G. Cockburn’s having been shut out by a +mere accident was made the most of, as a charge of incivility against +the governor. We give Sir Hudson Lowe’s own version. He had been +accompanied by the admiral to Longwood. “In order that there might be no +mistake respecting the appointment being for Sir George Cockburn as well +as myself, I distinctly specified to Bertrand that we should go +together. We went, and were received in the outer room by Bertrand, who +almost immediately ushered me into Bonaparte’s presence. I had been +conversing with him for nearly half an hour, when, on his asking me if I +had brought with me the Regent’s speech, I turned round to ask Sir +George Cockburn if I had not given it to him? and observed, to my +surprise, that he had not followed me into the room. On going out, I +found him in the antechamber much irritated. He told me that Bertrand +had almost shut the door in his face as he was following me into the +room, and that a servant had put his arm across him. He said he would +have forced his way, but that he was expecting I would have turned round +to see that he was following me, when he supposed I would have insisted +on our entering the room together. I told him I knew nothing of his not +being in the same room till Bonaparte asked me for the Regent’s +speech.... Bonaparte was ready to receive him after I had left the room; +but he would not go in. Bertrand and Montholon have been with him since, +making apologies. But the admiral, I believe, is still not quite +satisfied about it.” + +Napoleon’s conversation was essentially rough, a circumstance to be +accounted for, partly by his birth, and partly by his camp education. +O’Meara mentions that Montholon, having brought a translation of the +paper which the domestics who desired to remain with him were to sign, +Napoleon, looking at it, said—“This is not French—it is not sense.” +“Sire,” said the other, “it is a literal translation of the English.” +“However,” said Napoleon, “it is neither French nor German (tearing it +in two)—_you are a fool_.” Then, looking it over, he said—“He makes a +translation into stuff, which is not French, and is nonsense to any +Frenchman.” + +As we are not the defenders of the governor, and the subject of mere +defence is now past by, we shall chiefly give abstracts of the +conversation of his memorable prisoner. He asked O’Meara if he had been +at Alexandria. “Yes, in a line-of-battle ship.” “But I suppose you could +not enter the harbour?” O’Meara told him, “that we soon found a passage +through which any vessel might go. This he would not believe for some +time, until I told him that I saw the Tigre and the Canopus, of eighty +guns each, enter with ease. ‘Why!’ said he, with astonishment, ‘that +Commodore Barré, whom you took in the Rivoli, was ordered by me to sound +for a passage when I was there, and he reported to me that there was not +a possibility of a line-of-battle ship’s entering the harbour.’ He +observed, then, ‘that the fleet might have been saved if he had done his +duty.’ I told him, then, that we had blocked up the passage by sinking +two vessels laden with stone in it; to which he replied, ‘that it was +easy to remove such obstacles.’” + +The expenses of Napoleon’s household were heavy. On the voyage out, +between the 8th of August and the 17th of November, they had consumed a +hundred dozens of wine, besides some casks of an inferior kind for the +servants. In one of the governor’s despatches to Lord Bathurst, two +fortnights’ accounts are given from Mr Balcombe, purveyor to Longwood. +The amount of one fortnight is an expenditure of £683, 5s. 4d.; and of +the other, £567, 10s. 4d.; the annual expense, at the former rate, thus +amounting to above £16,000, and at the latter to £13,000—nine persons, +with four children, being the family; the rest, with the exception of +the two officers in attendance, being servants—the whole number +amounting to 59. + +One day, on hearing that Napoleon had not been seen by the attendant +officer, the governor visited Longwood. “I passed,” said he, “through +his dining-room, drawing-room, and another room, in which were displayed +a great number of maps and plans laid out on a table, and several quires +of writing, and was then introduced into an inner room, with a small bed +in it, and a couch, on which Bonaparte was reclining, having only his +dressing-gown on, and without his shoes.” On the governor’s expressing +regret for his indisposition, and offering him medical advice, “I want +no doctor,” said he. On his asking “whether Lady Bingham had arrived, +and being answered that her non-arrival was owing to the delay of the +Adamant transport, which was also bringing wines, furniture, &c., for +Longwood, he said—‘It was all owing to the want of a chronometer; that +it was a miserable saving of the Admiralty not to give every vessel of +above two hundred tons one; and that he had done it in France.’ After a +pause, he asked—‘What was the situation of affairs in France when I left +Europe?’ I said, ‘Everything, I believe, was settled there.’ Beauchamp’s +Campaign of 1814 was lying on the floor near him. He asked me if I had +written the letters referred to in the appendix to this work. I +answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘I recollect Marshal Blucher at Lubeck,’ said he; ‘is +he not very old?’ ‘Seventy-five years,’ I replied, ‘but still +vigorous—supporting himself on horseback for sixteen hours a-day, when +circumstances render it necessary.’” + +Napoleon then, after a pause, returned to the usual observations on his +captivity. “I should have surrendered myself,” said he, to the Emperor +of Russia, who was my friend, or to the Emperor of Austria, who was +related to me. “There is courage in putting a man to death, but it is an +act of cowardice to let him languish, and to poison him in so horrid an +island, and so detestable a climate.” To the governor’s remark that St +Helena was not unhealthy, and that the object of the British Government +was, to make his residence on the island as satisfactory to himself as +possible, he said—“Let them send me a coffin—a couple of balls in the +head is all that is necessary. What does it signify to me whether I lie +on a velvet couch or on fustian? I am a soldier, and accustomed to +everything.” + +As to his repeated expression, that he might have put himself into the +hands of others, and that he voluntarily gave himself up to England, +there can be no doubt of his _conscious_ falsehood on both points. The +French provisional government would not have suffered him to pass the +frontier; nor would he have given himself up to Captain Maitland if he +could have escaped to America. He also dreaded the sentence of the +Bourbons, who would probably have imprisoned, or even put him to death, +as they did Ney and Labédoyère, and as Murat was shot by order of the +Neapolitan government. If he had fallen into Blucher’s hands, that +officer proposed to have him shot in the ditch of Vincennes, on the very +spot where the Duc d’Enghien was murdered; a proposal which was +ineffectual only through the generous objections of the Duke of +Wellington. The proclamation of the Allied sovereigns had already put +him in a state of _outlawry_ with Europe. Napoleon knew all this: he had +been a prisoner at Malmaison; and though spared for the moment, he might +be convinced that, on the withdrawal of the Allied troops, his life +would have been demanded by the tribunals. Thus his declarations of +confidence in England amounted simply to the belief that he would not be +put to death in its hands. He was too sagacious to suppose that he could +have been let loose again, to be the firebrand of the Continent, or to +play once more the farce of royalty in Elba. + +The inveteracy of Napoleon in his hatred of the governor almost amounted +to frenzy. After one of these interviews, he said, “I never saw such a +horrid countenance. He (Sir H. Lowe) sat in a chair opposite to my sofa, +and on the little table between us was a cup of coffee. His physiognomy +made such an unfavourable impression on me that I thought _his looks had +poisoned it_. I ordered Marchand to throw it out of the window. I could +not have swallowed it for the world.” Part of this “_horror_” was +probably “acting;” but as everything reached Sir Hudson, it belonged to +the system of insult. + +Napoleon’s ideas of religion were sometimes regarded as _decent_, +compared with the general tone of the Continent. On his deathbed he +said, “Je ne suis ni _physicien_ ni _philosophe_.” (I am neither a +_materialist_ nor an _infidel_.) But an anecdote given in Sir Hudson’s +correspondence shows the unfortunate conception of his creed: “Dr +O’Meara related to me yesterday a very characteristic observation of +this remarkable personage. He asked him, on seeing that he had taken his +oath to the authenticity of the paper he had brought to me, in what +manner he had sworn to it. Dr O’Meara replied, ‘On the New Testament.’ +‘_Then_, you _are_ such a fool!’ was his reply.” His attendants were +obviously much of the same order of thinking: “Cipriani came out one day +from Bonaparte’s room, to Dr O’Meara, saying, in a manner indicative of +great surprise, ‘My master is certainly beginning to lose his head. _He +believes in God._ You may think; he said to the servant who was shutting +the windows, Why do you take from us the light which God gives us?’ Oh, +certainly he loses his head. He began at Waterloo, but now it is +_certain_.” His following remark was curious, as an evidence of the +_actual_ feeling of these people with respect to the man whom they +professed to _adore_. Cipriani added—“I do not believe in God; because, +if there were one, he would not have allowed a man, who has done so much +harm, to live so long. And _he_ does not believe; because, if he +believed, he would not have caused so many millions of men to be killed +in this world, for fear of meeting them in the other.” This is absurd, +but it is perhaps the average of Italian belief. Cipriani was _maître +d’hotel_, and a man of intelligence. He died on the island in 1818. + +One of the conversations transmitted by O’Meara related to Waterloo. +“The worst thing,” said Napoleon, “that England ever did, was that of +endeavouring to make herself a great military nation. In doing that, she +must _always be the slave_ of Russia, Prussia, or Austria, or at least +in some degree subservient to them, because she has not enough of men to +combat on the Continent either France or any of the others, and +consequently must hire men from some of them; whereas, at sea, you are +so superior, your sailors so much better, that you will always be +superior to us. Your soldiers, too, have not the qualities for a +military nation; they are not equal in agility, address, or intelligence +to the French; and when they meet with a reverse, their discipline is +very bad.... I saw myself the retreat of Moore, and I never in my life +witnessed anything so bad as the conduct of the soldiers; it was +impossible to collect them or make them do anything; nearly all were +drunk.” + +This is a calumny. The army under General Moore offered battle to the +army under Napoleon, who _declined it_; and when he saw the steadiness +of the British, on their retreat through an exhausted country, and +especially saw that his troops could make no impression on the fifteen +thousand men commanded by Moore, and _saw_ (as we understood) the utter +defeat of the cavalry of his guard by the British hussars, under the +command of the present Marquis of Londonderry, he wisely drew rein, and +returned to Paris, leaving it to Soult “to drive the leopards into the +sea,” who, instead of performing this exploit, was himself beaten on the +shore, and forced to see the British embark at their ease. It is true +that the rapidity and exhaustion of the British march left many +stragglers on the road; but the rapidity resulted from the error of +having supposed that there were parallel roads to the highroad, by which +a French force might have intercepted their march. But, in _every_ +attack on that march, the French were repulsed; and such was the nature +of their defeat in the battle of Corunna, that they were wholly driven +off their ground, and another hour of daylight must have seen their +retreat converted into a _rout_. + +The sneer at England, as not being a military nation, is at once +answered by the fact, that its whole regular force is an army of +_volunteers_, while all the other armies of Europe are raised by a +_conscription_; that in the French war England had an army of 200,000 +men, raised by the military spirit of the country, besides 500,000 +militia and yeomanry! The answer to the “want of soldierly +qualification” in the British troops, is given in the fact, that in the +whole war the British army _never_ lost a pitched battle. + +Napoleon’s account of Waterloo, as given in those pages, is, simply, +that Wellington did everything _wrong_, but with the good fortune of +everything turning out right; that he _ought_, in all propriety, to have +been beaten, though he beat; that the battle was a series of blunders, +which by the power of destiny, or _something_ else, turned into victory; +and that he himself ought, by all the rules of war, to have been +marching in triumph into Brussels, while he was running away to Paris, +leaving 40,000 Frenchmen slain, prisoners, or fugitives, instead of the +40,000 Englishmen, who _ought_ to have fallen. In the same spirit, +Napoleon ought to have been sitting on the throne of France, while he +was talking fustian at St Helena. “What,” said Napoleon, “must have been +the consequence of _my_ victory?” The indignation against the Ministry +for having caused the loss of 40,000 of the flower of the English army, +of the sons of the first families, and others, who would have perished +there, would have excited such a popular commotion, that—“they would +have been _turned out_.” (A rather lame and impotent conclusion.) “The +English would then have made peace, and withdrawn from the Coalition.” + +This is one of the perpetual absurdities of foreigners. England has +_never_ been compelled to an ignominious peace, by losses in war. She +has _never_ seen an enemy in her capital. Loving peace, she willingly +makes peace; but she has _never_ surrendered her sword to make it. + +He persevered in this verbiage. “I had succeeded; before twelve o’clock +everything was mine, I might _almost_ say. But _destiny_ and _accident_ +decided it otherwise.” The curious combination of the most fixed, and +the most casual, of all things, was alone adequate to account for the +defeat of Napoleon! and with this folly the prisoner nursed his +self-delusion to the end. + +One of the chief charges against the English Government was its stinting +the French tables. But one of O’Meara’s _private_ letters gives a fair +account of the matter. “With respect to the allowance within which all +the expenses were directed to be comprised—viz., £8000 sterling a-year, +to which Sir Hudson Lowe has, on his own responsibility, since added +£4000 yearly (!) in my opinion a due regard has not been paid to +circumstances, and I do not think even this latter sum will be +sufficient.... You perhaps are not aware of the French mode of living +and their cookery. They have, in fact, _two_ dinners every day—one at +eleven or twelve o’clock, to which joints, roast and boiled, with all +their various hashes, ragouts, fricassees, &c., &c., are served up, with +wine and liqueurs; and another at eight o’clock, which differs from the +former only in being supplied with more dishes. Besides these two meals, +they all have (except Bonaparte himself, who eats only twice a-day, +certainly very heartily) something like an English breakfast, in _bed_, +between eight and nine in the morning; and a luncheon, with wine, at +four or five in the afternoon. + +“The common notion of the English eating more animal food than the +French is most incorrect. I am convinced that between their two dinners +and luncheon they consume three or four times as much as any English +family of a similar number. Those two dinners, then, the first of which +they have separately in their respective rooms, cause a great +consumption of meat and wine, which, together with their mode of +cookery, require a great quantity of either oil or butter, both of which +are excessively dear in this place (and you may as well attempt to +deprive an Irishman of potatoes as a Frenchman of his oil, or some +substitute for it). Their _soupes consommés_ (for they are, with one or +two exceptions, the greatest gluttons and epicures I ever saw), +producing great waste of meat in a place where the necessaries of life +are so dear, altogether render necessary a great expenditure of money.” + +Among the cunning attempts to throw the conduct of the governor into +abhorrence, was the charge of refusing Napoleon the _bust_ of his son, +and even intending to destroy it. O’Meara says, that it had been “landed +fourteen days, and some of those in the governor’s hands.” This is +another instance of the language perpetually used; the fact being, “that +the bust was landed on the 10th or 11th of June, and sent to Longwood +the _next day_.” + +The true narrative was this: In the summer of 1816, the ex-empress Maria +Louisa having visited the baths of Leghorn, two marble busts of her son +were executed. One of those was purchased by Messrs Beaggini in London, +in hopes of an opportunity of sending it to St Helena. A store-ship, the +Baring, being about to sail there in January 1817, a foreign gunner on +board, named Radavich, was intrusted with the bust, with instructions to +give it to Count Bertrand, for Napoleon, leaving it to his generosity +“to refund their expenses.” If, however, he wished to know the price, it +was to be a hundred louis. The captain of the ship (a half-pay +lieutenant) knew nothing of its being on board till shortly before, or +immediately after, his arrival at St Helena; at that time Radavich was +ill of apoplexy, followed by delirium, so that for several days it was +impossible to speak to him on the subject. When Sir Thomas Reade was +informed that it was on board, he immediately acquainted the governor +with the circumstance. Sir Hudson Lowe, considering the clandestine +manner in which it was brought, was at first inclined to retain it until +he had communicated with Lord Bathurst. But, Sir T. Reade suggesting +that as the bust was not _plaster_, it could not contain letters, +advised its being forwarded at once, and the governor assented. Before, +however, ordering it on shore, he himself went to Longwood, to ascertain +Napoleon’s wish through Bertrand. Major Gorrequer accompanied him, and +in his notes gives an account of the interview. The governor mentioned +the arrival of the bust to Bertrand, and said that he would take upon +himself the responsibility of landing it, if such was the wish of +Napoleon. Bertrand’s answer was, “No doubt it will give him pleasure.” +The _next_ day the bust was landed, taken to Longwood, and received by +Napoleon with evident delight. By some means or other he had known of +its arrival, and said to O’Meara on the 10th, “I have known it several +days.” He then rushed into one of those explosions of wrath and oratory +which were familiar to him. He said, “I intended, if it had not been +given, to have made such a complaint as would have caused every +Englishman’s hair to stand on end! I should have told a tale which would +have made the mothers of England execrate him as a monster in human +shape.” + +And all this with the bust before his eyes. To heighten the effect, he +would persist in pretending to believe that Sir Hudson Lowe had given +orders for breaking up the bust, and on this fancy he declaimed anew +against him, calling him “barbarous and atrocious.” “That countenance,” +said he, turning to the bust, “would melt the heart of the most +ferocious _wild beast_! The man who gave orders to break that image +would _plunge a knife_ into the heart of the original, if it were in his +power.” And all this fury for a fiction!—the palpable contradiction to +the charge of cruelty standing on his table. + +It is not even clear, after all, that there was _not_ an intrigue +connected with this bust: Napoleon exhibited extreme anxiety to see +Radavich. This the governor permitted, but on the condition of the +officer in attendance being present, and it was declined. Lord Bathurst, +in his despatch to St Helena, said, “The suspicious circumstances under +which the bust arrived, were sufficient to make you pause before you +determined to transmit it to the general. Had the package contained +anything less interesting to him in his character as a father, the +clandestine manner in which it was introduced on board of the vessel +would have been a sufficient reason for withholding the delivery of it, +at least for a much longer period.... I am not disposed to participate +in his (the French ambassador’s) apprehensions that letters _were +conveyed_ in it. No doubt, however, can be entertained that attempts are +making at clandestine communications.” + +To this we may add that, by some secret means, the French were +acquainted with every transaction of Europe, and frequently before the +public authorities. + +Napoleon ordered £300 to be given to Radavich (who was merely the agent +for the London house). O’Meara says, in his _Voice from St Helena_, +that, “by some unworthy tricks, this poor man did not recover the money +for nearly two years.” This is a proof of the slipshod statements which +are to be found in the volume; the fact being, that, in March 1818, the +former proprietors of the bust wrote to Bertrand, to complain of the +conduct of Radavich, as having come to no settlement with them “for the +payment he had received for the bust, and for the other articles +intrusted to him; and that he had gone from England without rendering +any account to _them_.” They solicited Bertrand to give them some +remuneration. + +Our limits warn us that we must conclude, leaving a crowd of interesting +incidents behind. The work seems perfectly to clear Sir Hudson Lowe’s +character, not merely from the charge of severity, but even from the +imputation of petulance. No man could be placed in a situation of +greater difficulty. He had to deal with a _coterie_ of the most +unscrupulous kind; he had also especially to deal with a man irritated +by the most signal downfall in European record, subtle beyond all +example, unhesitating in evasion, formed of falsehood, and furious at +necessary coercion. He had to meet also the clamours of French +partisanship throughout Europe, and to bear the calumnies of faction +even in England. He had to endure personal insult, and to counteract +reckless intrigue. If he had been roused into violence of temper, no man +could be more easily pardoned for its excess; but there is not a single +_proof_ of this charge, and the whole tenor of his conduct seems to have +been patient and equable, though strict and firm. He had one paramount +duty to perform—the prevention of Napoleon’s escape, and he did that +duty. All minor deficiencies, if they existed, might be merged in the +perfect performance of a duty which involved the peace of the world. + +The dismissal of O’Meara from his office in the island, followed by his +dismissal from the navy, let loose a personal enemy of some ability, +much plausibility, and the bitterest anger. His volume, _A Voice from St +Helena_, embodied all the charges against Sir Hudson Lowe, and was +prosecuted as a libel. But the prosecution having, in the opinion of the +judges, been delayed for some months beyond the legal time, it failed, +on that ground only. The governor of St Helena drew up a refutation of +the volume, which still remains in the archives of Government. Why he +did not appeal to the opinion of the country—a duty which no public man +can decline without loss to his own character—cannot now be ascertained. +He was probably weary of a life of contradiction, and had no desire to +continue it in controversy. + +But the task, though long delayed, has finally been performed, as it +appears to us, with perfect manliness, clearness, and conviction, by its +present author. Mr Forsyth’s style is admirably fitted for his +subject—fair, forcible, and argumentative. By his work he has done +credit to himself, and cleared the character of a brave, an honest, and +a high-minded English soldier and gentleman. We know no ampler panegyric +on the uses or the successes of authorship. + +Sir Hudson Lowe was appointed to the colonelcy of the first vacant +regiment (the 93d) on his return—was subsequently in command of the +troops in Ceylon—and at length, yielding to the effects of toil and +time, died in 1844, in his 75th year. + + + + + NEW READINGS IN SHAKESPEARE.[16] + + +A copy of almost any ancient author, with its margins studded with +antique manuscript jottings, is a treasure to the scholar who possesses +it, and a sore temptation to all his antiquarian friends. What, then, +must be the pricelessness of an early folio, thus annotated, of +Shakespeare, the Emperor of all the Literatures? Would not a lover of +the poet be almost inclined to sell his whole library in order to +purchase that single book? And when secured, with what zest would he not +set himself to decipher the crabbed hieroglyphics on the margins of the +intoxicating windfall! The various readings, recommended by the charm of +novelty, and yet apparently as old, and _perhaps_ as genuine as the +printed text, would gradually become its rivals. Alterations, +occasionally felicitous, would throw an air of respectability over their +less insinuating associates. Sole possession would enhance the +importance of the discovery. Solitary enjoyment would deepen the relish +of the entertainment. The situation is one not at all favourable to the +exercise of a sound critical judgment. Imagination goes to work, and +colours the facts according to its own wishes; and faith and hope, +“hovering o’er,” at length drive away all misgivings as to the +authenticity of the emendations. That fine old handwriting, which is as +conscientious as it is curious, is itself a guarantee that the +corrections are not spurious—are not merely conjectural. The manuscript +corrector must have had good grounds for what he did. He may have been +Shakespeare’s bosom friend, his boon companion, his chosen confidant, +and perhaps the assistant in his labours; or, if not that, at any rate +the friend of some one who had known the great dramatist well—was +acquainted with his innermost thoughts—and as intimate with his works, +and with all that he intended to express, as if he himself had written +them. At all events, the corrector must have had access to sources of +information respecting the text of the plays, the results of which have +perished to all the world—_except me_, the happy holder of this unique +and inestimable volume. + +Such, we conceive, would be the state of mind and the train of reasoning +into which a man would naturally be thrown by the acquisition of such an +agitating prize as we have supposed. Under the excitement of his +feelings, the authority of the corrector of the work would, in all +likelihood, supersede the authority of its composer; the penman would +carry the day against the printer; and the possessor of the book would +do his best to press the “new readings” into the ears and down the +throats of a somewhat uncritical but not altogether passive or +unsuspicious public. + +The case which we have described is to be understood as a general and +ideal one; but something of this kind seems to have befallen Mr Collier, +whom accident lately placed in possession of a copy of the folio of +Shakespeare, 1632, plentifully garnished with manuscript notes and +emendations. In these trying circumstances he has acted very much in the +way which might have been anticipated. It is true that he announces his +good fortune in a strain of moderated enthusiasm. “In the spring of +1849,” says he, “I happened to be in the shop of the late Mr Rodd, of +Great Newport Street, at a time when a package of books arrived from the +country.” Among them was a very indifferent copy of the folio of +Shakespeare, 1632, which Mr Collier, concluding hastily that it would +complete an imperfect copy of the same edition which he had purchased +from the same bookseller some time before, bought for thirty shillings. +The purchase did not answer its purpose. The two leaves that were wanted +to complete the other folio “were unfit for my purpose, not merely by +being too short” (how very particular these book-fanciers are), “but +otherwise damaged and defaced. Thus disappointed, I threw it by, and did +not see it again until I made a selection of books I would take with me +on quitting London. On consulting it afterwards,” continues Mr Collier, +“it struck me that Thomas Perkins, whose name, with the addition of ‘his +Booke,’ was upon the cover, might be the old actor who had performed in +Marlowe’s _Jew of Malta_ on its revival shortly before 1633.” That would +have been an important fact, as helping to connect the MS. corrections +closely with the Shakesperian era. But here Mr Collier was doomed to +disappointment. On further inquiry he found that the actor’s name was +Richard Perkins: “still,” says he, with a faith too buoyant to be +submerged by such a trifle, “Thomas Perkins might have been a descendant +of Richard,” from whom, of course, he probably inherited a large portion +of the emendations. “This circumstance,” says Mr Collier, “and others, +induced me to examine the volume more particularly: I then discovered, +to my surprise, that there was hardly a page which did not present, in a +handwriting of the time, some emendations in the pointing or in the +text, while on most of them they were frequent, and on many numerous. Of +course I now submitted the folio to a most careful scrutiny; and as it +occupied a considerable time to complete the inspection, how much more +must it have consumed to make the alterations? The ink was of various +shades, differing sometimes on the same page, and I was once disposed to +think that two distinct hands had been employed upon them. This notion I +have since abandoned, and I am now decidedly of opinion that the same +writing prevails from beginning to end, but that the amendments must +have been introduced from time to time during perhaps the course of +several years.” + +But although Mr Collier speaks thus calmly of his prize, we are +nevertheless convinced, by the rapidity of his conversion from the old +readings to the new, that he, like the rest of us, is liable to be +carried a little off his feet by any sudden stroke of prosperity, and is +keenly alive (as most people are) to the superior merits of anything +that happens to be his own. It is our nature to admire what we alone +have been privileged to possess or to discover. Hence Mr Collier has +stepped at one plunge from possession into cordial approbation and +unhesitating adoption of most of the corrections set forth on the +margins of his folio. Formerly the stanchest defender of the old +Shakesperian text, he is now the advocate of changes in it, to an extent +which calls for very grave consideration on the part of those who regard +the language of the poet as a sacred inheritance, not to be disturbed by +innovations, without the strongest evidence, the most conclusive +reasons, and the most clamant necessity being adduced in their support. + +We are far from blaming Mr Collier for having published his volume of +“Notes and Emendations.” Although it might be advantageously reduced in +bulk by the omission of many details occupied with the settlement of +matters which have been long ago settled, still it is in some respects a +valuable contribution to the literature of Shakespeare. We have no faith +whatever in the authenticity of the new readings; a few of them, +however—a very few—seem to us to be irresistibly established by their +own self-evidence; while the whole of them are invested with a certain +degree of interest as the interpretations of an indefatigable, though +thick-headed—of a blundering, yet early and perhaps almost contemporary, +scholiast. As a matter of curiosity, and as indicative of the state of +English criticism in the 17th century, the new readings are acceptable; +and the thanks of the literary portion of the community are due to Mr +Collier for having favoured them with this publication. But here the +obligation stops. To insert the new readings into the text, and to +publish them as the genuine words of Shakespeare (which we understand Mr +Collier has either done or threatens to do), is a proceeding which +cannot be too solemnly denounced. This is to poison our language in its +very “wells of English undefiled.” It is to obliterate the distinctions +which characterise the various eras of our vernacular tongue; for +however near to the time of Shakespeare our newly discovered scholiast +may have lived, there was doubtless some interval between them—an +interval during which our language was undergoing considerable changes. +It is to lose hold of old modes of thought, as well as of old forms of +expression;—it is to confound the different styles of our literature;—it +is to vitiate with anachronisms the chronology of our speech;—it is to +profane the memory of Shakespeare. + +When we look for evidence in favour of the authenticity of these +(so-called) “Emendations,” we look for it in vain. The state of the case +may perhaps be understood, by attending to the following particulars. Of +Shakespeare’s handwriting, so far as is known, there is not now extant +so much as “the scrape of a pen,” with the exception of the autograph of +his name. Of his plays, thirteen were published in an authentic form +during his life, and four in spurious or “pirated” editions. These are +called the quartos. After his death, one of his plays was published, by +itself, for the first time—“Othello.” In 1623, seven years after his +death, the first folio appeared. It contains the eighteen plays just +referred to, with the addition of eighteen, now published for the first +time. This folio 1623 was printed (if we are to believe its editors, and +there is no reason to doubt their word) _from Shakespeare’s own +manuscripts_, and from the quarto editions, revised and corrected to +some extent, either by his own hand or under his authority. So that the +folio 1623 is the highest authority that can be appealed to in the +settlement of his text. It ranks even before the quartos, except in +cases of obvious misprint, or other self-evident oversights. To it, in +so far as _external_ evidence is concerned, all other proofs must yield. +_Internal_ evidence may occasionally solicit the alteration of its text; +but such emendations must, in every case, be merely conjectural. It is +the basis of every genuine edition, and must continue so, until +Shakespeare’s own manuscripts be brought to light. + +Out of these circumstances an important consideration arises. It is +this, that we are not entitled, on any account, to alter the text of the +folio 1623, even in cases where manifest improvements might be made, so +long as the old reading makes sense. If any reasonable meaning can be +extracted from the received lection, we are bound to retain it, because +we have every reason to believe that it is what Shakespeare wrote; and +it is our object to possess his words and his meaning, not as we may +suppose they _ought_ to have been, but as they actually _were_. Where no +sense at all can be obtained from a passage, a slight, perhaps a +considerable, alteration is allowable; because any man’s intelligibility +is to be preferred to even Shakespeare’s unintelligibility. But we are +never to flatter ourselves, with any strong degree of assurance, that +the correction has restored to us the exact language of the poet. + +This consideration had, in former years, its due weight with Mr Collier. +No one was a keener advocate than he for preserving the original text +inviolate. He now views the matter in a different light. He is tolerant +of new readings, even in cases where sense can be elicited from the +received text. Further, he frequently gives the preference to new +readings, as we hope to show, even in cases where the old reading is far +the more forcible and intelligible of the two. And on what ground does +he countenance them? Setting aside at present the question of their +internal evidence, we reply, that he countenances them on the ground +that the folio 1623 is of doubtful authenticity. He denies that it was +prepared from Shakespeare’s own papers. This is the foundation of his +case. He maintains that the copy which the printer used had been +(probably) dictated by some underling of the theatre, to some scribe +whose ear (probably) often deceived him in taking up the right word, and +who consequently put down a wrong one, which was subsequently set up in +type by the printer. He is further of opinion that a text of +Shakespeare, purer than any that ever got into print, was preserved +_orally_ in the theatre, and that the corrector of his folio, who was +decidedly of a theatrical turn, and perhaps himself a manager, picked up +his new readings from the mouths of the players themselves. But he has +entirely failed to prove these improbable assertions. His theory in +regard to the printing of the folio 1623 is contradicted by the distinct +announcement of its editors, who say of their great master that “his +mind and hand went together, and what he thought he uttered with that +easiness that we have scarce received _from him_ a blot _in his +papers_.” This declaration, that the materials from which they worked +were derived directly from Shakespeare himself, seems to establish +conclusively the authenticity of the folio 1623; and that point being +made good, all external evidence in favour of the new readings must of +necessity fail. + +But perhaps these new readings are supported by their internal +evidence—perhaps they bring along with them such an amount of force and +propriety as carries conviction on the very face of it, and entitles +them to a decided preference in comparison with the old? Mr Collier +would fain think so. On their evident superiority, both in sense and in +style, he rests the main strength of his case. Speaking of his volume, +he says, “I ought not to hesitate in avowing my conviction, that _we are +bound_ to admit _by far the greater body_ of the substitutions it +contains, as _the restored language_ of Shakespeare. As he was +especially the poet of common life, so he was emphatically the poet of +common sense; and to _the verdict of common sense_ I am willing to +submit all the more material alterations recommended on the authority +before me. If they will not bear that test, I for one am willing _to +relinquish_ them.” + +Our principal object in the following pages is to show that “by far the +greater body of the substitutions” will not stand this test; and that +many of them present such a perverse depravation of the true text, that +if the design of the corrector had been to damage the literary character +of Shakespeare, he could not have accomplished his purpose more +effectually than by representing these new readings as his. At the same +time, we shall endeavour to bring forward everything in Mr Collier’s +volume which tells in the manuscript-corrector’s favour. This will +probably cause the corrector’s notes and emendations to be more highly +thought of than they deserve; because, while it will be no difficult +matter to lay before the reader _all_, or nearly all, his judicious +amendments, our space will not permit us to present to him one-twentieth +part of his astounding aberrations. Selecting, then, as many of the more +important alterations as our limits will allow, and weighing what their +internal evidence is worth, we shall go over the plays _seriatim_, +commencing with “The Tempest.” + +THE TEMPEST.—The new readings in this play are generally unimportant, +and, in our judgment, not one of them ought to be admitted into the +text. In no case would anything be gained, and in some cases a good deal +would be lost, by adopting the proposed changes. In the following +passage the original text is certainly unsatisfactory, but the new +reading is at least equally so. Antonio, the usurping Duke of Milan, has +become so habituated to the possession of his unlawful power, and has +been so little checked in the exercise of it, that he at length believes +himself to be the real duke. This idea is thus expressed. Prospero, the +rightful duke, says of him— + + “He being thus _lorded_, + Not only with what my revenue yielded, + But what my power might else exact,—like + one + Who having, _unto truth_, by telling of it, + Made such a sinner of his memory + To credit his own lie,—he did believe + He was indeed the duke.” + +For “lorded,” Mr Collier’s emendator would read “loaded”—a correction +which Mr Collier himself admits to be “questionable,” and which we throw +overboard at once. For “unto truth” he proposes “to untruth”— + + “like one + Who having, _to untruth_, by telling of it,” &c. + +But here, if one flaw is mended, another and a worse one is made. By +reading “to untruth” we obtain, indeed, a proper antecedent to “it,” +which otherwise must be looked for, awkwardly enough, in the subsequent +word “lie.” But as a set-off against this improvement, we would ask, how +can a man be said to make his memory a sinner _to untruth_? This would +mean, if it meant anything, that the man’s memory was true; and this is +precisely what Prospero says Antonio’s memory was not. We must leave, +therefore, the text as it stands, regarding it as one of those passages +in which Shakespeare has expressed himself with less than his usual care +and felicity. + +The substitution of “all” for “are” in the lines, + + “They all have met again, + And _are_ upon the Mediterranean float”— + +Or, as the MS. corrector reads it, + + “They _all_ upon the Mediterranean float”— + +strikes us as peculiarly un-Shakesperian. But this instance of the +corrector’s injudicious meddling is a small matter. The following +passage deserves more careful consideration, for we are convinced that +the text of the first and second folios, which has been universally +rejected since the days of Theobald, is, after all, the right reading. +_Act III. Scene 1_ opens with the soliloquy of Ferdinand, who declares +that the irksome tasks to which he has been set by Prospero are sweetly +alleviated by the consciousness that he has secured the interest and +sympathy of Miranda. He says— + + “There be some sports are painful; but their labour + Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness + Are nobly undergone: and most poor matters + Point to rich ends. This my mean task + Would be as heavy to me as odious; but + The mistress, which I serve, quickens what’s dead, + And makes my labours pleasures. Oh, she is + Ten times more gentle than her father’s crabbed, + And he’s composed of harshness. I must remove + Some thousands of these logs, and pile them up + Upon a sore injunction. My sweet mistress + Weeps when she sees me work, and says such baseness + Had never like executor. I forget: + But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, + _Most busy-less, when I do it_.” + +The last line, as it here stands, is Theobald’s reading; and it has been +adopted almost unanimously by subsequent editors—by the compilers of the +_variorum_ Shakespeare—by Mr Knight—and most recently by Mr Halliwell, +in his magnificent folio. Mr Singer, in his edition of 1826, and Mr +Collier’s emendator, are, so far as we can learn, the only dissentients. +The former proposes, “most busiest when I do it;” and the latter, “most +busy,—blest when I do it;” which reading we agree with Mr Singer in +thinking “the very worst and most improbable of all that have been +suggested;”—will he excuse us for adding—except perhaps, his own? +Theobald’s text is certainly greatly to be preferred to either of these +alterations. Had the MS. corrector’s emendation been a compound epithet, +“busy-blest” (that is, blest with my business, because it is associated +with thoughts of Miranda), something, though perhaps not much, might +possibly have been said in its behalf. But Mr Collier regards the +correction as consisting of two distinct words; and, therefore, he must +excuse us for saying that it is one in which sense and grammar are +equally set at defiance. We now take up the original reading, which has +been universally discarded, but which, as we hope clearly to show, calls +for no alteration; and an attention to which, at an earlier stage in the +revision of Shakespeare’s text, might have prevented a large expenditure +of very unnecessary criticism. The original text of the line under +consideration is this— + + “Most busy, least when I do it.” + +This is the reading of the second folio. The first folio has “lest;” +but, of course, _least_ and _lest_ are the same word in the arbitrary +spelling of that early period. We maintain that this lection makes as +excellent and undeniable sense as could be desired. + + “Most busy, least when I do it;” + +—that is, “when I do it (or work) _least_, then am I _most_ busy, _most_ +oppressed by toil.” More fully stated, the obvious meaning is “this +labour of mine is so preciously sweetened, so agreeably refreshed by +thoughts of Miranda’s kindness, that I really feel _most_ busy, most +burthened, most fatigued, when I am _least_ occupied with my task; +because, then I am not so sensible of being the object of her sympathy +and approval.” Shakespeare intends that Ferdinand should express the +ardour of his attachment to Miranda in a strong hyperbole; accordingly, +he makes him say, “I am most busy, when I am least busy;” because the +spirit of Miranda does not cheer and inspire my idleness, in the way in +which it cheers and inspires my labour. Theobald’s line expresses, +although in an imperfect manner, this same hyperbole conversely. “I am +least busy, when I am most busy; because, when I am working hardest, the +spirit of Miranda is present to refresh and alleviate my toils.” But +Shakespeare’s mode of expressing the exaggeration is both stronger and +finer than Theobald’s, which in point of language is exceedingly lame +and defective. Our only doubt, in restoring the old reading, is in +regard to the word “it.” Perhaps it would be as well away, and we might +read more perspicuously + + “_Most_ busy,—_least_ when I do.” + +The measure being already redundant, the word could be spared. But its +absence or presence makes little or no difference, and, with it, or +without it, we hope to see this restoration of the original text, which, +of course, requires no authority except its own to establish it, +embodied in all future editions of our great national dramatist. + +The only new reading in this play which we have some hesitation in +condemning, is the following. The witch Sycorax is spoken of (_Act V. +Scene 1._) as one + + “That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs, + And deal in her command _without_ her power.” + +This is the ordinary text. The MS. corrector proposes “_with all_ +power;” and, at first sight, this correction looks like an improvement; +for how could the witch deal in the moon’s command, if she had not got +the moon’s power? On second thoughts, however, we believe that Mr +Knight, who defends the common reading, is right. By “power,” we are +here to understand _legitimate_ authority; and of this Sycorax has none. +By means of her spells and counternatural incantations she could make +ebbs and flows, and thus wielded to some extent the lunar influences; +but she had none of that rightful and natural dominion over the tides of +the ocean which belongs only to the moon. Our verdict, therefore, is in +favour of the old reading. We pass from “The Tempest” with the remark +that the other new readings proposed by Mr Collier’s emendator have here +and elsewhere been conclusively set aside, in our estimation, by the +observations of Mr Knight and Mr Singer; and we again protest against +any adulteration of the text of this play by the introduction even of a +single word which the MS. corrector has suggested. + +THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.—Nothing connected with Shakespeare is +small, and therefore we make no apology for calling the reader’s +attention to what some people might consider a very small matter—the +difference between _for_ and _but_ in the following lines. _Act I. Scene +1._—Valentine and Proteus, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” are saying +good-bye to each other, the former being on the eve of setting out on +his travels. Valentine, the traveller, says to his friend— + + —“on some love-book pray for my success. + + _Proteus._ Upon some book I love, I’ll pray for thee. + + _Valentine._ That’s on some shallow story of deep love, + How young Leander cross’d the Hellespont. + + _Proteus._ That’s a deep story of a deeper love, + For he was more than over shoes in love. + + _Valentine._ ’Tis true; _for_ you are over boots in love, + And yet you never swam the Hellespont.” + +In place of “for” in the last line but one, the corrector proposes +“but,” and Mr Collier approves, remarking that _but_ “seems more +consistent with the course of the dialogue.” If, however, we attend to +the sequence of thought in this passage, it will be apparent that the +change not only fails to render the dialogue more consistent, but that +it altogether destroys its consistency, converting very good sense into +downright nonsense; smartness into drivel. When Proteus says that +Leander who crossed the Hellespont was more than over shoes in love, +Valentine catches him up, “’tis true: no doubt of it: he must have been +more than over shoes in love; _for_ you, who never swam the Hellespont +at all, are actually over boots in love.” The reasoning here seems very +plain. If Proteus, without swimming the Hellespont, was over _boots_ in +love, surely the very least that could be said of Leander, who did swim +it, must be that he was more than over _shoes_ in love. “Your remark, +friend Proteus, though very true, is not very recondite. It is decidedly +common-place, and such as I should scarcely have expected to hear from a +person of your wit and penetration. Pray favour us with something a +little more original and profound.” All this banter, and we venture to +think it rather happy, is implied in Valentine’s words— + + “’Tis true; _For_ you are over boots in love, + And yet you never swam the Hellespont.” + +But change this “for” into “but,” and the whole point of the dialogue is +gone. Let this new reading be adopted, and future commentators will be +justified in declaring that Shakespeare’s words were sometimes without +meaning. This single and apparently insignificant instance in which the +corrector has palpably misconceived his author, compels us to distrust +his capacity, and ought to go far to shake the general credit of his +emendations. + +To alter “blasting in the bud,” into “blasted in the bud,” is merely an +instance of excessive bad taste on the part of the MS. corrector. We see +nothing worthy of approval or animadversion until we come to two lines +which are quoted from _Act III. Scene 2_— + + “But say, this _weed_ her love from Valentine, + It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio”— + +where it may be a question whether “wean” (the corrector’s suggestion), +might not be judiciously substituted for “weed.” If rapid extirpation +was intended to be expressed, “weed” is the word; otherwise we are +disposed to prefer “wean,” as better fitted to denote the contemplated +alienation of Julia’s affections from Proteus. + +In _Act IV. Scene 2_, a whole new line is introduced; and as there is no +evidence to prove that the corrector did not write this line himself, we +must protest against its insertion in the genuine writings of +Shakespeare. The interpolation is in italics. Eglamour says to the +distressed Silvia, who is requesting him to be her escort— + + “Madam, I pity much your grievances, + _And the most true affections that you bear_, + Which since I know they virtuously are placed, + I give consent to go along with you.” + +Johnson explains _grievances_ as sorrows, _sorrowful affections_—an +explanation which renders the interpolated line quite unnecessary. +Shakespeare understood the art of _ne quid nimis_, and frequently leaves +something to be supplied by the imagination of his reader or hearer. +Besides, it would have been indelicate in Eglamour to have alluded more +particularly to the “loves” of Silvia and Valentine. + +If the MS. corrector had ever seen _Scene IV._ effectively acted, he +must have perceived how completely one good point would have been +destroyed by his unwise insertion of the word “cur.” Launce, servant to +Proteus, has been sent by his master with a little dog as a present to +Silvia. Launce has lost the lap-dog, and has endeavoured to make +compensation by offering to Silvia his own hulking mongrel in its place. +These particulars are thus recounted:— + + “_Launce._—Marry, sir, I carried Mistress Silvia the dog you bade me. + + _Proteus._—And what says she to my little jewel? + + _Launce._—Marry, she says your dog was a cur; and tells you currish + thanks is good enough for such a present. + + _Proteus._—But she received my present? + + _Launce._—No, indeed, she did not. Here I have brought him back again. + + _Proteus._—What! didst thou offer her _this_ from me? + + _Launce._—Ay, sir, the other squirrel was stolen from me by the + hangman’s boys in the market-place; and then I offered her mine own, + who is a dog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the + greater.” + +The question is, whether the word “this” is better by itself, or whether +it should be coupled with the word “cur,” as the MS. emendator proposes. +Our notion is, that the single pronoun is greatly the more expressive. +“Did you offer her _this_” (of course pointing to the brute with an +expression of indignation and abhorrence, which disdained to call him +anything but _this_) “THIS!!! from me? The lady must think me mad.” In +regard to the other corrections, we perceive no such force or propriety +in any of them as might incline us to disturb, for their sake, the +received text of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” + +THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.—In _Act II. Scene 1_, the commentators have +all been gravelled by the word “an-heires,” as it stands in all the +early editions in the following passage— + + “_Host._—My hand, bully, thou shalt have egress and regress; said I + well, and thy name shall be Brook. It is a merry knight—will you go, + _anheires_?” + +In place of this unintelligible word, various substitutes have been +proposed. The MS. corrector would read “Will you go _on here_?” This is +very poor, and sounds to our ears very unlike the host’s ordinary slang; +and we have no hesitation in agreeing with Mr Dyce,[17] who gives the +preference over all the other readings to that of Sir John Hanmer, the +editor of the Oxford edition: “Will you go on, _mynheers_?”—will you go +on, my masters? The word is proved to have been used in England in the +time of Shakespeare. + +In _Act II. Scene 3_, this same host, who deals somewhat largely in the +unknown tongue, again says— + + “I will bring thee where Mistress Page is, at a farm-house feasting, + and thou shalt woo her. _Cried game_, said I well?” + +This obsolete slang has puzzled the commentators sorely. Mr Dyce +suggests “cried I aim,” which means, it appears, “Did I give you +encouragement?”—(_vide_ Singer, p. 7.) We confess ourselves incompetent +to form an opinion, except to this extent, that Mr Collier’s corrector, +who proposes “curds and cream,” seems to us to have made the worst shot +of any that have been fired.[18] + +In _Act IV. Scene I_, we rather think that the MS. corrector is right in +changing “let” into “get,” in the following passage: “How now,” says Mrs +Page to Sir Hugh Evans the schoolmaster; “How now, Sir Hugh?—no school +to-day?” “No,” answers Sir Hugh; “Master Slender is _let_ (read _get_) +the boys leave to play.” In Sir Hugh’s somewhat Celtic dialect, he _is +get_ the boys a holiday. + +In the following passage, _Act IV. Scene 5_, the received text is this— + + “_Simple._—I would I could have spoken with the woman herself. I had + other things to have spoke with her, too, from him. + + _Falstaff._—What are they?—let us know. + + _Host._—Ay, come; quick. + + _Simple._—I may not _conceal_ them, sir. + + _Falstaff._—_Conceal_ them, or thou diest.” + +Good Dr Farmer thought that, in both instances, we should read +“reveal”—not perceiving that the humour of the dialogue (such as it is) +consists in _reading_ “conceal,” and in _understanding_ “reveal.” But +the MS. emendator, with an innocence beyond even Dr Farmer’s, would +alter the passage thus— + + “_Falstaff._—What are they?—let us know. + + _Host._—Ay, come quick. + + _Falstaff._—_You_ may not conceal them, sir. + + _Host._—Conceal them, _and_ thou diest.” + +And Mr Collier approves of this variation, as “making the dialogue run +quite consistently.” + +MEASURE FOR MEASURE.—In the Duke’s speech, at the opening of the play, a +formidable difficulty presents itself. Addressing Escalus, of whose +statesmanlike qualities he has the highest opinion, the Duke says, as +all the editions give it— + + “Of government the properties to unfold, + Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse, + Since I am put to know that your own science + Exceeds in that the lists of all advice + My strength can give you. Then no more remains + But that, to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, + And let them work.” + +The two last lines of this passage have been a grievous stumbling-block +to the commentators. The _variorum_ men, with Johnson at their head, +have made nothing of it. Mr Singer reads— + + “Then no more remains + But _there to_ your sufficiency as your worth is able, + And let them work;” + +which seems quite as dark and perplexing as the original text. Mr +Collier’s man, cutting the knot with desperate hook, which slashes away +a good many words, gives us— + + “Then no more remains, + But _add_ to your sufficiency your worth, + And let them work.” + +These words are sufficiently intelligible; but this is not to rectify +Shakespeare’s text—it is to re-write it; and this no man can be +permitted to do. As a private speculation of our own, we venture to +propose the following, altering merely one word of the authentic +version— + + “Then no more remains, + But that (to your sufficiency as your worth is able) + _You_ let them work.” + +The Duke has remarked that he is not competent to give Escalus any +advice on matters of public policy, as he is much better versed in such +affairs than himself. He then goes on to say, “No more remains, but that +(seeing your worth is able—that is, is equal—to your sufficiency or +acquired knowledge) you should let the two, your worth, and your +sufficiency, work together for the good of your country.” Or it might be +allowable to introduce “equal” into the text, thereby making the sense +still plainer— + + “Then no more remains + But that (to your sufficiency as your worth is _equal_) + You let them work.” + +But if any auxiliar authority could be found for the use of the word +“able” as here employed (a point about which we are doubtful, though not +desperate), we should prefer to retain it in the text. By making the +words _to_ and _as_ change places, we obtain a still more perspicuous +reading— + + “Then no more remains, + But that (_as_ your sufficiency _to_ your worth is equal) + _You_ let them work.” + +Mr Collier remarks (p. 42), “Near the end of Mrs Overdone’s speech, ‘is’ +is required before the words ‘to be chopped off.’ It is deficient in +_all_ printed copies, and is inserted in manuscript in the corrected +folio 1632.” We can inform Mr Collier that the word “is” stands, in this +place, in the _variorum_ edition of 1785. + +_Act I. Scene 4._—The Duke, who has abdicated for a time in favour of +Angelo, says, in allusion to the abuses which Angelo is expected to +correct— + + “I have on Angelo imposed my office, + Who may, in the ambush of my name, strike home, + And yet, my nature never in the sight, + To _do it_ slander.” + +The corrector of Mr Collier’s folio suggests to _draw on_ slander; and +as a gloss or explanation of an antiquated or awkward expression, this +variation may be accepted; but it certainly has no title to be admitted +into the text as the authentic language of Shakespeare. The change of +“story” into “scorn” (_Scene 5_), is perhaps admissible. Alluding to a +false species of repentance, the friar, in _Act II. Scene 3_, says that +such insufficient + + “Sorrow is always towards ourselves, not heaven, + Showing we would not _spare_ heaven, as we love it, + But as we stand in fear.” + +On the margin of Mr Collier’s folio, “serve” is written, and “spare” is +scored out. We greatly prefer the old reading, in spite of Mr Collier’s +assertion that it is corrupt, and “seems little better than nonsense.” +To _spare_ heaven is not nonsense; it means to refrain from sin. To +_serve_ heaven means something more; it means to practise holiness. The +difference is but slight, but it is quite sufficient to establish the +language of Shakespeare as greatly superior to that of his anonymous +corrector, because the point here in question is much rather abstinence +from vice than the positive practice of virtue. + +In _Act II. Scene 4_, the following somewhat obscure expression occurs: +“in the loss of question”—what does it mean? “It means,” says Mr Singer +(p. 11), “in the looseness of conversation.” That is a most satisfactory +explanation. Yet if Mr Collier and his emendator had their own way, we +should be deprived of this genuine Shakesperian phrase, and be put off +with the unmeaning words “in the _force_ of question.” + +In _Act III. Scene 1_, the alteration of “blessed” into “boasted,” in +the speech in which the Duke so finely moralises on the vanity of human +life, cannot be too decidedly condemned— + + “Thou” (oh Life) “hast nor youth nor age, + But as it were an after-dinner’s sleep, + Dreaming on both, for all thy _blessed_ youth + Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms + Of palsied eld.” + +Some people may not be able to understand how the period of youth can, +in one and the same breath, be called _blessed_, and yet miserable as +old age. They look on that as a contradiction. Such people ought never +to read poetry. At any rate, they ought first to learn that the poet is +privileged, nay, is often bound to declare as actual that which is only +potential or ideal. Thus, he may say that _blessed_ youth is a +_miserable_ season of existence, meaning thereby that misery overspreads +even that time of life which _ought to be_, and which _ideally_ is, the +happiest in the pilgrimage of man. The manuscript corrector has but an +obtuse perception of these niceties, and hence he substitutes _boasted_ +for _blessed_—converting Shakespeare’s language into mere verbiage. + +COMEDY OF ERRORS—_Act I. Scene_ 1.—The alteration of the word “nature” +into “fortune” in the following lines, is an undoubted departure from +the genuine language of Shakespeare, and a perversion of his sense. +Ægeon, whose life has been forfeited by his accidental arrival at +Ephesus, says— + + “Yet that the world may witness that my end + Was wrought by _nature_, not by vile offence, + I’ll utter what my sorrow gives me leave.” + +Mr Collier, slightly doubtful of the propriety of the new reading +(_fortune_), says, “Possibly by ‘nature’ we might understand the natural +course of events.” We say, _certainly_ this is what we _must_ understand +by the word. I die by nature, says Ægeon, not by vile offence; or, as +Warburton interprets it, “My death is according to the ordinary course +of Providence, and not the effects of Divine vengeance overtaking my +crimes.” But the word “fortune,” had Ægeon used it, would rather have +implied that he regarded himself as an object of Divine displeasure; and +therefore this word must not only not be adopted, but it must be +specially avoided, if we would preserve the meaning of Shakespeare. In +this case, the internal evidence is certainly in favour of the ordinary +reading. + +In a subsequent part of the same scene, the Duke, who is mercifully +inclined towards Ægeon, advises him + + “To seek thy _help_ by beneficial help.” + +That is, he recommends him to borrow such a sum of money as may be +sufficient to ransom his life. The MS. corrector reads not very +intelligibly— + + “To seek thy _hope_ by beneficial help.” + +And Mr Collier, explaining the _obscurum per obscurius_, remarks that +“Ægeon was to seek what he hoped to obtain (viz. money to purchase his +life) by the ‘beneficial help’ of some persons in Ephesus.” The +“beneficial help” was itself the money by which he was to “seek his +help,” or save his life. “Beneficial help” means “pecuniary assistance,” +and therefore we are at a loss to understand Mr Collier when he says +that Ægeon was to seek money by the “beneficial help” or pecuniary +assistance of certain persons in Ephesus. All that he required to do was +to obtain this pecuniary assistance; obtaining that, he of course would +obtain the money by which his life was to be redeemed. The received text +of the line ought on no account to be disturbed. The repetition of the +word “help” is peculiarly Shakesperian. + +_Act II. Scene 1._—A very little consideration may convince any one that +the following correction is untenable. The ordinary text is this: Dromio +the slave having been well drubbed by his master, says— + + “He told his mind upon mine ear; Beshrew his hand, I scarce could + understand it. + + “_Luciana._—Spake he so _doubtfully_, thou couldst not feel his + meaning? + + _Dromio._—Nay, he struck so plainly, I could too well feel his blows; + and withal so _doubtfully_ that I could scarce understand them.” + +The manuscript corrector proposes “doubly” for “doubtfully,” in both +instances; losing sight, as we think, of the plain meaning of words. To +speak doubly is to speak deceitfully; to speak doubtfully is to speak +obscurely or unintelligibly. But certainly Luciana had no intention of +asking Dromio if his master had spoken to him deceitfully. Such a +question would have been irrelevant and senseless. She asks, spake he so +_obscurely_ that you could not understand his words?—and the slave +answers, “By my troth, so obscurely that I could scarce understand (that +is, stand under) them.” This is the only quibble. + +In _Act II. Scene 2_, the expression “she _moves_ me for her theme,” +that is, “she makes me the subject of her discourse,” occurs. This is +changed by the MS. corrector into “she _means_ me for her theme;” that +is, “she _means_ to make me the subject of her discourse.” But the “she” +who is here referred to is actually, at that very moment, talking most +vehemently about the person who utters these words; and therefore this +emendation is certainly no restoration, but a corruption of the genuine +language of Shakespeare. + +_Act IV. Scene 2._—The bum-bailiff is thus maltreated. The words in +italics are the MS. corrector’s wanton and damaging interpolations. + + “_Adriana._—Where is thy master, Dromio, is he well? + + _Dromio._—No: he’s in Tartar limbo, worse than hell; + A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, _fell_; + One whose hard heart is buttoned up with steel, + _Who has no touch of mercy, cannot feel_; + A fiend, a _fury_, pitiless, and rough; + A wolf, nay worse, a fellow all in buff.” + +Here the only doubt is, whether the word “fury” (the MS., and also +Theobald’s reading) is a judicious substitute for the word “fairy,” +which the old copies present. We think that it is not, being +satisfied with Johnson’s note, who observes—“There were fairies like +hobgoblins, pitiless and rough, and described as malevolent and +mischievous.”—Nowadays a fairy is an elegant creature dressed in +green. So she was in Shakespeare’s time. But in Shakespeare’s time +there was also another kind of fairy—a fellow clothed in a buff +jerkin, made of such durable materials as to be well-nigh +“everlasting;” and whose vocation it was, as it still is, to pay his +addresses to those who may have imprudently allowed their debts to +get into confusion. Let us not allow the old usages of language to +drop into oblivion. + +_Act IV. Scene 3._—“The vigor of his rage,” is obviously a much more +vigorous expression than “the rigor of his rage,” which the MS. +corrector proposes in its place. + +_Act V. Scene 1._—“The following lines,” says Mr Collier, “as they are +printed in the folio 1623, have been the source of considerable +_cavil_,” meaning, we presume, _dispute_. The words are uttered by the +Abbess, who has been parted from her sons for a great many years, and +has but recently discovered them. + + “Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail + Of you, my sons, and till this present hour + My heavy burden are delivered.” + +“That the above is corrupt,” continues Mr Collier, “there can be no +question; and in the folio 1632, the printer attempted thus to amend the +passage:— + + ‘Thirty-three years have I _been_ gone in travail + Of you my sons, and till this present hour + My heavy burthens are delivered.’ + +“Malone gives it thus:— + + ‘Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail + Of you my sons; until this present hour + My heavy burthen _not_ delivered.’ + +“The MS. corrector,” continues Mr Collier, “of the folio 1632 makes the +slightest possible change in the second line, and at once removes the +difficulty: he puts it— + + ‘Thirty-three years have I been gone in travail + Of you my sons, and _at_ this present hour + My heavy burthens are delivered.’” + +In his edition 1826, Mr Singer reads— + + “Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail + Of you, my sons, and till this present hour + My heavy burthen _ne’er_ delivered.” + +We are of opinion that a better reading than any here given, and than +any ever given, might be proposed. Thus— + + “Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail + Of you, my sons, and till this present hour + My heavy burthen _has_ delivered.” + +That is, I have done nothing but go in travail of you, my children, for +thirty-three years; and, moreover (I have gone in travail of you), till +this present hour has delivered me of my heavy burden. This reading +brings her pains up to the present moment, when she declares herself +joyfully relieved from them by the unexpected restoration of her +children. This amendment seems to yield a more emphatic meaning than any +of the others; and it departs as little as any of them from the original +text of 1623. + +MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING—_Act I. Scene 3._—The brothers Don Pedro and Don +John have quarrelled, and have been reconciled. Conrade remarks to the +latter, “You have _of late_ stood out against your brother, and he hath +ta’en you newly into his grace.” The MS. correction is, “till of late,” +which, as any one looking at the context even with half an eye, may +perceive both spoils the idiom and impairs the meaning of the passage. + +_Act II. Scene 1._—We admit that Shakespeare might—nay, ought—to have +written as follows, but we doubt whether he did. “Wooing, wedding, and +repenting,” says Beatrice, “is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a +cinque-pace; the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and +full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly modest, as a measure full of +state and ancienty; and then comes repentance, and, with his bad legs, +falls into cinque-pace faster and faster, till he sink _apace_ into his +grave.” “Apace” is MS. corrector’s contribution. + +In the following much-disputed passage, we are of opinion that +Shakespeare uses somewhat licentiously the word “impossible” in the +sense of _inconceivable_, and that Johnson’s and the MS. corrector’s +substitution of “importable” (_i. e._ insupportable) is unnecessary. +“She told me,” says Benedick, speaking of Beatrice, “that I was the +prince’s jester, and that I was duller than a great thaw, huddling jest +upon jest, with such _impossible conveyance_, upon me, that I stood like +a man at mark with a whole army shooting at me.” “Impossible conveyance” +means inconceivable rapidity. + +_Act III. Scene 1._—There surely can be no question as to the superior +excellence of the received reading in the following lines. The repentant +Beatrice, who has overheard her character severely censured, says— + + “What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? + Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much? + Contempt farewell, and maiden pride adieu! + No glory lives behind the back of such.” + +Beatrice means to say that contempt and maiden pride are never _the +screen_ to any true nobleness of character. This is well expressed in +the line, + + “No glory lives _behind the back_ of such.” + +A vigorous expression, which the MS. corrector recommends us to exchange +for the frivolous feebleness of + + “No glory lives _but in the lack_ of such.” + +This substitution, we ought to say, is worse than feeble and frivolous. +It is a perversion of Beatrice’s sentiments. She never meant to say that +a maiden should _lack_ maiden pride, but only that it should not occupy +a prominent position in the _front_ of her character. Let her have as +much of it as she pleases, and the more the better, only let it be drawn +up as a reserve in the background, and kept for defensive rather than +for offensive operations. This is all that Beatrice can _seriously_ mean +when she says, “maiden pride adieu.” + +_Act IV. Scene 1._—In the following passage we back Shakespeare’s word +against the MS. corrector’s, not only in point of authenticity, but in +point of taste. Leonato, greatly exasperated with his daughter, says to +her— + + “For did I think thou wouldst not quickly die, + Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames, + Myself would, on the _rearward_ of reproaches, + Strike at thy life.” + +This is the reading of the folio 1632. The folio 1623 reads “reward,” +but that is obviously a misprint for “rearward.” The MS. corrector +proposes _hazard_. As if the infuriated father would have cared one +straw what the world might think or say of him for slaying his daughter. +In his passion he was far beyond minding such a trifle as public +opinion, and would never have paused to give utterance to the sentiment +which the corrector puts into his mouth. What he says is this—that after +heaping reproaches on his daughter to the uttermost, he would _follow +them up_ by slaying her with his own hand. This is admirably expressed +by the words, “rearward of reproaches.” In this same scene the fine old +word “frame,” in the sense of fabrication, is twice most wantonly +displaced, to make way, in the one instance, for “frown,” and in the +other for “fraud.” + +_Act V. Scene 1._—Let any reader who has an ear read the opening speech +of Leonato, and he will perceive at once how grievously its effect is +damaged by the insertion of the words “to me” in this line. + + “And bid him speak (_to me_) of patience.” + +In the same speech the following lines are a problem. Leonato, rebuffing +his comforters, says, “Bring to me a person as miserable as myself, and + + “If such a one will smile, and stroke his beard, + _And, sorrow wag! cry_, Hem, when he should groan, + Patch grief with proverbs, make misfortune drunk + With candlewasters, bring him yet to me, + And I of him will gather patience.” + +“And sorrow wag! cry,” is the main difficulty. Johnson explains it thus: +“If such a one will smile, and stroke his beard, and cry, Sorrow, +_begone_!” This, in our opinion, is quite satisfactory; but what is the +philology of the word “wag?” We believe it to be the German word +“weg”—away—off with you. The MS. corrector cuts the knot which he cannot +untie, by reading “call sorrow joy.” This is a gloss, not a reparation +of the text. + +_Act V. Scene 4._—We maybe assured that a far finer sense is contained +under Hero’s expression, when she says, according to the common reading, + + “One Hero died _defiled_, but I do live,” + +than under the pseudo-emendation, + + “One Hero died _belied_, but I do live.” + + +LOVE’S LABOUR LOST—_Act I. Scene 1._—We agree with Mr Dyce[19] in +thinking that a quibble is intended in Biron’s speech, when he says that +he and his friends will “_climb_ in the merriness,” according as the +absurd _style_ of Armado’s letter shall give them cause. At any rate, +nothing can be poorer than the MS. correction of this place, “chime in +the merriness.” We think, however, that the corrector is right in giving +the words, “Sirrah, come on,” to Dull the constable, and not to Biron, +to whom they are usually assigned. We also consider the change of +_manager_ into _armiger_ rather a happy alteration; at any rate, we can +say this of it, that had _armiger_ been the received reading, we should +not have been disposed to accept _manager_ in its place. This is a +compliment which we can pay to very few of the MS. corrections. Had +_they_ formed the original text, and had the original text formed the +_marginalia_, we should have had little hesitation as to which we would, +in most cases, adopt. On the ground of their internal evidence—that is, +of their superior excellence—the _marginalia_ would certainly have +obtained the preference. The passage to which we refer is this—“Adieu, +valour!” says the fantastical Armado, “rust rapier! be still drum, for +your _armiger_ is in love.” This reading, we think, is worthy of being +perpetuated in a note, though scarcely entitled to be elevated into the +text. + +_Act III. Scene 1._—The corrector very soon relapses into his blunders. +Passing over several, here is one, not so conspicuous perhaps, but as +decided as any into which he has fallen. Armado, speaking to Moth his +page, says, “Fetch hither the swain (_i. e._, Costard the clown), he +must carry me a letter.” Moth replies, “A _message_ well-sympathed—a +horse to be ambassador for an ass.” The MS. corrector reads, “A +_messenger_ well-sympathised,” not perceiving that this destroys the +point, and meaning, and pertinency of Moth’s remark. “A message +well-sympathised” means a mission well concocted, an embassy consistent +with itself, which, says Moth, this one is, inasmuch as it is a case of +horse (Costard) representing an ass—(to-wit, yourself, master mine.) Yet +Mr Collier says that “we ought unquestionably to substitute messenger +for message.” + +Moth, the page, having gone to fetch Costard, Armado says— + + “A most acute juvenal, voluble, and free of grace. + By thy favour, sweet welkin, I must sigh in thy face, + _Most rude_ Melancholy, valour gives thee place.” + +The MS. corrector alters the last line into “moist-eyed melancholy;” and +Mr Collier remarks, “‘Most rude melancholy’ has no particular +appropriateness, whereas ‘moist-eyed melancholy’ is peculiarly accordant +with the sighs Armado breathes, in due apology, to the face of the +welkin.” _No particular appropriateness!_ when the euphuist is in the +very act of apologising to the welkin for the breach of good manners of +which his “most rude melancholy” has compelled him to be guilty. What +else could he, in the circumstances, have called his melancholy with any +degree of propriety? Oh, silly margins! you have much to answer for. You +are not only stupid yourselves, but you are the cause of stupidity in +other people. + +_Act IV. Scene 1._—Having considered the following passage very +carefully, we are compelled to side with Mr Singer and Mr Dyce in favour +of the old reading “fair” against “faith,” which is advocated by the MS. +corrector, Mr Collier, and Mr Hunter. The princess, giving money to the +forester, whom she playfully charges with having called her anything but +good-looking, says— + + “Fair payment for foul words is more than due. + + _Forester._ Nothing but fair is that which you inherit. + + _Princess._ See, see, my beauty will be saved by merit. + Oh, heresy in _fair_, fit for these days! + A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise.” + +The new reading proposed is, “Oh, heresy in _faith_.” But this change is +not necessary; indeed it spoils the passage. The princess, when the +forester compliments her, says—“See, see, my beauty will be saved” (not +on its own account, for, in this man’s opinion, I have little or none) +but “by merit,” that is, because I have given him money. He calls me an +angel of light because I have given him half-a-crown. Oh, heresy in +regard to beauty! None but the really beautiful ought to be so +complimented. Those who like me are plain (as this man thinks me in his +heart), and have “foul hands,” ought not to obtain _fair_ praise—ought +not to be praised as fair, however “giving” or liberal these hands may +be. The heresy here playfully alluded to is the error of supposing that +people can be _beautified_ by their gifts as well as by their +appearance; just as a religious heresy consists in the idea that a +person can be justified by his works as well as by his faith. + +_Act IV. Scene 3._—The following passage has given some trouble to the +commentators— + + “Black is the badge of hell, + The hue of dungeons, and the _school_ of night.” + +Various substitutes have been proposed for the word “school.” The +_variorum_ reads “scowl,” which was introduced by Warburton. Theobald +conjectured “stole.” The _marginalia_ present “shade,” which is as poor +as poor can be. We believe the original word “school” to be right, and +that the allusion is to the different badges and colours by which +different schools or sects or fraternities were formerly distinguished. +“Black,” says the passage before us, “is the hue worn by all who belong +to the school or brotherhood of night.” + +The context of the following passage seems fairly to justify the MS. +correction, by which “beauty” is changed into “learning.” _Beauty_ may +have been a misprint. _Loquitur_ Biron— + + “For where is any author in the world + Teaches such _learning_ as a woman’s eye? + Learning is but an adjunct to ourself, + And where we are our learning likewise is, + Then, when ourselves we see in ladies’ eyes, + Do we not likewise see our learning there?” + +This, we think, is one of the very few emendations which ought to be +admitted into the text. + +It is curious to remark, what we learn incidentally from this play, +that, in Shakespeare’s time, the words “doubt” and “debt” were +pronounced as they are spelt, the “b” being sounded no less than the +“t,” and that it was the height of affectation to say “dout” and “det,” +as we do nowadays. So changes the _norma loquendi_. + +_Act V. Scene 2._—The following, in the old copies, is obviously a +misprint— + + “So _pertaunt_-like would I o’ersway his state, + That he should be my fool, and I his fate.” + +The _variorum_ edition reads “portent-like.” In 1826, Mr Singer +published “potent-like.” The MS. corrector suggests “potently;” and this +we rather prefer. + +When the princess is informed of the intended wit-assault on her and her +ladies by the king and his lords, she exclaims— + + “What are they + That _charge their breath_ against us?” + +“To ‘charge their breath,’” says Mr Collier, “is nonsense, and the +corrector alters it most naturally to + + ‘What are they + That _charge the breach_ against us?’” + +“Should any one,” says Mr Singer,[20] “wish to be convinced of the utter +impossibility of the corrector having had access to better authority +than we possess—nay, of his utter incapacity to comprehend the poet, I +would recommend this example of his skill to their consideration. The +_encounters_ with which the ladies are threatened, are _encounters of +words, wit combats_;” and therefore it was quite natural that they +should talk of their opponents as “charging their breath against them.” +We agree with Mr Singer; but we willingly change “love-feat,” in this +same scene, into “love-suit,” at the bidding of the MS. corrector. + +“Oh, poverty in wit!” exclaims the princess, when she and her ladies +have demolished the king and his companions in the wit-encounter. +“Kingly-poor flout!” The MS. corrector reads, “killed by pure flout;” +and Mr Singer “has no doubt” that “stung by poor flout” is the true +reading. We see no reason for disturbing the original text. A double +meaning is no doubt intended in the expression “kingly-poor flout.” It +means “mighty poor badinage;” and then, a king being one of the +performers, it also means “repartee as poor as might have been expected +from royal lips;” these being usually understood to be better fitted for +taking in than for giving out “good things.” + +MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM—_Act I. Scene 1._—“Near the end of Helena’s +speech,” says Mr Collier, “occurs this couplet where she is stating her +determination to inform Demetrius of the intended flight of Lysander and +Hermia— + + ‘And for this intelligence + If I have thanks, it is a dear expense’— + +which,” continues Mr Collier, “is only just intelligible; but the old +corrector _singularly improves_ the passage by the word he substitutes— + + ‘And for this intelligence + If I have thanks, it is dear _recompense_.’” + +The old corrector is an old woman who, in this case, has not merely +mistaken, but has directly reversed Shakespeare’s meaning. So far from +saying that Demetrius’s thanks will be any “recompense” for what she +proposes doing, Helena says the very reverse, that they will be a severe +aggravation of her pain. “A dear expense” here means a painful purchase, +a bitter bargain. “If I have thanks, the sacrifice which I make in +giving Demetrius this information will be doubly distressing to me.” Of +course she would much rather that Demetrius, her old lover, did not +thank her for setting him on the traces of his new mistress. Thanks +would be a mockery in the circumstances, and this is what Helena means +to say. Such is manifestly the meaning of the passage, as may be +gathered both from the words themselves, and from their connection with +the context, which is this— + + “I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight: + Then to the wood will he to-morrow night + Pursue her; and for this intelligence, + If I have thanks, it is a dear expense; + But _herein_ mean I to enrich my pain, + To _have his sight_ thither, and back again.” + +The _sight_ of Demetrius, and not his _thanks_, was to be Helena’s +_recompense_. + +_Act II. Scene 1._—The corrector is unquestionably wrong in his version +of these lines. Of Titania it is said by one of the fairies, that + + “The cowslips _tall_ her pensioners be, + In their gold _coats_ spots you see, + Those be rubies, fairy favours,” &c. + +The MS. corrector reads “all” for “tall,” and “cups” for “coats,” to the +manifest deterioration of the text. Mr Singer thus explains the matter, +to the satisfaction, we should think, of all readers. “This passage has +reference to the band of gentlemen-pensioners in which Queen Elizabeth +took so much pride. They were some of the handsomest and _tallest_ young +men of the best families and fortune, and their dress was of remarkable +splendour—their _coats_ might well be said to be of gold. Mr Collier’s +objection that ‘cowslips are never tall,’ is a strange one. Drayton in +his Nymphidia thought otherwise, and surely a long-stalked cowslip would +be well designated by a fairy as tall.” + +_Act II. Scene 3._—The alteration of “conference” into “confidence” in +the following lines is an _improvement_, most decidedly, _for the +worse_. Lysander and Hermia are going to sleep in the wood. She says to +him— + + “Nay, good Lysander, for my sake, my dear, + Lye further off yet, do not lye so near. + + _Lysander._—Oh, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence; + Love takes the meaning, in love’s _conference_.” + +That is, love puts a good construction on all that is said or done in +the “conference,” or intercourse of love. “Confidence,” the MS. +correction, makes nonsense. + +_Act III. Scene 2._—The margins seem to be right in changing “What news, +my love?” into “What means my love?” in the speech in which Hermia is +appealing passionately to her old lover Lysander. + +_Act V. Scene 1._—But we cannot accept the substitution of “hot ice and +wondrous _seething_ snow” for the much more Shakespearian “hot ice and +wonderous _strange_ snow.” The late Mr Barron Field’s excellent +emendation of the following lines is borne out by the MS. correction— + + “Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am + A lion’s _fell_, nor else no lion’s dam.” + +“Fell” means skin. The old reading was— + + “Then know that I, as Snug the joiner, am + A _lion fell_, nor else no lion’s dam.” + +This ought to go into the text, if it has not done so already. + +THE MERCHANT OF VENICE—_Act I. Scene 1._—In the following passage the +margins make rather a good hit in restoring “when” of the old editions, +which had been converted into “who,” and in changing “would” into +“’twould.” + + “Oh, my Antonio, I do know of these + That therefore only are reputed wise + For saying nothing, _when_, I am very sure, + If they should speak, _’twould_ almost damn those ears, + Which hearing them would call their brothers fools.” + +_Act II. Scene 1._—The Prince of Morocco says— + + “Mislike me not for my complexion, + The shadowed livery of the _burnished_ sun.” + +Altered by the MS. corrector into “burning sun,” which, says Mr Collier, +“seems much more proper when the African prince is speaking of his black +complexion as the effects of the sun’s rays.” Mr Collier will excuse us: +the African Prince is doing nothing of the kind. He is merely throwing +brightness and darkness into picturesque contrast—as the sun is bright, +or “burnished,” so am I his retainer dark, or “shadowed.” “To speak of +the sun,” continues Mr Collier, “as _artificially_ ‘burnished,’ is very +unworthy.” True: but Shakespeare speaks of it as _naturally_ burnished; +and so far is this from being unworthy, it is, in the circumstances, +highly poetical. + +_Act II. Scene 9._—To change the words “pries not to the interior,” into +“prize not the interior,” in the following lines, is wantonly to deface +the undoubted language of Shakespeare. + + “What many men desire!—that many may be meant + Of the fool multitude, that chuse by show, + Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which _pries_ not to the interior; but, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather, on the outward wall.” + +_Act III. Scene 2._—The MS. corrector proposes a very plausible reading +in the lines where Bassanio is moralising on the deceitfulness of +external appearance. + + “Thus ornament is but the guiled surf + To a most dangerous sea, the beauteous scarf + Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, + The seeming truth which cunning times put on, + To entrap the wisest.” + +The corrector proposes to put a full stop after Indian, and to read +on—“beauty, in a word,” (is) “the seeming truth,” &c. Mr Singer says, +“this variation in the pointing is no novelty; it occurs in an edition +of Shakespeare, published by Scott and Webster in 1833, and has been +satisfactorily shown to be erroneous and untenable by a correspondent in +_Notes and Queries_, vol. v. p. 483.” We regret that it is not in our +power, at this time, to consult the volume of _Notes and Queries_ +referred to; but we confess that we see no very serious objection to +this new reading, except the awkwardness and peculiarly unShakespearian +character of the construction which it presents. That there is a +difficulty in the passage is evident from the changes that have been +proposed. Sir Thomas Hanmer gave “Indian _dowdy_”—Mr Singer, “Indian +_gipsy_,” which, however, he now abandons. We still confess a partiality +for the old text, both in the words and in the pointing. “An Indian +beauty” may mean the worst species of ugliness, just as a Dutch +nightingale means a toad. Still we believe that a good deal might be +said in favour of the MS. corrector’s punctuation. + +Bassanio, descanting on the portrait of Portia, and on the difficulties +the painter must have had to contend with, thus expresses his admiration +of the eyes— + + “How could he see to do them? having made one, + Methinks, it should have power to steal both his, + And leave itself _unfurnished_.” + +The corrector reads “unfinished,” which Johnson long ago condemned. +“Unfurnished” means, as Mr Collier formerly admitted, unprovided with a +counterpart—a fellow-eye. + +We willingly concede to Mr Collier the “bollen” instead of the “woolen” +bagpipe. And when he next “blaws up his chanter,” may the devil dance +away with his anonymous corrector, and the bulk of his emendations, as +effectually as he ever did with the exciseman. + +AS YOU LIKE IT—_Act I. Scene 2._—In opposition to Mr Collier, we take +leave to say that Sir Thomas Hanmer was _not_ right in altering “there +is such odds in the _man_” to “there is such odds in the _men_.” What is +meant to be said is, “there is such superiority (of strength) in the +_man_;” and “odds” formerly signified _superiority_, as may be learnt +from the following sentence of Hobbes—“The passion of laughter,” says +Hobbes, “proceedeth from the sudden imagination of our own _odds_ and +eminency.”[21] Mr Collier’s man, who concurs with Sir Thomas Hanmer, is, +of course, equally at fault. + +_Act I. Scene 3._—“Safest haste”—that is, most convenient despatch—is +much more probable than “fastest haste,” inasmuch as the lady to whom +the words “despatch you with your _safest_ haste” are addressed, is +allowed _ten days_ to take herself off in. + +_Act II. Scene 3._—When Orlando, speaking of his unnatural brother, in +whose hands he expresses his determination to place himself, rather than +take to robbing on the highway, says, + + “I will rather subject me to the malice + Of a _diverted blood, and bloody brother_,” + +the language is so strikingly Shakesperian, that nothing but the most +extreme obtuseness can excuse the MS. corrector’s perverse reading— + + “Of a diverted, _proud_, and bloody brother.” + +“Diverted blood,” says Dr Johnson, means “blood turned out of the course +of nature;” and there cannot be a finer phrase for an unnatural kinsman. + +_Act II. Scene 7._—The following passage is obviously corrupt. Jacques, +inveighing against the pride of going finely dressed, says— + + “Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea, + Till that the _very very_ means do ebb?” + +The MS. correction is— + + “Till that the very means _of wear_ do ebb.” + +Mr Singer suggests, “Till that the _wearer’s_ very means do ebb.” The +two meanings are the same: people, carried away by pride, dress finely, +until their means are exhausted. But Mr Singer keeps nearest to the old +text. + +_Act III. Scene 4._—“Capable impressure” must be vindicated as the +undoubted language of Shakespeare, against the MS. corrector, Mr +Collier, and Mr Singer, all of whom would advocate “palpable +impressure.” + + “Lean but on a rush, + The cicatrice and _capable impressure_, + Thy palm a moment keeps.” + +“Capable impressure” means an indentation in the palm of the hand +sufficiently deep to _contain_ something within it. + +_Act IV. Scene 1._—Both the MS. corrector and Mr Collier have totally +misunderstood Rosalind, when she says, “Marry, that should you, or I +should think my honesty ranker than my wit.” The meaning, one would +think, is sufficiently obvious. + +_Act V. Scene 4._—And equally obvious is the meaning of the following +line, which requires no emendation. Orlando says that he is + + “As those who fear they hope, and know they fear.” + +That is, he is as those who fear that they are feeding on _mere_ +hope—hope which is not to end in fruition—and who are certain that they +fear or apprehend the worst:—a painful state to be in. The marginal +correction, “As those who fear _to_ hope, and know they fear,” is +nonsense. + +THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.—_Induction. Scene I._—We agree with the margins +in thinking that the following line requires to be amended, by the +insertion of “what” or “who.” In the directions given about the tricks +to be played off on Sly, it is said— + + “And when he says he is—say that he dreams.” + +The MS. corrector reads, properly as we think— + + “And when he says _what_ he is, say that he dreams.” + +_Scene 2._—There is something very feasible in the corrector’s gloss on +the word “_sheer_-ale.” For “sheer” he writes “Warwickshire,” and we +have no doubt that “shire (pronounced sheer) ale” is the true reading. + +_Act I. Scene 1._—One of the happiest and most undoubted emendations in +Mr Collier’s folio, and one which, in his preface, he wisely places in +the front of his case, now comes before us—“ethics” for “checks,” in +these lines in which Tranio gives advice to his master Lucentio— + + “Let’s be no stoics, nor no stocks, I pray, + Or so devote to Aristotle’s _checks_, + As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.” + +We have no hesitation in condemning “checks” as a misprint for “ethics,” +which from this time henceforward we hope to see the universal reading. +It is surprising that it should not have become so long ago, having been +proposed by Sir W. Blackstone nearly a hundred years since, and staring +every recent editor in the face from among the notes of the _variorum_. +Mr Singer alone had the good taste to print it in his text of 1826. + +Let us here bestow a passing commendation on Mr Hunter for a very +ingenious reading, or rather for what is better, a very acceptable +restoration of the old text, which had been corrupted by Rowe and all +subsequent editors. In the same speech, Tranio, who is advising Lucentio +not to study too hard, says, according to all the common copies— + + “_Talk_ logic wi’ th’ acquaintance that you have.” + +The elder copies read— + + “_Balk_ logic, wi’ th’ acquaintance that you have.” + +This means, _cut_ logic, with such a smattering of it as you already +possess; or, as Mr Hunter explains it, “give the go-by to logic, as +satisfied with the acquaintance you have already gained with it.” “Balk” +ought certainly to replace “talk” in all future editions, and our thanks +are due to Mr Hunter for the emendation.[22] + +How scandalous it is to change “mould” into “mood” in the following +lines, addressed by Hortensio to the termagant Kate:— + + “Mates, maid! how mean you that? No mates for you: + Unless you were of gentler, milder _mould_.” + +Kate was not, at least so thought Hortensio, one of those, + + “Quas meliore luto _finxit_ præcordia Titan.” + +_Act II. Scene 1._—We greatly prefer Mr Singer’s amendment of what +follows to the MS. corrector’s. The common text is this:— + + “_Petruchio_ (to Kate).—Women were made to bear, and so were you. + + _Katherine._—No such jade, sir, as you, if me you mean.” + +This being scarcely sense, the corrector says— + + “No such jade _to bear_ you, if me you mean.” + +Mr Singer says, + + “No such _load_ as you, sir, if me you mean.” + +_Act IV. Scene 2._—“An ancient angel coming down the hill” has puzzled +the commentators. The margins read “ambler.” We prefer the received +text—the word “angel” being probably used in its old sense of +_messenger_, with a spice of the ludicrous in its employment. + +_Act V. Scene 1._—Vincentio, who is on the point of being carried to +jail, exclaims— + + “Thus strangers may be _haled_ and abused.” + +The MS. corrector proposes “handled;” and Mr Collier says that “haled” +is a misprint, and the line “hardly a verse.” It is a very good verse; +and “haled” is the very, indeed the only, word proper to the place. On +turning, however, to Mr Collier’s appendix, we find that he says, “It +may be doubted whether ‘haled’ is not to be taken as _hauled_; but still +the true word may have been handled.” This is _not_ to be doubted; +“haled” is _certainly_ to be taken for _hauled_, and “handled” cannot +have been the right word. + +ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL—_Act I. Scene 1._—In Helena’s soliloquy, near +the end of the scene, the corrector, by the perverse transposition of +two words, changes sense into nonsense. She says— + + “The mightiest space in fortune nature brings + To join like likes and kiss like native things.” + +The lady is in love with Bertram, who is greatly above her in rank and +in fortune; and the meaning is, that all-powerful nature brings things +(herself, for example, and Bertram) which are separated by the widest +interval of _fortune_, to join as if they were “likes” or pairs, and to +kiss as if they were kindred things. The MS. corrector reverses this +meaning, and reads— + + “The mightiest space in _nature fortune_ brings + To join like likes and kiss like native things.” + +But there was no “space” at all between Helena and Bertram in point of +“nature.” They were both unexceptionable human beings. They were +separated only by a disparity of “fortune.” Why does the MS. corrector +go so assiduously out of his way for the mere purpose of blundering, and +why does Mr Collier so patiently endorse his eccentricities? That is +indeed marvellous. + +_Act 1. Scene 3._—Helena says— + + “You know my father left me some prescriptions + Of rare and proved effects, such was his reading + And _manifest_ experience.” + +Read “manifold,” says the corrector; and Mr Collier adds, “we may safely +admit the emendation.” Retain the old reading, say we; “manifest” means +sure, well-grounded, indisputable, and is much more likely to have been +Shakespeare’s word than “manifold.” + +_Act III. Scene 2._—The countess, comforting Helena, who has been +deserted by Bertram, says— + + “I pr’ythee, lady, have a better cheer, + If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine, + Thou robb’st me of a moiety.” + +“The old corrector,” says Mr Collier, “tells us, and we may readily +believe him, that there is a small but important error in the second +line. He reads— + + ‘If thou engrossest all the griefs _as_ thine + Thou robbest me of a moiety.’” + +The small but important error here referred to is committed by the old +corrector himself. The countess, to give her words in plain prose, +says—if you keep to yourself all the griefs which are thine, you rob me +of my share of them. The context where the countess adds— + + “He was my son, + But I do wash his name out of my blood, + And thou art all my child,” + +seems to have misled the old corrector. He appears to have supposed that +the countess had griefs of her own, occasioned by the conduct of her son +Bertram, and that she protests against Helena’s monopolising these +together with her own. This is the only ground on which “as” can be +defended. But the answer is, that although the countess may have had +such griefs, she was too proud to express them. She merely expresses her +desire to participate in the afflictions which _are_ Helena’s. This is +one of the innumerable instances in which Shakespeare shows his fine +knowledge of human nature. Whatever grief a proud mother may _feel_ on +account of a disobedient son, anger is the only sentiment which she will +_express_ towards him. The word “as,” however, had the countess used it, +would have been equivalent to an expression of grief, and not merely of +indignation; and therefore we strongly advocate its rejection, and the +retention in the text of the word “are.” + +_Act IV. Scene 2._—The following is a troublesome passage. Diana says to +Bertram, who is pressing his suit upon her— + + “I see that men make ropes, in such a scarre, + That we’ll forsake ourselves.” + +This is the old reading, and it is manifestly corrupt. Rowe, the +earliest of the _variorum_ editors, reads— + + “I see that men make _hopes_, in such _affairs_, + That we’ll forsake ourselves.” + +Malone gives “in such _a scene_” for “in such a scarre.” The MS. +corrector proposes “in such a _suit_.” Mr Singer says “that it is not +necessary to change the word _scarre_ at all: it here signifies any +surprise or alarm, and what we should now write _a scare_.” We agree +with Mr Singer; and, following his suggestion, we give our vote for the +following correction— + + “I see that men make hopes, in such _a scare_, That we’ll forsake + ourselves.” + +That is, I see that men expect that we (poor women) will lose our +self-possession in the flurry or agitation, into which we are thrown by +the vehemence of their addresses. + +_Act V. Scene 1._—We willingly change the received stage direction, +“enter _a gentle astringer_”—a most perplexing character certainly—into +“enter a gentleman, a stranger,” as proposed by the old corrector, who, +in this case, corrects like a human being. + +_Act V. Scene 3._—To change the fine expression + + “Natural rebellion done in the _blade_ of youth.” + +into “Natural rebellion done in the _blaze_ of youth,” is to convert a +poeticism into a barbarism. “The blade of youth” is the springtime of +life. Besides, there is an affinity between the word “natural” and the +word “blade,” which proves the latter to have been Shakespeare’s +expression. + +If “all was well that ended well,” as the title of this play declares to +be the case, the MS. corrections throughout it would be impregnable; for +these end with one of the very happiest conjectural emendations that +ever was proposed. Bertram, explaining how Diana obtained from him the +ring, says, according to the received text, + + “Her _insuit coming_, and her modern grace + Subdued me to her rate.” + +“Insuit coming” has baffled the world. The _marginalia_ give us, “Her +_infinite cunning_ and her modern grace subdued me to her rate.” It +ought to be mentioned that this excellent emendation, which ought +unquestionably to be admitted into the text, was also started some years +ago by the late Mr Walker, author of the “original.” + +TWELFTH NIGHT, OR WHAT YOU WILL—_Act II. Scene 1._—The following words +in italics are probably corrupt; but the MS. correction of the place is +certainly a very bad piece of tinkering. Sebastian is speaking of his +reputed likeness to his sister Viola—“A lady, sir, though it was said +she much resembled me, was of many accounted beautiful; but though I +could not, _with such estimable wonder_, overfar believe that, yet thus +far I will boldly publish her,” &c. The margins give us—“But though I +could not _with selfestimation wander so far_ to believe that.” But who +can believe that, Shakespeare would wander so far in his speech as to +write in such a roundabout feckless fashion as this? What he really +wrote it may now be hopeless to inquire. + +_Act II. Scene V._—Malvolio congratulating himself on his ideal +elevation says, “And then to have the _humour_ of state,” which the MS. +corrector changes into the poverty of “the _honour_ of state,” +overlooking the consideration that “the humour of state” means the high +airs, the capricious insolence, of authority, which is precisely what +Malvolio is glorying that he shall by and by have it in his power to +exhibit. + +_Act III. Scene 4._—We never can consent to change “venerable” into +“veritable,” at the bidding of the venerable corrector, in these lines— + + “And to his image which methought did promise + Most venerable worth, did I devotion.” + + “The word ‘devotion,’” says Mr Singer, “at once determines that +_venerable_ was the poet’s word.” + +_Act V. Scene 1._—How much more Shakesperian is the line—“A contract +_of_ eternal bond of love,” than the corrector’s + + “A contract _and_ eternal bond of love.” + +The word “bond” is here used not as a legal term, but in the more +poetical sense of _union_. + +WINTER’S TALE—_Act I. Scene 2._—We agree with Mr Collier in his remark, +that “there is no doubt we ought to amend the words of the old copies, +‘What lady _she_ her lord’ by reading, ‘What lady _should_ her lord,’” +as given by the MS. corrector. + +In the same scene, Leontes, expatiating on the falsehood of women, says— + + “But were they false + As _o’erdy’d_ blacks, as winds, as waters.” + +That is, as false as “blacks” that have been dyed again and again until +they have become quite rotten. This seems sufficiently intelligible; but +it does not satisfy our anonymous friend, who proposes “as our dead +blacks;” that is, as our mourning clothes, which, says Mr Collier, being +“worn at the death of persons whose loss was not at all lamented,” may +therefore be termed false or hypocritical. But surely _all_ persons who +wear mourning are not hypocrites; and therefore this new reading falls +ineffectual to the ground. + +_Act IV. Scene 3._—We perceive nothing worthy of adoption or +animadversion till we come to the following. Florizel is making himself +very agreeable to Perdita, whereupon Camillo, noticing their intimacy, +remarks, as the old copies give it— + + “He tells her something + That makes her blood look on’t.” + +There is something obviously wrong here. Theobald proposed— + + “He tells her something + That makes her blood look _out_.” + +Something that calls up her blushes. This is the received reading, and +an excellent emendation it is. But on the whole we prefer the MS. +corrector’s, which, though perhaps not quite so poetical as Theobald’s, +strikes us as more natural and simple when taken with the context. + + “He tells her something + Which _wakes_ her blood. Look on’t! Good sooth, she is + The queen of curds and cream.” + +On second thoughts, we are not sure that this is not more poetical and +dramatic than the other. At any rate, we give it our suffrage. + +There is, it seems, an old word “jape,” signifying a jest, which we +willingly accept on the authority of the MS. corrector, in place of the +unintelligible word “gap,” in the speech where “some stretch-mouthed +rascal” is said “to break a foul jape into the matter.” The reading +hitherto has been “gap.” This, however, is a _hiatus_ only _mediocriter +deflendus_. The next is a very lamentable case. + +_Act V. Scene 3._—Here the corrector interpolates a whole line of his +own, which we can by no means accept. The miserable Leontes, gazing on +the supposed statue of his wife, Hermione, which is in reality her +living self, says, according to the received text— + + “Let be, let be, + Would I were dead; but that methinks already— + What was he that did make it? see, my lord, + Would you not deem it breathed, and that those veins + Did verily bear blood?” + +Here the train of emotion is evidently this:—Would I were dead, but +_that_ methinks already (he is about to add) I am, when the life-like +appearance of the statue forcibly impresses his senses, whereupon he +checks himself and exclaims, “What was _he_ that did make it”—a god or a +mere man, &c. The MS. corrector favours us with the following version— + + “Let be, let be, + Would I were dead, but that methinks already + _I am but dead, stone looking upon stone_: + What was he that did make it? see, my lord, + Would you not deem it breathed?” &c. + +The corrector is not satisfied with making Shakespeare write poorly, he +frequently insists on making him write contradictorily, as in the +present instance. I am stone, says Leontes, according to this version, +looking upon stone, for see, my lord, the statue breathes, these veins +do verily bear blood. Is not that a proof, my lord, that this statue is +mere stone? Most people would have considered this a proof of the very +contrary. Not so the MS. corrector, who is the father of the emendation; +not so Mr Collier, who says that “we may be _thankful_ that this line +has been furnished, since it adds so much _to the force and clearness_ +of the speech of Leontes.” Truly, we must be thankful for very small +literary mercies! Mr Collier may be assured that the very thing which +Leontes says most strongly, by implication, in this speech is, that he +is _not_ stone looking upon stone. + +Our space being exhausted, we must reserve for our next Number the +continuation of our survey of Shakespeare’s Plays as _amended_ by Mr +Collier’s anonymous corrector. + + + + + THE INSURRECTION IN CHINA.[23] + + +Two Frenchman have just published, at an opportune moment, a curious +book. One of them needs no introduction here. The readers who have twice +encountered, in _Blackwood’s_ pages, the vivacious and intelligent Dr +Yvan, first under canvass for Bourbon, and then roaming in the Eastern +Archipelago, will gladly, we are persuaded, meet him again amongst the +mandarins. This time he is not alone, but has taken to himself a +coadjutor, in the person of M. Callery, once a missionary, and, since +then, interpreter to the French embassy in China—to which, it will be +remembered, Dr Yvan was attached as physician. M. Callery is author of a +Chinese dictionary, of a system of Chinese writing, and of translations +from the same language. When we add that both gentlemen, although at +present in France, were long and lately resident in China, under +circumstances peculiarly favourable to the acquisition of sound +information respecting its state and politics, and that they have had +free access to the archives of their embassy, it will hardly be doubted +that they have efficiently carried out their intention of giving a lucid +account of the origin and progress of the civil war now waging in that +country, bringing it down to the present day. The co-operation of one +well acquainted with the Chinese tongue must have been invaluable, and +perhaps indispensable to Dr Yvan, who, for his part, has evidently +contributed to the common stock his shrewd and observant spirit and +pleasant unaffected style. The book, which was published in Paris in the +second week of July, has reached us rather late for deliberate review in +the August number of the Magazine, but there is still time to give some +account of its contents. + +“The Chinese insurrection,” Dr Yvan commences, “is one of the most +considerable events of the present time: politicians of all countries +watch with curiosity the march of that insurgent army which, for three +years past, has moved steadily onwards with the avowed object of +upsetting the Tartar dynasty.” The Doctor then sketches, in a few very +interesting pages, the chief events of Chinese history during the first +half of the present century, with particular reference to the biography +of the last emperor, deceased in 1850, and to the situation of the +Chinese empire at the close of his reign. + +The late emperor, who assumed, upon ascending the throne, the name of +Tao-Kouang, _Brilliant Reason_, was the second son of Emperor Kia-King, +a feeble and incapable monarch, whose power was virtually in the hands +of an unworthy favourite, a certain Lin-King, chief of the eunuchs. In +Chinese annals, incidents of this kind are, we are told, by no means +rare. The chief of the eunuchs has always great influence in palace +intrigues, and his degraded condition by no means constitutes, in that +singular country, a bar to his ambition. That of Lin-King was boundless. +He aspired to the throne. Having gained over most of the military +mandarins, he marched into Pekin—one day that the emperor was out +hunting with his sons—a body of troops whose chiefs were entirely +devoted to him, and distributed them in the neighbourhood of the palace. +His plan was to kill the emperor and princes, and have himself +proclaimed by the army. Towards evening Kia-King and his eldest son +returned to the palace, whose gates had scarcely closed behind them when +it was surrounded by troops. In his haste and agitation the chief eunuch +had not noticed that the emperor’s second son had not returned with his +father. The conspiracy had just broken out, when that prince entered +Pekin. He was alone, in a hunting dress, with none of the insignia of +his rank, and he rode through the streets unrecognised, noting the +general tumult and confusion, whose cause he soon understood. Outside +the palace he found the ambitious eunuch haranguing his partisans, and +at once perceived that his father’s favourite, at whose insolence he had +often felt indignant, was at the head of the revolt. Mingling with the +throng of horsemen, he drew near to the traitor; amidst a host of +enemies, neither his coolness nor his courage failed him. Neither did +his skill: he tore from his coat its round metal buttons, slipped them +into his fowling-piece, took a short aim at Lin-King, and laid him dead +upon the spot! Upon their leader’s fall, the rebels fled, throwing away +their arms, and the prince triumphantly entered the palace, whose +threshold they had not yet sullied. Old Kia-King learned, at one time, +his past danger and present safety. + +The prince who had displayed such happy promptitude and presence of +mind, ascended the throne of China in 1820. He was then forty years of +age. According to the custom of the princes of his dynasty, he had +married a Tartar—a big-footed woman. By her he had no children; but his +concubines had borne him a numerous family. In China, law and usage +recognise no difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. +All have the same rights of succession. + +“During the first period of his reign, Tao-Kouang selected his ministers +from amongst those statesmen who, in the eyes of the people, were the +faithful guardians of Chinese traditions. Every nation that traces its +history to a very remote period has its conservative party. In quiet +times the government lies naturally in the hands of these +representatives of old national guarantees. But when it becomes +indispensable to modify ancient institutions, their exclusive attachment +to things of the past becomes a real danger. This political truth is as +perceptible in the history of the revolution of the Empire of the Centre +as in our own. Tao-Kouang’s agents, Chinese to the backbone, and full of +superb disdain for the barbarians, led their country into a disastrous +war, because they did not understand that the moment was come for them +to descend from the diplomatic elevation upon which their presumption +and European forbearance had so long maintained them. At a later period, +the same spirit of resistance to the necessity of the times brought on +the insurrection whose history we are about to trace, so that the two +most important events that Chinese annals have recorded during the last +quarter of a century, the war with England and the revolt of Kouang-Si, +have been determined by the same cause.” + +Dr Yvan then gives an outline of the dispute with England, the +consequent war and ultimate treaty, upon which it is unnecessary to +dwell, since the circumstances are familiar to most English readers, +although in France they have been often distorted, and to many are but +imperfectly known. He blames Lin, whom he describes as being then “a man +of about fifty, wearing the plain red button and the peacock’s feather +with two eyes,” for his seizure of the opium, especially because, by his +zeal, activity, and by the terror he inspired, he had given life and +vigour to the Chinese custom-house, and had made a great advance towards +the suppression of opium smuggling. “In France,” says MM. Callery and +Yvan, “where ideas are not always just, it is taken as an established +fact that, in the opium war, all the oppression was on the side of the +English, and that right succumbed when the treaty of Nankin was signed. +Nothing can be falser than this. The English smuggled on the coasts of +the Celestial Empire exactly as smuggling is to this day carried on by +foreigners on our coasts and frontiers; but it has not yet, that we are +aware, been established as a principle that government may seize foreign +merchants and threaten them with death, upon the pretext that vessels +with prohibited merchandise are riding at anchor off Havre or +Marseilles.” It is very courageous of these gentlemen thus to tell their +countrymen the truth. We hope it will not injure the sale of their book; +we have small expectation of its making many converts from the received +opinion in France, that the part played by the English in the whole of +the Chinese affair was that of wholesale poisoners, cramming their drug +down their victim’s throat at bayonet’s point. + +When Commissioner Lin had done all the mischief he could, burying the +opium with quicklime, and bringing a British squadron up Canton river, +blazing at the forts, he was recalled, and Ki-chan replaced him. Ki-chan +was a capable man, resolute but prudent; he saw that China had found +more than her match, and at once accepted the barbarian ultimatum. The +emperor refused his sanction, and inflicted upon the unlucky negotiator +the most signal disgrace any high functionary had endured during his +reign. Poor Ki-chan was publicly degraded, his property confiscated, his +house razed, his concubines were sold, and he himself was sent, an +exile, into the depths of Tartary. Those who would know more of him need +but refer to MM. Huc and Gabet’s curious journey to Thibet. At Lassa, +those intrepid travellers knew him well. Dr Yvan and Mr Callery were +intimate with another Chinese diplomatist, Ki-in, a relation of the +emperor, who signed the treaty of Nankin, and whom they consider one of +the two greatest statesmen that Tao-Kouang had. The other was +Mou-tchang-ha, the Chinese prime minister or president of the council. +“It is very probable that the Sublime Emperor, the son of Heaven, never +exactly knew what passed between the English and the Chinese. He died, +doubtless, in the consolatory belief that his troops were invincible, +and that, if Hong-Kong had been given, as an alms, to a few miserable +foreigners, it was because they had implored the happiness of becoming +his subjects.” The treaty of Nankin signed, Ki-in, named governor of the +two provinces of Kouang-Tong and Kouang-Si, took up his abode at Canton. +By the disposition he showed to be on good terms with foreigners, and by +his enlightened and progressive policy, he drew upon himself the hatred +of the bigoted populace, who accused him of leaning to the barbarians +and betraying his sovereign. In innumerable placards he was held up to +popular odium and vengeance. “Our carnivorous mandarins,” began one of +these violent and incendiary hand-bills, given by Dr Yvan, “have +hitherto connived at all that those English bandits have done against +order and justice, and five hundred years hence our nation will still +deplore its humiliation. In the 5th moon of this year, more than twenty +Chinese were killed by the strangers: their bodies were thrown into the +river, and buried in the belly of the fishes; but our high authorities +have treated these affairs as if they had not heard speak of them; they +have considered the foreign devils as if they were gods, have taken no +more account of Chinese than if they were dog’s meat, and have despised +men’s lives like the hairs that are shaved off the head. Thousands of +persons have lamented and been indignant; grief has penetrated the +marrow of their bones,” &c. &c. These absurd accusations and calumnies +had not, at the time, any influence on Ki-in’s political destiny. The +emperor recalled him to Pekin, graced him with new dignities, and made +him Mou-tchang-ha’s colleague. These two statesmen then tried to +introduce certain reforms, beginning with the army, whose bows and +arrows and old matchlocks they exchanged for percussion guns—thus +jumping clean over the intermediate stage of flint and steel. A curious +illustration of Chinese immobility for centuries. After a year’s trial, +Ki-in reported the great perfection attained by artificers, officers, +and soldiers, in manufacturing and making use of the new implements of +war. This was towards the close of Tao-Kouang’s reign. The conciliatory +spirit and enlightened views of the two ministers gave promise of that +practical progress which even the most conservative Europeans must admit +to be needed in China. Suddenly an unexpected and important event +changed the aspect of affairs. + +“Upon the 26th February, 1850”—thus does Dr Yvan, after his brief +preliminary retrospect, commence his second chapter—“at seven o’clock in +the morning, the approaches to the imperial palace at Pekin were +obstructed by a compact crowd of mandarins of the inferior classes, and +of servants in white garments with yellow girdles, conversing in a low +voice, whilst their features wore an expression of official grief. In +the midst of this throng of subordinate functionaries, stood sixteen +individuals, each attended by a servant holding a saddlehorse. These +sixteen persons wore the satin cap fastened under the chin and +surmounted by the white button; they had a girdle of bells; a tube of a +yellow colour was slung over their shoulders, and they all carried +whips. A great dignitary issued from the palace, and delivered, with his +own hand, to each one of these men, a despatch closed with the imperial +red seal; they received it with a bow, brought each the yellow tube +round upon his breast, and respectfully placed within it the official +despatch. Then they mounted their horses, and the grooms fastened them +to the saddle with straps that passed over the thighs. When they were +thus well secured, the crowd opened a passage, and the horses set off at +the top of their speed. These sixteen messengers, known as _Feïma_, +flying horses, were bound to get over six hundred _li_—sixty leagues—in +every twenty-four hours. They bore the following despatch to the +governors-general of the sixteen provinces of the Celestial Empire:— + +“‘In great haste, the minister of rites informs the Governor-general +that, upon the 14th of the first moon, the Supreme Emperor, mounted upon +the dragon, departed for the ethereal regions. In the morning, at the +hour of _mao_, his Celestial Majesty transmitted the imperial dignity to +his fourth son, _Se-go-Ko_, and in the evening, at the hour of _haï_, +departed for the abode of the gods.’” + +Directions for mourning completed the despatch. Agreeably with the +constitution of the empire, the defunct sovereign had named his +successor. It was his fourth son. But he had deviated from ancient +custom by a verbal nomination. The legacy of supreme power was usually +transmitted, long beforehand, by a solemn act, deposited in a golden +coffer, opened with great ceremony upon the emperor’s death. Even in +China, however, this last will and testament has not always been +respected, and of this Dr Yvan digresses to give an example, which he +considers as fully illustrative of Chinese manners and civilisation. The +tale he tells abounds in what Europeans would laugh at as burlesque +inventions, but which are doubtless very possible occurrences amongst +the Celestials. We shall give its pith in a few lines. Tsin-che-houang, +the second emperor of the Tsin dynasty, was already old and infirm when +he sent his son and heir, Fou-sou, to superintend the building of the +great wall, at which three hundred thousand men were working. They did +less to lengthen it, Dr Yvan insinuates, than modern travellers have +done. Whilst Fou-sou went north, accompanied by the renowned Mong-tièn, +the greatest general of his time, the emperor made a pilgrimage +southwards to the tombs of his ancestors. When far upon his road, he +felt death approaching, and wrote to his eldest son to hasten back to +the capital. Tcha-Kao, the chief of the eunuchs, having to seal and +forward the missive, audaciously substituted for it a forged command +from Tsin-che-houang to the prince and general to put themselves to +death, as a punishment for their offences. Next day the emperor died, +and the infamous Tcha-Kao prevailed upon his second son, Hou-haï, to +seize the crown. To carry out this usurpation, it was necessary to +conceal for a while the emperor’s death, lest the authorities and young +princes at the capital should proclaim the successor he had appointed. +So the body, sumptuously attired, and in the same attitude as when +alive, was placed in a litter, surrounded by a lattice, and by thick +silk curtains, and which none approached but those who were in the plot. +The eunuch had proclamation made that the emperor, in haste to return, +would travel day and night without quitting his litter. At meal-times a +short halt was made, and food was handed into the litter and eaten by a +man concealed in it. Unluckily, the weather was very hot, and the smell +of the dead body soon became intolerable. This would have revealed the +terrible truth, had not the ingenious eunuch hit upon a device. He sent +forward an ante-dated decree by which the emperor permitted oyster-carts +to follow the same road as himself. This had previously been severely +prohibited, on account of the intolerable stench emitted by the +oysters—an enormous species known to naturalists as spondyls, of which, +then as now, the Chinese made enormous consumption. The fishmongers +profited by the boon; hundreds of thousands of the full-flavoured +testaceans soon preceded and followed the imperial convoy; the +decomposing corpse reached the capital under cover of their alkaline +emanations, and was received with gongs and acclamations. Meanwhile, the +forged mandate of self-destruction was received by Fou-sou and +Mong-tièn. The old officer thought it bad policy to order a general in +command of three hundred thousand men to commit suicide, and treated the +mission as apocryphal. But Fou-sou, considering only his duty as a son +and subject, stabbed himself forthwith. + +The accession of the present emperor was unattended by any such untoward +circumstances, notwithstanding the irregularity of his nomination, to +which the formal Chinese attach much importance. He ascended the throne +without opposition, quitted, according to custom, the name he had till +then borne, and assumed that of Hièn-foung, which signifies _Complete +Abundance_. His accession was hailed with joy by both the political +parties into which China is divided, and which the authors of this +volume designate as exclusionists and progressive conservatives. The +former expected to find in him a stanch supporter of their principles. +If they did not anticipate the rebuilding of the crumbling wall of +China, they doubtless hoped that he would so fortify Canton river as to +prevent the _fire-boats_ of the barbarians from ascending it to the +capital of the two Kouangs. The progressive party, upon the other hand, +thought that the son of Tao-Kouang, and the pupil of Ki-in, would +maintain peace with the foreigner, regulate the opium trade—as the +English have done in India, and the Dutch in Malaya—and would introduce +into the Chinese fleets, armies, and administrations, those reforms +which lapse of time had rendered necessary. MM. Yvan and Callery +declare, that when they learned the emperor’s death they at once +anticipated important events. It was to be feared that the new +sovereign, a youth of nineteen, would sympathise with the sentiments and +wishes of those of his own age. And in China, where everything seems +diametrically opposed to what we observe in other countries, the young +men of education and the ignorant populace compose the high conservative +party. These two classes profess the same hatred of foreigners, the same +instinctive repugnance for foreign institutions. “They are reactionary +by nature, and by their attachment to national customs. It is the men of +maturer age who, formed at the school of experience, appreciate the arts +and institutions of Christian nations. When we were in China, Ki-in, +before he had undergone any disgrace, frequently praised the governments +of England, the United States, and France; and, at the same moment, +Ki-chan, unjustly precipitated from the summit of greatness, expressed +the same thoughts to MM. Huc and Gabet, in the holy city of Thibet.” + +For some time the new emperor disappointed all parties. Surrounded by +flatterers, eunuchs, and concubines, he remained inactive in his immense +palace, which equals in size one of the large European fortified towns. +He went not beyond the limits of those gardens whose walks are strewn +with sparkling quartz, and seemed absorbed by voluptuous enjoyments. +Politicians were wondering at this long inaction, when one day the +thunder-cloud burst. The absolute monarch displayed his power; the +reactionary party triumphed. The Pekin _Moniteur_ published the +dismissal of Mou-tchang-ha and Ki-in, overwhelming them with abuse, and +declaring them degraded to inferior ranks. The document was dated in the +30th year of the reign of Tao-Kouang—the year of an emperor’s death +being always reckoned by Chinese chronologists as belonging entire to +his reign. The successors of the disgraced ministers were selected from +amongst the bitterest enemies of Europeans, and their chief efforts were +directed to neutralise the effect which the contact of the barbarians +might have produced upon certain of their countrymen. This departure +from the policy of Tao-Kouang, who had placed entire confidence in +Ki-in, and had loaded him with marks of esteem, brought ill-luck to the +new emperor. Very soon after the victory of the reactionary party, the +first news came of the revolt of Kouang-Si. + +There had been precursory symptoms of this insurrection. It had been +currently reported amongst the people that prophecies had fixed the +re-establishment of the Ming dynasty to take place in the forty-eighth +year of that cycle, which year corresponded with A.D. 1851. It was +further said that a sage, who lived under the last emperor of that race, +had saved his standard, and had foretold that he who displayed it in the +midst of his army should mount the throne. At the beginning of the +insurrection it was affirmed that the rebels marched beneath this +miraculous banner, and this was implicitly believed by the people. “The +vulgar are incredulous of the extinction of old royal races; it is never +certain that their last representative is in his tomb: there are people +in Portugal who still look for the return of Don Sebastian, killed, +three centuries ago, at the battle of Alcazar-Quivir.” An uneasy feeling +soon spread far and wide, with rumours of the defection of mandarins. +The legitimacy of the Tartar dynasty, and the necessity of substituting +for it a national one, were publicly discussed. Here Dr Yvan translates +an extract from an English paper, in which great importance is attached +to the insurrection, and to the cry for reform which on all sides was +heard. This was in August 1850. He then paints the portraits of the +emperor Hièn-foung, and of the pretender Tièn-tè. The former is +twenty-two, the latter twenty-three years of age. Without entering into +a minute description of the physical and mental qualities of the two +personages, some of which will incidentally manifest themselves as we +proceed, we extract a few leading traits of Tièn-tè, whose portrait +forms the frontispiece to the volume we are examining. “Study and vigils +have prematurely aged him. He is grave and melancholy, and very +reserved, communicating with those around him only to give them orders. +His complexion is that of the southern Chinese—a saffron tint. His +impassible gaze seems to probe the depths of the human soul. He commands +rather by suggestion than by direct dictation. In a word” (and this +reminds us of Dr Yvan’s own sovereign), “he has the silent reserve of a +man who has reflected a great deal before communicating his projects to +any one.” + +The Doctor then gives a Chinaman’s description of the pretender’s +entrance into one of the numerous towns taken by his troops. “The new +emperor and his retinue reminded me of the scenes represented at our +theatres, in which we are shown the heroes of ancient days, those who +lived before we came under the Tartar yoke. The persons who surrounded +Tièn-tè had cut off their tails, let the whole of their hair grow, +and, instead of the _chang_ buttoned at the side, they wore tunics +open in front. None of the officers wore upon their right thumb the +_pan-tche_, that archer’s ring which our mandarins so ostentatiously +display. The emperor was in a magnificent palanquin, with yellow satin +curtains, carried by sixteen officers. After Tièn-tè’s palanquin came +that of his preceptor, borne upon the shoulders of eight coolies; then +came his thirty wives, in gilt and painted chairs. A multitude of +servants and soldiers followed in fine order.” There is a most +important point to be noted in this description—the cutting off of the +tail. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to repeat that the strange +style of head-dress with which porcelain and rice-paper pictures have +familiarised Europeans, is of Tartar origin, and, in the case of the +Chinese, a mark of subjugation. It was thus that the victors marked +the vanquished—compelling them to shave their heads, with the +exception of a spot upon the sinciput, the hair upon which was +suffered to grow into a long tail. As a sign that they had thrown off +the foreign yoke, Tièn-tè’s followers cut off their tails. This bold +act—a treasonable offence in China—was equivalent to throwing away the +scabbard, and caused a great and painful sensation at the court of +Pekin. As a sort of counterpoise to it, the celestial _Moniteur_, the +Imperial Gazette, was made to publish a supposititious act of +submission on the part of the rebels, in which they were made to +prostrate themselves, declare their fidelity, and submit to stripes +and bondage. + +The person designated by the Chinaman, in the account of the procession, +as Tièn-tè’s preceptor, is his intimate friend and privy-councillor—his +only one—a very mysterious individual—whether his father, his tutor, or +merely a friend, none know—who accompanies him everywhere. But we are +getting ahead of our subject, and must glance at the commencement of the +insurrection, previously to the appearance of Tièn-tè upon the stage. + +The province of Kouang-Si, where the rebellion began, and which is +larger than the entire dominions of many European sovereigns, is +situated in the south-western portion of the empire, is administered by +a governor-general, and forms part of the vice-royalty of the two +Kouangs. Its mountains are one of the curiosities of the Celestial +Empire; but, since the Jesuits of Pekin, no foreigner has been suffered +freely to explore them. “According to native travellers, these masses +have the form of various animals, unmistakably representing a cock, an +elephant, &c.; and there are rocks in which are found encrusted +fantastical animals, petrified in the most singular attitudes. We have +carefully examined drawings of these figures, which reminded us of the +species resuscitated by Cuvier, and we have convinced ourselves that the +petrified animals are merely red stains, produced by oxide of iron, and +acutely defined upon the black surface of the rock. The general aspect +of Kouang-Si is singularly picturesque. That vast district offers points +of view which Chinese artists have frequently painted. To European eyes +their collections of landscapes have a strange character. Those +inaccessible mountains that seem shaped by the caprice of human +imagination, those rocks representing gigantic animals, those rivers +precipitating themselves into gulfs, over which are thrown impassable +bridges, suggest an idea of fairyland.” A glance at the map of Kouang-Si +suffices to prove the intelligence and judgment of the insurgent chiefs +who chose that province for the commencement of their operations. +Unproductive, by reason of its mountainous character, the misery of the +inhabitants was a powerful auxiliary to the rebels. They found at once +recruits for their army, and natural fortresses for their defence. The +emperor needed a far larger army, and much more efficient means of +attack than he possessed, to drive the insurgents from their fastnesses. +If defeated in the plain, they had always the resource of mountain +warfare. Dr Yvan compares the people of Kouang-Si to the guerillas who +in Spain so severely harassed the French armies. Like them, he says, +they are sober, intrepid, little sensible of fatigue, and animated by a +spirit of independence. After centuries of occupation, the Tartars had +not yet subdued the remotest districts of those mountains. + +The chief vegetable products of Kouang-Si are cinnamon and aniseed. Its +mountainous conformation, and the drawings of the Chinese artists, leave +little doubt that it abounds in metallic deposits. Hence a seeming +miracle, which took powerful hold on the imagination of the vulgar. Dr +Yvan tells the tale thus:— + +“At the beginning of the insurrection, the chiefs determined to mark the +date of their enterprise by the erection of a religious monument. For +its foundation, labourers dug in decomposed rocks, which yielded readily +to the pickaxe. They had attained the depth of but a few feet, when they +came upon lumps similar in form and appearance to the stones in the bed +of a river. These lumps were observed to be very heavy, and were +carefully examined. They proved to be silver-lead of great richness. It +was from this providential bank, it is said, that the pretender paid his +first soldiers. Whatever the authenticity of the tale, it is worth +noting by the collectors of legends, whose writings will one day divert +the leisure of the mandarins.... As if to confirm this metallurgic +miracle, there have recently been discovered in Norway silver deposits +precisely similar to those of Kouang-Si.” + +It was in August 1850 that the Pekin papers for the first time spake of +the insurgents, whom they designated as robbers; but robbers would +hardly have established themselves in one of the poorest districts of +the empire, remote from large towns and high-roads. The rebels showed no +haste to contradict these rumours, but rather allowed them to gain +credit, and waited patiently in the south-west part of the province, +until the Celestial _tigers_[24] should be sent against them. They were +on terms of amity with the Miao-tze, a race of men inhabiting the +wildest parts of Kouang-Si. Dining one day with a Chinese functionary of +high rank, in a pagoda at Canton, the author of this book received from +him a curious account of those people, which they noted upon their +return home, and now publish. The Miao-tze, the minister told them, are +aborigines of the chain of mountains that extends from the north of +Kouang-Toung (the southernmost province) into the central provinces of +the empire. They dwell in small communities, never exceeding two +thousand persons. Their houses are built on posts, like those of the +Malays. They are warlike in disposition, and agriculture is their +pursuit. The Tartars have never succeeded in subduing them. They have +retained the old national costume—have never shaved their heads—have +always rejected the authority of the mandarins and the Chinese customs. +Their independence is now a recognised fact; and upon Chinese maps a +blank is left for the country they occupy, to signify that it does not +obey the emperor. For a great many years no attempt had been made to +subdue them, when suddenly, in 1832, they made an incursion, pillaging +wherever they went. They beat the Chinese troops sent against them, and +were got rid of only by diplomacy and concession. They hold little +intercourse with their neighbours, and are greatly dreaded by the +Chinese of the towns, who call them man-dogs, man-wolves. “They believe +them to have tails, and relate that, when a child is born, the soles of +his feet are cauterised, to harden them, and render him indefatigable. +These are mere tales,” continued the Chinese minister, whom Dr Yvan +describes as a young and elegant man, and who is apparently of the more +enlightened party in his country. “In reality, the Miao-tze are a very +fine and intelligent race, and their manners have a tendency, I think, +to become gentle.” Such a race as this was evidently a most valuable +ally for the insurgents, whose first military movements put them in +possession of two large towns, in one of which three mandarins of high +rank were killed fighting against them. Siu, governor-general of the two +Kouangs, took alarm; and upon learning that the rebels were coming his +way, solicited the honour of making a pilgrimage to the tomb of the +defunct emperor. This request was refused; and the troops he sent +against the enemy were beaten and exterminated. The antiquated tactics +of the insurgents—which would hardly have much success against any but a +Chinese army—consisted in feigning a flight, and drawing their opponents +into an ambuscade. This succeeded several times running—not being, we +must suppose, guarded against in the Chinese twenty-four-volume treatise +on the art of war. Emboldened by their repeated victories, the rebels +crossed the frontier of Kouang-Si, and entered Kouang-Toung, where they +soon met with and massacred, to the very last man, a detachment of +imperial troops. + +Two political acts of great importance were now simultaneously +accomplished at Pekin and in the insurgent camp. In the former place, +the emperor sent for Lin, the opium-burner, and bade him go and put down +the rebellion. Notwithstanding his great age, the austere mandarin +promptly obeyed. As if by way of retort, the insurgents issued a +proclamation, declaring that the Mantchous, who for two centuries had +hereditarily occupied the throne of China, had no right to it beyond +that of the strongest; that that right was common to all—and that they +had an equally good one to levy contributions on the towns they +conquered. The Mantchous, they said, were foreigners, who had conquered +the country by aid of a veteran army; their right of government +consisted in possessing. This proclamation conveyed the leading idea of +the rebels, which had previously been merely rumoured. They declared +legitimacy to mean possession; and at the same time intimated their +intention of expelling the Mantchous, and transferring to Chinese hands +the management of the public revenues. This publication was the last act +of the rebels in 1850. It coincided with the death of Lin, which +occurred in November of that year. The old commissioner was in his +seventieth year, and sank under the fatigue and anxiety of his new +command. + +The Chinese year begins in February. Its commencement is a sort of +commercial and financial crisis, when everybody pays and calls in his +debts. In January it was reported and believed, in Canton, that the +insurrection of Kouang-Si was entirely suppressed, and that the +celestial tigers had gained imperishable laurels. In consequence of this +good news, business resumed its usual course, confidence returned, and +the Chinese “settling day” passed without disaster. It was a mere trick +of the cunning mandarins of Kouang-Toung, who, in the interest of the +commercial community, had fabricated the bulletins. The public +satisfaction and tranquillity were soon dispelled by intelligence of the +cutting off of tails already mentioned, and which admitted of no other +interpretation than “War to the Knife!” + +Li succeeded Lin as imperial commissioner in Kouang-Si. The +pusillanimous Siu was reduced four degrees of rank, which is something +like reducing a field-officer to an ensigncy, but was still left +governor of the two Kouangs. A very bad system was pursued by the agents +of the Chinese government—exemplified by the following incidents. In +March 1851, the little town of Lo-Ngan was taken by the insurgents, who +levied a contribution, seized the contractor of the _Mont de Piété_, or +pawning establishment, and fixed his ransom at 1000 taels (about £320). +He paid, and was released. Next day the imperial troops drove out the +rebels, levied another contribution, and squeezed 3000 taels from the +contractor! This man, who was influential in the place, and indignant at +suffering spoliation from those who should have protected him, harangued +the people in the public square. Others spoke after him, and at last the +excited mob cut off their tails, swore that the reign of the Tartars was +at an end, and sent for the insurgents, who came in the night and +massacred the garrison. Other things concurred to induce disaffection +among the population to the reigning dynasty. Li took for his second in +command a ferocious mandarin, who, when governor of the province of +Hou-Nan, where the use of opium was very prevalent, had adopted the +barbarous practice of cutting off the under lip of the smokers. Dr Yvan +was in China at the time, and saw several poor wretches who had been +thus mutilated, and whose aspect was horrible, the operation, performed +by clumsy executioners, leaving hideous jagged wounds, “very different,” +the doctor feelingly and professionally remarks, “from the elegant scars +so artfully and happily produced by Parisian bistourys.” The nomination +of the cruel Tchang (in his case, as in some others, we spare the reader +the labour of reading his second and third names, which, although +connected by hyphens, are not, as we perceive from Dr Yvan’s practice, +inseparable from the first) was significant. At the same period, and in +one day, thirty-six persons, accused of conspiring against the safety of +the state, were put to death at Canton. Dr Yvan doubts whether their +crimes were really political. In China they deal in what he calls +prophylactic justice. The thirty-six executions were perhaps a +preventive measure, and the victims common malefactors, elevated to the +rank of rebels and traitors. “They may, however, have been members of +secret societies, which are very numerous in China, and in those +countries whither Chinese immigrate. At Singapore, Penang, Batavia, +Manilla, we have known numerous adepts of the secret societies of the +Empire of the Centre—a species of free-masonry, whose ascertained object +is the dethronement of the Mantchous. + +“In 1845, we lived for several days with a merchant of Chan-Toung, who +clandestinely introduces arms into China. He took us to a house in one +of the dirtiest and least reputable quarters of the town, and we +ascended into a sort of garret. In that country garrets are on the first +floor. His object was to obtain our estimate of arms which some +Americans had sold him. They were enormous swords in steel scabbards. +The heavy blades were clumsily forged; but cheap they certainly were, +having been delivered in China at the price of ten francs a-piece. On +our entrance the Chinese unsheathed one of these large blades, and +uttered loud exclamations, gesticulating the while after the fashion of +the Chinese heroes one sees painted upon fans. We asked him if it was +for the equipment of the invincible tigers he purchased these arms. At +the question he smiled significantly, and showed us, by an expressive +gesture, the use intended to be made of them against the imperial +troops. Perhaps at this moment the gigantic weapons are in the rebels’ +hands.” + +Neither the appointment of the terrible Tchang, the executions at +Canton, nor the mendacious reports, perseveringly circulated, of +imperial triumphs, checked the rebels. On the contrary, they replied to +all this violence and boasting by the proclamation of an emperor of +their own, whom they called Tièn-tè, which means _Celestial Virtue_! He +was invested with the imperial yellow robe, and, contrary to Tartar +usage, which forbids the reproduction of the sovereign’s features by his +subjects, his portrait was circulated by thousands of copies. From one +of those prints MM. Callery and Yvan have taken the frontispiece of +their volume. The head-dress and costume are those of the days of the +Mings, from whom the pretender’s partisans declare him descended. + +The proclamation of Tièn-tè may be said to close the first period of the +insurrection. Dr Yvan points admiringly to the patient policy of its +chiefs. For a whole year Tièn-tè was kept in the background, his +partisans contenting themselves with spreading a report that there +existed a descendant of the Mings. Then they proclaimed, but did not +show him to the people. He returned to a sort of mysterious obscurity, +and showed himself but at long intervals, to his enthusiastic adherents. +The rebellion now took the character of a civil war. The Emperor +Hièn-foung, although deficient in political judgment, and in that tact +and penetration which enable a sovereign to make the best choice of +agents, displayed a good deal of energy; but this was too apt to +degenerate into violence. He was certainly not well served. Siu, still +governor of the Kouangs, was unequal to the difficulties that every day +augmented. The inhabitants of two districts refused to pay taxes; the +emperor ordered their punishment; Siu sent a mandarin to bring the +ringleaders before him; the whole population rose, and pulled the +officer out of his palanquin, which they broke to pieces, its occupant +barely escaping with life. About the same time Tièn-tè set a price of +ten thousand dollars on Siu’s head. The placard containing the +announcement was affixed to the north gate of Canton, just as Siu was +about to quit that city at the head of three thousand men, to join other +forces directed against Kouang-Si. The viceroy was furious; and as his +palanquin passed through Canton’s street, preceded by two gongs, and by +a banner on which was inscribed, “Get out of the way and be silent; here +is the imperial commissioner,” he glanced savagely right and left, as if +seeking some one on whom to wreak his vengeance. “Presently he slapped +his hand down upon the edge of his chair, and bade the bearers stop. It +was just opposite the house of one of those poor artists who paint +familiar genii and large family-pictures. The painter had hung up some +of his most remarkable works outside his house; but strange to relate! +in the midst of smiling deities, irritated genii, feetless women flying +along like birds in silken vestments, there was displayed a decapitated +mandarin. The rank of the personage was unmistakably indicated by the +insignia painted on his breast. The corpse was in a kneeling position, +and the head, separated from the trunk, was placed beside a beaver-hat +bearing the plain button.” The unfortunate artist was called out of his +shop, and kneeled trembling in the dust before Siu’s palanquin. In vain +he protested that the picture was painted to order, and hung out to dry: +he was sent to the town-prison to receive twenty blows of a bamboo for +placing such ill-omened horrors upon the viceroy’s passage, and Siu went +upon his way, gloomily impressed by the double presage of the placard +and the picture. Besides his three thousand men, he had with him a host +of mandarins, attendants, executioners, musicians, standard-bearers, and +women, and a large sum of money, which he added to, upon the march, as +often as he could. The women and the treasure were carried on men’s +shoulders, in palanquins and chests. Dr Yvan relates the following +curious incident as having occurred upon this march:— + +“They one evening reached a deep and rapid water-course, which had to be +crossed over a bamboo bridge. When a part of the escort had reached the +farther bank, Siu stopped his palanquin, and ordered the coolies who +carried the treasure-chest to cross slowly and cautiously. They obeyed; +but just as they reached the centre of the elastic bridge, a sudden +shock threw them and their load into the water. There was a moment of +extreme confusion. The chest had sunk, the unfortunate coolies were +struggling against the stream, and uttering lamentable cries, whilst +Siu, furious, was breaking his fan for rage. Luckily the coolies swam +like fish, and easily reached the shore. The viceroy was sorely tempted +to bastinado them upon the spot; but he reserved that pleasure for +another day, and ordered the poor wretches, who stood panting and +terrified before him, instantly to fish up the precious chest, +threatening them with a terrible chastisement if they did not find it. +They stript off their clothes and courageously entered the water; +skilful divers, they explored the river’s bed, and, after many efforts, +succeeded in getting the heavy chest ashore. It was wet and muddy, but +otherwise uninjured. Siu had it placed upon the shoulders of two fresh +coolies, and the march was resumed. A few days later, on reaching +Chao-King, his first care was to have the chest opened in his presence; +but instead of his golden ingots, he found only pebbles and pieces of +lead carefully wrapped in silk paper. The coolies were audacious +robbers, who had skilfully planned the exchange. The viceroy set all his +police on foot, but in vain; the thieves had doubtless taken refuge in +the insurgent country, where they and their booty were safe.” + +A Chinese gentleman, well-dressed, comely, and of intelligent aspect, +has lately attracted considerable attention in Paris, in whose streets +and public places he has been frequently seen. He is a friend and +companion of M. Callery, and to him is owing the facsimile of a Chinese +map included in the volume under notice. It represents those provinces +which the insurgents have already traversed, from the mountains of +Kouang-Si to the city of Nankin, the ancient capital of the Mings. A +stream of red spots, running across its centre, and in some places +spreading out wide, indicates the towns occupied by the rebels. The map +is copied from one of the numerous charts published in China in 1851, +towards the end of which year the victories of Tièn-tè’s troops were so +numerous, and their progress so prodigious, that even the lying _Pekin +Gazette_ ceased to record imaginary imperial triumphs. It must not be +supposed, however, that, in the case of the captured towns, occupation +invariably implied retention. The chiefs of the insurgents heeded not +the strategical importance of particular places. With the exception of a +few fortresses, into which the pretender occasionally retired, they +abandoned successively all the towns they took, after raising +contributions to pay their troops. “Their tactics,” says Dr Yvan, “are +those of the barbarian chiefs who led the great invasions of which +history has transmitted us the account. The insurgents go straight +before them, seizing, each day, some new point, which they next day +abandon. Their intention is evidently to cut their way to the capital. +In a country where the centralising system prevails so completely as in +China, the Mantchous reign as long as Pekin is in their power; but upon +the day on which the descendant of the Mings enters the imperial city, +the provinces he has marched through and left unconquered will +acknowledge his right, and submit themselves to his authority.” In +several chapters of Dr Yvan’s book we find amusing examples of the +military tactics of these strange barbarians who deem all others such. +Thirteen thousand imperialists advanced against the rebels near the town +of Ping-Nan-Hien. The rebels defended themselves feebly, and retreated +from one position to another. When this had lasted several hours, and +the weary pursuers were about to desist, they suddenly found themselves +in an ambuscade, entangled in a bamboo jungle, and attacked in front and +flank by a strong body of rebels, with more than sixty pieces of +artillery. When General Ou-lan-taï got back to his camp, it was with +half his army; the remainder had either been killed, or had deserted to +the enemy. Siu, the valiant viceroy, safe behind the thick walls of a +fortress, swore by his meagre mustaches that he would revenge this rout. +“To that end, he borrowed from the ancient history of the kingdom of Tsi +a stratagem which reminds one of the Trojan horse, and of Samson’s +foxes. He got together four thousand buffalos, to whose long horns he +had torches fastened; the drove was then given in charge to four +thousand soldiers; and the expedition, prepared in the most profound +secresy, set out one night for the rebel camp. It was anticipated that +each buffalo, thus transformed into _a fiery chariot_, would commit +terrible ravages, kill all the men it could get at, and set fire to the +camp. At first the horned battalions met with no obstacles; the +insurgents, duly advertised of this splendid stratagem, suffered them +quietly to advance. But before the imperialists reached the camp, the +enemy, who observed all their movements by favour of the splendid +illumination, fell upon them unexpectedly, as they had so often done +before, and the same scenes of carnage were renewed. This manœuvre of +Siu’s cost the lives of more than two thousand men, and gives an idea of +Chinese proficiency in the art of war. Had our sole knowledge of the +affair been derived from the Anglo-Chinese press, we should have +hesitated to reproduce it here; but we have had opportunity of collating +the account given by _The Friend of China_, with authentic Chinese +documents, and they entirely agree in their narrative of this incredible +occurrence. In the eyes of the Tartar warriors, and of the Chinese +themselves, this comical invention of Siu’s passes for a highly +ingenious strategical combination.” + +Whilst such were the disasters of his armies, and the progress of his +foes, what was the occupation of his Imperial Majesty, the Son of +Heaven, Hièn-foung? Surrounded by favourites and courtiers, he composed +a poem, whose subject was the heroic exploits of his Tartar general, +Oulan-taï—the said exploits existing but in the general’s own bulletins! +According to MM. Yvan and Callery, who have read a portion of the +emperor’s epic, it is an inflated performance, indebted in every line to +reminiscences of the classic authors of the Celestial Empire—the Chinese +Homers, the Ariostos of Pekin; so that the braggart general +appropriately found a plagiarist bard. Meanwhile Siu, who had more +confidence in golden than in leaden ammunition as a means of victory, +offered ninety thousand taels (nearly £30,000) for the heads of Tièn-tè, +his father, and his mysterious privy-councillor—that being, for each +head, just thrice the sum at which the insurgents had estimated his. But +no heads were brought in, and the viceroy, weary and despairing, +implored permission to return to Canton. To obtain such permission, he +invented an ingenious story, which the official Pekin paper was so +unkind as to publish. He represented to his master that the subjects of +Donna Maria da Gloria, queen of Portugal, were preparing for an +expedition against the Celestial Empire. He converted the peaceable +Macaists into a band of pirates ready to aid the insurgents, and to +appropriate to themselves the provinces of Kouang-Toung and Fo-Kien! +With an emperor, a general, and a viceroy, such as these characteristic +traits exhibit, Dr Yvan is surely justified in anticipating the early +dissolution of the Chinese Empire. Under such chiefs, it is not +surprising when armies exhibit neither discipline nor courage. In the +autumn of 1851, the insurgents, having taken three towns, respected the +lives and property of the inhabitants. By a proclamation, Tièn-tè +exhorted the latter to remain quietly where they were, but permitted +those who would not recognise his authority to quit the place, taking +with them all they could of their goods and chattels. A considerable +number profited by this permission, and departed, laden with the most +valuable portion of their property. They fell in with a body of +imperialist troops, who stripped them of everything, and killed those +who resisted. The unfortunate victims of civil war reproached their +spoilers with their cowardice. “Before the rebels,” they said, “you are +mice; it is only with us that you are tigers!” + +From an early period of the rebellion, the mandarins endeavoured to +discredit its banner and partisans by the propagation of lying +inventions, some of which had the double aim of exciting the Buddhist +population against the insurgents, and of rendering the Christians more +and more odious to the young emperor. Thus they asserted that the +pretender really was a descendant of the Mings, but that he was a +Catholic, and that, wherever he went, he upset pagodas and destroyed +idols. Others affirmed that he was of the sect of Chang-ti—that is to +say, a Protestant. Whilst noticing these statements, Dr Yvan contents +himself with remarking that the name of Tièn-tè, chosen by the +pretender, is purely pagan. Another manœuvre of the mandarins was to +announce that the insurgents had declared their intention, as soon as +they should have attained to supreme authority, of driving the Europeans +from the five ports. Thus they thought to set the Europeans against the +insurrection. But this flimsy fabrication was easily seen through. +Attempts were also made to cast ridicule on the insurgents, by the +circulation of pamphlets filled with incredible anecdotes. + +“One of these satirical productions relates that Tièn-tè, having +perished in an accidental conflagration of his camp, his wife had had +his brother assassinated, and had seized the reins of government. But, +in China, petticoat government is inadmissible, and people never speak +but with horror of the Empress Ou-heou, that Elizabeth of the East, who +possessed herself of the imperial power, and exercised it for more than +twenty years. In this respect, Chinese prejudices are so invincible that +the name of Ou-heou has been effaced from the list of the sovereigns of +the Celestial Empire. For the Chinese, that shameful reign never took +place. The idea of sovereign power in a woman’s hands fills them with +indignation; yet they know that a woman reigns over that western people +which conquered them, and that the English nation was never greater or +more glorious than under the rule of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen +Victoria.” + +The existence of a Christian element or influence in the ranks and +councils of the insurgents, which the mandarins put forward, probably +without any better grounds than their own malicious intent, is traced, +at a later period, by MM. Callery and Yvan, in a proclamation issued +after several triumphs won, at short intervals, by the armies of +Tièn-tè. In a previous proclamation, the pretender had referred, +somewhat obscurely, to the idea of a federal empire, to be composed of +several kingdoms dependent on one chief. This idea was more clearly +developed in the manifesto affixed to the walls of the captured town of +Young-Gan-Tcheou, and signed, not by Tièn-tè, although he was then +present, but by Tièn-kio, one of the future feudatory kings, who dated +it from the first year of his reign. It announced, in plain terms, the +plans of the insurgents. They would combine their forces, march on +Pekin, and then divide the empire. The whole plan, Dr Yvan, who highly +lauds it, believes to have been conceived and elaborated by the secret +societies. “Since the overthrow of the Mings, and the accession of the +Mantchous,” he says, “those clandestine associations, the intellectual +laboratory of declining countries, have been constantly active. The most +celebrated of them, the Society of the Three Principles, or of the +Triad, is powerfully organised. In every part of China, and in all the +countries where Chinese reside, are found members of this association; +and the children of the Empire of the Centre might say, almost without +exaggeration, that when three of them are assembled together, the Triad +is amongst them.” + +But if the substance of Tièn-kio’s proclamation is politically +important, to its form Dr Yvan assigns immense significance. He +recognises in it a new and regenerative element—that of Christianity. +“Its authors speak of _decrees of Heaven. They have prostrated +themselves before the Supreme Being, after having learned to adore God. +They have striven to save the people from calamities._ This is a style +unknown to the idolatrous Chinese, and foreign to Catholic language: to +Protestantism is due the honour of having introduced it into China; and +it appears that there really is, amongst the insurgents, an indigenous +Protestant, holding a very high rank, and exercising very great +authority. This Protestant is, it is stated, a disciple of Gutzlaff, the +last secretary interpreter of the government of Hong-Kong.” Having +mentioned Gutzlaff’s name, MM. Callery and Yvan—one, if not both, of +whom appears to have known him—give some curious particulars concerning +him. They speak of him as an intelligent man, having extraordinary +facility in learning languages, and of his books as narratives in which +a little truth is mingled with very agreeable falsehoods. Born in +Pomerania, there was nothing German in his aspect; his features were +Mongul, and in his Chinese costume he could not be distinguished from a +Chinese. + +“One night, during our residence in China, we were conversing about him +with the mandarin Pan-se-tchèn, who was a great friend of his, and one +of us expressed his surprise at finding, in a European, the +characteristic signs of the Chinese race. + +“‘Nothing is more natural,’ the mandarin, quietly replied; ‘Gutzlaff’s +father was a Fokienese settled in Germany.’ + +“This fact appeared to us so extraordinary that we should hesitate to +mention it here, if Pan had not affirmed that he had it from M. Gutzlaff +himself.” + +We do not here trace the progress of the Insurrection in China, the +leading events of whose earlier stages have, to a certain extent, been +made known to Europeans by the public press; whilst the details of its +later period, and especially those of the siege and capture of Nankin, +had not come to the knowledge of MM. Callery and Yvan up to the very +recent date at which their volume went to press. We have preferred to +cull from this curious and uncommon book, traits and incidents which, +although they may not be of paramount importance in a political or +military sense, exhibit, as clearly as could do the most circumstantial +narrative of the war, the character of people and parties, and the +probable eventualities of the struggle. There exists, it appears, +amongst the Chinese—at least in certain provinces—so strong a tendency +to assist the insurrection, that the viceroy of the two Kouangs +published a decree forbidding the young men of the towns to form +themselves into volunteer corps. In this cunningly-drawn-up document he +thanked them for their zeal, and assured them that the imperial troops +amply sufficed to put down the rebellion. The fact was, experience had +taught him, that, as soon as the volunteers were put under the command +of a military mandarin, and taken into the field, they deserted to the +enemy. Their aid would have been welcome, could it have been relied +upon; for, at the very time the decree was issued, the imperialists were +enduring daily defeats, whilst the insurgents, who everywhere +appropriated public money, but respected private property, daily +acquired fresh partisans. + +In the month of September 1852, Tièn-tè, with all his court, and with +his body-guard, which never quits him, took up his quarters at a town +within a few leagues of the wily and prudent Viceroy Siu. This personage +is the most amusing of all the strange characters we meet with in Dr +Yvan’s pages. Crafty, cowardly, and particularly careful of his person, +he is a type of the Chinese, as Europeans understand that nation, of +which, however, Dr Yvan leads us to believe that we have but an +imperfect notion. A short time before he found himself in the perilous +proximity of the insurgent leader, Siu had been at his old tricks, +trying to impose upon his countrymen. Having caught a petty chief of the +rebels, he ticketed him Tièn-tè, and sent him to Pekin in an iron cage. +The official gazette published the capital sentence pronounced upon him, +which, according to Chinese custom, was preceded by the criminal’s +confession. This was a long document, drawn up, doubtless, by some Pekin +man of letters, in which the spurious Tièn-tè acknowledged his +delinquencies, and attributed the insurrection especially to a secret +society founded by Gutzlaff, the Chang-Ti, or Protestant. Here was +evident the perfidious intention of the exclusionist party to bring the +Christians into discredit. The execution of the sham Tièn-tè was still +the leading topic of discussion at Pekin, when news came that the real +pretender was still alive and active in the mountains of Kouang-Si, +whence he exercised his occult influence, and observed the progress of +the revolt. When his pretended captor, Siu, found himself in his +immediate vicinity, he made no attempt to capture him in reality; and +soon afterwards (in January of the present year) that officer fell into +disgrace with his sovereign, owing to the disasters that occurred under +his government. He was deprived of his vice-royalty, and of his +peacock’s feather with two eyes. Shortly after the appearance of this +decree in the _Pekin Gazette_, a melancholy report was circulated at +Canton; Siu, it was affirmed, driven to despair by his disgrace, had +poisoned himself. When the circumstances of the act came to be known, +the minds of his anxious friends were considerably relieved. He had +poisoned himself with gold leaf. + +“The science of toxicology is about on a par, in China, with the +military knowledge of the generals of the imperial army. When a great +personage wishes to put himself to death, he takes an ounce of gold +leaf, rolls it into a ball, and swallows the valuable pill. According to +the physiologists of the Celestial Empire, these balls, once in the +stomach, unroll themselves, and adhere to the whole interior of the +organ, like paper on a wall. The stomach, thus gilt, ceases to act, and +the unhappy mandarin dies suffocated, after a few hours’ somnolency—a +mode of suicide which we recommend to despairing sybarites.” + +The year 1852 closed as disastrously as it had begun. Throughout its +whole course, the imperialists—or, to speak more correctly, the troops +of the Tartar dynasty, since there are now two emperors in the field—had +been invariably worsted, and the insurrection had spread far and wide. +Stringent measures were adopted by Hièn-foung; his generals were warned +that defeat would be promptly followed by their degradation, and even by +the loss of their heads: Victory or Death was the motto they literally +and compulsorily assumed. Another evil was soon added to the many that +assailed the young emperor. The imperial finances were exhausted; the +Celestial Chancellor of the Exchequer declared his penury, and denounced +the mandarins who nominally commanded in the insurgent provinces. They +would render no account of their stewardship; not a copper was to be got +from them—that was hardly to be expected—but they sent in fabulous +“states” of the troops under their command, and demanded enormous sums +wherewith to carry on the war. In this emergency, the means proposed, +and those resorted to, to raise the wind, transcend belief. No desperate +prodigal, reckless of reputation, ever adopted more shameless expedients +to replenish his purse. A mandarin proposed an opium monopoly. A similar +proposal, under the reign of Tao-Kouang, cost a minister his place, and +was near costing him his life. Times are changed; Hièn-foung, less +scrupulous, and notwithstanding his aversion to opium-smokers, was +giving to the project, at the date of the last advices, his serious +consideration. Meanwhile, the official newspaper published (12th +November 1852) a document, comprising twenty-three articles, in which +everything was put up for sale—titles, judgeships, peacocks’ feathers, +mandarins’ buttons, exemptions from service, promotions in the army. In +this publication, a casual reference being made to the English, they +were still treated as barbarians; but, five months later (on the 16th +March last), when the insurgents were before Nankin, and likely soon to +be within it, Celestial pride was so far humbled that we find the +authorities earnestly and respectfully supplicating Christian succour, +in a circular addressed to all the representatives of civilised nations, +resident in those Chinese ports open to European commerce, and +especially to the consuls of Great Britain and the United States. For +“barbarians” was now substituted “your great and honourable nation.” To +such an extent are carried Chinese vanity and conceit, that, Dr Yvan +assures us, if the demand for aid were complied with by the English and +American plenipotentiaries, the Son of Heaven would instantly persuade +himself that those Western people rank amongst his tributaries, and +would very probably issue a proclamation announcing that his troops had +subdued the rebels, aided by nations who had lately made their +submission, and who had conducted themselves faithfully in those +circumstances. + +Meanwhile, the insurgents employed much more straightforward and +satisfactory means of filling their treasury than those resorted to in +extremity of distress by the Mantchou emperor. In the month of February +last they captured Ou-Tchang-Fou, a rich city of four hundred thousand +inhabitants, the capital of the province of Hou-Pé. A friend of MM. Yvan +and Callery, an intrepid traveller, gave them a glowing description of +this city, situated upon the right bank of the Yang-Tze-Kiang, or Son of +the Ocean—an enormous river, in whose waters porpoises disport +themselves as in the open sea, and which allows the ascent of ships of +the largest burthen. Five or six thousand (and Dr Yvan’s friend +expressly disclaims exaggeration) are the number of the junks usually at +anchor before Ou-Tchang. The person referred to saw upwards of a +thousand laden with salt alone, and the town is an immense depot of +China produce and of European and American manufactures. Chinese junks +are the noisiest vessels that float; their crews are continually beating +gongs and letting off fireworks. The quiet of Ou-Tchang may be imagined. +It was on the occasion of the capture of this wealthy and important city +that poor Siu was deprived of his peacock’s feather and driven to +internal gilding. “The troubles of the south,” said the emperor in his +proclamation, “leave us no rest by night, and take away our appetite.” + +The fourteenth chapter of _L’Insurrection en Chine_ is chiefly occupied +by a description of the five feudatory kings appointed by Tièn-tè (one +of whom takes the title of the Great Pacificator, whilst the four others +are known as Kings of the North, South, East, and West), of the +Pretender’s ministers, of the dress and official insignia of the various +dignitaries, and of the organisation of the insurgent army, which is +regular and perfect. It also comprises a proclamation, exhorting the +people to rise in arms against their tyrannical government, and whose +exalted and metaphorical style may be judged of by a single short +extract. “How is it that you, Tartars, do not yet understand that it is +time to gather up your scattered bones, and to light slices of bacon to +serve as signals to your terror?” Notwithstanding such eccentricities of +expression, which may possibly be heightened by extreme literalness of +translation, the document has its importance, especially by reason of a +tendency to Christianity traced by MM. Callery and Yvan in the +commencement of one of its paragraphs. “We adore respectfully the +Supreme Lord,” says Tièn-tè, “in order to obtain His protection for the +people.” The descendant of the Mings was now in full march for the city +which, under the ancient dynasty he assumes to represent, and proposes +to restore, was the capital of all China. With a formidable fleet and an +army of fifty thousand men, the five kings appeared before Nankin. + +“This city, which contains more than half a million of inhabitants, has +thrice the circumference of Paris; but amidst its deserted streets are +found large spaces turned up by the plough, and the grass grows upon the +quays, to which a triple line of shipping was formerly moored. It is +situated in an immense plain, furrowed by canals as numerous as those +which traverse the human body. Its fertile district is a net-work of +rivulets and of navigable water-courses, fringed with willows and +bamboos. In the province of Nankin grows the yellowish cotton from which +is made the cloth exported thence in enormous quantities; there also is +reaped the greater part of all the rice consumed in the empire. The +Kiang-Nan, or province of Nankin, is the richest gem in the diadem of +the Son of Heaven. Nothing in old Europe can give an idea of its +fruitfulness—neither the plains of Beauce, nor those of Lombardy, nor +even opulent Flanders. Twice a-year its fields are covered with crops, +and they yield fruit and vegetables uninterruptedly.... We have had the +happiness to sit in the shadow of the orchards which fringe the +Ou-Soung, one of the numerous veins that fertilise the province of +Kiang-Nan. There we have gathered with our own hands the fleshy jujube, +which travellers have often mistaken for the date; the pomegranate, with +its transparent grains; monstrous peaches, beside which the finest +produced at Montreuil seem but wild fruit, and the diospyros as large as +a tomata. We have seen the scarlet pheasant and his brother of the +pearl-tinted plumage running in the fields. This province contains +thirty-eight millions of inhabitants. + +“To a Chinese nothing is beautiful, good, graceful, elegant, or +tasteful, but what comes from Nankin or from Sou-Tcheou-Fou. Wedded to +routine, we have but one city which sets the fashions; the Chinese have +two. The fashionables of the Celestial Empire are divided into two +schools, one of which holds by Nankin, the other by Sou-Tcheou-Fou. It +is still doubtful which of the two will carry the day. As to Pekin, the +centre of government, it has no weight in matters of pleasure and taste; +it has the monopoly of ennui. In Nankin reside the men of letters and +learning, the dancers, painters, archæologists, jugglers, physicians, +poets, and celebrated courtesans. In that charming city are held schools +of science, art, and pleasure; for pleasure is, in that country, both an +art and a science.” + +With this interesting extract we shall conclude our article, after +quoting a significant passage from a short proclamation which Tièn-tè’s +agents have lately circulated: + +“As to those stupid priests of Bouddha, and those jugglers of Tao-se,” +it says, “they shall all be repressed, and their temples and their +monasteries shall be demolished, as well as those of all the other +corrupt sects.” + +MM. Callery and Yvan anxiously speculate as to who are designated by the +words _other corrupt sects_. Was the proclamation drawn up by a disciple +of Confucius, or by a member of Gutzlaff’s Chinese Union? They admit +that for the present it is impossible to answer the question. + +But Tièn-tè’s banner waves over Nankin, and the riddle may soon be +solved. + + + + + LADY LEE’S WIDOWHOOD. + + + PART VIII.—CHAPTER XXXVII. + +Between the village of Lanscote and the Heronry a side-road branched +off, leading also to Doddington. At their junction the two roads bounded +an abrupt rocky chasm, containing a black gloomy pool of unknown depth; +known to the neighbourhood as the Mine Pool. A speculator had dug it +many years before, in expectation of being richly rewarded by the +mineral treasures supposed to exist there, and had continued the +enterprise till the miners reached a great depth, when the water rose +too rapidly to be kept under, and the work was abandoned. A few low +bushes fringed the edge of it, besides which a dilapidated railing +fenced it from the road. It formed a grim feature as it appeared +unexpectedly yawning beside the green and flowery lane, and suggested +ideas altogether incongruous with the smiling, peaceful character of the +surrounding landscape. + +On the morning after Bagot’s interview with Mr Holmes, as related in the +last chapter, Fillett and Julius were coming down the lane towards +Lanscote. They were often sent out for a morning walk, and had been +easily induced to choose this road by the Colonel, who had promised +Julius a ride on the front of his saddle if he would come towards the +village. + +In these walks Julius was accustomed to impart, for the benefit of +Kitty, most of the information collected from his various instructors. +He would tell her of distant countries which his mamma had described to +him—of pictures of foreign people and animals drawn for him by Orelia—of +fairy tales told him by Rosa—of scraps of botanical rudiments +communicated to him by the Curate. And being a sharp-witted little +fellow, with a wonderful memory, he seldom failed to command Kitty’s +admiration and applause. There were few branches of natural or +metaphysical science which he had not treated of in this way. He had +explained to her all about thunderbolts—he had destroyed for ever her +faith in will-o’-the-wisps, leaving instead a mere matter-of-fact, +uninteresting _ignis fatuus_—he had sounded her belief in witchcraft—he +had put questions respecting the nature and habits of ghosts which she +was wholly unable to solve: “Bless the child,” Kitty would say, “it’s as +good as a play to hear him.” + +Julius, hovering round Kitty, and chatting with her, frequently looked +anxiously about to see if his Uncle Bag were coming, that he might claim +the promised ride. When they arrived near the Mine Pool, down into the +depths of which he was fond of gazing with a child’s awe, the Colonel +suddenly met them coming on horseback up the road. Julius, clamorous to +be lifted up, ran towards him; but Bagot called out that he was riding +home for something he had forgotten, and would speedily overtake him. He +passed them, and trotted on to where the road made a bend. There he +suddenly pulled up, and called to Kitty to leave the boy for a minute +and come up—that he wanted to speak to her. + +Fillett obeyed, tripped up to the horse’s side, and walked beside the +Colonel, who proceeded onward at a slow pace, talking of the old affair +of Dubbley and her ladyship, and pretending to have some fresh matter of +the kind in his head. Kitty noticed that his manner was odd and nervous, +and his language incoherent, and before she could at all clearly +perceive what it was he wanted to tell her, he released her and trotted +onward to the Heronry, while she hastened to rejoin her young charge. + +Julius was not in the spot where she had left him, and Fillett ran +breathlessly down the road, calling him by name. Reaching a point where +she could see a long way down the path, and finding he was not in sight, +she retraced her steps, alternately calling him aloud and muttering to +herself what a plaguey child he was. She looked behind every bush as she +came along, and on again reaching the Mine Pool looked anxiously over +the fence. Some object hung in the bushes a few yards from where she +stood, just below a broken part of the fence; she hastened to the spot +and looked down—it was Juley’s hat. + +Clasping her hands together with a loud shriek, poor Kitty’s eyes +wandered round in every direction in search of some gleam of comfort;—in +search of some one to help her, under the burden of this terrible +discovery. No one was in sight; only she saw a yellow caravan going up +the other road to Doddington, at a quarter of a mile off. She would have +run after it shrieking to the driver to stop; but her limbs and voice +alike failed her, and poor Kitty sunk down moaning on the ground. “What +shall I say to my lady?” gasped Fillett. + + +Lady Lee was sitting in the library dressed for a walk, and waiting for +her two friends who were getting ready to accompany her, when she heard +a great commotion in the servants’ hall and rung the bell to ask the +reason. It was slowly answered by a footman, who entered with a +perturbed aspect, and said the noise was caused by Fillett, who was in +hysterics. Lady Lee asked what had caused her disorder, but the man +looked confused, and stammered in his reply. Before she could make any +further inquiries, Fillett herself rushed frantically into the room, and +threw herself down before Lady Lee. “O, my lady, my lady!” sobbed +Fillett. + +“What ails the girl?” asked Lady Lee, looking down at her with an +astonished air. + +Fillett tried to answer, but nothing was distinguishable except that +“indeed it wasn’t her fault.” At this moment a whispering at the door +caused Lady Lee to look up, and she saw that the servants were gathered +there, peering fearfully in. Rising up she grasped Kitty’s shoulder, and +shook her, faltering out, “Speak, girl!” + +Fillett seized her mistress’s dress, and again tried to tell her tale. +In the midst of her sobs and exclamations, the words “Master Juley,” and +“the Mine Pool,” alone were heard; but thus coupled they were enough. + +Kitty, not daring to look up, fancied she felt her ladyship pulling away +her dress from her grasp, and clutched it more firmly. At the same +moment there was a rush of servants from the door—the dress that Fillett +held gave way with a loud rending—and Lady Lee fell senseless to the +ground. + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +Until they lost him, they did not fully know the importance of Julius in +the household. He was a very limb lopt off. To miss his tiny step at the +door, his chubby face at their knees, his ringing voice about the rooms +and corridors, made all appear very desolate at the Heronry. Though +there had been no funeral, no room made dismal for ever by the presence +of his coffin, and though there was no little green grave in the +churchyard, yet the house seemed a tomb haunted by the dim shadow of his +form, and saddened by the echoes of his voice. + +Every endeavour was made to recover the poor child’s body. The Mine Pool +was searched and dragged—it was even proposed to pump it dry; but the +numerous crannies and recesses that lurked in its gloomy depths +precluded much prospect of success, though the attempts were still +persisted in after all hope was relinquished. + +Lady Lee’s grief was of that silent sort which does not encourage +attempts to console the mourner. She did not talk about her boy; she was +not often observed to weep—but, whenever any stray relic brought the +poor child strongly before her mind’s eye, she might be seen gazing at +it with woeful earnestness, while her imagination “stuffed out his +vacant garments with his form.” Rosa, observing this, stealthily +removed, one by one, all the objects most likely to recall his image, +and conveyed them to her own chamber; and she and Orelia avoided, so far +as might be, while in Lady Lee’s presence, all allusions to their little +lost friend. But in their own room at night they would talk about him +for hours, cry themselves to sleep, and recover him in their dreams. A +large closet in their apartment was sacred to his memory; his clothes, +his rocking-horse, his trumpet, his musket, his box of dominoes, and a +variety of other peaceful and warlike implements were stored there, and +served vividly to recall the image of their late owner. + +Rosa, waking in the morning with her face all swoln with crying, would +indulge her grief with occasional peeps into the cupboard at these +melancholy relics; while Orelia, a more austere mourner, sat silent +under the hands of Fillett, whose sadness was of an infectious and +obtrusive nature. Kitty would sniff, sigh, compress her under lip with +her teeth, and glance sideways through her red, watery eyes at the +sympathetic Rosa. + +“I dreamt of dear Juley again last night, Orelia,” Rosa would say. + +“Oh, Miss Rosa, so did I,” Fillett would break in, eager to give audible +vent to her sorrow, “and so did Martha. Martha says she saw him like an +angel; but I dreamed that I saw him galloping away upon Colonel Lee’s +horse, and that I called and called, ‘Master Juley!’ says I, the same as +if it had been real, ‘come to Kitty!’ but he never looked back. And the +butler dreamed the night before last he was drawing a bottle of port, +and just as he was going to stick in the corkscrew, he saw the cork was +in the likeness of Master Juley, and he woke up all of a cold shiver.” + +Conversations on this subject did not tend to cheer the young ladies’ +countenances before they met Lady Lee at the breakfast-table. On their +way down stairs they would form the sternest resolutions (generally +originating with Orelia, and assented to by Rosa), as to their +self-command, and exertions to be cheerful in the presence of their +still more afflicted friend. They would walk up and kiss her pale, +mournful face, feeling their stoicism sorely tried the while, and +sitting down to table would try to get up a little conversation; till +Rosa would suddenly sob and choke in her breakfast cup, and there was an +end of the attempt. + +This melancholy state of things was not confined to the drawing-room. A +dismal hush pervaded the household, and the servants went about their +avocations with slow steps and whispered voices. They took a strange +pleasure, too, in assembling together at night, and remembering warnings +and omens which were supposed to have foreshadowed the mournful fate of +the poor little baronet. Exactly a week before the event, the cook had +been woke while dozing before the kitchen fire after supper, by a voice +calling her name three times, and when she looked round there was nobody +there. The very day month before his loss, the housekeeper distinctly +remembered to have dreamt of her grandmother, then deceased about half a +century, who had appeared to her in a lavender gown trimmed with crape, +and black mittens, and she had said the next morning that she was sure +something would happen; in support of which prophecy she appealed to Mr +Short the butler, who confirmed the same, and added, on his own account, +that an evening or two afterwards he had heard a strange noise in the +cellar, which might have been rats, but he didn’t think it was. + +The sight of Fillett, so intimately connected with the memory and the +fate of her lost child, was naturally painful to Lady Lee, and Kitty, +perceiving this to be the case, wisely kept out of her way, devoting +herself entirely to the young ladies. Self-reproach greatly increased +the sharpness of Kitty’s sorrow for poor Julius; she accused herself of +having, by her negligence, contributed to the unhappy catastrophe. She +fancied, too, that she could read similar reproach in the behaviour of +her fellow-servants towards her; with the exception, however, of Noble, +who, melted at the sight of her melancholy, and forgetting all his +previous causes of jealous resentment, was assiduous in his efforts to +console her. + +“Come,” said Harry, meeting her near the stables one evening—“come, +cheer up. Why, you ain’t like the same girl. Anybody would think you had +killed the poor boy.” + +“I feel as if I had, Noble,” said Kitty, with pious austerity. + +“But you shouldn’t think so much about it, you know,” replied her +comforter. “It can’t be helped now. You’re crying of your eyes out, and +they ain’t a quarter so bright as what they was.” + +“Ho, don’t talk to me of heyes,” said Kitty, at the same time flashing +at him a glance from the corners of the organs in question. “This is no +time for such vanities. We ought to think of our souls, Noble.” + +Noble appeared to be thinking just then less of souls than of bodies, +for in his anxiety to comfort her he had passed his arm round her waist. + +“Noble, I wonder at you!” exclaimed Kitty, drawing away from him with a +reproving glance. “After the warning we’ve all had, such conduct is +enough to call down a judgment upon us. I’m all of a trimble at the +thoughts of what will become of you, if you don’t repent.” + +Perhaps Harry may be excused for not seeing any immediate connection +between the decease of his young master and the necessity of himself +becoming an ascetic. But Kitty, in the excess of her penitence, from +being as lively and coquettish a waiting-maid as could be found anywhere +off the stage, suddenly became a kind of Puritan. It happened that at +this time the members of a religious sect, very numerous in Doddington, +having been suddenly seized with an access of religious zeal, held +almost nightly what they termed “revivals”—meetings where inspired +brethren poured forth their souls in extempore prayer; and those who +were not fortunate enough to obtain possession of the platform +indemnified themselves by torrents of pious ejaculations, which +well-nigh drowned the voice of the principal orator. There is something +attractive to the plebeian imagination in the idea of taking heaven by +storm: the clamour, excitement, and _éclat_ attending a public +conversion had caused the ranks of these uproarious devotees to be +recruited by many of their hearers, for the most part susceptible +females; and Kitty, going to attend these meetings under the escort of +Mr Noble (who, with profound hypocrisy, affected a leaning towards +Methodism as soon as he perceived Miss Fillett’s bias in that +direction), was converted the very first night. The grocer whose +lodgings Oates and Bruce occupied was the preacher on this occasion, and +his eloquence was so fervid and effective that, coupled with the heat of +the place, it threw Kitty into hysterics. At the sight of so fair a +penitent in this condition, many brethren of great sanctity hastened to +her assistance, and questioned her so earnestly and affectionately as to +her spiritual feelings, some of them even embracing her in the excess of +their joy at seeing this good-looking brand snatched from the burning, +that Mr Noble, conceiving (erroneously no doubt) that they were somewhat +trenching on his prerogative, interfered, and conveyed her from the +scene. After this, Kitty became a regular attendant at the revivals, and +her demeanour grew more serious than ever, insomuch that Mr Dubbley, +ignorant of this change in her sentiments, and petitioning for a meeting +at the white gate, received an unexpected and dispiriting repulse. + +The personage who seemed the least affected by grief of the household +was the cat Pick. Perhaps he missed the teazings and tuggings, and +frequent invasions of his majestic ease, which he had been wont to +sustain; if so, this was probably to him a source of private +self-congratulation and rejoicing. Never was a cat so petted as he now +was, for the sake of his departed master, with whom he had been such a +favourite. But Pick, far from testifying any regret, eat, lapped, +purred, basked, and washed his face with his paw, as philosophically as +ever. + +The Curate’s sorrow at the event did him good—it distracted his mind +from his own sorrows, and gave a new direction to his feelings for +Hester. The unselfishness of his nature had an opportunity of displaying +itself on the occasion. The thought of Lady Lee’s grief had roused his +warmest sympathies, and he longed to comfort her—he longed to sit by her +side, to hold her hand, to pour forth words of consolation and hope. He +had done this, but not to the extent he could have wished; he could not +trust himself for that. The Curate felt the most deep and tender pity +for her—and we all know what pity is akin to: those very near relations, +the Siamese twins, were not more closely allied than the Curate’s +compassion and love for Lady Lee. Therefore Josiah, in his moments of +extremest sympathy, kept watch and ward upon his heart, and said not all +he felt. + +But he bethought himself of preaching a sermon on the subject. He was +conscious that his sermons had of late lacked earnestness and spirit; +and he would now pour his feelings into a discourse at once touching and +consolatory. He chose for his text, “_He was the only son of his mother, +and she was a widow._” He had intended to extract from this text a +hopeful moral, and to set forth powerfully the reasons for being +resigned and trustful under such trials. But the poor Curate felt too +deeply himself on the occasion to be the minister of comfort to others, +and, breaking down half-a-dozen times from emotion, set all Lanscote +weeping. + +“How could you make us all cry so, Josiah?” asked Rosa, reproachfully. +“Weren’t we sad enough before?” + +In fact, it seemed as if poor Julius might have lived long, and died at +a green old age, without being either more faithfully remembered or more +sincerely lamented. + +Finding themselves disappointed in all their efforts to comfort Lady +Lee, Orelia and Rosa came to the conclusion that, so long as she +remained at the Heronry, she would never cease to be saddened by the +image of the lost Juley. So they agreed it would be well to persuade her +to leave the now sorrowful scene; and no place seemed so likely to +divert her sorrow, by making a powerful appeal to her feelings, as +Orelia’s cottage. Here she might recall her maiden fancies, and renew +her youth, while her married life might slip aside like a sad episode in +her existence. + +“We’ll all start together next week,” said Orelia, when she had obtained +Lady Lee’s sanction to this arrangement. + +“No,” said Rosa, “not all, Reley. You and Hester shall go.” + +“What does the monkey mean?” cried Orelia. “You don’t suppose we’re +going without you, do you?” + +“You know I should like to accompany you, Reley,” said Rosa, “and you +know I shall be dreadfully disconsolate without you; but I must go and +live with Josiah.” + +“Live with Josiah, indeed!” quoth Orelia, with high scorn. “What does +Josiah want of you, d’ye think, to plague his life out? Hasn’t he got +that Mrs what’s-her-name, his housekeeper, to take care of him and his +property? I’m sure I never see the woman without thinking of +candle-ends.” + +“’Tisn’t to take care of him that I stay, but to comfort him,” said +Rosa. “You’ve no idea how low-spirited Josiah has been this some time +past, ever since his friend Captain Fane went away. He has lost his +interest in his books and flowers, and sits for hours in thought looking +so melancholy. Oh! I couldn’t think of leaving him.” + +Rosa persisted in this determination, and all the concession they could +obtain was, that as soon as Josiah recovered his spirits she would +rejoin her friends at Orelia’s cottage. Meantime, the latter and Lady +Lee made preparations for a speedy departure. + + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + +The Squire’s preceptor, Mr Randy, saw with concern that he could never +hope to obtain undivided empire over his pupil. He had, it is true, +considerable influence with him—knew and humoured his foibles—assisted +him with advice on difficult points, and had, in fact, become in various +ways almost necessary to him. Nevertheless, he felt that Mr Dubbley’s +susceptibility to female fascinations perpetually endangered his +position. He had, indeed, attained the post of grand vizier, but might +at any moment be stripped of his dignities at the first suggestion of a +hostile sultana. + +After long consideration of the subject, Mr Randy came to the conclusion +that the most effectual way to establish himself firmly at Monkstone +would be, to take care that this other great power, whose possible +advent be constantly dreaded, instead of being a rival, should be +entirely in his interests. This seemed to him, theoretically, a +master-stroke of policy; to carry it into practice might not be easy. As +he was revolving the matter in his mind one evening, after passing +through Lanscote on his way home from Monkstone to Doddington, he +perceived the Curate’s housekeeper taking a little fresh air at the +garden gate. She had heated herself with the operation of making her own +tea, and leaving the tea-pot on the hob, to “draw” as she termed it, had +come out to cool herself before drinking it. + +At the sight of her, Mr Randy’s air became brisker. He walked more +jauntily—he swung and twirled his stick, instead of leaning on it—he +placed his hat a little on one side of his head—and he re-buttoned his +coat, which he had loosened in order to walk with more ease and +convenience. + +He was acquainted with Mrs Greene, and frequently stopped to talk with +her as he passed; and, as he approached now, he took off his hat, and +made what would have been a very imposing bow had he not unluckily slipt +at a critical moment on a pebble, and thus impaired the dignity of the +obeisance. + +“A lovely evening, Mrs Greene,” said Mr Randy, whose courtesy was +somewhat ponderous and antique, and whose conversation, when he was on +his stilts, rather resembled scraps from a paper of the _Rambler_ than +the discourse of ordinary men. “Happy are you, my good Mrs Greene, who, +‘far from the busy hum of men,’” (whenever Mr Randy indulged in a +quotation he made a pause before and after it) “can dwell placidly in +such a scene as this. A scene,” added Mr Randy, looking round at the +house and garden with a gratified air—“a scene that Horus would have +revelled in. A pleasant life, is it not, my good madam?” + +“It’s lonesome,” said Mrs Greene. + +“The better for meditation,” returned Mr Randy didactically. “What says +the poet?—‘My mind to me a kingdom is,’—and who could desire a fairer +dominion? Ay,” (shaking his head and smiling seriously) “with a few +favourite authors, and with the necessaries of life, one might be +content to let the hours slip by here without envying the proud +possessors of palluses.” + +Though Jennifer admired this style of conversation exceedingly, she was +hardly equal to sustaining it. “You seem to be a good deal with Squire +Dubbley, Mr Randy,” she said. + +Mr Randy answered in the affirmative, taking, at the same time, a pinch +of snuff. + +“He’s a queer one, they say,” said Jennifer. “I should think ’twas +tiresome for a book-learned gentleman like you, Mr Randy, to be so much +in his company.” + +“Not at all, Mrs Greene,” said Mr Randy. “What says the Latin +writer?—‘Homo sum, nihil humanum a me alienum puto,’ which means, my +good madam, that, being myself a human being, I am interested in all +that appertains to humanity. I study the squire with much satisfaction.” + +“He’s a gay man the Squire,” said Jennifer sententiously. “Why don’t he +marry and live respectable, I wonder? Hasn’t he got a lady in his eye +yet, Mr Randy?” + +“Marriage is a serious thing, my good Mrs Greene—a very serious thing +indeed. No,” said Mr Randy, confidentially: “what he wants is a +housekeeper, Mrs Greene, such a one as some gentlemen I could name are +so fortunate as to possess—a respectable, careful person, who could take +care of his domestic affairs, and prevent him from being fooled by any +idle hussy of a servant-maid who may happen to have an impudent, pretty +face of her own.” + +“I should like,” said Jennifer, with compressed lips and threatening +eyes—“I should like to see any such show their impudent faces in a house +where I was. They wouldn’t come again in a hurry, I can tell ’em.” And, +indeed, it was very likely they would not. + +“Ah,” said Mr Randy, in deep admiration, “Mr Young is a fortunate man. +He has secured a housekeeper whom we may safely pronounce to be one in a +thousand.” + +Jennifer, though austere, was not quite steeled against flattery. She +looked on the learned man with prim complacency—she remembered that her +tea had now stood long enough—and she suggested that perhaps Mr Randy’s +walk had disposed him for some refreshment, and she should take his +company during the meal as a favour. + +Mr Randy was not particularly addicted to tea: on all those points for +which it has been extolled—as a stimulant, as a refresher, as an +agreeable beverage—he considered it to be greatly excelled by +brandy-and-water. But the subject just touched upon was one in which he +was greatly interested, and he resolved to follow up an idea that had +occurred to him; so he courteously accepted Jennifer’s invitation, and +followed her into the parsonage. + +Mrs Greene’s room was a model of order, rather too much so perhaps for +comfort—and showed other traces of her presiding spirit in a certain air +of thriftiness which pervaded it. Reigning supreme, as Jennifer did in +the Curate’s household, she might have indulged in small luxuries at her +pleasure had she possessed any taste for them, but the practice of +saving, for its own sake, afforded her positive delight. The shelves +were rather sparingly furnished with jam-pots of very small dimensions, +carefully tied down and corded, and marked with the name of the +confection, and the year of its manufacture; various boxes and +canisters, labelled as containing different groceries, were securely +padlocked, as if they were not likely to be opened on light or +insufficient grounds; the curtains rather scantily covered the window, +and the carpet was too small for the floor. + +Jennifer, unlocking the tea-caddy, put in two additional spoonfuls of +tea in consideration of her guest. Then she invited Mr Randy to sit +down, which he did with great ceremony; while she placed on the table +two saucers of jam, helped Mr Randy to toast and butter, and some of the +sweetmeat, and poured out the tea. And Mr Randy observing that Jennifer +transferred hers to her saucer, for the better convenience of drinking, +not only did the like, but also blew on the surface to reduce the +temperature before the successive gulps, which were then both copious +and sonorous. + +“So the Squire’s not a good manager, eh, Mr Randy?” said Jennifer, after +some little conversation on indifferent matters. + +“No comfort, no elegance,” said Mr Randy. “The superintending hand of a +female is greatly wanted.” + +“And does the Squire think of getting a housekeeper?” asked Jennifer. + +“I’ve not suggested it to him as yet,” returned her guest, “but I’m +thinking of doing so, if I could fix my eye on a proper person.” + +“Bless me, you’ve got no preserve,” said Jennifer, emptying, in a sudden +access of liberality, the saucer of damsons on Mr Randy’s plate. “And +there’s nothing but grounds in your cup—perhaps you’d like it a little +stronger, sir.” + +“No more, my good madam, I’m obliged to you,” said that gentleman, +drawing away his cup, and covering it with his hand to show he was in +earnest, so that Jennifer, pressing ardently upon him with the tea-pot, +very nearly poured the hot tea upon his knuckles. “I’ve had quite an +abundance—quite a sufficiency, I assure you. No, ma’am, things do not go +on at Monkstone precisely as I could wish in all respects. For instance, +it would be agreeable to me sometimes to find an attentive female to +receive me—to say to me, Mr Randy you are wet, won’t you have a basin of +soup to warm you?—or, Mr Randy, it rains, you’ll be the better of a +glass of spirits and water to fortify you against the inclemency of the +elements. Mr Dubbley is very kind, but these little things don’t occur +to him.” + +“Indeed, then, I think they might,” said Mrs Greene with warmth. “The +least he could do is to be civil. Take some toast, sir.” + +“’Tis forgetfulness, Mrs Greene, not incivility—a sin of omission, not +of commission. I flatter myself few men would venture to be uncivil to +me,” and Mr Randy drew himself up and looked majestic. “Then the want of +a proper person in the house obliges him to look more closely after some +small matters than is quite becoming in a man of property.” + +“Closeness,” said Jennifer, with great disdain, “is what I never could +abide. I could forgive anything better than that.” + +“Well, well, Mrs Greene,” said her visitor, waving his hand, “we won’t +be hard upon him—he means well. Yes, I’ve been looking out for some time +for a lady that would answer the Squire’s purpose.” + +“And what kind of person would be likely to suit you?” inquired Jennifer +with interest. + +“We should require,” said Mr Randy, brushing some crumbs from +his lap with his pocket-handkerchief, as he concluded his +meal—“we should require a character not easy to be met with;—a +sensible—respectable—experienced—discreet—per-r-son—and one, too, who +would not give herself presumptuous airs, but would conduct herself +towards me—me, Mrs Greene, as I could wish.” + +“Of course,” said Jennifer, “if she was beholden to you for her place, +’twould be her duty to make things pleasant to you, sir.” + +“Ah,” said Mr Randy, “_you_ are both a discreet and a sensible person, +Mrs Greene, I perceive.” + +“And as to terms, Mr Randy,” suggested Jennifer. + +“As to terms, they would be hardly worth higgling about, Mrs Greene—for, +if the lady possessed the manifold merits I have enumerated, and allowed +herself to be guided in all things by me, why, she would be _de +facto_—that is to say, in reality—mistress of Monkstone, and might +feather her nest to her own liking.” + +This was a dazzling prospect indeed, and well calculated to appeal to +the heart of Jennifer. There was a grand indefiniteness as to the extent +of power and profit which might be acquired, which she found +inexpressibly alluring; for Jennifer was, after her fashion, ambitious, +though her ambition was of too practical a nature to set itself on +objects hopelessly remote. + +Mr Randy perceiving the effect of what he had said, and considering it +would be well to give her time to digest it before entering into +details, now rose to take leave. + +“Good evening, sir, and thank you,” said Jennifer. “When you’re passing +another day, I hope you’ll look in;” and Mr Randy, having promised to do +so, walked with his customary dignity up the road. + +Mr Randy had not directly said that he thought Jennifer, if she would +agree to share interests with him, would be exactly the person he +wanted; nor had Jennifer directly stated that, if she succeeded in +obtaining the post of housekeeper to the Squire, she would show her +gratitude by being all Mr Randy could wish. But the knowledge of human +nature displayed by the Randies and Jennifers is intuitive and unerring, +so long as it is employed upon natures on a level with their own; and +Jennifer knew perfectly well that Mr Randy wanted her for the +furtherance of his own designs at Monkstone; while Mr Randy never +doubted that the lure he had held out would secure her. + +Jennifer, however, had by no means made up her mind to accept the offer +at once. It was dazzling, certainly; but, on the other hand, she did not +like the idea of giving up her long and persevering designs upon the +Curate’s heart, which, as the reader knows, she had from the first been +determined to attack. That was too grievous a waste of time and subtlety +to be contemplated. But Mr Randy’s implied offer gave her an opportunity +of carrying into execution a scheme she had long meditated. She +considered (her cogitations being assisted by a third cup of tea, +obtained by putting fresh water in the tea-pot after Mr Randy’s +departure) that she had now lived so long with the Curate that she could +not possibly become more necessary to him than she already was—that the +sooner he was brought to the point the better—that being such an absent +person, far from making any proposals of the kind she desired of his own +accord, a very strong hint from herself would be required in order to +extract them. Now if she resolved upon giving this hint, she must also +be prepared to quit the parsonage in case of failure; and Monkstone +would form exactly the point she wanted to retreat upon. + +This secured, she would commence operations at once with the Curate. He +was, in Jennifer’s estimation, a man who did not know his own mind or +his own interests. But though he might never discover what was for his +own good unassisted, yet a man must be foolish indeed who can’t perceive +it when ’tis shown him. From frequent victories obtained over the +Curate, and long managing and ruling him, she flattered herself she +might now make her own terms, for that he could never bear to part with +her; but if she deceived herself in this, why, then Monkstone would be a +more lucrative place. So in any case she should gain some end, and she +determined to put her powers of cajolery to proof without delay. Indeed, +there was no time to lose, for that very morning Miss Rosa had signified +her intention of coming to live with her brother when the ladies left +the Heronry. + + + CHAPTER XL. + +For many weeks the poor Curate had been indeed alone; for so long had +his old companions, hope and cheerfulness, deserted him; for so long had +he gone mechanically about his old pursuits, feeling that the glory had +departed from them, and sat in the stormy autumn evenings by a hearth +where only the vacant pedestals reminded him of the wonted presence of +household gods. + +Time, of whose lapse heretofore he had taken little note, became now a +dull, remorseless enemy. The Curate, when he woke, would sometimes +shudder at the prospect of the many-houred day between him and the +grateful oblivion of sleep; for the day, formerly so busy, was now to +him but a long tract of weary, reiterated sorrows. + +Though he still spent many hours in his garden, it was lamentable to see +the change there. Weeds sprung unregarded side by side with his choicest +flowers—worms revelled in his tenderest buds—and the caterpillars were +so numerous as to form quite an army of occupation. His books, too, were +blank to him—the pages he used to love seemed meaningless. His only +remaining consolation was his pipe. + +See, then, the Curate sitting in the twilight in his elbow-chair, in an +attitude at once listless and uncomfortable, his waist bent sharply in, +his head drooping, one leg gathered under the seat, the other straddling +toward the fire, his right hand shading his eyes, while the elbow rests +on the table—the left holding the bowl of his pipe, while the elbow +rests on the arm of his chair. Frequently he takes the mouthpiece from +his lips, sighs heavily, and forgets to smoke—then, with a shake of the +head, he again sucks comfort from his meerschaum. There is a tap at the +door, which opens slowly—Jennifer looks in at him, and then draws near. + +Jennifer stopt—looked at him—sighed—then drew a little closer—sighed +again. The Curate, fancying she had come on some of her accustomed +visits of inspection (for of late she had found frequent excuses for +entering, such as to dust his books, to stir his fire, to draw his +curtains), took no notice of her, but continued to pursue his train of +thought. Presently he, too, sighed; it was echoed so sympathetically by +Mrs Greene, that her suspiration sounded like a gust coming down the +chimney. Finding that the Curate, as usual, pursued the plan which is +popularly attributed to apparitions in their intercourse with human +beings, and was not likely to speak till spoken to, Jennifer, with a +little cough, came round between the table and the fire, and stirred the +latter. Being thus quite close to the Curate, with the table in her +rear, and her master’s chair close to her left hand, she commenced. + +“I’m vexed to see you so down, Mr Young. I’m afraid you’re not satisfied +in your mind. You used to be a far cheerfuller gentleman than what you +are now.” + +Mr Young, rousing himself, looked up with an assumed briskness. + +“It’s my way, Mrs Greene—only my way.” + +“No, sir,” said Jennifer, peremptorily, “’tis not your way, asking your +pardon. There’s something on your mind. Perhaps it’s me—perhaps things +have not gone according to your wishes in the house. If it’s me, sir, +say so, I beg.” + +“You, Mrs Greene—impossible. I’m quite sensible of your kind attention +to my comforts, I assure you,” protested the Curate. + +“Because,” said Jennifer, heedless of his disclaimer, and going on as if +he had not uttered it—“because, if so, I wish to say one word. I only +wish to remark, sir, that whatever fault there is of that kind, ’tis not +a fault according to my will. My wish is, and always has been, to serve +you to the utmost of my”— + +“Mrs Greene!” began the Curate, touching her on the arm with the +extended stem of his meerschaum, to check her volubility for a moment, +“my good soul”— + +——“To the utmost of my ability,” went on Jennifer, with a slight +faltering in her voice. “If laying down my life could have served you, +Mr Young, I’m sure”— Here Jennifer whimpered. + +“Faithful creature!” thought the Curate, “what an interest she takes in +me! My dear Mrs Greene,” said he, “your doubts wrong me very much; but +this proof of your care for me is exceedingly gratifying”—which was +perhaps an unconscious fib, for the Curate felt more embarrassment than +gratification. + +“And after all my trials and efforts, thinking only how I could please +you, to see you—oh—oh—” and Jennifer broke down again, and in the excess +of her agitation sat down on a chair near her. And though to sit down in +his presence was a quite unusual proceeding on her part, yet the Curate +was so heedless of forms, that if she had seated herself on the +mantelpiece, he would possibly have thought it merely a harmless +eccentricity. + +“Calm yourself, Mrs Greene,” entreated the Curate. “These doubts of my +regard are quite unfounded; be assured I fully appreciate your value.” + +“But in that case,” said Jennifer, pursuing her own hypothesis with +great perseverance, “in that case I must quit you whatever it costs me. +And I hope you could find them, Mr Young, as would serve you better.” + +“Don’t talk of quitting me, Mrs Greene,” said the Curate soothingly. +“This is all mere creation of your fancy. I am perfectly satisfied—more +than satisfied with you.” + +“No, sir—I’ve seen it—I’ve seen it this some time. You don’t look upon +me like what you used. ’Tisn’t any longer, ‘Mrs Greene, do this,’ and +‘Mrs Greene, do that,’ and the other. You can do without Mrs Greene now. +And perhaps,” said Jennifer, “’tis better I was—gone” (the last word +almost inaudible). + +“Really, Mrs Greene, this is quite unnecessary. You are paining yourself +and me to no purpose. Be persuaded”—(and the Curate took Jennifer’s +hand)—“be persuaded of my sense of your merits.” + +Jennifer wiped her eyes; then starting and looking round over her +shoulder, “O sir,” said she, “if anybody should catch us!—what would +they say?” + +“Catch us, Mrs Greene,” said the Curate, hastening to withdraw his hand; +but Jennifer clutched it nervously. + +“Stop!” said Jennifer, “there’s a step—and that maid’s got such a +tongue! No, ’twas my fancy—the maid’s asleep in the kitchen. O, sir—yes, +what would they say?—people is so scandalous. They’ve been talking +already.” + +“Talking!” exclaimed Mr Young, withdrawing his hand with a jerk. “What +can you mean, Mrs Greene? Talking of what?” + +“O yes!” said Jennifer. “They’ve been remarking, the busy ones has, how +it comes that a lone woman like me could live so long with a single +gentleman. Many’s the bitter thought it gave me.” + +“Good heavens, Mrs Greene!” cried the Curate, pushing his chair, which +ran on castors, away with a loud creak, “really this is all very strange +and unexpected.” + +“And more than that,” pursued Jennifer, “they’ve said concerning my +looks——but I couldn’t repeat what they said, further than to mention +that they meant I wasn’t old nor ugly—which perhaps I’m not. And they +know what a good wife I made to Samuel” (this was the deceased +shipmaster’s Christian appellation)—“never, as Mrs Britton that keeps +the grocery said to me last Wednesday, never was a better. And when +’twas named to me what they’d been saying, I thought—O good gracious!—I +thought I should have sunk into the hearth.” + +“Gracious goodness!” exclaimed Mr Young, starting from his chair, and +pacing the room in great perturbation. “How extremely infamous! Why, +’tis like a terrible nightmare. To spread false reports—to drive me to +part with a valuable servant—’tis atrocious! I’m afraid, Mrs Greene, you +really had better go to-morrow. I need not say how I regret it, but what +you have told me renders it imperative.” + +“I wish it mayn’t be too late, sir,” said Jennifer, putting her +handkerchief to her eyes. + +“Too late!—too late for what?” inquired the Curate. + +“And where do you think I’m to get another place? Who’ll take in a lone +woman, whose character have been breathed upon? Oh, that ever I should +have seen Lanscote parsonage!” cried Jennifer, choking. + +“But, Mrs Greene,” said the agitated Curate, stopping in his walk to +lean his hands on the table, and looking earnestly at her, “it shall be +my care, as it is my duty, to prove the falsehood of these reports. You +shall not suffer on my account, believe me. If necessary, I’ll expose +the wicked slander from the pulpit.” + +This wouldn’t have suited Jennifer at all. The Curate was going off +quite on the wrong track, and she made a last effort to bring him into +the right direction. + +“And my—my—my feelings,” sobbed she, “ain’t they to be considered? Oh, +that ever I should be a weak foolish woman! Oh, that ever I should have +been born with a weak trustful heart!” + +“I daresay ’twill be painful to leave a place where you have lived long, +and a master who I hope has been kind to you,” said the Curate. +(Jennifer lifted up her voice here, and writhed in her chair.) “No doubt +it will, for you have an excellent heart, Mrs Greene. But what you have +said convinces me of the necessity of it. And you shall be no loser; +until you can suit yourself with a place, I’ll continue your salary as +usual.” + +“Salary!” cried Jennifer, starting from her chair. “Oh, that I should be +talked to like a hireling! God forgive you, Mr Young. Well, it’s over +now. I’ll consider what you’ve said, Mr Young, and I’ll try—try to bring +my mind to it.” + +Jennifer rose—sobbed a little—looked at her chair as if she had a mind +to sit down again, and then prepared to depart. In her way out of the +room, she passed close to the Curate, and paused, almost touching him, +with her handkerchief to her eyes. “If ever he’d say the word, he’d say +it now,” thought Jennifer, weeping copiously. But Mr Young, far from +availing himself of the proximity to take her hand, or say anything even +of comfort, far less of a tenderer nature, retreated with great alacrity +to his original post near the fire, and Jennifer had no alternative but +to walk onward out of the room. + +She left him, roused, certainly, most effectually from his melancholy; +but the change was not for the better. The poor shy Curate was exactly +the man to feel the full annoyance of such reports as, according to +Jennifer, were in circulation. He fancied himself an object of derision +to all Lanscote—how could he hope to do any good among parishioners who +said scandalous things of him and his housekeeper? How could he hope to +convince them of his innocence? How preserve his dignity in the pulpit, +with the consciousness that a whole congregation were looking at him in +a false light? + +Jennifer’s demeanour next day was sad and subdued. After breakfast she +came into the room, and, without lifting her eyes, said that she thought +she had better go next Wednesday. “On Wednesday,” said Jennifer, “Miss +Rosa’s coming, and then, with your leave, I’ll quit, Mr Young.” + +The Curate highly approved of this; he knew he could not feel easy till +she was out of the house, and meanwhile he absented himself from it as +much as possible. + +It was fortunate for the Curate that the period of her stay was so +short, for she took care it should be far from pleasant. She personally +superintended the making of his bed, which she caused to slope downwards +towards the feet, and at one side, so that the hapless occupant was +perpetually waking from a dream in which he had been sliding over +precipices; and, reascending to his pillow for another precarious +slumber, would be again woke by finding his feet sticking out from +beneath the clothes, and his body gradually following them. He got hairs +in his butter, and plenty of salt in his soup; his tea, the only luxury +of the palate that he really cared about, and that rather on +intellectual than sensual grounds, grew weaker and weaker; his toast +simultaneously got tougher; and he was kept the whole time on +mutton-chops, which, from their identity of flavour, appeared to have +been all cut from the same patriarchal ram. + +Wednesday arrived. The Curate, leaning over his garden gate, saw the +carriage from the Heronry coming down the lane. It drew up at the +parsonage; in it were Lady Lee, Orelia, and Rosa, all in black, and all +looking very sad. Rosa, rising to take leave of her friends, underwent +innumerable embraces. + +Orelia was the calmest of the three, but even her grandeur and +stateliness quite gave way in parting. “Good-bye, Rosalinda,” was all +she could trust herself to say, as Rosa alighted. + +The Curate had intended to say a great deal to Hester, but it had all +vanished from his mind, and remained unexpressed, unless a long pressure +of the hand could convey it. Lady Lee gave several things in charge to +the Curate to execute, and delivered a purse to him, the contents of +which were to be distributed among various pensioners in the village; +then she told the coachman to drive on. + +“Write at least three times a-week, Rosalinda,” cried Orelia, putting a +tearful face over the hood of the carriage, “or never hope for +forgiveness.” + +They were gone. A white handkerchief waved from the side, and another +from the top of the carriage, till it disappeared, and the Curate and +his sister slowly turned into the house—the last remnant of the once +joyous party assembled at the Heronry. + +What a hard thing was life! What a cruel thing was fate, that they could +not all be left as they were! Their happiness did no harm to any +one—nay, good to many—yet it was inexorably scattered to the winds for +ever. So thought the Curate; and so felt Rosa, though perhaps her +feelings did not shape themselves into thoughts. + +But there was no time just then to indulge their grief. Scarcely had the +carriage departed, when its place was taken by a vehicle of altogether +different description. A donkey-cart, destined to convey away Jennifer’s +chattels, and driven by a small boy, drew up at the gate, producing a +kind of practical anti-climax. Then Jennifer, attired in bonnet and +shawl, entered, and announced, in an austere and steady voice, that she +was ready to hand over her keys of office to the still weeping Rosa. + +“Now, Miss,” said Jennifer sharply, “if you could make it convenient to +come at once, I should be obliged.” + +“Go with Mrs Greene, my child,” said the Curate. When Jennifer found she +had failed in her grand design on the Curate, and must quit the +parsonage, she did not continue to affect regret at her departure; and +having easily and at once secured the coveted post at Monkstone, through +the influence of Mr Randy, she felt the change was likely to be for the +better. She might, therefore, have been expected to quit her present +abode, if with some natural regret, yet at perfect peace and charity +with all the household. Jennifer’s disposition did not, however, admit +of this. She felt enraged at the Curate because of the failure of her +design upon him, and resolved to be of as little use as possible in the +last moments of her expiring authority. “He’ll be wishing me back again +before a week’s over his head,” said Jennifer to herself, with infinite +satisfaction. + +In vain Rosa protested against being dragged into every corner of the +house, and having every bit of household property set before her eyes. +In vain she assured Mrs Greene that both her brother and herself were +perfectly satisfied of the correctness of everything. “’Twas a +satisfaction to herself,” Jennifer said, “to show everything;” and it +really was, for the extreme bewilderment and ignorance of Rosa on all +points of housekeeping afforded Jennifer the keenest gratification. The +Heronry, where Rosa’s chief business had been to amuse herself, was a +very bad school to learn anything of the sort. + +Accordingly, Jennifer did not spare her the enumeration of a single +kitchen implement, pot of jam, nor article of linen. + +“The bed and table linen’s all in this press,” said Jennifer, opening a +large one of walnut wood in the spare bedroom. + +“These are the sheets, I suppose, Mrs Greene,” Rosa remarked, wishing to +show an interest in the matter. + +“Bless you, they’re the tablecloths!” returned Jennifer, with a glance +of disdain. + +“Oh, to be sure! And these are towels?” resumed Rosa. + +“Napkins,” said Jennifer, with calm superiority. “Mr Young’s shirts, and +collars, and bands, and neckcloths, is all in these two drawers. Do you +understand much about clear-starching, Miss?” + +“N—n—no; I am afraid not much,” said Rosa. + +“Ah, ’twould be just as well you should, perhaps, because the +washerwoman requires a deal of looking after. She can be careless and +impudent, too, when she dares, especially when she’s in drink. She never +ventured upon any tricks with _me_, though.” + +The thought of this terrible washerwoman made Rosa tremble, while +Jennifer secretly exulted in the thought of seeing the Curate in limp +collars and a crumpled shirt. + +“There,” said the ex-housekeeper, locking up the press, and handing the +key to Rosa; “I advise you, Miss, to take out everything that’s wanted +yourself. The girl’s hands is generally dirty, and, besides, in taking +out one thing she drags all the rest out upon the floor. Oh, she’s a +nice one, that girl!—the work I’ve had to manage her! Well, Miss, I hope +you’ll keep an eye upon her, that’s all.” + +Having thus rendered Rosa as uncomfortable as possible at the prospect +before her, Jennifer at length prepared to depart. Opening the door of +the sitting-room, she said to the Curate, “The young lady’s seen +everything, and is quite satisfied. Well, good-bye, and wishing you +well, sir.” But the benediction was quite contradicted by the ferocity +of her look and tone. + +“Good-bye, good-bye, my good Mrs Greene,” said the Curate, who could not +help regarding Jennifer as a martyr. “I wish you all success and +happiness; I hope you won’t fret too much after the parsonage, Mrs +Greene.” + +“Ho, no,” said Jennifer, with an ironical little laugh; “it’s not +likely.” + +“I’m heartily glad of that,” said the Curate, who would not have +detected irony even in Dean Swift; “and I hope you’ll soon get another +and as good a place.” + +“I’ve got one,” said Jennifer, “as good a one as ever I could wish.” + +“Indeed! that is fortunate,” said the Curate; “and when do you go to it +then?” + +“I’m going now,” said Jennifer. “Ho, bless you! as soon as ’twas known I +was going to leave this, I had more offers than enough. I took +Monkstone,” said Jennifer, “being ’twas near my friends in the village. +Wishing you good-bye, sir,”—here she dropt a curtsey, and closed the +door. The boy had already conveyed her trunks and bandboxes to the +donkey-cart. Jennifer marched past the window (from whence the Curate +was watching this exodus) in austere majesty, and never deigned to turn +her head. Then she, the boy, the donkey-cart, and the bandboxes, all +went in procession down the road, leaving Rosa sole superintendant of +the Curate’s household. + + + CHAPTER XLI. + +The friendship which Bruce at this time conceived for Josiah was +uncommonly warm and sudden. Though always well disposed towards the +worthy Curate, he had not, while Rosa was living at the Heronry, taken +much pains to seek his society, but he now became of a sudden a frequent +visitor to the Parsonage. He showed great interest in flowers, though he +hardly knew a dahlia from a polyanthus; he listened to details of parish +matters with an attention quite wonderful, considering how little taste +he had that way; and he became enamoured of those old English authors +who were Josiah’s especial favourites. Finding these manifold pretences +insufficient to account for the frequency of his visits, he hit upon a +project for rendering them quite plausible. He insisted on subscribing +fifty pounds towards a school-house that was to be built in the village +under the Curate’s auspices; and when Josiah protested against this +liberality as indiscreet and uncalled for, he hinted that it was not +altogether disinterested—that his classical knowledge was getting +rusty—that he perceived Josiah to be often unoccupied for an hour or two +of a morning—and proposed they should read some Latin together. + +The Curate liked the project much; it would divert his thoughts from +painful subjects—his own classics wanted rubbing up—he had a great +regard for Bruce, whose openness, vivacity, and good-nature had quite +won his heart, and the readings commenced forthwith. + +They were carried on upon a plan which, however agreeable to the master +and his disciple, was scarcely calculated to answer the proposed end. +Bruce and Josiah would sit down together with their Horace, or their +Virgil, or their Terence before them, and for a time would read away +with tolerable diligence. Presently Rosa, coming into the room from some +household avocation, would trip across it softly, not to disturb +them—get what she was in quest of, perhaps a cookery-book, and go off in +the same silent fashion, with a nod and a smile at Bruce. At this stage +of the lesson the student’s attention would begin to waver; he would +look a good deal oftener at the door than upon his page. Perhaps shortly +after Rosa would re-enter, to request Josiah to get from the garden some +celery, parsnip, or other winter vegetable, of which she stood in need +for culinary purposes. “Why didn’t you ask me before, when I was in the +garden, my child?” the Curate would say, which, indeed, she might very +well have done; and Josiah, rising with a sigh to comply with her +request, would be forcibly reseated by Bruce, who would desire him to +try again at that crabbed bit of Latinity, while _he_ went to get what +Miss Rosa wanted. Whereupon he and Rosa would repair to the garden +together, she pointing out what she wanted, while Bruce supplied her +with it; and the Curate, after looking dreamily about for their +re-entrance, would forget them altogether, plunging either into a +reverie or into a book. + +Sometimes Bruce found the Curate absent on some clerical or parochial +errand, and on these occasions he thought no apology necessary for his +stay, nor did Rosa expect one. If she was too busy to talk to him in the +study, he would repair to the kitchen, and even take a share in the +culinary mysteries to which that region is sacred, though his presence +did not perhaps, on the whole, contribute to the excellence of the +cookery. I have always suspected that King Alfred, when he let the cakes +burn, was making love to the herdsman’s wife, and that the idea of her +scolding him for negligence was devised to conceal her share in the +delinquency. + +Mr Oates, seeing the state of affairs between them, grew quite morose, +and would hardly speak to Bruce at breakfast-time. He addicted himself +to the society of Suckling, and attempted to divert his thoughts by +getting up a scratch pack of harriers, and hunting them himself; and +might be heard two or three times a-week in the woods about Doddington, +attended by the fast spirits of the place, hallooing, and pouring +through the mellow horn his pensive soul. + +Rosa had none of the dignity which in Lady Lee and Orelia could always +have kept the most impassioned lovers under a certain restraint. It is +well known to be the duty of young ladies to affect total ignorance of +the fact that they are objects of adoration, and to harrow up the souls +of their admirers with affectation of indifference, at any rate until +coming to the point of proposal. Rosa, however, showed undisguised +pleasure at Bruce’s visits, and one day, when he came in with a +melancholy face, and told her the detachment was to leave Doddington +immediately, she began to cry. + +The Curate was from home that morning, and Bruce had found Rosa in the +kitchen, rolling paste for mince-pies, while the cat Pick, whom she had, +when leaving the Heronry, brought with her to the Parsonage, sat on the +table, watching the process, and occasionally putting out his paw to +arrest the motion of the rolling-pin. The smile with which she looked up +at Bruce’s entrance turned to a look of sympathetic sadness, as she +perceived his sorrowful aspect. He stood by her at the end of the table, +and told her the news which had come that morning. + +“You see what a life ours is,” said Bruce, trying to smile; “here +to-day, gone to-morrow. And when we were going to spend such a pleasant +winter too!” + +“And won’t you be here at Christmas?” said Rosa; “and won’t you have any +of the mince-pies after all? And is there to be an end of our rides, and +walks, and evening readings?” + +“I’m afraid so,” said Bruce, shaking his head. “The troop that relieves +us will be here to-morrow week—though, in my opinion,” he added, with a +faint attempt at pleasantry, “the best way to relieve us would be to let +us alone.” + +“And won’t you be coming back?” asked Rosa, with sorrow shining moistly +in her blue eyes. + +“I fear not,” said Bruce, “though, to be sure, it might be managed. But +you won’t wish that when you’ve made acquaintance with our successors. +The new-comers will take the place of your old friends, and you’ll +forget us—won’t you, Miss Rosa?” + +This highly sincere speech was too much for Rosa. “No—oh, no—ne—never!” +sobbed she, sinking on a chair, and burying her face on her plump arms +as they lay folded on the table. + +Bruce had certainly supposed she would be sorry to hear he was going, +but this display of sympathy surpassed his expectations. He stooped down +over her—he whispered that nothing should prevent him from coming +back—he also mentioned that she was “a dear little thing,” and spying a +little white space amid her hair, between her ear and her cheek, and the +whispering having brought his lips into that neighbourhood, he thought +he would kiss it, and did so. Rosa wept on, which distressed the humane +young man so much, that, after begging her, in vain, to look up and be +comforted, he managed to insinuate his hand between her cheek and her +arms, and to turn her face, using the chin as a handle, gently towards +him. A flushed, tearful, glistening face it was; and really, considering +the temptation and proximity, one can’t altogether blame him for kissing +it, which he did both on the eyes and lips; and then, turning it so that +his left cheek rested against hers, with only the tresses between, as he +whispered in her left ear, while her glistening eyes appeared over his +shoulder, he did his best to pacify her. And so absorbed was he in +whispering, and she in listening, that the cat Pick, advancing along the +flat paste (from which he had only been kept before by the terror of the +rolling-pin), and leaving his foot-marks on the soft substance, +proceeded, with the utmost effrontery, to lick up, under their very +noses, the little dabs of butter dotted thereon. He made a good deal of +noise in doing so; but as Bruce, between the whispers, made a noise not +altogether dissimilar (for there were constantly fresh tears requiring +to be attended to), Pick finished the butter with perfect impunity, and +sat up in the middle of the paste, much about the same time that Rosa +pushed Bruce gently away, and removed the last moisture from her eyes +with her apron. + +The two having, by this time, come to an understanding, Bruce suggested +that he would write to his father, who, he assured her, was a splendid +old fellow, and who would, no doubt, enter into the spirit of the thing +immediately, and give his consent like a trump. + +Accordingly, he fetched pen, ink, and paper from the study, and sitting +at one end of the kitchen-table, while Rosa rolled fresh paste at the +other, he indited a very eloquent and enthusiastic epistle to his +parent, and having folded and directed it to “The Very Rev. the Dean of +Trumpington,” put it with great confidence in his pocket. + +After this their conversation took a more cheerful turn, and Rosa worked +so diligently at her task that the mince-pies were made, after a receipt +which Bruce read out to her from a cookery-book, and were ready for +dinner that very day, and Bruce stayed to eat them. + +That splendid old fellow the Dean of Trumpington got the letter in due +time. It was brought in after dinner by his butler when he was chatting, +in a pleasant digestive sort of way, with a couple of old Canons over a +bottle of port. He put on his spectacles to peruse it, and as his wife +was in the room, and the Canons old friends and admirers of Harry, he +proceeded to read it aloud, and had got pretty well into the matter +before he discovered its interesting nature. “Why, bless my soul!” +interpolated the Reverend Doctor Bruce, in the middle of a warm passage, +“the boy’s fallen in love!” + +“My dearest Harry!” exclaimed Mrs Bruce; and then eagerly added, “go on, +love!” + +While the reading proceeded, one old Canon, who was married and had a +large family, looked fiercely at his glass of port, as he held it +between him and the light, and cried “hum!” or “ha!” at the most +touching passages; while the other, who was a bachelor, rubbed his hands +as he listened, and chuckled aloud. + +“Her brother, Mr Young, is a member of your own profession,” read the +Dean over again slowly. “Sillery” (to the bachelor Canon), “oblige me by +touching the bell. Bring the Clergy List,” said the Dean to the butler, +when the latter entered. + +“Y,” read the Dean, running his finger down the list, when he got +it—“Yorke—Youatt—Young—here you are: Young, George, Vicar of Feathernest +(is that him, I wonder? good living Feathernest)—Young, Henry, +Prebendary of Durham—Young, Josiah, Curate of Lanscote—that must be the +man,” said the Dean, referring to the letter; “he dates from Lanscote, +near Doddington.” + +“There was a Young at Oxford with me,” said Dr Macvino, the married +Canon, in a deep, oily, sententious voice. “He left college on coming +into six thousand a-year. He might have a daughter,” said the Canon, +looking round as he propounded the theory. “And,” added the Canon, “he +might also have a son in the Church. He was a tall fellow, who once +pulled the stroke oar in a match, as I remember—he gave remarkably good +breakfasts.” + +“Dear boy!” said Mrs Bruce, apostrophising Harry, “I’m certain he +wouldn’t make other than a charming choice. I’m certain she’s a sweet +girl.” + +“Harry knows what’s what,” said the Dean; “I’ve confidence in that boy.” + +“Plenty of good sense,” said the bachelor Canon. + +“Good stuff,” said Dr Macvino, who, sipping his wine before he gave the +opinion, left it doubtful whether he was praising Bruce junior or the +port. + +“Harry’s got something here,” said the Dean, pointing to his forehead. +“He’s almost thrown away in his present profession. He ought to have +come into the Church.” + +“Decidedly he ought,” said Dr Macvino, who thought himself an example to +teach other clever fellows how to choose a profession. + +“He’s the most sensible darling!” said Mrs Bruce; “and I, too, was sorry +that he hadn’t chosen a learned profession, till I saw him in his +uniform. His mustache promised to be beautiful” (there had been perhaps +four hairs in it when she last saw him,) “and ’tis very becoming.” + +“Suits him to a hair,” said the bachelor Canon, who was a wag in a mild +way. + +“The boy’s letter is a little high-flown,” said the Dean, “but that was +to be expected, perhaps. I remember describing Mrs Bruce there to my +family in such terms, that, when I brought her home, they were rather +disappointed at finding her without wings. But I’ve no doubt the young +lady is a most proper person.” + +“A young man like my Harry ought to get a wife with twenty thousand +pounds any day,” said his mother. + +“There were two things, I remember,” said Dr Bruce, “that Harry was very +fastidious about in women—dress and manner: I venture to prophecy that +our future daughter-in-law is irreproachable in both.” + +“A tall girl, I suspect,” said Mrs Bruce. + +“Tall, and with a good deal of the air noble—perhaps a little proud,” +the Doctor went on. + +“But not disagreeably so,” said Mrs Bruce. + +“Certainly not,” said the Doctor. “A hauteur of manner merely. I like to +see a woman keep up her dignity.” + +“I wish he had said something about her fortune,” said Mrs Bruce. + +“So do I,” said the Doctor, “and I think I’ll go down to Doddington +to-morrow, and see what he’s about. I’m rather in want of change of +air.” And the two canons drank success to his journey in another bottle +of port. + +Accordingly, the next day the Doctor went down to Doddington, three +counties off, and not finding Harry at his lodgings, got a conveyance +and a man to take him over to Lanscote. Bruce was there of course—he had +rushed away from the parade that morning, and, without changing his +dress, galloped to Lanscote at a tremendous pace. He was not sorry to +find the Curate absent, and, going clanking into the kitchen in his +spurs, found Rosa there with a great pinafore on, making a tart. + +For about ten minutes after his arrival the manufacture of the tart +proceeded but slowly; and Rosa, to keep him out of her way, begged him +to superintend the re-boiling of some preserves, which Jennifer’s +economy had left to spoil in their jars. “You’ve nothing to do,” said +she, “but to sit still before the fire, and skim the pan from time to +time with this spoon; and I’ll get you something to keep your uniform +clean, while you’re doing it.” So Rosa went and got a small table-cloth, +and causing him to seat himself in the desired position in front of the +fire, she pinned it round his neck as if he was going to be shaved—his +brass shoulder-scales sticking out rather incongruously from under the +vestment. + +“I ought to hear from my father, to-day,” said Harry, skimming away at +the pan with his spoon. + +“He won’t be angry, I hope,” said Rosa, putting a strip of paste round +the edge of her tart-dish. + +“Angry,” said Bruce, “not he. If he was, I should just show you to him, +and if he were the most peppery old man in existence, he’d come to the +down charge directly, like a well-bred pointer—just as the lion did +before Una. He’d love you directly—I’m certain he would—he must, you +know—he couldn’t help himself.” + +“I’m sure I shall love _him_,” said Rosa, smiling at Bruce as she took +the spoon from him in order to taste the jam, and see how it was getting +on. + +“Of course you will,” said Harry. “As I said before, he’s a splendid old +fellow.” + +At this moment a step was heard on the gravel in front of the house, +followed by a tapping at the door of the porch, which was open. + +“Come in!” cried Bruce. “Come in, can’t you!” he repeated, as the +tapping was renewed. “I _can’t_ go to the door in this way,” he said to +Rosa, looking down at his table-cloth. + +“It’s only the butcher, or Josiah’s clerk, or some of those people,” +said Rosa; “come in, if you please.” + +At this the step advanced along the passage, and came to the kitchen +door. Bruce, skimming away at his pan, didn’t turn round till he heard a +voice he knew exclaim behind him, “God bless my soul!” The spoon fell +into the brass pan, and disappeared in the seething fruit. + +“Why, in heaven’s name,” said the Doctor, “what is the boy about?” + +The boy in question, standing up in great confusion to the height of six +feet, with the table-cloth descending like a large cloud about his +person, hiding all of it except his military-looking arms and legs, did +not make any reply. Rosa, when she tasted the jam, had left some on her +lips, and somehow a splash of it had got transferred to Bruce’s face. + +“What prank is this, sir?” asked the Dean sternly. “Who is this person?” +pointing his thick yellow cane at Rosa. “Is it the cook or the +dairymaid?” + +“That, sir,” said Bruce, coming to Rosa’s rescue, “is Miss Young—the +lady I wrote to you about.” + +“Oh, indeed!” said the Doctor, who had not found the answers to the +inquiries he made in Doddington as to the worldly condition of the house +of Young at all to his mind, and who, at the sight of the Parsonage, had +been more struck with its diminutiveness than its picturesqueness. +“You’re a pretty fellow! Don’t you think you’re a pretty fellow? Answer +me, puppy!” + +“I’m not doing any harm, sir,” said Bruce, his handsome face looking +very red over the table-cloth, which he struggled to unpin. + +“Not doing any harm, sir!” sung the Dean after him, through his nose. +“Are you making an ass of yourself, sir, do you think? Come, sir, I’m +waiting for ye. Come along with me, sir.” + +Bruce having got rid of the table-cloth, went up to console Rosa, who +was now sobbing in a chair. + +“Are ye coming, sir?” shouted the Dean from the door; and Bruce, with a +last whisper of comfort, went to join his parent, who, lifting his +shovel-hat, said, “Ma’am, I wish you a very good morning!” As they went +through the passage, Rosa heard the Doctor say something about “What a +shock to your poor mother!” + +When Josiah returned, he found Rosa weeping by the kitchen fire, now +sunk to embers, the jam reduced to a sort of dark concrete, and the tart +still in an elemental state. + +“Harry’s papa has been here,” sobbed Rosa; “and he’s been so angry; and +he’s carried Harry away, and I shall ne—never—see him—any mo—re.” + +The Dean kept such strict watch over his son while the troop remained at +Doddington, lecturing him all the time, that he never got the smallest +glimpse of Rosa before quitting the place, though he managed to write +her some tender and consoling letters. His only other consolation was in +confiding his grief to Mr Titcherly, the old antiquary. They had become +intimate and fond of one another—“a pair of friends, though he was +young, and Titcherly seventy-two.” Bruce had sympathised with the old +gentleman’s pursuits, and aided them—he had, moreover, made drawings +illustrative of the great work on the antiquities of Doddington, which +were now being engraved for a second edition; and when the troop left +the town, nobody missed him more, nor thought more kindly of him, next +to Rosa, than Mr Titcherly. + +Bruce had nourished in his secret heart an intention of getting leave +when they got to headquarters, and coming back to see Rosa. This was +defeated by the vigilance of his parent, who, suspecting the design, +made it a particular request to the Colonel that he would allow his son +no leave of absence, hinting at an indiscreet attachment; and the +Colonel, in the most friendly way, promised to comply with the Dean’s +wishes. Afterwards the Dean went home, and told his wife (he being a +pious man, and familiar with the ways of Providence) that he considered +the moving of the detachment from Doddington in the light of a special +interference. + + + CHAPTER XLII. + +For my own private choice, I don’t know whether I should have preferred +to live at Larches or the Heronry. People who like aristocratic-looking +houses of imposing size and respectable age would have preferred the +latter. But there are others whose ambition does not soar so high—who +would feel encumbered by space which they could not occupy, and by +galleries and apartments to them superfluous; yet who have sometimes, +when dreaming in a verandah in the tropics, a snow-hut of some northern +region, or a narrow cabin at sea, figured to themselves a snug English +home, not too remote for the world’s affairs, nor too public for +seclusion—not so large as to be dull without visitors, nor so small as +to be unfit to accommodate them—not so grand as to invite inspection, +nor so unadorned as to disappoint it—standing, in fact, on the boundary +which divides comfort from ostentation; and such would have preferred +Larches. + +Yet, ah! that air from Queen Anne’s time that breathed about the +Heronry—that library, where Samuel Johnson might have devoured books in +his boyhood—the trim gardens, where Pope might have sat in fine weather, +polishing his mellifluous lines—the gateway and porticoes that Vanbrugh +might have regarded with paternal complacency, as hooped dames and +bewigged cavaliers passed underneath—all these were pleasant to the eye +and mind that love the picturesque and antique. + +Yet even these advantages would not weigh in the scale for a minute, +when Larches was inhabited as now. Place Lady Lee and Orelia in the +balance, and the Heronry kicks the beam. They would have made a hut in +Tipperary, or South Africa, or any other pagan and barbarous region, +more alluring than the palace of Aladdin. + +However (to describe its intrinsic advantages), Larches was a onestoried +house, too spacious to be called a cottage, which, however, it resembled +in shape, and surrounded by a deep verandah open from the eaves to the +ground. To please a caprice of Orelia’s, the slated roof had been +covered with thatch—indeed, she exercised her fancy in so many +alterations, both of the house and grounds, that the place was like a +dissolving view, and never presented the same appearance for two +consecutive seasons. The house stood on a knoll which raised it above +the surrounding garden, except at the back, where the north winds were +repelled by a small grove rising from a high bank. In the front rank of +this grove rose three tall larches that gave the place its name. The +verandah kept the sun from the apartments, but the windows, opening to +the ground, admitted plenty of sober light. Looked at from without, the +open verandah and the large space occupied by windows and doors gave an +idea of extreme airiness; while the rich heavy curtains that lined the +windows, and the glimpses of luxurious furniture behind, conveyed ample +assurance of comfort. + +Hither Orelia had brought her friend, and here she applied herself to +soothe her sorrow. Many offices would, perhaps, have suited Orelia +better than that of comforter—but her affection and warm sympathy for +Lady Lee made her discharge it with right good-will. + +When Hester had entered the hall, at the conclusion of their journey, +Orelia came up and kissed her. + +“We will forget now,” she said, “that you have ever been Lady Lee. We +will revive in substance, as well as in idea, the old times when you +were Hester Broome at the parsonage; and we will see if there is not yet +in store for you as bright a future as ever you dreamt of in your +imaginative days.” + +A thin elderly person, holding a handkerchief to her face to keep off +the draught, was hovering about an inner door of the lobby as they +entered. This was Miss Priscilla Winter, the lady who did propriety in +Orelia’s establishment, and managed the minor details thereof. She had +lived with Orelia’s mother as a companion, when the young lady herself +was a child, and had subsequently accompanied the latter to Larches. She +was a good kind of ancient nonentity, without any very decided opinions +on any subject, resembling, indeed, rather a vague idea than an absolute +person. As she always had a smile ready, and agreed with everybody, +Priscilla was sufficiently popular and endurable. At present she smiled +a welcome on one side of her face only, because the other was swelled—a +frequent symptom of the perpetual toothach which afflicted her. + +“Here’s Frisky,” said Orelia, on seeing her; “dear old Frisky!—good old +Frisk!” and she went up and greeted the old lady very cordially, as did +Lady Lee. + +Orelia called her Frisky, not because of any particular fitness in the +appellation, but, having a way of her own of altering people’s names, +she used to call her first Priskilla, then, when she wanted to coax her, +Prisky, which suggested Frisky, and the total and glaring +inappropriateness of the epithet tickled the inventor so much that it +was permanently adopted by her. The old virgin preceded them into the +drawing-room, where a comfortable fire was blazing, and told them dinner +would be ready in a quarter of an hour. + +“And how are the live stock, Frisk?” + +“All well except Dick, who had a fit yesterday,” said Miss Winter, “but +he seems quite cheerful again to-day.” Dick was a bullfinch. + +“I’ll see him presently,” said Orelia, “but first I must visit Moloch.” + +“Take care, my dear Orelia,” said Priscilla; “Francis has got him +chained up—the cook says she thinks he’s going mad, for he hasn’t drank +his water to-day.” + +“Stuff!” said Orelia, marching out of the room. + +Moloch, a great yellow bloodhound, flecked with white, chained in the +yard, thundered a deep welcome as his mistress went towards him, and +upset his kennel in his eagerness to jump upon her. She unstrapped his +collar, and he preceded her backwards in a series of curvets to the +drawing-room, yelping joyfully, and nearly upsetting Priscilla, whom +Orelia found occupied in settling Lady Lee near the fire, that she might +be warm before taking off her things; for the old lady was a great hand +at coddling people, if permitted. + +“Hester looks pale, poor dear,” said Priscilla, with a heart-rending +sadness of tone and aspect—“ah, well, she’s had her trials and”— + +“Now, I’ll tell you what it is, Frisk,” interrupted Orelia, looking +sternly at the old lady, “I didn’t bring her here to be made dismal, and +if ever I hear you saying anything of a doleful character, I’ll leave a +chink of your bedroom window open at night, and give you a stiff neck.—I +will, as sure as your name’s Frisky.” And this speech at once produced +the desired effect; the venerable spinster caught her cue with alacrity, +and the unswelled side of her face at once assumed an expression of +great cheerfulness. + +Dinner was presently announced. “I’m afraid the dining-room will be +chilly,” mumbled Priscilla, “and this terrible face of mine—would you +mind it, my dear, if I sat at dinner in my bonnet?” + +“Not in the least, my tender Frisk,” quoth Orelia; “and pray bring your +umbrella and pattens also.” + + +A few days after their arrival, they went down to the parsonage where +Hester had formerly lived with her father. Orelia was curious to see +what effect the memories attached to the place would have upon her +ladyship. She saw her grow flushed and excited as they passed the +familiar cottages, and trees, and fields along the road. She saw her +excitement increase as they came in sight of the parsonage. A glimpse of +it was afforded from the road, as it stood at the end of a lane, and +looked down upon a lawn dotted with dwarf firs. That glimpse showed it +little changed; but as they entered the swinging gate, opening on the +gravel path that curved round to the front of the house, the place +seemed to Hester to have dwindled. Perhaps the spacious proportions of +the Heronry dwarfed the parsonage by contrast—perhaps her remembrance +had flattered the scene—perhaps it had lost its interest together with +its former inhabitants—for, her father having died soon after her +marriage, a new clergyman now lived there, and neither he nor his wife +were likely to renew much of the romantic atmosphere of the spot—at any +rate, Hester’s associations vanished rapidly. The furniture was all so +different: there was a new door opened in the sitting-room, which might +be a convenience, but was to her an impertinence—her bedroom, the +chamber of her maiden dreams (ah, sacrilege!) was now a nursery. The +walls where the echoes of Hester’s voice, as she read aloud, or sung, or +said her prayers, ought yet to have lingered, resounded to the squalls +of the latest baby published by the prolific clergyman’s wife, and the +clamour of its small seniors. A cradle had taken the place of her +bookcase; and her bed, whose white curtains had once enclosed the poetic +dreams and bright fancies of the virgin Hester—the very altar-piece, as +it were—was occupied by a rocking-horse with its head knocked off. +Scarcely worse the desecration, when the French stabled their chargers +in the cathedrals of Spain. + +She descended to the porch, and paused there, trying to recall her +former self as she had sat in its shadow, reading, working, dreaming, +fancying that the world was paradise. She wondered what could have made +her fancy so; it had, indeed, been blissful ignorance, but very silly, +nevertheless: her eyes were open now, and she was quite sure—yes, +quite—she should never see things again surrounded by such delusive +splendour. The Hester of eighteen had been quite a different person from +the Hester of twenty-five. And so sad seemed to be the train of thoughts +thus aroused, and bringing with it so many silent tears, that Orelia was +sorry she had carried her well-intended visit to the parsonage into +execution. She mentioned it in a letter to Rosa; and here, in common +type, wherein it loses all the character it gained in the original, from +that bold yet feminine hand, with its long upstrokes and downstrokes, +and its audacious dashes, we will insert Orelia’s letter. + +“Dearest Rosalinda,” (it said,) “what is there about you, do you +suppose, that you should be so constantly in my thoughts as you are, to +the utter exclusion, of course, of all kinds of rational contemplation? +For how can any serious or important idea be expected to remain in +company with that of a little laughing, redfaced thing? In vain I banish +the pert image; it comes back with all the annoying and saucy +pertinacity of the original, till I actually catch myself addressing it; +and my first impulse, on waking of a morning, always is to pull you out +of bed. + +“People sometimes say of their deceased relations (especially if they +have left them any money), that it would be wrong to wish them back to +this scene of trial. And I grow somewhat resigned to your absence, when +I think that you are probably much happier where you are. For Hester and +I are very dismal, Rosey—not a bit better than we were during the last +sad weeks at the Heronry. She grows paler, Rosetta—paler and thinner +every day. And I don’t think ’tis owing to any failure of mine in +carrying out our plan for her benefit. I have, in every possible way, +closed up the avenues to sad recollections. I have avoided all allusions +to her married life, as if it had been wiped out of my memory with a +great wet sponge. I have nearly choked myself by arresting, on the brink +of utterance, observations that might have awakened in her mind some +train of thought ending in a sigh. I have endeavoured to interest her in +her old occupations here, and to get her to resume the subjects of +conversation and of fancy that used to delight her in the old times, +when she was the most enthusiastic and bright and hopeful of friends; +and I have had my labour for my pains. She wandered through my hothouses +with most annoying apathy—stood on the very spot where she and I first +saw one another, and which I expected would have had an electrical +effect on her, with an absence of recognition that quite exasperated me; +and when I wished her good night, in the very bedroom that was always +allotted to her when weather-bound at my cottage, she returned the +benediction without one allusion to the old days that have departed +apparently for ever. + +“Well, Rosetta, I persevered, nevertheless—yes, I did—I struck my great +_coup_—I took her down to the parsonage, where she was born and bred. +Long after her father’s death it stood untenanted; but a new family now +live there. I watched the effect of each familiar object that we passed +on the road; her breath now and then came a little quicker, and, at the +first distant glimpse of the house, her colour rose, and she smiled more +naturally than she has done any time these three months. ‘Now,’ said I +to myself, ‘the old Hester is going to peep out of this melancholy +mask;’ so I said, by way of assisting the metamorphosis, ‘Do you +remember anything about that stone, Hester?’ pointing to a great white +one by the side of the road. Now, by this stone hangs a tale, Rosamunda. +You must know (if I never told you) that Hester and I had once a little +quarrel; and as it’s so long ago, I don’t mind saying ’twas all my +fault. Well, we did not meet for two or three days, for Hester was hurt, +and I was sullen; but then, by a simultaneous impulse, we started to +meet and be reconciled. Hester was near this stone when she caught sight +of me, and, forgetting all cause of offence, ran towards me. In her +haste (’twould take a deal to make her run now, Rosey) she tript on the +grass at the side of the road, and fell with her head against the corner +of the stone. There she lay for a moment, stunned, and I, who had just +reached the spot, sat down on the stone, and, taking her head on my lap, +vowed, after she had opened her eyes, and assured me she was but little +hurt, that I would never again offend her. + +“She remembered it well, she said, as I stopt and pointed to the spot; +then, pressing my hand, ‘Though I am not so demonstrative now as then, +you must not think my friendship colder, dear Orelia,’ she said. This +looked all very promising, and I walked on in great spirits, awaiting +the further effect of the coming scenes. + +“The clergyman’s wife had called on us, so our visit had an excuse. The +porch looked just as it used—we entered; but there, in the identical +spot where Mr Broome used to sit and talk to us, when a pause in his +disorder let him brighten up for an hour or two, with the benignity of a +Socrates—his pale face glowing, his dim eye kindling, and his failing +voice hardly able to keep pace with his eloquent flow of thought—there +sat his successor—fat, contented, vulgar. The first words he spoke, in +tones that seemed to struggle through layers of beef and cabbage and +Yorkshire pudding, dissipated the romance that lingered for me and +Hester about the scene. And his wife! I don’t deny that the woman may +have good qualities, Rosa; but I never can forgive her that cap of +hers—nor her furniture—nor her younger sister, with her vulgar +affectation of well-bred ease—nor her mode of addressing her husband—she +called him by the initial letter of his horrible surname. + +“In vain I struggled with these prosaic influences—in vain I tried to +recall the old memories of the place—they had absolutely deserted me. I +did not look at Hester, for I should only have looked disappointment. I +did not speak to her, for I had nothing to say. But I looked at the +clergyman and his wife and sister-in-law—daggers, Rosetta—and I was +glad, when we departed, to see them reduced to a state of terrified and +silent civility. + +“So this part of the project signally failed. Hitherto we had lived +altogether by ourselves, for I did not wish to annoy her with the task +of making a parcel of new acquaintances, not likely to be particularly +interesting either to her or to me. But now I thought visitors might +rouse her from her melancholy, and I let them come.” + + +The time when Lady Lee and Orelia were most disposed to be communicative +to each other was the last hour before they went to bed. Both, after +flickering fitfully between dinner and tea, musing, looking into the +fire, sighing, &c., would brighten up into temporary effulgence, before +undergoing the extinction of sleep. + +“You are cheerful to-night, Orelia,” said Lady Lee, one night after some +guests had departed. “I am happy to see it, my dear. Come closer,” said +her ladyship, passing her arm round her friend’s waist, and drawing her +on to the sofa beside her. “I want to whisper to you. May I venture to +hope” (this in Orelia’s ear, from which she had brushed back the volume +of black hair that hid it) “that you have forgotten that little romance +of yours?” + +Orelia silently turned, and sat facing her with her black eyes, without +answering. + +“You never confided in me in that matter,” said her ladyship, still +whispering, though there was nobody but those two in the room, and the +servants had gone to bed. “I shouldn’t speak of it now, only that I +observe some symptoms occasionally which make me still doubt the +direction of your thoughts. Can I help to guide them back to +tranquillity?” + +“No, Hester,” said Orelia; “I don’t want any aid. I’ve come to a +resolution of my own accord.” + +“Tell it me,” said Lady Lee. + +“How can I tell you all?” said Orelia. “You didn’t know him. To you he +was merely what he appeared to the world—to me he was himself—the +manliest, the cleverest, the most independent, the—ah, you smile; but, +had you met him in his true position, you would have thought of him as I +do.” + +Lady Lee squeezed the hand of the somewhat indignant enthusiast. “Who so +apt as I to believe,” she said, “that when Orelia Payne admires, the +object is an elevated one? Well, dearest?” + +“Well,” said Orelia, “I dreamt at the Heronry a sort of dream—that he +would regain his position in the world, and be all you or any of my +friends could wish. He left me apparently with some such expectation; +but now I see it was fallacious.” + +“But a man could scarcely make a very great stride in the world in a +couple of months,” observed Lady Lee. + +“’Twill take years, perhaps,” said Orelia, “even if he ever succeeds; +and consider the chances against him. And, except as successful, I shall +never see him—he is prouder than a fallen angel.” Here she paused, and +pondered a little. “But,” she resumed, “I have resolved to think no more +on that subject. Yes, resolved!” (stamping with her foot, while her +colour heightened, and a tear came into her eye). “It can do no good—it +will be vain, weak, idle—it will be wasting life in unreality; therefore +it shall end”—(another little stamp). + +Lady Lee looked at her with a kind of serious half smile. “So earnest, +Orelia!—then the cause cannot be slight.” + +“It is not,” said Orelia petulantly. “I am ashamed to think how much it +has engrossed my thoughts. And yet—everything considered—so much merit +in so unfitting a position! Had he been placed where he deserves, I +should perhaps have withheld my admiration; but indignation at the way +in which fortune and the world have treated him lent it double force. +Now, Hester, I have been franker than you—for we both had our secrets; +had we not?” + +It was Lady Lee’s turn to redden and be silent. + +“Hester,” went on Orelia, “what do you think of the men who sometimes +come here? Is there one of them fit to be named with either of those to +whom we gave—I mean to whom we would have given—our hearts? Think for a +moment of the best of them—and then place their images, side by side, +with those I speak of. Don’t they dwindle?—don’t they show like wax-work +beside sculpture, with their fleeting hues of character, their feeble +melting outlines, their stupid conventionalities?” + +“You are severe, my dear,” said Lady Lee, without, however, heeding much +her own reply—for Orelia had confused her. + +“O, it scatters my patience!” said her impetuous friend. “I think less +of myself when one of them has hinted admiration. Yesterday, that worthy +noodle, Mr Straitlace—he who thinks it good to be wise, but not to be +merry, and whose expressive eyebrows proclaim all pursuits to be vanity +except his own—had the astonishing effrontery to give my hand a kind of +meaning squeeze, at taking leave, muttering something about ‘his +pleasure at recognising a congenial spirit.’ What have I done, Hester, +to deserve that?—the owl!” + +“I don’t see the congeniality, certainly,” said Lady Lee, smiling, “more +than between an owl and a—peacock, or any other majestic bird.” + +“Then there’s that baronet Sir Dudley (you seem to have an attraction +for baronets, Hester)—that well-dressed Mephistopheles, with crow’s feet +about his eyes and his heart at five and twenty, who has just cleverness +enough to find out the faulty side of everything—he had the impudence, +after looking at you as if he were judging a horse, to pronounce that +‘you had some good points,’ which from him is equivalent, I suppose, to +high praise.” + +“I hope he specified the points that struck him,” said Lady Lee, +smiling. + +“He hadn’t time,” returned Orelia. “I felt downright savage at the idea +of such a snail as that crawling on your petals. I asked him who had +told him of your merits? for that we all knew him to be slow at finding +them in anything.” + +“And what did he say?” + +“He turned to his next neighbour and merely said, ‘Shut up, by Jove!’ +Why, compared with these people, Major Tindal grows respectable; for +though he has but one side to his character, ’tis a manly and decided +one.” + +“Poor, misguided Major Tindal,” said Lady Lee; “to think that he should +have taken the trouble to come all the way here” (the Major hadn’t been +able to forbear singeing his wings again), “just to do hopeless homage +to a girl who talks of him in that way.” + +“Certainly he had better have stayed at Doddington,” said Orelia. “But, +now, Hester, tell me—could you admire, or ever be induced to love, any +of our present acquaintances, after having seen others so much +worthier?” + +“I will go farther than that,” said Lady Lee, resuming her habitual tone +of melancholy, which she had relinquished for one of assumed gaiety, +merely to cover the confusion that Orelia’s home-thrust had caused her; +“I will say that we never could have admired or loved them in any case.” + +“And yet they are not below the average of those we shall meet in our +pilgrimage,” said this severe censor; “and that brings me to a subject I +have for some time thought of. You and I can never link our lives to +people of that sort.” + +“Never,” said Lady Lee, fervently. + +“Neither will we spend them in vain regrets,” said Orelia. “In men that +would be unmanly, and in us ’twould equally be unwomanly. We will drive +out thought—we will leave it no avenue to enter—we will place a quickset +round our hearts. Some do this by openly relinquishing the world, and +taking vows; our resolutions shall be none the weaker because we only +take our vows privately, and to one another.” + +Lady Lee looked at her friend inquiringly. + +“Why should we have done with life because we have been disappointed in +one of its objects?” said Orelia. “Why should we languish or let +ourselves rust because those we prefer are withheld from us? _We_ could +not be content to go lingering and dreaming all our lives.” + +“Not content, certainly,” said Lady Lee. “But what are we to do?” + +“Make business for ourselves in the world,” said Orelia. “Be of use—turn +our energies to account. How many women younger than we quit a life of +ease without our provocation, and devote themselves to one of active +usefulness! We might be the founders of an unprofessed sisterhood. What +do you say, Hester? When shall we begin?” + +“When?” said Lady Lee. “My dear, such a thing requires thought.” + +“Say a week,” said Orelia. + +“A week!” cried Lady Lee—“a year you mean. Nuns have a noviciate.” + +“And a contemptible thing it is,” said Orelia, “that hovering between +two worlds, as it were—that lingering on the bridge, shilly shally. No, +Hester; we won’t show any such want of confidence in ourselves—we will +begin after a week’s trial. We must commence by closing up all paths to +thoughts that might unsteady us—lay aside at once poetry, romance, +music, except anthems and oratorios. We will prescribe for ourselves a +simple dress and a uniform and disciplined life. Come, are you not +anxious to begin?” + +“I _do_ almost catch a gleam of your enthusiasm,” said Hester. “To +relinquish my present life will be no privation” (with a sigh). “But we +must mature the idea before acting on it. We must not begin lightly.” + +“Lightly!” said Orelia. “I’ve been thinking of it these four days. And, +for our plan—feeding the poor—educating the ignorant—comforting the +sick—there is a field! So much for our duty towards our neighbour—for +ourselves, we will improve and occupy our minds with study, and I was +going to say meditation; but I’m not so sure whether our meditations +would be always on profitable subjects, at least not just yet. When nuns +turn out not so good as they might be, who knows what share meditation +may have had in it? We’ll act now, Hester, and put off meditation till +we grow older.” + +Now, there was something in Orelia’s proposal that was not unpleasing to +Lady Lee. To banish thought which she found so wearisome—to occupy time +that hung so heavy—to labour with an object and obtain a result—these +were what she had long desired in a dreamy sort of way, and, now that +the more energetic Orelia had struck out the path, she was ardent to +follow it. Thus the mind would be provided for; and, for the heart, why +shouldn’t she and Orelia, her chosen friend, be all in all to each +other? which last idea was, perhaps, even more brilliant than the other. + +Accordingly the noviciate commenced forthwith. They had, in Hester’s +maiden days, studied together French and Italian; they now began a +spirited attack upon the German language. Mathematics was desirable, as +it required attention, exercised the mind, and did not excite the +imagination, and they plodded away at Euclid and algebra with a +perseverance praiseworthy in an ambitious freshman, but, in them, +lamentable to behold. The piano remained unopened, the harp untouched, +except on Sunday, when they performed a piece out of Handel. Lady Lee’s +copy of _Corinne_ was put in the fire by Orelia, who had never +particularly admired the work; and, indeed, a great part of their +library underwent such a weeding as Don Quixote’s suffered at the hands +of the barber and curate. Both were dressed in mourning before for +Julius, so no great change was needed in their attire. To crown all, +they discovered, in a couple of days, some babies in the smallpox and +croup, three distressed families with the fathers out of work, and a +pair of rheumatic old women, so that their charitable resolutions were +not likely to fail for want of objects. + +It is very well known that heroines of respectability ought to be +naturally benevolent. They ought, moreover, to have a happy knack of +winning the hearts of all who experience their bounty. I would with +pleasure bestow on my heroines all the good attributes that belong to +them, but I have already said they were far from faultless, and, to say +the truth, the line they had chosen was not their forte. Lady Lee’s +fastidious taste was speedily revolted by misery, whose pathos was +impaired by selfishness or coarseness; and Orelia, after a visit to one +of the rheumatic patients, left a sovereign for the sufferer, and vowed +she would never go near that horrid old grumbler again. In fact, this +was one of the points in which they were both of them inferior to Rosa. +Their benevolence sprang from a sense of duty, and was artificial in +expression, like the conversation of one who has learnt a foreign tongue +grammatically; while Rosa’s was natural, and fluent in the happiest +idioms of goodness. + +However, they persevered, and, though they were striving against nature, +their conduct was quite natural. Women are never so enthusiastic about +their duties as when they have just been disappointed in love. Your +pretty Puritans are sure to have had an attachment blighted, and +Devotion is called in, like a Beguine, to dress the wounds made by that +rascal Cupid. + +But yet, reader, if Hester and Orelia should really persist in their +project, what a glimpse of the possible is here opened! Let imagination +hold up the curtain for a moment. + +Methinks I see Orelia, aged say about thirty-five; severe of aspect, and +with what novelists call “the traces of former beauty,” though the arch +of the nose has strengthened to Roman firmness, the mouth is quite stern +in its decision, and the fire of the eyes has some fierceness in its +sparkle. Irreproachable, but not amicable—unsparing to the indiscretion +of others, and having none of her own—rigid in the performance of +duties, as well as in exacting them—I see her, in fact, become that +formidable being, an exemplary woman, and I should like to see anybody +make love to her now. + +Lady Lee, too, now getting on for forty, has changed from what we knew +her. She is not called, like Orelia, an exemplary woman, but is +stigmatised by the equally opprobrious epithet, a superior person. Her +eyes, dimmed with long perusing of good wearisome books through a veil +of tears, are still beautiful in their melancholy, but the rest of her +charms have withered. She does not discharge her duties with the +unfailing spirit of the more energetic Orelia, but requires a new weary +effort for the performance of each; and when the old obstinate question +recurs of what her business in the world may be, she silences it by a +contemplation of the indurated virtues of her friend, which she nerves +herself to imitate. There are no more confidences or confessions of +weakness between herself and Orelia, but a friendship such as might have +subsisted between the Mother of the Gracchi and Mrs Fry. They are +punctual in ——, but, as Sterne says, when the idea of his captive +becomes too painful, “I cannot sustain the picture that my fancy has +drawn.” Fane—Onslow—to the rescue! + + + + + THE MARQUIS DE LAROCHEJAQUELEIN.[25] + + + FRANCE IN 1853. + +The name of Larochejaquelein is not an obscure one. It was once familiar +to the world. It was known and venerated wherever stainless honour, +fidelity proof against all temptations and suffering, chivalrous valour, +and patient courage amid dangers that do not try the nerves less that +they want the excitement which sustains the soldier on the battle-field, +were held in reverence. The two brothers who covered that name with +glory of the purest kind were noble specimens of the old chivalry of +France, when chivalry had well-nigh passed away; and the chronicler of +their romantic gallantry and their heroic death was the gentle female +who bore their name, and who bore it high, and who shared in their +sufferings, their triumphs, and their defeats. We know of few +compositions more interesting than the narrative of the Marchioness de +Larochejaquelein, who, we are happy to find, still survives, her form +bowed by age, but her heart as true as when, in early youth and beauty, +she traversed on foot the ravines of the Bocage, or forded the canals of +the Marais, and witnessed the sanguinary wars waged by the insurgents of +La Vendée during the wildest period of the French Republic. It is +curious that the most attractive records of the great revolutions which +convulsed the two kingdoms of England and France, at periods so distant +from each other, should respectively be the production of a female pen. +The memoirs of Mrs Hutchinson and the narrative of Madame de +Larochejaquelein are companions fit to be placed side by side with each +other; and though the character of the two works is different, the +interest they excite is identical. They both possess all the fascination +of romance, but they are valuable in a degree which few romances can +pretend to. It has been remarked, that until their publication the world +was strangely in error on many of the important events to which they +relate, and that they have been singularly useful in diminishing a great +deal of the prejudice, and in dissipating the ignorance which had +existed, particularly with reference to some of the principal actors in +these terrible scenes. The character of the English heroine is shadowed +forth in her history; it is more unbending, more masculine, more stern, +perhaps, and commands admiration which the mind cannot refuse. But the +heart is led away by the tenderness of the Frenchwoman; and her pathetic +touches, while they add to the interest of her story, impart to it the +impress of truth. + +The nobleman who has just published a defence of his own political +career during the eventful changes which France has again witnessed, is +the son of that lady by a second marriage. His lineage is an ancient and +honourable one. Sprung from the old house of Vergier de +Larochejaquelein, he counts among his ancestors a Crusader whose arms +form one of the many ornaments of the rich gallery of Versailles; two +warriors who fell on the hard-fought field of Pavia, when “all was lost +except honour;” a brother in arms and tent-companion of Henry IV., who +was left “with his back to the field and his feet to the foe” on the +plains of Arques; a _mestre-de-camp_, who met his death while in the act +of boarding a pirate off St Domingo. His uncle was the general-in-chief +in the Vendean army, and it was this gallant gentleman, on whose history +Froissart would have loved to linger, who spoke this last address to his +army, which is still remembered by the peasants of the Morbihan—“If I +advance, follow me; if I retreat, slay me; if I fall, avenge me!” +Another of this heroic family was a dashing officer of carabineers under +the Empire; and on the battle-field of the Moskowa he maintained the old +valour of the house of Larochejaquelein. Count Louis, the father of the +present Marquis, refused to serve under Napoleon. When the flight from +Elba roused Europe again from its brief tranquillity, the peasant +soldiers of La Vendée gathered once more round the white banner of their +chief. The insurrection was, however, soon put down, and +Larochejaquelein, while in the act of leading on his men against the +Imperial troops, fell with a bullet in his heart. This is an ancestry of +which any man may be proud. + +The present Marquis is the son of the Royalist chief of the Hundred +Days, who had married the widow of his old companion in arms, the +Marquis de Lescure. He was born in 1804, and at the early age of eleven +was created a peer of France, under what is called the Second +Restoration. He entered the military service in 1821, joined the army +under the Duke d’Angoulême in 1823, and made the campaign of Spain. He +was captain in the horse grenadiers of the Royal Guard in 1828, and, +inheriting the military ardour which characterised his family, +petitioned the king to be allowed to serve in the Greek war of +independence, but was refused. He was permitted, however, to join the +Russian army as a simple volunteer in the campaign of the Balkan against +the Turks, “having nothing better to do,” as he himself said on one +occasion in the Chamber of Deputies. Though a peer of France, he had not +taken his seat in the Upper House when the revolution of 1830 broke out; +and refusing to accept place, favour, or honours at the hands of the +revolutionary government of July, he resigned his functions as peer of +France. Endowed with remarkable activity of mind, he devoted himself for +some time, and with much energy, to industrial pursuits, and gave up +politics till 1842, when he was named a member of the Chamber of +Deputies by the electoral college of Ploermel, in the Morbihan. During +his parliamentary career he did not remain idle. He took a prominent +part in most of the stormy discussions of the time: the various projects +of replies to the addresses from the throne, the conscription reform +law, prison reform, railroad bills, electoral reform, liberty of +instruction, all found in him a ready, fluent, and vigorous, if not an +eloquent debater. On all occasions he spoke out his mind frankly and +boldly; and though on many occasions in opposition to his own party, as +well as to the government, it is said that he never had a personal enemy +in the Chamber. His conduct, when the paltry attempt was made by the +servile adherents of the new régime to affix infamy on the Royalists who +paid their homage to the descendant of their former master, on the +occasion of the Count de Chambord’s visit to London in 1842, is beyond +all praise. He rejected, with scornful indignation, the stigma attempted +to be fixed on him by the Orleanists, who did not feel the sentiment of +honour, and were incapable of appreciating it in others. He at once +resigned his seat as deputy, and appealed from the outrage offered him +by the Philippists to the judgment of the electors. The electors +answered the appeal, and Ploermel sent him back to the Chamber, where he +persevered in the same independent course. When the base arts of +corruption employed by the government of July were to be dragged to the +light of day, Larochejaquelein was never silent. “A corrupting and +degrading selfishness pervades all parts of society,” he said, in the +discussion of the budget in 1845. “I have, in common with the rest of +the nation, given up all illusions about the constitutional forms of the +state, and I have no longer any faith in their independence. On all +sides, in all places, I behold the triumph of the base over the +generous, of evil over good; and each day that passes by brings us +nearer to a tremendous crisis—the future is indeed dark and +threatening!” These prophetic words were destined to be soon +realised—sooner, perhaps, than the speaker himself imagined. + +We have said that M. de Larochejaquelein was a frequent and a forcible +speaker on important occasions. Without much claim to what is termed +oratory, his language is fluent and full of energy; and he has scarcely +uttered a few sentences, when you feel that he is a man of profound +convictions—and this we hold to be a great, as it is a rare, merit in +times like the present. His portly presence, open brow, and flowing +hair—his quick, earnest, and impassioned gesticulation, remind you of +the tribune of revolutionary days. The haughty movement of his head, and +the scornful expression of his eye, when repelling some unjust +accusation, give him an appearance of pride, which certainly is not +characteristic of him, for in private life no one can be gentler or more +unaffected. You see before you the gentleman of the old _souche_, not +the marquis of the _salon_, or that trifling race which the wit of +Molière has perpetuated. Had the Marquis de Larochejaquelein not been +born an aristocrat, he would have been a tribune of the people. Whatever +be his merits or demerits as a speaker or a politician, he possesses, at +all events, the courage, the audacity of his opinions. He was devoted to +the Bourbons of the elder branch (and they have not always paid his +devotedness with gratitude), not for interest, but for honour, from +family traditions; and were not the days of chivalry all but extinct in +what was once a nation of cavaliers, and were men again to combat for +dynasties in France, we are inclined to think that he would be among the +first to place his lance in rest, as his ancestors did before him; and +yet, if we are to judge from recent events, neither the hereditary +devotedness of his family to the cause which was so often sealed with +their blood, nor the sacrifices (and we are informed they are not few) +which he himself has made to it, have won him the favour of the court of +Frohsdorf. On the contrary, we believe that he has been exposed to all +the persecution that petty malignity can set at work; and we know that +attempts have, on many occasions, been made to ruin him among the +primitive peasantry of La Vendée and the Morbihan. His position with +reference to his own party became so intolerable, that he has considered +it necessary to publish, in a small volume, a review of the state of +parties in France in 1853, and which is, at the same time, a vindication +of his own conduct. + +The work is curious and instructive. It notices the events which have +recently occurred in France; and though the causes which led to that +very decided act of vigour known as the _coup-d’état_ of December 1851, +have been long since known to the public, and appreciated by impartial +men, a narrative bearing the impress of truth, and penned by one of the +actors in the drama, cannot fail to be interesting. We do not concur in +all the views of M. de Larochejaquelein, nor do we agree in all his +deductions; but we readily admit the truth of his sketch of political +parties in France previous to the month of December, of the intrigues of +the Orleanist faction, their hypocrisy and selfishness, their utter +recklessness of consequences, provided but a chance was afforded them, +no matter at what cost to the country, of recovering the power for which +they had shown themselves unfit, and of which they were deprived almost +without an effort. In all this we agree; and we confess we are not a +little pleased at finding the opinions we have already had occasion to +express on these points fully borne out by one who has so intimate a +knowledge of affairs. We believe that the French press has, with one or +two exceptions, passed over in silence the work of M. de +Larochejaquelein; and we are not much surprised at that silence. It is +some time since all political intercourse has ended between him and the +persons who compose the court of Frohsdorf. These persons, we fear, too +truly represent the extravagant opinions and the intolerant conduct of +the men who contributed by their evil counsels to the overthrow of the +legitimate monarchy. They are the same of whom it has been said, and +said truly, that they returned from their long exile, having learned +nothing and forgotten nothing; and were the Count de Chambord to be +restored to the throne of his ancestors, their policy would again lead +to its overthrow. We desire to speak with respect of the present chief +of the house of Bourbon. We admire the dignity of his bearing; the +position he has assumed with respect to the Orleans family; the proud +refusal to make any sacrifice of what he considered to be a principle, +even though that sacrifice increased the number of his partisans; the +firmness with which he maintains his superiority over those who +despoiled him—the innocent victim of base intriguers, and a successful +insurrection—of his rights. But we fear that he allows himself to be too +much influenced in certain matters by a coterie composed of persons of +antiquated notions, and who do not appear to have any conception of the +progress made in the social and political world during the last +half-century. The errors of that coterie are exposed by M. de +Larochejaquelein; and that exposure will not narrow the distance which +separates him from his party, or rather from the court of Frohsdorf. The +unpalatable truth he tells will not easily be forgiven; and the +Legitimist organs of the press have considered it more prudent to pass +them over without notice or contradiction. The organs of what is called +the _Fusion_ have been equally discreet, and with one or two exceptions +the other journals have imitated their discretion, either because they +considered his sketch not sufficiently Buonapartist to merit unqualified +praise, or too much so for censure. The object of the Marquis de +Larochejaquelein, who still professes to be a Legitimist in principle, +is to show that he has been guilty of no inconsistency in giving in his +adhesion to the imperial government, and that he has not discarded the +opinions he always professed; that he has not denied the name he bears, +nor renounced the political faith in which he was brought up, by +accepting that régime, and taking, as a member of the Senate, the oaths +of allegiance to the Emperor and the constitution. It is principally in +this respect that the interest of the book consists, and we have noticed +briefly and impartially the conduct of the writer, and that of a certain +number of his fellow-Legitimists who have, equally with himself, +comprehended the imminent danger their common country was exposed to, +and availed themselves of the only means of safety left at their +disposal. + +The offence committed by M. de Larochejaquelein, and which the more +intolerant of the Royalist party do not pardon, is not of recent date. +He was a Legitimist, it is true, but he was also attached to +constitutional government. He preferred a sovereign who inherited a +crown from his ancestors, but he was likewise the supporter of +representative institutions. But so many catastrophes—so many +revolutions had passed over France—so many governments had been +overthrown and institutions subverted, that all notions of right and +justice, as of government, were completely lost. The actors in the first +Republic denounced all monarchical forms, as not only incompatible with +human rights, but actually opposed to common sense itself—in fact, +something monstrous and unnatural. After convulsing all Europe, and +utterly changing the country where it first broke into mad violence, +that Revolution became exhausted from its very excesses; the Republic +fell into contempt; but the terror inspired by it was such, that then, +as in more recent days, people were glad to take shelter in any +government that promised security to life and property. The great object +of the Consulate, as of the Empire, was to obliterate the last traces of +a system which had cost France so dear. That régime was so great and so +dazzling that the loss of liberty was soon forgotten; and the yoke that +pressed on the nation was the less galling because it was concealed in +glory; and Frenchmen consoled themselves for not being free, because +their master was a hero. + +That brilliant meteor, after blinding the world with its splendour, +and awing it by its power, fell into darkness. The ancient line was +restored; and the Restoration in turn began by proclaiming the +imperial rule as a usurpation; and Louis XVIII., in the charter of +1814, dated his reign, not from his return to France and the fall of +Napoleon, but from the death of his nephew, the son of Louis XVI.;—as +if the imperial epoch, with all its marvellous events, had never +existed, and as if the account popularly, but erroneously, attributed +to the famous Father Loriquet, was exact, that there had been no such +government as the Republic, and that the man who was generally +believed to have ruled the French nation despotically, but not +ingloriously, for fourteen years, was in reality only Monsieur le +Marquis de Buonaparte, lieutenant-general in the service of his most +Christian Majesty. + +Next came the Revolution of July, which proclaimed that Charles X. had +forfeited his right to the crown, for himself and his heirs—who, +however, were admitted to have done nothing to merit that forfeiture—by +the manner in which he interpreted the 14th article of the charter, +which, nevertheless, authorised him “to make regulations and ordinances +necessary for the execution of the laws and the safety of the +state.”—(_Charte Constitutionnelle de 1814._) Republican writers +(_Dictionnaire Politique_, p. 216) admit that the aforesaid article left +to the king “the dangerous privilege of being the sole judge of the +necessity of the case;” though they refused to recognise that or any +other article of a charter which had been _octroyée_, or issued by royal +authority alone. The responsible advisers whom Charles X. consulted, +were of opinion that his conduct in issuing the famous ordinances was +legal. The Orleanist revolution denounced that act as a violation of the +charter, and declared that Charles X. had broken some imaginary compact +between him and his people, and had forfeited the crown. This was +admitting, to all intents and purposes, the right of armed insurrection. +The principle thus admitted by the new régime was often turned against +itself; and the right of overthrowing the government was many times +tried during the reign of Louis Philippe. Various insurrections broke +forth, which were successively put down; but had any of them succeeded, +Louis Philippe would long before 1848 have been accused, on equally just +grounds, of a violation of the new charter, and consequent forfeiture of +the crown, as his predecessor. At length _his_ turn came; and at the +very moment that most people believed the throne of July to be fixed on +the surest basis, the insurrection of February in a few hours overthrew +that which had already triumphed over so many previous dangers. Louis +Philippe rose to power on the barricades of July;—that power was laid +prostrate by the same means. He, in turn, was proclaimed a usurper of +the people’s rights, a violater of public liberty, and condemned to +execration. It is not strange, therefore, if the minds of men became +bewildered amid so many conflicting doctrines. There no longer appeared +any fixed standard by which to judge of authority. Monarchy in its +absolute form was decried by some; constitutional monarchy by others. +Monarchy under any denomination, or under any form whatever, was +denounced by many as an outrage on human reason. Some maintained that a +republican rule was hateful to the immense majority of the nation, and +that France only desired a fair opportunity to declare its will. Under +such circumstances what was to be done? The Royalists did not conceal +that they only _endured_ the Republic until an occasion offered for +re-establishing their own form of government. Each party maintained that +it, _and it alone_, represented the wants and wishes of the people; +while the unhappy people, in whose name, and on whose behalf, all this +had been done, stood by in silent dismay, and bent to the yoke which +each faction that got uppermost imposed upon it. All was confusion, +anarchy, chaos;—and the country, whose wellbeing was the pretext, +rapidly approached the brink of ruin. + +Under such circumstances, we again ask, what was to be done? The Marquis +de Larochejaquelein thought that the only way of solving the problem was +by an appeal to the very people in whose name every outrage was +successively perpetrated; and calling upon it to declare, once for all, +frankly and freely, what form of government it preferred—whether +monarchy legitimate or constitutional, or a republic. From the day he +took his seat in the Chamber of Deputies until the 2d December, when the +National Assembly was dissolved by the _coup-d’état_, such was his +constant theme. He denied the legitimacy of the Orleans monarchy of +July, and refused to recognise the right of two hundred deputies, a +portion of only one branch of the legislature, to exceed the terms of +their mission, and to bestow sovereign power on any one. He expressed +his belief that France would, if an occasion offered, return to the +government of her legitimate sovereign, and he did not conceal that such +was the motive for his appeal; but at all events he demanded that France +should be consulted, and he pledged himself to abide by the issue. By +such conduct he incurred the hatred of Legitimists and Orleanists;—of +the former, because his doctrine was inconsistent with the principle of +divine right; and of the latter, because the admission of such an appeal +vitiated, _ab initio_, the right of the sovereign whom the two hundred +deputies had, of their own sole act, given to the nation. We offer no +opinion as to whether M. de Larochejaquelein would have attained his +object had his plan been carried into effect, nor on the abstract +fitness of such an appeal; but in so complete a dissolution of authority +of every kind, and amid such a confusion of all ideas of government, it +would be difficult to suggest any other experiment whereby the right of +those who founded their claim on the will of the nation could be tested. + +The first great offence committed by M. de Larochejaquelein consisted, +as we have just seen, in his having so far deviated from the principle +of divine right, as to recommend an “appeal to the nation;”—but the +crime for which he can hope for no forgiveness from the court of +Frohsdorf, is his having recognised the imperial government, and +accepted the office of senator under it. M. de Larochejaquelein is of +opinion, that after so many revolutions there was no chance for monarchy +in France otherwise than by means of universal suffrage, by which the +present government has been elected. He thought that the Legitimists, +who had always maintained that they, and they alone, were acceptable to +the nation, would run no risk in abating something of their _amour +propre_, and in meeting the reaction half-way. If they were right, there +was no fear of the result of such an appeal. The Orleanists, who were +few in number and factious in conduct, would indeed be justified in +shrinking from such an ordeal as the ratification of the act of two +hundred deputies of the opposition; but in any case he despaired of a +monarchical government in any form that attempted to establish itself on +a narrower basis. “Let us now suppose,” he says (p. 190), “that monarchy +were proclaimed in France otherwise than by universal suffrage, which no +accredited leader of the old Royalist parties admitted. Of the three +monarchical parties, two would have been in open hostility with the +government, and would, as now, rely for aid on the Republicans—this time +in open hostility, and with much more reason. It is, perhaps, from a +feeling akin to paternal weakness that I invariably recur to this +article of my political faith—If the question of _Monarchy_ or +_Republic_ had been frankly put to the country under the Republican +government, under the Republican constitution, all dynastic pretensions +would vanish before traditional right, and the majority of the +Republicans themselves would have submitted to the declared will of the +nation. But no!—it was thought better to carry on intrigues up to the +very day when the _coup-d’état_ of the 2d December became a social and +political necessity; instead of cherishing carefully that liberty which +we claimed for the national will, the parties I refer to preferred +reserving themselves for chances which had only the effect of prolonging +our intestine divisions.” + +M. de Larochejaquelein explains why he has given his adhesion to the +present government, elected, as it has been, by means of that very +appeal to the nation which he had, with certainly the hope of a +different result, always advocated. “If I am asked,” he says (p. 214), +“the reason of the humble support I give to the present government, my +answer is very simple: I see before me a strong government, which has +rendered real service to my country, and at this moment I do not see any +other that can possibly succeed to it. The faults that have been +committed are so numerous—revolutions have so exhausted our +strength—events have such complete power over us—that, I confess, my +reason forces me to accept the vote of eight millions of my +fellow-citizens. Nevertheless, I have never been more convinced than I +now am, of the excellence of the hereditary principle. Let us suppose +the Emperor to have issue—he has also relations. Let us suppose the +Count de Chambord to have issue—but the princes of the house of Orleans +are numerous. Under such circumstances, France would be exposed for +centuries to the danger resulting from the dissensions of the +monarchical parties disputing among each other the possession of the +crown. Hereditary right, respected by France for her own sake, saved her +from the evils which perhaps were the fate of future generations, and +spared us the repetition of those trials which we have already so +severely felt. I will be frank. The reason that many Legitimists support +the government is, that they do not wish on any account, or any terms, +either Orleanism or anarchy—the one being, in their opinion, the +consequence of the other. Were there no other motive than to destroy the +chance of either, the persons I speak of are of opinion that they ought +not to refuse taking part in the affairs of their country. Europe is +equally interested with us that the principle of the Revolution should +not be represented on the throne of France by a new family usurpation, +for there is no sovereign that such usurpation should not alarm.” + +The reign of Louis Philippe was the reign of the _bourgeoisie_—of the +revolutionary shopkeepers of Paris. The scepticism of the eighteenth +century had extended to morals—the mockery that assailed religion +gradually undermined society—and all notions about virtue, honour, +independence, were destroyed by a blighting incredulity. We are no +believers in what is termed the perfectibility of human nature, but we +do not think that, even with the most mercantile people of the world, a +love of gain is incompatible with ideas of personal and national honour. +The all-powerful _bourgeoisie_ of the Orleanist régime was not a good +specimen of that class; it carried into political life the +characteristics of its social life. Insolent and overbearing in +prosperity, it was fawning and mean in adversity. A difference is always +observable between the bearing of a gentleman—and by the term we refer +as much to moral as to social superiority, as the gentleman of nature +may be found in all classes—and the mere upstart, and in France it was +perhaps more striking than elsewhere. Dignified humility, lofty +submission, obedience that implies no forgetfulness, no sacrifice of +self-respect, loyalty which cannot be degraded even in political +servitude, a sense of personal honour which despotism cannot wound, are +far different from the pertness of the _parvenu_, the nervous pedantry +of the _doctrinaire_, or the fawning of the sycophant. The one inclines +low, with a consciousness of just subordination to high station; but +after so inclining he stands up with erect face: the other falls to the +dust prostrate. The aristocratic courtier will offer the incense of his +adulation, but his censer is not rudely flung in the eyes of his royal +master, and his homage is not without grace and dignity. His words may +be soft and insinuating, but he will not change his nature. To use the +language of one who knew both classes well, he may stoop to pick up his +master’s hat or handkerchief, but it is the act of polite attention to +superior rank, and not the mercenary subserviency of a valet; and there +is an air of equality about it which shocks no one, and does not offend +the personage to whom it is paid. We rather think that, generally +speaking, a prince prefers selecting his ministers from the class of +plebeians, because he believes he shall be served by them as mere +mercenaries; while the others he must treat as servants of his crown, +and no otherwise. It is mentioned as one of the anecdotes of the Court +of Louis Philippe, whose fault was want of dignity, that, one day, +wishing to gain over to some project of family interest, on which he had +set his heart, one of his ministers, he offered him, in a familiar, +off-hand, and half-contemptuous manner, a portion of the fruit he was at +the moment eating. The minister appeared much flattered, bowed low, and +accepted the royal gift. We are not aware whether the bribe produced the +effect intended, but we much doubt if the citizen-king would have +treated with such disdainful familiarity a Montmorency, a Noailles, or a +Molé. + +The effect produced by the exclusiveness of the July régime was such as +might have been expected. It was inculcated that the primary object of +man’s existence was the gratification of his meaner passion;—success in +the pursuit of wealth without any close examination as to the means by +which it was acquired, was regarded as the _summum bonum_; the +_enrichissez-vous_ so often repeated in the banquet and electioneering +speeches of even the most eminent of Louis Philippe’s ministers (though +we readily admit that no such incentive influenced the person who so +spoke) were the leading maxims of that system. Fidelity to principles, +faith in high and noble aspirations, were rather sneered at as the +ravings of the imagination, suited perhaps to the age of romance; and +strong attachment to traditions was referred to as a folly unworthy of +men of sense. The _bourgeois_ were often assured that they alone were +the sovereign; that they alone were eminent in eloquence and in thought; +that to them alone belonged the gifts of the earth; that they alone, +provided they were men of substance, were superior in the social as in +the moral scale; that to them belonged all distinctions as a matter of +right; that they only were fit to occupy eminent posts in every branch +of the administration, and in fact that in their hands were exclusively +placed the destinies of the state. They who thus extravagantly exalted +the pursuit of mere material interests, were destined to pay dearly for +the lessons they had taught. Faith and reverence for the past had been +held up to contempt by the new school of statesmen; but the doctrines +that had been inculcated for the overthrow of the former dynasty, were +equally applicable to the modern one, and the Revolution of February was +the consequence. Empty and dogmatic, the real _bourgeois_—the +_bourgeois_ whose stupidity or conceit makes him sure good material in +the hands of the revolutionists—has nevertheless pretensions to nothing +less than universal knowledge. Jealous of all superior to him in social +position, and insolent to those below him, he would drag down the former +to his own level, but would not permit the latter to rise to it. With +the examples yet before him, and the preceptors he had to guide him, he +could not be a _bourgeois_ such as July encouraged, without being +somewhat of an infidel. The reverence for religious forms that +characterised his fathers, was in his opinion fit for times of +ignorance, but not for the enlightened nineteenth century. He had dipped +here and there into the _Philosophical Dictionary_ of Voltaire; he could +sneer at the Mosaic chronology; be witty on the description of Noah’s +Ark; was incredulous about the Deluge; and laughed outright at the +Passage of the Red Sea. He had read the _Origine de tous les Cultes_ of +Dupuis, and could quote whole pages from Volney. He was therefore a +philosopher. With those severer studies he mingled the lighter graces of +wit and poetry, and for these accomplishments he was indebted to the +doggrel of the “philosopher of Ferney” in _Joan of Arc_; the _Guerre des +Dieux_ of Parny, and the looser songs of Beranger. To show that he +thoroughly appreciated these great masters, and that he was superior to +popular prejudice, he would not enter the doors of a church, as the +observances of religion were only fit for women and children. To prove +his independence, and to give “a lesson to the government,” he would not +pay the just respect, which degrades no man, to the accredited +representative of authority; but he would fall on his knees to worship +the merest political mountebank. He incessantly clamoured about +_equality_, and decried the aristocracy if he happened to see a +carriage, with a coronet or armorial bearings, roll by him; but his +pride was up if a struggling artist or poor man of letters addressed him +otherwise than with cap in hand. The noisy advocate of social and +political liberty, there was no greater despot in his domestic circle. +His house-porter crouched before him, and his servants grew dumb when +they heard the creak of his shoe. Railing against the “upper classes,” +his ambition was to scrape acquaintance with some decayed viscount, some +equivocal marquis; and if he had a visit from some one who bore a title, +the coroneted card lay for whole months in full view on the central +table of his drawing-room, or was stuck in the most conspicuous part of +the looking-glass frame. His personal pomposity was increased the more +he was disposed to corpulence, and his boldness was decisive proof of +the superiority of his intellect. Our worthy _bourgeois_ was rather hard +to be pleased. When the political world was tranquil, he passed his +leisure hours in running down the government; and though no one had more +experienced the mischief of agitation, he generally voted for its most +dangerous adversaries: not because he approved of their principles, or +that the ministerial candidates were not honourable men, but because he +was determined to let no opportunity pass of making the king and his +government feel that he, M. St Godibert, was not pleased with them, and +would “give them a lesson.” These lessons occasionally cost the teacher +very dear; and when agitation, warmed by himself into incipient +insurrection, grew dangerous, he was sure to be the first to accuse the +government of having excited it for its own special purposes. When +insurrection was defeated, he again blamed the government for excessive +lenity in the punishment of those who disturbed the public peace; and +when all peril was over, and a complete lull ensued, then he accused the +same government of excessive cruelty to those who a day or two before +were the _infame canaille_, but who now were his _frères egarés_—his +deluded brethren and fellow-citizens. + +These were the men who served as the instruments to bring about the +Revolution of July, and these were they who were feasted and flattered +until they were led to believe themselves the only beings on earth +worthy of consideration. Such specimens were of course to be met with as +_employés_ in the various ministerial departments. Nothing could be more +insolent, or more griping, than the general run of those underlings. The +recommendation “_enrichissez-vous_,” coming, as it did, from the first +minister of the crown, was not forgotten;—he was one of the few who did +not carry out for himself his own theory; but we fear that the love of +power, which was in him a passion, induced him to tolerate, or at least +not to prevent, the scandalous jobbing which it was known was going +on—for it is not credible that such things could be done in secret. A +government where such men enjoy, in consequence of their position, a +great though underhand influence, is humiliating for an honourable man +to live under. There is something more respectable in the audacity with +which the insurgent flings out his crimson flag, and eyes, as he passes +through the richest quarters of Paris, the trembling _bourgeois_, whose +fine mansion he has already marked out, than in the system which admits +as its principal instruments the rapacious and insolent underlings, who +too often had the ministerial ear under the Orleans régime. + +As for the representative system in France during the period of which we +speak, it was a farce. Two hundred thousand electors, for a population +of thirty-three or thirty-four millions, was not much better than an +oligarchy, and the worst of all oligarchies, for its corruption was its +bond of union, as was proved by the disclosures made to the world +towards the conclusion of Louis Philippe’s reign, when some of the +highest functionaries were dragged before the tribunals for +mal-practices; and we believe that there were other persons who did not +regret that the Revolution of February came to save them from public +disgrace. A minister who wishes to be regarded as a philosopher and a +statesman, should try to purify his age rather than corrupt it; and it +is as immoral as impolitic to encourage the baser passions of men in +order to keep yourself in power, however clean your own conscience, and +virtuous your purposes. Such things might be palliated in so loose a +politician as Walpole; but they would shock and disgust were they, by +the remotest chance, to be found in so austere a moralist as Guizot. + +Some time previous to the _coup-d’état_ of 1851, a new scheme was formed +by the Orleanists, who were tired of the forced leisure to which the +successful imitation, in February 1848, of the example set by themselves +in 1830, condemned them. The object of this new project was the complete +reconciliation of the elder and younger branches of the Bourbon family, +and of the two important sections of the Royalist party, with a view to +a restoration, on the expiry of the presidential power in May 1852, by a +_coup-d’état_ on the part of the majority of the National Assembly, a +successful rising of the people or the army, or, in fact, any other +means that offered. None of those eventualities were, it is true, +expressed in the journals that acted as organs of the party, but they +were so understood by all the initiated. Each party looked forward to +the term fixed by the constitution for Louis Napoleon to lay down his +power, for the triumph of its cause. The Mountain took no pains to +conceal its designs; and not unfrequently, amid the stormy debates which +raged in the Assembly, the “second Sunday in May” 1852 was declared to +be the date when full vengeance was to be exacted from Legitimists, +Orleanists, Buonapartists, and “reactionists” of every kind and colour. +As that fatal term approached, the Orleanists, who surpass all others in +intrigue, and such of the Legitimists as were credulous enough to trust +them, and simple enough to be led by them, did their utmost to rouse the +revolutionary demon in the Chamber, and on several occasions openly +coalesced with the Terrorists. The Republicans suspected, as every one +who knew him must have suspected, the sincerity of M. Thiers; and though +they were fully aware of his real motive for seeking admittance into +their ranks, their passions would not allow them to refuse the +co-operation of any ally, and they relied, besides, on their own courage +and energy against treachery when the important moment arrived. On the +other hand, the Royalists were full of confidence in their success, if +the preliminary and indispensable condition of reconciliation were +adopted, and they agreed that France would not again submit to the +brutal tyranny of some three hundred Socialists. Their ordinary language +was, that, even at the worst, the “promised land” would at length be +reached through the Red Sea—the “promised land” being, of course, the +Royalist restoration; and the “Red Sea” the massacre and pillage it +would be necessary for France to traverse before it was attained. The +leaders of the Royalists, superior in all the arts of intrigue to their +more brutal rivals, were vastly inferior to them in energy of action. +During a brief régime of terror they would disappear, if necessary, and +remain in some place of safety until France, exhausted and +panic-stricken, threw herself into their arms, when they would at once +establish a dictatorship. Louis Napoleon was, in their opinion, the +obstacle easiest to be got rid of; they would leave his account to be +settled by the Republicans, in case they themselves had not previously +got him out of the way. As for any difficulties on this latter point, +they considered that it was absurd to think of them. Louis Napoleon had, +according to them, fallen into such contempt with the army and the +nation, that not a finger would be raised to save him. M. Thiers, and +other great statesmen like him, had, not merely in the saloons of Paris, +and in his own particular circle, but openly in the _Salle des pas +Perdus_, and the corridors of the National Assembly, sneered at him as +“a poor creature;” and the redoubted General Changarnier himself—on +whom, by the way, the eyes of the whole world were fixed—had more than +once insulted him in the Chamber, and in his official quarters in the +Tuileries. Louis Napoleon, therefore, was so utterly scorned as to be +made the butt for continual sarcasm in the saloons of an old foreign +_intriguante_, long resident in Paris; and this was his last +degradation. The only doubt was, whether imprisonment at Vincennes would +not be investing such a miserable being with too much importance. The +ditch of Vincennes would be much better, and if a few ignorant persons +thought him of consequence, why, an ounce of lead would quiet their +fears. Some of the more judicious and far-seeing of the political +leaders of the day, very properly considered that the main object they +had in view would be materially advanced, if, as we have said, a +reconciliation could be effected between the partisans of the Count de +Chambord and the Orleanists. The idea originated with the latter. A +meeting was held of about a dozen persons at first, in order to explain +the plan which had been formed, and to organise what was termed a +“fusionist agitation.” Other meetings, more numerously attended, were +held at brief intervals; and it was resolved to send out agents to +influential persons in the departments to win them over to the cause of +the _fusion_—the _fusion_ having for object the restoration of the +Bourbons; and the parties who were engaged in it were precisely the same +men who, in the press and in the Assembly, expressed their preference +for the government as established in February, and who denounced the man +who was _suspected_ of an intention to attack the immaculate purity of +the young and as yet innocent Republic. The first step of the +_fusionists_ was directed to the chief of the house of Bourbon and the +princes of Orleans. But the Count de Chambord refused to sacrifice a +particle of what he considered to be his just rights. He was King of +France, and the only representative of legitimate royalty of his family, +and he would consent to no divided allegiance. The princes of Orleans +had been princes of the blood before their father had usurped the crown, +and they must remain so. Past wrongs and injuries he was not unwilling +to forgive; he would not be very exacting in matters of secondary +importance, but on the great principle that the sovereignty resided in +him since the abdication of the Duke d’Angoulême, which followed that of +Charles X., he would hear of no compromise. On the other hand, the +princes of Orleans would not admit of any act which had the effect of +making their father a usurper; they were the more induced to do so that +they were receiving from their agents in France, and particularly in +Paris, assurances that great popular sympathy existed for them; and in +fact, that to the house of Orleans alone the nation was looking for +salvation! At the same time it was known that the Prince de Joinville +was doing something on his own account with reference to the presidency +of the Republic. Relying on the popularity he enjoyed to a greater +degree than any of his family, he seems to have entertained some hopes +of success. With the prudence which characterised his father, he would +not, however, commit himself to any declaration; would neither deny nor +admit that he was a candidate for the presidency; would neither avow nor +disavow the acts of his friends; he might profit by their exertions, but +if they failed, he would leave them to all the consequences of their +defeat, and, in the latter case, would very probably disavow them. This, +it will be admitted, was not very frank, or straightforward, or +princely. It can scarcely be believed that the Prince de Joinville had +all at once become a Republican; and it is not unfair to conclude, that, +if successful, he would have employed his position as President to the +restoration of his family. The mistrust of the house of Orleans that had +characterised the elder Bourbons—and its history proves how their +mistrust was justified—was increased by that conduct; and the Count de +Chambord was disgusted with the policy which permitted, without +disavowal, the name of his cousin to be spoken of by his partisans in +Paris as the candidate for the future presidency of the Republic. M. +Thiers did not, after all, approve of the fusion. It was sufficient that +the suggestion of a reconciliation had proceeded from a rival of whom he +had been always jealous, for that clever and restless intriguer to set +his face against it. His utmost energies were devoted to secure the +establishment of a _regency_ in the person of the Duchess of Orleans, +mother of the Count de Paris, whose confidential adviser he was, and +whose minister he hoped to be. A restoration by means of the fusion +would seriously interfere with his private plans, and he gave it +therefore his most decided opposition. To secure at any cost the +services of the man who at that time commanded the army of Paris, and +whose influence over the vast military force of the Republic was long +believed to be unbounded, was a great object. That man had +unquestionably rendered services to order. But his head had been turned +by adulation arising from gratitude for past and hopes of future +services; and he at length came to believe that on him alone depended +the fate of France. He was flattered with the idea that the part of Monk +was reserved for him; and to enhance the value of his co-operation, he +coquetted with both parties, and affected an air of mysterious reserve, +which rendered him equally impenetrable to all. That reserve was carried +on so long that it began to be whispered that General Changarnier would, +when matters came to the point, declare neither for the one party nor +the other, but would offer himself as candidate for the Presidency. This +rumour was absurd; and the silence of the general, who was Legitimist by +tradition rather than from principle, and an Orleanist from interest and +habit, was nothing more than the usual coquetry in which he apparently +took much delight. In fact, he remained dreaming away till the +_coup-d’état_ rudely woke him and others from their slumber. Of the +possibility of a fusion of interests between these parties, or of a +sincere reconciliation between the elder and younger branches of the +royal family, we entertain very serious doubts. + +The house of Orleans had been, from the time of the Regent, of infamous +memory, fatal to the elder Bourbons. It was the evil genius that haunted +them from the cradle to the grave. The government of Louis Philippe +repaid the benefits conferred on the house of Orleans with ingratitude. +One of its earliest acts was the introduction of a measure for the +perpetual banishment of the elder Bourbons, and for the compulsory sale +of the property they held in France. They who have been shocked, and, we +readily admit, _justly_ shocked, at the decree of the 22d January 1852, +confiscating to the state the appanages which, according to the usages +of the French monarchy, should have reverted to the state at the +accession of a prince of the royal family, and at the compulsory sale of +the Orleans property, may have forgotten that that decree was but an +imitation of the legislative enactment of the 10th April 1832. We +condemn, on principle, such acts of confiscation; they are replete with +injustice; but we cannot help feeling that the decree of the 22d January +1852, all bad as it was, was an act of retribution. Signal ingratitude +is seldom left unpunished; and while we reprobate the conduct of Louis +Napoleon, we cannot say that the house of Orleans was wholly undeserving +of the treatment it met with. The sentence of perpetual exile, and +confiscation of property, was passed by the Restoration on the +Buonaparte family. That family owed no gratitude to the Bourbons; but +the princes of Orleans were bound by the strongest ties of gratitude to +them. On the 10th April 1832, the law was promulgated relative to the +elder branch of the Bourbons and the family of Napoleon. The law bore, +of course, the signature Louis Philippe, and the counter-signature of M. +Barthe, Louis Philippe’s Minister of Justice. The 1st, 2d, 3d, and 6th +articles were as follows: “1st, The territory of France and of its +colonies is interdicted _for ever_ to Charles X., deposed as he is from +the royal dignity in virtue of the declaration of the 7th August 1830; +it is also interdicted to his descendants, and to the husbands and wives +of his descendants. 2d, The persons mentioned in the preceding article +shall not enjoy in France any civil rights; they shall not possess any +property real or personal; they shall not acquire any, gratuitous or +otherwise. 3d, The aforesaid persons are bound to sell, in a definitive +manner, the whole of the property, without exception, which they possess +in France. That sale shall be effected, for the unencumbered property, +within the year dating from the promulgation of the present law; and for +the property susceptible of liquidation, within the year dating from the +period at which the right of possession shall have been irrevocably +fixed. 6th, The provisions of the first and second articles of the +present law are applicable to the ascendants and descendants of +Napoleon, to his uncles and aunts, his nephews and nieces; to his +brothers, their wives and their descendants; to his sisters and their +husbands.” This law against the benefactors and the kinsmen of Louis +Philippe was not enacted in the first heat of animosity, and the first +impulse of revenge for real or fancied wrongs, which, immediately +following a great revolution, might have been alleged as a palliation. +It was enacted one year and nine months after the Revolution of July, +when the passions of political parties, so far as they affected the +unfortunate Charles X. and his family, had time to cool down. A +high-minded man would have preferred forfeiting even the crown of +France, glorious though it be, to putting his signature to such a +document. The public and private virtues of the Orleans family have been +enlarged upon even to satiety. State reasons may be alleged as an excuse +for things which morality condemns; but the vaunted qualities of that +family should have placed them above any such justification. State +reasons may be alleged for the perpetration of any enormity. We have no +doubt that Catherine II. could allege them for the partition of Poland; +and the Emperor Nicholas justifies his present conduct towards the +Ottoman Empire quite as satisfactorily. Pretensions to virtues far +superior to those of ordinary men should, however, place those who are +so gifted out of ordinary rules. We have said that we reprobate the +decree of the 22d January 1852, but we have no doubt that Louis Napoleon +justified that arbitrary act by the law of 1832. The house of Orleans +renewed the sentence of perpetual banishment against the family of +Napoleon, and of incapability to possess property in the French +territory. Louis Philippe owed a heavy debt of gratitude to Charles X. +and his family; we have seen how that debt was paid off; no such +obligation bound the Buonapartes to the house of Orleans. + +But there existed another obstacle in the way of reconciliation between +the elder and younger branches of the Bourbons—another outrage which it +is scarcely in human nature to forget. The Orleanist party had protested +in 1820 against the legitimacy of the present Count de Chambord. In that +year a document appeared in London, entitled “Protest of the Duke of +Orleans.” It was headed as follows: “His Royal Highness declares that he +protests formally against the minutes of the 29th September last, which +pretend to establish that the child named Charles Ferdinand Dieu-Donné +is the legitimate son of the Duchess of Berri. The Duke of Orleans will +produce, in fitting time and place, witnesses who can prove the origin +of that child and its mother. He will produce all the papers necessary +to show that the Duchess of Berri has never been _enceinte_ since the +unfortunate death of her husband, and he will point out the authors of +the machination of which that very weak-minded princess has been the +instrument. Until such time as the favourable moment arrives for +disclosing the whole of that intrigue, the Duke of Orleans cannot do +otherwise than call attention to the fantastical scene which, according +to the above-mentioned minutes, has been played at the Pavilion Marsan +(the apartment of the Duchess of Berri at the Tuileries.)” The paper +then repeats the whole of the account of the _accouchement_ as it +appeared in the _Journal de Paris_, the confidential journal of the +government, and shows the alleged contradictions in it, with the view of +proving that the whole was an imposture. The Protest and the +accompanying details to which we have alluded, were republished in the +_Courrier Français_ of the 2d August 1830; and the _Courrier Français_ +was devoted to the Orleanist dynasty. + +But those are not the only humiliations which the elder Bourbons have +suffered from the family of Orleans; and when we are told that the son +of the Duchess of Berri is about to take to his bosom the sons of the +man who laid bare to the world’s mockery the weakness of his mother, we +are called upon to believe that that son has become lost to every manly +sentiment. We doubt much if this be the case. There can be no sincerity +on the part of the Orleanists who first suggested the _fusion_. They +well know that, in the event of a Legitimist restoration, the men who +overthrew the throne of his grandfather and drove him into exile, who +resisted all attempts to restore them to their country, can never be his +advisers—if he be what we hope he is. Could the Duchess of Berri receive +at her levee the purchasers of the Jew Deutz, or those who signed and +gave to publication the medical report of Blaye? It is a vile intrigue, +got up for the sole benefit of the Orleanists. It was not out of love +for the house of Bourbon, but from hatred to Louis Napoleon, that the +fusion originated; and we agree with M. de Larochejaquelein when he says +that “the Orleanists and Legitimists, not being able to effect a fusion +of love, try to effect one of hatred, with the predetermined resolution +to tear each other to pieces hereafter, and with a violence all the +greater from the consciousness that one party was tricked by the other, +if indeed both were not tricked.” + +The Legitimists are no match for their rivals in cunning—in the lower +arts of Machiavellism—in what is vulgarly but expressively termed _la +politique de cuisine_. In 1848 the former occupied a much better +position than the latter. The régime they had combated for eighteen long +years was at length overthrown, and the comparison between the fall of +_their_ sovereign and that of the “citizen” king was infinitely in +favour of the former. + +Charles X. retired slowly before his enemies, and with all the dignity +of a defeat which is not dishonourable, nor dishonouring. In the most +critical moments, and when menaced with great danger, he never forgot +who and what he was. He assumed no disguise; he put on no menial livery; +and to the last moment of his embarkation for the land of his exile, his +friends had no cause to blush for him. He was throughout a king—“Ay, +every inch a king!” Whatever the faults he may have committed when on +the throne—and we are free to admit that his rule was far from +faultless—there was no loss of personal dignity in his descent from it. +If the revolution of February succeeded without the co-operation of the +Legitimists, it was not against them that it was directed, nor was it +the Legitimists who were to be conquered. And yet, in the course of a +very few months, the party became completely subordinate to their more +clever and more unscrupulous rivals. It is true that in the first +movement, when anarchy was wildest, the instinct of self-preservation +from the evils which menaced society itself, bound all men of order, +without reference to party, against the common enemy, Socialism. But it +is difficult to understand, when the impossibility of a Republican +system was recognised, when the necessity of substituting another form +of government was evident to all, how the Legitimists allowed themselves +to be seduced by their enemies. A snare in the form of the “fusion” was +laid for them, and they easily fell into it. It would be a waste of time +to detail all the manœuvres, the negotiations, the conferences, the +schemes for the realisation of that idea. There was nothing positive or +real at bottom. Everything was left to chance. It was soon evident that +neither of the parties was sincere; each tried to deceive the other. +Some of the more confident, or the more audacious, suggested that +propositions should be made to Louis Napoleon himself; and among the +Legitimists there were found persons silly enough to believe that he +would, notwithstanding all the chances in his favour, derived from the +spontaneous election of the 10th December 1848, gladly co-operate in the +restoration of a prince of the house of Bourbon. The name of General +Changarnier was proposed as the person to whom the dictatorship was to +be intrusted until such time as the Royalist restoration was +accomplished. A dictatorship was the great object with all parties: the +Socialists, in order that France should be regenerated according to +their peculiar ideas; the “moderate Republicans” would have selected +General Cavaignac, as they did after the insurrection of June, and would +have tried once more to force their system on a terrified population; +the Legitimists and Orleanists looked to a dictatorship as the surest +means toward a Royalist restoration, though it was not decided among +them who was to be the future sovereign. The Orleanists counted much on +their cleverness to beat their allies out of the field—allies in the +moment of uncertainty and danger, but foes to be got rid of at any cost +when the booty came to be divided. “In 1849,” says M. de +Larochejaquelein, “I was one of those who wished at least to maintain +the Republic, in order to insure the union of all that was reasonable +and patriotic in the country; to call on France to put an end, once for +all, to revolutions; and our object was to form the electoral committee, +known afterwards by the name of the Committee of the _Rue de Poitiers_. +I had been chosen by the Legitimists; but when we met, I requested to +have it explained to me for what reason the committee was only composed +of Orleanists and Legitimists. It appeared to me fitting and proper that +the more judicious and moderate Republicans should form at least a third +part of our committee, as we had at heart hopes of a different kind. I +was told that the committee did not wish for Republicans, simply because +it did not wish for the Republic. I demanded why, out of sixty members +of the committee, forty-five belonged to the Orleanists, and only +fifteen to the Legitimist party. An ex-minister replied that, though the +party of legitimacy was, no doubt, honourable, yet that it formed a very +small minority, while the other was in fact the nation. Not being of +that opinion, I withdrew, and I declined being made use of as an +instrument for the restoration to the throne of France of the +revolutionary monarchy of 1830.” The division and weakness of those +parties is further illustrated in this passage: “There remained another +means of which the intimate confidants of the Count de Chambord were +dupes—a plan which was never admitted except by them, and the +impossibility of which was evident—namely, to bring about a restoration +through the instrumentality of the Legislative Assembly itself. Without +understanding what they were doing, the parliamentary Legitimists of +1850 directed all their efforts to renew the act of 1830, when 219 +deputies, without right of any kind, and with the most flagrant +disregard of their duty, presumed to change the form of Government. The +Assembly was divided into so many parties that it was in vain to hope +for a majority for that object. It is true that towards the close of the +Assembly all parties made a desperate attempt to combat Buonapartism; +but the moment that a serious proposition was made to substitute a +government for that of the President, it was found that concord did not +and could not exist between two of the great parties who composed that +Assembly.” + +M. de Larochejaquelein gives some interesting details of the secret +intrigues of the Orleanists to win over the Legitimists to the “fusion;” +and it is amusing to find how both parties were deeply engaged in the +duty of allotting crowns and imposing conditions on pretenders, up to +the very eve of the _coup-d’état_. We had already become acquainted, +through the channel of the public press, with the intrigues which made +the presidency of Louis Napoleon one continued agitation, and we are not +sorry to have the testimony of one who was an eye and an ear witness of +the whole. “I appeal,” says M. de Larochejaquelein, “to the good faith +of all political men—Is it, or is it not, true, that the idea of the +most confidential advisers of the house of Orleans was to induce the +Count de Chambord to abdicate in favour of the Count de Paris? Is it, or +is it not true, that they urged the adoption of the Count de Paris by +the Count de Chambord, even to the prejudice of the issue of the latter, +supposing that he had any? Is it, or is it not true, that on the eve of +the 2d December, certain persons who were the most influential, who +stood highest in favour at Claremont, made that monstrous proposition in +the _Salle des Conferences_ of the National Assembly, and that it +produced a great effect on the Legitimist members of the Assembly? Is +it, or is it not true, that the _Sceptics_ of the party replied, with +surprising impertinence, Yes, no doubt we earnestly desire the fusion! +What then? But it is not our interest to oppose it. You (the +Legitimists) have for a long time kept yourselves apart from public +affairs. The country belongs to us. _Your_ principle is the best; we do +not dispute the fact; but, above all, it is certain that your principle +(legitimacy) is necessary for us to adopt. _Your_ prince (the Count de +Chambord) may return with _our_ royal family. _He_ is its chief; agreed. +But at the end of six months he will see what his position really is. He +will see that it is impossible for him to govern with _you_, and without +_us_. He has no children; he has too deep a sense of religion to be +ambitious; he loves France too much to wish her to be given up to +commotions which would expose her to new revolutions. He will prefer the +castle of Chambord as a residence to the Tuileries. You may be certain +that we shall treat him well, and we shall all be contented. The +principle itself will be respected, and _we_ shall govern France.” Such +were the propositions, and such the language of the partisans of the +Orleans family to the Legitimists. Not a word, of course, was said of +Louis Napoleon; and these profound statesmen were thus disposing in sure +confidence of the fruit of their schemes only a few hours before they +were scattered like chaff before the wind by the man on whom they +disdained even to pass a thought! The Orleanists were still tormented by +one fear; they trembled lest the proposition so often presented to the +Assembly by M. de Larochejaquelein should again be renewed at that +critical moment which preceded the expiration of the presidency of Louis +Napoleon. The President of the Assembly, M. Dupin, the principal agent +of the Orleans family, urged, and with more than usual energy, that body +to refuse its authorisation for the printing of M. Leo de Laborde’s +proposition, namely, that France should, at the important moment when +every faction was struggling for supremacy, be consulted as to whether +she desired, or not, the re-establishment of her traditional monarchy. +M. Dupin treated the question as if it were one of life or death to +himself. He threw off all restraint, and resisted with his utmost +efforts any measure resembling an appeal to the nation, or embodying the +principle of legitimacy. “And even at the present moment,” says M. de +Larochejaquelein, “the language of the Orleanists is this: ‘We find that +the _fusion_ is the best instrument of hostility against the government +of Louis Napoleon, and for that object we must effect it. But if the +Count de Chambord should ever become a widower, he must not think of +forming a new matrimonial engagement. Should he happen to have children, +he must no longer count on our support.’” + +One of the hallucinations under which the Orleanists laboured was, that +Louis Napoleon was in his heart devoted to them exclusively; and that +when the _fusion_ was consummated, he would transfer his power to them. +That delusion survived even the _coup-d’état_. M. de Larochejaquelein +admits, in common with all rational men, that the _coup-d’état_ was the +salvation of society itself, and they who were loudest in their applause +of it were the Orleanists. “The most ardent in their approbation,” the +noble writer remarks, “were the Orleanists, because they were convinced +that the President was, perhaps without meaning it, working for them. +The decrees of the 22d January undeceived them. From that moment they +became divided into two camps, that of the extreme opponents, and that +of the men who accept the government, but who yet cherish a spirit of +hostility to it, more or less openly declared.” + +We have often thought it extraordinary why those Legitimists who had +freely taken the oaths of allegiance to Louis Philippe refused them to +Louis Napoleon; and on what grounds those who yielded prompt obedience +to a revolutionary system, established by some two hundred deputies, +should, while demanding an appeal to the people, decline to recognise a +power which is the issue of the national will. M. de Larochejaquelein +professes to be unable to account for the fact. “It would be curious,” +he says, “to find out the reasons on which they found that refusal. I +confess that I cannot explain a proceeding of the kind, and which is so +advantageous to the revolution of July. It is true that the Legitimists +must be pained at seeing their hopes baffled once more; but were it only +in a social point of view, they ought to give their co-operation to the +government. By keeping apart, they leave the place open to the men whom +they had for so many years combated, and they commit the injustice of +placing on an equality the usurpation of 1830 with the election of the +Emperor successively by six, by seven, and by eight millions of +suffrages. Prince Louis Napoleon had overthrown nothing which was +endeared to us; it was not he who had persecuted the princes who were +the object of our reverence and of our devotedness; it was not he who +placed the revolution on a throne; but it was he who combated the +revolution. He had, in the opinion of the immense majority of the +people, rendered a signal service to France by effacing beforehand the +fatal term of May 1852. He made an appeal to all honest men, without +distinction of party, to aid him in saving the country. The majority of +Legitimists could not well disregard the will of the nation; they +submitted to the verdict without sacrificing their principles.” We need +not say that we approve of the policy which has preferred the good of +their country to the mere gratification of party feeling or personal +ambition; and we see no inconsistency in the accepting a government that +has fulfilled the conditions which, in the eyes of these persons, alone +justified their adhesion. + +As for the Orleanists, they began in intrigue, have continued in it, and +we have no reason to suppose that they will ever change. Place and power +are, with very few exceptions, their object. The Palais Royal was, +during the Restoration, the favourite resort, the headquarters of all +the malcontents of the day: all who stirred up opposition to the +government, all who intrigued against Louis XVIII. or Charles X., were +welcome to the palace of “our cousin of Orleans.” They were not true +even to the government of their own choice; they had overthrown one +dynasty, and because M. Thiers or M. Odillon Barrot wanted the place, +which M. Guizot preferred exposing the country to convulsion rather than +be torn from, another dynasty was flung down after it. The tactics of +the party have been always pretty much the same; revolution was evoked +by them to the hypocritical cry of _Vive la Charte_, or _Vive la +Constitution_. They were the men who organised, in 1829, the formidable +associations against the payment of the taxes. At that time, also, as +twenty years later, banquets were got up; and at one of those scenes of +feasting, 221 crowns, in honour of the 221 deputies of the opposition, +adorned the hall; and that nothing should be wanting to complete the +resemblance, it was M. Odillon Barrot who made the speech on the 4th +July 1830, which was the prelude to the fall of Charles X.—the same +great citizen whose banquettings and whose orations helped to destroy +the throne of Orleans in 1848—the same demagogue whose conceit led him +to suppose that _he_ alone could lay the fiend he had evoked. There was +nothing too low for them to stoop to, no instrument too mean for them to +reject. It was that faction that brought about the revolution of July, +it was the same that helped on that of February, and it was the +coalition of the _fusionists_ with the Mountain that provoked the +_coup-d’état_ of December 1851. Where were all those eminent statesmen, +those solemn orators, those sour pedants, those profound thinkers, those +philosophers, those great citizens, when the widowed Duchess of Orleans +faced the mob, who had been rendered infuriate by the men who were +afterwards unable or afraid to control them? + +It has been made a matter of reproach to Louis Napoleon, that the +persons who enjoy his confidence, or preside at his councils, are +obscure adventurers, of no moral or social influence; and that no man of +eminence, worth, or standing, will accept either power or place in a +government so degraded. This, we rather think, is too sweeping an +assertion. We should like to know what was the social, moral, or +political eminence of M. Thiers, when the Revolution of July brought him +first into notice. If we cast our eye over the list of senators under +the imperial régime, we find names there that may stand a comparison +with many in the late Chamber of Peers; and as for corruption, we may +point to the events that immediately preceded the Revolution of +February, when some of the highest had to answer for acts which were +anything but moral. It is true that some of the leading men who directed +the policy of the country under Louis Philippe have taken no active part +in public affairs under the imperial government. But when we hear all +this talk about “eminent men” refusing office, and declining all +participation in the government of the day, we are tempted to ask how +had those “eminent men” managed the business of the country when they +had its sole direction and control? Their government, with immense +resources at its command, and after eighteen years of profound peace, +was upset in a few hours by a contemptible street row. + +We are not aware that M. de Larochejaquelein has been answered by any of +the parties whose intrigues he has exposed. We think it would be +difficult to answer him; his sketch carries with it internal evidence of +its correctness. It is no answer, so far as the truth of his allegations +is concerned, that he has abandoned the party with which he had been +connected. We believe that he has had to undergo the petty persecutions +of the _coterie_ of Frohsdorf, who have resorted to every stratagem to +destroy whatever influence his name may still carry with it in La +Vendée; and, judging from his present production, he is of opinion that +that _coterie_ is not worth any man’s making any extraordinary +sacrifices for them. But whatever be the motives that have influenced +his conduct, or whatever the value of his “appeal to the people,” we are +bound to admit, that so far he has acted consistently with his theory. + + + _Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + _The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics._ By JONATHAN + PEREIRA, M.D., F.R.S. Third Edition. London, 1849–50. Pp. 1538. + +Footnote 2: + + _The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater._ Fifth Edition. London. + +Footnote 3: + + _M‘Culloch’s Commercial Dictionary_, edit. 1847, p. 1314. + +Footnote 4: + + Madden, _Travels in Turkey_, vol. i. p. 16. + +Footnote 5: + + The effects, real or imaginary, of this “juice” are thus described:— + + “Sleeping within mine orchard, + My custom always of the afternoon, + Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, + With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, + And in the porches of mine ears did pour + The leperous distilment: whose effect + Holds such an enmity with blood of man, + That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through + The natural gates and alleys of the body; + And, with a sudden vigour, it doth posset + And curd, like eager droppings into milk, + The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; + And a most instant tetter bark’d about, + Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, + All my smooth body.”—_Hamlet_, Act i. scene v. + +Footnote 6: + + Pereira, p. 1427. + +Footnote 7: + + English edition, p. 278, quoted in M‘Culloch’s _Commercial + Dictionary_, p. 1314. + +Footnote 8: + + _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry._ London edition of 1812, p. + 167. + +Footnote 9: + + _Ale_ was the name given to unhopped malt liquor before the use of + hops was introduced. When hops were added, it was called _beer_, by + way of distinction, I suppose, because we imported the custom from the + Low Countries, where the word beer was, and is still, in common use. + Ground ivy (_Glechoma hederacea_), called also alehoof and tunhoof, + was generally employed for preserving ale before the use of hops was + known. “The manifold virtues in hops,” says Gerard in 1596, “do + manifestly argue the holesomeness of _beere_ above _ale_, for the hops + rather make it physicall drink to keep the body in health, than an + ordinary drink for the quenching of our thirst.” + +Footnote 10: + + _Voyage dans le Nord de la Bolivie, et dans les parties voisines du + Perou._ Par H. A. WEDDELL, M.D., &c. &c. Paris, Bertrand; London, + Baillière. 1853. + + _Scènes et Récits des Pays d’Outre-Mer._ Par THÉODORE PAVIE. Paris, + Lévy. 1853. + +Footnote 11: + + _Blackwood’s Magazine_, No. CCCCXXX., for August 1851. + +Footnote 12: + + The occupants of the pit at a theatre are called in Spain the + _mosqueteria_. + +Footnote 13: + + “Be not so well pleased, Juana, to see how I suffer for thee; that + which is my fate to-day, to-morrow may chance to be thine.” + +Footnote 14: + + This arm, which the _gauchos_ throw to a distance of twenty paces, + consists of three balls fastened to the same number of cords. The one + held in the hand is longer than the two others. + +Footnote 15: + + _History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St Helena._ By JOHN FORSYTH, + M.A. 3 vols. London: Murray. + +Footnote 16: + + _Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays, from Early + MS. Corrections in a Copy of the Folio, 1632, in the possession of J. + Payne Collier, Esq., F.S.A.; forming a Supplemental Volume to the + Works of Shakespeare, by the same Editor._ + + _The Text of Shakespeare vindicated from the Interpolations and + Corruptions advocated by J. P. Collier, Esq., in his Notes and + Emendations._ By SAMUEL WELLER SINGER. 1853. + + _Old Lamps or New? A Plea for the Original Editions of the Text of + Shakespeare, forming an Introductory Notice to the Stratford + Shakespeare._ Edited by CHARLES KNIGHT. 1853. + + _A Few Notes on Shakespeare, with Occasional Remarks on the + Emendations of the MS. Corrector in Mr Collier’s Copy of the Folio, + 1632._ By the Rev. ALEXANDER DYCE. 1853. + + _A Few Remarks on the Emendation “Who smothers her with Painting,” in + the Play of Cymbeline, discovered by Mr Collier in a Corrected Copy of + the Second Edition of Shakespeare._ 1852. + + _New Illustrations of the Life, Studies, and Writings of Shakespeare, + supplementary to all Editions._ By JOSEPH HUNTER. In 2 vols. 1845. + +Footnote 17: + + _A Few Notes on Shakespeare_, &c., p. 22. + +Footnote 18: + + This expression, “to cry aim,” occurs, in a serious application, in + the following lines from “King John,” _Act II. Scene 1_:— + + “_K. Philip._—Peace, lady; pause or be more temperate: + It ill beseems this presence, _to cry aim_ + To these ill-tuned repetitions”— + + that is, to give encouragement to these ill-tuned wranglings. + +Footnote 19: + + _A Few Notes_, &c., p. 50. + +Footnote 20: + + _The Text of Shakespeare Vindicated_, &c., p. 24. + +Footnote 21: + + Molesworth’s edition, vol. iv. p. 46. + +Footnote 22: + + See _New Illustrations_, &c., vol. i. p. 356. + +Footnote 23: + + _L’Insurrection en Chine, depuis son Origine jusqu’à la Prise de + Nankin._ Par MM. CALLERY et YVAN. Avec une Carte topographique, et le + Portrait du Prétendant. Paris: 1853. + +Footnote 24: + + Painted upon the bucklers of the Chinese soldiers are all manner of + ferocious animals;—the tiger is the one most frequently seen, hence + the surname. On behalf of his Celestial friend, and in extenuation of + this ridiculous custom, Dr Yvan maintains that, in many of our + European military equipments, the same intention of terrifying by a + fierce aspect is manifest—as, for instance, in the bear-skin caps of + grenadiers, hussars, &c. The Spaniards, who bear little love to any + foreigners, and who are particularly given to laughing at their + Portuguese neighbours, assert that there was formerly in use, in the + Portuguese army, the word of command, “_Rosto feroz a o + enimigo!_”—Ferocious face to the enemy!—upon receiving which, the + soldiers looked excessively savage, showed their teeth, and made a + threatening gesture. This must have been a base imitation of the + Chinese. To this day the _tigers_, who are often faint-hearted enough, + go into action making horrible grimaces. Dr Yvan gives a very curious + account of the Chinese army, in which sound of gong is used instead of + word of command, and the officers are stationed behind their men to + prevent their running away—an exercise to which they are extremely + addicted. Silence in the ranks is far from being enjoined; on the + contrary, when approaching an enemy, the tigers and other wild beasts + roar in character—their sweet voices, with a gong accompaniment, + combining in a discord that is truly infernal. There exists a Chinese + treatise on the art of war, in twenty-four volumes, entitled + Ou-Pi-Tche. Its perusal is not allowed to civil mandarins below the + third rank, or to military mandarins below the fourth, nor, of course, + to persons of inferior degree. It is not admitted in China that a + private person, a literary man, a merchant, an agriculturist, can have + any good motive in studying such a work. Booksellers are permitted to + keep but one copy at a time, and are compelled to register the names + of purchasers. “Before beginning the war with the Celestial Empire,” + Dr Yvan says, “the English procured several copies of this treatise. + One day, at Canton, an American merchant mentioned this fact to a + mandarin of very high rank. The mandarin struck the palm of his left + hand with his fan: ‘I no longer wonder,’ he cried, ‘that the + red-haired barbarians vanquished us!’”—_L’Insurrection en Chine_, + chap. ix. pp. 119–124. + +Footnote 25: + + _La France en 1853._ Par Le Marquis DE LAROCHEJAQUELEIN. Paris: 1853. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76973 *** diff --git a/76973-h/76973-h.htm b/76973-h/76973-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8aba96 --- /dev/null +++ b/76973-h/76973-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17229 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + <head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>Blackwood 454 - 1853.08 | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } + h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; } + h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; } + h3 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; } + .pageno { right: 1%; 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font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; + margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } + .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; + page-break-before: always; } + .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76973 ***</div> + +<div class='tnotes covernote'> + +<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class='c000'>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='titlepage'> + +<div> + <h1 class='c001'>BLACKWOOD’S<br> EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.<br> <span class='xlarge'><span class='sc'>No.</span> CCCCLIV.      AUGUST, 1853.      <span class='sc'>Vol.</span> LXXIV.</span></h1> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c002'>CONTENTS.</h2> +</div> + +<table class='table0'> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>The Narcotics we indulge in</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_129'>129</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>South American Travel and Adventure</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_140'>140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>Napoleon and Sir Hudson Lowe</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_159'>159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>New Readings in Shakespeare</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_181'>181</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>The Insurrection in China</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_203'>203</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>Lady Lee’s Widowhood—Part VIII.</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>The Marquis de Larochejaquelein—France in 1853</span>,</td> + <td class='c004'><a href='#Page_245'>245</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div><span class='large'>EDINBURGH:</span></div> + <div>WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET;</div> + <div>AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.</div> + <div class='c005'><i>To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed.</i></div> + <div class='c005'>SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.</div> + <div class='c005'>PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span></div> +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c006'> + <div>BLACKWOOD’S</div> + <div class='c005'>EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</div> + <div class='c005'><span class='xlarge'><span class='sc'>No.</span> CCCCLIV.      AUGUST, 1853.      <span class='sc'>Vol.</span> LXXIV.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div> + <h2 class='c002'>THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.<a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c007'><sup>[1]</sup></a><a id='r2'></a><a href='#f2' class='c007'><sup>[2]</sup></a></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>When a distinguished man sinks +into his grave, from the midst of +many rivals in a common race, the +strife of opinions in reference to him +is instantaneously allayed; personal +feelings, if not quenched, are repressed +and hushed; and, like the heroism of +the triumphant warrior, when he is +caught by the anxious eye emerging unscathed +from the battle and the smoke, +his merits appear now unclouded and +confessed. Such, we believe, is the +general feeling among the members of +his own profession in regard to the +author of the valuable work now before +us. Snatched suddenly from the +midst of his labours, before the third +edition of his <cite>Materia Medica</cite> was +completed, there are few in any way +familiar with the subject who will +not regret the sudden extinction of so +much learning, and, apart from all +private considerations, that the world +should have so prematurely lost the +benefits of his ripening judgment and +experience, and the results of his +extended reading and research. Yet +how many precious cabinets of collected +knowledge do we see thus +hurriedly sealed up for ever! How +often, when a man appears to have +reached that condition of mental culture +and accumulated information, in +which he is fitted to do the most for +the advancement of learning, or for +promoting the material comfort of his +fellows, how often does the cold hand +suddenly and mysteriously paralyse +and stop him! He has been permitted +to add only a small burden of +earth to the rising mound of intellectual +elevation, scarcely enough to +signify to after-comers that <i>his</i> hand has +laboured at the work. Nevertheless, +he may have shown a new way of +advancing, in some sense, so that to +others the toil is easier and the progress +faster, because he has gone before. +The more, however, the true-hearted +worker in the cause of progressive +science becomes familiar with its +actual condition and its great future, +the more he becomes satisfied also of +the vanity of attempting to associate +with an individual name the merit of +this or that advance—the more earnestly +he trains himself to find the +best reward for individual attempts in +the growing conquests and dimensions +of the field he cultivates, and in the +consciousness that he has not been +unhelpful in widening its domain. +Such a consciousness Dr Pereira +might well entertain, and we trust he +found in it something to alleviate the +regrets the best of us naturally feel, +when compelled to leave a favourite +task unfinished.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We should be forsaking widely the +field we usually occupy, were we to +attempt to lay before our readers any +analysis of a work so elaborate and +so purely professional as this of Dr +Pereira. We propose, however, to +take it as our text-book, in considering +a subject of great general interest—one +scarcely of more importance to +the professional physician than it is to +the physiologist, the psychologist, and +the economical statist. The book is replete +with scattered information on the +subject of the <cite>Narcotics we Indulge in</cite>, +and some of this we propose to bring +together in the present article. And +among other sources from which we +mean to draw the materials necessary +to our purpose, are the <cite>Confessions of +an English Opium-Eater</cite>, long, long +ago noticed in our pages, but, to us +who have been reading it to-day, as +fresh and new as ever—as full of interest, +as suggestive of profound reflection. +We who are ourselves somewhat +scientific, can scarce restrain a +selfish sigh when we think how fresh +and new, how sure of human sympathy +this actual burning experience +of a living man will continue to be +when the heavy and toilsome tomes +of Pereira shall have become mere records +of the progress of science, and +be turned up only to illustrate the ignorance +of the most learned or trusted +in their professions about the middle +of the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In ministering fully to his natural +wants, man passes through three successive +stages. First, the necessities +of his material existence are provided +for; next, his cares are assuaged and +for the time banished; and lastly, his +enjoyments, intellectual and animal, are +multiplied and for the time exalted. +Beef and bread represent the means +by which, in every country, the first +end is attained; fermented liquors help +us to the second; and the third we +reach by the aid of narcotics.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When we examine, in a chemical +sense, the animal and vegetable productions +which in a thousand varied +forms, among various nations, take the +place of the beef and pudding of the +Englishman in supplying the first necessities +of our nature, we are struck +with the remarkable general similarity +which prevails among them naturally, +or which they are made to assume by +the artifices of cookery, before they +are conveyed into the stomach. And +we exclaim, in irrepressible wonder, +“by what universal instinct is it that, +under so many varied conditions of +climate and of natural vegetation, the +experience of man has led him everywhere +so nicely to adjust the chemical +constitution of the staple forms of his +diet to the chemical wants of his living +body?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Nor is the lightening of care less +widely and extensively attained. +Savage and civilised tribes, near and +remote—the houseless barbarian wanderer, +the settled peasant, and the +skilled citizen—all have found, without +intercommunion, through some common +and instinctive process, the art +of preparing fermented drinks, and of +procuring for themselves the enjoyments +and miseries of intoxication. +The juice of the cocoa-nut tree yields +its <i>toddy</i> wherever this valuable palm +can be made to grow. Another palm +affords a fermented wine on the Andean +slopes of Chili—the sugar palm +intoxicates in the Indian Archipelago, +and among the Moluccas and Philippines—while +the best palm wine of all +is prepared from the sap of the oilpalms +of the African coast. In Mexico +the American aloe (<i>Agave Americana</i>) +gave its much-loved <i>pulque</i>, and probably +also its ardent brandy, long +before Cortez invaded the ancient +monarchy of the Aztecs. Fruits supply +the cider, the perry and the wine, +of many civilised regions—barley and +the cereal grains the beer and brandy +of others; while the milk of their +breeding mares supplies at will to +the wandering Tartar, either a mild +exhilarating drink, or an ardently intoxicating +spirit. And to our wonder +at the wide prevalence of this taste, +and our surprise at the success with +which, in so many different ways, +mankind has been able to gratify it, +the chemist adds a new wonder and +surprise when he tells us, that as in +the case of his food, so in preparing +his intoxicating drinks, man has +everywhere come to the same result. +His fermented liquors, wherever and +from whatever substances prepared, +all contain the same exciting alcohol, +producing everywhere, upon every +human being, the same exhilarating +effects!</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is somewhat different as regards +the next stage of human wants—the +exalted stage which we arrive at by +the aid of narcotics. Of these narcotics, +it is remarkable that almost every +country or tribe has its own—either +aboriginal or imported—so that the +universal instinct has led somehow or +other to the universal supply of this +want also.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The aborigines of Central America +rolled up the tobacco leaf, and dreamed +away their lives in smoky reveries, +ages before Columbus was born, or +the colonists of Sir Walter Raleigh +brought it within the chaste precincts +of the Elizabethan court. The coca +leaf, now the comfort and strength of +the Peruvian muletero, was chewed +as <i>he</i> does it, in far remote times, +and among the same mountains, by +the Indian natives whose blood he +inherits. The use of opium and hemp, +and the betel nut, among eastern +Asiatics, mounts up to the times of +most fabulous antiquity, as probably +does that of the pepper tribe in the +South Sea Islands and the Indian +archipelago; while in northern Europe +the hop, and in Tartary the +narcotic fungus, have been in use +from time immemorial. In all these +countries the wished-for end has been +attained, as in the case of intoxicating +drinks, by different means; but +the precise effect upon the system, by +the use of each substance, has not, +in this case, been the same. On +the contrary, tobacco, and coca, and +opium, and hemp, and the hop, and +<i>Cocculus indicus</i>, and the toadstool, +each exercise an influence upon the +human frame, which is peculiar to itself, +and which in many respects is +full of interest, and deserving of profound +study. These differences we +so far know to arise from the active +substances they severally contain being +chemically different.</p> + +<p class='c008'>I. <span class='sc'>Tobacco.</span>—Of all the narcotics +we have mentioned, tobacco is in use +over the largest area, and by the +greatest number of people. Opium +comes next to it; and the hemp plant +occupies the third place.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The tobacco plant is indigenous to +tropical America, whence it was introduced +into Spain and France in the +beginning of the sixteenth century by +the Spaniards, and into England half +a century later (1586) by Sir Francis +Drake. Since that time, both the use +and the cultivation of the plant have +spread over a large portion of the +globe. Besides the different parts of +America, including Canada, New +Brunswick, the United States, Mexico, +the Western coast, the Spanish +main, Brazil, Cuba, St Domingo, Trinidad, +&c., it has spread in the East +into Turkey, Persia, India, China, +Australia, the Philippine Islands, and +Japan. It has been raised with success +also in nearly every country of +Europe; while in Africa it is cultivated +in Egypt, Algeria, in the Canaries, +on the Western coast, and at +the Cape of Good Hope. It is, indeed, +among narcotics, what the potato is +among food-plants—the most extensively +cultivated, the most hardy, and +the most tolerant of changes in temperature, +altitude, and general climate.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We need scarcely remark, that the +use of the plant has become not less +universal than its cultivation. In +America it is met with everywhere, +and the consumption is enormous. In +Europe, from the plains of sunny Castile +to the frozen Archangel, the pipe +and the cigar are a common solace +among all ranks and conditions. In +vain was the use of it prohibited in +Russia, and the knout threatened for +the first offence, and death for the +second. In vain Pope Urban VIII. +thundered out his bull against it. In +vain our own James I. wrote his +“Counterblaste to Tobacco.” Opposition +only excited more general attention +to the plant, awakened curiosity +regarding it, and promoted its consumption.</p> + +<p class='c009'>So in the East—the priests and sultans +of Turkey and Persia declared +smoking a sin against their holy religion, +yet nevertheless the Turks and +Persians became the greatest smokers +in the world. In Turkey the pipe is +perpetually in the mouth; in India +all classes and both sexes smoke; in +China the practice is so universal +that “every female, from the age of +eight or nine years, wears as an appendage +to her dress a small silken +pocket, to hold tobacco and a pipe.” +It is even argued by Pallas that the +extensive prevalence of the practice +in Asia, and especially in China, +proves the use of tobacco for smoking +to be more ancient than the discovery +of the New World. “Amongst the +Chinese,” he says, “and amongst the +Mongol tribes who had the most intercourse +with them, the custom of +smoking is so general, so frequent, +and has become so indispensable a +luxury; the tobacco purse affixed to +their belt so necessary an article of +dress; the form of the pipes, from +which the Dutch seem to have taken +the model of theirs, so original; and, +lastly, the preparation of the yellow +leaves, which are merely rubbed to +pieces and then put into the pipe, so +peculiar—that they could not possibly +derive all this from America by way +of Europe, especially as India, where +the practice of smoking is not so general, +intervenes between Persia and +China.”<a id='r3'></a><a href='#f3' class='c007'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c009'>Leaving this question of its origin, +the reader will not be surprised, when +he considers how widely the practice +of smoking prevails, that the total +produce of tobacco grown on the face +of the globe has been calculated by +Mr Crawford to amount to the enormous +quantity of two millions of tons. +The comparative magnitude of this +quantity will strike the reader more +forcibly, when we state that the whole +of the wheat consumed by the inhabitants +of Great Britain—estimating it +at a quarter a-head, or in round numbers +at twenty millions of quarters—weighs +only four and one-third millions +of tons; so that the tobacco +yearly raised for the gratification of +this one form of the narcotic appetite +weighs as much as the wheat consumed +by ten millions of Englishmen. +And reckoning it at only double the +market value of wheat, or twopence +and a fraction per pound, it is worth +in money as much as all the wheat +eaten in Great Britain.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The largest producers, and probably +the largest consumers, of tobacco, +are the United States of America. +The annual production, at the +last two decennial periods of their census +returns, was estimated at</p> + +<table class='table1'> + <tr> + <td class='c010'>1840,</td> + <td class='c010'>219,163,319</td> + <td class='c011'>lb.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c010'>1850,</td> + <td class='c010'>199,752,646</td> + <td class='c011'>„</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p class='c012'>being about one-twentieth part of the +whole supposed produce of the globe.</p> + +<p class='c009'>One of the remarkable circumstances +connected with the history of +tobacco is, the rapidity with which +its growth and consumption have increased, +in almost every country, +since the discovery of America. In +1662, the quantity raised in Virginia—the +chief producer of tobacco on +the American shores of the Atlantic—was +only 60,000 lb.; and the quantity +exported from that colony in +1689, only 120,000 lb. In two hundred +and thirty years, the produce +has risen to nearly twice as many +millions. And the extension of its use +in our own country may be inferred +from the facts that, in the above year +of 1689, the total importation was +120,000 lb. of Virginian tobacco, part +of which was probably re-exported; +while, in 1852, the quantity entered +for home consumption amounted to</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>28,558,753 lb.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>being something over a pound per +head of the whole population; and to +this must be added the large quantity +of contraband tobacco, which the +heavy duty of 3s. per lb. tempts the +smuggler to introduce. The whole +duty levied on the above quantity in +1852, was £4,560,741, which is equal +to a poll-tax of 3s. a head.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Tobacco, as every child among us +now knows, is used for smoking, for +chewing, and for snuffing. The second +of these practices is, in many +respects, the most disgusting, and is +now rarely seen in this country, except +among seafaring men. On shipboard, +smoking is always dangerous, +and often forbidden; while snuffing is +expensive and inconvenient; so that, +if the weed must be used, the practice +of chewing it can alone be resorted +to.</p> + +<p class='c009'>For the smoker and chewer it is +prepared in various forms, and sold +under different names. The dried +leaves, coarsely broken, are sold as +canaster or knaster. When moistened, +compressed, and cut into fine +threads, they form cut or shag tobacco. +Moistened with molasses or +with syrup, and pressed into cakes, +they are called cavendish and negrohead, +and are used indifferently either +for chewing or smoking. Moistened +in the same way, and beaten until +they are soft, and then twisted into a +thick string, they form the pigtail or +twist of the chewer. Cigars are +formed of the dried leaves, deprived +of their midribs, and rolled up into a +short spindle. When cut straight, or +truncated at each end, as is the custom +at Manilla, they are distinguished +as <i>cheroots</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'>For the snuff-taker, the dried leaves +are sprinkled with water, laid in +heaps, and allowed to ferment. They +are then dried again, reduced to powder, +and baked or roasted. The dry +snuffs, like the Scotch and Irish, are +usually prepared from the midribs—the +rappees, or moist snuffs, from the +soft part of the leaves. The latter +are also variously scented, to suit the +taste of the customer.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Extensively as it is used, it is surprising +how very few can state distinctly +the effects which tobacco produces—can +explain the kind of pleasure +the use of it gives them—why +they began, and for what reason they +continue the indulgence. In truth, +few have thought of these points—have +cared to analyse their sensations +when under the narcotic influence of +tobacco—or, if they have analysed +them, would care to tell truly what +kind of relief it is which they seek in +the use of it. “In habitual smokers,” +says Dr Pereira, “the practice, when +employed moderately, provokes thirst, +increases the secretion of saliva, and +produces a remarkably soothing and +tranquillising effect on the mind, +which has made it so much admired +and adopted by all classes of society, +and by all nations, civilised and barbarous.” +Taken in excess in any +form, and especially by persons unaccustomed +to it, it produces nausea, +vomiting, in some cases purging, universal +trembling, staggering, convulsive +movements, paralysis, torpor, +and death. Cases are on record of +persons killing themselves by smoking +seventeen or eighteen pipes at a +sitting. With some constitutions it +never agrees; but both our author +and Dr Christison of Edinburgh agree +that “no well-ascertained ill effects +have been shown to result from the +habitual practice of smoking.” The +effects of chewing are of a similar +kind. Those of snuffing are only less +in degree; and the influence which tobacco +exercises in the mouth, in promoting +the flow of saliva, &c., manifests +itself when used as snuff in +producing sneezing, and in increasing +the discharge of mucus from the nose. +The excessive use of snuff, however, +blunts the sense of smell, alters the +tone of voice, and occasionally produces +dyspepsia and loss of appetite. +In rarer cases it ultimately induces +apoplexy and delirium.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But it is the soothing and tranquillising +effect it has on the mind for +which tobacco is chiefly indulged in. +And amid the teasing paltry cares, as +well as the more poignant griefs of +life, what a blessing that a mere material +soother and tranquilliser can be +found, accessible alike to all—to the +desolate and the outcast, equally with +him who is rich in a happy home and +the felicity of sympathising friends! +Is there any one so sunk in happiness +himself, as to wonder that millions of +the world-chafed should flee to it for +solace? Yet the question still remains +which is to bring out the peculiar +characteristic of tobacco. We +may take for granted that it acts in +some way upon the nervous system; +but what is the special effect of tobacco +on the brain and nerves, to +which the pleasing reverie it produces +is to be ascribed? “The pleasure of +the reverie consequent on the indulgence +of the pipe consists,” according +to Dr Madden, “in a temporary annihilation +of thought. People really +cease to think when they have been +long smoking. I have asked Turks +repeatedly what they have been thinking +of during their long smoking reveries, +and they replied, ‘Of nothing.’ +I could not remind them of a single +idea having occupied their minds; +and in the consideration of the Turkish +character there is no more curious +circumstance connected with their +moral condition. The opinion of +Locke, that the soul of a waking man +is never without thought, because it +is the condition of being awake, is, in +my mind, contradicted by the waking +somnambulism, if I may so express myself, +of a Moslem.”<a id='r4'></a><a href='#f4' class='c007'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c009'>We concede that Dr Madden might +find in England, in Germany, and in +Holland, many good smokers, who +would make excellent Moslems in his +sense, and who at the close of long +tobacco reveries are utterly unconscious +and innocent of a single thought. +Yet we restrict our faith in his opinion +to the simple belief, that tobacco, +with a haze such as its smoke creates, +tends to soften down and assuage the +intensity of all inner thoughts or external +impressions which affect the +feelings, and thus to create a still and +peaceful repose—such a quiet rest as +one fancies might be found in the +hazy distance of Turner’s landscapes. +We deny that, in Europeans in general, +smoking puts an end to intellectual +exertion. In moderation, our +own experience is, that it sharpens +and strengthens it; and we doubt +very much if those learned Teutonic +Professors, who smoke all day, whose +studies are perpetually obscured by +the fumes of the weed, and who are +even said to smoke during sleep, +would willingly, or with good temper, +concede that the heavy tomes which +in yearly thousands appear at the +Leipsic book fair, have all been written +after their authors had “really ceased +to think.” Still it is probably true, +and may be received as the characteristic +of tobacco among narcotics, that +its major and first effect is to assuage, +and allay, and soothe the system in +general; its minor, and second, or +after effect, to excite and invigorate, +and, at the same time, give steadiness +and fixity to the powers of thought.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The active substances, or chemical +ingredients of tobacco or tobacco +smoke, by which these effects upon +the system are produced, are three in +number. The <i>first</i> is a volatile oil, +of which about two grains can be obtained +from a pound of leaves, by distilling +them with water. This oil or +fat “is solid, has the odour of tobacco, +and a bitter taste. It excites in the +tongue and throat a sensation similar +to that of tobacco smoke; and, when +swallowed, gives rise to giddiness, +nausea, and an inclination to vomit.” +Small as the quantity is, therefore, +which is present in the leaf, this substance +must be regarded as one of the +ingredients upon which the effects of +tobacco depend.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The <i>second</i> is a volatile <i>alkali</i>, as it +is called by chemists, which is also +obtained by a form of distillation. +The substance is liquid, has the odour +of tobacco, an acrid burning taste, +and is possessed of narcotic and highly +poisonous qualities. In this latter +quality it is scarcely inferior to Prussic +acid. The proportion of this substance +contained in the leaf varies +from 3 to 8 per cent, so that he who +smokes a hundred grains of tobacco +<i>may</i> draw into his mouth from three +to eight grains of one of the most +subtle of all known poisons. It will +not be doubted, therefore, that some +of the effects of tobacco are to be ascribed +to this peculiar substance.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The third is an oil—an empyreumatic +oil, it is called—which does not +exist ready formed in the natural leaf, +but is produced along with other substances +during the burning. This is +supposed to be “the juice of cursed +hebenon,” described by Shakspeare as +a <i>distilment</i>.<a id='r5'></a><a href='#f5' class='c007'><sup>[5]</sup></a> It is acrid, disagreeable +to the taste, narcotic, and so poisonous +that a single drop on the tongue +of a cat causes immediate convulsions, +and in two minutes death.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Of these three active ingredients +contained in tobacco smoke, the Turkish +and Indian pipes, in which the +smoke is made to pass slowly through +water, arrest a large proportion, and +therefore convey the air to the mouth +in a milder form. The reservoir of the +German meerschaums retains the +grosser portions of the oils, &c., produced +by burning; and the long stem +of the Russian pipe has a similar effect. +The Dutch and English pipes +retain less; while the cigar, especially +when smoked to the end, discharges +everything into the mouth of the +smoker, and, when he retains the saliva, +gives him the benefit of the united +action of all the three narcotic substances +together. It is not surprising, +therefore, that those who have been +accustomed to smoke cigars, especially +such as are made of strong tobacco, +should find any other pipe both tame +and tasteless, except the short black +<i>cutty</i>, which has lately come into favour +again among inveterate smokers.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The chewer of tobacco, it will be +understood from the above description +of its active ingredients, is not exposed +to the effects of the oil which is produced +during the burning. The +natural oil and the volatile alkali are +the substances which act upon him. +The taker of snuff is in the same condition. +But <i>his</i> drug is still milder +than that of the chewer, inasmuch as +the artificial drying or roasting to +which the tobacco is subjected in the +preparation of snuff, drives off a portion +of the natural volatile oil, and a +large part of the volatile alkali, and +thus renders it considerably less active +than the natural leaf.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In all the properties by which tobacco +is characterised, the produce of +different countries and districts is +found to exhibit very sensible differences. +At least eight or ten species, +and numerous varieties, of the plant +are cultivated; and the leaf of each +of these, even where they are all grown +in the same locality, is found to exhibit +sensible peculiarities. To these +climate and soil add each its special +effects; while the period of growth at +which the leaves are gathered, and the +way in which they are dried or cured, +exercise a well-known influence on the +quality of the crop. To these causes +of diversity is owing, for the most +part, the unlike estimation in which +Virginian, Cuban, Brazilian, Peruvian, +East Indian, Persian, and Turkish +tobaccos are held in the market.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The chemist explains all the known +and well-marked diversities of quality +and flavour in the unadulterated leaf, +by showing that each recognised variety +of tobacco contains the active +ingredients of the leaf in a peculiar +form or proportion; and it is interesting +to find science in his hands first +rendering satisfactory reasons for the +decisions of taste. Thus, he has shown +that the natural volatile oil does not +exist in the green leaf, but is formed +during the drying, and hence the reason +why the mode of curing affects the +strength and quality of the dried leaf. +He has also shown that the proportion +of the poisonous alkali (nicotin) +is smallest (2 per cent) in the best +Havannah, and largest (7 per cent) +in the Virginian tobacco, and hence a +natural and sound reason for the preference +given to the former by the +smokers of cigars.</p> + +<p class='c009'>As to the lesser niceties of flavour, +this probably depends upon other +odoriferous ingredients not so active +in their nature, or so essential to the +leaf as those already mentioned. The +leaves of plants, in this respect, are +easily affected by a variety of circumstances, +and especially by the nature +of the soil they grow in, and of the +manure applied to them. Even to the +grosser senses of us Europeans, it is +known, for example, that pigs’ dung +carries its <i>gout</i> into the tobacco raised +by its means. But the more refined +organs of the Druses and Maronites +of Mount Lebanon readily recognise, +by the flavour of their tobacco, the +kind of manure employed in its cultivation, +and esteem, above all others, +that which has been aided in its +growth by the droppings of the goat.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But in countries where high duties +upon tobacco hold out a temptation +to fraud, artificial flavours are given +by various forms of adulteration. +“Saccharine matter (molasses, sugar, +honey, &c.), which is the principal +adulterating ingredient, is said to be +used both for the purpose of adding +to the weight of the tobacco, and of +rendering it more agreeable. Vegetable +leaves (as those of rhubarb and +the beech), mosses, bran, the sproutings +of malt, beet-root dregs, liquorice, +terra japonica, rosin, yellow ochre, +fullers’ earth, sand, saltpetre, common +salt, sal-ammoniac”<a id='r6'></a><a href='#f6' class='c007'><sup>[6]</sup></a>—such is a +list of the substances which have been +detected in adulterated tobacco. How +many more may be in daily use for +the purpose, who can tell? Is it surprising, +therefore, that we should +meet with manufactured tobacco possessing +a thousand different flavours +for which the chemistry of the natural +leaf can in no way account?</p> + +<p class='c009'>There are two other circumstances +in connection with the history of tobacco, +which, because of their economical +and social bearings, are possessed +of much interest.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>First</i>, Every smoker must have observed +the quantity of ash he has occasion +to empty out of his pipe, or the +large nozzle he knocks off from time +to time from the burning end of his +cigar. This incombustible part is +equal to one-fourth or one-fifth of the +whole weight of the dried leaf, and +consists of earthy or mineral matter +which the tobacco plant has drawn +from the soil on which it has grown. +Every ton, when dried, of the tobacco +leaf which is gathered, carries off, +therefore, from four to five hundredweight +of this mineral matter from the +soil. And as the substances of which +the mineral matter consists are among +those which are at once most necessary +to vegetation, and least abundant even +in fertile soils, it will readily be understood +that the frequent growth and +removal of tobacco from the same field +must gradually affect its fertility, and +sooner or later exhaust it.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It has been, and still is, to a great +extent, the misfortune of many tobacco-growing +regions, that this simple +deduction was unknown and unheeded. +The culture has been continued +year after year upon virgin +soils, till the best and richest were +at last wearied and worn out, and +patches of deserted wilderness are at +length seen where tobacco plantations +formerly extended and flourished. +Upon the Atlantic borders +of the United States of America, the +best known modern instances of such +exhausting culture are to be found. +It is one of the triumphs of the +chemistry of this century, that it has +ascertained what the land loses by +such imprudent treatment—what is +the cause, therefore, of the barrenness +that befalls it, and by what new +management its ancient fertility may +be again restored.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Second</i>, It is melancholy to think +that the gratification of this narcotic +instinct of man should in some countries—and +especially in North America, +Cuba, and Brazil—have become +a source of human misery in its most +aggravated forms. It was long ago +remarked of the tobacco culture by +President Jefferson, in his <cite>Notes on +Virginia</cite>, that “it is a culture productive +of infinite wretchedness. Those +employed in it are in a continued state +of exertion beyond the powers of +nature to support. Little food of any +kind is raised by them, so that the +men and animals on these farms are +badly fed, and the earth is rapidly impoverished.”<a id='r7'></a><a href='#f7' class='c007'><sup>[7]</sup></a> +But these words do +not convey to the English reader a +complete idea of the misery they allude +to. The men employed in the culture, +who suffer the “infinite wretchedness,” +are the slaves on the plantations. +And it is melancholy, as we +have said, to think that the gratification +of the passion for tobacco should +not only have been an early stimulus +to the extension of slavery in the +United States, but should continue +still to be one of the props by which +it is sustained. The exports of tobacco +from the United States in the year +ending June 1850, were valued at ten +millions of dollars. This sum European +smokers pay for the maintenance +of slavery in these states, besides what +they contribute for the same purpose +to Cuba and Brazil. The practice of +smoking is in itself, we believe, neither +a moral nor a social evil; it is merely +the gratification of a natural and universal, +as it is an innocent instinct. +Pity that such evils should be permitted +to flow from what is in itself +so harmless!</p> + +<p class='c009'>II. The <span class='sc'>Hop</span>, which may now +be called the <i>English narcotic</i>, was +brought from the Low Countries, and +is not known to have been used in +malt liquor in this country till after +the year 1524, in the reign of Henry +VIII. In 1850 the quantity of hops +grown in England was 21,668 tons, +paying a duty of £270,000. This is +supposed to be a larger quantity than +is grown in all the world besides. +Only 98 tons were exported in that +year; while, on the other hand, 320 +tons were imported, so that the home +consumption amounted to 21,886 +tons, or 49 millions of pounds; being +two-thirds more than the weight of +the tobacco which we yearly consume. +It is the narcotic substance, therefore, +of which England not only grows +more and consumes more than all the +world besides, but of which Englishmen +consume more than they do of +any other substance of the same +class.</p> + +<p class='c009'>And who that has visited the hop +grounds of Kent and Surrey in the +flowering season, will ever forget the +beauty and grace of this charming +plant? Climbing the tall poles, and +circling them with its clasping tendrils, +it hides the formality and stiffness of +the tree that supports it among the +exuberant profusion of its clustering +flowers. Waving and drooping in +easy motion with every tiny breath +that stirs them, and hanging in curved +wreaths from pole to pole, the hopbines +dance and glitter beneath the +bright English sun—the picture of a +true English vineyard, which neither +the Rhine nor the Rhone can equal, +and only Italy, where her vines climb +the freest, can surpass.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The hop “joyeth in a fat and fruitful +ground,” as old Gerard hath it +(1596). “It prospereth the better by +manuring.” And few spots surpass, +either in natural fertility or in artificial +richness, the hop lands of Surrey, +which lie along the out-crop of the +green sand measures in the neighbourhood +of Farnham. Naturally rich to +an extraordinary degree in the mineral +food of plants, the soils in this locality +have been famed for centuries +for the growth of hops; and with a +view to this culture alone, at the present +day, the best portions sell as high +as £500 an acre. And the <i>highest</i> +Scotch farmer—the most liberal of +manure—will find himself outdone by +the hop-growers of Kent and Surrey. +An average of ten pounds an acre for +manure over a hundred acres of hops, +makes this branch of farming the most +liberal, the most remarkable, and the +most expensive of any in England.</p> + +<p class='c009'>This mode of managing the hop, +and the peculiar value and rarity of +hop land, were known very early. +They form parts of its history which +were probably imported with the plant +itself. Tusser, who lived in Henry +VIII.’s time, and in the reigns of his +three children, in his <cite>Points of Husbandry</cite> +thus speaks of the hop:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Choose soil for the hop of the rottenest mould,</div> + <div class='line'>Well-doonged and wrought as a garden-plot should:</div> + <div class='line'>Not far from the water (but not overfloune),</div> + <div class='line'>This lesson well noted, is meet to be knowne.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The sun in the south, or else southlie and west,</div> + <div class='line'>Is joy to the hop as welcommed ghest;</div> + <div class='line'>But wind in the north, or else northerly east,</div> + <div class='line'>To hop is as ill as fray in a feast.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Meet plot for a hop-yard, once found as is told,</div> + <div class='line'>Make thereof account, as of jewel of gold;</div> + <div class='line'>Now dig it and leave it, the sun for to burne,</div> + <div class='line'>And afterwards fense it, to serve for that turne.</div> + <div class='line'>The hop for his profit, I thus do exalt:</div> + <div class='line'>It strengthened drink, and favoureth malt;</div> + <div class='line'>And being well brewed, long kep it will last,</div> + <div class='line'>And drawing abide, if ye draw not too fast.”<a id='r8'></a><a href='#f8' class='c007'><sup>[8]</sup></a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The hops of commerce consist of the +female flowers and seeds of the <i>humulus +lupulus</i>, or common hop plant. +Their principal consumption is in the +manufacture of beer, to which they +give a pleasant, bitter, aromatic flavour, +and tonic properties. Part of the +soporific quality of beer also is ascribed +to the hops, and they are supposed by +their chemical properties to check the +tendency to become sour. The active +principles in the hop consist of a volatile +oil, and a peculiar bitter principle +to which the name of <i>lupulin</i> is given.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When the hop flowers are distilled +with water, they yield as much as +eight per cent of their weight of a +volatile oil, which has a brownish +yellow colour, a strong smell of hops, +and a slightly bitter taste. In this +“oil of hops” it has hitherto been +supposed that a portion of the narcotic +influence of the flowers resided, but +recent experiments render this opinion +doubtful. It is probable that in the +case both of tobacco and of the hop, a +volatile substance distils over in small +quantity along with the oil, which +has not hitherto been examined separately, +and in which the narcotic virtue +resides. This is rendered probable by +the fact that the rectified hop oil is +not possessed of narcotic properties.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The hop has long been celebrated +for its sleep-giving qualities. To the +weary and wakeful, the hop-pillow +has often given refreshing rest, when +every other sleep-producer had failed. +It is to the escape, in minute quantity, +of the volatile narcotic substance we +have spoken of, that this soporific +effect of the flowers is most probably +to be ascribed.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Besides the oil and other volatile +matter which distil from them, the hop +flowers, and especially the fine powdery +grains or dust which, by rubbing, +can be separated from them, yield to +alcohol a bitter principle (lupulin) +and a resinous substance, both in considerable +proportion. In a common +tincture of hops these substances are +contained. They are aromatic and +tonic, and impart their own qualities +to our beer. They are also soothing, +tranquillising, and in a slight degree +sedative and soporific, in which properties +well-hopped beer also resembles +them. It is certain that hops +possess a narcotic virtue which beer +derives from them;<a id='r9'></a><a href='#f9' class='c007'><sup>[9]</sup></a> but in what part +of the female flower, or in what peculiar +chemical compound this narcotic +property chiefly resides, is still a matter +of doubt.</p> + +<p class='c009'>To the general reader it may appear +remarkable, that the chemistry of a +vegetable production, in such extensive +use as the hop, should still be so +imperfect—our knowledge of its nature +and composition so unsatisfactory. +But the well-read chemist, who knows +how wide the field of chemical research +is, and how rapidly our knowledge +of it, as a whole, is progressing, +will feel no surprise. He may wish +to see all such obscurities and difficulties +cleared away, but he will feel +inclined rather to thank and praise +the many ardent and devoted men, +now labouring in this department, for +what they are doing, than to blame +them for being obliged to leave a part +of the extensive field for the present +uncultivated.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Among largely used narcotics, therefore, +especially in England, the hop is +to be placed. It differs, however, from +all the others we have mentioned, in +being rarely employed alone except +medicinally. It is added to infusions +like that of malt, to impart flavour, +taste, and narcotic virtues. Used in +this way, it is unquestionably one of +the sources of that pleasing excitement, +gentle intoxication, and healthy tonic +action, which well-hopped beer is +known to produce upon those who +drink it. Other common vegetable +productions will give the bitter flavour +to malt liquor. Horehound and wormwood, +and gentian and quassia and +strychnia, and the grains of paradise, +and chicory, and various other plants, +have been used to replace or supplant +the hop. But none are known to approach +it in imparting those peculiar +qualities which have given the bitter +beer of the present day so well-merited +a reputation.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Among our working classes, it is +true, in the porters and humbler beers +they consume and prefer, the <i>Cocculus +indicus</i> finds a degree of favour which +has caused it, to a considerable degree, +to take the place of the hop. This +singular berry possesses an intoxicating +property, and not only replaces +the hop by its bitterness, but to a +certain extent also supplies the deficiency +of malt. To weak extracts of +malt it gives a richness and <i>fulness in +the mouth</i>, which usually imply the +presence of much malt, with a bitterness +which enables the brewer to +withhold one-third of his hops, and a +colour which aids him in the darkening +of his porter. The middle classes +in England prefer the thin wine-like +bitter beer. The skilled labourers in +the manufacturing districts prefer +what is rich, full, and substantial in +the mouth. With a view to their +taste, it is too often drugged with +the <i>Cocculus indicus</i> by disreputable +brewers; and much of the very +beastly intoxication which the consumption +of malt liquor in England +produces, is probably due to this pernicious +admixture. So powerful is +the effect of this berry on the apparent +richness of beer, that a single pound +produces an equal effect with a bag +of malt. The temptation to use it, +therefore, is very strong. The quantity +imported in 1850 was 2359 cwt., +equal to a hundred and twelve times +as many bags of malt; and although +we cannot strictly class it among the +narcotics we voluntarily indulge in, it +may certainly be described as one +in which thousands of the humbler +classes are compelled to indulge.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is interesting to observe how men +carry with them their early tastes to +whatever new climate or region they +go. The love of beer and hops has +been planted by Englishmen in America. +It has accompanied them to +their new empires in Australia, New +Zealand, and the Cape. In the hot +East their home taste remains unquenched, +and the pale ale of England +follows them to remotest India. Who +can tell to what extent the use of the hop +may become naturalised, through their +means, in these far-off regions? Who +can predict that, inoculated into its +milder influence, the devotees of opium +and the intoxicating hemp may not +hereafter be induced to abandon their +hereditary drugs, and to substitute the +foreign hop in their place? From such +a change in one article of consumption, +how great a change in the character +of the people might we not anticipate?</p> + +<p class='c009'>This leads us to remark, that we +cannot as yet very well explain in +what way and to what extent the use +of prevailing narcotics is connected, +as cause or effect, with peculiarities in +national character. But there can +no longer be any doubt that the soothers +and exciters we indulge in, in +some measure as the luxuries of life, +though sought for at first merely to +gratify a natural craving, do afterwards +gradually but sensibly modify +the individual character. And where +the use is general and extended, the +influence of course affects in time the +whole people. It is a problem of interest +to the legislator, not less than +to the physiologist and psychologist, +to ascertain how far and in what direction +such a reaction can go—how +much of the actual tastes, habits, and +character of existing nations has been +created by the prolonged consumption +of the fashionable and prevailing forms +of narcotics in use among them respectively, +and how far tastes and habits +have been modified by the changes in +these forms which have been introduced +and adopted within historic times. The +reader will readily perceive that this +inquiry has in it a valid importance +quite distinct from that which attaches +itself to the supposed influence of the +different varieties of intoxicating fermented +drinks in use in different countries. +The latter, as we have said, +all contain the same intoxicating principle, +and so far, therefore, exercise a +common influence upon all who consume +them. But the narcotics now in +use owe their effects to substances +which in each, so far as is known, are +chemically different from those which +are contained in every one of the +others. They must exercise, therefore, +each a different physiological effect +upon the system, and, if their influence, +as we suppose, extend so far, +must each in a special way modify also +the constitution, the habits, and the +character.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Our space does not permit us, in +the present Number, to speak of the use +of opium and hemp; we shall return +to these extensively consumed drugs +on a future occasion.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span> + <h2 class='c002'>SOUTH AMERICAN TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE.<a id='r10'></a><a href='#f10' class='c007'><sup>[10]</sup></a></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>We here associate two books which +have little in common beyond their +relation to the same region and races +of men; the one is chiefly scientific +and statistical, the other deals largely +in the characteristic and romantic. +Dr Weddell, physician and naturalist, +and member of various scientific societies +and commissions, who had +previously travelled in and written +of certain districts in South America, +was induced, two years ago, once +more to cross the Line, bound for +Bolivia. His former journey had had +a purely botanical object: he had +gone to make acquaintance with the +trees which produce the Peruvian +bark. His researches were crowned +with success; but he was attacked with +fever and dysentery, and quitted the +unwholesome shores, vowing never +to revisit them. A handful of sand +which he carried away with him +caused him to break through his resolution. +Deposited in the Museum of +Natural History at Paris, it attracted +attention by the beauty of the golden +spangles it contained. Dr Weddell +again sailed for America, this time +with a double mission. The administrators +of the Garden of Plants confided +to him certain scientific researches; +and a number of persons, +whose objects were more material, +commissioned him to examine and +obtain concessions of tracts of land +upon the Tipuani—a stream which, +rising amongst the snows of the Cordilleras, +flows over golden sands to +its junction with one of the chief tributaries +of the mighty Amazon.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Theodore Pavie has been a +great traveller. In the volume before +us we find him alternately in India, +Africa, America, on the banks of the +Nile, on the Coromandel coast, in the +forests that fringe the Sabine. His +book includes even a Chinese legend; +but that he confesses to have derived +from a missionary, the companion of +one of his voyages. His most interesting +chapters are a series of South +American sketches—in the Pampas, +Chili, and Peru. He makes half an +apology for having mingled fiction +with facts he himself witnessed. The +system he has pursued is perfectly +allowable, and has been adopted by +many travellers of wider fame. We +may instance Sealsfield, Ruxton, and +a host of other precedents. Like +them, he has brought home from his +distant wanderings a portfolio of +rough sketches, which he has filled +up, coloured, and completed by his +own fireside. The landscape, the +character, the figures, even some of +the incidents, are true to nature; but +he has thrown in a little artificial +action, rendering the picture more +attractive.</p> + +<p class='c009'>From the Peruvian port of Arica, +which he reached, <i>viâ</i> Southampton +and Panama, in the spring of 1851, +Dr Weddell started at once for the +Bolivian town of La Paz. After +passing Tacna, where they were detained +for some days by purchase of +mules and travelling stores, the doctor +and his two companions, Mr Borniche +and Mr Herrypon (the latter a civil +engineer), soon found themselves in +the mountains, and suffering from the +painful sensations produced by the +great rarefaction of the air. This +effect of the sensible diminution of +the atmospheric pressure upon the +circulation and respiration is there +called the <i>soroche</i>, and is ignorantly +attributed by the natives to metallic +emanations from the soil. At the +height of about 12,000 feet above the +level of the sea, the travellers came +to the first <i>apacheta</i>. In former days +the Peruvian Indians, upon attaining, +with a burden, the summit of a mountain, +were accustomed to offer to their +god Pachacamac the first object that +met their view. The custom was not +costly, for the object was usually a +stone. They accompanied the offering +by several repetitions of the word +<i>apachecta</i>, which was a sort of prayer. +In time, this word, slightly altered, +was applied to the heaps of stones +which the superstition accumulated, +and then to the mountain-peaks which +these heaps surmounted. Apachetas +are found upon all elevated points of +Peruvian roads. Around one of them, +at the summit of the Pass of Gualillos—estimated +by Dr Weddell, and by +the English traveller Pentland, to be +nearly 15,000 feet above the sea—were +numerous skeletons of asses, +mules, and lamas, which had perished +of fatigue on attaining that prodigious +elevation. The three Frenchmen +felt almost as much inclined to lay +their own bones beside those of the defunct +brutes as to push on further; but +they managed to continue their route +over one of those vast mountain platforms +known as <i>puñas</i>, of which the +German doctor Tschudi has given so +striking an account. They passed the +night in the village of Tacora, and had +regained their wonted courage and activity +when aroused next morning by +their muleteer with intelligence that +four vicuñas were grazing close at +hand. Stealing up to them under +cover of a wall, Dr Weddell and Mr +Herrypon got within fair shot, fired, +and missed. Three of the animals +took to flight; the fourth stood its +ground, and gazed boldly at its enemies. +The doctor, supposing that a +wound was the cause of its immobility, +quitted his cover and approached +the vicuña. When he got +within a certain distance, the animal +ran. It was too late. The doctor +fired his second barrel, and the ball +broke its spine. It was not, as Dr +Weddell had supposed, a wound that +had delayed its flight. “When a +herd of vicuñas is pursued,” he says, +“the most vigorous of the males, +who act as chiefs, invariably remain +the last upon the place of danger, as +if to cover the retreat of the others. +This is a fact of which we were more +than once witnesses during our journey, +and hence it is much easier to +obtain male than female vicuñas. I +have been twenty times within shot +of males, but not once of females. +The vicuña (<i>Camelus vicogna</i> Gmel.) +is the most numerous species (it and +the <i>guanaco</i>) of the camel tribe in the +New World. It is met with in all +the elevated regions of the Andes, +from the equator to Magellan’s Straits. +The places it best loves to haunt are +those where man and the condor alone +can follow it. The condor, that +mighty bird of prey, which is to the +Andes what the eagle is to the Alps, +prefers carrion to a living prey, and +seldom makes war upon it; and man, +until our own days, has rather encouraged +its multiplication than aided +in its destruction. This explains the +abundance of the vicuña at the period +of the conquest of Peru.” The old +Spanish chroniclers relate that the +vicuñas, although wild, were regarded +as the exclusive property of the +Incas, and any who hunted them incurred +severe penalties. At fixed +seasons—about once a-year—a general +hunt took place, under the personal +superintendence of the Inca and his +chief officers; but only once in every +four years was this monster <i>battue</i> +allowed in the same district. The +chase was on a prodigious scale. Fifty +or sixty thousand hunters—even +more, if some writers are to be believed—armed +themselves with poles +and lances, traced an immense circle, +and drove to a common centre all the +animals it enclosed. A selection then +took place. Roebuck, guanacos, and +other inferior animals, were killed, +especially the males; their skins +were used for various purposes, and +their flesh was divided amongst the +hunters. This meat, cut in thin +slices and dried, was called charqui, +and composed the sole animal food of +the lower classes of Peruvians. The +vicuñas, of which thirty or forty thousand +were often thus collected, were +more gently treated. They were +carefully shorn, and then set at liberty. +The wool was stored in the +royal warehouses, and issued as required—the +inferior qualities to the +people, the better ones to the nobles, +who alone had a right to wear fine +cloth. The tissues then manufactured +from the best vicuña wool are +said to have been as brilliant as the +finest silks, and to have excited, by +the delicacy of their tints, the envy of +European manufacturers. At the +present day, no salutary law protects +the graceful and useful vicuñas; they +lose their life with their fleece, and +have greatly diminished in numbers. +The Indians drive them into enclosures, +knock them on the head with +cudgels, or break their necks across +their knees, strip off the skin, and +sell it for half a dollar. The wool +sells as high as a dollar a pound upon +the coast of Peru. It is chiefly consumed +in the country, to make hats +and gloves. Only two or three thousand +dollars’ worth is annually exported +from Peru.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Dr Weddell makes numerous interesting +zoological observations during +his journey up the country. Whilst +traversing the frozen puña, he was +greatly surprised to find a ruin—in +which his party slept, with snow +for a counterpane—infested with +mice, whose sole nourishment, in +that barren and inhospitable district, +must have been grass. The next +halt was at the farm of Chulunguiani, +the highest point upon the +road from Tacna to La Paz. Here +the party slept under a roof, and +found a <i>pulperia</i> or little shop, where +they were able to obtain sardines in +oil, sheep’s-milk cheese, and bad Bordeaux +wine. A day was passed here +in duck-shooting, and in hunting the +<i>viscacha</i>, a small animal of the chinchilla +tribe, having a dark grey fur, +very soft, but less esteemed by furriers +than that of the chinchilla. It is +about the size of a rabbit, burrows +amongst rocks, and is found only at +a very great elevation, equal to that +habitually preferred by the vicuña. +Dr Weddell and his host shot two +specimens. When the doctor went +indoors to skin them, he found that the +animals had lost the tips of their tails. +The farm-steward, who had carried +them in, explained that he had thus +docked them to preserve them from +decomposition, the extremity of the +tail having the singular property of +producing the corruption of the whole +animal, if not cut off almost immediately +after death. Dr Weddell was +not very well satisfied with this explanation, +but, to his astonishment, +he afterwards found it everywhere the +custom to sever the end of the viscacha’s +tail.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Whilst at the farm (it was a sheep-farm—oxen +live but do not thrive at +that altitude) Dr Weddell did his +utmost to get an alpaca, knowing that +there were some in the neighbourhood. +He was unsuccessful; and as to buying +one, it is a most difficult matter +in that country, where the Indians +have an extraordinary dislike to parting +with their domesticated animals, +except sheep. During his stay in +Bolivia, he repeatedly offered five or +six times its value for an alpaca, and +was refused. The alpaca wool, which +constitutes one of the most important +branches of Peruvian commerce, and +is consumed chiefly in England, varies +greatly in price, the pure white selling +for thirty or thirty-five dollars a hundredweight; +other colours at an average +of twenty-two dollars. The +weight of the fleeces ranges from three +to seven pounds. “I have seen some +of these animals,” says Dr Weddell, +“whose virgin fleece almost swept +the earth; when they attain that +state, their faces are hidden in the +wool that surrounds them.” From a +priest, who afforded hospitality to the +travellers at their second halt after +they quitted the farm, they obtained +some instructive details concerning the +country, and a most marvellous story +of a natural phenomenon observed by +him during his rambles in the province +of Yungas. “This was nothing +less than a bird-plant—that is to say, +a bird which, having alighted upon +the ground, had there taken root. +More than a hundred persons, the +<i>cura</i> said, had seen this wonder, and +verified its reality. The person who +had discovered the bird, unfortunately +forgot one day to take it food, and it +died. We were not informed how it +had lived before it found a master.” +It is odd to be able to trace a coincidence +between the wild tale of the +Peruvian puña and a tradition of +Asiatic-Russian steppes. Edward +Jerrmann, in his <i>Pictures from St +Petersburg</i>,<a id='r11'></a><a href='#f11' class='c007'><sup>[11]</sup></a> tells of the <i>baranken</i> +or sheep-plant, supposed to produce +the fine silky fleece that was in reality +obtained by ripping unborn lambs +from the mother’s belly.</p> + +<p class='c009'>At La Paz, which the little caravan +reached after much fatigue, some +severe hardship, and a few misadventures, +but without serious disaster, +one of the first things the travellers +did was to avail of a letter of introduction +from the Bolivian minister at +Paris, to obtain an audience of the +president of the republic, General +Belzu, who had just recovered from +wounds inflicted by assassins. One +ball had struck him full in the face, +and his visitors looked curiously for +the trace. A scarcely perceptible +scar, at the angle of the nose, was all +they could discern. The bullet remained +in the head, but occasioned +no inconvenience; and the general +said that his health was even better +than before the occurrence. Some +time afterwards he consulted Dr +Weddell about his wounds, and the +doctor learned, from the best source, +the particulars of the attempt upon +his life, which he briefly recapitulates.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Raised to the presidency after the +battle of Yamparaës, in which he discomfited +the adherents of Velasco, +General Belzu had not only to struggle +against the remains of that party, but +to defend himself against the secret +and much more formidable attacks of +General Ballivian, Velasco’s predecessor. +It is said to have been at +the instigation of Ballivian that the +plot I have spoken of was formed; +and, in support of this assertion, the +remarkable fact is adduced that, upon +the very day on which the crime was +committed at Chuquisaca, Ballivian +and one of his intimates quitted Copiapo +(in Chili), where they were staying, +and rode in great haste towards +the frontiers of Bolivia.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The day selected for the crime +was the 6th September 1850. In +the afternoon the president left his +palace, accompanied by an aide-de-camp, +and by Colonel Laguna, one +of the principal members of the senate, +and betook himself to the public walk. +Scarcely had he reached it, when four +men assailed him. He stood upon +his defence, but at that moment a +bullet struck him in the face, and he +fell to the ground. The shot had been +fired so near that his beard was +burnt, and his cheeks were speckled +with grains of powder. A second +shot was fired, but without effect. +When the assassins saw him stretched +upon the earth, they fired three other +shots at him, but, strange to relate, +each time the weapons flashed in the +pan. The chief of the brigands—a +mulatto named Moralès, who was +mounted—then tried to trample him +under his horse’s feet, but without +success. After several efforts, he at +last urged his horse close up to his +victim, and, leaning over him, put a +pistol to his head and fired a last shot. +‘The tyrant is dead!’ he cried, and, +spurring his horse, he galloped through +the streets to the barracks, to excite +the garrison to revolt. Meanwhile +Laguna, the senator, stood by with +folded arms, and when the crime +seemed fully consummated, he walked +away with its perpetrators, thus affording +good grounds for suspicion of his +complicity. He was shot a few days +afterwards.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“As to the president, whose existence, +with two bullets in his head, +seemed almost impossible, he had not +even, he himself assured me, lost consciousness +for a moment; and when +Moralès and his band left him, he +got up unaided, and reached, bathed +in his blood, a neighbouring hut, inhabited +by a poor Indian. The news +quickly spread that the chief of the +state still lived, and the projected +revolution was stifled in its birth.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The preservation of the president’s +life was little short of a miracle. One +of the bullets had glanced off the skull +without doing material damage beyond +occasioning complete loss of +hearing with the left ear; but the +other had gone so deep into the head +that it could not be extracted. Dr +Weddell probed the wound, and satisfied +himself of the course and position +of the ball. A few hairs’-breadths +farther, or a copper bullet instead of +a leaden one, and all was over with +General Belzu.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The travellers made some stay at +La Paz, where they soon became acquainted +with the principal people in +the place. They passed their time in +paying visits, in seeking useful information +relative to the objects of their +expedition, and in getting dreadfully +out of breath by the ascent of steep +streets in an atmosphere so rarified +that a newly-arrived European can +hardly take ten steps without a pause. +English housewives will read with interest +Dr Weddell’s account of Bolivian +edibles, with disgust his sketch +of the filthy horrors of a Bolivian +kitchen, with wonderment and incredulity +the recipes he gives for the +manufacture of certain Bolivian dishes +and delicacies. The mode of using +potatoes is very original. As it freezes +nearly every night of the year in the +upper regions of the Andes, and the +people have no means of preserving +potatoes from frost, they anticipate +its action, in order to regulate it. +“They spread the potatoes on a thin +layer of straw in the open air; they +water them slightly, and expose them +to the frost for three successive nights. +When the vegetables subsequently +thaw in the sun, they acquire a +spongy consistency; in that state they +are trodden under naked feet, in order +to get rid of the skin and squeeze out +the juice; then they are left in the +air until perfectly dry.” This delectable +preparation is known as the +black <i>chuño</i>; and when wanted for +food, requires soaking in water for six +or eight days. White <i>chuño</i> is prepared +in another way, but one description +of the sort will probably +satisfy everybody of the untempting +nature of the diet. Besides the animal +and vegetable kingdoms, the +mineral reign contributes to the gratification +of South American epicures. +An important section of the market +at La Paz is occupied by sellers of a +species of light-grey clay, very greasy +to the touch, and called <i>pahsa</i>. The +Indians alone consume it, mixing it +with water to the consistency of thin +gruel, and eating it with salt. At +Chuquisaca, Dr Weddell was informed, +a sort of earth called <i>chaco</i>, +similar to the <i>pahsa</i> of La Paz, was +sold and eaten in little cups, like +custard or chocolate; and he heard of +a <i>señorita</i> who thus ate dirt till she +killed herself. The moderate use of +this queer article of food is not injurious, +but neither does it afford the +slightest nourishment.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The beefsteak was long in making +its appearance one day at Don Adolfo’s +<i>gargotte</i>, where Dr Weddell and his +companions usually took their meals, +and an impatient Frenchman started +from his seat to visit the kitchen and +inquire into the delay. “Do not so!” +cried a more experienced customer; +“if you see how it is done, you will +not eat for a week.” Dr Weddell had +opportunity of inspecting more than +one <i>Pazeña</i> kitchen. Besides the +cooks—which we take to be something +indescribably abominable, since he +describes them merely as a degree or +two more disgusting than the scene of +their operations—those kitchens contain +three things,—shapeless earthen +pots, black and greasy; heaps of dried +lama-dung, used as fuel; guinea-pigs +<i>ad libitum</i>. Guinea-pigs are the +rabbits of Bolivia, where European +rabbits are curiosities, called Castilian +conies, and kept in cages like some +outlandish monkey. The guinea-pig +has the run of the kitchen, where he +thrives and fattens, and is ultimately +slaughtered and cooked.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Dr Weddell went to a ball, given +in celebration of the birthday of a +young and amiable Peruvian lady, recently +allied with one of the best +families of La Paz. His account of +it gives a curious notion of the degree +of civilisation of the best Bolivian society. +No illuminated portals, liveried +lackeys, or crowd of carriages indicated +to the doctor (who had not yet +been at the house) the scene of the +festival, when he issued forth, at eight +in the evening, white-waistcoated, and +draped in his cloak. The street was +dark and deserted. By inquiring at +shops, he at last found the door he +sought; it stood open. A little +Indian girl, whom he encountered in +the court, pointed to the staircase, up +which he groped his way. At the +end of a passage, upon the first floor, +he discovered a faint light. Following +this beacon, and passing through +two doors that stood ajar, he reached +a small room, where several of the +guests were smoking cigars round a +table, on which stood half-emptied +cups and glasses. In a corner two +<i>señoras</i> were squatted, making ice; +and a little farther off an old negress +was putting sugar into a caldron of +punch. The ice-makers were the +mother and sister of the heroine of +the day; the master of the house was +amongst the smokers. Dr Weddell +paid his respects, got rid of his cloak, +and passed on into antechamber No. +2. This was in darkness, save for the +glimmering rays of light that shot in +from the adjacent rooms; and the +doctor, seeing nothing, and advancing +quickly, ran up against a soft substance, +which he presently made out +to be another <i>señora</i>, enveloped, even +to the crown of her head, in a vast +shawl. The room was half full of +shawled ladies, seated on either side +of the passage left open for the guests, +some on chairs, others on trunks, and +two or three upon a bed. These +<i>señoras</i>, the doctor learned, were +mothers, friends, or relatives of the +guests. Not being sufficiently smart +to show themselves in the foreground +of the festival, they yet would have a +view of it. They came as <i>mosqueteras</i>. +Antechamber No. 2 contained what is +called, in that country, the <i>mosqueteria</i>.<a id='r12'></a><a href='#f12' class='c007'><sup>[12]</sup></a> +Another step took the doctor +into the ball-room. Thence shawls +and cigars were banished, and replaced +by silks and lace, white gloves and +black patent leather. Dr Weddell +looked down with some shame at his +boots, which he had himself blacked +before leaving home. Silence reigned +in the saloon. The ladies were on +one side, the men upon the other, +waiting for the military band, which +was behind time. The first tap of the +drum electrified the mute assemblage. +Smiles and animation beamed upon +every face. At the same time were +distributed the fragrant contents of +the caldron which the black Hecate +had brewed in anteroom No. 1. Cups +of punch circulated, and were not disdained +by the ladies. Dancing began. +The doctor, who, whilst climbing +mountains, three days previously, in +quest of flowers and simples, had suffered +terribly from the <i>soroche</i>, and +had counted a hundred and sixty +throbs of his pulse in a minute, was +feverish and ill at ease, and did not +intend to dance. But he was borne +away by the torrent. After the +quadrille came another distribution of +punch, and a proportionate rise in the +ladies’ spirits; then came the ices +which mamma and sister had so industriously +manufactured, and which +were, of course, pronounced excellent; +then (Bolivia seems a very thirsty +country) bottles of champagne and +sherry made their appearance, every +gentleman seized as many glasses as +he could carry, and challenged the +<i>señoritas</i>, who were not allowed to +refuse. The fun now grew fast and +furious. A new phase of the ball +commenced. For formal quadrilles +were substituted national dances. +These, Dr Weddell acutely remarks, +have little merit unless danced as soup +is eaten—hot. The military orchestra +played the airs of the <i>bailesitos</i> with +infinite spirit, one of the musicians +accompanying them with words, in +which there was some license and +much wit. The <i>zapateado</i> was danced +amidst vehement applause. The good-humour +of the evening was at its +height. Farther they could not go, +thought Dr Weddell. He was mistaken. +In an interval of the dancing, +it was decided that a colonel there +present, who, in the doctor’s opinion, +was abundantly gay, was not sufficiently +so, and he was condemned to +be shot. The sentence was forthwith +carried into execution. The victim +was placed upon a chair in the middle +of the room, the band played a funeral +march, and the unhappy (or happy) +colonel was compelled to swallow, one +after the other, as many glasses of +champagne or sherry as there were +young ladies present. This done, the +dead-march ceased, and the culprit +was released. The German students +have a custom somewhat similar to +this, <i><span lang="de">Der Fürst der Thoren</span></i>, when one +sits astride upon a barrel, and imbibes +all the beer, <i>schnaps</i>, and Rhenish +presented to him by his boon-companions. +But with the exception of +Lola Montes, who smoked her cigar +and drank her <i>chopine</i> in a Heidelberg +<i>studenten-kneipe</i>, the fair sex in +Europe do not generally mingle in +orgies of this kind. After a substantial +supper, Dr Weddell was condemned +to be shot, and shot accordingly. +Other executions followed, +and the jollity reached its climax by +the men voting the execution <i>en masse</i> +of the whole of the ladies—a sentence +which was resisted, but at last carried +out. The Bolivian <i>señoritas</i> must +have strong heads, for we read that +dancing recommenced and continued +vigorously until five in the morning, +when the band and the majority of +the guests beat a retreat. A guitar +was then procured, and the lady of +the house and two or three of her +friends, with half-a-dozen of the most +active of the <i>caballeros</i>, danced on, and +kept up the ball until one in the afternoon! +After which, all we have to +say is, Brava, Bolivia!</p> + +<p class='c009'>Dr Weddell, who had been unwell +before the ball, was very ill after it, +and lay in bed for six weeks. When +his strength returned, he made an excursion +to La Lancha, a point about +four leagues from La Paz. The steps +he and his companions had taken to +obtain concessions of land on the +Tipuani had not led to the results +they anticipated; so they temporarily +directed their attention to the +river Chuquiaguillo, upon which La +Lancha is situated. In the opinion of +the natives, this place is <i>un pozo de +oro</i>—a well of gold. Early one morning +in May the three Frenchmen set +out for it, upon mule-back, passing +along a road enlivened, during its +early portion, with various kinds of +shrubs, bearing flowers of brilliant +colours. At this part of the doctor’s +book we come to a good deal of scientific +detail, accompanied by woodcuts, +all very interesting to miners and intending +gold-seekers, but on which we +shall not dwell. The gold of the +Chuquiaguillo is found in the form of +<i>pépites</i>, or nuggets, very various in +shape and size. One of them, sent +to Spain by the Conde de Moncloa, +is said to have weighed more than +twenty kilogrammes—forty-four English +pounds. At various periods, and +much more recently, nuggets of several +pounds’ weight have been found.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“During the presidency of General +Ballivian, an Indian came from time +to time to La Paz, to sell pieces of +gold, which had the appearance of +being cut with a chisel from a considerable +mass of the metal, and many +persons judged, from the colour, that +the mass in question must proceed +from the river Chuquiaguillo. No +bribe or promise could induce the Indian +to reveal his secret. The affair +got to the ears of the president, who +expected to obtain without difficulty +the information refused to others; but +the Indian held out, and would say +nothing. Finding gentle means ineffectual, +the general tried threats, +imprisonment, &c., but all in vain. +Finally, the poor man was condemned +to life-long service in the army, as +guilty of disobedience and disrespect +to the chief of the state! From that +day forward nothing more was heard +either of him or of his treasure. Some +persons in La Paz told me that he +perished under the lash.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>La Lancha (the word signifies a +boat) is neither town nor village, but +a marsh. On approaching it, up a +ravine, the travellers came to an immense +dike or barrier of rock, through +one extremity of which the river had +wrought itself a narrow passage. This +dike had evidently long been an immense +obstacle to the waters that +flowed down the ravine of Chuquiaguillo, +and it was a rational enough +conclusion that, since those waters +washed down gold, a good deal of the +metal must still remain behind that +natural barrier. But it seemed more +probable that the river gathered its +gold <i>after</i> than <i>before</i> passing the +rocky wall. It struck Dr Weddell as +pretty certain that Count Moncloa’s +nugget would have remained behind +the dike instead of being washed over +it. The conclusion was reasonable +enough. Behind the dike La Lancha +begins, terminating a quarter of a +league above it, at the foot of another +rock, which rises vertically to a height +of thirty feet. Over this rock the +river dashes, covering its surface with +great stalactites of ice, and then winds +along the right side of the marsh, +where it has made itself a channel.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“At one point of its surface the +Lancha contracts, and thus presents +the form of the figure 8. Perhaps +one should seek the figure of a boat, +to which the site has been compared, +in the combination of the marsh and +of the mountains of bluish schist that +rise abruptly around it. According +to this manner of viewing it, the surface +of the marsh would represent the +deck of the vessel, and the gold would +be in the hold—that is to say, on the +rock which is supposed to form the +bottom of the basin. Several attempts +have been made to ascertain the existence +of the precious metal, and we +were told a multitude of attractive +tales—much too attractive to be credible. +The upshot, however, which +could not be concealed, was, that all +attempts had ultimately failed, owing +to the infiltration of water into the +wells sunk in the attempt to reach the +<i>veneros</i> (strata of argillaceous sand) in +which the gold is found.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Nevertheless, the doctor thought +the place worthy deliberate examination, +and to that end established +himself, with Mr Herrypon the engineer, +and with Franck, their carpenter, +under a tent, within which, during the +night, the thermometer rarely stood +at less than three degrees below zero. +When the sun shone, the climate was +genial and agreeable; but at three +o’clock it dipped behind the mountains, +which was the signal for the +wanderers to creep under canvass, +wrap themselves in blankets, and +feast upon the hot stew their Indian +cook had passed the morning in preparing. +They had neighbours: several +Indians had built huts on the +ledges of the mountains, and daily +drove their sheep and alpacas to graze +upon the herbage of the marsh. From +one of them Dr Weddell subsequently +obtained an alpaca for his collection. +Vicuñas occasionally strayed near the +camp, and Franck managed to shoot +one, which, with viscachas and a few +wild ducks, improved the campaigning +fare.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Of the feathered inhabitants of +the district, the most curious, unquestionably, +is a species of variegated +woodpecker (<i>Picus rupicola</i>), which, +notwithstanding its name of <i>carpintero</i> +(carpenter), has all the habits of +a mason. Instead of working at trees, +as do its congeners, it finds nothing +in that graminaceous region but rock +and earth upon which to exercise its +beak. These birds are invariably met +with in isolated pairs; they skim the +ground in flying, and settle, after a +few moments’ flight, upon a sod or +rock, uttering a long, shrill, cooing +sound. If one is killed, it is rare that +its mate does not come and place itself +beside the dead body, as if imploring +a similar fate—a request which the +sportsman is not slow to comply with, +for the <i>carpintero</i> of the Cordilleras is +a dainty morsel.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Whilst Dr Weddell herborised, +adding nearly a hundred species of +plants to his collection, the engineer +studied the Lancha with other views, +and at last resolved to sound it. Mr +Borniche, who had remained at La +Paz, obtained authorisation from the +Government—<i><span lang="es">el derecho de cateo</span></i>, or +right of search, in the whole of the +Lancha, during a fixed time, at the +end of which he might, if he thought +proper, purchase the ground at its +rough value, fixed without reference +to any mineral wealth it might contain. +All this in accordance with the +Mining Code. But poor Herrypon +knew not what he undertook. He +had no idea of mining difficulties in +Bolivia. In this single operation he +took the measure of the country’s +capabilities. A month and a half +passed in hammering out, in a forge at +La Paz, a common and very clumsy +Artesian screw, such as would have +been got ready in three days in a +European city, and at a cost considerably +less than that of the coal consumed +in the Bolivian smithy. The +mere hire of the forge and bellows-blower +was four dollars (sixteen shillings) +a-day. When at last the instrument +was ready and applied, layers +of solid rock and a thick bed of diffluent +clay long frustrated all the miners’ +attempts. Finally, a deep well was +sunk, but no gold was found, nor signs +of any, and the miners quitted the +place, where nothing less than the +certainty of ultimately reaching a rich +vein would have justified them in continuing +their costly and laborious researches.</p> + +<p class='c009'>A second illness, by which he was +attacked before he had fully recovered +from the debilitating effects of the +first, determined Dr Weddell to seek +change of air. Whilst his engineering +ally was still sinking wells and unprofitably +probing the Lancha, he set out +with Mr Borniche for Tipuani. Passing +the magnificent Mount Illampŭ, +which is upwards of seven thousand +English yards high, and the great lake +of Titicaca, they reached the town of +Sorata, after an easy journey of thirty +leagues. A toilsome one of forty remained +to be accomplished before they +should reach Tipuani. The roads were +difficult, their muleteers fell ill, their +mules were stubborn and restive, and +<i>mal-pasos</i> (dangerous places to pass) +were numerous; but after a few small +accidents and much fatigue they +reached the village, which derives its +name from <i>tipa</i>, the name of a tree +that produces a gum known in that +country as <i>sangre de drago</i>—dragon’s +blood. This tree, it is said, was formerly +very abundant in the valley of +Tipuani. In the <i>aymara</i>, or Indian +tongue, the particle <i>ni</i>, added to a +word, implies possession. The village +consists of fifty or sixty houses, built +chiefly of palm trunks, placed side by +side, thatched with leaves of the same +tree, and partitioned, when partitions +there are, with bamboos. “I found +the place somewhat increased in size +since my visit in 1847, but no way +improved with respect to healthiness +and cleanliness. At its entrance, +stagnant water, covered with a green +scum, filled old excavations, or <i>diggings</i>, +and told that there, as in California, +gold and fever are inseparable. +It sufficed, moreover, to behold the +pallid countenances of the inhabitants, +to judge of the atmosphere we +breathed.” This was hardly the place +for an invalid to recruit his health +and strength in, and, after visiting the +mines, Dr Weddell set out for the +Mission of Guanay, boating it down +the rapid and rocky Tipuani—a rather +dangerous mode of travelling. +The priest of the Mission was an <i>aymara</i> +Indian, a native of La Paz; his +parishioners were <i>Lecos</i> Indians, considerable +savages—although they had +abjured paint, or only secretly used it—and +very skilful with gun and bow, +as well as in the capture of several +large species of fish found in the river +Mapiri, hard by which they dwelt. +Some of these fish attain the weight +of nearly a hundred pounds. They +are taken with strong hooks, shot with +arrows, or <i>hocussed</i> and taken by +hand. This last practice prevails +amongst some other South American +tribes.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The substance employed for this +purpose by the Guanay Indians is the +milky juice of one of the largest trees +of their forests, known by them under +the name of Soliman. It is the <i>Hura +crepitans</i> of the botanist. To obtain +this venomous milk, they cut numerous +notches in the bark of the tree, +and the sap which exudes runs down +and soaks the earth at its foot. This +earth, enclosed in a large sack, is +thrown into the river, and as soon as +the water becomes impregnated with +it, the fish within the circle of its influence +float inanimate upon the surface, +and are collected without trouble. +A creek or small branch of the river +is usually selected for this operation. +In other parts of Bolivia, and especially +in the province of Yungas, they +use, to poison the water, the green +stalk of a small liana called <i>Pepko</i> or +<i>Sacha</i>, of which they crush, upon a +stone, a fathom’s length or two, in +that part of the river they wish to infect. +Its effect is said to be as speedy +as that of the Soliman sap, and I was +assured that the fish thus taken could +be eaten with impunity. It is not to +be thence inferred that the sap, like +the poison used for their arrows by the +Indians of Guiana and on the Amazon, +may be taken by man without injury; +it is to the extreme smallness of +the dose swallowed with the fish that +its apparent harmlessness is to be attributed. +The sap of the Soliman has, +in fact, such caustic qualities, that its +mere emanations cause violent irritation +of the organs which receive them. +We saw at the Mission a person who +had lost his sight in consequence of a +few drops of this juice having accidentally +spirted into his eyes; and Messrs +Boussingault and Rivero related that, +having subjected the sap of the Soliman +to evaporation, with a view to +analyse it, the person who superintended +the operation had his face +swollen and his eyes and ears ulcerated, +and was cured only after several +days’ medical treatment.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bolivia is evidently a fine field for +the botanist. Dr Weddell mentions +a number of vegetables unknown, or +little known, in Europe, but interesting +and valuable by reason of their +medical properties or economical uses. +When in the province of Yungas, he +briefly refers to two or three of the +principal of these: “The <i>Matico</i>, a +shrub of the pepper tribe, whose leaves, +which resemble those of sage, have remarkable +vulnerary properties; the +<i>Vejuco</i>, a curious species of <i>Aristolochia</i>, +whose crushed leaves are said to +be an infallible cure for the bites of +serpents; and a sort of <i>Myrica</i>, or +wax-tree, whose berries, soaked in +boiling water, yield in abundance a +green wax, used to make candles.” +Concerning the <i>Quinquina</i>, or Peruvian bark +tree, and the <i>Coca</i> shrub, +whose leaves the Indians chew, the +doctor gives many interesting particulars. +When descending the river +Coroico in a <i>balsa</i> or Indian canoe, he +frequently encountered his old acquaintances +the <i>cascarilleros</i>, or bark-gatherers, +who pursue their wild and +solitary calling in the interior of the +forests, dwelling under sheds of palm-leaves, +and exposed to many dangers +and hardships. Whilst seeking, one +evening, a good place to bivouac, the +doctor, and the <i>padre</i> from the Guanay +Mission, who was then his fellow-traveller, +came upon a <i>cascarillero’s</i> +hut, in front of which they beheld a +horrible spectacle. A man lay upon +the ground in the agonies of death. +He was almost naked; and, whilst yet +alive, he was preyed upon by thousands +of insects, whose stings and bites +doubtless accelerated his end. “His +face, especially, was so much swollen +that its features could not be distinguished; +and his limbs, the only portion +of this corpse which still moved, +were in an equally hideous state. +Under the roof of leaves was the remainder +of the poor wretch’s clothes, +consisting of a straw hat and a ragged +blanket; beside them lay a flint and +steel, and an old knife. A small +earthen pot contained the remains of +his last meal—a little maize, and two +or three frozen potatoes. For a few +seconds the missionary contemplated +this piteous object, then made a step +towards the unfortunate man, and was +about, I thought, to offer him some +assistance, at least of a spiritual nature, +but his courage failed him; and, +suddenly turning away, he walked +hastily to his <i>balsa</i>, and had himself +rowed to a place some hundred yards +farther, upon the opposite bank of the +river.” In fact, the tortured bark-gatherer +was beyond human aid, and +on the brink of death. Dr Weddell +covered him with his blanket, and returned +to the boats.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We have dipped but into a few +chapters of this compendious volume +of nearly six hundred pages. A large +portion of its contents are more interesting +to naturalists and miners than +to the general reader. Dr Weddell’s +investigations are of a comprehensive +nature, including the animal, vegetable, +and mineral kingdoms, extending +to an analysis of the various Indian +languages of the country, and even +to Bolivian music, of which he furnishes +specimens. A map, some useful +illustrations, an excellent table of +contents, and headings to the chapters, +give the work a completeness not so +common in French as in English publications +of this nature. Having +adopted it for examination as a book +of travel, and not of scientific and +mining research, we recommend the numerous +chapters we have not touched +upon to those classes of readers to +which they especially address themselves, +and turn to Mr Pavie’s sketches +of countries adjacent to those in which +Dr Weddell has more recently wandered. +It does not appear, from the +former gentleman’s book, that his +rambles had any more serious motive +than love of locomotion, and a curiosity +to view strange lands. The form +he has adopted, and the modest pretensions +announced in his preface, relieving +him of most of the responsibility +to which writers of travel usually +hold themselves subject, he gives +no account of himself, is very desultory, +and does not take the trouble to +supply dates. We collect, however, +from his volume and preface, that +some years have elapsed since his +travels were performed, and that he +was then a young man, eager for adventure, +and enthusiastic for local peculiarities +and national characteristics. +It is with a view to variety, he tells +us, that he has jumbled the sections +of his book, and irregularly distributed +those of them which have a natural +order and sequence of their own. It +was about twenty years ago—as we +gather from the internal evidence of +the chapters—that Mr Pavie left +Buenos Ayres for Valparaiso, by the +route across the Pampas. The moment +was not particularly well chosen +for such a journey. Anarchy was at +its height in South America, and especially +in the country of the Argentine +republic. There was strife between +federalists and unitarians. The +Indians, resuming the offensive, had +committed many depredations, and +defeated the volunteers of the province +of Cordova. The roads were far from +safe; impediments and stoppages were +numerous, and two months were consumed +by the journey from La Plata +to the Cordillera, a distance of three +hundred leagues. When at only four +days’ march from the Andes, snow +fell, and a halt was called in the poor +little town of Mendoza. The mountains +were white from foot to summit; +there was no possibility of crossing +them; patience must be cultivated, +and spring waited for. In these +dull winter-quarters Mr Pavie had +abundant leisure to note down the +incidents of his two months’ journey, +to gather characteristic traits of +the people, and striking anecdotes of +the war. We shall take him up, however, +at an earlier period of his expedition, +when he was but a week out +from Buenos Ayres. He had traversed +the province of the same name and +that of Santa Fé, and hoped to reach +the town of Cordova upon the following +night. A forest succeeded to bare +and monotonous plains. The horses +trotted briskly over a light sandy soil, +refreshed by numerous streams; the +country was smiling, the vegetation +rich. It still wanted two hours of +sunset, and another league would +bring the travellers to the post-house +of the <i>esquina</i>—the Corner—situated +at the junction of the two high-roads +which connect the Pacific and the Atlantic—one +leading northwards, to +Bolivia and Peru, the other south-west, +to Chili, passing through St Luis +and Mendoza. Mr Pavie would have +availed himself of the remaining daylight +to push on a stage farther, but a +young Cordovan, who accompanied +him, and who was a lively and pleasant +fellow, urged him to pass the +night at the <i>esquina</i>. It was kept by +a widow, he said, a certain Doña Ventura, +whose eggs with tomata sauce +were quite beyond praise, and whose +daughter Pepa sang like a nightingale. +It was a long road from that to Santiago +de Chili—three hundred leagues, +besides the Andes to cross, and the +season was advanced, but Mr Pavie +was unwilling to disoblige his friend.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“An old <i>gaucho</i>, the widow’s managing +man, came out to receive us. +Whilst the horses were unharnessed, +a lad of twelve or thirteen, beautiful +as one of Murillo’s shepherds—who +was hurling stones at the wild pigeons +perched upon the fig-trees—threw +his sling across his shoulder, and ran +into the house, crying out—‘Mother! +mother! here is Don Mateo with +some foreign señores.’ Don Mateo, +our Cordovan friend, went to see +after dinner, and to inform the post-mistress +that we should not need +horses before the next morning. +The travellers’ room was tolerably +clean, and very large. Its sole furniture +consisted of a small lamp burning +before an image of the Virgin, +and of a guitar suspended from a nail. +When dinner was ready, Doña Ventura +brought in immense arm-chairs, +covered with leather and gilt nails, +and evidently made at Granada in +the time of the Catholic kings. Some +very brisk peasant girls (<i>cholas</i>), who +said nothing, but looked a great deal, +laid the table, and placed upon it the +promised eggs and tomatas, and large +salad-bowls containing lumps of roast +meat swimming in gravy. Pimento +had not been spared. The soup was +brought to us, according to the custom +of the country, at the end of the +repast. The post-mistress, seated +upon the estrade or platform that +extended completely round the room, +triumphed in our famous appetites, +and proudly drew herself up whenever +one of us paid her a more or less +exaggerated compliment on the excellence +of her dinner. Pepa, a handsome +girl, with a remarkably white +skin and fresh complexion, stood near +her, smoking a cigarrito, and gazing +about with her great blue eyes, which +were shaded by long dark lashes. +Juancito, the boy with the sling, +rambled round the table, and unceremoniously +tasted the Bordeaux wine +in our glasses. Dinner cleared away, +Mateo took down the guitar and presented +it to Pepa: ‘Señorita,’ he said, +‘these gentlemen would be enchanted +to hear you sing; favour them with +a ballad, and they will consider you +the most amiable girl—<i>la mas preciosa +niña</i>—in the entire province.’ +We were about to add our entreaties +to those of Mateo, but the young girl +had already tuned the instrument; +and, without coughing, complaining +of a cold, or waiting to be asked +again, she sang half-a-dozen very +long songs. At the end of every +verse Mateo applauded. Pepa certainly +had a charming voice, which +she did not badly manage. Gradually +her countenance grew animated. +From time to time she stopped +and exclaimed—‘Ay, Jesus! I am +dead!’ and then went on again. +Doña Ventura at last began to accompany +her daughter’s song. At +every chorus we slapped the table +with the palms of our hands; and +Mateo, imitating castanets with his +fingers, danced like a madman in the +middle of the hall.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This thoroughly Spanish-American +scene was interrupted by the arrival +of fifteen waggons, each drawn by six +oxen, and laden with dried fruits, +cotton, and bales of horse-hair. They +drew up in line upon the open space +in whose centre stood the post-house. +The oxen, unharnessed, joined the +reserve drove which followed the convoy, +in charge of a dozen horsemen; +and from the innermost recesses of +the vehicles there emerged bullock-drivers, +women, children, passengers +of all ages and of motley aspect, who +had joined the caravan in order to +get over three hundred leagues at +small expense. Some ran to cut +wood, others to fetch water. Fires +were lighted, and enormous slices of +meat set to roast before them upon +spits stuck in the ground. Every +convoy of this kind is under the orders +of a <i>capataz</i> or chief. This one +was commanded by a certain Gil +Perez, whose arrival seemed of strong +interest to Doña Ventura and her +daughter. Pepa hastened to adorn +herself with a silk shawl, the gaudy +product of a Lyons loom, and with a +fashionable Buenos Ayres comb, a +foot high. His camp established, Gil +Perez entered the house with a beaming +countenance. He had brought +presents for everybody;—a scarf and +satin shoes for Pepa, a Peruvian gold +chain for her mother, a dirk for Juancito. +In Spanish countries acquaintance +is soon made. His gifts distributed, +Perez sat down and chatted +with Don Mateo and the other travellers; +whilst the bullock-drivers, +the <i>cholas</i>, and the postilions of the +<i>esquina</i>, were dancing outside. By +and by, Perez, who had been out to +look after his people, announced the +approach of more travellers, indicated +by a cloud of dust in the south-east. +Juancito went out to reconnoitre, and +reported that the muleteers from San +Juan were close at hand. Pepa and +her mother exchanged a rapid glance. +The muleteers halted at some distance +from the posting-house, and +unloaded their beasts, each of which +carried two barrels of brandy. Their +chief dismounted and walked towards +the house, his saddle-bags over his +shoulder. Walking rapidly and on +tiptoe, on account of the long steel +spurs which he dragged at his heels, +he knocked at Doña Ventura’s door. +Juancito answered.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Gil Perez looked at the muleteer +pretty much as an admiral might look +at the humble master of a merchantman. +The muleteer, disconcerted at +finding the room full of strange faces, +to say nothing of that of the <i>capataz</i>, +which seemed greatly to incommode +him, paused near the door for some +seconds.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Come in, Fernando,’ said Doña +Ventura; ‘you are surprised to see +my Pepita in full dress, eh, my lad? +We have had an arrival of gentlemen. +Will you sup? I have some <i>puchero</i> +at hand.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Thanks, señora,’ replied Fernando; +‘I want nothing. You know +that I never pass this way without +calling to see Pepita. I have brought +you a little barrel of the best brandy +that has been tasted at San Juan for +many a year.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Is the brandy for Pepa?’ said +Gil Perez.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Don Gil,’ replied the muleteer, +‘every one gives what he has, and +according to his means.’ Then, turning +to the young girl—‘Pepita,’ he +said, ‘when you were a child you +liked the tarts made in our mountains; +I have brought you some, and +of the best peaches.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Whilst speaking, he drew from +his saddle-bags the little barrel of +brandy, and a dozen square cakes +filled with a thick marmalade, which +seemed particularly grateful to the +gums of Juancito. Then he sat himself +down near Pepa, and looked +proudly at the captain of the waggons.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘How many beasts have you?’ +said the latter.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Fifteen, besides saddle-horses.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Just as many as I have carts. +Not so bad, really. You carry thirty +casks—half a load for one of my waggons. +Pshaw! what can you earn? +A poor trade is yours, my lad, and +you will follow it long before you +grow rich.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘When I am tired of it,’ replied +Fernando, ‘I will try another.’ The +muleteer spoke these words in a singular +tone.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Fernando is stout-hearted,’ said +Doña Ventura, ‘and he will do well +yet; and he will find, somewhere in +his own province, a pretty girl with +a good dowry. Eh, Fernando?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Fernando made no reply, but +pulled down his little pointed hat +over his forehead;—his eyes glittered +like those of a cat. Seizing the guitar, +which lay upon the bench beside +Pepa, he strummed it with an absent +air, like one absorbed by his thoughts. +Juancito, who stood before him, waiting +doubtless for the end of the prelude, +and for the commencement of +some lively mountain ditty, pushed +his arm, and said—‘Fernando, have +you seen the fine presents Gil Perez +has brought us?’ Without raising +his eyes, the muleteer sang, in a low +voice, this verse of an old ballad:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>‘<span lang="es">No estès tan contenta, Juana,</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">En ver me penar por ti;</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">Que lo que hoy fuere de mi,</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">Podrá ser de ti mañana,</span>’<a id='r13'></a><a href='#f13' class='c007'><sup>[13]</sup></a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Then suddenly throwing down the +guitar, he jumped upon the estrade, +extinguished the lamp that burned +before the Madonna, and clapped his +hand to his knife. Pepa took refuge +close to her mother. At the cry she +uttered, Gil Perez stood upon his +guard; but Fernando passed close by +him without looking at him, and +reached the door. ‘Ah, Pepita!’ +muttered he as he went out, ‘you +will drive me to harm!’ And he disappeared.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This stormy episode broke up the +party. Agitated and alarmed, Doña +Ventura and her daughter betook +themselves to their bedchambers. +The travellers wrapped themselves in +their blankets—Mr Pavie establishing +himself, according to his custom, +in their <i>coche-galera</i>, or travelling-carriage, +where he slept but little, +owing to the songs and dancing of +the waggon-drivers, and the screaming +of innumerable parrots. The +night passed without incident, and +at daybreak he was roused by Mateo. +The horses were ready; the San Juan +muleteers were already on their road; +Gil Perez, foot in stirrup, was directing +the departure of his convoy. +That evening the travellers reached +Cordova.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Several months had elapsed since +the scene at the <i>esquina</i>, and Mr +Pavie, after rambling through Chili +and Pern, returned to Santiago, the +capital of the former country. Looking +on, one night, at a dance in a +public garden, he fell in with his old +acquaintance, Don Mateo, somewhat +threadbare, but still a passionate +lover of song and dance. One of the +political changes so common in South +America had driven him across the +Andes. He was an exile, proscribed +in his own country. His party had +fallen, his patrimony had been swallowed +up by fines, and he deemed +himself fortunate to have saved his +neck.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Do you remember,” said Mateo, +as he leaned beside his French friend +upon the parapet bordering the Tajamar, +and gazed at the summits of the +Cordillera, which still reflected a last +gleam of sun—“do you recollect one +evening at the <i>esquina</i>? Well, of all +the persons then assembled under +Doña Ventura’s hospitable roof, and +including her and her daughter, how +many, do you suppose, still live? +Two, you and I! The first scene of +the drama passed before your eyes. +I will narrate those that ensued. You +have not forgotten our merry supper +at the posting-house, Gil Perez and +his waggons, and Fernando, the little +muleteer with the long spurs?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Pavie perfectly remembered all +that had passed at the <i>esquina</i>. Mateo +took up the tale from the moment of +their departure. Although Fernando +and Gil Perez started nearly at the +same moment, they met no more until +they reached Buenos Ayres. The +<i>aria</i> (string of mules) trotted briskly +over the plain, whilst the heavy waggons +lingered in the ruts. Four days +had elapsed since Fernando’s arrival, +when Perez reached his usual halting-ground +near the hill of the Retiro, +and, after turning out his cattle to +graze, rode into the city. As soon as +he was gone, the bullock-drivers, a vagabond +and insubordinate race, gathered +round the camp-fires to discuss +the news that had reached them of +insurrections in the inland provinces. +Most of these wild <i>gauchos</i> felt sorely +tempted to exchange goad for lance, +and join the armed bands then scouring +the country. To gallop in boundless +plains, to pillage isolated farms, +and attack hamlets—such was the +fascinating perspective that offered +itself to their imagination. Whilst +they were debating the probable +course of events in the <i>tierra adentro</i>, +Fernando came by. He was on foot; +his long spurs were still at his heels.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Ha!’ cried the bullock-drivers, +‘here is the little muleteer, the +brandy-merchant from San Juan! +Give us a barrel, Fernando, and we +will drink your health.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Give me something to eat,’ replied +the muleteer, ‘I am fasting since +yesterday.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And cutting a slice off a great +piece of beef that roasted at the fire, +he took one end of it in his fingers, +put the other into his mouth, and +swallowed it at a single gulp, as a +lazzarone swallows an ell of macaroni. +Then he wiped his knife on his +cowskin boot and lay down under a +cart to sleep. When Gil Perez returned +and walked round his camp, +he saw the muleteer, who was snoring +on the grass.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Hallo, Fernando!’ he cried, +‘what do you there, my man?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Resting myself,’ replied Fernando, +rubbing his eyes, ‘I have +passed four days and nights playing +at cards.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Have you won?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Lost everything—my load of +brandy, my mules, all I had in the +world. Lend me twenty dollars, Gil +Perez?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘To gamble them?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Perhaps. See, I was a steady +man; I never played, and you are cause +that I am perhaps about to become a +robber. I have known Pepa from +her childhood; her mother received +me well, saw that I loved her daughter, +and encouraged me to work and +increase my little trade. Every trip +I made I never missed calling at the +<i>esquina</i>, and every trip I found Pepa +prettier than before. She received +me joyfully, and I was happy. But +since two years that you have gone +that road, all is changed. With your +gold chains and silk shawls you have +turned their heads. Lend me twenty +dollars, that I may make them presents +and regain their favour. You +are rich, Gil Perez—you will find a +wife in the towns, at Salta, Cordova, +where you please; I am poor, but I +love Pepita, the only girl who would +not refuse me, ruined though I be.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Surprised at the muleteer’s frank explanation +and request, Gil Perez offered +him the twenty dollars, but laughed +at the idea of abandoning his pretensions +to Pepita. Fernando refused +the money, and departed with a muttered +threat. That night he took to +the plain, mounted on a fine horse and +bearing gold in his girdle—the spoils +of a traveller he had waylaid and murdered. +The die was cast; the honest +muleteer had become a <i>gaucho malo</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'>A few days after this, Fernando +rode up to the <i>esquina</i>. Little Juancito +ran to kiss him. Torribio, the +steward, surprised to see him come +alone, riding a valuable horse and +without his usual retinue of mules and +muleteers, hurried out to meet him. +“<i>Amigo!</i>” he cried, “whence come +you, thus finely equipped? It seems +the San Juan brandy fetches a good +price in the market!” Without replying, +Fernando abruptly opened the +door and addressed the two women, +astonished at his sudden appearance.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The <i>gauchada</i> is about to take +the field,” he said, “and I greatly fear +that one of its earliest visits will be +for you. I have friends in its ranks; +give me your daughter, Doña Ventura, +and I answer for her safety and yours.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Since when are you allied with +the brigands, Fernando?’ indignantly +demanded Doña Ventura.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Pepita,’ said the muleteer, evading +reply, ‘will you have me?—You +tremble—you turn away your head!—Are +you afraid of me, Pepita? Do +you take me for a bandit?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“There was something terrible in +the sound of Fernando’s voice, which +even the passionate love he still felt +for Pepa was insufficient to soften. +The young girl in vain endeavoured +to speak.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Fernando,’ cried Doña Ventura, +‘when last you were here, you left my +house like a madman, your hand on +the haft of your knife; you enter it +to-day like a bandit, with threats upon +your lips. Begone, and return no +more; I need not your protection.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Ha! you mean to say that Gil +Perez will protect you. Reckon upon +that! There are times when fine +shawls and gold chains are not worth +sabre and carbine. After all, I too +have gold! See here. Once more, +Pepita, will you follow me? I am no +longer a muleteer; it was too base a +trade, was it not? Shall I carry you +off on my horse’s crupper into the +sierra of Cordova and to Chili?’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Pepa, frightened at the <i>gaucho’s</i> +fierce voice and vehement manner, +burst into tears and fainted in her +mother’s arms. Fernando hastily left +the house, his love—the last good sentiment +his heart retained—exchanged +for bitter hate.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It was not long after this incident, +early upon a winter’s morning, that +Gil Perez, riding ahead of his waggons, +which had camped on the banks +of the Rio Salado, discerned at the +horizon a dozen black specks that rapidly +approached him. Soon he made +them out to be horsemen, armed some +with lances, others with rifles. Deeming +them suspicious, he rode back and +formed his caravan in order of battle. +The waggons were arranged in a circle, +the bullocks inwards; arms were distributed +to the men, and from between +the waggons the muzzles of pistols +and blunderbusses menaced those who +should assail the fortress. These arrangements +were scarcely made when +the party of horsemen slackened speed, +and one of them rode forward alone. +At twenty paces from the waggons he +drew rein and removed the handkerchief, +which partly concealed his face.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Don Gil,’ cried the horseman, +‘confess that the little muleteer Fernando +has given you a famous fright.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘It is you,’ replied Perez, ‘what +do you here? what do you want of +us?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘I have changed my trade, <i>amigo</i>; +did I not once tell you that when I +should be tired of mule-driving, I had +another trade in view? I am now an +ostrich hunter. A fine flock escaped +from us this morning. Have you not +met it?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Another poor trade that you have +taken to,’ replied Perez. ‘If that be +all you have to say to me, there was no +need to charge down upon us with +your comrades like a band of robbers. +When you first came in sight there +were some ostriches about a mile in +front of me; if those are what you +seek, continue your hunt and leave +us to continue our journey.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“During this parley, the bullock-drivers, +believing danger past, ceased +to stand upon the defensive; Fernando’s +comrades slowly approached and +carelessly mingled with them, rolling +their cigarritos and entering into conversation. +Although suspecting no +treachery, Perez hesitated to resume +his march so long as Fernando and +his band were there. Thus the halt +was prolonged, and the ostriches, no +longer frightened by the creaking of +wheels, reappeared upon a rising +ground behind which they had taken +refuge.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Don Gil,’ exclaimed Fernando, +‘I will wager that my horse, which +has already done ten leagues to-day, +will overtake one of those birds sooner +than yours, fresh though he be.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘I have no time to try,’ replied +Perez, annoyed at the delay; ‘the +place is not safe, and I am in haste to +see the houses of Cordova.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Pshaw! a five minutes’ ride,’ +said the muleteer; ‘come, one gallop, +and I will rid you of my company, +and of that of my friends, with which +you do not seem over and above +pleased.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘So be it then,’ answered Perez, +‘and then I must be off;’ and he +set spurs to his horse. Fernando +rode so close to him that their knees +touched. The <i>gauchos</i> and drivers +shouted to excite the two horses, +which seemed to fly over the plain; +and the ostriches, finding themselves +pursued, fled their fastest, stretching +out their necks, beating the air +with their short wings, and furrowing +the ocean of tall herbage by rapid +zigzags right and left. The two +horsemen gained upon them. The +furious race had lasted at least ten +minutes, when Fernando fell into the +rear. Gil Perez, looking back to calculate +the distance that separated +them, saw him brandishing a set of +balls as big as his fist.<a id='r14'></a><a href='#f14' class='c007'><sup>[14]</sup></a> ‘<i>Amigo</i>,’ +cried he, without stopping, ‘those +balls are big enough to catch a wild +horse.’ Whilst he sought, in his +girdle, the small leaden balls he proposed +throwing round the ostrich’s +neck, his horse fell, his fore-legs entangled +in the ropes that had just +quitted the muleteer’s hands. The +violence of the fall was in proportion +to the rapidity of the ride. On beholding +his rival roll in the dust, +Fernando uttered a triumphant shout. +Perez, who had fallen upon his left +side, sought to extricate his sabre in +order to cut the terrible cord which +shackled his horse’s legs. The poor +brute, panting and covered with foam, +struggled violently for release. Before +Gil Perez could draw his weapon, +the muleteer was on foot and held him +by the throat.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘You are a traitor and a coward!’ +cried the unfortunate Perez, giddy +from his fall, and trying to shake his +enemy off. ‘You have led me into +a snare to murder me!’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘That is not all,’ coolly replied the +muleteer. ‘Look yonder; you see +that smoke, it proceeds from your +waggons. The plain is on fire. ’Tis +you whom I was hunting, <i>carretero</i> +(waggoner); but for you I should +still be a muleteer. I have become +a brigand. I have seen Pepa; she +rejects me. The traitor, I say, is +you, who have ruined all my hopes.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Perez was active and vigorous: on +equal terms his enemy would not have +dared contend with him; but surprise +and terror paralysed his strength. +After deliberately stabbing him, Fernando +passed a rope round his neck, +and, as he still breathed, dragged him +to a neighbouring stream and threw +him into the water.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Gil Perez dead, most of his men, +who had arms and were more than a +match for the banditti, joined the latter, +plundered the waggons, killed the +oxen, and departed with their new +comrades, those who had no horses +riding double. Fernando promised +to take them to a place where they +could mount themselves well. He +kept his word. One night, old Torribio, +who, ever since Fernando’s +visit and the commencement of the +civil war, had kept vigilant watch, +and frequently patrolled the neighbourhood +of the <i>esquina</i>, thought he +heard voices in the forest. He bridled +up the horses, which he always had +ready-saddled in the stable, and entreated +his mistress and her daughter +to escape by the Cordova road. The +two women got upon the same horse; +Torribio, armed with sabre and carbine, +mounted another, to escort them; +Juancito, not understanding the danger, +leaped, light and laughing, into +his saddle, whip in hand, and his sling +over his shoulder. The little party +set out. They would have escaped +an enemy to whom the locality was +not familiar. But Fernando had +placed spies round the posting-house, +and lay in ambush upon the road to +Cordova. A bullet from Torribio’s +carbine grazed the brigand’s cheek; +the next moment the faithful old servant +lay in the road, his skull cleft +by a sabre-cut. Juancito escaped +into the forest. His mother and +sister did the same, but were captured +and taken back to the posting-house, +which was pillaged and afterwards +burnt. The outlaws then departed. +Doña Ventura had supplied them +plentifully with brandy, hoping to +escape during their intoxication, but +Fernando drank nothing. When the +moment came for departure, he lifted +Pepa upon his horse, repulsed with +his foot her despairing mother—who +in vain struggled and clung to her +child—and rode off. Pepita, more +dead than alive, uttered lamentable +cries. The muleteer heeded them +not, but sang the lines he had sung +upon the memorable night when he +found Gil Perez at the posting-house, +and left it with a sombre prediction +that Pepa would drive him to evil.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<span lang="es">No estès tan contenta, Juana,</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">En ver me penar por ti;</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">Que lo que hoy fuere de mi,</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="es">Podrá ser de ti mañana.</span>”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Doña Ventura’s fate is not upon +record; she is believed to have perished +of hunger, misery, and cold. +Juancito lost his way in the pampas. +Although bred in the desert, the poor +boy had not sufficient experience to +guide himself by sun and stars. It +was never known how long he held +out. Not many days after his flight, +there was found, upon the frontier of +the Indian country, a child’s corpse, +which was supposed to be his. A +whip hung from the wrist, and a sling +was over the shoulder. The birds of +prey had made a skeleton of the body.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The fate of poor Pepita was far +worse even than that of her mother +and brother. Forced to follow the +fortunes of the <i>gaucho malo</i> and his +band, she was compelled to enliven +their bivouacs by song and dance. +At first, even the rude desperados +amongst whom she had fallen, were +inclined to pity her sufferings, but +soon they imitated the contempt with +which Fernando treated her. Elegantly +dressed, she accompanied them +everywhere; she was their ballet-dancer +and opera-singer. Her duty +was to amuse those who rarely addressed +but to insult her. She was +known in the country as the wife of +the <i>gaucho malo</i>. Sometimes, in the +night, when the robbers, overcome by +fatigue, slept to the last man, she +might have escaped; but whither +could she fly? Their halts were +generally in places remote from all +habitations; and even had she reached +a farm or village, what sort of welcome +would there have been for the +supposed wife of the <i>gaucho malo</i> and +accomplice of his misdeeds?</p> + +<p class='c009'>“After several months,” Mateo continued, +“passed in rambling about +the plains, Fernando, emboldened by +impunity and success, approached the +villages. Other bands, better organised +and more numerous than his own, +spread terror through the province of +Cordova. He profited by the general +confusion to take share in the fight, +like a privateer who spreads his sails +in the wake of friendly frigates. The +militia, called out to oppose the insurgents +who threatened the town of +Cordova, were beaten. The town +remained in the power of the horsemen +of the plain, and the militia +could not return to their homes, of +which the enemy had taken possession. +They were forced to fly, exchanging +a few parting shots with +roving corps that sought to impede +their escape. I was of the number +of the fugitives. The company to +which I belonged daily diminished. +Every man secretly betook himself to +the place where he hoped an asylum. +Only twenty of us remained together, +resolved to make for the western provinces, +and to cross the Andes into +Chili: we had two hundred leagues +to get over before putting the frontier +between us and the enemy.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“One evening, as we were riding +through the sierra of Cordova, we +noticed a bivouac amongst the rocks. +‘Shall we reconnoitre that camp?’ I +asked of the officer who commanded +us. ‘They are <i>gauchos</i>,’ he replied; +‘it is almost dark, we can pass them +unperceived: the robbers are not fond +of fighting when there is no chance +of booty;’ and we silently continued +our march. By the light of the bivouac +fires, we made out a dozen +horsemen seated on the ground upon +their saddles. Their lances were piled +in a sheaf in the middle of the camp; +before them a woman was dancing, +her figure and movements clearly defined +against the bright fire-light. +They did not hear us; we marched +at a walk, pistol in bridle, hand and +carbine on thigh. We had already +passed the bivouac unperceived, and +were closing up our files preparatory to +starting off at a gallop—it was no use +fighting, the game was already lost—when +a young man in the rearguard +imprudently fired at the group. In +an instant, the <i>gauchos</i> were armed +and on horseback. Then they paused +for a moment to see whence the danger +came. We set up a loud shout, +which the echoes repeated. The <i>gauchos</i> +were terrified. Whilst they hesitated +to assume the offensive, we +turned their camp. They fired half-a-dozen +carbines at us, but hit nobody. +Those who had no firearms went about +and ran, and their example was quickly +followed by the rest of the band. +Their flight was accelerated by the +shots we sent after them. A few fell, +but we did not stop to count the dead. +This useless victory might betray our +flight; our best plan was now to hasten +on through the ravines, and avoid for +the future all similar encounters.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“During the skirmish, the woman +who had been dancing before the fire +had disappeared. We thought no +more of her. Suddenly, as we formed +up, a shadow passed before the head of +the column. ‘Who goes there?’ cried +the officer, and we quickly reloaded. +‘Who goes there?’ he repeated, probing +with his sabre the bushes that bordered +the path. We listened, and presently +we heard a plaintive moan, followed +by sobs. ‘It is a wounded man,’ +said the officer: ‘so much the worse for +him, the devil a doctor have we here!’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Señores caballeros,’ cried the +mysterious being that was thus hid +in the darkness, ‘have pity upon me—save +me! He is dead! I am free! +Ah! mother, mother!’...</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The officer had dismounted; a +young girl threw her arms round his +neck, repeating the words: ‘Save me—he +is dead!’ We had all halted. +‘It is the dancing-girl,’ said the men; +‘she detains us here to give time to +her friends to return. It is the wife +of the <i>gaucho malo</i>.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘I am Pepa Flores,’ she vehemently +replied, ‘the daughter of Doña +Ventura of the <i>esquina</i>! Ah, <i>señores</i>, +you are honest people, you are! +Never, never have I been Fernando’s +wife. Is there none here who knows +Doña Ventura?’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I at once recognised Pepa’s voice. +‘She speaks the truth,’ I cried; ‘I will +answer for her. Come, Pepita, you +have nothing to fear with us.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Fernando had perished in the +skirmish. It was perhaps my hand +that had terminated the career of the +formidable bandit, and liberated Pepita. +When she learned that her mother +was dead—I myself was obliged +to impart to her the mournful fact, +which everybody else knew—she shed +a flood of tears, and begged me to +take her with me. A proscribed fugitive, +I had enough to do to take care +of myself; but how could I resist +the entreaties of an orphan, who had +neither friend nor relative in the +world?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>All the fugitives pitied the poor girl, +and were kind to her. Her character +had been changed, as well it might +be, by her abode with the <i>gaucho malo</i> +and his band. She was no longer the +timid, indolent creature whom Mateo +had known at the posting-house; she +was quick, alert, courageous, and gave +little trouble to anybody. At halts +she made herself useful, and was particularly +grateful and attentive to +Mateo, whom she called her saviour +and liberator. At the town of San +Luis, he would have left her in +charge of a respectable family, but +she wept bitterly, and begged to follow +his fortunes, disastrous though +they were. He was then for the first +time convinced that she had never +loved either Fernando or Gil Perez. +The poor girl had attached herself to +the man who had delivered her from +dreadful captivity, and shown her disinterested +kindness. At Mendoza he +again attempted to prevail on her to +accept of an asylum under a friendly +roof, but with no better success than +at San Luis. The season was far advanced, +snow rendered the passage of +the Andes dangerous and very painful. +Mateo’s companions urged her to wait +till spring, when she might rejoin them +at Santiago. She would not hear of +delay. Her vision was fixed upon +Chili and its Paradise Valley, Valparaiso. +Providing themselves with +sheepskins for protection against the +cold, and abandoning their arms, now +a useless encumbrance, the party commenced +the toilsome ascent. They got +on pretty well until they reached the +region of snow. There they were +obliged to quit their horses, and to +climb on foot the steep and frozen +acclivities, bearing on their shoulders +heavy loads of provisions and fuel, +their legs wrapped in fur, and handkerchiefs +tied over their ears. Pepita, +her head and neck enveloped in a large +shawl, marched stoutly along, and often +led the way, bounding like a mountain +goat. Three days passed thus. +There were frequent falls upon the +frozen snow, many narrow escapes +from death in a torrent, or over a +precipice. The enormous condor hovered +over the heads of the weary pilgrims, +as if hoping a repast at their +expense. At last they reached the +foot of the Cumbre, the last steep +they had to climb before commencing +their descent into a milder climate, +and a land of refuge. An icy wind +blew, a driving snow fell: it was +doubtful whether the Cumbre could +be ascended upon the morrow. The +wanderers halted early, in a hut +known by the ominous name of <i>Casucha +de Calavera</i> (the Cabin of the Skull). +They had still a little wine in their +ox-horns, which they heated and +drank, and then wrapped themselves +in their blankets and lay down to +sleep. At midnight the wind was +still high, but the snow had ceased, +and they determined to proceed. The +reflection of the sun from the snow +had so fatigued their eyes, that they +travelled in the night as often as they +could safely do so. Their next stage +was almost perpendicular, but it was +unbroken by precipices, and they +thought they might risk progress. +They would have done more prudently +to await daylight, but they were eager +to cross the frontier—to reach the summit +of the Cumbre, the boundary-line +between Chili and the Argentine provinces. +They began to ascend. Poor +Pepa’s feet were swollen, and she suffered +in walking, but she was as courageous +as ever, and made light of +hardship. Soon the travellers entered +a dense fog: they no longer saw the +stars; all around them was white as +a shroud. The fog became sleet; they +plodded wearily on, supporting themselves +with their sticks, sometimes on +hands and knees.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I was so weary,” said Mateo, +“that I thought I was in a dream. +I had no sensation in my body, but +my head was very painful. A few +paces off, I heard the frozen snow +crack gently under Pepa’s feet, and +I discerned her form accompanying +me like my shadow. Snow succeeded +the sleet; it fell in heavy flakes, +and accumulated so rapidly as to +threaten burial to laggards. The +path—or rather the track—was invisible; +in spite of all my efforts to +follow it, I felt that I was deviating. +I called to Pepa, but neither her +voice nor the voices of my comrades +replied; we were scattered. I walked +on at random, I know not for how +long. When daylight came, I found +myself in a deep ravine, amidst snowdrifts +and glaciers. Right and left, +as far as I could see, was a vista of +similar valleys. Not a vestige of Pepa +or of my comrades. My strength +failed me. With great difficulty I +crept into a sort of cave amongst the +rocks. There I fell asleep.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>He would have perished but for +Pepa, who, on discovering his absence, +spurred his comrades, by her +reproaches, to a search for the friend +whom their own terrible sufferings +and fatigues would have induced +them to abandon. There was, indeed, +little chance of finding and +saving him, and the men would have +been fully justified in consulting their +own safety, and pushing forwards. +But a woman’s courage shamed them. +Pepa, <i>esperaba desesperada</i>—despairing, +she still hoped. She nobly paid +her debt of gratitude to her deliverer. +His life was saved, but hers +was lost. Her hands and face cut +and bleeding from the cold, her legs +scarcely able to support her, she +traced him out. It was still in time; +friction restored him to consciousness. +But the sunlight had scarcely +greeted his eyes, when a cry of distress +reached his ears. A treacherous +crust of snow, covering a crevice +of incalculable depth, gave way beneath +Pepa’s feet, and she disappeared +for ever.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The whole of this sketch—of which +we have given but a bare outline, +omitting many incidents—is full of +life, interest, and character, although +it is to be remarked and regretted +that Mr Pavie’s style is deficient in +that terseness and vigour which enhance +the fascination of narratives of +adventure. He is too diffuse and +explicit, dwells too lovingly upon +details, distrusts his readers’ intelligence, +and is rather sentimental than +energetic. “Pepita” is decidedly the +best of his South American sketches. +That entitled “The Pinchegras” has +interest. For several years after the +battle of Ayacucho had finally overthrown +Spanish dominion in Chili, +an armed band, known as the Pinchegras, +from the name of their chief, +still upheld the banner of Castile. +Pablo Pinchegra began his singular +career with his brothers and a few +vagabonds for sole followers. They +formed a mere gang of robbers. Presently +he was joined by several +Indian caciques and their warriors, +and then by a Spaniard named Zinozain +and five-and-twenty men, who +carried arms in the names of Ferdinand +and Spain. Thenceforward Pinchegra +adopted the same rallying +cry; at the end of 1825 the “royalist +army” numbered eight hundred men, +including Indians, and gained an important +advantage over the Chilian +troops at Longabi, where a squadron +of cavalry was annihilated by the +long lances of the Indians. The +Spanish faction in Chili, encouraged +by this unexpected success, recognised +Pinchegra as their champion, +and supplied him with arms and +munitions of war. Deserters from +the army of the Republic, adventurers +of all kinds, flocked to his standard, +beneath which a thousand men were +soon ranged. With these and his +Indian allies to support him, he found +himself master of a large track of +country, attacked and pillaged towns, +carried off cattle and women to his +camp in the Andes, and made his +name everywhere dreaded. It was +found necessary to send large bodies +of troops against him. These accomplished +little; and it was not until +1832 that his band was completely +defeated and broken up—or rather, +cut to pieces—he himself having previously +been betrayed to his enemies, +and shot. No quarter was given to +the fugitives, and the victor’s bulletin +(but Spanish bulletins are proverbially +mendacious) stated that only +four men of the army—for it then +really was a small army—escaped +the slaughter. The Indian auxiliaries +had run at the beginning of the +action. With one of the four survivors, +a <i>caudillo</i>, or chief of some +mark, named Don Vicente, Mr Pavie +fell in at Mendoza, during the winter +he passed there. The Pinchegra was +silent and mysterious enough; but a +young French physician, settled in +the place, told his countryman the +history of the last body of men that +maintained with arms the right of +Spain to her South American colonies. +It is an interesting narrative, comprising +much personal adventure, and +numerous romantic episodes. The +story of <i>Batallion</i>, an Indian foundling, +adopted by a cavalry regiment, +in whose ranks he serves and is +slain, and that of Rosita, a lovely +<i>Limeña</i> who loved and was abandoned +by an English naval officer, and +whom Mr Pavie saw in the madhouse +at Lima, where she inquired of every +foreign visitor whether the frigate +had returned, complete the South +American portion of a very interesting +book.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span> + <h2 class='c002'>NAPOLEON AND SIR HUDSON LOWE.<a id='r15'></a><a href='#f15' class='c007'><sup>[15]</sup></a></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>One of the most distinguishing features +of public life in England is the +judgment exercised upon the character +of its public men. In other countries +the public man is generally seen +through a haze of opinion. The minister +of a foreign monarchy stands +in the clouded light of the throne. +If eminent, his fame is the result of +secret councils, unknown circumstances, +and personal influences almost +purposely hidden from the national +mind. If unsuccessful, his +failures are sheltered under his partnership +with the higher powers. He +is hidden in the curtains of the Cabinet. +At all events, he divides this +responsibility with the monarch whose +choice has placed him in office, and +whose influence retains him in power. +There are no publications of private +correspondence, no despatches, except +garbled ones; no secret instructions, +hereafter to be developed. All the +materials for forming a true estimate +of the minister are withheld, by suppressing +all the materials for forming +a true estimate of the man. Even if +a biography of the individual is written, +either by a friend or an enemy, +it is generally greatly destitute of that +evidence from which alone posterity +can come to a rational conclusion. +But in England—and it is to the honour +of England—the career of the +public man is almost incapable of misconception. +He has seldom been chosen +by the caprice of power. He must have +given pledges as to character. Parliament +has been the point from which +he has launched into the navigation +of public life; his principles must have +undergone a probation before his possession +of office, and the whole course +of his after life is registered by correspondences, +despatches, and authentic +memorials, which may be made +public at the requisition of any member +of the Legislature. The twofold +advantage of this publicity is, that +public justice is sure to be done to +character, and that every man acts +under a sense of that enlarged responsibility +which is the safest guardian +of public honour. If even to this feeling +there may be exceptions, this view +is the true theory of Ministerial life; +and, among the imperfect motives of +all human virtue, it is not the least +that the documents are in existence, +hourly accumulating, and sure to be +brought forward, which shall testify +to the nation and the world against +every act of individual shame.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The record to which we now advert +is a collection of letters, despatches, +and orders, on a subject which formed +some years ago the chief topic of +Europe—the detention of Napoleon at +St Helena. The treatment by the +British officer to whom he was given +in charge, the commands of Government, +and the character of his captivity, +are now, for the first time, laid +before the world on the testimony of +unanswerable documents; and an authentic +form is now given to the narrative +of that melancholy period which +closed on the most eventful, disturbing, +changeful, and dazzling era of +Europe for a thousand years; the fifth +act of the most magnificent drama of +the modern world; the thunderstorm +which, combining all the influences of +a world long reeking with iniquity, +the feculence of earth with the fires of +heaven, at last burst down, perhaps +to purify the moral atmosphere, or +perhaps to warn nations of the still +deeper vengeance to come, and startle +them into regeneration.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We now give a brief sketch of the +governor of St Helena. Sir Hudson +Lowe was born in Ireland, in Galway, +in July 1769. His father was +an Englishman, who had served as a +medical officer with the British troops +in the Seven Years’ War, and whose +last service was as head of the medical +department in the garrison of Gibraltar, +where he died in 1801.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Shortly after the birth of Sir Hudson +Lowe, his father’s regiment, the +50th, being ordered to the West Indies, +he was taken out with it, and thus +underwent the first hazard of a life +of soldiership. On his return to England +he was made an ensign in the +East Devon Militia—probably the +youngest in the service, for he was +but twelve years old. In 1787 he +was appointed to an ensigncy in the +50th regiment, then at Gibraltar—arriving +while the place was still in +ruinous confusion from the memorable +siege. “The whole rock was +covered with fragments of broken +shells and shot; and there was not a +house in the town, nor a building +within the batteries, which did not +bear the marks of its devastation.” +O’Hara succeeded to Elliot as the +governor, and seemed resolved to signalise +himself by his discipline. “I +was once,” says Sir Hudson, “proceeding +with the escort, in order to reach +the barrier-gate by daybreak, with +my head down, to stem, as well as I +was able, the tremendous gusts of rain +and wind, when I heard myself very +sharply spoken to by a mounted officer, +who desired me to ‘hold up my head +and look what I was about, for it was +not as a mere matter of form I was +ordered on that duty.’” This officer +was General O’Hara. “This,” says +the narrator, “is the only <i>real rebuke</i> +I ever experienced from a superior +officer during the whole course of my +military life.” He approves of the +rebuke. On another occasion, on +parade, when the late Duke of Kent +happened to have done something +which displeased the General—on a +rebuke, in the presence of the officers, +the Prince said, “I hope, sir, +I shall always do my duty.” The +General’s reply was, “And if you +don’t, I shall make you do it.” It, +however, happened that this man +of fierce tongue showed himself at +least <i>unlucky</i> in the field; for, having +been sent to take the command of +Toulon, then in possession of the +Allies, he was taken prisoner in an +unsuccessful sortie, and carried off by +the besiegers.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On leave of absence, after four +years’ duty in the garrison, Lowe, +then a lieutenant, travelled into +France and Italy, and made himself +master of the languages of both; an +accomplishment of prime value to a +soldier, and which was the pivot of +his fortunes. On his return to Gibraltar, +the war having broken out, the +50th was ordered to Corsica, and +garrisoned Ajaccio—the residence of +that family who were afterwards to +enjoy such splendid fortune.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In a memorandum he says, “We +were all delighted with our change of +quarters to Ajaccio. The town was +well laid out, spacious, well built, +and the citadel had excellent accommodations, +but not sufficient for all +the officers. One of the best houses +was occupied by the mother and sisters +of Bonaparte. An officer of the +50th, of the name of Ford, was, for a +short time, quartered in the house, +and spoke with much satisfaction of +the kind manner in which the family +acted towards him. The young girls—for +such they were at that time—ran +slipshod about the house, but hardly +any notice was taken of them. There +were several balls and parties given +after our arrival there, but Madame +Bonaparte was not invited to them, +on account of the situation of her two +sons (in France). She shortly after +removed to Cargese, originally a +Greek colony, to a house which had +been built or occupied by Count Marbœuf +while in the administration of +that part of the island. It is not +from my own recollection I mention +those circumstances, because, strange +as it may appear, I was not aware +of the residence of any of the Bonaparte +family at Ajaccio during nearly +two years when we were in garrison +in that town. I used frequently to +hear Napoleon spoken of, but not as +connected with the exploits generally +mentioned as giving the first celebrity +to his name—his share in the expulsion +of the British from Toulon.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The 50th subsequently served in +Elba, Lisbon, and Minorca. To this +last place flocked a large body of Corsican +emigrants, who were formed into +a corps called the Corsican Rangers, +the charge of which was intrusted to +Lowe, then a captain. In 1800 they +were attached to the Egyptian Expedition +under Abercromby, Lowe having +the temporary rank of major. In the +famous landing at Aboukir, on the +8th of March 1801—one of the most +brilliant exploits ever performed by +an army—the Corsican Rangers fought +on the right of the Guards, and were +warmly engaged; they were present +also at the battle of Alexandria (March +21, 1801), when the dashing attack of +the French on the English lines was +most gallantly defeated;—an action +which, in fact, involved the conquest of +Egypt, for the French fought no more, +the rest of the campaign being a succession +of marches and capitulations. +In this campaign the Major had the +good fortune to save Sir Sydney +Smith’s life; for a picket, mistaking +Sir Sydney for a French officer, from +his wearing a cocked hat (the English +wearing round hats), levelled +their muskets at him, when Lowe +struck up their pieces and saved him. +His activity in command of the outposts +received the flattering expression +from General Moore—“Lowe, +when you are at the outposts, I always +feel sure of a good night’s rest.” +Moore, in writing to Lowe’s father, +said—“In Sir Ralph Abercromby he +lost, in common with many others, a +good friend; but his conduct has +been so conspicuously good, that I +hope he will meet with the reward +he merits.” In Sir Robert Wilson’s +history of the campaign, Lowe is mentioned +as “having always gained the +highest approbation,” and his Corsican +Rangers as exciting, from their +conduct and appearance, “the general +admiration.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>On the Peace of Amiens they were +disbanded, but Lowe was confirmed +in his rank of Major-Commandant; +and after being placed on half-pay, +was appointed to the 7th or Royal +Fusileers, on Moore’s recommendation; +adding, “It is nothing more +than you deserve; and if I have been +at all instrumental in bringing it about, +I shall think the better of myself for +it.” This generous testimony continued +to influence Lowe’s fortunes; +for on his arrival in England, in 1802, +he was appointed one of the permanent +Assistants Quartermaster-General. +“I have known you,” said +Moore, “a long time; and I am +confident your conduct, in whatever +situation you may be placed, will be +such as to do honour to those who +have recommended you.” He soon +obtained a mark of still higher confidence. +Before he had been many +weeks in England, he was sent on a +secret mission to Portugal, for the +purpose of ascertaining the state of +Oporto and the neighbouring cities. +On this occasion he expressed his +opinion of the practicability of defending +the country by united British +and Portuguese. Thus he gave an +opinion contradictory to that of Europe, +but subsequently realised with +the most admirable success by Wellington.</p> + +<p class='c009'>He then proceeded to the Mediterranean, +with an order to raise another +regiment of Corsican Rangers. In +the course of service with this corps, +he commanded at Capri, in the Bay +of Naples; and as the loss of this +place formed one of the chief themes +of foreign obloquy on this officer, we +enter into a slight statement of the +facts, less for the clearance of his character, +than for the more important +purpose of showing how truth may be +mutilated, partly by negligence in the +general narrative, and partly by exaggeration +in the personal enemy.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The island of Capri, in May 1806, +had surrendered to a British squadron. +Its possession was of value as blocking +up the Bay of Naples. Colonel +Lowe, with five companies of his regiment, +and a small detachment of +artillery, were sent in May to garrison +the island. The whole regiment +was subsequently sent. In August, +Murat took possession of the kingdom +of Naples, and his first expedition was +to Capri, whose possession by a British +force, seen from the windows of his +palace, continually molested him. Accordingly, +on the 4th of October, an embarkation +under General Lamarque +attempted a landing near the town +of Capri. Lowe with his Rangers +hastened to the spot, and drove the +enemy back to their ships. The island +is three miles long, and about two +miles across, and had 4000 inhabitants. +Lowe had demanded a force +of 2190 men for its defence. The +whole number under his command +were 1400, of whom 800 were a regiment +of Maltese, of a miscellaneous +description, and but imperfectly disciplined, +though commanded by a gallant +officer, Major Hammill. Lowe +placed this regiment in Ana-Capri, an +elevated district, on a platform of rock, +to be ascended only by 500 steps of +stone. The French landed 2000 men +there. The Maltese regiment dispersed +themselves, notwithstanding +the utmost efforts of Major Hammill, +who, disdaining to follow their flight, +was killed; finally, the whole of the +Maltese regiment were taken prisoners. +Thus the 1400 men were +reduced to 600, in the presence of a +French force of 3000! Lowe’s object +was now necessarily confined to defending +the town of Capri, which he +did vigorously, for ten days of frequent +attacks, in the hope of being +succoured by the English squadron, +which would have turned the tables +on the besiegers, and caught the +French General in a trap. But, from +some cause not easily accountable, +the fleet did not appear, and the Corsican +Rangers were left to the rotten +and unprepared ramparts of the town. +On the 15th the French cannon had +made a practicable breach. Lowe +still held out, and attempted to erect +new defences under the fire of the +French guns; but the walls were crumbling, +and the cannon of the town +were rendered nearly unserviceable by +the enemy’s fire. The French flotilla +also approached. In the evening Lamarque +sent in a flag of truce, demanding +the surrender of the garrison +as prisoners of war, with the exception +of Lowe and five or six of his +officers. Lowe would permit no distinction +between his officers and soldiers, +nor suffer the words “prisoner +of war,” positively refusing to accept +of any other terms than “to evacuate +his post with his arms and baggage.” +On these terms alone the town was +surrendered, and on the 20th the garrison +embarked at the Marina, “with +all the honours of war.” In addition, +it deserves to be remembered that, on +Lamarque’s demanding that several +of the foreigners, who had enlisted in +the British service while prisoners, +should be given up to him, Lowe’s +spirited answer was, “You may shoot +<i>me</i>, but I will never give up a single +man.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>On this occasion he received many +flattering letters on his defence of the +island under such difficulties; and +among the rest, one from Major-General +Lord Forbes, expressing the sense +which must be entertained by his superior, +Sir John Stuart, “of the unremitting +zeal, ability, and judgment +which his conduct had displayed, under +the trying circumstances of Capri.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>After various services on the Italian +coast, Colonel Lowe with his +regiment was ordered on an expedition +against the Ionian Islands, then +garrisoned by the French. On their +conquest, he was appointed governor +of Cephalonia and Ithaca, with a recommendatory +circular from General +Oswald, commanding the expedition, +and congratulating the people on the +government of an officer “who had +shown himself the common father of +all ranks and classes of their communities.” +In 1812 he obtained the +rank of full Colonel, and returned on +leave to England. “I was then,” +he says, “in my twenty-fourth year +of service, and had never been absent +a single day from my public duty +since the commencement of the war +in 1793. I had been in England only +once during that time.” His services +were still required by Government in +matters of importance; in inspecting +foreign regiments to be taken into +English pay; in attendance on the negotiations +for the accession of Sweden +to the Grand Alliance, &c. &c. At +the Swedish Court he met the “Queen +of the Blues,” the celebrated Madame +de Stael, talking politics as usual. She +had begun her performances in Sweden +with writing a letter of thirty pages +to Bernadotte, <i>instructing him</i> how to +govern the Swedes; but she was not +always guilty of this extravagance of +<i>presumption</i>. Silly in her political +ambition, she was hospitable in her +home. A little theatre was formed +in her house—for the French, even in +exile, cannot live without the follies +of the theatre—where she and her +daughter exhibited scenes from the +<i>Iphigenie</i> of Racine. How her physiognomy +might have agreed with the +requisitions of the stage, it is difficult +to conjecture, for Nature never clothed +a female with a more startling exterior. +She afterwards performed in a +farce of her own, in which her daughter +exhibited as a dancer! And those +were the entertainments for ambassadors +and princes!—for Bernadotte, +then Prince-Royal, came in, but soon +disappeared. We should by no means +wish to see the manners of foreign life +adopted by the pliancy of Englishwomen.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The prince is thus described: “I +have never seen so remarkable a +countenance as that of Bernadotte; +an aquiline nose of most extraordinary +dimensions—eyes full of fire—a +penetrating look—with a countenance +darker than that of any Spaniard—and +hair so black that the portrait-painters +can find no tint dark enough to +give its right hue: it forms a vast +bushy protuberance round his head, +and he takes great pains, I understand, +to have it arranged in proper +form.” When we had the honour of +seeing the prince, which we did in +Pomerania, when he was about to +march his army to the camp of the +Allies, every lock of his hair was +curled like a Brutus bust displayed +in the window of a Parisian <i>perruquier</i>. +From Sweden Colonel Lowe +was summoned by Lord Cathcart, +then ambassador to Russia, to join +him at the Imperial headquarters in +Poland. After an interview with the +Czar, he joined the Allied troops, and +was present at the hard-fought battle +of Bautzen on the 20th and 21st of +May. Here he first saw that extraordinary +man, whom he afterwards was to +see under such extraordinary circumstances +of change. In his correspondence +with Lord Bathurst, the Colonel +says—“Between the town of +Bautzen and the position of the Allies +is a long elevated ridge.... +In the morning a body of the enemy’s +troops was observed to be formed on +its crest. In their front a small group +was collected, which by our spyglasses +we discovered to be persons +of consequence in their army. Among +them was most clearly distinguishable +Napoleon himself. He advanced +about forty or fifty paces, accompanied +only by one of his marshals +(conjectured to have been Beauharnais), +with whom he remained in conversation, +walking backwards and +forwards (having dismounted) for +nearly an hour.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I was on an advanced battery +in front of our position, and had +a most distinct view of him. He +was dressed in a plain uniform +coat, and a star, with a plain hat, +different from that of his marshals +and generals (which were feathered); +his air and manner so perfectly +resembling the portraits that +there was no possibility of mistake. +He appeared to me conversing on +some indifferent subject; very rarely +looking towards our position, of which, +however, the situation in which he +stood commanded a most comprehensive +and distinct view.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In October, through Sir C. Stewart +(now Marquis of Londonderry), he +was attached to the army under that +great and bold soldier, Marshal +Blucher, and was with him in every +battle from Leipsic to Paris. His +description of the horrors of the +French retreat, after the battle of +Leipsic, unfolds a dreadful picture of +the sufferings of war. “For an extent +of fifty miles, on the French route, +there were carcasses of dead and +dying horses without number; bodies +of men, who had been either killed, or +died of hunger, sickness, and fatigue, +lying in the roads and ditches; parties +of prisoners and stragglers brought +in by the Cossacks; blown-up ammunition +waggons, in such numbers as +absolutely to obstruct the road.... +Pillaged and burning towns and villages +marked, at the same time, the +ferocity with which the enemy had +conducted himself.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In the close of this memorable +year, Colonel Lowe was ordered to +Holland on a commission for organising +the Dutch troops who were to +join Sir Thomas Graham’s army; but +(as it appears), at his own request, +his destination was changed for the +Prussian army, under Blucher, then +crossing the Rhine. He was present +at all the battles fought by that army +on their march through France, forming, +with its four German actions, no +less than <i>thirteen</i>—of which <i>eleven</i> +were fought against Napoleon in +person.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In all those campaigns he gallantly +took the soldier’s share, being constantly +at the Marshal’s side; being +present, on one occasion, when he +was wounded; on another, when the +Cossack orderly was shot beside him; +and on two others, when he narrowly +escaped being made prisoner, being +obliged to make a run of it, with the +whole of his retinue, through a party +of the enemy; Bonaparte also having +been nearly taken by him in the same +way, on the same day. He was present +at the conferences of Chatillon, +where he strongly joined those opinions +which were in favour of the +“March to Paris;” and he had the +honour of bearing the despatch to +England announcing the abdication +of Napoleon; which was instantly +published from the Foreign Office, in +a “Gazette Extraordinary.” Colonel +Lowe was received with great distinction. +The Prince-Regent immediately +knighted him; and the Prussian +order of Military Merit was conferred +on him, with the order of St George +from the Emperor of Russia.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In 1814 Sir Hudson Lowe was +promoted to the rank of major-general, +and appointed quartermaster-general +to the British troops in the +Netherlands, commanded by the +Prince of Orange. In that capacity +he visited the fortresses on the frontier, +and drew up reports on their restoration. +It is remarkable that among +his plans was the recommendation of +building a Work at Mont <i>St Jean</i>, as +the commanding point at the junction +of the two principal roads from the +French frontier, on the side of Namur +and Charleroi, to Brussels, and the +direction in which an army must move +for the invasion of Belgium. How +much earlier the battle of Waterloo +would have terminated, and how +many gallant lives might have been +saved by the possession of a fortress +in the very key of the position, we +may conjecture from the defence of +Hougomont, where the walls of a +mere farmyard, defended by brave +men, were sufficient to resist the +entire left wing of the enemy during +that whole hard-fought, decisive, and +illustrious day.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The news of Napoleon’s escape from +Elba roused all Europe. It was at +once the most dexterous performance, +and the most unwise act, of the great +charlatan of empire. He ought to +have delayed it, at least for a year. +The negotiators at Vienna were already +on the verge of discontents +which might have broken up the +general alliance; the troops were on +the point of marching to their homes: +thus Europe was about to be left without +defence, or even to a renewal of +hostilities. But the escape of Napoleon +sobered all. The universal peril +produced the universal reconciliation. +And the Manifesto was issued in the +shape of a universal declaration, proclaiming +Napoleon Bonaparte the +enemy of mankind.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The position of Sir Hudson Lowe +at Brussels made his advice of importance. +The question was, where +the Allied armies should expect the +attack? The Prussian generals were +of opinion that they should be prepared +on the side of Switzerland and +Mayence. Sir Hudson Lowe, more +sagaciously, affirmed that Brussels +would be the object. Count Gneisenau, +the Prussian quartermaster-general, +finally decided to wait for +the opinion of the Duke of Wellington +on his arrival in the Netherlands. +At this period, while matters remained +in a state of uncertainty as to the +movements of France, Sir Hudson +Lowe was offered the command of the +British troops at Genoa, intended to +act with the Austro-Sardinian army, +and the squadron under Lord Exmouth, +against the south of France. +Unwilling to quit the great Duke, he +waited on him for his opinion. As +all recollections of Wellington are +dear to his country, we give his few +words, in which, after saying that Sir +W. Delancy (as his successor) might +not at once be <i>au fait</i> at the business +of the Office, and as Sir G. Murray, +“who had been with him for six +years, was only on his return from +Canada, still he did <i>a good deal of +his own business</i>, and <i>could do business +with any one</i>.” In short, “it was a +case that must be left to himself.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Accordingly, he remained with the +Duke until the beginning of June, and +then went to take his command. On +his way through Germany, he met at +the Imperial headquarters Blucher, +Schwartzenberg, and the Czar. With +the last he had the honour of a conversation. +The Czar received him in +his cabinet, quite alone; took him by +the hand; said that he was glad to +see him, but that it was an unfortunate +circumstance which compelled +him (the Czar) to come forward; that +oceans of blood might be again spilt; +but that, while that man (Napoleon) +lived, there would be no hope of repose +for Europe; that armies must be +kept up by every nation on a war +footing; and that, in short, there +appeared no other alternative than +carrying on the war with vigour, and +thus bringing it to the speedier close. +The Czar spoke in English. He asked +many other questions; but seemed +most gratified by knowing that the +force under the Duke of Wellington, +instead of being 60,000 men, was, +with the Allied forces of the Netherlands, +not less than 100,000.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On reaching Genoa, the expedition +sailed to the south of France; but all +the cities having suddenly hoisted the +white flag, the war was at an end.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Now began the only portion of his +prosperous and active career, which +could be called trying and vexatious. +On the 1st of August 1815 he received +an order to return immediately +to London, for the purpose of taking +charge of Napoleon Bonaparte.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On his arrival in Paris he had +communications with all the Cabinet. +Lord Castlereagh asked him his opinion +of the possibility of Napoleon’s +escape. He answered that he could +see none, except in case of a mutiny, +of which there had been two instances +at St Helena. But on being informed +of the nature of the intended garrison, +he answered that its chance would be +proportionably diminished. This was +the only conversation which he ever +had with Lord Castlereagh. On reaching +London, he received the Ministerial +orders for the charge of his memorable +prisoner. By Lord Liverpool’s +authority, he was told that if +he remained in charge for three years, +the royal confidence, and, we presume, +the royal reward, “should not +stop there.” Lord Ellenborough, +Chief-Justice, assured him, “that in +the execution of the duty the law +would give him every support.” On +the 23d of August, the Directors of +the East India Company appointed +him governor of St Helena; the command +of the troops, with the local +rank of lieutenant-general, was given +to him; and his salary was fixed at +£12,000 a-year.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The regulations for the safe keeping +of Napoleon, adopted by the +Secretary of War and Colonies, Lord +Bathurst, and delivered to Sir George +Cockburn, were (in outline) as follows:—</p> + +<p class='c009'>1. When General Bonaparte shall +be removed from the Bellerophon to +the Northumberland, there shall be +an examination of the effects which +the General shall have brought with +him.</p> + +<p class='c009'>2. All articles of furniture, books, +and wine, which the General shall +have brought, shall be transhipped to +the Northumberland.</p> + +<p class='c009'>3. Under the head of furniture is +the plate, provided it be not to such +an amount as to bespeak it rather an +article of convertible property than +for domestic use.</p> + +<p class='c009'>4. His money, diamonds, and negotiable +bills of exchange, are to be +given up. The admiral will explain +to him that it is by no means the intention +of Government to confiscate +his property, but simply to prevent its +being converted into an instrument +of escape.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The remainder consists of details. +In the event of his death, the disposition +of his property was to be determined +by his will, which would be +strictly attended to.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bonaparte was to be always attended +by a military officer; and if he +was permitted to pass the boundaries +allotted to him, the officer was to be +attended by an Orderly. No individual +of his suite was to be carried to +St Helena but with his own consent, +it being explained to him that he must +be subject to the restraints necessary +for the security of Bonaparte’s person. +All letters addressed to him +were to be delivered to the admiral, +or governor, and read by them. Bonaparte +must be informed, that any +representation addressed to Government +would be received and transmitted, +but must be transmitted open +to the governor and admiral’s inspection, +that they might be enabled to +transmit answers to any objections. +If Bonaparte were to be attacked +with serious illness, the governor and +admiral were each to direct a medical +person, in addition to his own physician, +to attend him, and desire them to +report daily on the state of his health. +Finally, in the event of his death, the +admiral was to give orders for the +conveyance of his body to England.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It would be difficult to conceive +arrangements less severe, consistently +with the urgent necessity of preventing +another war.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On the embarkation on board the +Northumberland, the arms were to be +taken from the French officers on +board; but to be packed carefully, +and put into the charge of the captain. +Napoleon’s sword was not taken +from him, and the swords of the officers +were restored on their arrival at +St Helena. Of this order, Count +Montholon made a handsome melodramatic +story, in the following +style: “His lordship (Lord Keith) +said to him, in a voice suppressed +(assourdie) by vivid emotion, ‘England +demands your sword.’ The Emperor, +with a convulsive movement, +dropped his hand on that sword, +which an Englishman <i>dared</i> to demand. +The expression of his look +was his sole answer. It had never +been more powerful, more <i>superhuman</i> +(sur-humaine). The old admiral felt +thunderstruck (foudroyé). His tall +figure shrank; his head, whitened by +age, fell upon his bosom, like that of +a criminal humbled before his condemnation.” +This theatric affair Mr Forsyth +declares to be <i>pure fiction</i>. The +story is contradicted even by Las +Cases, who says, in his journal—“I +asked, whether it was possible that +they would go so far as to deprive the +Emperor of his sword? The admiral +replied that <i>it</i> would be respected; +but that Napoleon was the only person +excepted, as all the rest would be +disarmed.” The perpetual habit of +frequenting the theatre spoils all the +taste of France. The simplest action +of life must be told in rhodomontade, +and even the gravest facts must be +dressed up in the frippery of fiction.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On the 7th of August 1815, Bonaparte +was removed on board of the +Northumberland, with a suite of +twenty-five persons, including Count +and Countess Bertrand, with their +three children; Count and Countess +Montholon, with one child; and Count +de Las Cases, with his son, a boy of +fourteen. As Mengeaud, the surgeon +who had accompanied him from +Rochefort was unwilling to go to St +Helena; O’Meara, the surgeon of the +Bellerophon, was chosen by Bonaparte, +and allowed by Lord Keith to +attend him.</p> + +<p class='c009'>They hove to at Madeira for refreshments, +and landed at St Helena +on the 15th of October.</p> + +<p class='c009'>A letter of O’Meara to a Mr Finlayson +at the Admiralty, gives a characteristic +detail of the voyage. “During +the passage the ladies were either +ill the whole time, or fancied themselves +to be so; in either of which +cases, it was necessary to give them +medicine, in the choice of which it +was extremely difficult to meet their +tastes or humours, or their ever-unceasing +caprice. What was most +extraordinary, they never complained +of loss of appetite. They generally +ate of every dish at a profusely supplied +table, of different meats, twice +every day, besides occasional tiffins, +bowls of soup, &c. They mostly +hate each other, and I am the depositary +of their complaints—especially +Madame Bertrand’s, who is like a +tigress deprived of her young, when +she perceives me doing any service +for Madame Montholon. The latter, +to tell the truth, is not so whimsical, +nor subject to so many fits of rage as +the other.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Bonaparte was nearly the entire of +the time in perfect health. During +the passage, Napoleon almost invariably +did not appear out in the after-cabin, +before twelve; breakfasted +either in bed or in his own cabin +about eleven; dined with the admiral +about five; stayed about half an +hour at dinner, then left the table +and proceeded to the quarter-deck, +where he generally spent a couple of +hours, either in walking, or else leaning +against the breech of one of the +guns, talking to De las Cases. He +generally spoke a few words to every +officer who could understand him; +and, according to his custom, was +very inquisitive relative to various +objects. His suite, until the day before +we landed (three days after our +arrival), invariably kept their hats off +while speaking to him, and then, by +his directions, remained covered. He +professes his intention, I am informed, +to drop the name of Bonaparte, and +to assume that of a colonel he was +very partial to, and who was killed +in Italy.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He is to proceed in a few days to +Longwood, the present seat of the +Lieutenant-governor, where there is +a plain of above a mile and a half in +length, with trees (a great rarity +here) on it. He is to have a captain +constantly in the house with him, and +he is also to be accompanied by one +whenever he goes out. None of his +staff are to go out, unless accompanied +by an English officer or soldier.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I had a long conversation with +him the day before yesterday. Among +other remarks he observed, ‘Why, +your Government have not taken the +most economical method of providing +for me. They send me to a place +where every necessary of life is four +times as dear as in any other part of +the globe; and not content with that, +they send a regiment here, to a place +where there are already four times as +many inhabitants as it can furnish +subsistence to, and where there are a +superabundance of troops. This is +the way,’ continued he, ‘that you +have contracted your national debt—not +by the actual necessary expenses +of war, but by the unnecessary expenses +of colonies.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon was in the habit of predicting +the ruin of England, and +pointing out, we may presume, with +no intention of warning, the <i>blunders</i> +of that policy which, however, had +rescued Europe from the French yoke, +and sent himself to moralise in a +dungeon. “This island,” said he, +“costs, or will cost, two millions +a-year, which is so much money +thrown in the sea. Your East India +Company, if their affairs were +narrowly scrutinised, would be found +to lose instead of gaining, and in <i>a few +years</i> must become bankrupt. Your +manufactures, in consequence of the +dearness of necessaries in England, will +be <i>undersold</i> by those of France and +Germany, and your manufacturers +will be <i>ruined</i>.” All this train of +ill omen is profitable, if it were only +to show how little we are to depend +upon the foresight of politicians. +Here was unquestionably one of the +most sagacious of human beings delivering +his ideas on the future, and +that not a remote future, not a future +of centuries, but a future within the +life of a generation; and yet what +one of these predictions has not been +completely baffled? The East Indian +territories of England have been constantly +aggrandising for nearly forty +years of that period which was to have +seen their bankruptcy. The manufactures +of England, instead of total failure, +have been growing to a magnitude +unequalled in the annals of national +industry, and are rapidly spreading +over the globe. England, instead of +struggling with exclusion from foreign +commerce, and domestic disaffection, +has possessed a peace, the longest in +its duration, and the most productive +in its increase of opulence, invention, +and power, that Europe has ever seen. +But if the malignant spirit of her prisoner +may be presumed to have perverted +his sagacity, his opinions were +the opinions of the Continent; and +every statesman, from Calais to Constantinople, +occupied himself by counting +on his fingers the number of years +that lay between England and destruction. +Yet England still stands, the +envy of all nations; and will stand, +while she retains her loyalty, her principle, +and her honour; or, rather, +while she retains her religion, which +includes them all.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The exterior of St Helena is unpromising. +“Masses of volcanic rock, +sharp and jagged, tower up round the +coast, and form an iron girdle. The +few points where a landing can be +effected are bristling with cannon.” +The whole has the evidence of the +agency of fire; and from the gigantic +size of the strata, so disproportioned +to its circuit, it has been supposed the +wreck of a vast submerged continent. +But the narrow valleys, radiating from +the basaltic ridge forming the backbone +of the island, have scenes of +beauty. A writer on the “Geognosy” +of the island, even describes +those valleys as exhibiting an alternation +of hill and dale, and luxuriant +and constant verdure. Even Napoleon, +in all his discontent, admitted +that it had “good air.” Or, as in some +more detailed remarks transmitted by +Las Cases—“After all, as a place of +exile, perhaps St Helena was the best. +In high latitudes we should have +suffered greatly from cold; and in any +other island of the tropics we should +have expired miserably, under the +scorching rays of the sun. The rock +is wild and barren, no doubt; the +climate is monstrous and unwholesome; +but the temperature, it must +be confessed, is mild (douce).”</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is of some importance to the +national character to touch on those +matters, as they show that Napoleon +was not sent for any other purpose +than security of detention. A West +Indian island might have unduly +hastened the catastrophe. A letter +from Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson gives +even a more favourable testimony +than has been generally conceived. +He had been a resident for several +years.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Lying within the influence of the +south-east trade-wind, which is usually +a strong breeze between the Cape +and St Helena, the tropical heat is +moderated thereby to a delightful +temperature, and perhaps there is no +finer climate to be found than in certain +parts of St Helena. In the town, +I rarely saw the thermometer above +80°, while the general height may +have been about 75°. But I write +from memory, having lost my register +of the temperature. Between Longwood +and Jamestown there is a difference +of eight or ten degrees. A +fire is rarely necessary, unless perhaps +as a corrective of the dampness +produced by fog, to which the elevated +portions of the island are occasionally +liable. I believe the average +duration of life to be much as in England.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Henry, who was stationed in +the island as assistant-surgeon during +Napoleon’s residence, gives even a +more decided testimony. “For a tropical +climate, only 15° from the line, +St Helena is certainly a healthy island, +if not the <i>most</i> healthy of the description +in the world. During one period +of twelve months, we did not lose <i>one</i> +man by disease out of five hundred +of the 66th quartered at Deadwood. +In 1817, 1818, and 1819, Fahrenheit’s +thermometer, kept at the hospital, +ranged from fifty-five to seventy degrees; +with the exception of calm days, +when it rose to eighty. In Jamestown, +from the peculiar radiation of +heat to which it was exposed, the +temperature was sometimes upwards +of ninety.... There is no +endemic in the island.... +The upper parts of St Helena, including +the residence of Bonaparte, are decidedly +the most healthy, and we often +moved our regimental convalescents +from Jamestown to Deadwood for +cooler and better air. The clouds +moved so steadily and regularly with +the trade-wind that there appeared +to be no time for atmospherical accumulations +of electricity, and we never +had any thunder or lightning. No +instance of hydrophobia, in man or any +inferior animal, had ever been known +in St Helena.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>We shall limit ourselves to an outline +of the transactions referring to +Napoleon. He landed at Jamestown +on the evening of the 17th of October, +where he remained for the night, and on +the next day removed to the “Briars,” +the country house of Mr Balcombe, who +afterwards became purveyor to the residence +at Longwood. Two proclamations +were immediately issued by +the governor, Colonel Wilkes, one +cautioning the inhabitants of the island +against any attempt to aid the escape +of “General Napoleon Bonaparte;” +and the other, prohibiting all persons +from passing through any part of the +island (except in the immediate vicinity +of the town) from nine at night +until daylight, without having the +<i>parole</i> of the night; and a third, +placing all the coasts, and vessels or +boats, under the control of the Admiral. +A despatch from the Admiral, to +the Secretary of the Admiralty, explained +the choice of Longwood for +the residence of the prisoner. “I +have not hesitated on fixing on it. +Longwood is detached from the general +inhabited parts of the island, therefore +none of the inhabitants have occasion, +or are at all likely, to be met +with in its neighbourhood; it is the +most distant from the parts of the coast +<i>always</i> accessible to boats.” He then +mentions it as having an extent of +level ground, perfectly adapted for +horse-exercise, carriage-driving, and +pleasant walking. The house was +small, but it was better than any other +in the island (out of the town) except +the governor’s; and by the help of +the ships’ carpenters and others, was +capable of convenient additions. Repairs +were accordingly made, and +everything was done that could fit it +for a comfortable residence.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The system of discontent, remonstrance, +and, we must add, misrepresentation, +was begun. A letter from +the “Grand Marshal, Count Bertrand,” +led the way. It protested +against everything, and frequently +applied the term “Emperor” to Napoleon. +The Admiral’s reply was fair +and manly. It expressed regret for +the necessary inconveniences, and a +desire to consult the wishes of General +Bonaparte; but said that he was +authorised to apply <i>no</i> title which had +not been given by his Government. +This refusal was perfectly justifiable, +though it made one of the clamours of +the time. The custom of European +diplomacy is <i>never</i> to acknowledge a +new title but by treaty, and in return, +if possible, for some concession on the +part of the claimant. The embarrassments +connected with the opposite +practice are obvious. Where is the +line to be drawn? If every ruler, +however trifling his territory, or however +recent his usurpation, were to fix +his own title, all the relations of public +life might be outraged. The creature +of every revolution might be authenticated +the legitimate possessor +of sovereignty—an upstart received +into the family of kings, become a +living encouragement to political convulsion. +All the declamation which +was lavished on the denial of the Imperial +title to Bonaparte, amounted to +the maxim, that success justifies usurpation. +If, in general life, no man +can bear a title without the sanction +of the laws—to avoid the disturbance +of the Civil order, why should not the +same sanction be demanded where the +result of concession without cause +might influence the highest interests of +public life? There can be no question +that the Imperial title, continued to +Napoleon by the credulity of Alexander, +laid the foundation of the renewed +disturbances of France and +Europe. It had placed him within +sight of power again; it had fixed the +eye of French conspiracy on him; it +had conveyed to all his partisanship +the idea that he still was an object of +fear to Europe, and it thus revived +the hope of his restoration. This dangerous +concession made him, while at +Elba, the virtual Emperor of France—prompted +him to contemplate the resumption +of the sceptre—pointed him +out as a rallying point for disaffection—connected +his mock crown with his +former sovereignty—and left the peace +of the world to the hazard of the die +which was thrown at Waterloo.</p> + +<p class='c009'>If it be said that the concession +which was dangerous at Elba was +trifling at St Helena, we have no +hesitation in accounting for the sudden +forgetfulness of Napoleon exhibited +by France to the refusal of +the title. “General” Bonaparte lived +only in the recollection of a broken +army; the “Emperor” lived in the +pride and passions of the people. It +was essential to dissolve this combination; +to show that the <i>prestige</i> of +his name existed no longer; that he +was an object of fear no more; and +especially, that his connection with +title-loving France was to be cut +asunder for the remainder of his existence. +All this was done, and could +alone be done, by refusing to continue +that title to the prisoner, which England +had loftily refused to him in the +height of his power.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Even Napoleon himself was so fully +convinced of the contradiction between +his present state and his former, that +he subsequently wrote a Memorial +addressed to the Governor, containing +this declaration: “Seven or eight +months ago Count Montholon proposed, +as a means of removing the +little inconveniences which were ever +recurring, the adoption of an ordinary +name.... I am quite ready +to take any ordinary name; and I +repeat that, when it may be deemed +proper to remove me from this cruel +abode, I am resolved to remain a +stranger to politics, whatever may be +passing in the world. Such is my resolve; +and anything which may have +been said different from this would not +be the fact.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Unfortunately, it was wholly impossible +to rely on any declaration of +this kind, and it would have been absolute +folly to have hazarded the peace +of Europe on the contingency of Napoleon’s +keeping his word. He had +gone to Elba with the same protest +against politics, he had publicly declared +that his political life was ended; +and the weakness of giving credit to +that declaration cost the lives of perhaps +fifty thousand men, and might +have cost a universal war.</p> + +<p class='c009'>If the strictness of the regulations +at St Helena have been matter of +charge against this country, it is to be +remembered that the highest interests +might have been endangered by his +escape; that no royal captive was +ever so indulged before; and that +England was but a trustee for the +tranquillity of the world. The instructions +were the most lenient possible, +consistently with his safe keeping. +A captain was to ascertain +his presence twice in the twenty-four +hours. Whenever Napoleon rode or +walked <i>beyond</i> the boundaries where +the sentinels were placed, he was to +be attended by an officer. Napoleon +and his attendants were to be within +his house at nine o’clock every night.</p> + +<p class='c009'>If these restrictions might be considered +severe, it is to be remembered +that they were only severities against +the necessity of a second Waterloo. +It is to be observed, also, that these +regulations all took place before the +arrival of Sir Hudson Lowe. The +English mind revolts against confinement +of any kind; but the limits of +Napoleon’s grounds, within which he +might take exercise <i>unattended</i> by +any officer, embraced a circuit of +<i>twelve</i> miles! The ground was nearly +flat, and well covered with turf. On +the plain of Deadwood, adjoining, was +an excellent race-course, a mile and +a half long, of which one mile was in +a straight line. The house at Longwood +had been used by the former +governor as a villa; but it was small, +consisting only of five rooms. To +these, however, additions were made; +the whole being merely a temporary +residence until the completion of a +house on a larger scale, which was +preparing in England.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It became the peevish custom of +the French, on the arrival of Sir Hudson +Lowe, to contrast his conduct +with that of Sir George Cockburn, and +speak of their satisfaction with the +latter; but they quarrelled equally +with both. A letter from O’Meara +to his correspondent Finlayson (not +printed in his volumes), says: “Napoleon +inveighs most bitterly against +the English Ministry for sending him +here. He has been for sometime back +at Longwood, where he is tolerably +well lodged, considering the island.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>As to his displeasure at being sent +to the island, he should have regarded +himself as peculiarly well treated; for +what must have been his condition +in the custody of any other government? +He must have been sent to +a fortress with no other liberty of exercise +than within the space of the +ramparts; he must have had sentinels +everywhere on his steps, and +have been subjected to all the rigid +regulations of a garrison, and perhaps +altogether separated from his +attendants and general society. The +greater probability of escape in Europe +would have required the greater strictness; +and the necessity of the case +must have made his confinement little +better than that of the dungeon. What +liberty was allotted to Louis Napoleon +in Ham for six years? What liberty +was allotted to Toussaint Louverture +by Napoleon himself?—a damp dungeon +until he died. What liberty +was allotted to the State prisoners +under the Empire?—or what liberty +was allotted to the English officers +confined in the casemates of Biche? +Instead of such restrictions, he had a +large space of a healthy island in +which he might move, without watch +or ward, with a crowd of attendants +of his own choice round him, with +such society as he chose to receive, +with a sumptuous table kept for him, +and every deference paid to his fame +and rank, compatible with that essential +point, the prevention of his +escape, which he appears to have been +constantly meditating.</p> + +<p class='c009'>An order prohibiting the general +access of the population to Longwood +was now issued. Napoleon at this +was in great indignation. He said to +O’Meara, “It was absurd to prohibit +people from visiting him, while he was +at liberty to go out and call upon them.... +I will never receive any person +coming with a pass from the Admiral, +as I will immediately set down +the person receiving it as being <i>like the +donor</i>, and a spy upon me.”... +Then becoming more warm, he said, +“Who is the Admiral? I have never +heard his name as the conqueror in a +battle, either singly or in general action.... +It is true, he has rendered +his name in<i>famous</i> in America; +and so he will now render it here, on +this desolate rock.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Stopping then with much agitation, +and looking at me earnestly—“Next +to your Government exiling me here, +the worst thing they could have done, +and the most insufferable to my feelings, +is sending me with such a <i>man as</i> +<span class='fss'>HE</span>. I shall make my treatment known +to all Europe. It will be a reflection +and a stain on his posterity for centuries. +What! does he want to introduce +Turkish laws into the Rock? +Other prisoners under sentence of +death are allowed to communicate, by +the laws of England and all other civilised +nations.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The fact was, that Napoleon wished +to accomplish an object incompatible +with the purpose of his being sent to +the island; he demanded all the conveniences +of perfect freedom—of course +for the purpose of escape. However, +to avoid all shadow of cruelty, the +passports were finally left to the distribution +of Bertrand.</p> + +<p class='c009'>O’Meara further says, “He has since +discovered that the Admiral’s conduct +has been most grossly and shamefully +misrepresented and blackened to him. +The people he is surrounded by at +present give me some faint idea of +what the court of St Cloud must have +been during his omnipotent sway. +Everything here is disguised and +mutilated.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon’s theatrical rants were +sometimes amusing. Foreigners can +rail fluently enough at misfortune, but +they always forget the share which +they had in bringing it on themselves. +“Behold the English Government!” +said he one day, gazing round on the +stupendous rocks which encompassed +him; “this is their liberality to the +unfortunate, who, <i>confiding</i> in what is +called their national character, in an +evil hour gave himself up to them! +But your Ministers laugh at your laws. +I thought once that the English were +a free nation; but I now see that you +are the <i>greatest slaves</i> in the world. You +all tremble at the sight of <i>that</i> man.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Another time, talking to me +(O’Meara) about the island, he said, +‘In fact, I expect nothing less from your +Government than that they will send +out an executioner to <i>despatch</i> me. They +send me here to a horrible rock, where +even the water is not good. They +send out a <i>sailor</i> with me, who does not +know how to treat a man like me, and +who puts a camp under my nose, so +that I cannot put my head out without +seeing my jailors. Here we are treated +like felons: a proclamation is issued +for nobody to come near and touch us, +as if we were lepers.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>O’Meara’s description of the officers +in attendance on Napoleon is sufficiently +contemptuous. Of Montholon +he speaks most offensively. He admits +Bertrand to be a “good man;” +but he thus characterises Gourgaud, +whose quarrel with Sir Walter Scott +once made some noise: “Gourgaud is +now recovering from dysentery. During +his illness, I never saw a man betray +so much fear of dying as he did +on various occasions. One night a +large black beetle got into the bed, +and crawled up alongside of him. His +imagination immediately magnified the +insect into a devil, or some other formidable +apparition, armed with talons, +long teeth, and ready to tear away his +lingering soul from its mortal abode. He +shrieked, became terribly agitated and +convulsed; a cold sweat bedewed his +pallid face; and when I entered he +presented all the appearance of a man +about to expire, with the most terrific +ideas of what would be his future lot; +and it was not till after a considerable +time that he could be restored to some +degree of composure.” Gourgaud had +in some degree provoked this description +by his previous <i>fanfaronades</i>. +When he arrived in the island he had +produced a sword to the daughters of +Mr Balcombe, on which he had himself +represented in the act of killing a +Cossack who was about to take Bonaparte +prisoner, with a pompous inscription +narrating the feat. At the +end of the blade he made them observe +a spot, as if stained with the blood of +two Englishmen, slain by him at Waterloo. +He gave the last finish to this +“passage of arms,” by saying, that in +the same battle he <i>might</i> have made +the Duke prisoner! “but that he saw +the business was decided, and he was +unwilling to produce any further effusion +of human blood!” (“Credit—believe +it who will,” says O’Meara.) +During Gourgaud’s illness, however, +he seemed to have forgotten all his +chivalry—as, one day, “whining and +lamenting over his state, he said, with +many <i>tears</i>, ‘He did not know for +what he was exiled, for he had never +done harm to mortal man.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>O’Meara’s own history was a varied +one. He had begun his course as an +assistant-surgeon in the 18th, in 1804; +but a duel happening in the regiment, +in which he acted as second, a courtmartial +was the consequence, and he +retired from the army. He then +served as a naval surgeon, for many +years, in the Mediterranean and the +West Indies, with Maitland (captain +of the Bellerophon), who gave him +an advantageous character. He was +then selected as the surgeon in attendance +on Napoleon. The quick +observation of that sagacious personage +saw instantly that O’Meara might +be useful in more capacities than those +of his profession; he flattered him with +his confidence, and converted him +into partisanship.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Nothing but the extraordinary selfishness +of Napoleon’s character could +have stooped to those perpetual complaints. +A man who had sat upon +the first throne of the Continent ought +to have felt that nothing, after such a +catastrophe, could be worth a care. +A man of true grandeur of mind, after +having seen all the diadems of the +Continent under his feet, ought to +have scorned any inferior degree of +power—been utterly indifferent to +title, wealth, or the homage of dependents. +A philosopher would have +despised the mockery of ex-emperorship; +rejected the affectation of a +power which he was to possess no +more; and, having been once forced to +submit to a change of fortune which +displaced him from the summit of +society for ever, would have been contemptuous +of living on the fragments +of his feast of supremacy. But Napoleon +had no sense of this generous and +lofty disdain—he clung to the wrecks +of his royalty. He was as anxious +to sustain the paltry ceremonial of +kissing a hand, as when he saw kings +crowding to his palace; and showed +as much fretfulness at the loss of the +most pitiful mark of respect, as he +could at an insult to a throne which +threw its shadow across the civilised +world. This anomaly is easily explained. +The spirit of selfishness belongs +to all foreign life. Its habits, +its amusements, its perpetual passion +for frivolous excitement, its pursuit +of personal indulgence in every shape, +high or low, utterly extinguish all the +nobler attributes of mind—substitute +fierceness for fortitude, rashness for +decision—and feeble repinings against +fate, for the dignity which makes defeat +but another occasion of showing +the superiority of man to fortune. +Napoleon was selfishness embodied, +and was as important to <i>himself</i> at +St Helena as in the Tuileries.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On the 10th of January 1816, Sir +Hudson Lowe received a despatch +from Earl Bathurst, stating that, on +his arrival at St Helena, he should +notify to all the attendants of Napoleon +that they were at perfect +liberty to leave the island for Europe +or America; but that those who remained +should declare, in writing, +that they were prepared to submit to +the necessary restrictions. To Sir +Hudson the orders were—“You are +to continue to treat Napoleon Bonaparte +as a prisoner of war, until further +orders.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The governor reached St Helena on +the 14th of April, and on the 16th he +visited Bonaparte, having given him +previous notice of his intention. The +visit was unlucky, for even the hour +was constituted into an offence. Las +Cases thus mentions the visit: “The +new governor arrived at Longwood +about ten o’clock, notwithstanding +the rain, which still continued. He +was accompanied by the admiral, who +was to introduce him, and who had, +<i>no doubt</i>, told him that this was the +most suitable hour for his visit. The +emperor did not receive him—he was +indisposed; and even had he been +well, he would not have seen him. +The governor, by this abrupt visit, +neglected the usual forms of decorum. +It was easy to perceive that this was +a <i>trick of the admiral</i>. The governor, +who probably had no intention to +render himself at all disagreeable, appeared +very much disconcerted. <i>We +laughed in our sleeves.</i> As to the admiral, +he was quite <i>triumphant</i>. The +governor, after long hesitation, and +very evident marks of ill-humour, took +his leave rather abruptly. We doubted +not that this visit had been planned +by the admiral, with the view of prepossessing +us against each other at +the very outset.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The English reader of this incident +will find in it the key to the whole +conduct of Napoleon and his attendants; +<i>he</i> was determined to turn +everything into an offence, and they +were equally determined to turn everything +into an intrigue. The narrative +foolishly and malignantly represents +the conduct of a naval officer of high +character in the light of a paltry <i>ruse</i>, +and for no imaginable purpose but ill-will. +“<i>They laughed in their sleeves</i>” +at the success of this ruse. The admiral +was <i>triumphant</i>, <i>because</i> the +governor was vexed; and Napoleon +was, of course, conqueror on the occasion. +This is the most pitiful of all +gossip, and is unworthy of even the +nursery. Let this be contrasted with +the manly account by the governor +himself of the first interview which +took place next day at four. “I was +accompanied by Sir G. Cockburn. +General Bertrand received us in the +dining-room serving as an antechamber, +and instantly ushered me into an +inner room, where I found him (Napoleon) +standing, having his hat in his +hand. Not addressing me when I +came in, but apparently waiting for +me to speak to him, I broke silence +by saying, ‘I am come, sir, to present +my respects to you.’ ‘You speak +French, sir, I perceive; but you also +speak Italian. You once commanded +a regiment of Corsicans.’ I replied, +‘the language was alike to me.’ ‘We +will speak, then, in Italian;’ and immediately +commenced a conversation +which lasted about half an hour—the +purport of which was principally as +follows. He first asked me, ‘where +I had served?—how I liked the Corsicans? +They carry the stiletto; are +they not a bad people?’ (looking at +me very significantly for an answer.) +My reply was—‘They do not carry +the stiletto, having abandoned that +custom in our service. They have +always conducted themselves with +propriety; I was very well satisfied +with them.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He asked me if I had not been +in Egypt with them; and on my replying +in the affirmative, he entered +into a long discussion respecting that +country. ‘Menou was an imbecile. +If Kleber had been there, <i>you would +have been all made prisoners</i>.’” To this +ungracious remark the governor seems +to have abstained from any reply. +How easily might he have reminded +Napoleon of Acre! and the difficulty +which he found then of taking prisoners +even the crews of two English +ships, who drove him from the walls +at the head of his army, and virtually, +after hunting him from Syria, drove +him into the desertion of Egypt. In +the French narratives of war, the +general who has been beaten is always +an <i>imbecile</i>. It is an extraordinary +<i>trait</i> of character in Napoleon to have +ventured on the subject at all. Yet +he expatiated on it, as if he had never +known defeat on its shores. “He +blamed Abercromby for not having +landed sooner, or for not proceeding +to another point. Moore, with his six +thousand men, ought to have been all +destroyed.” He admitted, however, +the bravery of the generals. “He +asked me if I knew Hutchinson, and +whether he was the same who had +been arrested at Paris” (for the escape +of Lavalette). “His question on this +point betrayed great interest.” The +subject of Egypt was resumed. “It +was the most important geographical +point in the world, and had always +been considered so. He had reconnoitered +the line of the Canal across +the Isthmus of Suez; he had calculated +the expense at ten or twelve +millions of livres (half a million sterling, +he said, to make me understand +more clearly the probable cost of it); +that a powerful colony being established +there, it would have been <i>impossible</i> +for us to have preserved our +empire in India.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This remark is an example of the +dashing way in which foreigners settle +all the affairs of the world. If Napoleon +had been asked to show how a +French colony in Egypt could have +overthrown an Indian empire, he must +have been profoundly puzzled. A +French colony would, doubtless, have +prevented the overland passage. Yet, +<i>without</i> that passage, India had been +ours, or in the direct progress to be +ours, for a hundred years! What +could a colony in Egypt have done +while the Red Sea was blocked up by +English ships? How could it transport +an army over the Desert—through +Arabia, Persia, and the passes of the +Himalaya?—and without an army, +what could they do in India? The +much greater chance was, that a +French colony would have been starved +or slaughtered, as the French army in +Egypt would have been, but for its +capitulation. The same absurdity is +common to other services. The Russians, +from the peasant to the throne, +think that India is at their mercy, +from the instant of a battalion’s appearing +on the verge of Tartary, +while they are forced to acknowledge +that the Desert is impassable by any +army in summer; and General Perowsky, +in an expedition which decimated +his army, half way to Thibet, +has proved it to be equally impassable +in winter. Or, may we not ask, if +this mighty conquest is so much a +matter of calculation, why have not +the poor and feeble tribes of the +Caucasus been conquered in a war of +twenty years, within a stone’s throw +of the Russian frontier?—while in +India, after a march across swamps, +sands, and mountains, they would +have to meet an army of two hundred +thousand men (easily increased to +half a million), led by British officers?</p> + +<p class='c009'>The people of the United States are +equally absurd in their speculations +on the conquest of Canada. They +pronounce it ready to drop into their +hands, like fruit from the tree. Yet, +every attempt at the invasion of +Canada has resulted only in ridiculous +defeat!</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon again railed at Menou, +and concluded with the remark, which +he pronounced in a very serious manner: +“‘In war, the gain is always +with him who commits the fewest +faults.’ It struck me as if he was reproaching +himself with some great +error.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In this curious interview, Sir G. +Cockburn’s having been shut out +by a mere accident was made the +most of, as a charge of incivility +against the governor. We give Sir +Hudson Lowe’s own version. He had +been accompanied by the admiral to +Longwood. “In order that there +might be no mistake respecting the +appointment being for Sir George +Cockburn as well as myself, I distinctly +specified to Bertrand that we +should go together. We went, and +were received in the outer room by +Bertrand, who almost immediately +ushered me into Bonaparte’s presence. +I had been conversing with him for +nearly half an hour, when, on his +asking me if I had brought with me +the Regent’s speech, I turned round +to ask Sir George Cockburn if I had +not given it to him? and observed, to +my surprise, that he had not followed +me into the room. On going out, I +found him in the antechamber much +irritated. He told me that Bertrand +had almost shut the door in his face +as he was following me into the room, +and that a servant had put his arm +across him. He said he would have +forced his way, but that he was expecting +I would have turned round to +see that he was following me, when +he supposed I would have insisted on +our entering the room together. I +told him I knew nothing of his not +being in the same room till Bonaparte +asked me for the Regent’s speech.... +Bonaparte was ready to receive him +after I had left the room; but he would +not go in. Bertrand and Montholon +have been with him since, making +apologies. But the admiral, I believe, +is still not quite satisfied about it.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon’s conversation was essentially +rough, a circumstance to be +accounted for, partly by his birth, +and partly by his camp education. +O’Meara mentions that Montholon, +having brought a translation of the +paper which the domestics who desired +to remain with him were to +sign, Napoleon, looking at it, said—“This +is not French—it is not sense.” +“Sire,” said the other, “it is a literal +translation of the English.” “However,” +said Napoleon, “it is neither +French nor German (tearing it in +two)—<i>you are a fool</i>.” Then, looking +it over, he said—“He makes a +translation into stuff, which is not +French, and is nonsense to any Frenchman.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>As we are not the defenders of the +governor, and the subject of mere defence +is now past by, we shall chiefly +give abstracts of the conversation of +his memorable prisoner. He asked +O’Meara if he had been at Alexandria. +“Yes, in a line-of-battle ship.” +“But I suppose you could not enter +the harbour?” O’Meara told him, +“that we soon found a passage +through which any vessel might go. +This he would not believe for some +time, until I told him that I saw the +Tigre and the Canopus, of eighty +guns each, enter with ease. ‘Why!’ +said he, with astonishment, ‘that +Commodore Barré, whom you took +in the Rivoli, was ordered by me to +sound for a passage when I was there, +and he reported to me that there was +not a possibility of a line-of-battle +ship’s entering the harbour.’ He observed, +then, ‘that the fleet might +have been saved if he had done his +duty.’ I told him, then, that we had +blocked up the passage by sinking +two vessels laden with stone in it; +to which he replied, ‘that it was +easy to remove such obstacles.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The expenses of Napoleon’s household +were heavy. On the voyage +out, between the 8th of August and +the 17th of November, they had consumed +a hundred dozens of wine, besides +some casks of an inferior kind +for the servants. In one of the governor’s +despatches to Lord Bathurst, +two fortnights’ accounts are given +from Mr Balcombe, purveyor to Longwood. +The amount of one fortnight +is an expenditure of £683, 5s. 4d.; +and of the other, £567, 10s. 4d.; the +annual expense, at the former rate, +thus amounting to above £16,000, and +at the latter to £13,000—nine persons, +with four children, being the +family; the rest, with the exception +of the two officers in attendance, being +servants—the whole number amounting +to 59.</p> + +<p class='c009'>One day, on hearing that Napoleon +had not been seen by the attendant +officer, the governor visited Longwood. +“I passed,” said he, “through +his dining-room, drawing-room, and +another room, in which were displayed +a great number of maps and plans +laid out on a table, and several +quires of writing, and was then introduced +into an inner room, with a +small bed in it, and a couch, on which +Bonaparte was reclining, having only +his dressing-gown on, and without +his shoes.” On the governor’s +expressing regret for his indisposition, +and offering him medical advice, “I +want no doctor,” said he. On his +asking “whether Lady Bingham had +arrived, and being answered that her +non-arrival was owing to the delay +of the Adamant transport, which was +also bringing wines, furniture, &c., +for Longwood, he said—‘It was all +owing to the want of a chronometer; +that it was a miserable saving of the +Admiralty not to give every vessel of +above two hundred tons one; and that +he had done it in France.’ After a pause, +he asked—‘What was the situation +of affairs in France when I left Europe?’ +I said, ‘Everything, I believe, +was settled there.’ Beauchamp’s +Campaign of 1814 was lying +on the floor near him. He asked me +if I had written the letters referred +to in the appendix to this work. I +answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘I recollect Marshal +Blucher at Lubeck,’ said he; ‘is +he not very old?’ ‘Seventy-five +years,’ I replied, ‘but still vigorous—supporting +himself on horseback +for sixteen hours a-day, when circumstances +render it necessary.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon then, after a pause, returned +to the usual observations on +his captivity. “I should have surrendered +myself,” said he, to the Emperor +of Russia, who was my friend, +or to the Emperor of Austria, who +was related to me. “There is courage +in putting a man to death, but it is +an act of cowardice to let him languish, +and to poison him in so horrid +an island, and so detestable a climate.” +To the governor’s remark +that St Helena was not unhealthy, +and that the object of the British +Government was, to make his residence +on the island as satisfactory to +himself as possible, he said—“Let +them send me a coffin—a couple of +balls in the head is all that is necessary. +What does it signify to me +whether I lie on a velvet couch or on +fustian? I am a soldier, and accustomed +to everything.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>As to his repeated expression, that +he might have put himself into the +hands of others, and that he voluntarily +gave himself up to England, +there can be no doubt of his <i>conscious</i> +falsehood on both points. The French +provisional government would not +have suffered him to pass the frontier; +nor would he have given himself +up to Captain Maitland if he +could have escaped to America. He +also dreaded the sentence of the +Bourbons, who would probably have +imprisoned, or even put him to death, +as they did Ney and Labédoyère, and +as Murat was shot by order of the +Neapolitan government. If he had +fallen into Blucher’s hands, that officer +proposed to have him shot in the ditch +of Vincennes, on the very spot where +the Duc d’Enghien was murdered; a +proposal which was ineffectual only +through the generous objections of the +Duke of Wellington. The proclamation +of the Allied sovereigns had already +put him in a state of <i>outlawry</i> with +Europe. Napoleon knew all this: +he had been a prisoner at Malmaison; +and though spared for the moment, +he might be convinced that, on the +withdrawal of the Allied troops, his +life would have been demanded by +the tribunals. Thus his declarations +of confidence in England amounted +simply to the belief that he would not +be put to death in its hands. He was +too sagacious to suppose that he could +have been let loose again, to be the firebrand +of the Continent, or to play once +more the farce of royalty in Elba.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The inveteracy of Napoleon in his +hatred of the governor almost amounted +to frenzy. After one of these +interviews, he said, “I never saw +such a horrid countenance. He +(Sir H. Lowe) sat in a chair opposite +to my sofa, and on the little +table between us was a cup of coffee. +His physiognomy made such an unfavourable +impression on me that +I thought <i>his looks had poisoned it</i>. +I ordered Marchand to throw it out +of the window. I could not have +swallowed it for the world.” Part of +this “<i>horror</i>” was probably “acting;” +but as everything reached Sir Hudson, +it belonged to the system of insult.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon’s ideas of religion were +sometimes regarded as <i>decent</i>, compared +with the general tone of the +Continent. On his deathbed he said, +“<span lang="fr">Je ne suis ni <i>physicien</i> ni <i>philosophe</i>.</span>” +(I am neither a <i>materialist</i> +nor an <i>infidel</i>.) But an anecdote +given in Sir Hudson’s correspondence +shows the unfortunate conception +of his creed: “Dr O’Meara +related to me yesterday a very +characteristic observation of this remarkable +personage. He asked him, +on seeing that he had taken his oath +to the authenticity of the paper he had +brought to me, in what manner he had +sworn to it. Dr O’Meara replied, ‘On +the New Testament.’ ‘<i>Then</i>, you <i>are</i> +such a fool!’ was his reply.” His +attendants were obviously much of +the same order of thinking: “Cipriani +came out one day from Bonaparte’s +room, to Dr O’Meara, saying, +in a manner indicative of great surprise, +‘My master is certainly beginning +to lose his head. <i>He believes +in God.</i> You may think; he said to +the servant who was shutting the +windows, Why do you take from us +the light which God gives us?’ Oh, +certainly he loses his head. He +began at Waterloo, but now it is +<i>certain</i>.” His following remark was +curious, as an evidence of the <i>actual</i> +feeling of these people with respect to +the man whom they professed to +<i>adore</i>. Cipriani added—“I do not +believe in God; because, if there were +one, he would not have allowed a man, +who has done so much harm, to live +so long. And <i>he</i> does not believe; +because, if he believed, he would not +have caused so many millions of men +to be killed in this world, for fear of +meeting them in the other.” This is +absurd, but it is perhaps the average +of Italian belief. Cipriani was <i>maître +d’hotel</i>, and a man of intelligence. +He died on the island in 1818.</p> + +<p class='c009'>One of the conversations transmitted +by O’Meara related to Waterloo. +“The worst thing,” said Napoleon, +“that England ever did, was +that of endeavouring to make herself +a great military nation. In doing +that, she must <i>always be the slave</i> of +Russia, Prussia, or Austria, or at +least in some degree subservient to +them, because she has not enough of +men to combat on the Continent either +France or any of the others, and consequently +must hire men from some +of them; whereas, at sea, you are so +superior, your sailors so much better, +that you will always be superior to +us. Your soldiers, too, have not the +qualities for a military nation; they are +not equal in agility, address, or intelligence +to the French; and when they +meet with a reverse, their discipline is +very bad.... I saw myself the +retreat of Moore, and I never in my +life witnessed anything so bad as the +conduct of the soldiers; it was impossible +to collect them or make them do +anything; nearly all were drunk.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This is a calumny. The army under +General Moore offered battle to the +army under Napoleon, who <i>declined it</i>; +and when he saw the steadiness of +the British, on their retreat through +an exhausted country, and especially +saw that his troops could make no +impression on the fifteen thousand +men commanded by Moore, and <i>saw</i> +(as we understood) the utter defeat of +the cavalry of his guard by the British +hussars, under the command of +the present Marquis of Londonderry, +he wisely drew rein, and returned to +Paris, leaving it to Soult “to drive +the leopards into the sea,” who, instead +of performing this exploit, was +himself beaten on the shore, and +forced to see the British embark at +their ease. It is true that the rapidity +and exhaustion of the British +march left many stragglers on the +road; but the rapidity resulted from +the error of having supposed that +there were parallel roads to the highroad, +by which a French force might +have intercepted their march. But, +in <i>every</i> attack on that march, the +French were repulsed; and such was +the nature of their defeat in the battle +of Corunna, that they were wholly +driven off their ground, and another +hour of daylight must have seen their +retreat converted into a <i>rout</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The sneer at England, as not being +a military nation, is at once answered +by the fact, that its whole regular +force is an army of <i>volunteers</i>, while +all the other armies of Europe are +raised by a <i>conscription</i>; that in the +French war England had an army of +200,000 men, raised by the military +spirit of the country, besides 500,000 +militia and yeomanry! The answer +to the “want of soldierly qualification” +in the British troops, is given in +the fact, that in the whole war the +British army <i>never</i> lost a pitched +battle.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon’s account of Waterloo, as +given in those pages, is, simply, that +Wellington did everything <i>wrong</i>, but +with the good fortune of everything +turning out right; that he <i>ought</i>, in all +propriety, to have been beaten, though +he beat; that the battle was a series +of blunders, which by the power of +destiny, or <i>something</i> else, turned into +victory; and that he himself ought, by +all the rules of war, to have been +marching in triumph into Brussels, +while he was running away to Paris, +leaving 40,000 Frenchmen slain, prisoners, +or fugitives, instead of the +40,000 Englishmen, who <i>ought</i> to have +fallen. In the same spirit, Napoleon +ought to have been sitting on the +throne of France, while he was talking +fustian at St Helena. “What,” +said Napoleon, “must have been the +consequence of <i>my</i> victory?” The +indignation against the Ministry for +having caused the loss of 40,000 of +the flower of the English army, of the +sons of the first families, and others, +who would have perished there, would +have excited such a popular commotion, +that—“they would have been +<i>turned out</i>.” (A rather lame and impotent +conclusion.) “The English would +then have made peace, and withdrawn +from the Coalition.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This is one of the perpetual absurdities +of foreigners. England has +<i>never</i> been compelled to an ignominious +peace, by losses in war. She has +<i>never</i> seen an enemy in her capital. +Loving peace, she willingly makes +peace; but she has <i>never</i> surrendered +her sword to make it.</p> + +<p class='c009'>He persevered in this verbiage. +“I had succeeded; before twelve +o’clock everything was mine, I might +<i>almost</i> say. But <i>destiny</i> and <i>accident</i> +decided it otherwise.” The curious +combination of the most fixed, and +the most casual, of all things, was +alone adequate to account for the defeat +of Napoleon! and with this folly +the prisoner nursed his self-delusion to +the end.</p> + +<p class='c009'>One of the chief charges against +the English Government was its stinting +the French tables. But one of +O’Meara’s <i>private</i> letters gives a fair +account of the matter. “With respect +to the allowance within which +all the expenses were directed to be +comprised—viz., £8000 sterling a-year, +to which Sir Hudson Lowe has, +on his own responsibility, since added +£4000 yearly (!) in my opinion a due +regard has not been paid to circumstances, +and I do not think even this +latter sum will be sufficient.... +You perhaps are not aware of the +French mode of living and their cookery. +They have, in fact, <i>two</i> dinners +every day—one at eleven or twelve +o’clock, to which joints, roast and +boiled, with all their various hashes, +ragouts, fricassees, &c., &c., are served +up, with wine and liqueurs; and another +at eight o’clock, which differs +from the former only in being supplied +with more dishes. Besides these two +meals, they all have (except Bonaparte +himself, who eats only twice +a-day, certainly very heartily) something +like an English breakfast, in +<i>bed</i>, between eight and nine in the +morning; and a luncheon, with wine, +at four or five in the afternoon.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The common notion of the English +eating more animal food than the +French is most incorrect. I am convinced +that between their two dinners +and luncheon they consume three or +four times as much as any English +family of a similar number. Those +two dinners, then, the first of which +they have separately in their respective +rooms, cause a great consumption +of meat and wine, which, together +with their mode of cookery, require a +great quantity of either oil or butter, +both of which are excessively dear in +this place (and you may as well attempt +to deprive an Irishman of potatoes +as a Frenchman of his oil, or +some substitute for it). Their <i>soupes +consommés</i> (for they are, with one or +two exceptions, the greatest gluttons +and epicures I ever saw), producing +great waste of meat in a place where +the necessaries of life are so dear, altogether +render necessary a great expenditure +of money.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Among the cunning attempts to +throw the conduct of the governor into +abhorrence, was the charge of refusing +Napoleon the <i>bust</i> of his son, and +even intending to destroy it. O’Meara +says, that it had been “landed fourteen +days, and some of those in the +governor’s hands.” This is another +instance of the language perpetually +used; the fact being, “that the bust +was landed on the 10th or 11th of +June, and sent to Longwood the <i>next +day</i>.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The true narrative was this: In the +summer of 1816, the ex-empress Maria +Louisa having visited the baths of +Leghorn, two marble busts of her son +were executed. One of those was +purchased by Messrs Beaggini in London, +in hopes of an opportunity of +sending it to St Helena. A store-ship, +the Baring, being about to sail there +in January 1817, a foreign gunner on +board, named Radavich, was intrusted +with the bust, with instructions to +give it to Count Bertrand, for Napoleon, +leaving it to his generosity “to refund +their expenses.” If, however, he +wished to know the price, it was to be +a hundred louis. The captain of the +ship (a half-pay lieutenant) knew +nothing of its being on board till +shortly before, or immediately after, +his arrival at St Helena; at that time +Radavich was ill of apoplexy, followed +by delirium, so that for several +days it was impossible to speak to him +on the subject. When Sir Thomas +Reade was informed that it was on +board, he immediately acquainted +the governor with the circumstance. +Sir Hudson Lowe, considering the +clandestine manner in which it was +brought, was at first inclined to retain +it until he had communicated +with Lord Bathurst. But, Sir T. +Reade suggesting that as the bust +was not <i>plaster</i>, it could not contain +letters, advised its being forwarded at +once, and the governor assented. Before, +however, ordering it on shore, he +himself went to Longwood, to ascertain +Napoleon’s wish through Bertrand. +Major Gorrequer accompanied +him, and in his notes gives an account +of the interview. The governor mentioned +the arrival of the bust to Bertrand, +and said that he would take +upon himself the responsibility of +landing it, if such was the wish of +Napoleon. Bertrand’s answer was, +“No doubt it will give him pleasure.” +The <i>next</i> day the bust was landed, +taken to Longwood, and received by +Napoleon with evident delight. By +some means or other he had known +of its arrival, and said to O’Meara +on the 10th, “I have known it several +days.” He then rushed into one of +those explosions of wrath and oratory +which were familiar to him. He said, +“I intended, if it had not been given, +to have made such a complaint as +would have caused every Englishman’s +hair to stand on end! I should +have told a tale which would have +made the mothers of England execrate +him as a monster in human shape.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>And all this with the bust before +his eyes. To heighten the effect, he +would persist in pretending to believe +that Sir Hudson Lowe had given +orders for breaking up the bust, and +on this fancy he declaimed anew +against him, calling him “barbarous +and atrocious.” “That countenance,” +said he, turning to the bust, “would +melt the heart of the most ferocious +<i>wild beast</i>! The man who gave +orders to break that image would +<i>plunge a knife</i> into the heart of the +original, if it were in his power.” +And all this fury for a fiction!—the +palpable contradiction to the charge +of cruelty standing on his table.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is not even clear, after all, that +there was <i>not</i> an intrigue connected +with this bust: Napoleon exhibited extreme +anxiety to see Radavich. This +the governor permitted, but on the +condition of the officer in attendance +being present, and it was declined. +Lord Bathurst, in his despatch to St +Helena, said, “The suspicious circumstances +under which the bust +arrived, were sufficient to make you +pause before you determined to transmit +it to the general. Had the package +contained anything less interesting to +him in his character as a father, the +clandestine manner in which it was +introduced on board of the vessel +would have been a sufficient reason +for withholding the delivery of it, at +least for a much longer period.... +I am not disposed to participate in his +(the French ambassador’s) apprehensions +that letters <i>were conveyed</i> in it. +No doubt, however, can be entertained +that attempts are making at clandestine +communications.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>To this we may add that, by some +secret means, the French were acquainted +with every transaction of +Europe, and frequently before the +public authorities.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Napoleon ordered £300 to be given +to Radavich (who was merely the +agent for the London house). O’Meara +says, in his <cite>Voice from St Helena</cite>, +that, “by some unworthy tricks, this +poor man did not recover the money +for nearly two years.” This is a proof +of the slipshod statements which are +to be found in the volume; the fact +being, that, in March 1818, the former +proprietors of the bust wrote to Bertrand, +to complain of the conduct of +Radavich, as having come to no settlement +with them “for the payment +he had received for the bust, and for +the other articles intrusted to him; +and that he had gone from England +without rendering any account to +<i>them</i>.” They solicited Bertrand to +give them some remuneration.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Our limits warn us that we must +conclude, leaving a crowd of interesting +incidents behind. The work seems +perfectly to clear Sir Hudson Lowe’s +character, not merely from the charge +of severity, but even from the imputation +of petulance. No man could +be placed in a situation of greater +difficulty. He had to deal with a +<i>coterie</i> of the most unscrupulous kind; +he had also especially to deal with a +man irritated by the most signal +downfall in European record, subtle +beyond all example, unhesitating in +evasion, formed of falsehood, and furious +at necessary coercion. He had +to meet also the clamours of French +partisanship throughout Europe, and +to bear the calumnies of faction even +in England. He had to endure personal +insult, and to counteract reckless +intrigue. If he had been roused into +violence of temper, no man could be +more easily pardoned for its excess; +but there is not a single <i>proof</i> of this +charge, and the whole tenor of his +conduct seems to have been patient +and equable, though strict and firm. +He had one paramount duty to perform—the +prevention of Napoleon’s +escape, and he did that duty. All +minor deficiencies, if they existed, +might be merged in the perfect performance +of a duty which involved the +peace of the world.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The dismissal of O’Meara from his +office in the island, followed by his +dismissal from the navy, let loose a +personal enemy of some ability, much +plausibility, and the bitterest anger. +His volume, <cite>A Voice from St Helena</cite>, +embodied all the charges against Sir +Hudson Lowe, and was prosecuted as a +libel. But the prosecution having, in +the opinion of the judges, been delayed +for some months beyond the legal +time, it failed, on that ground only. +The governor of St Helena drew up +a refutation of the volume, which still +remains in the archives of Government. +Why he did not appeal to the +opinion of the country—a duty which +no public man can decline without loss +to his own character—cannot now be +ascertained. He was probably weary +of a life of contradiction, and had no +desire to continue it in controversy.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But the task, though long delayed, +has finally been performed, as it appears +to us, with perfect manliness, +clearness, and conviction, by its present +author. Mr Forsyth’s style is +admirably fitted for his subject—fair, +forcible, and argumentative. By his +work he has done credit to himself, +and cleared the character of a brave, +an honest, and a high-minded English +soldier and gentleman. We know no +ampler panegyric on the uses or the +successes of authorship.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Sir Hudson Lowe was appointed to +the colonelcy of the first vacant regiment +(the 93d) on his return—was +subsequently in command of the troops +in Ceylon—and at length, yielding to +the effects of toil and time, died in +1844, in his 75th year.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span> + <h2 class='c002'>NEW READINGS IN SHAKESPEARE.<a id='r16'></a><a href='#f16' class='c007'><sup>[16]</sup></a></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>A copy of almost any ancient +author, with its margins studded +with antique manuscript jottings, is +a treasure to the scholar who possesses +it, and a sore temptation to all +his antiquarian friends. What, then, +must be the pricelessness of an early +folio, thus annotated, of Shakespeare, +the Emperor of all the Literatures? +Would not a lover of the poet be +almost inclined to sell his whole library +in order to purchase that single +book? And when secured, with what +zest would he not set himself to +decipher the crabbed hieroglyphics +on the margins of the intoxicating +windfall! The various readings, recommended +by the charm of novelty, +and yet apparently as old, and <i>perhaps</i> +as genuine as the printed text, +would gradually become its rivals. +Alterations, occasionally felicitous, +would throw an air of respectability +over their less insinuating associates. +Sole possession would enhance the +importance of the discovery. Solitary +enjoyment would deepen the relish +of the entertainment. The situation +is one not at all favourable to the +exercise of a sound critical judgment. +Imagination goes to work, and colours +the facts according to its own wishes; +and faith and hope, “hovering o’er,” +at length drive away all misgivings as +to the authenticity of the emendations. +That fine old handwriting, which +is as conscientious as it is curious, +is itself a guarantee that the corrections +are not spurious—are not merely +conjectural. The manuscript corrector +must have had good grounds for +what he did. He may have been +Shakespeare’s bosom friend, his boon +companion, his chosen confidant, and +perhaps the assistant in his labours; +or, if not that, at any rate the friend +of some one who had known the great +dramatist well—was acquainted with +his innermost thoughts—and as intimate +with his works, and with all +that he intended to express, as if he +himself had written them. At all +events, the corrector must have had +access to sources of information respecting +the text of the plays, the +results of which have perished to +all the world—<i>except me</i>, the happy +holder of this unique and inestimable +volume.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Such, we conceive, would be the +state of mind and the train of reasoning +into which a man would naturally +be thrown by the acquisition of +such an agitating prize as we have +supposed. Under the excitement of +his feelings, the authority of the corrector +of the work would, in all likelihood, +supersede the authority of its +composer; the penman would carry +the day against the printer; and the +possessor of the book would do his +best to press the “new readings” +into the ears and down the throats of +a somewhat uncritical but not altogether +passive or unsuspicious public.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The case which we have described +is to be understood as a general and +ideal one; but something of this kind +seems to have befallen Mr Collier, +whom accident lately placed in possession +of a copy of the folio of Shakespeare, +1632, plentifully garnished +with manuscript notes and emendations. +In these trying circumstances +he has acted very much in the way +which might have been anticipated. +It is true that he announces his good +fortune in a strain of moderated enthusiasm. +“In the spring of 1849,” +says he, “I happened to be in the +shop of the late Mr Rodd, of Great +Newport Street, at a time when a +package of books arrived from the +country.” Among them was a very +indifferent copy of the folio of Shakespeare, +1632, which Mr Collier, concluding +hastily that it would complete +an imperfect copy of the same edition +which he had purchased from the +same bookseller some time before, +bought for thirty shillings. The purchase +did not answer its purpose. +The two leaves that were wanted to +complete the other folio “were unfit +for my purpose, not merely by being +too short” (how very particular these +book-fanciers are), “but otherwise +damaged and defaced. Thus disappointed, +I threw it by, and did not see +it again until I made a selection of +books I would take with me on quitting +London. On consulting it afterwards,” +continues Mr Collier, “it +struck me that Thomas Perkins, +whose name, with the addition of +‘his Booke,’ was upon the cover, +might be the old actor who had performed +in Marlowe’s <cite>Jew of Malta</cite> +on its revival shortly before 1633.” +That would have been an important +fact, as helping to connect the MS. +corrections closely with the Shakesperian +era. But here Mr Collier was +doomed to disappointment. On further +inquiry he found that the actor’s name +was Richard Perkins: “still,” says +he, with a faith too buoyant to be +submerged by such a trifle, “Thomas +Perkins might have been a descendant +of Richard,” from whom, of course, +he probably inherited a large portion +of the emendations. “This circumstance,” +says Mr Collier, “and others, +induced me to examine the volume +more particularly: I then discovered, +to my surprise, that there was hardly +a page which did not present, in a +handwriting of the time, some emendations +in the pointing or in the text, +while on most of them they were +frequent, and on many numerous. +Of course I now submitted the folio +to a most careful scrutiny; and as it +occupied a considerable time to complete +the inspection, how much more +must it have consumed to make the +alterations? The ink was of various +shades, differing sometimes on the +same page, and I was once disposed +to think that two distinct hands had +been employed upon them. This notion +I have since abandoned, and I +am now decidedly of opinion that the +same writing prevails from beginning +to end, but that the amendments +must have been introduced from time +to time during perhaps the course of +several years.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>But although Mr Collier speaks +thus calmly of his prize, we are +nevertheless convinced, by the rapidity +of his conversion from the old +readings to the new, that he, like the +rest of us, is liable to be carried a +little off his feet by any sudden stroke +of prosperity, and is keenly alive (as +most people are) to the superior +merits of anything that happens to +be his own. It is our nature to admire +what we alone have been privileged +to possess or to discover. Hence +Mr Collier has stepped at one plunge +from possession into cordial approbation +and unhesitating adoption of +most of the corrections set forth on +the margins of his folio. Formerly the +stanchest defender of the old Shakesperian +text, he is now the advocate +of changes in it, to an extent +which calls for very grave consideration +on the part of those who regard +the language of the poet as a sacred +inheritance, not to be disturbed by +innovations, without the strongest +evidence, the most conclusive reasons, +and the most clamant necessity being +adduced in their support.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We are far from blaming Mr Collier +for having published his volume of +“Notes and Emendations.” Although +it might be advantageously reduced in +bulk by the omission of many details +occupied with the settlement of matters +which have been long ago settled, still +it is in some respects a valuable contribution +to the literature of Shakespeare. +We have no faith whatever in +the authenticity of the new readings; a +few of them, however—a very few—seem +to us to be irresistibly established +by their own self-evidence; +while the whole of them are invested +with a certain degree of interest as +the interpretations of an indefatigable, +though thick-headed—of a blundering, +yet early and perhaps almost contemporary, +scholiast. As a matter of +curiosity, and as indicative of the +state of English criticism in the 17th +century, the new readings are acceptable; +and the thanks of the literary +portion of the community are due to +Mr Collier for having favoured them +with this publication. But here the +obligation stops. To insert the new +readings into the text, and to publish +them as the genuine words of Shakespeare +(which we understand Mr +Collier has either done or threatens +to do), is a proceeding which cannot +be too solemnly denounced. This is +to poison our language in its very +“wells of English undefiled.” It is +to obliterate the distinctions which +characterise the various eras of our +vernacular tongue; for however near +to the time of Shakespeare our newly +discovered scholiast may have lived, +there was doubtless some interval +between them—an interval during +which our language was undergoing +considerable changes. It is to lose +hold of old modes of thought, as well +as of old forms of expression;—it is +to confound the different styles of +our literature;—it is to vitiate with +anachronisms the chronology of our +speech;—it is to profane the memory +of Shakespeare.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When we look for evidence in favour +of the authenticity of these (so-called) +“Emendations,” we look for it in vain. +The state of the case may perhaps be +understood, by attending to the following +particulars. Of Shakespeare’s +handwriting, so far as is known, there +is not now extant so much as “the +scrape of a pen,” with the exception +of the autograph of his name. Of his +plays, thirteen were published in an +authentic form during his life, and +four in spurious or “pirated” editions. +These are called the quartos. After +his death, one of his plays was published, +by itself, for the first time—“Othello.” +In 1623, seven years after +his death, the first folio appeared. It +contains the eighteen plays just referred +to, with the addition of eighteen, +now published for the first time. +This folio 1623 was printed (if we +are to believe its editors, and there is +no reason to doubt their word) <i>from +Shakespeare’s own manuscripts</i>, and +from the quarto editions, revised and +corrected to some extent, either by +his own hand or under his authority. +So that the folio 1623 is the highest +authority that can be appealed to in +the settlement of his text. It ranks +even before the quartos, except in +cases of obvious misprint, or other +self-evident oversights. To it, in so +far as <i>external</i> evidence is concerned, +all other proofs must yield. <i>Internal</i> +evidence may occasionally solicit the +alteration of its text; but such emendations +must, in every case, be merely +conjectural. It is the basis of every +genuine edition, and must continue +so, until Shakespeare’s own manuscripts +be brought to light.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Out of these circumstances an important +consideration arises. It is +this, that we are not entitled, on any +account, to alter the text of the folio +1623, even in cases where manifest +improvements might be made, so long +as the old reading makes sense. If +any reasonable meaning can be extracted +from the received lection, we +are bound to retain it, because we +have every reason to believe that it +is what Shakespeare wrote; and it is +our object to possess his words and +his meaning, not as we may suppose +they <i>ought</i> to have been, but as they +actually <i>were</i>. Where no sense at all +can be obtained from a passage, a +slight, perhaps a considerable, alteration +is allowable; because any man’s +intelligibility is to be preferred to +even Shakespeare’s unintelligibility. +But we are never to flatter ourselves, +with any strong degree of assurance, +that the correction has restored to us +the exact language of the poet.</p> + +<p class='c009'>This consideration had, in former +years, its due weight with Mr Collier. +No one was a keener advocate than +he for preserving the original text inviolate. +He now views the matter in +a different light. He is tolerant of +new readings, even in cases where +sense can be elicited from the received +text. Further, he frequently gives +the preference to new readings, as we +hope to show, even in cases where the +old reading is far the more forcible +and intelligible of the two. And on +what ground does he countenance +them? Setting aside at present the +question of their internal evidence, +we reply, that he countenances them +on the ground that the folio 1623 is of +doubtful authenticity. He denies that +it was prepared from Shakespeare’s +own papers. This is the foundation +of his case. He maintains that the +copy which the printer used had been +(probably) dictated by some underling +of the theatre, to some scribe +whose ear (probably) often deceived +him in taking up the right word, and +who consequently put down a wrong +one, which was subsequently set up +in type by the printer. He is further +of opinion that a text of Shakespeare, +purer than any that ever got into +print, was preserved <i>orally</i> in the +theatre, and that the corrector of his +folio, who was decidedly of a theatrical +turn, and perhaps himself a manager, +picked up his new readings from the +mouths of the players themselves. +But he has entirely failed to prove +these improbable assertions. His +theory in regard to the printing of +the folio 1623 is contradicted by the +distinct announcement of its editors, +who say of their great master that +“his mind and hand went together, +and what he thought he uttered with +that easiness that we have scarce received +<i>from him</i> a blot <i>in his papers</i>.” +This declaration, that the materials +from which they worked were derived +directly from Shakespeare himself, +seems to establish conclusively the +authenticity of the folio 1623; and +that point being made good, all external +evidence in favour of the new +readings must of necessity fail.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But perhaps these new readings are +supported by their internal evidence—perhaps +they bring along with them +such an amount of force and propriety +as carries conviction on the +very face of it, and entitles them to +a decided preference in comparison +with the old? Mr Collier would fain +think so. On their evident superiority, +both in sense and in style, +he rests the main strength of his +case. Speaking of his volume, he +says, “I ought not to hesitate in +avowing my conviction, that <i>we are +bound</i> to admit <i>by far the greater body</i> +of the substitutions it contains, as <i>the +restored language</i> of Shakespeare. As +he was especially the poet of common +life, so he was emphatically the poet +of common sense; and to <i>the verdict +of common sense</i> I am willing to submit +all the more material alterations +recommended on the authority before +me. If they will not bear that test, I +for one am willing <i>to relinquish</i> them.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Our principal object in the following +pages is to show that “by far the +greater body of the substitutions” +will not stand this test; and that +many of them present such a perverse +depravation of the true text, that if +the design of the corrector had been +to damage the literary character of +Shakespeare, he could not have accomplished +his purpose more effectually +than by representing these new readings +as his. At the same time, we +shall endeavour to bring forward +everything in Mr Collier’s volume +which tells in the manuscript-corrector’s +favour. This will probably +cause the corrector’s notes and emendations +to be more highly thought of +than they deserve; because, while it +will be no difficult matter to lay before +the reader <i>all</i>, or nearly all, his judicious +amendments, our space will not +permit us to present to him one-twentieth +part of his astounding aberrations. +Selecting, then, as many of +the more important alterations as our +limits will allow, and weighing what +their internal evidence is worth, we +shall go over the plays <i>seriatim</i>, commencing +with “The Tempest.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>The Tempest.</span>—The new readings +in this play are generally unimportant, +and, in our judgment, not one of +them ought to be admitted into the +text. In no case would anything be +gained, and in some cases a good deal +would be lost, by adopting the proposed +changes. In the following passage +the original text is certainly unsatisfactory, +but the new reading is at +least equally so. Antonio, the usurping +Duke of Milan, has become so +habituated to the possession of his +unlawful power, and has been so little +checked in the exercise of it, that he +at length believes himself to be the +real duke. This idea is thus expressed. +Prospero, the rightful duke, says +of him—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“He being thus <i>lorded</i>,</div> + <div class='line'>Not only with what my revenue yielded,</div> + <div class='line'>But what my power might else exact,—like</div> + <div class='line'>one</div> + <div class='line'>Who having, <i>unto truth</i>, by telling of it,</div> + <div class='line'>Made such a sinner of his memory</div> + <div class='line'>To credit his own lie,—he did believe</div> + <div class='line'>He was indeed the duke.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>For “lorded,” Mr Collier’s emendator +would read “loaded”—a correction +which Mr Collier himself admits to be +“questionable,” and which we throw +overboard at once. For “unto truth” +he proposes “to untruth”—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in26'>“like one</div> + <div class='line'>Who having, <i>to untruth</i>, by telling of it,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>But here, if one flaw is mended, another +and a worse one is made. By +reading “to untruth” we obtain, indeed, +a proper antecedent to “it,” +which otherwise must be looked for, +awkwardly enough, in the subsequent +word “lie.” But as a set-off against +this improvement, we would ask, how +can a man be said to make his memory +a sinner <i>to untruth</i>? This would +mean, if it meant anything, that the +man’s memory was true; and this is +precisely what Prospero says Antonio’s +memory was not. We must +leave, therefore, the text as it stands, +regarding it as one of those passages +in which Shakespeare has expressed +himself with less than his usual care +and felicity.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The substitution of “all” for “are” +in the lines,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in12'>“They all have met again,</div> + <div class='line'>And <i>are</i> upon the Mediterranean float”—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Or, as the MS. corrector reads it,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“They <i>all</i> upon the Mediterranean float”—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>strikes us as peculiarly un-Shakesperian. +But this instance of the corrector’s +injudicious meddling is a small +matter. The following passage deserves +more careful consideration, for we are +convinced that the text of the first and +second folios, which has been universally +rejected since the days of Theobald, +is, after all, the right reading. +<i>Act III. Scene 1</i> opens with the soliloquy +of Ferdinand, who declares that +the irksome tasks to which he has +been set by Prospero are sweetly alleviated +by the consciousness that he +has secured the interest and sympathy +of Miranda. He says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“There be some sports are painful; but their labour</div> + <div class='line'>Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness</div> + <div class='line'>Are nobly undergone: and most poor matters</div> + <div class='line'>Point to rich ends. This my mean task</div> + <div class='line'>Would be as heavy to me as odious; but</div> + <div class='line'>The mistress, which I serve, quickens what’s dead,</div> + <div class='line'>And makes my labours pleasures. Oh, she is</div> + <div class='line'>Ten times more gentle than her father’s crabbed,</div> + <div class='line'>And he’s composed of harshness. I must remove</div> + <div class='line'>Some thousands of these logs, and pile them up</div> + <div class='line'>Upon a sore injunction. My sweet mistress</div> + <div class='line'>Weeps when she sees me work, and says such baseness</div> + <div class='line'>Had never like executor. I forget:</div> + <div class='line'>But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,</div> + <div class='line'><i>Most busy-less, when I do it</i>.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The last line, as it here stands, is +Theobald’s reading; and it has been +adopted almost unanimously by subsequent +editors—by the compilers of +the <i>variorum</i> Shakespeare—by Mr +Knight—and most recently by Mr +Halliwell, in his magnificent folio. +Mr Singer, in his edition of 1826, and +Mr Collier’s emendator, are, so far as +we can learn, the only dissentients. +The former proposes, “most busiest +when I do it;” and the latter, “most +busy,—blest when I do it;” which +reading we agree with Mr Singer in +thinking “the very worst and most +improbable of all that have been suggested;”—will +he excuse us for adding—except +perhaps, his own? Theobald’s +text is certainly greatly to be +preferred to either of these alterations. +Had the MS. corrector’s emendation +been a compound epithet, “busy-blest” +(that is, blest with my business, +because it is associated with +thoughts of Miranda), something, +though perhaps not much, might possibly +have been said in its behalf. +But Mr Collier regards the correction +as consisting of two distinct words; +and, therefore, he must excuse us for +saying that it is one in which sense +and grammar are equally set at defiance. +We now take up the original +reading, which has been universally +discarded, but which, as we hope +clearly to show, calls for no alteration; +and an attention to which, at an +earlier stage in the revision of Shakespeare’s +text, might have prevented a +large expenditure of very unnecessary +criticism. The original text of the +line under consideration is this—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Most busy, least when I do it.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This is the reading of the second folio. +The first folio has “lest;” but, of +course, <i>least</i> and <i>lest</i> are the same +word in the arbitrary spelling of that +early period. We maintain that this +lection makes as excellent and undeniable +sense as could be desired.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Most busy, least when I do it;”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>—that is, “when I do it (or work) <i>least</i>, +then am I <i>most</i> busy, <i>most</i> oppressed +by toil.” More fully stated, the obvious +meaning is “this labour of mine +is so preciously sweetened, so agreeably +refreshed by thoughts of Miranda’s +kindness, that I really feel <i>most</i> +busy, most burthened, most fatigued, +when I am <i>least</i> occupied with my +task; because, then I am not so sensible +of being the object of her sympathy +and approval.” Shakespeare +intends that Ferdinand should express +the ardour of his attachment to Miranda +in a strong hyperbole; accordingly, +he makes him say, “I am most +busy, when I am least busy;” because +the spirit of Miranda does not cheer +and inspire my idleness, in the way +in which it cheers and inspires my +labour. Theobald’s line expresses, +although in an imperfect manner, this +same hyperbole conversely. “I am +least busy, when I am most busy; +because, when I am working hardest, +the spirit of Miranda is present to +refresh and alleviate my toils.” But +Shakespeare’s mode of expressing the +exaggeration is both stronger and +finer than Theobald’s, which in point +of language is exceedingly lame and +defective. Our only doubt, in restoring +the old reading, is in regard to +the word “it.” Perhaps it would be +as well away, and we might read more +perspicuously</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<i>Most</i> busy,—<i>least</i> when I do.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The measure being already redundant, +the word could be spared. But its +absence or presence makes little or no +difference, and, with it, or without it, +we hope to see this restoration of the +original text, which, of course, requires +no authority except its own to +establish it, embodied in all future editions +of our great national dramatist.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The only new reading in this play +which we have some hesitation in +condemning, is the following. The +witch Sycorax is spoken of (<i>Act V. +Scene 1.</i>) as one</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,</div> + <div class='line'>And deal in her command <i>without</i> her power.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This is the ordinary text. The MS. +corrector proposes “<i>with all</i> power;” +and, at first sight, this correction looks +like an improvement; for how could +the witch deal in the moon’s command, +if she had not got the moon’s power? +On second thoughts, however, we +believe that Mr Knight, who defends +the common reading, is right. By +“power,” we are here to understand +<i>legitimate</i> authority; and of this Sycorax +has none. By means of her spells +and counternatural incantations she +could make ebbs and flows, and thus +wielded to some extent the lunar +influences; but she had none of that +rightful and natural dominion over +the tides of the ocean which belongs +only to the moon. Our verdict, therefore, +is in favour of the old reading. +We pass from “The Tempest” with the +remark that the other new readings proposed +by Mr Collier’s emendator have +here and elsewhere been conclusively +set aside, in our estimation, by the +observations of Mr Knight and Mr +Singer; and we again protest against +any adulteration of the text of this +play by the introduction even of a +single word which the MS. corrector +has suggested.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>The Two Gentlemen of Verona.</span>—Nothing +connected with Shakespeare +is small, and therefore we make no +apology for calling the reader’s attention +to what some people might consider +a very small matter—the difference +between <i>for</i> and <i>but</i> in the +following lines. <i>Act I. Scene 1.</i>—Valentine +and Proteus, “The Two +Gentlemen of Verona,” are saying +good-bye to each other, the former +being on the eve of setting out on +his travels. Valentine, the traveller, +says to his friend—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>—“on some love-book pray for my success.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Proteus.</i> Upon some book I love, I’ll pray for thee.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Valentine.</i> That’s on some shallow story of deep love,</div> + <div class='line'>How young Leander cross’d the Hellespont.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Proteus.</i> That’s a deep story of a deeper love,</div> + <div class='line'>For he was more than over shoes in love.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Valentine.</i> ’Tis true; <i>for</i> you are over boots in love,</div> + <div class='line'>And yet you never swam the Hellespont.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>In place of “for” in the last line but +one, the corrector proposes “but,” +and Mr Collier approves, remarking +that <i>but</i> “seems more consistent with +the course of the dialogue.” If, however, +we attend to the sequence of +thought in this passage, it will be apparent +that the change not only fails +to render the dialogue more consistent, +but that it altogether destroys its consistency, +converting very good sense +into downright nonsense; smartness +into drivel. When Proteus says that +Leander who crossed the Hellespont +was more than over shoes in love, Valentine +catches him up, “’tis true: no +doubt of it: he must have been more +than over shoes in love; <i>for</i> you, who +never swam the Hellespont at all, are +actually over boots in love.” The reasoning +here seems very plain. If Proteus, +without swimming the Hellespont, +was over <i>boots</i> in love, surely the very +least that could be said of Leander, +who did swim it, must be that he was +more than over <i>shoes</i> in love. “Your +remark, friend Proteus, though very +true, is not very recondite. It is +decidedly common-place, and such as I +should scarcely have expected to hear +from a person of your wit and penetration. +Pray favour us with something +a little more original and profound.” +All this banter, and we +venture to think it rather happy, is +implied in Valentine’s words—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“’Tis true; <i>For</i> you are over boots in love,</div> + <div class='line'>And yet you never swam the Hellespont.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>But change this “for” into “but,” and +the whole point of the dialogue is +gone. Let this new reading be adopted, +and future commentators will be +justified in declaring that Shakespeare’s +words were sometimes without meaning. +This single and apparently insignificant +instance in which the corrector +has palpably misconceived his +author, compels us to distrust his +capacity, and ought to go far to shake +the general credit of his emendations.</p> + +<p class='c009'>To alter “blasting in the bud,” into +“blasted in the bud,” is merely an +instance of excessive bad taste on the +part of the MS. corrector. We see +nothing worthy of approval or animadversion +until we come to two lines +which are quoted from <i>Act III. +Scene 2</i>—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“But say, this <i>weed</i> her love from Valentine,</div> + <div class='line'>It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio”—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>where it may be a question whether +“wean” (the corrector’s suggestion), +might not be judiciously substituted +for “weed.” If rapid extirpation was +intended to be expressed, “weed” is +the word; otherwise we are disposed +to prefer “wean,” as better fitted +to denote the contemplated alienation +of Julia’s affections from Proteus.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act IV. Scene 2</i>, a whole new +line is introduced; and as there is no +evidence to prove that the corrector +did not write this line himself, we +must protest against its insertion in +the genuine writings of Shakespeare. +The interpolation is in italics. Eglamour +says to the distressed Silvia, who +is requesting him to be her escort—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Madam, I pity much your grievances,</div> + <div class='line'><i>And the most true affections that you bear</i>,</div> + <div class='line'>Which since I know they virtuously are placed,</div> + <div class='line'>I give consent to go along with you.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Johnson explains <i>grievances</i> as sorrows, +<i>sorrowful affections</i>—an explanation +which renders the interpolated +line quite unnecessary. Shakespeare +understood the art of <i>ne quid nimis</i>, +and frequently leaves something to be +supplied by the imagination of his +reader or hearer. Besides, it would +have been indelicate in Eglamour to +have alluded more particularly to the +“loves” of Silvia and Valentine.</p> + +<p class='c009'>If the MS. corrector had ever seen +<i>Scene IV.</i> effectively acted, he must +have perceived how completely one +good point would have been destroyed +by his unwise insertion of the word +“cur.” Launce, servant to Proteus, +has been sent by his master with a +little dog as a present to Silvia. +Launce has lost the lap-dog, and has +endeavoured to make compensation +by offering to Silvia his own hulking +mongrel in its place. These particulars +are thus recounted:—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Launce.</i>—Marry, sir, I carried Mistress +Silvia the dog you bade me.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Proteus.</i>—And what says she to my little +jewel?</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Launce.</i>—Marry, she says your dog was +a cur; and tells you currish thanks is good +enough for such a present.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Proteus.</i>—But she received my present?</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Launce.</i>—No, indeed, she did not. Here I +have brought him back again.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Proteus.</i>—What! didst thou offer her <i>this</i> +from me?</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Launce.</i>—Ay, sir, the other squirrel was +stolen from me by the hangman’s boys in the +market-place; and then I offered her mine +own, who is a dog as big as ten of yours, +and therefore the gift the greater.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The question is, whether the word +“this” is better by itself, or whether +it should be coupled with the word +“cur,” as the MS. emendator proposes. +Our notion is, that the single +pronoun is greatly the more expressive. +“Did you offer her <i>this</i>” (of +course pointing to the brute with an +expression of indignation and abhorrence, +which disdained to call him +anything but <i>this</i>) “<span class='fss'>THIS</span>!!! from +me? The lady must think me mad.” +In regard to the other corrections, we +perceive no such force or propriety in +any of them as might incline us to +disturb, for their sake, the received +text of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>The Merry Wives of Windsor.</span>—In +<i>Act II. Scene 1</i>, the commentators +have all been gravelled by the +word “an-heires,” as it stands in all +the early editions in the following +passage—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Host.</i>—My hand, bully, thou shalt have +egress and regress; said I well, and thy name +shall be Brook. It is a merry knight—will +you go, <i>anheires</i>?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In place of this unintelligible word, +various substitutes have been proposed. +The MS. corrector would read +“Will you go <i>on here</i>?” This is very +poor, and sounds to our ears very unlike +the host’s ordinary slang; and we have +no hesitation in agreeing with Mr +Dyce,<a id='r17'></a><a href='#f17' class='c007'><sup>[17]</sup></a> who gives the preference over +all the other readings to that of Sir +John Hanmer, the editor of the Oxford +edition: “Will you go on, <i>mynheers</i>?”—will +you go on, my masters? +The word is proved to have been used +in England in the time of Shakespeare.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act II. Scene 3</i>, this same host, +who deals somewhat largely in the +unknown tongue, again says—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“I will bring thee where Mistress Page is, +at a farm-house feasting, and thou shalt woo +her. <i>Cried game</i>, said I well?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This obsolete slang has puzzled the +commentators sorely. Mr Dyce suggests +“cried I aim,” which means, it +appears, “Did I give you encouragement?”—(<i>vide</i> +Singer, p. 7.) We confess +ourselves incompetent to form +an opinion, except to this extent, that +Mr Collier’s corrector, who proposes +“curds and cream,” seems to us to +have made the worst shot of any that +have been fired.<a id='r18'></a><a href='#f18' class='c007'><sup>[18]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act IV. Scene I</i>, we rather think +that the MS. corrector is right in +changing “let” into “get,” in the +following passage: “How now,” says +Mrs Page to Sir Hugh Evans the +schoolmaster; “How now, Sir Hugh?—no +school to-day?” “No,” answers +Sir Hugh; “Master Slender is +<i>let</i> (read <i>get</i>) the boys leave to play.” +In Sir Hugh’s somewhat Celtic dialect, +he <i>is get</i> the boys a holiday.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In the following passage, <i>Act IV. +Scene 5</i>, the received text is this—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Simple.</i>—I would I could have spoken +with the woman herself. I had other things +to have spoke with her, too, from him.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Falstaff.</i>—What are they?—let us know.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Host.</i>—Ay, come; quick.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Simple.</i>—I may not <i>conceal</i> them, sir.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Falstaff.</i>—<i>Conceal</i> them, or thou diest.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Good Dr Farmer thought that, in +both instances, we should read “reveal”—not +perceiving that the humour +of the dialogue (such as it is) consists +in <i>reading</i> “conceal,” and in <i>understanding</i> +“reveal.” But the MS. +emendator, with an innocence beyond +even Dr Farmer’s, would alter the +passage thus—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Falstaff.</i>—What are they?—let us +know.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Host.</i>—Ay, come quick.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Falstaff.</i>—<i>You</i> may not conceal them, sir.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Host.</i>—Conceal them, <i>and</i> thou diest.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>And Mr Collier approves of this variation, +as “making the dialogue run +quite consistently.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Measure for Measure.</span>—In the +Duke’s speech, at the opening of the +play, a formidable difficulty presents +itself. Addressing Escalus, of whose +statesmanlike qualities he has the +highest opinion, the Duke says, as all +the editions give it—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Of government the properties to unfold,</div> + <div class='line'>Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse,</div> + <div class='line'>Since I am put to know that your own science</div> + <div class='line'>Exceeds in that the lists of all advice</div> + <div class='line'>My strength can give you. Then no more remains</div> + <div class='line'>But that, to your sufficiency, as your worth is able,</div> + <div class='line'>And let them work.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The two last lines of this passage +have been a grievous stumbling-block +to the commentators. The <i>variorum</i> +men, with Johnson at their head, +have made nothing of it. Mr Singer +reads—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“Then no more remains</div> + <div class='line'>But <i>there to</i> your sufficiency as your worth is able,</div> + <div class='line'>And let them work;”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>which seems quite as dark and perplexing +as the original text. Mr +Collier’s man, cutting the knot with +desperate hook, which slashes away a +good many words, gives us—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in12'>“Then no more remains,</div> + <div class='line'>But <i>add</i> to your sufficiency your worth,</div> + <div class='line'>And let them work.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>These words are sufficiently intelligible; +but this is not to rectify +Shakespeare’s text—it is to re-write +it; and this no man can be permitted +to do. As a private speculation of +our own, we venture to propose the +following, altering merely one word +of the authentic version—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“Then no more remains,</div> + <div class='line'>But that (to your sufficiency as your worth is able)</div> + <div class='line'><i>You</i> let them work.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The Duke has remarked that he is +not competent to give Escalus any +advice on matters of public policy, as +he is much better versed in such +affairs than himself. He then goes +on to say, “No more remains, but +that (seeing your worth is able—that +is, is equal—to your sufficiency or +acquired knowledge) you should let +the two, your worth, and your sufficiency, +work together for the good of +your country.” Or it might be allowable +to introduce “equal” into the +text, thereby making the sense still +plainer—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“Then no more remains</div> + <div class='line'>But that (to your sufficiency as your worth is <i>equal</i>)</div> + <div class='line'>You let them work.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>But if any auxiliar authority could +be found for the use of the word +“able” as here employed (a point +about which we are doubtful, though +not desperate), we should prefer to +retain it in the text. By making the +words <i>to</i> and <i>as</i> change places, we obtain +a still more perspicuous reading—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“Then no more remains,</div> + <div class='line'>But that (<i>as</i> your sufficiency <i>to</i> your worth is equal)</div> + <div class='line'><i>You</i> let them work.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Collier remarks (p. 42), “Near +the end of Mrs Overdone’s speech, +‘is’ is required before the words ‘to +be chopped off.’ It is deficient in <i>all</i> +printed copies, and is inserted in +manuscript in the corrected folio +1632.” We can inform Mr Collier +that the word “is” stands, in this +place, in the <i>variorum</i> edition of 1785.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act I. Scene 4.</i>—The Duke, who +has abdicated for a time in favour of +Angelo, says, in allusion to the +abuses which Angelo is expected to +correct—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I have on Angelo imposed my office,</div> + <div class='line'>Who may, in the ambush of my name, strike home,</div> + <div class='line'>And yet, my nature never in the sight,</div> + <div class='line'>To <i>do it</i> slander.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The corrector of Mr Collier’s folio +suggests to <i>draw on</i> slander; and as a +gloss or explanation of an antiquated +or awkward expression, this variation +may be accepted; but it certainly +has no title to be admitted into the +text as the authentic language of +Shakespeare. The change of “story” +into “scorn” (<i>Scene 5</i>), is perhaps +admissible. Alluding to a false species +of repentance, the friar, in <i>Act II. +Scene 3</i>, says that such insufficient</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Sorrow is always towards ourselves, not heaven,</div> + <div class='line'>Showing we would not <i>spare</i> heaven, as we love it,</div> + <div class='line'>But as we stand in fear.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>On the margin of Mr Collier’s folio, +“serve” is written, and “spare” is +scored out. We greatly prefer the +old reading, in spite of Mr Collier’s +assertion that it is corrupt, and +“seems little better than nonsense.” +To <i>spare</i> heaven is not nonsense; it +means to refrain from sin. To <i>serve</i> +heaven means something more; it +means to practise holiness. The +difference is but slight, but it is quite +sufficient to establish the language of +Shakespeare as greatly superior to +that of his anonymous corrector, because +the point here in question is +much rather abstinence from vice +than the positive practice of virtue.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act II. Scene 4</i>, the following +somewhat obscure expression occurs: +“in the loss of question”—what does +it mean? “It means,” says Mr +Singer (p. 11), “in the looseness of +conversation.” That is a most satisfactory +explanation. Yet if Mr Collier +and his emendator had their own +way, we should be deprived of this +genuine Shakesperian phrase, and be +put off with the unmeaning words +“in the <i>force</i> of question.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act III. Scene 1</i>, the alteration +of “blessed” into “boasted,” in the +speech in which the Duke so finely +moralises on the vanity of human +life, cannot be too decidedly condemned—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Thou” (oh Life) “hast nor youth nor age,</div> + <div class='line'>But as it were an after-dinner’s sleep,</div> + <div class='line'>Dreaming on both, for all thy <i>blessed</i> youth</div> + <div class='line'>Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms</div> + <div class='line'>Of palsied eld.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Some people may not be able to +understand how the period of youth +can, in one and the same breath, be +called <i>blessed</i>, and yet miserable as +old age. They look on that as a contradiction. +Such people ought never +to read poetry. At any rate, they +ought first to learn that the poet is +privileged, nay, is often bound to declare +as actual that which is only +potential or ideal. Thus, he may +say that <i>blessed</i> youth is a <i>miserable</i> +season of existence, meaning thereby +that misery overspreads even that +time of life which <i>ought to be</i>, and +which <i>ideally</i> is, the happiest in the +pilgrimage of man. The manuscript +corrector has but an obtuse perception +of these niceties, and hence he +substitutes <i>boasted</i> for <i>blessed</i>—converting +Shakespeare’s language into +mere verbiage.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Comedy of Errors</span>—<i>Act I. Scene</i> +1.—The alteration of the word “nature” +into “fortune” in the following +lines, is an undoubted departure from +the genuine language of Shakespeare, +and a perversion of his sense. Ægeon, +whose life has been forfeited by his +accidental arrival at Ephesus, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Yet that the world may witness that my end</div> + <div class='line'>Was wrought by <i>nature</i>, not by vile offence,</div> + <div class='line'>I’ll utter what my sorrow gives me leave.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Collier, slightly doubtful of the +propriety of the new reading (<i>fortune</i>), +says, “Possibly by ‘nature’ we might +understand the natural course of +events.” We say, <i>certainly</i> this is +what we <i>must</i> understand by the word. +I die by nature, says Ægeon, not by +vile offence; or, as Warburton interprets +it, “My death is according to +the ordinary course of Providence, +and not the effects of Divine vengeance +overtaking my crimes.” But +the word “fortune,” had Ægeon +used it, would rather have implied +that he regarded himself as an object +of Divine displeasure; and therefore +this word must not only not be +adopted, but it must be specially +avoided, if we would preserve the +meaning of Shakespeare. In this case, +the internal evidence is certainly in +favour of the ordinary reading.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In a subsequent part of the same +scene, the Duke, who is mercifully inclined +towards Ægeon, advises him</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“To seek thy <i>help</i> by beneficial help.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>That is, he recommends him to +borrow such a sum of money as may +be sufficient to ransom his life. The +MS. corrector reads not very intelligibly—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“To seek thy <i>hope</i> by beneficial help.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>And Mr Collier, explaining the <i>obscurum +per obscurius</i>, remarks that +“Ægeon was to seek what he hoped +to obtain (viz. money to purchase his +life) by the ‘beneficial help’ of some +persons in Ephesus.” The “beneficial +help” was itself the money by which +he was to “seek his help,” or save +his life. “Beneficial help” means +“pecuniary assistance,” and therefore +we are at a loss to understand Mr +Collier when he says that Ægeon was +to seek money by the “beneficial +help” or pecuniary assistance of certain +persons in Ephesus. All that he +required to do was to obtain this pecuniary +assistance; obtaining that, he +of course would obtain the money by +which his life was to be redeemed. +The received text of the line ought on +no account to be disturbed. The repetition +of the word “help” is peculiarly +Shakesperian.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—A very little consideration +may convince any one that +the following correction is untenable. +The ordinary text is this: Dromio +the slave having been well drubbed +by his master, says—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“He told his mind upon mine ear; Beshrew +his hand, I scarce could understand it.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Luciana.</i>—Spake he so <i>doubtfully</i>, thou +couldst not feel his meaning?</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Dromio.</i>—Nay, he struck so plainly, I +could too well feel his blows; and withal so +<i>doubtfully</i> that I could scarce understand +them.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The manuscript corrector proposes +“doubly” for “doubtfully,” in both +instances; losing sight, as we think, +of the plain meaning of words. To +speak doubly is to speak deceitfully; +to speak doubtfully is to speak obscurely +or unintelligibly. But certainly +Luciana had no intention of +asking Dromio if his master had +spoken to him deceitfully. Such a +question would have been irrelevant +and senseless. She asks, spake he so +<i>obscurely</i> that you could not understand +his words?—and the slave answers, +“By my troth, so obscurely that +I could scarce understand (that is, +stand under) them.” This is the only +quibble.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In <i>Act II. Scene 2</i>, the expression +“she <i>moves</i> me for her theme,” that +is, “she makes me the subject of her +discourse,” occurs. This is changed by +the MS. corrector into “she <i>means</i> +me for her theme;” that is, “she +<i>means</i> to make me the subject of her +discourse.” But the “she” who is +here referred to is actually, at that +very moment, talking most vehemently +about the person who utters these +words; and therefore this emendation +is certainly no restoration, but a corruption +of the genuine language of +Shakespeare.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 2.</i>—The bum-bailiff +is thus maltreated. The words in +italics are the MS. corrector’s wanton +and damaging interpolations.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<i>Adriana.</i>—Where is thy master, Dromio, is he well?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Dromio.</i>—No: he’s in Tartar limbo, worse than hell;</div> + <div class='line'>A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, <i>fell</i>;</div> + <div class='line'>One whose hard heart is buttoned up with steel,</div> + <div class='line'><i>Who has no touch of mercy, cannot feel</i>;</div> + <div class='line'>A fiend, a <i>fury</i>, pitiless, and rough;</div> + <div class='line'>A wolf, nay worse, a fellow all in buff.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Here the only doubt is, whether +the word “fury” (the MS., and also +Theobald’s reading) is a judicious substitute +for the word “fairy,” which +the old copies present. We think +that it is not, being satisfied with +Johnson’s note, who observes—“There +were fairies like hobgoblins, +pitiless and rough, and described as +malevolent and mischievous.”—Nowadays +a fairy is an elegant creature +dressed in green. So she was in +Shakespeare’s time. But in Shakespeare’s +time there was also another +kind of fairy—a fellow clothed in a +buff jerkin, made of such durable +materials as to be well-nigh “everlasting;” +and whose vocation it was, +as it still is, to pay his addresses to +those who may have imprudently allowed +their debts to get into confusion. +Let us not allow the old usages +of language to drop into oblivion.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 3.</i>—“The vigor of +his rage,” is obviously a much more +vigorous expression than “the rigor +of his rage,” which the MS. corrector +proposes in its place.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—“The following +lines,” says Mr Collier, “as they are +printed in the folio 1623, have been the +source of considerable <i>cavil</i>,” meaning, +we presume, <i>dispute</i>. The words +are uttered by the Abbess, who has +been parted from her sons for a great +many years, and has but recently discovered +them.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you, my sons, and till this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burden are delivered.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“That the above is corrupt,” continues +Mr Collier, “there can be no +question; and in the folio 1632, the +printer attempted thus to amend the +passage:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>‘Thirty-three years have I <i>been</i> gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you my sons, and till this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burthens are delivered.’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Malone gives it thus:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>‘Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you my sons; until this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burthen <i>not</i> delivered.’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“The MS. corrector,” continues Mr +Collier, “of the folio 1632 makes the +slightest possible change in the second +line, and at once removes the +difficulty: he puts it—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>‘Thirty-three years have I been gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you my sons, and <i>at</i> this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burthens are delivered.’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>In his edition 1826, Mr Singer +reads—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you, my sons, and till this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burthen <i>ne’er</i> delivered.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>We are of opinion that a better +reading than any here given, and than +any ever given, might be proposed. +Thus—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail</div> + <div class='line'>Of you, my sons, and till this present hour</div> + <div class='line'>My heavy burthen <i>has</i> delivered.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>That is, I have done nothing but +go in travail of you, my children, for +thirty-three years; and, moreover (I +have gone in travail of you), till this +present hour has delivered me of my +heavy burden. This reading brings +her pains up to the present moment, +when she declares herself joyfully relieved +from them by the unexpected +restoration of her children. This +amendment seems to yield a more +emphatic meaning than any of the +others; and it departs as little as any +of them from the original text of +1623.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Much Ado about Nothing</span>—<i>Act +I. Scene 3.</i>—The brothers Don Pedro +and Don John have quarrelled, and +have been reconciled. Conrade remarks +to the latter, “You have <i>of +late</i> stood out against your brother, +and he hath ta’en you newly into his +grace.” The MS. correction is, “till +of late,” which, as any one looking +at the context even with half an eye, +may perceive both spoils the idiom +and impairs the meaning of the passage.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—We admit that +Shakespeare might—nay, ought—to +have written as follows, but we doubt +whether he did. “Wooing, wedding, +and repenting,” says Beatrice, “is as +a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinque-pace; +the first suit is hot and hasty, +like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; +the wedding, mannerly modest, +as a measure full of state and ancienty; +and then comes repentance, +and, with his bad legs, falls into +cinque-pace faster and faster, till he +sink <i>apace</i> into his grave.” “Apace” +is MS. corrector’s contribution.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In the following much-disputed +passage, we are of opinion that Shakespeare +uses somewhat licentiously the +word “impossible” in the sense of +<i>inconceivable</i>, and that Johnson’s and +the MS. corrector’s substitution of +“importable” (<i>i. e.</i> insupportable) is +unnecessary. “She told me,” says +Benedick, speaking of Beatrice, “that +I was the prince’s jester, and that I +was duller than a great thaw, huddling +jest upon jest, with such <i>impossible +conveyance</i>, upon me, that I +stood like a man at mark with a +whole army shooting at me.” “Impossible +conveyance” means inconceivable +rapidity.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 1.</i>—There surely +can be no question as to the superior +excellence of the received reading in +the following lines. The repentant +Beatrice, who has overheard her character +severely censured, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?</div> + <div class='line'>Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?</div> + <div class='line'>Contempt farewell, and maiden pride adieu!</div> + <div class='line'>No glory lives behind the back of such.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Beatrice means to say that contempt +and maiden pride are never <i>the screen</i> +to any true nobleness of character. +This is well expressed in the line,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“No glory lives <i>behind the back</i> of such.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>A vigorous expression, which the +MS. corrector recommends us to exchange +for the frivolous feebleness of</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“No glory lives <i>but in the lack</i> of such.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This substitution, we ought to say, is +worse than feeble and frivolous. It is +a perversion of Beatrice’s sentiments. +She never meant to say that a maiden +should <i>lack</i> maiden pride, but only +that it should not occupy a prominent +position in the <i>front</i> of her character. +Let her have as much of it as she +pleases, and the more the better, only +let it be drawn up as a reserve in the +background, and kept for defensive +rather than for offensive operations. +This is all that Beatrice can <i>seriously</i> +mean when she says, “maiden pride +adieu.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 1.</i>—In the following +passage we back Shakespeare’s +word against the MS. corrector’s, not +only in point of authenticity, but in +point of taste. Leonato, greatly exasperated +with his daughter, says to +her—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“For did I think thou wouldst not quickly die,</div> + <div class='line'>Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames,</div> + <div class='line'>Myself would, on the <i>rearward</i> of reproaches,</div> + <div class='line'>Strike at thy life.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This is the reading of the folio 1632. +The folio 1623 reads “reward,” but +that is obviously a misprint for “rearward.” +The MS. corrector proposes +<i>hazard</i>. As if the infuriated father +would have cared one straw what the +world might think or say of him for +slaying his daughter. In his passion +he was far beyond minding such a +trifle as public opinion, and would +never have paused to give utterance +to the sentiment which the corrector +puts into his mouth. What he says +is this—that after heaping reproaches +on his daughter to the uttermost, he +would <i>follow them up</i> by slaying her +with his own hand. This is admirably +expressed by the words, “rearward of +reproaches.” In this same scene the +fine old word “frame,” in the sense +of fabrication, is twice most wantonly +displaced, to make way, in the one +instance, for “frown,” and in the +other for “fraud.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—Let any reader +who has an ear read the opening +speech of Leonato, and he will perceive +at once how grievously its effect +is damaged by the insertion of the +words “to me” in this line.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“And bid him speak (<i>to me</i>) of patience.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>In the same speech the following lines +are a problem. Leonato, rebuffing +his comforters, says, “Bring to me a +person as miserable as myself, and</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“If such a one will smile, and stroke his beard,</div> + <div class='line'><i>And, sorrow wag! cry</i>, Hem, when he should groan,</div> + <div class='line'>Patch grief with proverbs, make misfortune drunk</div> + <div class='line'>With candlewasters, bring him yet to me,</div> + <div class='line'>And I of him will gather patience.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“And sorrow wag! cry,” is the main +difficulty. Johnson explains it thus: +“If such a one will smile, and stroke +his beard, and cry, Sorrow, <i>begone</i>!” +This, in our opinion, is quite satisfactory; +but what is the philology of the +word “wag?” We believe it to be +the German word “weg”—away—off +with you. The MS. corrector cuts +the knot which he cannot untie, by +reading “call sorrow joy.” This is a +gloss, not a reparation of the text.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 4.</i>—We maybe assured +that a far finer sense is contained +under Hero’s expression, when +she says, according to the common +reading,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“One Hero died <i>defiled</i>, but I do live,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>than under the pseudo-emendation,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“One Hero died <i>belied</i>, but I do live.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Love’s Labour Lost</span>—<i>Act I. +Scene 1.</i>—We agree with Mr Dyce<a id='r19'></a><a href='#f19' class='c007'><sup>[19]</sup></a> +in thinking that a quibble is intended +in Biron’s speech, when he +says that he and his friends will +“<i>climb</i> in the merriness,” according +as the absurd <i>style</i> of Armado’s letter +shall give them cause. At any rate, +nothing can be poorer than the MS. +correction of this place, “chime in +the merriness.” We think, however, +that the corrector is right in giving the +words, “Sirrah, come on,” to Dull +the constable, and not to Biron, to +whom they are usually assigned. We +also consider the change of <i>manager</i> +into <i>armiger</i> rather a happy alteration; +at any rate, we can say this of +it, that had <i>armiger</i> been the received +reading, we should not have been disposed +to accept <i>manager</i> in its place. +This is a compliment which we can +pay to very few of the MS. corrections. +Had <i>they</i> formed the original +text, and had the original text formed +the <i>marginalia</i>, we should have had +little hesitation as to which we would, +in most cases, adopt. On the ground +of their internal evidence—that is, of +their superior excellence—the <i>marginalia</i> +would certainly have obtained +the preference. The passage to which +we refer is this—“Adieu, valour!” +says the fantastical Armado, “rust +rapier! be still drum, for your <i>armiger</i> +is in love.” This reading, we think, is +worthy of being perpetuated in a note, +though scarcely entitled to be elevated +into the text.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 1.</i>—The corrector +very soon relapses into his blunders. +Passing over several, here is one, not +so conspicuous perhaps, but as decided +as any into which he has fallen. +Armado, speaking to Moth his page, +says, “Fetch hither the swain (<i>i. e.</i>, +Costard the clown), he must carry me +a letter.” Moth replies, “A <i>message</i> +well-sympathed—a horse to be ambassador +for an ass.” The MS. corrector +reads, “A <i>messenger</i> well-sympathised,” +not perceiving that this destroys +the point, and meaning, and +pertinency of Moth’s remark. “A message +well-sympathised” means a mission +well concocted, an embassy consistent +with itself, which, says Moth, +this one is, inasmuch as it is a case of +horse (Costard) representing an ass—(to-wit, +yourself, master mine.) Yet +Mr Collier says that “we ought unquestionably +to substitute messenger +for message.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Moth, the page, having gone to fetch +Costard, Armado says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“A most acute juvenal, voluble, and free of grace.</div> + <div class='line'>By thy favour, sweet welkin, I must sigh in thy face,</div> + <div class='line'><i>Most rude</i> Melancholy, valour gives thee place.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The MS. corrector alters the last line +into “moist-eyed melancholy;” and +Mr Collier remarks, “‘Most rude melancholy’ +has no particular appropriateness, +whereas ‘moist-eyed melancholy’ +is peculiarly accordant with the +sighs Armado breathes, in due apology, +to the face of the welkin.” <i>No particular +appropriateness!</i> when the +euphuist is in the very act of apologising +to the welkin for the breach of +good manners of which his “most +rude melancholy” has compelled him +to be guilty. What else could he, in +the circumstances, have called his +melancholy with any degree of propriety? +Oh, silly margins! you have +much to answer for. You are not +only stupid yourselves, but you are +the cause of stupidity in other people.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 1.</i>—Having considered +the following passage very +carefully, we are compelled to side +with Mr Singer and Mr Dyce in favour +of the old reading “fair” against +“faith,” which is advocated by the +MS. corrector, Mr Collier, and Mr +Hunter. The princess, giving money +to the forester, whom she playfully +charges with having called her anything +but good-looking, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Fair payment for foul words is more than due.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Forester.</i> Nothing but fair is that which you inherit.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Princess.</i> See, see, my beauty will be saved by merit.</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, heresy in <i>fair</i>, fit for these days!</div> + <div class='line'>A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The new reading proposed is, “Oh, +heresy in <i>faith</i>.” But this change is +not necessary; indeed it spoils the +passage. The princess, when the +forester compliments her, says—“See, +see, my beauty will be saved” (not +on its own account, for, in this man’s +opinion, I have little or none) but “by +merit,” that is, because I have given +him money. He calls me an angel of +light because I have given him half-a-crown. +Oh, heresy in regard to +beauty! None but the really beautiful +ought to be so complimented. +Those who like me are plain (as this +man thinks me in his heart), and have +“foul hands,” ought not to obtain <i>fair</i> +praise—ought not to be praised as +fair, however “giving” or liberal +these hands may be. The heresy here +playfully alluded to is the error of supposing +that people can be <i>beautified</i> by +their gifts as well as by their appearance; +just as a religious heresy consists +in the idea that a person can be +justified by his works as well as by his +faith.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 3.</i>—The following +passage has given some trouble to the +commentators—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in12'>“Black is the badge of hell,</div> + <div class='line'>The hue of dungeons, and the <i>school</i> of night.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Various substitutes have been proposed +for the word “school.” The +<i>variorum</i> reads “scowl,” which was +introduced by Warburton. Theobald +conjectured “stole.” The <i>marginalia</i> +present “shade,” which is as poor as +poor can be. We believe the original +word “school” to be right, and that +the allusion is to the different badges +and colours by which different schools +or sects or fraternities were formerly +distinguished. “Black,” says the passage +before us, “is the hue worn by all +who belong to the school or brotherhood +of night.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The context of the following passage +seems fairly to justify the MS. +correction, by which “beauty” is +changed into “learning.” <i>Beauty</i> may +have been a misprint. <i>Loquitur</i> +Biron—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“For where is any author in the world</div> + <div class='line'>Teaches such <i>learning</i> as a woman’s eye?</div> + <div class='line'>Learning is but an adjunct to ourself,</div> + <div class='line'>And where we are our learning likewise is,</div> + <div class='line'>Then, when ourselves we see in ladies’ eyes,</div> + <div class='line'>Do we not likewise see our learning there?”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This, we think, is one of the very few +emendations which ought to be admitted +into the text.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is curious to remark, what we +learn incidentally from this play, that, +in Shakespeare’s time, the words +“doubt” and “debt” were pronounced +as they are spelt, the “b” +being sounded no less than the “t,” +and that it was the height of affectation +to say “dout” and “det,” as +we do nowadays. So changes the +<i>norma loquendi</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 2.</i>—The following, in +the old copies, is obviously a misprint—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“So <i>pertaunt</i>-like would I o’ersway his state,</div> + <div class='line'>That he should be my fool, and I his fate.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The <i>variorum</i> edition reads “portent-like.” +In 1826, Mr Singer published +“potent-like.” The MS. corrector +suggests “potently;” and this we +rather prefer.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When the princess is informed of +the intended wit-assault on her and +her ladies by the king and his lords, +she exclaims—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“What are they</div> + <div class='line'>That <i>charge their breath</i> against us?”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“To ‘charge their breath,’” says Mr +Collier, “is nonsense, and the corrector +alters it most naturally to</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>‘What are they</div> + <div class='line'>That <i>charge the breach</i> against us?’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Should any one,” says Mr Singer,<a id='r20'></a><a href='#f20' class='c007'><sup>[20]</sup></a> +“wish to be convinced of the utter impossibility +of the corrector having had +access to better authority than we +possess—nay, of his utter incapacity +to comprehend the poet, I would recommend +this example of his skill to +their consideration. The <i>encounters</i> +with which the ladies are threatened, +are <i>encounters of words, wit combats</i>;” +and therefore it was quite natural that +they should talk of their opponents as +“charging their breath against them.” +We agree with Mr Singer; but we +willingly change “love-feat,” in this +same scene, into “love-suit,” at the +bidding of the MS. corrector.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Oh, poverty in wit!” exclaims the +princess, when she and her ladies have +demolished the king and his companions +in the wit-encounter. “Kingly-poor +flout!” The MS. corrector reads, +“killed by pure flout;” and Mr Singer +“has no doubt” that “stung by poor +flout” is the true reading. We see +no reason for disturbing the original +text. A double meaning is no doubt +intended in the expression “kingly-poor +flout.” It means “mighty poor +badinage;” and then, a king being one +of the performers, it also means “repartee +as poor as might have been +expected from royal lips;” these being +usually understood to be better fitted +for taking in than for giving out “good +things.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Midsummer Night’s Dream</span>—<i>Act +I. Scene 1.</i>—“Near the end of +Helena’s speech,” says Mr Collier, +“occurs this couplet where she is +stating her determination to inform +Demetrius of the intended flight of +Lysander and Hermia—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in10'>‘And for this intelligence</div> + <div class='line'>If I have thanks, it is a dear expense’—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>which,” continues Mr Collier, “is +only just intelligible; but the old corrector +<i>singularly improves</i> the passage +by the word he substitutes—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in10'>‘And for this intelligence</div> + <div class='line'>If I have thanks, it is dear <i>recompense</i>.’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The old corrector is an old woman +who, in this case, has not merely mistaken, +but has directly reversed Shakespeare’s +meaning. So far from saying +that Demetrius’s thanks will be any +“recompense” for what she proposes +doing, Helena says the very reverse, +that they will be a severe aggravation +of her pain. “A dear expense” here +means a painful purchase, a bitter +bargain. “If I have thanks, the sacrifice +which I make in giving Demetrius +this information will be doubly distressing +to me.” Of course she would +much rather that Demetrius, her old +lover, did not thank her for setting +him on the traces of his new mistress. +Thanks would be a mockery in the +circumstances, and this is what Helena +means to say. Such is manifestly the +meaning of the passage, as may be +gathered both from the words themselves, +and from their connection with +the context, which is this—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight:</div> + <div class='line'>Then to the wood will he to-morrow night</div> + <div class='line'>Pursue her; and for this intelligence,</div> + <div class='line'>If I have thanks, it is a dear expense;</div> + <div class='line'>But <i>herein</i> mean I to enrich my pain,</div> + <div class='line'>To <i>have his sight</i> thither, and back again.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The <i>sight</i> of Demetrius, and not his +<i>thanks</i>, was to be Helena’s <i>recompense</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—The corrector is +unquestionably wrong in his version +of these lines. Of Titania it is said +by one of the fairies, that</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“The cowslips <i>tall</i> her pensioners be,</div> + <div class='line'>In their gold <i>coats</i> spots you see,</div> + <div class='line'>Those be rubies, fairy favours,” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The MS. corrector reads “all” for +“tall,” and “cups” for “coats,” to +the manifest deterioration of the text. +Mr Singer thus explains the matter, to +the satisfaction, we should think, of +all readers. “This passage has reference +to the band of gentlemen-pensioners +in which Queen Elizabeth +took so much pride. They were some +of the handsomest and <i>tallest</i> young +men of the best families and fortune, +and their dress was of remarkable +splendour—their <i>coats</i> might well be +said to be of gold. Mr Collier’s objection +that ‘cowslips are never tall,’ +is a strange one. Drayton in his +Nymphidia thought otherwise, and +surely a long-stalked cowslip would +be well designated by a fairy as tall.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 3.</i>—The alteration of +“conference” into “confidence” in +the following lines is an <i>improvement</i>, +most decidedly, <i>for the worse</i>. Lysander +and Hermia are going to sleep +in the wood. She says to him—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Nay, good Lysander, for my sake, my dear,</div> + <div class='line'>Lye further off yet, do not lye so near.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Lysander.</i>—Oh, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence;</div> + <div class='line'>Love takes the meaning, in love’s <i>conference</i>.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>That is, love puts a good construction +on all that is said or done in the “conference,” +or intercourse of love. “Confidence,” +the MS. correction, makes +nonsense.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 2.</i>—The margins +seem to be right in changing “What +news, my love?” into “What means +my love?” in the speech in which +Hermia is appealing passionately to +her old lover Lysander.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—But we cannot +accept the substitution of “hot ice +and wondrous <i>seething</i> snow” for the +much more Shakespearian “hot ice +and wonderous <i>strange</i> snow.” The +late Mr Barron Field’s excellent emendation +of the following lines is borne +out by the MS. correction—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am</div> + <div class='line'>A lion’s <i>fell</i>, nor else no lion’s dam.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Fell” means skin. The old reading +was—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Then know that I, as Snug the joiner, am</div> + <div class='line'>A <i>lion fell</i>, nor else no lion’s dam.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This ought to go into the text, if it +has not done so already.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>The Merchant of Venice</span>—<i>Act +I. Scene 1.</i>—In the following passage +the margins make rather a good hit +in restoring “when” of the old editions, +which had been converted into +“who,” and in changing “would” +into “’twould.”</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Oh, my Antonio, I do know of these</div> + <div class='line'>That therefore only are reputed wise</div> + <div class='line'>For saying nothing, <i>when</i>, I am very sure,</div> + <div class='line'>If they should speak, <i>’twould</i> almost damn those ears,</div> + <div class='line'>Which hearing them would call their brothers fools.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—The Prince of +Morocco says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Mislike me not for my complexion,</div> + <div class='line'>The shadowed livery of the <i>burnished</i> sun.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Altered by the MS. corrector into +“burning sun,” which, says Mr Collier, +“seems much more proper when the +African prince is speaking of his black +complexion as the effects of the sun’s +rays.” Mr Collier will excuse us: +the African Prince is doing nothing of +the kind. He is merely throwing +brightness and darkness into picturesque +contrast—as the sun is bright, +or “burnished,” so am I his retainer +dark, or “shadowed.” “To speak of +the sun,” continues Mr Collier, “as +<i>artificially</i> ‘burnished,’ is very unworthy.” +True: but Shakespeare +speaks of it as <i>naturally</i> burnished; +and so far is this from being unworthy, +it is, in the circumstances, highly +poetical.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 9.</i>—To change the +words “pries not to the interior,” into +“prize not the interior,” in the following +lines, is wantonly to deface the +undoubted language of Shakespeare.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“What many men desire!—that many may be meant</div> + <div class='line'>Of the fool multitude, that chuse by show,</div> + <div class='line'>Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach,</div> + <div class='line'>Which <i>pries</i> not to the interior; but, like the martlet,</div> + <div class='line'>Builds in the weather, on the outward wall.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 2.</i>—The MS. corrector +proposes a very plausible reading +in the lines where Bassanio is +moralising on the deceitfulness of external +appearance.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Thus ornament is but the guiled surf</div> + <div class='line'>To a most dangerous sea, the beauteous scarf</div> + <div class='line'>Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word,</div> + <div class='line'>The seeming truth which cunning times put on,</div> + <div class='line'>To entrap the wisest.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The corrector proposes to put a full +stop after Indian, and to read on—“beauty, +in a word,” (is) “the seeming +truth,” &c. Mr Singer says, +“this variation in the pointing is no +novelty; it occurs in an edition of +Shakespeare, published by Scott and +Webster in 1833, and has been satisfactorily +shown to be erroneous and +untenable by a correspondent in <cite>Notes +and Queries</cite>, vol. v. p. 483.” We regret +that it is not in our power, at this +time, to consult the volume of <cite>Notes +and Queries</cite> referred to; but we confess +that we see no very serious objection +to this new reading, except +the awkwardness and peculiarly unShakespearian +character of the construction +which it presents. That +there is a difficulty in the passage is +evident from the changes that have +been proposed. Sir Thomas Hanmer +gave “Indian <i>dowdy</i>”—Mr Singer, +“Indian <i>gipsy</i>,” which, however, he +now abandons. We still confess +a partiality for the old text, both in +the words and in the pointing. “An +Indian beauty” may mean the worst +species of ugliness, just as a Dutch +nightingale means a toad. Still we +believe that a good deal might be said +in favour of the MS. corrector’s punctuation.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bassanio, descanting on the portrait +of Portia, and on the difficulties +the painter must have had to contend +with, thus expresses his admiration +of the eyes—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“How could he see to do them? having made one,</div> + <div class='line'>Methinks, it should have power to steal both his,</div> + <div class='line'>And leave itself <i>unfurnished</i>.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The corrector reads “unfinished,” +which Johnson long ago condemned. +“Unfurnished” means, as Mr Collier +formerly admitted, unprovided with a +counterpart—a fellow-eye.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We willingly concede to Mr Collier +the “bollen” instead of the “woolen” +bagpipe. And when he next “blaws +up his chanter,” may the devil dance +away with his anonymous corrector, +and the bulk of his emendations, as +effectually as he ever did with the +exciseman.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>As You Like It</span>—<i>Act I. Scene 2.</i>—In +opposition to Mr Collier, we +take leave to say that Sir Thomas +Hanmer was <i>not</i> right in altering +“there is such odds in the <i>man</i>” to +“there is such odds in the <i>men</i>.” +What is meant to be said is, “there +is such superiority (of strength) in the +<i>man</i>;” and “odds” formerly signified +<i>superiority</i>, as may be learnt from the +following sentence of Hobbes—“The +passion of laughter,” says Hobbes, +“proceedeth from the sudden imagination +of our own <i>odds</i> and eminency.”<a id='r21'></a><a href='#f21' class='c007'><sup>[21]</sup></a> +Mr Collier’s man, who +concurs with Sir Thomas Hanmer, is, +of course, equally at fault.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act I. Scene 3.</i>—“Safest haste”—that +is, most convenient despatch—is +much more probable than “fastest +haste,” inasmuch as the lady to whom +the words “despatch you with your +<i>safest</i> haste” are addressed, is allowed +<i>ten days</i> to take herself off in.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 3.</i>—When Orlando, +speaking of his unnatural brother, in +whose hands he expresses his determination +to place himself, rather than +take to robbing on the highway, says,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I will rather subject me to the malice</div> + <div class='line'>Of a <i>diverted blood, and bloody brother</i>,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>the language is so strikingly Shakesperian, +that nothing but the most +extreme obtuseness can excuse the +MS. corrector’s perverse reading—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Of a diverted, <i>proud</i>, and bloody brother.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Diverted blood,” says Dr Johnson, +means “blood turned out of the +course of nature;” and there cannot +be a finer phrase for an unnatural +kinsman.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 7.</i>—The following +passage is obviously corrupt. Jacques, +inveighing against the pride of going +finely dressed, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea,</div> + <div class='line'>Till that the <i>very very</i> means do ebb?”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The MS. correction is—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Till that the very means <i>of wear</i> do ebb.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Singer suggests, “Till that the +<i>wearer’s</i> very means do ebb.” The +two meanings are the same: people, +carried away by pride, dress finely, +until their means are exhausted. +But Mr Singer keeps nearest to the +old text.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 4.</i>—“Capable impressure” +must be vindicated as the +undoubted language of Shakespeare, +against the MS. corrector, Mr Collier, +and Mr Singer, all of whom would +advocate “palpable impressure.”</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in12'>“Lean but on a rush,</div> + <div class='line'>The cicatrice and <i>capable impressure</i>,</div> + <div class='line'>Thy palm a moment keeps.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Capable impressure” means an indentation +in the palm of the hand +sufficiently deep to <i>contain</i> something +within it.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 1.</i>—Both the MS. +corrector and Mr Collier have totally +misunderstood Rosalind, when she +says, “Marry, that should you, or I +should think my honesty ranker than +my wit.” The meaning, one would +think, is sufficiently obvious.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 4.</i>—And equally obvious +is the meaning of the following +line, which requires no emendation. +Orlando says that he is</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“As those who fear they hope, and know they fear.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>That is, he is as those who fear that +they are feeding on <i>mere</i> hope—hope +which is not to end in fruition—and +who are certain that they fear or apprehend +the worst:—a painful state +to be in. The marginal correction, +“As those who fear <i>to</i> hope, and +know they fear,” is nonsense.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>The Taming of the Shrew.</span>—<i>Induction. +Scene I.</i>—We agree with +the margins in thinking that the following +line requires to be amended, +by the insertion of “what” or “who.” +In the directions given about the +tricks to be played off on Sly, it is +said—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“And when he says he is—say that he dreams.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The MS. corrector reads, properly +as we think—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“And when he says <i>what</i> he is, say that he dreams.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'><i>Scene 2.</i>—There is something very +feasible in the corrector’s gloss on +the word “<i>sheer</i>-ale.” For “sheer” +he writes “Warwickshire,” and we +have no doubt that “shire (pronounced +sheer) ale” is the true reading.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act I. Scene 1.</i>—One of the happiest +and most undoubted emendations +in Mr Collier’s folio, and one which, +in his preface, he wisely places in the +front of his case, now comes before +us—“ethics” for “checks,” in these +lines in which Tranio gives advice to +his master Lucentio—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Let’s be no stoics, nor no stocks, I pray,</div> + <div class='line'>Or so devote to Aristotle’s <i>checks</i>,</div> + <div class='line'>As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>We have no hesitation in condemning +“checks” as a misprint for “ethics,” +which from this time henceforward +we hope to see the universal reading. +It is surprising that it should not +have become so long ago, having been +proposed by Sir W. Blackstone nearly +a hundred years since, and staring +every recent editor in the face +from among the notes of the <i>variorum</i>. +Mr Singer alone had the good taste +to print it in his text of 1826.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Let us here bestow a passing commendation +on Mr Hunter for a very +ingenious reading, or rather for what +is better, a very acceptable restoration +of the old text, which had been +corrupted by Rowe and all subsequent +editors. In the same speech, Tranio, +who is advising Lucentio not to study +too hard, says, according to all the +common copies—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<i>Talk</i> logic wi’ th’ acquaintance that you have.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The elder copies read—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<i>Balk</i> logic, wi’ th’ acquaintance that you have.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This means, <i>cut</i> logic, with such a +smattering of it as you already possess; +or, as Mr Hunter explains it, +“give the go-by to logic, as satisfied +with the acquaintance you have +already gained with it.” “Balk” +ought certainly to replace “talk” in +all future editions, and our thanks +are due to Mr Hunter for the emendation.<a id='r22'></a><a href='#f22' class='c007'><sup>[22]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c009'>How scandalous it is to change +“mould” into “mood” in the following +lines, addressed by Hortensio to +the termagant Kate:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Mates, maid! how mean you that? No mates for you:</div> + <div class='line'>Unless you were of gentler, milder <i>mould</i>.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Kate was not, at least so thought +Hortensio, one of those,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<span lang="la">Quas meliore luto <i>finxit</i> præcordia Titan.</span>”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—We greatly prefer +Mr Singer’s amendment of what +follows to the MS. corrector’s. The +common text is this:—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“<i>Petruchio</i> (to Kate).—Women were made +to bear, and so were you.</p> + +<p class='c014'><i>Katherine.</i>—No such jade, sir, as you, if +me you mean.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This being scarcely sense, the corrector +says—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“No such jade <i>to bear</i> you, if me you mean.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Singer says,</p> + +<p class='c014'>“No such <i>load</i> as you, sir, if me you mean.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 2.</i>—“An ancient +angel coming down the hill” has +puzzled the commentators. The margins +read “ambler.” We prefer the +received text—the word “angel” +being probably used in its old sense +of <i>messenger</i>, with a spice of the +ludicrous in its employment.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—Vincentio, who +is on the point of being carried to +jail, exclaims—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“Thus strangers may be <i>haled</i> and abused.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The MS. corrector proposes “handled;” +and Mr Collier says that +“haled” is a misprint, and the line +“hardly a verse.” It is a very good +verse; and “haled” is the very, indeed +the only, word proper to the +place. On turning, however, to Mr +Collier’s appendix, we find that he +says, “It may be doubted whether +‘haled’ is not to be taken as <i>hauled</i>; +but still the true word may have been +handled.” This is <i>not</i> to be doubted; +“haled” is <i>certainly</i> to be taken for +<i>hauled</i>, and “handled” cannot have +been the right word.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>All’s Well that ends Well</span>—<i>Act +I. Scene 1.</i>—In Helena’s soliloquy, +near the end of the scene, the corrector, +by the perverse transposition +of two words, changes sense into +nonsense. She says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“The mightiest space in fortune nature brings</div> + <div class='line'>To join like likes and kiss like native things.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The lady is in love with Bertram, +who is greatly above her in rank and +in fortune; and the meaning is, that +all-powerful nature brings things (herself, +for example, and Bertram) which +are separated by the widest interval +of <i>fortune</i>, to join as if they were +“likes” or pairs, and to kiss as if +they were kindred things. The MS. +corrector reverses this meaning, and +reads—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“The mightiest space in <i>nature fortune</i> brings</div> + <div class='line'>To join like likes and kiss like native things.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>But there was no “space” at all +between Helena and Bertram in +point of “nature.” They were both +unexceptionable human beings. They +were separated only by a disparity of +“fortune.” Why does the MS. corrector +go so assiduously out of his +way for the mere purpose of blundering, +and why does Mr Collier so +patiently endorse his eccentricities? +That is indeed marvellous.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act 1. Scene 3.</i>—Helena says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“You know my father left me some prescriptions</div> + <div class='line'>Of rare and proved effects, such was his reading</div> + <div class='line'>And <i>manifest</i> experience.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Read “manifold,” says the corrector; +and Mr Collier adds, “we may safely +admit the emendation.” Retain the +old reading, say we; “manifest” +means sure, well-grounded, indisputable, +and is much more likely to have +been Shakespeare’s word than “manifold.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 2.</i>—The countess, +comforting Helena, who has been deserted +by Bertram, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I pr’ythee, lady, have a better cheer,</div> + <div class='line'>If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine,</div> + <div class='line'>Thou robb’st me of a moiety.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“The old corrector,” says Mr Collier, +“tells us, and we may readily +believe him, that there is a small but +important error in the second line. +He reads—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>‘If thou engrossest all the griefs <i>as</i> thine</div> + <div class='line'>Thou robbest me of a moiety.’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The small but important error here +referred to is committed by the old +corrector himself. The countess, to +give her words in plain prose, says—if +you keep to yourself all the griefs +which are thine, you rob me of my +share of them. The context where +the countess adds—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in16'>“He was my son,</div> + <div class='line'>But I do wash his name out of my blood,</div> + <div class='line'>And thou art all my child,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>seems to have misled the old corrector. +He appears to have supposed +that the countess had griefs of her +own, occasioned by the conduct of +her son Bertram, and that she protests +against Helena’s monopolising +these together with her own. This is +the only ground on which “as” can +be defended. But the answer is, that +although the countess may have had +such griefs, she was too proud to express +them. She merely expresses +her desire to participate in the afflictions +which <i>are</i> Helena’s. This is +one of the innumerable instances in +which Shakespeare shows his fine +knowledge of human nature. Whatever +grief a proud mother may <i>feel</i> on +account of a disobedient son, anger is +the only sentiment which she will +<i>express</i> towards him. The word “as,” +however, had the countess used it, +would have been equivalent to an +expression of grief, and not merely +of indignation; and therefore we +strongly advocate its rejection, and +the retention in the text of the word +“are.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 2.</i>—The following is +a troublesome passage. Diana says +to Bertram, who is pressing his suit +upon her—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I see that men make ropes, in such a scarre,</div> + <div class='line'>That we’ll forsake ourselves.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>This is the old reading, and it is +manifestly corrupt. Rowe, the earliest +of the <i>variorum</i> editors, reads—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“I see that men make <i>hopes</i>, in such <i>affairs</i>,</div> + <div class='line'>That we’ll forsake ourselves.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Malone gives “in such <i>a scene</i>” for +“in such a scarre.” The MS. corrector +proposes “in such a <i>suit</i>.” Mr +Singer says “that it is not necessary +to change the word <i>scarre</i> at all: it +here signifies any surprise or alarm, +and what we should now write <i>a +scare</i>.” We agree with Mr Singer; +and, following his suggestion, we give +our vote for the following correction—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“I see that men make hopes, in such <i>a scare</i>, +That we’ll forsake ourselves.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>That is, I see that men expect that +we (poor women) will lose our self-possession +in the flurry or agitation, +into which we are thrown by the vehemence +of their addresses.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—We willingly +change the received stage direction, +“enter <i>a gentle astringer</i>”—a most +perplexing character certainly—into +“enter a gentleman, a stranger,” as +proposed by the old corrector, who, +in this case, corrects like a human +being.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 3.</i>—To change the fine +expression</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Natural rebellion done in the <i>blade</i> of youth.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>into “Natural rebellion done in the +<i>blaze</i> of youth,” is to convert a poeticism +into a barbarism. “The blade of youth” +is the springtime of life. Besides, +there is an affinity between the word +“natural” and the word “blade,” +which proves the latter to have been +Shakespeare’s expression.</p> + +<p class='c009'>If “all was well that ended well,” +as the title of this play declares to be +the case, the MS. corrections throughout +it would be impregnable; for +these end with one of the very happiest +conjectural emendations that ever was +proposed. Bertram, explaining how +Diana obtained from him the ring, +says, according to the received text,</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Her <i>insuit coming</i>, and her modern grace</div> + <div class='line'>Subdued me to her rate.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>“Insuit coming” has baffled the +world. The <i>marginalia</i> give us, “Her +<i>infinite cunning</i> and her modern grace +subdued me to her rate.” It ought to +be mentioned that this excellent emendation, +which ought unquestionably +to be admitted into the text, was also +started some years ago by the late +Mr Walker, author of the “original.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Twelfth Night, or What you +will</span>—<i>Act II. Scene 1.</i>—The following +words in italics are probably corrupt; +but the MS. correction of the place is +certainly a very bad piece of tinkering. +Sebastian is speaking of his reputed +likeness to his sister Viola—“A lady, +sir, though it was said she much resembled +me, was of many accounted +beautiful; but though I could not, +<i>with such estimable wonder</i>, overfar +believe that, yet thus far I will boldly +publish her,” &c. The margins give +us—“But though I could not <i>with selfestimation +wander so far</i> to believe +that.” But who can believe that, +Shakespeare would wander so far in +his speech as to write in such a roundabout +feckless fashion as this? What +he really wrote it may now be hopeless +to inquire.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act II. Scene V.</i>—Malvolio congratulating +himself on his ideal elevation +says, “And then to have the +<i>humour</i> of state,” which the MS. corrector +changes into the poverty of +“the <i>honour</i> of state,” overlooking +the consideration that “the humour +of state” means the high airs, the capricious +insolence, of authority, which +is precisely what Malvolio is glorying +that he shall by and by have it in +his power to exhibit.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act III. Scene 4.</i>—We never can +consent to change “venerable” into +“veritable,” at the bidding of the venerable +corrector, in these lines—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“And to his image which methought did promise</div> + <div class='line'>Most venerable worth, did I devotion.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'> “The word ‘devotion,’” says Mr +Singer, “at once determines that <i>venerable</i> +was the poet’s word.”</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 1.</i>—How much more +Shakesperian is the line—“A contract +<i>of</i> eternal bond of love,” than the +corrector’s</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“A contract <i>and</i> eternal bond of love.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The word “bond” is here used not as +a legal term, but in the more poetical +sense of <i>union</i>.</p> + +<p class='c009'><span class='sc'>Winter’s Tale</span>—<i>Act I. Scene 2.</i>—We +agree with Mr Collier in his remark, +that “there is no doubt we +ought to amend the words of the old +copies, ‘What lady <i>she</i> her lord’ by +reading, ‘What lady <i>should</i> her lord,’” +as given by the MS. corrector.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In the same scene, Leontes, expatiating +on the falsehood of women, says—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in18'>“But were they false</div> + <div class='line'>As <i>o’erdy’d</i> blacks, as winds, as waters.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>That is, as false as “blacks” that have +been dyed again and again until they +have become quite rotten. This seems +sufficiently intelligible; but it does +not satisfy our anonymous friend, who +proposes “as our dead blacks;” that +is, as our mourning clothes, which, +says Mr Collier, being “worn at the +death of persons whose loss was not +at all lamented,” may therefore be +termed false or hypocritical. But +surely <i>all</i> persons who wear mourning +are not hypocrites; and therefore this +new reading falls ineffectual to the +ground.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act IV. Scene 3.</i>—We perceive nothing +worthy of adoption or animadversion +till we come to the following. +Florizel is making himself very +agreeable to Perdita, whereupon Camillo, +noticing their intimacy, remarks, +as the old copies give it—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in10'>“He tells her something</div> + <div class='line'>That makes her blood look on’t.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>There is something obviously wrong +here. Theobald proposed—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in10'>“He tells her something</div> + <div class='line'>That makes her blood look <i>out</i>.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Something that calls up her blushes. +This is the received reading, and an +excellent emendation it is. But on +the whole we prefer the MS. corrector’s, +which, though perhaps not quite +so poetical as Theobald’s, strikes us as +more natural and simple when taken +with the context.</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in9'>“He tells her something</div> + <div class='line'>Which <i>wakes</i> her blood. Look on’t! Good sooth, she is</div> + <div class='line'>The queen of curds and cream.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>On second thoughts, we are not sure +that this is not more poetical and dramatic +than the other. At any rate, +we give it our suffrage.</p> + +<p class='c009'>There is, it seems, an old word +“jape,” signifying a jest, which we +willingly accept on the authority of +the MS. corrector, in place of the unintelligible +word “gap,” in the speech +where “some stretch-mouthed rascal” +is said “to break a foul jape into the +matter.” The reading hitherto has +been “gap.” This, however, is a +<i>hiatus</i> only <i>mediocriter deflendus</i>. The +next is a very lamentable case.</p> + +<p class='c009'><i>Act V. Scene 3.</i>—Here the corrector +interpolates a whole line of his own, +which we can by no means accept. +The miserable Leontes, gazing on the +supposed statue of his wife, Hermione, +which is in reality her living self, +says, according to the received text—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in16'>“Let be, let be,</div> + <div class='line'>Would I were dead; but that methinks already—</div> + <div class='line'>What was he that did make it? see, my lord,</div> + <div class='line'>Would you not deem it breathed, and that those veins</div> + <div class='line'>Did verily bear blood?”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>Here the train of emotion is evidently +this:—Would I were dead, but +<i>that</i> methinks already (he is about to +add) I am, when the life-like appearance +of the statue forcibly impresses +his senses, whereupon he checks himself +and exclaims, “What was <i>he</i> that +did make it”—a god or a mere man, +&c. The MS. corrector favours us +with the following version—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in16'>“Let be, let be,</div> + <div class='line'>Would I were dead, but that methinks already</div> + <div class='line'><i>I am but dead, stone looking upon stone</i>:</div> + <div class='line'>What was he that did make it? see, my lord,</div> + <div class='line'>Would you not deem it breathed?” &c.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c009'>The corrector is not satisfied with +making Shakespeare write poorly, he +frequently insists on making him write +contradictorily, as in the present instance. +I am stone, says Leontes, +according to this version, looking upon +stone, for see, my lord, the statue +breathes, these veins do verily bear +blood. Is not that a proof, my lord, +that this statue is mere stone? Most +people would have considered this a +proof of the very contrary. Not so the +MS. corrector, who is the father of +the emendation; not so Mr Collier, +who says that “we may be <i>thankful</i> +that this line has been furnished, since +it adds so much <i>to the force and clearness</i> +of the speech of Leontes.” Truly, +we must be thankful for very small +literary mercies! Mr Collier may be +assured that the very thing which +Leontes says most strongly, by implication, +in this speech is, that he is <i>not</i> +stone looking upon stone.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Our space being exhausted, we must +reserve for our next Number the continuation +of our survey of Shakespeare’s +Plays as <i>amended</i> by Mr Collier’s +anonymous corrector.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span> + <h2 class='c002'>THE INSURRECTION IN CHINA.<a id='r23'></a><a href='#f23' class='c007'><sup>[23]</sup></a></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c008'>Two Frenchman have just published, +at an opportune moment, a curious +book. One of them needs no introduction +here. The readers who have +twice encountered, in <cite>Blackwood’s</cite> +pages, the vivacious and intelligent Dr +Yvan, first under canvass for Bourbon, +and then roaming in the Eastern +Archipelago, will gladly, we are persuaded, +meet him again amongst the +mandarins. This time he is not alone, +but has taken to himself a coadjutor, +in the person of M. Callery, once a +missionary, and, since then, interpreter +to the French embassy in China—to +which, it will be remembered, Dr +Yvan was attached as physician. M. +Callery is author of a Chinese dictionary, +of a system of Chinese writing, +and of translations from the same +language. When we add that both +gentlemen, although at present in +France, were long and lately resident +in China, under circumstances peculiarly +favourable to the acquisition of +sound information respecting its state +and politics, and that they have had +free access to the archives of their +embassy, it will hardly be doubted +that they have efficiently carried out +their intention of giving a lucid account +of the origin and progress of +the civil war now waging in that +country, bringing it down to the +present day. The co-operation of +one well acquainted with the Chinese +tongue must have been invaluable, +and perhaps indispensable to Dr +Yvan, who, for his part, has evidently +contributed to the common +stock his shrewd and observant spirit +and pleasant unaffected style. The +book, which was published in Paris +in the second week of July, has +reached us rather late for deliberate +review in the August number of the +Magazine, but there is still time to +give some account of its contents.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The Chinese insurrection,” Dr +Yvan commences, “is one of the +most considerable events of the present +time: politicians of all countries +watch with curiosity the march of that +insurgent army which, for three years +past, has moved steadily onwards with +the avowed object of upsetting the +Tartar dynasty.” The Doctor then +sketches, in a few very interesting +pages, the chief events of Chinese +history during the first half of the +present century, with particular reference +to the biography of the last +emperor, deceased in 1850, and to the +situation of the Chinese empire at the +close of his reign.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The late emperor, who assumed, +upon ascending the throne, the name +of Tao-Kouang, <i>Brilliant Reason</i>, was +the second son of Emperor Kia-King, +a feeble and incapable monarch, whose +power was virtually in the hands of +an unworthy favourite, a certain Lin-King, +chief of the eunuchs. In +Chinese annals, incidents of this kind +are, we are told, by no means rare. +The chief of the eunuchs has always +great influence in palace intrigues, +and his degraded condition by no +means constitutes, in that singular +country, a bar to his ambition. That +of Lin-King was boundless. He +aspired to the throne. Having gained +over most of the military mandarins, +he marched into Pekin—one day that +the emperor was out hunting with his +sons—a body of troops whose chiefs +were entirely devoted to him, and distributed +them in the neighbourhood of +the palace. His plan was to kill the +emperor and princes, and have himself +proclaimed by the army. Towards +evening Kia-King and his +eldest son returned to the palace, +whose gates had scarcely closed behind +them when it was surrounded by +troops. In his haste and agitation +the chief eunuch had not noticed that +the emperor’s second son had not returned +with his father. The conspiracy +had just broken out, when that +prince entered Pekin. He was alone, +in a hunting dress, with none of the +insignia of his rank, and he rode +through the streets unrecognised, +noting the general tumult and confusion, +whose cause he soon understood. +Outside the palace he found +the ambitious eunuch haranguing his +partisans, and at once perceived that +his father’s favourite, at whose insolence +he had often felt indignant, was +at the head of the revolt. Mingling +with the throng of horsemen, he drew +near to the traitor; amidst a host of +enemies, neither his coolness nor his +courage failed him. Neither did his +skill: he tore from his coat its round +metal buttons, slipped them into his +fowling-piece, took a short aim at +Lin-King, and laid him dead upon +the spot! Upon their leader’s fall, +the rebels fled, throwing away their +arms, and the prince triumphantly +entered the palace, whose threshold +they had not yet sullied. Old Kia-King +learned, at one time, his past +danger and present safety.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The prince who had displayed such +happy promptitude and presence of +mind, ascended the throne of China +in 1820. He was then forty years of +age. According to the custom of the +princes of his dynasty, he had married +a Tartar—a big-footed woman. By +her he had no children; but his concubines +had borne him a numerous +family. In China, law and usage recognise +no difference between legitimate +and illegitimate children. All +have the same rights of succession.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“During the first period of his +reign, Tao-Kouang selected his ministers +from amongst those statesmen +who, in the eyes of the people, were +the faithful guardians of Chinese traditions. +Every nation that traces its +history to a very remote period has +its conservative party. In quiet times +the government lies naturally in the +hands of these representatives of old +national guarantees. But when it +becomes indispensable to modify ancient +institutions, their exclusive attachment +to things of the past becomes +a real danger. This political truth is +as perceptible in the history of the +revolution of the Empire of the Centre +as in our own. Tao-Kouang’s agents, +Chinese to the backbone, and full of +superb disdain for the barbarians, led +their country into a disastrous war, +because they did not understand that +the moment was come for them to +descend from the diplomatic elevation +upon which their presumption +and European forbearance had so +long maintained them. At a later +period, the same spirit of resistance +to the necessity of the times brought +on the insurrection whose history we +are about to trace, so that the two +most important events that Chinese +annals have recorded during the last +quarter of a century, the war with England +and the revolt of Kouang-Si, +have been determined by the same +cause.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Dr Yvan then gives an outline of +the dispute with England, the consequent +war and ultimate treaty, upon +which it is unnecessary to dwell, +since the circumstances are familiar +to most English readers, although in +France they have been often distorted, +and to many are but imperfectly +known. He blames Lin, whom he +describes as being then “a man of +about fifty, wearing the plain red +button and the peacock’s feather with +two eyes,” for his seizure of the +opium, especially because, by his zeal, +activity, and by the terror he inspired, +he had given life and vigour to the +Chinese custom-house, and had made +a great advance towards the suppression +of opium smuggling. “In +France,” says MM. Callery and +Yvan, “where ideas are not always +just, it is taken as an established fact +that, in the opium war, all the oppression +was on the side of the English, and +that right succumbed when the treaty +of Nankin was signed. Nothing can +be falser than this. The English +smuggled on the coasts of the Celestial +Empire exactly as smuggling is +to this day carried on by foreigners +on our coasts and frontiers; but it +has not yet, that we are aware, been +established as a principle that government +may seize foreign merchants +and threaten them with death, upon +the pretext that vessels with prohibited +merchandise are riding at anchor +off Havre or Marseilles.” It is very +courageous of these gentlemen thus +to tell their countrymen the truth. +We hope it will not injure the sale of +their book; we have small expectation +of its making many converts +from the received opinion in France, +that the part played by the English +in the whole of the Chinese affair was +that of wholesale poisoners, cramming +their drug down their victim’s throat +at bayonet’s point.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When Commissioner Lin had done +all the mischief he could, burying the +opium with quicklime, and bringing +a British squadron up Canton river, +blazing at the forts, he was recalled, +and Ki-chan replaced him. Ki-chan +was a capable man, resolute but prudent; +he saw that China had found +more than her match, and at once +accepted the barbarian ultimatum. +The emperor refused his sanction, +and inflicted upon the unlucky negotiator +the most signal disgrace any +high functionary had endured during +his reign. Poor Ki-chan was publicly +degraded, his property confiscated, +his house razed, his concubines were +sold, and he himself was sent, an +exile, into the depths of Tartary. +Those who would know more of him +need but refer to MM. Huc and +Gabet’s curious journey to Thibet. +At Lassa, those intrepid travellers +knew him well. Dr Yvan and Mr +Callery were intimate with another +Chinese diplomatist, Ki-in, a relation +of the emperor, who signed the treaty +of Nankin, and whom they consider +one of the two greatest statesmen +that Tao-Kouang had. The other was +Mou-tchang-ha, the Chinese prime +minister or president of the council. +“It is very probable that the Sublime +Emperor, the son of Heaven, never +exactly knew what passed between +the English and the Chinese. He +died, doubtless, in the consolatory +belief that his troops were invincible, +and that, if Hong-Kong had been +given, as an alms, to a few miserable +foreigners, it was because they had +implored the happiness of becoming +his subjects.” The treaty of Nankin +signed, Ki-in, named governor +of the two provinces of Kouang-Tong +and Kouang-Si, took up his abode +at Canton. By the disposition he +showed to be on good terms with +foreigners, and by his enlightened +and progressive policy, he drew upon +himself the hatred of the bigoted +populace, who accused him of leaning +to the barbarians and betraying his +sovereign. In innumerable placards +he was held up to popular odium and +vengeance. “Our carnivorous mandarins,” +began one of these violent +and incendiary hand-bills, given by +Dr Yvan, “have hitherto connived +at all that those English bandits have +done against order and justice, and +five hundred years hence our nation +will still deplore its humiliation. In +the 5th moon of this year, more than +twenty Chinese were killed by the +strangers: their bodies were thrown +into the river, and buried in the belly +of the fishes; but our high authorities +have treated these affairs as if they +had not heard speak of them; they +have considered the foreign devils as +if they were gods, have taken no +more account of Chinese than if they +were dog’s meat, and have despised +men’s lives like the hairs that are +shaved off the head. Thousands of +persons have lamented and been indignant; +grief has penetrated the marrow +of their bones,” &c. &c. These +absurd accusations and calumnies had +not, at the time, any influence on Ki-in’s +political destiny. The emperor +recalled him to Pekin, graced him +with new dignities, and made him +Mou-tchang-ha’s colleague. These +two statesmen then tried to introduce +certain reforms, beginning with the +army, whose bows and arrows and +old matchlocks they exchanged for +percussion guns—thus jumping clean +over the intermediate stage of flint +and steel. A curious illustration of +Chinese immobility for centuries. +After a year’s trial, Ki-in reported +the great perfection attained by artificers, +officers, and soldiers, in manufacturing +and making use of the new +implements of war. This was towards +the close of Tao-Kouang’s +reign. The conciliatory spirit and +enlightened views of the two ministers +gave promise of that practical +progress which even the most conservative +Europeans must admit to +be needed in China. Suddenly an +unexpected and important event +changed the aspect of affairs.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Upon the 26th February, 1850”—thus +does Dr Yvan, after his brief +preliminary retrospect, commence his +second chapter—“at seven o’clock in +the morning, the approaches to the +imperial palace at Pekin were obstructed +by a compact crowd of mandarins +of the inferior classes, and of +servants in white garments with yellow +girdles, conversing in a low voice, +whilst their features wore an expression +of official grief. In the midst of +this throng of subordinate functionaries, +stood sixteen individuals, each +attended by a servant holding a saddlehorse. +These sixteen persons wore +the satin cap fastened under the chin +and surmounted by the white button; +they had a girdle of bells; a tube of +a yellow colour was slung over their +shoulders, and they all carried whips. +A great dignitary issued from the +palace, and delivered, with his own +hand, to each one of these men, a +despatch closed with the imperial red +seal; they received it with a bow, +brought each the yellow tube round +upon his breast, and respectfully placed +within it the official despatch. Then +they mounted their horses, and the +grooms fastened them to the saddle +with straps that passed over the +thighs. When they were thus well +secured, the crowd opened a passage, +and the horses set off at the top of +their speed. These sixteen messengers, +known as <i>Feïma</i>, flying horses, +were bound to get over six hundred +<i>li</i>—sixty leagues—in every twenty-four +hours. They bore the following +despatch to the governors-general of +the sixteen provinces of the Celestial +Empire:—</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘In great haste, the minister of +rites informs the Governor-general +that, upon the 14th of the first moon, +the Supreme Emperor, mounted upon +the dragon, departed for the ethereal +regions. In the morning, at the hour +of <i>mao</i>, his Celestial Majesty transmitted +the imperial dignity to his +fourth son, <i>Se-go-Ko</i>, and in the evening, +at the hour of <i>haï</i>, departed for +the abode of the gods.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Directions for mourning completed +the despatch. Agreeably with the +constitution of the empire, the defunct +sovereign had named his successor. +It was his fourth son. But he had +deviated from ancient custom by a +verbal nomination. The legacy of +supreme power was usually transmitted, +long beforehand, by a solemn +act, deposited in a golden coffer, +opened with great ceremony upon the +emperor’s death. Even in China, +however, this last will and testament +has not always been respected, and of +this Dr Yvan digresses to give an +example, which he considers as fully +illustrative of Chinese manners and +civilisation. The tale he tells abounds +in what Europeans would laugh at as +burlesque inventions, but which are +doubtless very possible occurrences +amongst the Celestials. We shall give +its pith in a few lines. Tsin-che-houang, +the second emperor of the +Tsin dynasty, was already old and +infirm when he sent his son and heir, +Fou-sou, to superintend the building +of the great wall, at which three hundred +thousand men were working. +They did less to lengthen it, Dr Yvan +insinuates, than modern travellers +have done. Whilst Fou-sou went +north, accompanied by the renowned +Mong-tièn, the greatest general of his +time, the emperor made a pilgrimage +southwards to the tombs of his ancestors. +When far upon his road, he +felt death approaching, and wrote to +his eldest son to hasten back to the +capital. Tcha-Kao, the chief of the +eunuchs, having to seal and forward +the missive, audaciously substituted +for it a forged command from Tsin-che-houang +to the prince and general +to put themselves to death, as a punishment +for their offences. Next day +the emperor died, and the infamous +Tcha-Kao prevailed upon his second +son, Hou-haï, to seize the crown. To +carry out this usurpation, it was necessary +to conceal for a while the emperor’s +death, lest the authorities and +young princes at the capital should +proclaim the successor he had appointed. +So the body, sumptuously +attired, and in the same attitude as +when alive, was placed in a litter, surrounded +by a lattice, and by thick silk +curtains, and which none approached +but those who were in the plot. +The eunuch had proclamation made +that the emperor, in haste to return, +would travel day and night without +quitting his litter. At meal-times a +short halt was made, and food was +handed into the litter and eaten by a +man concealed in it. Unluckily, the +weather was very hot, and the smell +of the dead body soon became intolerable. +This would have revealed the +terrible truth, had not the ingenious +eunuch hit upon a device. He sent +forward an ante-dated decree by which +the emperor permitted oyster-carts to +follow the same road as himself. This +had previously been severely prohibited, +on account of the intolerable +stench emitted by the oysters—an +enormous species known to naturalists +as spondyls, of which, then as now, +the Chinese made enormous consumption. +The fishmongers profited by +the boon; hundreds of thousands of +the full-flavoured testaceans soon preceded +and followed the imperial convoy; +the decomposing corpse reached +the capital under cover of their alkaline +emanations, and was received +with gongs and acclamations. Meanwhile, +the forged mandate of self-destruction +was received by Fou-sou +and Mong-tièn. The old officer thought +it bad policy to order a general in +command of three hundred thousand +men to commit suicide, and treated +the mission as apocryphal. But Fou-sou, +considering only his duty as a son +and subject, stabbed himself forthwith.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The accession of the present emperor +was unattended by any such untoward +circumstances, notwithstanding +the irregularity of his nomination, +to which the formal Chinese attach +much importance. He ascended the +throne without opposition, quitted, +according to custom, the name he had +till then borne, and assumed that of +Hièn-foung, which signifies <i>Complete +Abundance</i>. His accession was hailed +with joy by both the political parties +into which China is divided, and which +the authors of this volume designate +as exclusionists and progressive conservatives. +The former expected to +find in him a stanch supporter of their +principles. If they did not anticipate +the rebuilding of the crumbling wall +of China, they doubtless hoped that +he would so fortify Canton river as to +prevent the <i>fire-boats</i> of the barbarians +from ascending it to the capital of the +two Kouangs. The progressive party, +upon the other hand, thought that +the son of Tao-Kouang, and the pupil +of Ki-in, would maintain peace with +the foreigner, regulate the opium +trade—as the English have done in +India, and the Dutch in Malaya—and +would introduce into the Chinese fleets, +armies, and administrations, those reforms +which lapse of time had rendered +necessary. MM. Yvan and Callery +declare, that when they learned the +emperor’s death they at once anticipated +important events. It was to be +feared that the new sovereign, a youth +of nineteen, would sympathise with the +sentiments and wishes of those of his +own age. And in China, where everything +seems diametrically opposed to +what we observe in other countries, +the young men of education and the +ignorant populace compose the high +conservative party. These two classes +profess the same hatred of foreigners, +the same instinctive repugnance for +foreign institutions. “They are reactionary +by nature, and by their attachment +to national customs. It is +the men of maturer age who, formed +at the school of experience, appreciate +the arts and institutions of Christian +nations. When we were in China, +Ki-in, before he had undergone any +disgrace, frequently praised the governments +of England, the United +States, and France; and, at the same +moment, Ki-chan, unjustly precipitated +from the summit of greatness, expressed +the same thoughts to MM. Huc +and Gabet, in the holy city of Thibet.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>For some time the new emperor +disappointed all parties. Surrounded +by flatterers, eunuchs, and concubines, +he remained inactive in his immense +palace, which equals in size one of the +large European fortified towns. He +went not beyond the limits of those +gardens whose walks are strewn with +sparkling quartz, and seemed absorbed +by voluptuous enjoyments. Politicians +were wondering at this long inaction, +when one day the thunder-cloud burst. +The absolute monarch displayed his +power; the reactionary party triumphed. +The Pekin <i>Moniteur</i> published +the dismissal of Mou-tchang-ha and +Ki-in, overwhelming them with abuse, +and declaring them degraded to inferior +ranks. The document was dated +in the 30th year of the reign of Tao-Kouang—the +year of an emperor’s +death being always reckoned by +Chinese chronologists as belonging +entire to his reign. The successors of +the disgraced ministers were selected +from amongst the bitterest enemies of +Europeans, and their chief efforts were +directed to neutralise the effect which +the contact of the barbarians might +have produced upon certain of their +countrymen. This departure from the +policy of Tao-Kouang, who had placed +entire confidence in Ki-in, and had +loaded him with marks of esteem, +brought ill-luck to the new emperor. +Very soon after the victory of the +reactionary party, the first news came +of the revolt of Kouang-Si.</p> + +<p class='c009'>There had been precursory symptoms +of this insurrection. It had been +currently reported amongst the people +that prophecies had fixed the re-establishment +of the Ming dynasty to take +place in the forty-eighth year of that +cycle, which year corresponded with +<span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1851. It was further said that +a sage, who lived under the last emperor +of that race, had saved his +standard, and had foretold that he +who displayed it in the midst of his +army should mount the throne. At +the beginning of the insurrection it +was affirmed that the rebels marched +beneath this miraculous banner, and +this was implicitly believed by the +people. “The vulgar are incredulous +of the extinction of old royal races; +it is never certain that their last representative +is in his tomb: there are +people in Portugal who still look for +the return of Don Sebastian, killed, +three centuries ago, at the battle of +Alcazar-Quivir.” An uneasy feeling +soon spread far and wide, with rumours +of the defection of mandarins. +The legitimacy of the Tartar dynasty, +and the necessity of substituting for +it a national one, were publicly discussed. +Here Dr Yvan translates an +extract from an English paper, in +which great importance is attached +to the insurrection, and to the cry for +reform which on all sides was heard. +This was in August 1850. He then +paints the portraits of the emperor +Hièn-foung, and of the pretender +Tièn-tè. The former is twenty-two, +the latter twenty-three years of age. +Without entering into a minute description +of the physical and mental +qualities of the two personages, some +of which will incidentally manifest +themselves as we proceed, we extract +a few leading traits of Tièn-tè, whose +portrait forms the frontispiece to the +volume we are examining. “Study +and vigils have prematurely aged him. +He is grave and melancholy, and very +reserved, communicating with those +around him only to give them orders. +His complexion is that of the southern +Chinese—a saffron tint. His impassible +gaze seems to probe the depths +of the human soul. He commands +rather by suggestion than by direct +dictation. In a word” (and this reminds +us of Dr Yvan’s own sovereign), +“he has the silent reserve of a man +who has reflected a great deal before +communicating his projects to any +one.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Doctor then gives a Chinaman’s +description of the pretender’s +entrance into one of the numerous +towns taken by his troops. “The +new emperor and his retinue reminded +me of the scenes represented at our +theatres, in which we are shown the +heroes of ancient days, those who +lived before we came under the Tartar +yoke. The persons who surrounded +Tièn-tè had cut off their tails, let the +whole of their hair grow, and, instead +of the <i>chang</i> buttoned at the side, they +wore tunics open in front. None of +the officers wore upon their right +thumb the <i>pan-tche</i>, that archer’s ring +which our mandarins so ostentatiously +display. The emperor was in +a magnificent palanquin, with yellow +satin curtains, carried by sixteen officers. +After Tièn-tè’s palanquin came +that of his preceptor, borne upon the +shoulders of eight coolies; then came +his thirty wives, in gilt and painted +chairs. A multitude of servants and +soldiers followed in fine order.” +There is a most important point to +be noted in this description—the cutting +off of the tail. It is, perhaps, +hardly necessary to repeat that the +strange style of head-dress with which +porcelain and rice-paper pictures have +familiarised Europeans, is of Tartar +origin, and, in the case of the Chinese, +a mark of subjugation. It was thus +that the victors marked the vanquished—compelling +them to shave +their heads, with the exception of a +spot upon the sinciput, the hair upon +which was suffered to grow into a +long tail. As a sign that they had +thrown off the foreign yoke, Tièn-tè’s +followers cut off their tails. This bold +act—a treasonable offence in China—was +equivalent to throwing away the +scabbard, and caused a great and +painful sensation at the court of Pekin. +As a sort of counterpoise to it, +the celestial <i>Moniteur</i>, the Imperial +Gazette, was made to publish a supposititious +act of submission on the +part of the rebels, in which they were +made to prostrate themselves, declare +their fidelity, and submit to stripes +and bondage.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The person designated by the Chinaman, +in the account of the procession, +as Tièn-tè’s preceptor, is his intimate +friend and privy-councillor—his +only one—a very mysterious individual—whether +his father, his tutor, +or merely a friend, none know—who +accompanies him everywhere. But +we are getting ahead of our subject, +and must glance at the commencement +of the insurrection, previously +to the appearance of Tièn-tè upon +the stage.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The province of Kouang-Si, where +the rebellion began, and which is +larger than the entire dominions of +many European sovereigns, is situated +in the south-western portion of the +empire, is administered by a governor-general, +and forms part of the vice-royalty +of the two Kouangs. Its +mountains are one of the curiosities +of the Celestial Empire; but, since +the Jesuits of Pekin, no foreigner has +been suffered freely to explore them. +“According to native travellers, these +masses have the form of various animals, +unmistakably representing a +cock, an elephant, &c.; and there are +rocks in which are found encrusted +fantastical animals, petrified in the +most singular attitudes. We have +carefully examined drawings of these +figures, which reminded us of the species +resuscitated by Cuvier, and we +have convinced ourselves that the +petrified animals are merely red stains, +produced by oxide of iron, and acutely +defined upon the black surface of the +rock. The general aspect of Kouang-Si +is singularly picturesque. That +vast district offers points of view +which Chinese artists have frequently +painted. To European eyes their collections +of landscapes have a strange +character. Those inaccessible mountains +that seem shaped by the caprice +of human imagination, those rocks +representing gigantic animals, those +rivers precipitating themselves into +gulfs, over which are thrown impassable +bridges, suggest an idea of fairyland.” +A glance at the map of +Kouang-Si suffices to prove the intelligence +and judgment of the insurgent +chiefs who chose that province for the +commencement of their operations. +Unproductive, by reason of its mountainous +character, the misery of the +inhabitants was a powerful auxiliary +to the rebels. They found at once +recruits for their army, and natural +fortresses for their defence. The emperor +needed a far larger army, and +much more efficient means of attack +than he possessed, to drive the insurgents +from their fastnesses. If defeated +in the plain, they had always +the resource of mountain warfare. +Dr Yvan compares the people of +Kouang-Si to the guerillas who in +Spain so severely harassed the French +armies. Like them, he says, they are +sober, intrepid, little sensible of fatigue, +and animated by a spirit of +independence. After centuries of occupation, +the Tartars had not yet +subdued the remotest districts of those +mountains.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The chief vegetable products of +Kouang-Si are cinnamon and aniseed. +Its mountainous conformation, +and the drawings of the Chinese artists, +leave little doubt that it abounds +in metallic deposits. Hence a seeming +miracle, which took powerful hold +on the imagination of the vulgar. Dr +Yvan tells the tale thus:—</p> + +<p class='c009'>“At the beginning of the insurrection, +the chiefs determined to mark +the date of their enterprise by the +erection of a religious monument. For +its foundation, labourers dug in decomposed +rocks, which yielded readily +to the pickaxe. They had attained +the depth of but a few feet, when they +came upon lumps similar in form and +appearance to the stones in the bed +of a river. These lumps were observed +to be very heavy, and were carefully +examined. They proved to be silver-lead +of great richness. It was from +this providential bank, it is said, that +the pretender paid his first soldiers. +Whatever the authenticity of the tale, +it is worth noting by the collectors of +legends, whose writings will one day +divert the leisure of the mandarins.... +As if to confirm this metallurgic +miracle, there have recently +been discovered in Norway silver deposits +precisely similar to those of +Kouang-Si.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>It was in August 1850 that the +Pekin papers for the first time spake +of the insurgents, whom they designated +as robbers; but robbers would +hardly have established themselves +in one of the poorest districts of the +empire, remote from large towns and +high-roads. The rebels showed no +haste to contradict these rumours, +but rather allowed them to gain credit, +and waited patiently in the south-west +part of the province, until the +Celestial <i>tigers</i><a id='r24'></a><a href='#f24' class='c007'><sup>[24]</sup></a> should be sent against +them. They were on terms of amity +with the Miao-tze, a race of men inhabiting +the wildest parts of Kouang-Si. +Dining one day with a Chinese +functionary of high rank, in a pagoda +at Canton, the author of this book +received from him a curious account +of those people, which they noted +upon their return home, and now +publish. The Miao-tze, the minister +told them, are aborigines of the chain +of mountains that extends from the +north of Kouang-Toung (the southernmost +province) into the central +provinces of the empire. They dwell +in small communities, never exceeding +two thousand persons. Their +houses are built on posts, like those +of the Malays. They are warlike in +disposition, and agriculture is their +pursuit. The Tartars have never +succeeded in subduing them. They +have retained the old national costume—have +never shaved their heads—have +always rejected the authority of +the mandarins and the Chinese customs. +Their independence is now a +recognised fact; and upon Chinese +maps a blank is left for the country +they occupy, to signify that it does +not obey the emperor. For a great +many years no attempt had been made +to subdue them, when suddenly, in +1832, they made an incursion, pillaging +wherever they went. They beat +the Chinese troops sent against them, +and were got rid of only by diplomacy +and concession. They hold little +intercourse with their neighbours, +and are greatly dreaded by the Chinese +of the towns, who call them +man-dogs, man-wolves. “They believe +them to have tails, and relate +that, when a child is born, the soles +of his feet are cauterised, to harden +them, and render him indefatigable. +These are mere tales,” continued the +Chinese minister, whom Dr Yvan +describes as a young and elegant +man, and who is apparently of the +more enlightened party in his country. +“In reality, the Miao-tze +are a very fine and intelligent race, +and their manners have a tendency, +I think, to become gentle.” Such a +race as this was evidently a most +valuable ally for the insurgents, whose +first military movements put them in +possession of two large towns, in one +of which three mandarins of high +rank were killed fighting against +them. Siu, governor-general of the +two Kouangs, took alarm; and upon +learning that the rebels were coming +his way, solicited the honour of making +a pilgrimage to the tomb of the +defunct emperor. This request was +refused; and the troops he sent against +the enemy were beaten and exterminated. +The antiquated tactics of the +insurgents—which would hardly have +much success against any but a Chinese +army—consisted in feigning a +flight, and drawing their opponents +into an ambuscade. This succeeded +several times running—not being, we +must suppose, guarded against in the +Chinese twenty-four-volume treatise +on the art of war. Emboldened by +their repeated victories, the rebels +crossed the frontier of Kouang-Si, and +entered Kouang-Toung, where they +soon met with and massacred, to the +very last man, a detachment of imperial +troops.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Two political acts of great importance +were now simultaneously accomplished +at Pekin and in the insurgent +camp. In the former place, the +emperor sent for Lin, the opium-burner, +and bade him go and put +down the rebellion. Notwithstanding +his great age, the austere mandarin +promptly obeyed. As if by +way of retort, the insurgents issued +a proclamation, declaring that the +Mantchous, who for two centuries +had hereditarily occupied the throne +of China, had no right to it beyond +that of the strongest; that that right +was common to all—and that they +had an equally good one to levy contributions +on the towns they conquered. +The Mantchous, they said, +were foreigners, who had conquered +the country by aid of a veteran army; +their right of government consisted in +possessing. This proclamation conveyed +the leading idea of the rebels, +which had previously been merely +rumoured. They declared legitimacy +to mean possession; and at the same +time intimated their intention of expelling +the Mantchous, and transferring +to Chinese hands the management +of the public revenues. This +publication was the last act of the +rebels in 1850. It coincided with +the death of Lin, which occurred in +November of that year. The old +commissioner was in his seventieth +year, and sank under the fatigue and +anxiety of his new command.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Chinese year begins in February. +Its commencement is a sort of +commercial and financial crisis, when +everybody pays and calls in his debts. +In January it was reported and believed, +in Canton, that the insurrection +of Kouang-Si was entirely suppressed, +and that the celestial tigers +had gained imperishable laurels. In +consequence of this good news, business +resumed its usual course, confidence +returned, and the Chinese +“settling day” passed without disaster. +It was a mere trick of the cunning +mandarins of Kouang-Toung, +who, in the interest of the commercial +community, had fabricated the bulletins. +The public satisfaction and +tranquillity were soon dispelled by +intelligence of the cutting off of tails +already mentioned, and which admitted +of no other interpretation than +“War to the Knife!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Li succeeded Lin as imperial commissioner +in Kouang-Si. The pusillanimous +Siu was reduced four degrees +of rank, which is something like +reducing a field-officer to an ensigncy, +but was still left governor of the two +Kouangs. A very bad system was +pursued by the agents of the Chinese +government—exemplified by the following +incidents. In March 1851, +the little town of Lo-Ngan was taken +by the insurgents, who levied a contribution, +seized the contractor of the +<i>Mont de Piété</i>, or pawning establishment, +and fixed his ransom at 1000 +taels (about £320). He paid, and +was released. Next day the imperial +troops drove out the rebels, levied another +contribution, and squeezed 3000 +taels from the contractor! This man, +who was influential in the place, and +indignant at suffering spoliation from +those who should have protected him, +harangued the people in the public +square. Others spoke after him, and +at last the excited mob cut off their +tails, swore that the reign of the Tartars +was at an end, and sent for the +insurgents, who came in the night and +massacred the garrison. Other things +concurred to induce disaffection among +the population to the reigning dynasty. +Li took for his second in command a +ferocious mandarin, who, when governor +of the province of Hou-Nan, where +the use of opium was very prevalent, +had adopted the barbarous practice of +cutting off the under lip of the smokers. +Dr Yvan was in China at the time, +and saw several poor wretches who +had been thus mutilated, and whose +aspect was horrible, the operation, +performed by clumsy executioners, +leaving hideous jagged wounds, “very +different,” the doctor feelingly and +professionally remarks, “from the elegant +scars so artfully and happily produced +by Parisian bistourys.” The +nomination of the cruel Tchang (in his +case, as in some others, we spare the +reader the labour of reading his second +and third names, which, although connected +by hyphens, are not, as we +perceive from Dr Yvan’s practice, +inseparable from the first) was significant. +At the same period, and in +one day, thirty-six persons, accused +of conspiring against the safety of the +state, were put to death at Canton. +Dr Yvan doubts whether their crimes +were really political. In China they +deal in what he calls prophylactic justice. +The thirty-six executions were +perhaps a preventive measure, and the +victims common malefactors, elevated +to the rank of rebels and traitors. +“They may, however, have been +members of secret societies, which are +very numerous in China, and in those +countries whither Chinese immigrate. +At Singapore, Penang, Batavia, Manilla, +we have known numerous adepts +of the secret societies of the Empire of +the Centre—a species of free-masonry, +whose ascertained object is the dethronement +of the Mantchous.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“In 1845, we lived for several days +with a merchant of Chan-Toung, who +clandestinely introduces arms into +China. He took us to a house in one +of the dirtiest and least reputable +quarters of the town, and we ascended +into a sort of garret. In that country +garrets are on the first floor. His object +was to obtain our estimate of +arms which some Americans had sold +him. They were enormous swords in +steel scabbards. The heavy blades +were clumsily forged; but cheap they +certainly were, having been delivered +in China at the price of ten francs +a-piece. On our entrance the Chinese +unsheathed one of these large blades, +and uttered loud exclamations, gesticulating +the while after the fashion of +the Chinese heroes one sees painted +upon fans. We asked him if it was +for the equipment of the invincible +tigers he purchased these arms. At +the question he smiled significantly, +and showed us, by an expressive gesture, +the use intended to be made of +them against the imperial troops. +Perhaps at this moment the gigantic +weapons are in the rebels’ hands.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Neither the appointment of the terrible +Tchang, the executions at Canton, +nor the mendacious reports, +perseveringly circulated, of imperial +triumphs, checked the rebels. On +the contrary, they replied to all this +violence and boasting by the proclamation +of an emperor of their own, +whom they called Tièn-tè, which +means <i>Celestial Virtue</i>! He was invested +with the imperial yellow robe, +and, contrary to Tartar usage, which +forbids the reproduction of the sovereign’s +features by his subjects, his +portrait was circulated by thousands +of copies. From one of those prints +MM. Callery and Yvan have taken +the frontispiece of their volume. The +head-dress and costume are those of +the days of the Mings, from whom +the pretender’s partisans declare him +descended.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The proclamation of Tièn-tè may +be said to close the first period of the +insurrection. Dr Yvan points admiringly +to the patient policy of its chiefs. +For a whole year Tièn-tè was kept in +the background, his partisans contenting +themselves with spreading a +report that there existed a descendant +of the Mings. Then they proclaimed, +but did not show him to the people. +He returned to a sort of mysterious +obscurity, and showed himself but at +long intervals, to his enthusiastic adherents. +The rebellion now took the +character of a civil war. The Emperor +Hièn-foung, although deficient in political +judgment, and in that tact and +penetration which enable a sovereign +to make the best choice of agents, displayed +a good deal of energy; but this +was too apt to degenerate into violence. +He was certainly not well +served. Siu, still governor of the +Kouangs, was unequal to the difficulties +that every day augmented. The +inhabitants of two districts refused to +pay taxes; the emperor ordered their +punishment; Siu sent a mandarin to +bring the ringleaders before him; the +whole population rose, and pulled the +officer out of his palanquin, which +they broke to pieces, its occupant +barely escaping with life. About the +same time Tièn-tè set a price of ten +thousand dollars on Siu’s head. The +placard containing the announcement +was affixed to the north gate of Canton, +just as Siu was about to quit that +city at the head of three thousand men, +to join other forces directed against +Kouang-Si. The viceroy was furious; +and as his palanquin passed through +Canton’s street, preceded by two +gongs, and by a banner on which was +inscribed, “Get out of the way and +be silent; here is the imperial commissioner,” +he glanced savagely right +and left, as if seeking some one on +whom to wreak his vengeance. “Presently +he slapped his hand down upon +the edge of his chair, and bade the +bearers stop. It was just opposite the +house of one of those poor artists who +paint familiar genii and large family-pictures. +The painter had hung up +some of his most remarkable works +outside his house; but strange to relate! +in the midst of smiling deities, +irritated genii, feetless women flying +along like birds in silken vestments, +there was displayed a decapitated +mandarin. The rank of the personage +was unmistakably indicated by the +insignia painted on his breast. The +corpse was in a kneeling position, and +the head, separated from the trunk, +was placed beside a beaver-hat bearing +the plain button.” The unfortunate +artist was called out of his shop, +and kneeled trembling in the dust before +Siu’s palanquin. In vain he protested +that the picture was painted to +order, and hung out to dry: he was +sent to the town-prison to receive +twenty blows of a bamboo for placing +such ill-omened horrors upon the viceroy’s +passage, and Siu went upon his +way, gloomily impressed by the double +presage of the placard and the picture. +Besides his three thousand men, he +had with him a host of mandarins, +attendants, executioners, musicians, +standard-bearers, and women, and a +large sum of money, which he added +to, upon the march, as often as he +could. The women and the treasure +were carried on men’s shoulders, in +palanquins and chests. Dr Yvan relates +the following curious incident as +having occurred upon this march:—</p> + +<p class='c009'>“They one evening reached a deep +and rapid water-course, which had to +be crossed over a bamboo bridge. +When a part of the escort had reached +the farther bank, Siu stopped his palanquin, +and ordered the coolies who +carried the treasure-chest to cross +slowly and cautiously. They obeyed; +but just as they reached the centre of +the elastic bridge, a sudden shock +threw them and their load into the +water. There was a moment of extreme +confusion. The chest had sunk, +the unfortunate coolies were struggling +against the stream, and uttering lamentable +cries, whilst Siu, furious, +was breaking his fan for rage. Luckily +the coolies swam like fish, and easily +reached the shore. The viceroy was +sorely tempted to bastinado them upon +the spot; but he reserved that pleasure +for another day, and ordered the +poor wretches, who stood panting and +terrified before him, instantly to fish +up the precious chest, threatening +them with a terrible chastisement if +they did not find it. They stript off +their clothes and courageously entered +the water; skilful divers, they explored +the river’s bed, and, after many +efforts, succeeded in getting the heavy +chest ashore. It was wet and muddy, +but otherwise uninjured. Siu had it +placed upon the shoulders of two fresh +coolies, and the march was resumed. +A few days later, on reaching Chao-King, +his first care was to have the +chest opened in his presence; but +instead of his golden ingots, he found +only pebbles and pieces of lead carefully +wrapped in silk paper. The +coolies were audacious robbers, who +had skilfully planned the exchange. +The viceroy set all his police on foot, +but in vain; the thieves had doubtless +taken refuge in the insurgent +country, where they and their booty +were safe.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>A Chinese gentleman, well-dressed, +comely, and of intelligent aspect, has +lately attracted considerable attention +in Paris, in whose streets and public +places he has been frequently seen. +He is a friend and companion of M. +Callery, and to him is owing the facsimile +of a Chinese map included in +the volume under notice. It represents +those provinces which the insurgents +have already traversed, from +the mountains of Kouang-Si to the +city of Nankin, the ancient capital of +the Mings. A stream of red spots, +running across its centre, and in some +places spreading out wide, indicates +the towns occupied by the rebels. The +map is copied from one of the numerous +charts published in China in +1851, towards the end of which year +the victories of Tièn-tè’s troops were +so numerous, and their progress so +prodigious, that even the lying <cite>Pekin +Gazette</cite> ceased to record imaginary +imperial triumphs. It must not be +supposed, however, that, in the case +of the captured towns, occupation invariably +implied retention. The chiefs +of the insurgents heeded not the strategical +importance of particular places. +With the exception of a few fortresses, +into which the pretender occasionally +retired, they abandoned successively +all the towns they took, after raising +contributions to pay their troops. +“Their tactics,” says Dr Yvan, “are +those of the barbarian chiefs who led +the great invasions of which history +has transmitted us the account. The +insurgents go straight before them, +seizing, each day, some new point, +which they next day abandon. Their +intention is evidently to cut their way +to the capital. In a country where +the centralising system prevails so +completely as in China, the Mantchous +reign as long as Pekin is in their +power; but upon the day on which +the descendant of the Mings enters +the imperial city, the provinces he has +marched through and left unconquered +will acknowledge his right, and submit +themselves to his authority.” In +several chapters of Dr Yvan’s book +we find amusing examples of the military +tactics of these strange barbarians +who deem all others such. Thirteen +thousand imperialists advanced +against the rebels near the town of +Ping-Nan-Hien. The rebels defended +themselves feebly, and retreated from +one position to another. When this +had lasted several hours, and the +weary pursuers were about to desist, +they suddenly found themselves in an +ambuscade, entangled in a bamboo +jungle, and attacked in front and flank +by a strong body of rebels, with more +than sixty pieces of artillery. When +General Ou-lan-taï got back to his +camp, it was with half his army; the +remainder had either been killed, or +had deserted to the enemy. Siu, the +valiant viceroy, safe behind the thick +walls of a fortress, swore by his meagre +mustaches that he would revenge this +rout. “To that end, he borrowed +from the ancient history of the kingdom +of Tsi a stratagem which reminds +one of the Trojan horse, and +of Samson’s foxes. He got together +four thousand buffalos, to whose long +horns he had torches fastened; the +drove was then given in charge to +four thousand soldiers; and the expedition, +prepared in the most profound +secresy, set out one night for +the rebel camp. It was anticipated +that each buffalo, thus transformed +into <i>a fiery chariot</i>, would commit +terrible ravages, kill all the men it +could get at, and set fire to the camp. +At first the horned battalions met with +no obstacles; the insurgents, duly advertised +of this splendid stratagem, +suffered them quietly to advance. +But before the imperialists reached +the camp, the enemy, who observed +all their movements by favour of the +splendid illumination, fell upon them +unexpectedly, as they had so often +done before, and the same scenes of +carnage were renewed. This manœuvre +of Siu’s cost the lives of more +than two thousand men, and gives an +idea of Chinese proficiency in the art +of war. Had our sole knowledge of +the affair been derived from the Anglo-Chinese +press, we should have hesitated +to reproduce it here; but we +have had opportunity of collating the +account given by <i>The Friend of China</i>, +with authentic Chinese documents, +and they entirely agree in their narrative +of this incredible occurrence. +In the eyes of the Tartar warriors, +and of the Chinese themselves, this +comical invention of Siu’s passes for +a highly ingenious strategical combination.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Whilst such were the disasters of +his armies, and the progress of his +foes, what was the occupation of his +Imperial Majesty, the Son of Heaven, +Hièn-foung? Surrounded by favourites +and courtiers, he composed a +poem, whose subject was the heroic +exploits of his Tartar general, Oulan-taï—the +said exploits existing but +in the general’s own bulletins! According +to MM. Yvan and Callery, +who have read a portion of the emperor’s +epic, it is an inflated performance, +indebted in every line to +reminiscences of the classic authors of +the Celestial Empire—the Chinese +Homers, the Ariostos of Pekin; so +that the braggart general appropriately +found a plagiarist bard. Meanwhile +Siu, who had more confidence +in golden than in leaden ammunition +as a means of victory, offered ninety +thousand taels (nearly £30,000) for +the heads of Tièn-tè, his father, and +his mysterious privy-councillor—that +being, for each head, just thrice the +sum at which the insurgents had estimated +his. But no heads were brought +in, and the viceroy, weary and despairing, +implored permission to return +to Canton. To obtain such permission, +he invented an ingenious story, +which the official Pekin paper was so +unkind as to publish. He represented +to his master that the subjects of +Donna Maria da Gloria, queen of +Portugal, were preparing for an expedition +against the Celestial Empire. +He converted the peaceable Macaists +into a band of pirates ready to aid +the insurgents, and to appropriate to +themselves the provinces of Kouang-Toung +and Fo-Kien! With an emperor, +a general, and a viceroy, such +as these characteristic traits exhibit, +Dr Yvan is surely justified in anticipating +the early dissolution of the +Chinese Empire. Under such chiefs, +it is not surprising when armies exhibit +neither discipline nor courage. +In the autumn of 1851, the insurgents, +having taken three towns, respected +the lives and property of the inhabitants. +By a proclamation, Tièn-tè +exhorted the latter to remain quietly +where they were, but permitted those +who would not recognise his authority +to quit the place, taking with +them all they could of their goods and +chattels. A considerable number profited +by this permission, and departed, +laden with the most valuable portion +of their property. They fell in with +a body of imperialist troops, who +stripped them of everything, and killed +those who resisted. The unfortunate +victims of civil war reproached their +spoilers with their cowardice. “Before +the rebels,” they said, “you are +mice; it is only with us that you are +tigers!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>From an early period of the rebellion, +the mandarins endeavoured to +discredit its banner and partisans by +the propagation of lying inventions, +some of which had the double aim of exciting +the Buddhist population against +the insurgents, and of rendering the +Christians more and more odious to +the young emperor. Thus they asserted +that the pretender really was a +descendant of the Mings, but that he +was a Catholic, and that, wherever he +went, he upset pagodas and destroyed +idols. Others affirmed that he was of +the sect of Chang-ti—that is to say, a +Protestant. Whilst noticing these +statements, Dr Yvan contents himself +with remarking that the name of Tièn-tè, +chosen by the pretender, is purely +pagan. Another manœuvre of the +mandarins was to announce that the +insurgents had declared their intention, +as soon as they should have attained +to supreme authority, of driving +the Europeans from the five ports. +Thus they thought to set the Europeans +against the insurrection. But +this flimsy fabrication was easily seen +through. Attempts were also made +to cast ridicule on the insurgents, by +the circulation of pamphlets filled with +incredible anecdotes.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“One of these satirical productions +relates that Tièn-tè, having perished +in an accidental conflagration of his +camp, his wife had had his brother assassinated, +and had seized the reins +of government. But, in China, petticoat +government is inadmissible, and +people never speak but with horror of +the Empress Ou-heou, that Elizabeth +of the East, who possessed herself of +the imperial power, and exercised it +for more than twenty years. In this +respect, Chinese prejudices are so invincible +that the name of Ou-heou has +been effaced from the list of the sovereigns +of the Celestial Empire. For +the Chinese, that shameful reign never +took place. The idea of sovereign +power in a woman’s hands fills them +with indignation; yet they know that +a woman reigns over that western +people which conquered them, and +that the English nation was never +greater or more glorious than under +the rule of Her Most Gracious Majesty, +Queen Victoria.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The existence of a Christian element +or influence in the ranks and +councils of the insurgents, which the +mandarins put forward, probably without +any better grounds than their own +malicious intent, is traced, at a later +period, by MM. Callery and Yvan, in +a proclamation issued after several +triumphs won, at short intervals, by +the armies of Tièn-tè. In a previous +proclamation, the pretender had referred, +somewhat obscurely, to the +idea of a federal empire, to be composed +of several kingdoms dependent +on one chief. This idea was more +clearly developed in the manifesto +affixed to the walls of the captured +town of Young-Gan-Tcheou, and +signed, not by Tièn-tè, although he +was then present, but by Tièn-kio, +one of the future feudatory kings, who +dated it from the first year of his +reign. It announced, in plain terms, +the plans of the insurgents. They +would combine their forces, march on +Pekin, and then divide the empire. +The whole plan, Dr Yvan, who highly +lauds it, believes to have been conceived +and elaborated by the secret +societies. “Since the overthrow of +the Mings, and the accession of the +Mantchous,” he says, “those clandestine +associations, the intellectual +laboratory of declining countries, have +been constantly active. The most +celebrated of them, the Society of the +Three Principles, or of the Triad, is +powerfully organised. In every part +of China, and in all the countries +where Chinese reside, are found members +of this association; and the children +of the Empire of the Centre +might say, almost without exaggeration, +that when three of them are assembled +together, the Triad is amongst +them.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>But if the substance of Tièn-kio’s +proclamation is politically important, +to its form Dr Yvan assigns immense +significance. He recognises in it a +new and regenerative element—that +of Christianity. “Its authors speak of +<i>decrees of Heaven. They have prostrated +themselves before the Supreme +Being, after having learned to adore +God. They have striven to save the +people from calamities.</i> This is a style +unknown to the idolatrous Chinese, +and foreign to Catholic language: to +Protestantism is due the honour of +having introduced it into China; and +it appears that there really is, amongst +the insurgents, an indigenous Protestant, +holding a very high rank, and +exercising very great authority. This +Protestant is, it is stated, a disciple +of Gutzlaff, the last secretary interpreter +of the government of Hong-Kong.” +Having mentioned Gutzlaff’s +name, MM. Callery and Yvan—one, +if not both, of whom appears to have +known him—give some curious particulars +concerning him. They speak +of him as an intelligent man, having +extraordinary facility in learning languages, +and of his books as narratives +in which a little truth is mingled with +very agreeable falsehoods. Born in +Pomerania, there was nothing German +in his aspect; his features were +Mongul, and in his Chinese costume +he could not be distinguished from a +Chinese.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“One night, during our residence +in China, we were conversing about +him with the mandarin Pan-se-tchèn, +who was a great friend of his, and one +of us expressed his surprise at finding, +in a European, the characteristic signs +of the Chinese race.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“‘Nothing is more natural,’ the +mandarin, quietly replied; ‘Gutzlaff’s +father was a Fokienese settled in Germany.’</p> + +<p class='c009'>“This fact appeared to us so extraordinary +that we should hesitate to +mention it here, if Pan had not affirmed +that he had it from M. Gutzlaff himself.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>We do not here trace the progress +of the Insurrection in China, the leading +events of whose earlier stages +have, to a certain extent, been made +known to Europeans by the public +press; whilst the details of its later +period, and especially those of the +siege and capture of Nankin, had not +come to the knowledge of MM. Callery +and Yvan up to the very recent +date at which their volume went to +press. We have preferred to cull +from this curious and uncommon +book, traits and incidents which, although +they may not be of paramount +importance in a political or military +sense, exhibit, as clearly as could do +the most circumstantial narrative of +the war, the character of people and +parties, and the probable eventualities +of the struggle. There exists, it appears, +amongst the Chinese—at least +in certain provinces—so strong a tendency +to assist the insurrection, that +the viceroy of the two Kouangs published +a decree forbidding the young +men of the towns to form themselves +into volunteer corps. In this cunningly-drawn-up +document he thanked +them for their zeal, and assured them +that the imperial troops amply sufficed +to put down the rebellion. The fact +was, experience had taught him, that, +as soon as the volunteers were put +under the command of a military mandarin, +and taken into the field, they +deserted to the enemy. Their aid +would have been welcome, could it +have been relied upon; for, at the +very time the decree was issued, the +imperialists were enduring daily defeats, +whilst the insurgents, who everywhere +appropriated public money, but +respected private property, daily acquired +fresh partisans.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In the month of September 1852, +Tièn-tè, with all his court, and with +his body-guard, which never quits +him, took up his quarters at a town +within a few leagues of the wily and +prudent Viceroy Siu. This personage +is the most amusing of all the +strange characters we meet with in +Dr Yvan’s pages. Crafty, cowardly, +and particularly careful of his person, +he is a type of the Chinese, as Europeans +understand that nation, of which, +however, Dr Yvan leads us to believe +that we have but an imperfect notion. +A short time before he found himself +in the perilous proximity of the insurgent +leader, Siu had been at his old +tricks, trying to impose upon his +countrymen. Having caught a petty +chief of the rebels, he ticketed him +Tièn-tè, and sent him to Pekin in an +iron cage. The official gazette published +the capital sentence pronounced +upon him, which, according to Chinese +custom, was preceded by the criminal’s +confession. This was a long +document, drawn up, doubtless, by +some Pekin man of letters, in which +the spurious Tièn-tè acknowledged +his delinquencies, and attributed the +insurrection especially to a secret society +founded by Gutzlaff, the Chang-Ti, +or Protestant. Here was evident +the perfidious intention of the exclusionist +party to bring the Christians +into discredit. The execution of the +sham Tièn-tè was still the leading +topic of discussion at Pekin, when +news came that the real pretender +was still alive and active in the +mountains of Kouang-Si, whence he +exercised his occult influence, and observed +the progress of the revolt. +When his pretended captor, Siu, found +himself in his immediate vicinity, he +made no attempt to capture him in +reality; and soon afterwards (in +January of the present year) that +officer fell into disgrace with his sovereign, +owing to the disasters that +occurred under his government. He +was deprived of his vice-royalty, and +of his peacock’s feather with two eyes. +Shortly after the appearance of this +decree in the <cite>Pekin Gazette</cite>, a melancholy +report was circulated at Canton; +Siu, it was affirmed, driven to +despair by his disgrace, had poisoned +himself. When the circumstances of +the act came to be known, the minds +of his anxious friends were considerably +relieved. He had poisoned himself +with gold leaf.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The science of toxicology is about +on a par, in China, with the military +knowledge of the generals of the imperial +army. When a great personage +wishes to put himself to death, he +takes an ounce of gold leaf, rolls it +into a ball, and swallows the valuable +pill. According to the physiologists +of the Celestial Empire, these balls, +once in the stomach, unroll themselves, +and adhere to the whole interior of +the organ, like paper on a wall. The +stomach, thus gilt, ceases to act, and +the unhappy mandarin dies suffocated, +after a few hours’ somnolency—a +mode of suicide which we recommend +to despairing sybarites.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The year 1852 closed as disastrously +as it had begun. Throughout its +whole course, the imperialists—or, to +speak more correctly, the troops of +the Tartar dynasty, since there are +now two emperors in the field—had +been invariably worsted, and the insurrection +had spread far and wide. +Stringent measures were adopted by +Hièn-foung; his generals were warned +that defeat would be promptly followed +by their degradation, and even by the +loss of their heads: Victory or Death +was the motto they literally and compulsorily +assumed. Another evil was +soon added to the many that assailed +the young emperor. The imperial +finances were exhausted; the Celestial +Chancellor of the Exchequer declared +his penury, and denounced the mandarins +who nominally commanded in +the insurgent provinces. They would +render no account of their stewardship; +not a copper was to be got from +them—that was hardly to be expected—but +they sent in fabulous “states” +of the troops under their command, +and demanded enormous sums wherewith +to carry on the war. In this +emergency, the means proposed, and +those resorted to, to raise the wind, +transcend belief. No desperate prodigal, +reckless of reputation, ever +adopted more shameless expedients +to replenish his purse. A mandarin +proposed an opium monopoly. A +similar proposal, under the reign of +Tao-Kouang, cost a minister his +place, and was near costing him his +life. Times are changed; Hièn-foung, +less scrupulous, and notwithstanding +his aversion to opium-smokers, +was giving to the project, at +the date of the last advices, his serious +consideration. Meanwhile, the official +newspaper published (12th November +1852) a document, comprising +twenty-three articles, in which everything +was put up for sale—titles, +judgeships, peacocks’ feathers, mandarins’ +buttons, exemptions from service, +promotions in the army. In +this publication, a casual reference +being made to the English, they were +still treated as barbarians; but, five +months later (on the 16th March +last), when the insurgents were before +Nankin, and likely soon to be within +it, Celestial pride was so far humbled +that we find the authorities earnestly +and respectfully supplicating Christian +succour, in a circular addressed +to all the representatives of civilised +nations, resident in those Chinese +ports open to European commerce, +and especially to the consuls of Great +Britain and the United States. For +“barbarians” was now substituted +“your great and honourable nation.” +To such an extent are carried Chinese +vanity and conceit, that, Dr Yvan +assures us, if the demand for aid were +complied with by the English and +American plenipotentiaries, the Son +of Heaven would instantly persuade +himself that those Western people +rank amongst his tributaries, and +would very probably issue a proclamation +announcing that his troops had +subdued the rebels, aided by nations +who had lately made their submission, +and who had conducted themselves +faithfully in those circumstances.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Meanwhile, the insurgents employed +much more straightforward and satisfactory +means of filling their treasury +than those resorted to in extremity of +distress by the Mantchou emperor. In +the month of February last they captured +Ou-Tchang-Fou, a rich city of +four hundred thousand inhabitants, +the capital of the province of Hou-Pé. +A friend of MM. Yvan and Callery, an +intrepid traveller, gave them a glowing +description of this city, situated +upon the right bank of the Yang-Tze-Kiang, +or Son of the Ocean—an enormous +river, in whose waters porpoises +disport themselves as in the open sea, +and which allows the ascent of ships +of the largest burthen. Five or six +thousand (and Dr Yvan’s friend expressly +disclaims exaggeration) are the +number of the junks usually at anchor +before Ou-Tchang. The person referred +to saw upwards of a thousand +laden with salt alone, and the town is +an immense depot of China produce +and of European and American manufactures. +Chinese junks are the +noisiest vessels that float; their crews +are continually beating gongs and +letting off fireworks. The quiet of +Ou-Tchang may be imagined. It +was on the occasion of the capture of +this wealthy and important city that +poor Siu was deprived of his peacock’s +feather and driven to internal gilding. +“The troubles of the south,” +said the emperor in his proclamation, +“leave us no rest by night, and take +away our appetite.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The fourteenth chapter of <cite><span lang="fr">L’Insurrection +en Chine</span></cite> is chiefly occupied by +a description of the five feudatory +kings appointed by Tièn-tè (one of +whom takes the title of the Great Pacificator, +whilst the four others are +known as Kings of the North, South, +East, and West), of the Pretender’s +ministers, of the dress and official insignia +of the various dignitaries, and +of the organisation of the insurgent +army, which is regular and perfect. +It also comprises a proclamation, exhorting +the people to rise in arms +against their tyrannical government, +and whose exalted and metaphorical +style may be judged of by a single +short extract. “How is it that you, +Tartars, do not yet understand that it +is time to gather up your scattered +bones, and to light slices of bacon to +serve as signals to your terror?” Notwithstanding +such eccentricities of +expression, which may possibly be +heightened by extreme literalness of +translation, the document has its importance, +especially by reason of a +tendency to Christianity traced by +MM. Callery and Yvan in the commencement +of one of its paragraphs. +“We adore respectfully the Supreme +Lord,” says Tièn-tè, “in order to obtain +His protection for the people.” +The descendant of the Mings was now +in full march for the city which, under +the ancient dynasty he assumes to +represent, and proposes to restore, was +the capital of all China. With a formidable +fleet and an army of fifty +thousand men, the five kings appeared +before Nankin.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“This city, which contains more +than half a million of inhabitants, has +thrice the circumference of Paris; but +amidst its deserted streets are found +large spaces turned up by the plough, +and the grass grows upon the quays, +to which a triple line of shipping was +formerly moored. It is situated in +an immense plain, furrowed by canals +as numerous as those which traverse +the human body. Its fertile district +is a net-work of rivulets and of navigable +water-courses, fringed with willows +and bamboos. In the province +of Nankin grows the yellowish cotton +from which is made the cloth exported +thence in enormous quantities; there +also is reaped the greater part of all +the rice consumed in the empire. The +Kiang-Nan, or province of Nankin, is +the richest gem in the diadem of the +Son of Heaven. Nothing in old Europe +can give an idea of its fruitfulness—neither +the plains of Beauce, nor those +of Lombardy, nor even opulent Flanders. +Twice a-year its fields are +covered with crops, and they yield +fruit and vegetables uninterruptedly.... +We have had the happiness +to sit in the shadow of the orchards +which fringe the Ou-Soung, one of +the numerous veins that fertilise the +province of Kiang-Nan. There we +have gathered with our own hands the +fleshy jujube, which travellers have +often mistaken for the date; the pomegranate, +with its transparent grains; +monstrous peaches, beside which the +finest produced at Montreuil seem but +wild fruit, and the diospyros as large +as a tomata. We have seen the +scarlet pheasant and his brother of +the pearl-tinted plumage running in +the fields. This province contains +thirty-eight millions of inhabitants.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“To a Chinese nothing is beautiful, +good, graceful, elegant, or tasteful, but +what comes from Nankin or from +Sou-Tcheou-Fou. Wedded to routine, +we have but one city which sets +the fashions; the Chinese have two. +The fashionables of the Celestial Empire +are divided into two schools, one +of which holds by Nankin, the other +by Sou-Tcheou-Fou. It is still doubtful +which of the two will carry the +day. As to Pekin, the centre of government, +it has no weight in matters +of pleasure and taste; it has the monopoly +of ennui. In Nankin reside the +men of letters and learning, the dancers, +painters, archæologists, jugglers, physicians, +poets, and celebrated courtesans. +In that charming city are held +schools of science, art, and pleasure; +for pleasure is, in that country, both +an art and a science.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>With this interesting extract we +shall conclude our article, after quoting +a significant passage from a short +proclamation which Tièn-tè’s agents +have lately circulated:</p> + +<p class='c009'>“As to those stupid priests of +Bouddha, and those jugglers of Tao-se,” +it says, “they shall all be repressed, +and their temples and their +monasteries shall be demolished, as well +as those of all the other corrupt sects.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>MM. Callery and Yvan anxiously +speculate as to who are designated by +the words <i>other corrupt sects</i>. Was +the proclamation drawn up by a disciple +of Confucius, or by a member of +Gutzlaff’s Chinese Union? They admit +that for the present it is impossible +to answer the question.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But Tièn-tè’s banner waves over +Nankin, and the riddle may soon be +solved.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span> + <h2 class='c002'>LADY LEE’S WIDOWHOOD.</h2> +</div> +<h3 class='c015'>PART VIII.—CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>Between the village of Lanscote +and the Heronry a side-road branched +off, leading also to Doddington. At +their junction the two roads bounded +an abrupt rocky chasm, containing a +black gloomy pool of unknown depth; +known to the neighbourhood as the +Mine Pool. A speculator had dug it +many years before, in expectation of +being richly rewarded by the mineral +treasures supposed to exist there, and +had continued the enterprise till the +miners reached a great depth, when +the water rose too rapidly to be kept +under, and the work was abandoned. +A few low bushes fringed the edge of +it, besides which a dilapidated railing +fenced it from the road. It formed a +grim feature as it appeared unexpectedly +yawning beside the green and +flowery lane, and suggested ideas +altogether incongruous with the smiling, +peaceful character of the surrounding +landscape.</p> + +<p class='c009'>On the morning after Bagot’s interview +with Mr Holmes, as related in +the last chapter, Fillett and Julius +were coming down the lane towards +Lanscote. They were often sent out +for a morning walk, and had been +easily induced to choose this road by +the Colonel, who had promised Julius +a ride on the front of his saddle if he +would come towards the village.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In these walks Julius was accustomed +to impart, for the benefit of +Kitty, most of the information collected +from his various instructors. He +would tell her of distant countries +which his mamma had described to +him—of pictures of foreign people and +animals drawn for him by Orelia—of +fairy tales told him by Rosa—of scraps +of botanical rudiments communicated +to him by the Curate. And being a +sharp-witted little fellow, with a wonderful +memory, he seldom failed to +command Kitty’s admiration and applause. +There were few branches of +natural or metaphysical science which +he had not treated of in this way. He +had explained to her all about thunderbolts—he +had destroyed for ever +her faith in will-o’-the-wisps, leaving +instead a mere matter-of-fact, uninteresting +<i>ignis fatuus</i>—he had sounded +her belief in witchcraft—he had +put questions respecting the nature +and habits of ghosts which she was +wholly unable to solve: “Bless the +child,” Kitty would say, “it’s as good +as a play to hear him.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Julius, hovering round Kitty, and +chatting with her, frequently looked +anxiously about to see if his Uncle +Bag were coming, that he might claim +the promised ride. When they arrived +near the Mine Pool, down into +the depths of which he was fond of +gazing with a child’s awe, the Colonel +suddenly met them coming on horseback +up the road. Julius, clamorous +to be lifted up, ran towards him; but +Bagot called out that he was riding +home for something he had forgotten, +and would speedily overtake him. He +passed them, and trotted on to where +the road made a bend. There he +suddenly pulled up, and called to +Kitty to leave the boy for a minute +and come up—that he wanted to speak +to her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Fillett obeyed, tripped up to the +horse’s side, and walked beside the +Colonel, who proceeded onward at a +slow pace, talking of the old affair of +Dubbley and her ladyship, and pretending +to have some fresh matter of +the kind in his head. Kitty noticed +that his manner was odd and nervous, +and his language incoherent, and +before she could at all clearly perceive +what it was he wanted to tell her, he +released her and trotted onward to the +Heronry, while she hastened to rejoin +her young charge.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Julius was not in the spot where +she had left him, and Fillett ran +breathlessly down the road, calling +him by name. Reaching a point where +she could see a long way down the +path, and finding he was not in sight, +she retraced her steps, alternately +calling him aloud and muttering to +herself what a plaguey child he was. +She looked behind every bush as she +came along, and on again reaching +the Mine Pool looked anxiously over +the fence. Some object hung in the +bushes a few yards from where she +stood, just below a broken part of the +fence; she hastened to the spot and +looked down—it was Juley’s hat.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Clasping her hands together with a +loud shriek, poor Kitty’s eyes wandered +round in every direction in +search of some gleam of comfort;—in +search of some one to help her, under +the burden of this terrible discovery. +No one was in sight; only she saw a +yellow caravan going up the other +road to Doddington, at a quarter of a +mile off. She would have run after +it shrieking to the driver to stop; but +her limbs and voice alike failed her, +and poor Kitty sunk down moaning +on the ground. “What shall I say to +my lady?” gasped Fillett.</p> + +<p class='c008'>Lady Lee was sitting in the library +dressed for a walk, and waiting for +her two friends who were getting +ready to accompany her, when she +heard a great commotion in the servants’ +hall and rung the bell to ask +the reason. It was slowly answered +by a footman, who entered with a +perturbed aspect, and said the noise +was caused by Fillett, who was in +hysterics. Lady Lee asked what had +caused her disorder, but the man +looked confused, and stammered in +his reply. Before she could make +any further inquiries, Fillett herself +rushed frantically into the room, and +threw herself down before Lady Lee. +“O, my lady, my lady!” sobbed +Fillett.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“What ails the girl?” asked Lady +Lee, looking down at her with an +astonished air.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Fillett tried to answer, but nothing +was distinguishable except that “indeed +it wasn’t her fault.” At this +moment a whispering at the door +caused Lady Lee to look up, and she +saw that the servants were gathered +there, peering fearfully in. Rising up +she grasped Kitty’s shoulder, and +shook her, faltering out, “Speak, +girl!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Fillett seized her mistress’s dress, +and again tried to tell her tale. In +the midst of her sobs and exclamations, +the words “Master Juley,” and +“the Mine Pool,” alone were heard; +but thus coupled they were enough.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Kitty, not daring to look up, +fancied she felt her ladyship pulling +away her dress from her grasp, and +clutched it more firmly. At the same +moment there was a rush of servants +from the door—the dress that Fillett +held gave way with a loud rending—and +Lady Lee fell senseless to the +ground.</p> + +<h3 class='c017'>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>Until they lost him, they did not +fully know the importance of Julius +in the household. He was a very +limb lopt off. To miss his tiny step +at the door, his chubby face at their +knees, his ringing voice about the +rooms and corridors, made all appear +very desolate at the Heronry. Though +there had been no funeral, no room +made dismal for ever by the presence +of his coffin, and though there was no +little green grave in the churchyard, +yet the house seemed a tomb haunted +by the dim shadow of his form, and +saddened by the echoes of his voice.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Every endeavour was made to recover +the poor child’s body. The +Mine Pool was searched and dragged—it +was even proposed to pump it +dry; but the numerous crannies and +recesses that lurked in its gloomy +depths precluded much prospect of +success, though the attempts were +still persisted in after all hope was +relinquished.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Lady Lee’s grief was of that silent +sort which does not encourage attempts +to console the mourner. She +did not talk about her boy; she was +not often observed to weep—but, +whenever any stray relic brought the +poor child strongly before her mind’s +eye, she might be seen gazing at it +with woeful earnestness, while her +imagination “stuffed out his vacant +garments with his form.” Rosa, observing +this, stealthily removed, one +by one, all the objects most likely to +recall his image, and conveyed them +to her own chamber; and she and +Orelia avoided, so far as might be, +while in Lady Lee’s presence, all allusions +to their little lost friend. But +in their own room at night they would +talk about him for hours, cry themselves +to sleep, and recover him in +their dreams. A large closet in their +apartment was sacred to his memory; +his clothes, his rocking-horse, his +trumpet, his musket, his box of dominoes, +and a variety of other peaceful +and warlike implements were stored +there, and served vividly to recall the +image of their late owner.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Rosa, waking in the morning with +her face all swoln with crying, would +indulge her grief with occasional +peeps into the cupboard at these melancholy +relics; while Orelia, a more +austere mourner, sat silent under the +hands of Fillett, whose sadness was +of an infectious and obtrusive nature. +Kitty would sniff, sigh, compress her +under lip with her teeth, and glance +sideways through her red, watery +eyes at the sympathetic Rosa.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I dreamt of dear Juley again last +night, Orelia,” Rosa would say.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Oh, Miss Rosa, so did I,” Fillett +would break in, eager to give audible +vent to her sorrow, “and so did +Martha. Martha says she saw him +like an angel; but I dreamed that I +saw him galloping away upon Colonel +Lee’s horse, and that I called and +called, ‘Master Juley!’ says I, the +same as if it had been real, ‘come to +Kitty!’ but he never looked back. +And the butler dreamed the night +before last he was drawing a bottle of +port, and just as he was going to stick +in the corkscrew, he saw the cork was +in the likeness of Master Juley, and +he woke up all of a cold shiver.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Conversations on this subject did +not tend to cheer the young ladies’ +countenances before they met Lady +Lee at the breakfast-table. On their +way down stairs they would form the +sternest resolutions (generally originating +with Orelia, and assented to +by Rosa), as to their self-command, +and exertions to be cheerful in the +presence of their still more afflicted +friend. They would walk up and kiss +her pale, mournful face, feeling their +stoicism sorely tried the while, and +sitting down to table would try to get +up a little conversation; till Rosa +would suddenly sob and choke in her +breakfast cup, and there was an end +of the attempt.</p> + +<p class='c009'>This melancholy state of things was +not confined to the drawing-room. A +dismal hush pervaded the household, +and the servants went about their +avocations with slow steps and whispered +voices. They took a strange +pleasure, too, in assembling together +at night, and remembering warnings +and omens which were supposed to +have foreshadowed the mournful fate +of the poor little baronet. Exactly +a week before the event, the cook had +been woke while dozing before the +kitchen fire after supper, by a voice +calling her name three times, and +when she looked round there was nobody +there. The very day month +before his loss, the housekeeper distinctly +remembered to have dreamt of +her grandmother, then deceased about +half a century, who had appeared to +her in a lavender gown trimmed with +crape, and black mittens, and she had +said the next morning that she was +sure something would happen; in support +of which prophecy she appealed +to Mr Short the butler, who confirmed +the same, and added, on his own account, +that an evening or two afterwards +he had heard a strange noise +in the cellar, which might have been +rats, but he didn’t think it was.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The sight of Fillett, so intimately +connected with the memory and the +fate of her lost child, was naturally +painful to Lady Lee, and Kitty, perceiving +this to be the case, wisely kept +out of her way, devoting herself entirely +to the young ladies. Self-reproach +greatly increased the sharpness +of Kitty’s sorrow for poor Julius; +she accused herself of having, by her +negligence, contributed to the unhappy +catastrophe. She fancied, too, +that she could read similar reproach +in the behaviour of her fellow-servants +towards her; with the exception, +however, of Noble, who, melted at +the sight of her melancholy, and forgetting +all his previous causes of +jealous resentment, was assiduous in +his efforts to console her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Come,” said Harry, meeting her +near the stables one evening—“come, +cheer up. Why, you ain’t like the +same girl. Anybody would think you +had killed the poor boy.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I feel as if I had, Noble,” said +Kitty, with pious austerity.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“But you shouldn’t think so much +about it, you know,” replied her comforter. +“It can’t be helped now. +You’re crying of your eyes out, and +they ain’t a quarter so bright as what +they was.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Ho, don’t talk to me of heyes,” +said Kitty, at the same time flashing +at him a glance from the corners of +the organs in question. “This is no +time for such vanities. We ought to +think of our souls, Noble.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Noble appeared to be thinking just +then less of souls than of bodies, for +in his anxiety to comfort her he had +passed his arm round her waist.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Noble, I wonder at you!” exclaimed +Kitty, drawing away from +him with a reproving glance. “After +the warning we’ve all had, such conduct +is enough to call down a judgment +upon us. I’m all of a trimble +at the thoughts of what will become +of you, if you don’t repent.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Perhaps Harry may be excused for +not seeing any immediate connection +between the decease of his young +master and the necessity of himself +becoming an ascetic. But Kitty, in +the excess of her penitence, from +being as lively and coquettish a waiting-maid +as could be found anywhere +off the stage, suddenly became a kind +of Puritan. It happened that at this +time the members of a religious sect, +very numerous in Doddington, having +been suddenly seized with an access +of religious zeal, held almost nightly +what they termed “revivals”—meetings +where inspired brethren poured +forth their souls in extempore prayer; +and those who were not fortunate +enough to obtain possession of the +platform indemnified themselves by +torrents of pious ejaculations, which +well-nigh drowned the voice of the +principal orator. There is something +attractive to the plebeian imagination +in the idea of taking heaven by storm: +the clamour, excitement, and <i>éclat</i> +attending a public conversion had +caused the ranks of these uproarious +devotees to be recruited by many of +their hearers, for the most part susceptible +females; and Kitty, going to +attend these meetings under the escort +of Mr Noble (who, with profound +hypocrisy, affected a leaning towards +Methodism as soon as he perceived +Miss Fillett’s bias in that direction), +was converted the very first night. +The grocer whose lodgings Oates and +Bruce occupied was the preacher on +this occasion, and his eloquence was +so fervid and effective that, coupled +with the heat of the place, it threw +Kitty into hysterics. At the sight of +so fair a penitent in this condition, +many brethren of great sanctity hastened +to her assistance, and questioned +her so earnestly and affectionately as +to her spiritual feelings, some of them +even embracing her in the excess of +their joy at seeing this good-looking +brand snatched from the burning, +that Mr Noble, conceiving (erroneously +no doubt) that they were somewhat +trenching on his prerogative, +interfered, and conveyed her from the +scene. After this, Kitty became a +regular attendant at the revivals, and +her demeanour grew more serious than +ever, insomuch that Mr Dubbley, +ignorant of this change in her sentiments, +and petitioning for a meeting +at the white gate, received an unexpected +and dispiriting repulse.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The personage who seemed the least +affected by grief of the household was +the cat Pick. Perhaps he missed the +teazings and tuggings, and frequent +invasions of his majestic ease, which +he had been wont to sustain; if so, +this was probably to him a source of +private self-congratulation and rejoicing. +Never was a cat so petted as +he now was, for the sake of his departed +master, with whom he had +been such a favourite. But Pick, far +from testifying any regret, eat, lapped, +purred, basked, and washed his face +with his paw, as philosophically as +ever.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Curate’s sorrow at the event +did him good—it distracted his mind +from his own sorrows, and gave a new +direction to his feelings for Hester. +The unselfishness of his nature had an +opportunity of displaying itself on the +occasion. The thought of Lady Lee’s +grief had roused his warmest sympathies, +and he longed to comfort her—he +longed to sit by her side, to hold +her hand, to pour forth words of consolation +and hope. He had done this, +but not to the extent he could have +wished; he could not trust himself +for that. The Curate felt the most +deep and tender pity for her—and we +all know what pity is akin to: those +very near relations, the Siamese twins, +were not more closely allied than the +Curate’s compassion and love for +Lady Lee. Therefore Josiah, in his +moments of extremest sympathy, kept +watch and ward upon his heart, and +said not all he felt.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But he bethought himself of preaching +a sermon on the subject. He was +conscious that his sermons had of late +lacked earnestness and spirit; and he +would now pour his feelings into a +discourse at once touching and consolatory. +He chose for his text, +“<i>He was the only son of his mother, +and she was a widow.</i>” He had intended +to extract from this text a +hopeful moral, and to set forth powerfully +the reasons for being resigned +and trustful under such trials. But +the poor Curate felt too deeply himself +on the occasion to be the minister +of comfort to others, and, breaking +down half-a-dozen times from emotion, +set all Lanscote weeping.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“How could you make us all cry +so, Josiah?” asked Rosa, reproachfully. +“Weren’t we sad enough before?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>In fact, it seemed as if poor Julius +might have lived long, and died at a +green old age, without being either +more faithfully remembered or more +sincerely lamented.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Finding themselves disappointed in +all their efforts to comfort Lady Lee, +Orelia and Rosa came to the conclusion +that, so long as she remained at +the Heronry, she would never cease +to be saddened by the image of the +lost Juley. So they agreed it would +be well to persuade her to leave the +now sorrowful scene; and no place +seemed so likely to divert her sorrow, +by making a powerful appeal to her +feelings, as Orelia’s cottage. Here +she might recall her maiden fancies, +and renew her youth, while her married +life might slip aside like a sad +episode in her existence.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“We’ll all start together next +week,” said Orelia, when she had +obtained Lady Lee’s sanction to this +arrangement.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No,” said Rosa, “not all, Reley. +You and Hester shall go.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“What does the monkey mean?” +cried Orelia. “You don’t suppose +we’re going without you, do you?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You know I should like to accompany +you, Reley,” said Rosa, “and +you know I shall be dreadfully disconsolate +without you; but I must go +and live with Josiah.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Live with Josiah, indeed!” quoth +Orelia, with high scorn. “What does +Josiah want of you, d’ye think, to +plague his life out? Hasn’t he got +that Mrs what’s-her-name, his housekeeper, +to take care of him and his +property? I’m sure I never see the +woman without thinking of candle-ends.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“’Tisn’t to take care of him that I +stay, but to comfort him,” said Rosa. +“You’ve no idea how low-spirited +Josiah has been this some time past, +ever since his friend Captain Fane +went away. He has lost his interest +in his books and flowers, and sits for +hours in thought looking so melancholy. +Oh! I couldn’t think of leaving +him.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Rosa persisted in this determination, +and all the concession they +could obtain was, that as soon as +Josiah recovered his spirits she would +rejoin her friends at Orelia’s cottage. +Meantime, the latter and Lady Lee +made preparations for a speedy departure.</p> + +<h3 class='c017'>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>The Squire’s preceptor, Mr Randy, +saw with concern that he could never +hope to obtain undivided empire over +his pupil. He had, it is true, considerable +influence with him—knew +and humoured his foibles—assisted +him with advice on difficult points, +and had, in fact, become in various +ways almost necessary to him. Nevertheless, +he felt that Mr Dubbley’s +susceptibility to female fascinations +perpetually endangered his position. +He had, indeed, attained the post of +grand vizier, but might at any moment +be stripped of his dignities at +the first suggestion of a hostile sultana.</p> + +<p class='c009'>After long consideration of the subject, +Mr Randy came to the conclusion +that the most effectual way to establish +himself firmly at Monkstone +would be, to take care that this other +great power, whose possible advent be +constantly dreaded, instead of being +a rival, should be entirely in his interests. +This seemed to him, theoretically, +a master-stroke of policy; to +carry it into practice might not be +easy. As he was revolving the matter +in his mind one evening, after passing +through Lanscote on his way home +from Monkstone to Doddington, he +perceived the Curate’s housekeeper +taking a little fresh air at the garden +gate. She had heated herself with +the operation of making her own tea, +and leaving the tea-pot on the hob, +to “draw” as she termed it, had +come out to cool herself before drinking +it.</p> + +<p class='c009'>At the sight of her, Mr Randy’s +air became brisker. He walked more +jauntily—he swung and twirled his +stick, instead of leaning on it—he +placed his hat a little on one side of his +head—and he re-buttoned his coat, +which he had loosened in order to +walk with more ease and convenience.</p> + +<p class='c009'>He was acquainted with Mrs Greene, +and frequently stopped to talk with +her as he passed; and, as he approached +now, he took off his hat, and +made what would have been a very +imposing bow had he not unluckily +slipt at a critical moment on a pebble, +and thus impaired the dignity of the +obeisance.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“A lovely evening, Mrs Greene,” +said Mr Randy, whose courtesy was +somewhat ponderous and antique, and +whose conversation, when he was on +his stilts, rather resembled scraps from +a paper of the <cite>Rambler</cite> than the discourse +of ordinary men. “Happy +are you, my good Mrs Greene, who, +‘far from the busy hum of men,’” +(whenever Mr Randy indulged in a +quotation he made a pause before and +after it) “can dwell placidly in such +a scene as this. A scene,” added Mr +Randy, looking round at the house +and garden with a gratified air—“a +scene that Horus would have revelled +in. A pleasant life, is it not, my good +madam?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“It’s lonesome,” said Mrs Greene.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The better for meditation,” returned +Mr Randy didactically. “What +says the poet?—‘My mind to me a +kingdom is,’—and who could desire a +fairer dominion? Ay,” (shaking his +head and smiling seriously) “with a +few favourite authors, and with the +necessaries of life, one might be content +to let the hours slip by here +without envying the proud possessors +of palluses.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Though Jennifer admired this style +of conversation exceedingly, she was +hardly equal to sustaining it. “You +seem to be a good deal with Squire +Dubbley, Mr Randy,” she said.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Randy answered in the affirmative, +taking, at the same time, a pinch +of snuff.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He’s a queer one, they say,” said +Jennifer. “I should think ’twas tiresome +for a book-learned gentleman +like you, Mr Randy, to be so much in +his company.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Not at all, Mrs Greene,” said Mr +Randy. “What says the Latin +writer?—‘Homo sum, nihil humanum +a me alienum puto,’ which means, my +good madam, that, being myself a +human being, I am interested in all +that appertains to humanity. I study +the squire with much satisfaction.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He’s a gay man the Squire,” said +Jennifer sententiously. “Why don’t +he marry and live respectable, I wonder? +Hasn’t he got a lady in his eye +yet, Mr Randy?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Marriage is a serious thing, my +good Mrs Greene—a very serious thing +indeed. No,” said Mr Randy, confidentially: +“what he wants is a housekeeper, +Mrs Greene, such a one as +some gentlemen I could name are so +fortunate as to possess—a respectable, +careful person, who could take care +of his domestic affairs, and prevent +him from being fooled by any idle +hussy of a servant-maid who may +happen to have an impudent, pretty +face of her own.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I should like,” said Jennifer, +with compressed lips and threatening +eyes—“I should like to see any such +show their impudent faces in a house +where I was. They wouldn’t come +again in a hurry, I can tell ’em.” And, +indeed, it was very likely they would +not.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Ah,” said Mr Randy, in deep admiration, +“Mr Young is a fortunate +man. He has secured a housekeeper +whom we may safely pronounce to be +one in a thousand.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer, though austere, was not +quite steeled against flattery. She +looked on the learned man with prim +complacency—she remembered that +her tea had now stood long enough—and +she suggested that perhaps Mr +Randy’s walk had disposed him for +some refreshment, and she should +take his company during the meal as +a favour.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Randy was not particularly +addicted to tea: on all those points +for which it has been extolled—as a +stimulant, as a refresher, as an agreeable +beverage—he considered it to +be greatly excelled by brandy-and-water. +But the subject just touched +upon was one in which he was greatly +interested, and he resolved to follow +up an idea that had occurred to him; +so he courteously accepted Jennifer’s +invitation, and followed her into the +parsonage.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mrs Greene’s room was a model of +order, rather too much so perhaps for +comfort—and showed other traces +of her presiding spirit in a certain +air of thriftiness which pervaded it. +Reigning supreme, as Jennifer did in +the Curate’s household, she might have +indulged in small luxuries at her +pleasure had she possessed any taste +for them, but the practice of saving, +for its own sake, afforded her positive +delight. The shelves were rather +sparingly furnished with jam-pots of +very small dimensions, carefully tied +down and corded, and marked with +the name of the confection, and the +year of its manufacture; various boxes +and canisters, labelled as containing +different groceries, were securely padlocked, +as if they were not likely to +be opened on light or insufficient +grounds; the curtains rather scantily +covered the window, and the carpet +was too small for the floor.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer, unlocking the tea-caddy, +put in two additional spoonfuls of tea +in consideration of her guest. Then +she invited Mr Randy to sit down, +which he did with great ceremony; +while she placed on the table two +saucers of jam, helped Mr Randy to +toast and butter, and some of the +sweetmeat, and poured out the tea. +And Mr Randy observing that Jennifer +transferred hers to her saucer, for +the better convenience of drinking, not +only did the like, but also blew on the +surface to reduce the temperature before +the successive gulps, which were +then both copious and sonorous.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“So the Squire’s not a good manager, +eh, Mr Randy?” said Jennifer, +after some little conversation on indifferent +matters.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No comfort, no elegance,” said +Mr Randy. “The superintending +hand of a female is greatly wanted.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And does the Squire think of +getting a housekeeper?” asked Jennifer.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’ve not suggested it to him as +yet,” returned her guest, “but I’m +thinking of doing so, if I could fix my +eye on a proper person.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Bless me, you’ve got no preserve,” +said Jennifer, emptying, in a sudden +access of liberality, the saucer of damsons +on Mr Randy’s plate. “And +there’s nothing but grounds in your +cup—perhaps you’d like it a little +stronger, sir.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No more, my good madam, I’m +obliged to you,” said that gentleman, +drawing away his cup, and covering +it with his hand to show he was +in earnest, so that Jennifer, pressing +ardently upon him with the tea-pot, +very nearly poured the hot tea upon +his knuckles. “I’ve had quite an +abundance—quite a sufficiency, I +assure you. No, ma’am, things do +not go on at Monkstone precisely as I +could wish in all respects. For instance, +it would be agreeable to me +sometimes to find an attentive female +to receive me—to say to me, Mr +Randy you are wet, won’t you have +a basin of soup to warm you?—or, Mr +Randy, it rains, you’ll be the better of +a glass of spirits and water to fortify +you against the inclemency of the +elements. Mr Dubbley is very kind, +but these little things don’t occur to +him.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Indeed, then, I think they might,” +said Mrs Greene with warmth. “The +least he could do is to be civil. Take +some toast, sir.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“’Tis forgetfulness, Mrs Greene, +not incivility—a sin of omission, not +of commission. I flatter myself few +men would venture to be uncivil to +me,” and Mr Randy drew himself up +and looked majestic. “Then the want +of a proper person in the house obliges +him to look more closely after +some small matters than is quite becoming +in a man of property.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Closeness,” said Jennifer, with +great disdain, “is what I never could +abide. I could forgive anything better +than that.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Well, well, Mrs Greene,” said her +visitor, waving his hand, “we won’t +be hard upon him—he means well. +Yes, I’ve been looking out for some +time for a lady that would answer the +Squire’s purpose.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And what kind of person would +be likely to suit you?” inquired Jennifer +with interest.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“We should require,” said Mr +Randy, brushing some crumbs from +his lap with his pocket-handkerchief, +as he concluded his meal—“we should +require a character not easy to be +met with;—a sensible—respectable—experienced—discreet—per-r-son—and +one, too, who would not give +herself presumptuous airs, but would +conduct herself towards me—me, Mrs +Greene, as I could wish.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Of course,” said Jennifer, “if +she was beholden to you for her place, +’twould be her duty to make things +pleasant to you, sir.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Ah,” said Mr Randy, “<i>you</i> are +both a discreet and a sensible person, +Mrs Greene, I perceive.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And as to terms, Mr Randy,” +suggested Jennifer.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“As to terms, they would be hardly +worth higgling about, Mrs Greene—for, +if the lady possessed the manifold +merits I have enumerated, and allowed +herself to be guided in all things +by me, why, she would be <i>de facto</i>—that +is to say, in reality—mistress of +Monkstone, and might feather her +nest to her own liking.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This was a dazzling prospect indeed, +and well calculated to appeal to the +heart of Jennifer. There was a grand +indefiniteness as to the extent of power +and profit which might be acquired, +which she found inexpressibly alluring; +for Jennifer was, after her fashion, +ambitious, though her ambition was +of too practical a nature to set itself +on objects hopelessly remote.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Randy perceiving the effect of +what he had said, and considering it +would be well to give her time to digest +it before entering into details, +now rose to take leave.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Good evening, sir, and thank +you,” said Jennifer. “When you’re +passing another day, I hope you’ll +look in;” and Mr Randy, having +promised to do so, walked with his +customary dignity up the road.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Randy had not directly said +that he thought Jennifer, if she would +agree to share interests with him, +would be exactly the person he wanted; +nor had Jennifer directly stated +that, if she succeeded in obtaining the +post of housekeeper to the Squire, she +would show her gratitude by being +all Mr Randy could wish. But the +knowledge of human nature displayed +by the Randies and Jennifers is intuitive +and unerring, so long as it is +employed upon natures on a level +with their own; and Jennifer knew +perfectly well that Mr Randy wanted +her for the furtherance of his own designs +at Monkstone; while Mr Randy +never doubted that the lure he had +held out would secure her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer, however, had by no means +made up her mind to accept the offer +at once. It was dazzling, certainly; +but, on the other hand, she did not +like the idea of giving up her long and +persevering designs upon the Curate’s +heart, which, as the reader knows, +she had from the first been determined +to attack. That was too grievous a +waste of time and subtlety to be contemplated. +But Mr Randy’s implied +offer gave her an opportunity of carrying +into execution a scheme she +had long meditated. She considered +(her cogitations being assisted by a +third cup of tea, obtained by putting +fresh water in the tea-pot after Mr +Randy’s departure) that she had now +lived so long with the Curate that she +could not possibly become more necessary +to him than she already was—that +the sooner he was brought to +the point the better—that being such +an absent person, far from making +any proposals of the kind she desired +of his own accord, a very strong hint +from herself would be required in +order to extract them. Now if she +resolved upon giving this hint, she +must also be prepared to quit the parsonage +in case of failure; and Monkstone +would form exactly the point +she wanted to retreat upon.</p> + +<p class='c009'>This secured, she would commence +operations at once with the Curate. +He was, in Jennifer’s estimation, a +man who did not know his own mind +or his own interests. But though he +might never discover what was for +his own good unassisted, yet a man +must be foolish indeed who can’t perceive +it when ’tis shown him. From +frequent victories obtained over the +Curate, and long managing and ruling +him, she flattered herself she might +now make her own terms, for that he +could never bear to part with her; +but if she deceived herself in this, +why, then Monkstone would be a +more lucrative place. So in any case +she should gain some end, and she determined +to put her powers of cajolery +to proof without delay. Indeed, there +was no time to lose, for that very +morning Miss Rosa had signified her +intention of coming to live with her +brother when the ladies left the +Heronry.</p> + +<h3 class='c017'>CHAPTER XL.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>For many weeks the poor Curate +had been indeed alone; for so long +had his old companions, hope and +cheerfulness, deserted him; for so +long had he gone mechanically about +his old pursuits, feeling that the glory +had departed from them, and sat in +the stormy autumn evenings by a +hearth where only the vacant pedestals +reminded him of the wonted presence +of household gods.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Time, of whose lapse heretofore he +had taken little note, became now a +dull, remorseless enemy. The Curate, +when he woke, would sometimes +shudder at the prospect of the many-houred +day between him and the +grateful oblivion of sleep; for the +day, formerly so busy, was now to +him but a long tract of weary, reiterated +sorrows.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Though he still spent many hours +in his garden, it was lamentable to +see the change there. Weeds sprung +unregarded side by side with his +choicest flowers—worms revelled in +his tenderest buds—and the caterpillars +were so numerous as to form +quite an army of occupation. His +books, too, were blank to him—the +pages he used to love seemed meaningless. +His only remaining consolation +was his pipe.</p> + +<p class='c009'>See, then, the Curate sitting in the +twilight in his elbow-chair, in an attitude +at once listless and uncomfortable, +his waist bent sharply in, his +head drooping, one leg gathered under +the seat, the other straddling +toward the fire, his right hand shading +his eyes, while the elbow rests on +the table—the left holding the bowl of +his pipe, while the elbow rests on the +arm of his chair. Frequently he takes +the mouthpiece from his lips, sighs +heavily, and forgets to smoke—then, +with a shake of the head, he again +sucks comfort from his meerschaum. +There is a tap at the door, which opens +slowly—Jennifer looks in at him, and +then draws near.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer stopt—looked at him—sighed—then +drew a little closer—sighed +again. The Curate, fancying +she had come on some of her accustomed +visits of inspection (for of late +she had found frequent excuses for +entering, such as to dust his books, to +stir his fire, to draw his curtains), +took no notice of her, but continued +to pursue his train of thought. Presently +he, too, sighed; it was echoed +so sympathetically by Mrs Greene, +that her suspiration sounded like a +gust coming down the chimney. Finding +that the Curate, as usual, pursued +the plan which is popularly attributed +to apparitions in their intercourse +with human beings, and was not likely +to speak till spoken to, Jennifer, with +a little cough, came round between the +table and the fire, and stirred the +latter. Being thus quite close to the +Curate, with the table in her rear, and +her master’s chair close to her left +hand, she commenced.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m vexed to see you so down, Mr +Young. I’m afraid you’re not satisfied +in your mind. You used to be a +far cheerfuller gentleman than what +you are now.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Young, rousing himself, looked +up with an assumed briskness.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“It’s my way, Mrs Greene—only +my way.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No, sir,” said Jennifer, peremptorily, +“’tis not your way, asking your +pardon. There’s something on your +mind. Perhaps it’s me—perhaps +things have not gone according to +your wishes in the house. If it’s me, +sir, say so, I beg.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You, Mrs Greene—impossible. +I’m quite sensible of your kind attention +to my comforts, I assure you,” +protested the Curate.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Because,” said Jennifer, heedless +of his disclaimer, and going on as if +he had not uttered it—“because, if so, +I wish to say one word. I only wish +to remark, sir, that whatever fault +there is of that kind, ’tis not a fault +according to my will. My wish is, +and always has been, to serve you to +the utmost of my”—</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Mrs Greene!” began the Curate, +touching her on the arm with the extended +stem of his meerschaum, to +check her volubility for a moment, +“my good soul”—</p> + +<p class='c009'>——“To the utmost of my ability,” +went on Jennifer, with a slight faltering +in her voice. “If laying down +my life could have served you, Mr +Young, I’m sure”— Here Jennifer +whimpered.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Faithful creature!” thought the +Curate, “what an interest she takes +in me! My dear Mrs Greene,” said +he, “your doubts wrong me very +much; but this proof of your care for +me is exceedingly gratifying”—which +was perhaps an unconscious fib, for +the Curate felt more embarrassment +than gratification.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And after all my trials and efforts, +thinking only how I could please you, +to see you—oh—oh—” and Jennifer +broke down again, and in the excess +of her agitation sat down on a chair +near her. And though to sit down in +his presence was a quite unusual proceeding +on her part, yet the Curate +was so heedless of forms, that if she +had seated herself on the mantelpiece, +he would possibly have thought it +merely a harmless eccentricity.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Calm yourself, Mrs Greene,” entreated +the Curate. “These doubts +of my regard are quite unfounded; +be assured I fully appreciate your +value.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“But in that case,” said Jennifer, +pursuing her own hypothesis with +great perseverance, “in that case I +must quit you whatever it costs me. +And I hope you could find them, Mr +Young, as would serve you better.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Don’t talk of quitting me, Mrs +Greene,” said the Curate soothingly. +“This is all mere creation of your +fancy. I am perfectly satisfied—more +than satisfied with you.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No, sir—I’ve seen it—I’ve seen it +this some time. You don’t look upon +me like what you used. ’Tisn’t any +longer, ‘Mrs Greene, do this,’ and +‘Mrs Greene, do that,’ and the other. +You can do without Mrs Greene now. +And perhaps,” said Jennifer, “’tis +better I was—gone” (the last word +almost inaudible).</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Really, Mrs Greene, this is quite +unnecessary. You are paining yourself +and me to no purpose. Be persuaded”—(and +the Curate took Jennifer’s +hand)—“be persuaded of my +sense of your merits.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer wiped her eyes; then starting +and looking round over her shoulder, +“O sir,” said she, “if anybody +should catch us!—what would they +say?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Catch us, Mrs Greene,” said the +Curate, hastening to withdraw his +hand; but Jennifer clutched it nervously.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Stop!” said Jennifer, “there’s a +step—and that maid’s got such a +tongue! No, ’twas my fancy—the +maid’s asleep in the kitchen. O, sir—yes, +what would they say?—people is +so scandalous. They’ve been talking +already.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Talking!” exclaimed Mr Young, +withdrawing his hand with a jerk. +“What can you mean, Mrs Greene? +Talking of what?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“O yes!” said Jennifer. “They’ve +been remarking, the busy ones has, +how it comes that a lone woman like +me could live so long with a single +gentleman. Many’s the bitter thought +it gave me.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Good heavens, Mrs Greene!” cried +the Curate, pushing his chair, which +ran on castors, away with a loud creak, +“really this is all very strange and +unexpected.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And more than that,” pursued +Jennifer, “they’ve said concerning +my looks——but I couldn’t repeat +what they said, further than to mention +that they meant I wasn’t old nor +ugly—which perhaps I’m not. And +they know what a good wife I made +to Samuel” (this was the deceased +shipmaster’s Christian appellation)—“never, +as Mrs Britton that keeps +the grocery said to me last Wednesday, +never was a better. And when +’twas named to me what they’d been +saying, I thought—O good gracious!—I +thought I should have sunk into +the hearth.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Gracious goodness!” exclaimed +Mr Young, starting from his chair, +and pacing the room in great perturbation. +“How extremely infamous! +Why, ’tis like a terrible nightmare. +To spread false reports—to drive me +to part with a valuable servant—’tis +atrocious! I’m afraid, Mrs Greene, +you really had better go to-morrow. +I need not say how I regret it, but +what you have told me renders it imperative.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I wish it mayn’t be too late, sir,” +said Jennifer, putting her handkerchief +to her eyes.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Too late!—too late for what?” +inquired the Curate.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And where do you think I’m to +get another place? Who’ll take in a +lone woman, whose character have +been breathed upon? Oh, that ever +I should have seen Lanscote parsonage!” +cried Jennifer, choking.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“But, Mrs Greene,” said the agitated +Curate, stopping in his walk to +lean his hands on the table, and looking +earnestly at her, “it shall be my +care, as it is my duty, to prove the +falsehood of these reports. You shall +not suffer on my account, believe me. +If necessary, I’ll expose the wicked +slander from the pulpit.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This wouldn’t have suited Jennifer +at all. The Curate was going off quite +on the wrong track, and she made a +last effort to bring him into the right +direction.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And my—my—my feelings,” sobbed +she, “ain’t they to be considered? +Oh, that ever I should be a weak +foolish woman! Oh, that ever I +should have been born with a weak +trustful heart!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I daresay ’twill be painful to leave +a place where you have lived long, +and a master who I hope has been +kind to you,” said the Curate. (Jennifer +lifted up her voice here, and +writhed in her chair.) “No doubt +it will, for you have an excellent +heart, Mrs Greene. But what you +have said convinces me of the necessity +of it. And you shall be no +loser; until you can suit yourself with +a place, I’ll continue your salary as +usual.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Salary!” cried Jennifer, starting +from her chair. “Oh, that I should be +talked to like a hireling! God forgive +you, Mr Young. Well, it’s over now. +I’ll consider what you’ve said, Mr +Young, and I’ll try—try to bring my +mind to it.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer rose—sobbed a little—looked +at her chair as if she had a +mind to sit down again, and then +prepared to depart. In her way out +of the room, she passed close to the +Curate, and paused, almost touching +him, with her handkerchief to her +eyes. “If ever he’d say the word, +he’d say it now,” thought Jennifer, +weeping copiously. But Mr Young, +far from availing himself of the proximity +to take her hand, or say anything +even of comfort, far less of a tenderer +nature, retreated with great alacrity +to his original post near the fire, and +Jennifer had no alternative but to +walk onward out of the room.</p> + +<p class='c009'>She left him, roused, certainly, most +effectually from his melancholy; but +the change was not for the better. +The poor shy Curate was exactly the +man to feel the full annoyance of such +reports as, according to Jennifer, were +in circulation. He fancied himself an +object of derision to all Lanscote—how +could he hope to do any good +among parishioners who said scandalous +things of him and his housekeeper? +How could he hope to convince +them of his innocence? How +preserve his dignity in the pulpit, with +the consciousness that a whole congregation +were looking at him in a +false light?</p> + +<p class='c009'>Jennifer’s demeanour next day was +sad and subdued. After breakfast she +came into the room, and, without lifting +her eyes, said that she thought +she had better go next Wednesday. +“On Wednesday,” said Jennifer, +“Miss Rosa’s coming, and then, with +your leave, I’ll quit, Mr Young.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Curate highly approved of this; +he knew he could not feel easy till she +was out of the house, and meanwhile +he absented himself from it as much +as possible.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It was fortunate for the Curate that +the period of her stay was so short, +for she took care it should be far from +pleasant. She personally superintended +the making of his bed, which she +caused to slope downwards towards +the feet, and at one side, so that the +hapless occupant was perpetually waking +from a dream in which he had +been sliding over precipices; and, reascending +to his pillow for another +precarious slumber, would be again +woke by finding his feet sticking out +from beneath the clothes, and his body +gradually following them. He got +hairs in his butter, and plenty of salt +in his soup; his tea, the only luxury +of the palate that he really cared +about, and that rather on intellectual +than sensual grounds, grew weaker +and weaker; his toast simultaneously +got tougher; and he was kept the +whole time on mutton-chops, which, +from their identity of flavour, appeared +to have been all cut from the same +patriarchal ram.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Wednesday arrived. The Curate, +leaning over his garden gate, saw the +carriage from the Heronry coming +down the lane. It drew up at the +parsonage; in it were Lady Lee, +Orelia, and Rosa, all in black, and all +looking very sad. Rosa, rising to take +leave of her friends, underwent innumerable +embraces.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Orelia was the calmest of the three, +but even her grandeur and stateliness +quite gave way in parting. “Good-bye, +Rosalinda,” was all she could +trust herself to say, as Rosa alighted.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Curate had intended to say a +great deal to Hester, but it had all +vanished from his mind, and remained +unexpressed, unless a long pressure +of the hand could convey it. Lady +Lee gave several things in charge to +the Curate to execute, and delivered a +purse to him, the contents of which +were to be distributed among various +pensioners in the village; then she +told the coachman to drive on.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Write at least three times a-week, +Rosalinda,” cried Orelia, putting a +tearful face over the hood of the carriage, +“or never hope for forgiveness.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>They were gone. A white handkerchief +waved from the side, and +another from the top of the carriage, +till it disappeared, and the Curate and +his sister slowly turned into the house—the +last remnant of the once joyous +party assembled at the Heronry.</p> + +<p class='c009'>What a hard thing was life! What +a cruel thing was fate, that they could +not all be left as they were! Their +happiness did no harm to any one—nay, +good to many—yet it was inexorably +scattered to the winds for ever. +So thought the Curate; and so felt +Rosa, though perhaps her feelings did +not shape themselves into thoughts.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But there was no time just then to +indulge their grief. Scarcely had the +carriage departed, when its place was +taken by a vehicle of altogether different +description. A donkey-cart, destined +to convey away Jennifer’s chattels, +and driven by a small boy, drew +up at the gate, producing a kind of +practical anti-climax. Then Jennifer, +attired in bonnet and shawl, entered, +and announced, in an austere and +steady voice, that she was ready to +hand over her keys of office to the still +weeping Rosa.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Now, Miss,” said Jennifer sharply, +“if you could make it convenient +to come at once, I should be obliged.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Go with Mrs Greene, my child,” +said the Curate. When Jennifer found +she had failed in her grand design on +the Curate, and must quit the parsonage, +she did not continue to affect +regret at her departure; and having +easily and at once secured the coveted +post at Monkstone, through the influence +of Mr Randy, she felt the +change was likely to be for the better. +She might, therefore, have been expected +to quit her present abode, if +with some natural regret, yet at perfect +peace and charity with all the +household. Jennifer’s disposition did +not, however, admit of this. She felt +enraged at the Curate because of the +failure of her design upon him, and +resolved to be of as little use as possible +in the last moments of her expiring +authority. “He’ll be wishing me back +again before a week’s over his head,” +said Jennifer to herself, with infinite +satisfaction.</p> + +<p class='c009'>In vain Rosa protested against being +dragged into every corner of the +house, and having every bit of household +property set before her eyes. In +vain she assured Mrs Greene that both +her brother and herself were perfectly +satisfied of the correctness of everything. +“’Twas a satisfaction to herself,” +Jennifer said, “to show everything;” +and it really was, for the +extreme bewilderment and ignorance +of Rosa on all points of housekeeping +afforded Jennifer the keenest gratification. +The Heronry, where Rosa’s +chief business had been to amuse herself, +was a very bad school to learn +anything of the sort.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Accordingly, Jennifer did not spare +her the enumeration of a single kitchen +implement, pot of jam, nor article of +linen.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The bed and table linen’s all in +this press,” said Jennifer, opening a +large one of walnut wood in the spare +bedroom.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“These are the sheets, I suppose, +Mrs Greene,” Rosa remarked, wishing +to show an interest in the matter.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Bless you, they’re the tablecloths!” +returned Jennifer, with a +glance of disdain.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Oh, to be sure! And these are +towels?” resumed Rosa.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Napkins,” said Jennifer, with +calm superiority. “Mr Young’s +shirts, and collars, and bands, and +neckcloths, is all in these two drawers. +Do you understand much about clear-starching, +Miss?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“N—n—no; I am afraid not +much,” said Rosa.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Ah, ’twould be just as well you +should, perhaps, because the washerwoman +requires a deal of looking +after. She can be careless and impudent, +too, when she dares, especially +when she’s in drink. She never +ventured upon any tricks with <i>me</i>, +though.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The thought of this terrible washerwoman +made Rosa tremble, while Jennifer +secretly exulted in the thought +of seeing the Curate in limp collars +and a crumpled shirt.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“There,” said the ex-housekeeper, +locking up the press, and handing the +key to Rosa; “I advise you, Miss, +to take out everything that’s wanted +yourself. The girl’s hands is generally +dirty, and, besides, in taking +out one thing she drags all the rest +out upon the floor. Oh, she’s a nice +one, that girl!—the work I’ve had to +manage her! Well, Miss, I hope +you’ll keep an eye upon her, that’s +all.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Having thus rendered Rosa as uncomfortable +as possible at the prospect +before her, Jennifer at length prepared +to depart. Opening the door +of the sitting-room, she said to the +Curate, “The young lady’s seen +everything, and is quite satisfied. +Well, good-bye, and wishing you +well, sir.” But the benediction was +quite contradicted by the ferocity of +her look and tone.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Good-bye, good-bye, my good +Mrs Greene,” said the Curate, who +could not help regarding Jennifer as +a martyr. “I wish you all success +and happiness; I hope you won’t +fret too much after the parsonage, +Mrs Greene.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Ho, no,” said Jennifer, with an +ironical little laugh; “it’s not likely.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m heartily glad of that,” said +the Curate, who would not have detected +irony even in Dean Swift; +“and I hope you’ll soon get another +and as good a place.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’ve got one,” said Jennifer, “as +good a one as ever I could wish.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Indeed! that is fortunate,” said +the Curate; “and when do you go +to it then?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m going now,” said Jennifer. +“Ho, bless you! as soon as ’twas +known I was going to leave this, I +had more offers than enough. I took +Monkstone,” said Jennifer, “being +’twas near my friends in the village. +Wishing you good-bye, sir,”—here +she dropt a curtsey, and closed the +door. The boy had already conveyed +her trunks and bandboxes to the +donkey-cart. Jennifer marched past +the window (from whence the Curate +was watching this exodus) in austere +majesty, and never deigned to turn +her head. Then she, the boy, the +donkey-cart, and the bandboxes, all +went in procession down the road, +leaving Rosa sole superintendant of +the Curate’s household.</p> + +<h3 class='c017'>CHAPTER XLI.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>The friendship which Bruce at this +time conceived for Josiah was uncommonly +warm and sudden. Though +always well disposed towards the +worthy Curate, he had not, while +Rosa was living at the Heronry, +taken much pains to seek his society, +but he now became of a sudden a frequent +visitor to the Parsonage. He +showed great interest in flowers, +though he hardly knew a dahlia from +a polyanthus; he listened to details +of parish matters with an attention +quite wonderful, considering how +little taste he had that way; and +he became enamoured of those old +English authors who were Josiah’s +especial favourites. Finding these +manifold pretences insufficient to account +for the frequency of his visits, +he hit upon a project for rendering +them quite plausible. He insisted +on subscribing fifty pounds towards a +school-house that was to be built in +the village under the Curate’s auspices; +and when Josiah protested +against this liberality as indiscreet +and uncalled for, he hinted that it +was not altogether disinterested—that +his classical knowledge was +getting rusty—that he perceived +Josiah to be often unoccupied for an +hour or two of a morning—and proposed +they should read some Latin +together.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Curate liked the project much; +it would divert his thoughts from +painful subjects—his own classics +wanted rubbing up—he had a great +regard for Bruce, whose openness, +vivacity, and good-nature had quite +won his heart, and the readings commenced +forthwith.</p> + +<p class='c009'>They were carried on upon a plan +which, however agreeable to the +master and his disciple, was scarcely +calculated to answer the proposed +end. Bruce and Josiah would sit +down together with their Horace, or +their Virgil, or their Terence before +them, and for a time would read +away with tolerable diligence. Presently +Rosa, coming into the room +from some household avocation, would +trip across it softly, not to disturb +them—get what she was in quest of, +perhaps a cookery-book, and go off +in the same silent fashion, with a nod +and a smile at Bruce. At this stage +of the lesson the student’s attention +would begin to waver; he would look +a good deal oftener at the door than +upon his page. Perhaps shortly after +Rosa would re-enter, to request +Josiah to get from the garden some +celery, parsnip, or other winter vegetable, +of which she stood in need for +culinary purposes. “Why didn’t +you ask me before, when I was in the +garden, my child?” the Curate would +say, which, indeed, she might very +well have done; and Josiah, rising +with a sigh to comply with her request, +would be forcibly reseated by +Bruce, who would desire him to try +again at that crabbed bit of Latinity, +while <i>he</i> went to get what Miss Rosa +wanted. Whereupon he and Rosa +would repair to the garden together, +she pointing out what she wanted, +while Bruce supplied her with it; and +the Curate, after looking dreamily +about for their re-entrance, would +forget them altogether, plunging +either into a reverie or into a book.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Sometimes Bruce found the Curate +absent on some clerical or parochial +errand, and on these occasions he +thought no apology necessary for his +stay, nor did Rosa expect one. If +she was too busy to talk to him in +the study, he would repair to the +kitchen, and even take a share in the +culinary mysteries to which that region +is sacred, though his presence +did not perhaps, on the whole, contribute +to the excellence of the cookery. +I have always suspected that +King Alfred, when he let the cakes +burn, was making love to the herdsman’s +wife, and that the idea of her +scolding him for negligence was devised +to conceal her share in the delinquency.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Mr Oates, seeing the state of affairs +between them, grew quite morose, +and would hardly speak to Bruce at +breakfast-time. He addicted himself +to the society of Suckling, and attempted +to divert his thoughts by +getting up a scratch pack of harriers, +and hunting them himself; and might +be heard two or three times a-week +in the woods about Doddington, attended +by the fast spirits of the place, +hallooing, and pouring through the +mellow horn his pensive soul.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Rosa had none of the dignity which +in Lady Lee and Orelia could always +have kept the most impassioned lovers +under a certain restraint. It is well +known to be the duty of young ladies +to affect total ignorance of the fact +that they are objects of adoration, +and to harrow up the souls of their +admirers with affectation of indifference, +at any rate until coming to the +point of proposal. Rosa, however, +showed undisguised pleasure at Bruce’s +visits, and one day, when he came in +with a melancholy face, and told her +the detachment was to leave Doddington +immediately, she began to +cry.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Curate was from home that +morning, and Bruce had found Rosa +in the kitchen, rolling paste for mince-pies, +while the cat Pick, whom she +had, when leaving the Heronry, +brought with her to the Parsonage, +sat on the table, watching the process, +and occasionally putting out his paw +to arrest the motion of the rolling-pin. +The smile with which she +looked up at Bruce’s entrance turned +to a look of sympathetic sadness, as +she perceived his sorrowful aspect. +He stood by her at the end of the +table, and told her the news which +had come that morning.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You see what a life ours is,” said +Bruce, trying to smile; “here to-day, +gone to-morrow. And when we were +going to spend such a pleasant winter +too!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And won’t you be here at Christmas?” +said Rosa; “and won’t you +have any of the mince-pies after all? +And is there to be an end of our rides, +and walks, and evening readings?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m afraid so,” said Bruce, shaking +his head. “The troop that relieves +us will be here to-morrow +week—though, in my opinion,” he +added, with a faint attempt at pleasantry, +“the best way to relieve us +would be to let us alone.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And won’t you be coming back?” +asked Rosa, with sorrow shining +moistly in her blue eyes.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I fear not,” said Bruce, “though, +to be sure, it might be managed. But +you won’t wish that when you’ve +made acquaintance with our successors. +The new-comers will take the +place of your old friends, and you’ll +forget us—won’t you, Miss Rosa?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>This highly sincere speech was too +much for Rosa. “No—oh, no—ne—never!” +sobbed she, sinking on a +chair, and burying her face on her +plump arms as they lay folded on the +table.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bruce had certainly supposed she +would be sorry to hear he was going, +but this display of sympathy surpassed +his expectations. He stooped +down over her—he whispered that +nothing should prevent him from coming +back—he also mentioned that she +was “a dear little thing,” and spying +a little white space amid her hair, +between her ear and her cheek, and +the whispering having brought his +lips into that neighbourhood, he +thought he would kiss it, and did so. +Rosa wept on, which distressed the +humane young man so much, that, +after begging her, in vain, to look up +and be comforted, he managed to insinuate +his hand between her cheek +and her arms, and to turn her face, +using the chin as a handle, gently +towards him. A flushed, tearful, +glistening face it was; and really, considering +the temptation and proximity, +one can’t altogether blame him +for kissing it, which he did both on +the eyes and lips; and then, turning +it so that his left cheek rested +against hers, with only the tresses +between, as he whispered in her left +ear, while her glistening eyes appeared +over his shoulder, he did his +best to pacify her. And so absorbed +was he in whispering, and she in +listening, that the cat Pick, advancing +along the flat paste (from which +he had only been kept before by the +terror of the rolling-pin), and leaving +his foot-marks on the soft substance, +proceeded, with the utmost effrontery, +to lick up, under their very noses, the +little dabs of butter dotted thereon. +He made a good deal of noise in doing +so; but as Bruce, between the whispers, +made a noise not altogether dissimilar +(for there were constantly +fresh tears requiring to be attended +to), Pick finished the butter with perfect +impunity, and sat up in the middle +of the paste, much about the same +time that Rosa pushed Bruce gently +away, and removed the last moisture +from her eyes with her apron.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The two having, by this time, come +to an understanding, Bruce suggested +that he would write to his father, +who, he assured her, was a splendid +old fellow, and who would, no doubt, +enter into the spirit of the thing immediately, +and give his consent like a +trump.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Accordingly, he fetched pen, ink, +and paper from the study, and sitting +at one end of the kitchen-table, while +Rosa rolled fresh paste at the other, +he indited a very eloquent and enthusiastic +epistle to his parent, and having +folded and directed it to “The +Very Rev. the Dean of Trumpington,” +put it with great confidence in his +pocket.</p> + +<p class='c009'>After this their conversation took +a more cheerful turn, and Rosa worked +so diligently at her task that the +mince-pies were made, after a receipt +which Bruce read out to her from a +cookery-book, and were ready for +dinner that very day, and Bruce stayed +to eat them.</p> + +<p class='c009'>That splendid old fellow the Dean +of Trumpington got the letter in due +time. It was brought in after dinner +by his butler when he was chatting, +in a pleasant digestive sort of way, +with a couple of old Canons over +a bottle of port. He put on his spectacles +to peruse it, and as his wife +was in the room, and the Canons old +friends and admirers of Harry, he +proceeded to read it aloud, and had +got pretty well into the matter before +he discovered its interesting nature. +“Why, bless my soul!” interpolated +the Reverend Doctor Bruce, in the +middle of a warm passage, “the boy’s +fallen in love!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“My dearest Harry!” exclaimed +Mrs Bruce; and then eagerly added, +“go on, love!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>While the reading proceeded, one +old Canon, who was married and had +a large family, looked fiercely at his +glass of port, as he held it between +him and the light, and cried “hum!” +or “ha!” at the most touching passages; +while the other, who was a +bachelor, rubbed his hands as he +listened, and chuckled aloud.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Her brother, Mr Young, is a +member of your own profession,” read +the Dean over again slowly. “Sillery” +(to the bachelor Canon), “oblige +me by touching the bell. Bring the +Clergy List,” said the Dean to the +butler, when the latter entered.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Y,” read the Dean, running his +finger down the list, when he got it—“Yorke—Youatt—Young—here +you +are: Young, George, Vicar of Feathernest +(is that him, I wonder? good +living Feathernest)—Young, Henry, +Prebendary of Durham—Young, Josiah, +Curate of Lanscote—that must +be the man,” said the Dean, referring +to the letter; “he dates from Lanscote, +near Doddington.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“There was a Young at Oxford +with me,” said Dr Macvino, the married +Canon, in a deep, oily, sententious +voice. “He left college on coming +into six thousand a-year. He +might have a daughter,” said the +Canon, looking round as he propounded +the theory. “And,” added +the Canon, “he might also have a +son in the Church. He was a tall +fellow, who once pulled the stroke oar +in a match, as I remember—he gave +remarkably good breakfasts.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Dear boy!” said Mrs Bruce, +apostrophising Harry, “I’m certain he +wouldn’t make other than a charming +choice. I’m certain she’s a sweet girl.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Harry knows what’s what,” said +the Dean; “I’ve confidence in that +boy.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Plenty of good sense,” said the +bachelor Canon.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Good stuff,” said Dr Macvino, +who, sipping his wine before he gave +the opinion, left it doubtful whether +he was praising Bruce junior or +the port.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Harry’s got something here,” said +the Dean, pointing to his forehead. +“He’s almost thrown away in his +present profession. He ought to have +come into the Church.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Decidedly he ought,” said Dr +Macvino, who thought himself an example +to teach other clever fellows +how to choose a profession.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He’s the most sensible darling!” +said Mrs Bruce; “and I, too, was +sorry that he hadn’t chosen a learned +profession, till I saw him in his uniform. +His mustache promised to be +beautiful” (there had been perhaps +four hairs in it when she last saw +him,) “and ’tis very becoming.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Suits him to a hair,” said the +bachelor Canon, who was a wag in a +mild way.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The boy’s letter is a little high-flown,” +said the Dean, “but that was +to be expected, perhaps. I remember +describing Mrs Bruce there to my +family in such terms, that, when I +brought her home, they were rather +disappointed at finding her without +wings. But I’ve no doubt the young +lady is a most proper person.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“A young man like my Harry +ought to get a wife with twenty +thousand pounds any day,” said his +mother.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“There were two things, I remember,” +said Dr Bruce, “that Harry +was very fastidious about in women—dress +and manner: I venture to +prophecy that our future daughter-in-law +is irreproachable in both.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“A tall girl, I suspect,” said Mrs +Bruce.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Tall, and with a good deal of the +air noble—perhaps a little proud,” +the Doctor went on.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“But not disagreeably so,” said +Mrs Bruce.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Certainly not,” said the Doctor. +“A hauteur of manner merely. I like +to see a woman keep up her dignity.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I wish he had said something +about her fortune,” said Mrs Bruce.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“So do I,” said the Doctor, “and I +think I’ll go down to Doddington to-morrow, +and see what he’s about. I’m +rather in want of change of air.” And +the two canons drank success to his +journey in another bottle of port.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Accordingly, the next day the Doctor +went down to Doddington, three +counties off, and not finding Harry at +his lodgings, got a conveyance and +a man to take him over to Lanscote. +Bruce was there of course—he had +rushed away from the parade that +morning, and, without changing his +dress, galloped to Lanscote at a tremendous +pace. He was not sorry to +find the Curate absent, and, going +clanking into the kitchen in his spurs, +found Rosa there with a great pinafore +on, making a tart.</p> + +<p class='c009'>For about ten minutes after his arrival +the manufacture of the tart proceeded +but slowly; and Rosa, to keep +him out of her way, begged him to +superintend the re-boiling of some +preserves, which Jennifer’s economy +had left to spoil in their jars. “You’ve +nothing to do,” said she, “but to sit +still before the fire, and skim the pan +from time to time with this spoon; +and I’ll get you something to keep +your uniform clean, while you’re doing +it.” So Rosa went and got a small +table-cloth, and causing him to seat +himself in the desired position in front +of the fire, she pinned it round his +neck as if he was going to be shaved—his +brass shoulder-scales sticking +out rather incongruously from under +the vestment.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I ought to hear from my father, +to-day,” said Harry, skimming away +at the pan with his spoon.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He won’t be angry, I hope,” said +Rosa, putting a strip of paste round +the edge of her tart-dish.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Angry,” said Bruce, “not he. If +he was, I should just show you to him, +and if he were the most peppery old +man in existence, he’d come to the +down charge directly, like a well-bred +pointer—just as the lion did before +Una. He’d love you directly—I’m +certain he would—he must, you know—he +couldn’t help himself.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m sure I shall love <i>him</i>,” said +Rosa, smiling at Bruce as she took +the spoon from him in order to taste +the jam, and see how it was getting +on.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Of course you will,” said Harry. +“As I said before, he’s a splendid old +fellow.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>At this moment a step was heard +on the gravel in front of the house, +followed by a tapping at the door of +the porch, which was open.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Come in!” cried Bruce. “Come +in, can’t you!” he repeated, as the +tapping was renewed. “I <i>can’t</i> go to +the door in this way,” he said to Rosa, +looking down at his table-cloth.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“It’s only the butcher, or Josiah’s +clerk, or some of those people,” said +Rosa; “come in, if you please.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>At this the step advanced along the +passage, and came to the kitchen door. +Bruce, skimming away at his pan, +didn’t turn round till he heard a voice +he knew exclaim behind him, “God +bless my soul!” The spoon fell into +the brass pan, and disappeared in the +seething fruit.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Why, in heaven’s name,” said the +Doctor, “what is the boy about?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The boy in question, standing up in +great confusion to the height of six +feet, with the table-cloth descending +like a large cloud about his person, +hiding all of it except his military-looking +arms and legs, did not make +any reply. Rosa, when she tasted the +jam, had left some on her lips, and +somehow a splash of it had got transferred +to Bruce’s face.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“What prank is this, sir?” asked +the Dean sternly. “Who is this person?” +pointing his thick yellow cane +at Rosa. “Is it the cook or the +dairymaid?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“That, sir,” said Bruce, coming to +Rosa’s rescue, “is Miss Young—the +lady I wrote to you about.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Oh, indeed!” said the Doctor, +who had not found the answers to the +inquiries he made in Doddington as +to the worldly condition of the house +of Young at all to his mind, and who, +at the sight of the Parsonage, had +been more struck with its diminutiveness +than its picturesqueness. “You’re +a pretty fellow! Don’t you think +you’re a pretty fellow? Answer me, +puppy!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’m not doing any harm, sir,” +said Bruce, his handsome face looking +very red over the table-cloth, +which he struggled to unpin.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Not doing any harm, sir!” sung +the Dean after him, through his +nose. “Are you making an ass of +yourself, sir, do you think? Come, +sir, I’m waiting for ye. Come along +with me, sir.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bruce having got rid of the table-cloth, +went up to console Rosa, who +was now sobbing in a chair.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Are ye coming, sir?” shouted the +Dean from the door; and Bruce, +with a last whisper of comfort, went +to join his parent, who, lifting his +shovel-hat, said, “Ma’am, I wish +you a very good morning!” As they +went through the passage, Rosa heard +the Doctor say something about +“What a shock to your poor mother!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>When Josiah returned, he found +Rosa weeping by the kitchen fire, +now sunk to embers, the jam reduced +to a sort of dark concrete, and the +tart still in an elemental state.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Harry’s papa has been here,” +sobbed Rosa; “and he’s been so +angry; and he’s carried Harry away, +and I shall ne—never—see him—any +mo—re.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Dean kept such strict watch +over his son while the troop remained +at Doddington, lecturing him all the +time, that he never got the smallest +glimpse of Rosa before quitting the +place, though he managed to write +her some tender and consoling letters. +His only other consolation was in +confiding his grief to Mr Titcherly, +the old antiquary. They had become +intimate and fond of one another—“a +pair of friends, though he was +young, and Titcherly seventy-two.” +Bruce had sympathised with the old +gentleman’s pursuits, and aided them—he +had, moreover, made drawings +illustrative of the great work on the +antiquities of Doddington, which were +now being engraved for a second +edition; and when the troop left the +town, nobody missed him more, nor +thought more kindly of him, next to +Rosa, than Mr Titcherly.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Bruce had nourished in his secret +heart an intention of getting leave +when they got to headquarters, and +coming back to see Rosa. This was +defeated by the vigilance of his parent, +who, suspecting the design, made it +a particular request to the Colonel +that he would allow his son no leave +of absence, hinting at an indiscreet +attachment; and the Colonel, in the +most friendly way, promised to comply +with the Dean’s wishes. Afterwards +the Dean went home, and told +his wife (he being a pious man, and +familiar with the ways of Providence) +that he considered the moving of the +detachment from Doddington in the +light of a special interference.</p> + +<h3 class='c017'>CHAPTER XLII.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>For my own private choice, I don’t +know whether I should have preferred +to live at Larches or the Heronry. +People who like aristocratic-looking +houses of imposing size and respectable +age would have preferred the +latter. But there are others whose +ambition does not soar so high—who +would feel encumbered by space +which they could not occupy, and by +galleries and apartments to them +superfluous; yet who have sometimes, +when dreaming in a verandah +in the tropics, a snow-hut of some +northern region, or a narrow cabin +at sea, figured to themselves a snug +English home, not too remote for the +world’s affairs, nor too public for +seclusion—not so large as to be dull +without visitors, nor so small as +to be unfit to accommodate them—not +so grand as to invite inspection, +nor so unadorned as to disappoint +it—standing, in fact, on the boundary +which divides comfort from +ostentation; and such would have +preferred Larches.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Yet, ah! that air from Queen Anne’s +time that breathed about the Heronry—that +library, where Samuel Johnson +might have devoured books in +his boyhood—the trim gardens, where +Pope might have sat in fine weather, +polishing his mellifluous lines—the +gateway and porticoes that Vanbrugh +might have regarded with paternal +complacency, as hooped dames and +bewigged cavaliers passed underneath—all +these were pleasant to the eye +and mind that love the picturesque +and antique.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Yet even these advantages would +not weigh in the scale for a minute, +when Larches was inhabited as now. +Place Lady Lee and Orelia in the +balance, and the Heronry kicks the +beam. They would have made a hut +in Tipperary, or South Africa, or any +other pagan and barbarous region, +more alluring than the palace of +Aladdin.</p> + +<p class='c009'>However (to describe its intrinsic +advantages), Larches was a onestoried +house, too spacious to be +called a cottage, which, however, it +resembled in shape, and surrounded +by a deep verandah open from the +eaves to the ground. To please a +caprice of Orelia’s, the slated roof had +been covered with thatch—indeed, +she exercised her fancy in so many +alterations, both of the house and +grounds, that the place was like a +dissolving view, and never presented +the same appearance for two consecutive +seasons. The house stood +on a knoll which raised it above the +surrounding garden, except at the +back, where the north winds were repelled +by a small grove rising from a +high bank. In the front rank of this +grove rose three tall larches that +gave the place its name. The verandah +kept the sun from the apartments, +but the windows, opening to +the ground, admitted plenty of sober +light. Looked at from without, the +open verandah and the large space +occupied by windows and doors gave +an idea of extreme airiness; while +the rich heavy curtains that lined the +windows, and the glimpses of luxurious +furniture behind, conveyed ample +assurance of comfort.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Hither Orelia had brought her +friend, and here she applied herself to +soothe her sorrow. Many offices +would, perhaps, have suited Orelia +better than that of comforter—but +her affection and warm sympathy for +Lady Lee made her discharge it with +right good-will.</p> + +<p class='c009'>When Hester had entered the hall, +at the conclusion of their journey, +Orelia came up and kissed her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“We will forget now,” she said, +“that you have ever been Lady Lee. +We will revive in substance, as well +as in idea, the old times when you +were Hester Broome at the parsonage; +and we will see if there is not yet in +store for you as bright a future as +ever you dreamt of in your imaginative +days.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>A thin elderly person, holding a +handkerchief to her face to keep off the +draught, was hovering about an inner +door of the lobby as they entered. +This was Miss Priscilla Winter, the +lady who did propriety in Orelia’s +establishment, and managed the +minor details thereof. She had lived +with Orelia’s mother as a companion, +when the young lady herself was +a child, and had subsequently accompanied +the latter to Larches. She +was a good kind of ancient nonentity, +without any very decided opinions +on any subject, resembling, indeed, +rather a vague idea than an +absolute person. As she always had +a smile ready, and agreed with everybody, +Priscilla was sufficiently popular +and endurable. At present she smiled +a welcome on one side of her face +only, because the other was swelled—a +frequent symptom of the perpetual +toothach which afflicted her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Here’s Frisky,” said Orelia, on +seeing her; “dear old Frisky!—good +old Frisk!” and she went up and +greeted the old lady very cordially, as +did Lady Lee.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Orelia called her Frisky, not because +of any particular fitness in the +appellation, but, having a way of her +own of altering people’s names, she +used to call her first Priskilla, then, +when she wanted to coax her, Prisky, +which suggested Frisky, and the total +and glaring inappropriateness of the +epithet tickled the inventor so much +that it was permanently adopted by +her. The old virgin preceded them +into the drawing-room, where a comfortable +fire was blazing, and told +them dinner would be ready in a +quarter of an hour.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And how are the live stock, +Frisk?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“All well except Dick, who had a +fit yesterday,” said Miss Winter, “but +he seems quite cheerful again to-day.” +Dick was a bullfinch.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I’ll see him presently,” said Orelia, +“but first I must visit Moloch.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Take care, my dear Orelia,” said +Priscilla; “Francis has got him +chained up—the cook says she thinks +he’s going mad, for he hasn’t drank +his water to-day.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Stuff!” said Orelia, marching out +of the room.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Moloch, a great yellow bloodhound, +flecked with white, chained in the +yard, thundered a deep welcome as +his mistress went towards him, and +upset his kennel in his eagerness to +jump upon her. She unstrapped his +collar, and he preceded her backwards +in a series of curvets to the drawing-room, +yelping joyfully, and nearly +upsetting Priscilla, whom Orelia found +occupied in settling Lady Lee near +the fire, that she might be warm before +taking off her things; for the old +lady was a great hand at coddling +people, if permitted.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Hester looks pale, poor dear,” +said Priscilla, with a heart-rending +sadness of tone and aspect—“ah, well, +she’s had her trials and”—</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Now, I’ll tell you what it is, +Frisk,” interrupted Orelia, looking +sternly at the old lady, “I didn’t +bring her here to be made dismal, and +if ever I hear you saying anything of +a doleful character, I’ll leave a chink +of your bedroom window open at night, +and give you a stiff neck.—I will, as +sure as your name’s Frisky.” And +this speech at once produced the desired +effect; the venerable spinster +caught her cue with alacrity, and the +unswelled side of her face at once assumed +an expression of great cheerfulness.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Dinner was presently announced. +“I’m afraid the dining-room will be +chilly,” mumbled Priscilla, “and this +terrible face of mine—would you mind +it, my dear, if I sat at dinner in my +bonnet?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Not in the least, my tender +Frisk,” quoth Orelia; “and pray +bring your umbrella and pattens +also.”</p> + +<p class='c008'>A few days after their arrival, they +went down to the parsonage where +Hester had formerly lived with her +father. Orelia was curious to see +what effect the memories attached to +the place would have upon her ladyship. +She saw her grow flushed and +excited as they passed the familiar +cottages, and trees, and fields along +the road. She saw her excitement +increase as they came in sight of the +parsonage. A glimpse of it was afforded +from the road, as it stood at +the end of a lane, and looked down +upon a lawn dotted with dwarf firs. +That glimpse showed it little changed; +but as they entered the swinging gate, +opening on the gravel path that curved +round to the front of the house, the +place seemed to Hester to have +dwindled. Perhaps the spacious proportions +of the Heronry dwarfed the +parsonage by contrast—perhaps her +remembrance had flattered the scene—perhaps +it had lost its interest together +with its former inhabitants—for, +her father having died soon after her +marriage, a new clergyman now lived +there, and neither he nor his wife +were likely to renew much of the romantic +atmosphere of the spot—at any +rate, Hester’s associations vanished +rapidly. The furniture was all so +different: there was a new door +opened in the sitting-room, which +might be a convenience, but was to +her an impertinence—her bedroom, +the chamber of her maiden dreams +(ah, sacrilege!) was now a nursery. +The walls where the echoes of Hester’s +voice, as she read aloud, or sung, or +said her prayers, ought yet to have +lingered, resounded to the squalls of +the latest baby published by the prolific +clergyman’s wife, and the clamour +of its small seniors. A cradle had +taken the place of her bookcase; +and her bed, whose white curtains +had once enclosed the poetic dreams +and bright fancies of the virgin Hester—the +very altar-piece, as it were—was +occupied by a rocking-horse with +its head knocked off. Scarcely worse +the desecration, when the French +stabled their chargers in the cathedrals +of Spain.</p> + +<p class='c009'>She descended to the porch, and +paused there, trying to recall her former +self as she had sat in its shadow, +reading, working, dreaming, fancying +that the world was paradise. She +wondered what could have made her +fancy so; it had, indeed, been blissful +ignorance, but very silly, nevertheless: +her eyes were open now, and +she was quite sure—yes, quite—she +should never see things again surrounded +by such delusive splendour. +The Hester of eighteen had been quite +a different person from the Hester of +twenty-five. And so sad seemed to +be the train of thoughts thus aroused, +and bringing with it so many silent +tears, that Orelia was sorry she had +carried her well-intended visit to the +parsonage into execution. She mentioned +it in a letter to Rosa; and here, +in common type, wherein it loses all +the character it gained in the original, +from that bold yet feminine hand, +with its long upstrokes and downstrokes, +and its audacious dashes, we +will insert Orelia’s letter.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Dearest Rosalinda,” (it said,) +“what is there about you, do you +suppose, that you should be so constantly +in my thoughts as you are, to +the utter exclusion, of course, of all +kinds of rational contemplation? For +how can any serious or important idea +be expected to remain in company +with that of a little laughing, redfaced +thing? In vain I banish the pert +image; it comes back with all the annoying +and saucy pertinacity of the +original, till I actually catch myself +addressing it; and my first impulse, +on waking of a morning, always is to +pull you out of bed.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“People sometimes say of their deceased +relations (especially if they +have left them any money), that it +would be wrong to wish them back to +this scene of trial. And I grow somewhat +resigned to your absence, when +I think that you are probably much +happier where you are. For Hester +and I are very dismal, Rosey—not a +bit better than we were during the +last sad weeks at the Heronry. She +grows paler, Rosetta—paler and thinner +every day. And I don’t think ’tis +owing to any failure of mine in carrying +out our plan for her benefit. I +have, in every possible way, closed +up the avenues to sad recollections. +I have avoided all allusions to her +married life, as if it had been wiped +out of my memory with a great wet +sponge. I have nearly choked myself +by arresting, on the brink of utterance, +observations that might have +awakened in her mind some train of +thought ending in a sigh. I have endeavoured +to interest her in her old +occupations here, and to get her to +resume the subjects of conversation +and of fancy that used to delight her +in the old times, when she was the +most enthusiastic and bright and +hopeful of friends; and I have had +my labour for my pains. She wandered +through my hothouses with +most annoying apathy—stood on the +very spot where she and I first saw +one another, and which I expected +would have had an electrical effect on +her, with an absence of recognition +that quite exasperated me; and when +I wished her good night, in the very +bedroom that was always allotted to +her when weather-bound at my cottage, +she returned the benediction +without one allusion to the old days +that have departed apparently for +ever.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Well, Rosetta, I persevered, nevertheless—yes, +I did—I struck my +great <i>coup</i>—I took her down to the +parsonage, where she was born and +bred. Long after her father’s death +it stood untenanted; but a new family +now live there. I watched the effect +of each familiar object that we passed +on the road; her breath now and then +came a little quicker, and, at the first +distant glimpse of the house, her colour +rose, and she smiled more naturally +than she has done any time these three +months. ‘Now,’ said I to myself, +‘the old Hester is going to peep out +of this melancholy mask;’ so I said, +by way of assisting the metamorphosis, +‘Do you remember anything +about that stone, Hester?’ pointing +to a great white one by the side of the +road. Now, by this stone hangs a +tale, Rosamunda. You must know +(if I never told you) that Hester and +I had once a little quarrel; and as it’s +so long ago, I don’t mind saying ’twas +all my fault. Well, we did not meet +for two or three days, for Hester was +hurt, and I was sullen; but then, by +a simultaneous impulse, we started to +meet and be reconciled. Hester was +near this stone when she caught sight +of me, and, forgetting all cause of +offence, ran towards me. In her haste +(’twould take a deal to make her run +now, Rosey) she tript on the grass at +the side of the road, and fell with her +head against the corner of the stone. +There she lay for a moment, stunned, +and I, who had just reached the spot, +sat down on the stone, and, taking +her head on my lap, vowed, after she +had opened her eyes, and assured me +she was but little hurt, that I would +never again offend her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“She remembered it well, she said, +as I stopt and pointed to the spot; +then, pressing my hand, ‘Though I +am not so demonstrative now as then, +you must not think my friendship +colder, dear Orelia,’ she said. This +looked all very promising, and I walked +on in great spirits, awaiting the +further effect of the coming scenes.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“The clergyman’s wife had called +on us, so our visit had an excuse. +The porch looked just as it used—we +entered; but there, in the identical +spot where Mr Broome used to sit and +talk to us, when a pause in his disorder +let him brighten up for an hour or +two, with the benignity of a Socrates—his +pale face glowing, his dim eye +kindling, and his failing voice hardly +able to keep pace with his eloquent +flow of thought—there sat his successor—fat, +contented, vulgar. The first +words he spoke, in tones that seemed +to struggle through layers of beef and +cabbage and Yorkshire pudding, dissipated +the romance that lingered for +me and Hester about the scene. And +his wife! I don’t deny that the woman +may have good qualities, Rosa; but I +never can forgive her that cap of hers—nor +her furniture—nor her younger +sister, with her vulgar affectation of +well-bred ease—nor her mode of addressing +her husband—she called him +by the initial letter of his horrible +surname.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“In vain I struggled with these +prosaic influences—in vain I tried to +recall the old memories of the place—they +had absolutely deserted me. +I did not look at Hester, for I should +only have looked disappointment. I +did not speak to her, for I had nothing +to say. But I looked at the clergyman +and his wife and sister-in-law—daggers, +Rosetta—and I was glad, +when we departed, to see them reduced +to a state of terrified and silent civility.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“So this part of the project signally +failed. Hitherto we had lived altogether +by ourselves, for I did not wish +to annoy her with the task of making +a parcel of new acquaintances, not +likely to be particularly interesting +either to her or to me. But now I +thought visitors might rouse her from +her melancholy, and I let them come.”</p> + +<p class='c008'>The time when Lady Lee and Orelia +were most disposed to be communicative +to each other was the last hour +before they went to bed. Both, after +flickering fitfully between dinner and +tea, musing, looking into the fire, +sighing, &c., would brighten up into +temporary effulgence, before undergoing +the extinction of sleep.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You are cheerful to-night, Orelia,” +said Lady Lee, one night after some +guests had departed. “I am happy +to see it, my dear. Come closer,” +said her ladyship, passing her arm +round her friend’s waist, and drawing +her on to the sofa beside her. “I +want to whisper to you. May I venture +to hope” (this in Orelia’s ear, +from which she had brushed back the +volume of black hair that hid it) +“that you have forgotten that little +romance of yours?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Orelia silently turned, and sat facing +her with her black eyes, without answering.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You never confided in me in that +matter,” said her ladyship, still whispering, +though there was nobody but +those two in the room, and the servants +had gone to bed. “I shouldn’t +speak of it now, only that I observe +some symptoms occasionally which +make me still doubt the direction of +your thoughts. Can I help to guide +them back to tranquillity?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“No, Hester,” said Orelia; “I +don’t want any aid. I’ve come to a +resolution of my own accord.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Tell it me,” said Lady Lee.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“How can I tell you all?” said +Orelia. “You didn’t know him. To +you he was merely what he appeared +to the world—to me he was himself—the +manliest, the cleverest, the most +independent, the—ah, you smile; but, +had you met him in his true position, +you would have thought of him as I +do.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Lady Lee squeezed the hand of +the somewhat indignant enthusiast. +“Who so apt as I to believe,” she +said, “that when Orelia Payne admires, +the object is an elevated one? +Well, dearest?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Well,” said Orelia, “I dreamt at +the Heronry a sort of dream—that he +would regain his position in the world, +and be all you or any of my friends +could wish. He left me apparently +with some such expectation; but now +I see it was fallacious.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“But a man could scarcely make a +very great stride in the world in a +couple of months,” observed Lady Lee.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“’Twill take years, perhaps,” said +Orelia, “even if he ever succeeds; +and consider the chances against him. +And, except as successful, I shall +never see him—he is prouder than a +fallen angel.” Here she paused, and +pondered a little. “But,” she resumed, +“I have resolved to think no +more on that subject. Yes, resolved!” +(stamping with her foot, while her +colour heightened, and a tear came +into her eye). “It can do no good—it +will be vain, weak, idle—it will +be wasting life in unreality; therefore +it shall end”—(another little stamp).</p> + +<p class='c009'>Lady Lee looked at her with a kind +of serious half smile. “So earnest, +Orelia!—then the cause cannot be +slight.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“It is not,” said Orelia petulantly. +“I am ashamed to think how much +it has engrossed my thoughts. And +yet—everything considered—so much +merit in so unfitting a position! Had +he been placed where he deserves, I +should perhaps have withheld my admiration; +but indignation at the way +in which fortune and the world have +treated him lent it double force. Now, +Hester, I have been franker than you—for +we both had our secrets; had +we not?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>It was Lady Lee’s turn to redden +and be silent.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Hester,” went on Orelia, “what +do you think of the men who sometimes +come here? Is there one of +them fit to be named with either of +those to whom we gave—I mean to +whom we would have given—our +hearts? Think for a moment of the +best of them—and then place their +images, side by side, with those I +speak of. Don’t they dwindle?—don’t +they show like wax-work beside +sculpture, with their fleeting hues of +character, their feeble melting outlines, +their stupid conventionalities?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“You are severe, my dear,” said +Lady Lee, without, however, heeding +much her own reply—for Orelia had +confused her.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“O, it scatters my patience!” said +her impetuous friend. “I think less +of myself when one of them has hinted +admiration. Yesterday, that worthy +noodle, Mr Straitlace—he who thinks +it good to be wise, but not to be +merry, and whose expressive eyebrows +proclaim all pursuits to be +vanity except his own—had the astonishing +effrontery to give my hand a +kind of meaning squeeze, at taking +leave, muttering something about ‘his +pleasure at recognising a congenial +spirit.’ What have I done, Hester, +to deserve that?—the owl!”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I don’t see the congeniality, certainly,” +said Lady Lee, smiling, +“more than between an owl and a—peacock, +or any other majestic bird.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Then there’s that baronet Sir +Dudley (you seem to have an attraction +for baronets, Hester)—that well-dressed +Mephistopheles, with crow’s +feet about his eyes and his heart at +five and twenty, who has just cleverness +enough to find out the faulty side +of everything—he had the impudence, +after looking at you as if he were +judging a horse, to pronounce that +‘you had some good points,’ which +from him is equivalent, I suppose, to +high praise.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I hope he specified the points that +struck him,” said Lady Lee, smiling.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He hadn’t time,” returned Orelia. +“I felt downright savage at the idea +of such a snail as that crawling on +your petals. I asked him who had +told him of your merits? for that we +all knew him to be slow at finding +them in anything.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And what did he say?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“He turned to his next neighbour +and merely said, ‘Shut up, by Jove!’ +Why, compared with these people, +Major Tindal grows respectable; for +though he has but one side to his character, +’tis a manly and decided one.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Poor, misguided Major Tindal,” +said Lady Lee; “to think that he +should have taken the trouble to come +all the way here” (the Major hadn’t +been able to forbear singeing his +wings again), “just to do hopeless +homage to a girl who talks of him in +that way.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Certainly he had better have stayed +at Doddington,” said Orelia. “But, +now, Hester, tell me—could you admire, +or ever be induced to love, any +of our present acquaintances, after +having seen others so much worthier?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I will go farther than that,” said +Lady Lee, resuming her habitual tone +of melancholy, which she had relinquished +for one of assumed gaiety, +merely to cover the confusion that +Orelia’s home-thrust had caused her; +“I will say that we never could have +admired or loved them in any case.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And yet they are not below the +average of those we shall meet in our +pilgrimage,” said this severe censor; +“and that brings me to a subject I +have for some time thought of. You +and I can never link our lives to people +of that sort.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Never,” said Lady Lee, fervently.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Neither will we spend them in +vain regrets,” said Orelia. “In men +that would be unmanly, and in us +’twould equally be unwomanly. We +will drive out thought—we will leave +it no avenue to enter—we will place +a quickset round our hearts. Some +do this by openly relinquishing the +world, and taking vows; our resolutions +shall be none the weaker because +we only take our vows privately, and +to one another.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Lady Lee looked at her friend inquiringly.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Why should we have done with +life because we have been disappointed +in one of its objects?” said +Orelia. “Why should we languish +or let ourselves rust because those +we prefer are withheld from us? <i>We</i> +could not be content to go lingering +and dreaming all our lives.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Not content, certainly,” said Lady +Lee. “But what are we to do?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Make business for ourselves in +the world,” said Orelia. “Be of use—turn +our energies to account. How +many women younger than we quit a +life of ease without our provocation, +and devote themselves to one of active +usefulness! We might be the founders +of an unprofessed sisterhood. What +do you say, Hester? When shall we +begin?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“When?” said Lady Lee. “My +dear, such a thing requires thought.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Say a week,” said Orelia.</p> + +<p class='c009'>“A week!” cried Lady Lee—“a +year you mean. Nuns have a noviciate.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“And a contemptible thing it is,” +said Orelia, “that hovering between +two worlds, as it were—that lingering +on the bridge, shilly shally. No, +Hester; we won’t show any such +want of confidence in ourselves—we +will begin after a week’s trial. We +must commence by closing up all +paths to thoughts that might unsteady +us—lay aside at once poetry, +romance, music, except anthems and +oratorios. We will prescribe for ourselves +a simple dress and a uniform +and disciplined life. Come, are you +not anxious to begin?”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“I <i>do</i> almost catch a gleam of your +enthusiasm,” said Hester. “To relinquish +my present life will be no +privation” (with a sigh). “But we +must mature the idea before acting +on it. We must not begin lightly.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>“Lightly!” said Orelia. “I’ve +been thinking of it these four days. +And, for our plan—feeding the poor—educating +the ignorant—comforting +the sick—there is a field! So much +for our duty towards our neighbour—for +ourselves, we will improve and +occupy our minds with study, and I +was going to say meditation; but I’m +not so sure whether our meditations +would be always on profitable subjects, +at least not just yet. When +nuns turn out not so good as they +might be, who knows what share +meditation may have had in it? +We’ll act now, Hester, and put off +meditation till we grow older.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>Now, there was something in +Orelia’s proposal that was not unpleasing +to Lady Lee. To banish +thought which she found so wearisome—to +occupy time that hung so +heavy—to labour with an object and +obtain a result—these were what she +had long desired in a dreamy sort of +way, and, now that the more energetic +Orelia had struck out the path, +she was ardent to follow it. Thus +the mind would be provided for; and, +for the heart, why shouldn’t she and +Orelia, her chosen friend, be all in all +to each other? which last idea was, +perhaps, even more brilliant than the +other.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Accordingly the noviciate commenced +forthwith. They had, in +Hester’s maiden days, studied together +French and Italian; they now +began a spirited attack upon the +German language. Mathematics was +desirable, as it required attention, +exercised the mind, and did not excite +the imagination, and they plodded +away at Euclid and algebra with a +perseverance praiseworthy in an ambitious +freshman, but, in them, lamentable +to behold. The piano remained +unopened, the harp untouched, +except on Sunday, when they performed +a piece out of Handel. Lady +Lee’s copy of <cite>Corinne</cite> was put in the +fire by Orelia, who had never particularly +admired the work; and, indeed, +a great part of their library +underwent such a weeding as Don +Quixote’s suffered at the hands of the +barber and curate. Both were dressed +in mourning before for Julius, so no +great change was needed in their +attire. To crown all, they discovered, +in a couple of days, some babies in the +smallpox and croup, three distressed +families with the fathers out of work, +and a pair of rheumatic old women, so +that their charitable resolutions were +not likely to fail for want of objects.</p> + +<p class='c009'>It is very well known that heroines +of respectability ought to be naturally +benevolent. They ought, moreover, +to have a happy knack of winning +the hearts of all who experience +their bounty. I would with pleasure +bestow on my heroines all the good +attributes that belong to them, but I +have already said they were far from +faultless, and, to say the truth, the +line they had chosen was not their +forte. Lady Lee’s fastidious taste +was speedily revolted by misery, +whose pathos was impaired by selfishness +or coarseness; and Orelia, after +a visit to one of the rheumatic patients, +left a sovereign for the sufferer, +and vowed she would never go near +that horrid old grumbler again. In +fact, this was one of the points in +which they were both of them inferior +to Rosa. Their benevolence sprang +from a sense of duty, and was artificial +in expression, like the conversation +of one who has learnt a foreign +tongue grammatically; while Rosa’s +was natural, and fluent in the happiest +idioms of goodness.</p> + +<p class='c009'>However, they persevered, and, +though they were striving against +nature, their conduct was quite natural. +Women are never so enthusiastic +about their duties as when they +have just been disappointed in love. +Your pretty Puritans are sure to have +had an attachment blighted, and Devotion +is called in, like a Beguine, to +dress the wounds made by that rascal +Cupid.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But yet, reader, if Hester and +Orelia should really persist in their +project, what a glimpse of the possible +is here opened! Let imagination +hold up the curtain for a moment.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Methinks I see Orelia, aged say +about thirty-five; severe of aspect, +and with what novelists call “the +traces of former beauty,” though the +arch of the nose has strengthened to +Roman firmness, the mouth is quite +stern in its decision, and the fire of +the eyes has some fierceness in its +sparkle. Irreproachable, but not amicable—unsparing +to the indiscretion +of others, and having none of her +own—rigid in the performance of +duties, as well as in exacting them—I +see her, in fact, become that formidable +being, an exemplary woman, and +I should like to see anybody make +love to her now.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Lady Lee, too, now getting on for +forty, has changed from what we +knew her. She is not called, like +Orelia, an exemplary woman, but is +stigmatised by the equally opprobrious +epithet, a superior person. Her +eyes, dimmed with long perusing of +good wearisome books through a veil +of tears, are still beautiful in their +melancholy, but the rest of her charms +have withered. She does not discharge +her duties with the unfailing +spirit of the more energetic Orelia, +but requires a new weary effort for +the performance of each; and when +the old obstinate question recurs of +what her business in the world may +be, she silences it by a contemplation +of the indurated virtues of her friend, +which she nerves herself to imitate. +There are no more confidences or +confessions of weakness between herself +and Orelia, but a friendship such +as might have subsisted between the +Mother of the Gracchi and Mrs Fry. +They are punctual in ——, but, as +Sterne says, when the idea of his +captive becomes too painful, “I cannot +sustain the picture that my fancy +has drawn.” Fane—Onslow—to the +rescue!</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span> + <h2 class='c002'>THE MARQUIS DE LAROCHEJAQUELEIN.<a id='r25'></a><a href='#f25' class='c007'><sup>[25]</sup></a></h2> +</div> +<h3 class='c015'>FRANCE IN 1853.</h3> + +<p class='c016'>The name of Larochejaquelein is +not an obscure one. It was once +familiar to the world. It was known +and venerated wherever stainless +honour, fidelity proof against all +temptations and suffering, chivalrous +valour, and patient courage amid dangers +that do not try the nerves less +that they want the excitement which +sustains the soldier on the battle-field, +were held in reverence. The two +brothers who covered that name with +glory of the purest kind were noble +specimens of the old chivalry of +France, when chivalry had well-nigh +passed away; and the chronicler of +their romantic gallantry and their +heroic death was the gentle female +who bore their name, and who bore it +high, and who shared in their sufferings, +their triumphs, and their defeats. +We know of few compositions more +interesting than the narrative of the +Marchioness de Larochejaquelein, +who, we are happy to find, still survives, +her form bowed by age, but +her heart as true as when, in early +youth and beauty, she traversed on +foot the ravines of the Bocage, or +forded the canals of the Marais, and +witnessed the sanguinary wars waged +by the insurgents of La Vendée during +the wildest period of the French +Republic. It is curious that the most +attractive records of the great revolutions +which convulsed the two kingdoms +of England and France, at +periods so distant from each other, +should respectively be the production +of a female pen. The memoirs of Mrs +Hutchinson and the narrative of Madame +de Larochejaquelein are companions +fit to be placed side by side +with each other; and though the character +of the two works is different, the +interest they excite is identical. They +both possess all the fascination of romance, +but they are valuable in a degree +which few romances can pretend +to. It has been remarked, that until +their publication the world was +strangely in error on many of the important +events to which they relate, +and that they have been singularly +useful in diminishing a great deal of +the prejudice, and in dissipating the +ignorance which had existed, particularly +with reference to some of the +principal actors in these terrible scenes. +The character of the English heroine is +shadowed forth in her history; it is +more unbending, more masculine, +more stern, perhaps, and commands +admiration which the mind cannot +refuse. But the heart is led away +by the tenderness of the Frenchwoman; +and her pathetic touches, +while they add to the interest of her +story, impart to it the impress of +truth.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The nobleman who has just published +a defence of his own political +career during the eventful changes +which France has again witnessed, is +the son of that lady by a second marriage. +His lineage is an ancient and +honourable one. Sprung from the old +house of Vergier de Larochejaquelein, +he counts among his ancestors a Crusader +whose arms form one of the +many ornaments of the rich gallery of +Versailles; two warriors who fell on +the hard-fought field of Pavia, when +“all was lost except honour;” a brother +in arms and tent-companion of +Henry IV., who was left “with his +back to the field and his feet to the +foe” on the plains of Arques; a +<i>mestre-de-camp</i>, who met his death +while in the act of boarding a pirate +off St Domingo. His uncle was the +general-in-chief in the Vendean army, +and it was this gallant gentleman, on +whose history Froissart would have +loved to linger, who spoke this last +address to his army, which is still +remembered by the peasants of the +Morbihan—“If I advance, follow +me; if I retreat, slay me; if I fall, +avenge me!” Another of this heroic +family was a dashing officer of carabineers +under the Empire; and on the +battle-field of the Moskowa he maintained +the old valour of the house of +Larochejaquelein. Count Louis, the +father of the present Marquis, refused +to serve under Napoleon. When the +flight from Elba roused Europe again +from its brief tranquillity, the peasant +soldiers of La Vendée gathered once +more round the white banner of +their chief. The insurrection was, +however, soon put down, and Larochejaquelein, +while in the act of leading +on his men against the Imperial +troops, fell with a bullet in his heart. +This is an ancestry of which any man +may be proud.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The present Marquis is the son of +the Royalist chief of the Hundred Days, +who had married the widow of his old +companion in arms, the Marquis de +Lescure. He was born in 1804, and +at the early age of eleven was created +a peer of France, under what is called +the Second Restoration. He entered +the military service in 1821, joined +the army under the Duke d’Angoulême +in 1823, and made the campaign +of Spain. He was captain in the +horse grenadiers of the Royal Guard +in 1828, and, inheriting the military +ardour which characterised his family, +petitioned the king to be allowed to +serve in the Greek war of independence, +but was refused. He was permitted, +however, to join the Russian +army as a simple volunteer in the +campaign of the Balkan against the +Turks, “having nothing better to +do,” as he himself said on one occasion +in the Chamber of Deputies. +Though a peer of France, he had not +taken his seat in the Upper House +when the revolution of 1830 broke +out; and refusing to accept place, favour, +or honours at the hands of the +revolutionary government of July, he +resigned his functions as peer of +France. Endowed with remarkable +activity of mind, he devoted himself +for some time, and with much energy, +to industrial pursuits, and gave up +politics till 1842, when he was named +a member of the Chamber of Deputies +by the electoral college of Ploermel, +in the Morbihan. During his parliamentary +career he did not remain +idle. He took a prominent part in +most of the stormy discussions of the +time: the various projects of replies +to the addresses from the throne, the +conscription reform law, prison reform, +railroad bills, electoral reform, +liberty of instruction, all found in +him a ready, fluent, and vigorous, if +not an eloquent debater. On all occasions +he spoke out his mind frankly +and boldly; and though on many +occasions in opposition to his own +party, as well as to the government, +it is said that he never had a personal +enemy in the Chamber. His conduct, +when the paltry attempt was made +by the servile adherents of the new +régime to affix infamy on the Royalists +who paid their homage to the descendant +of their former master, on +the occasion of the Count de Chambord’s +visit to London in 1842, is +beyond all praise. He rejected, with +scornful indignation, the stigma attempted +to be fixed on him by the +Orleanists, who did not feel the sentiment +of honour, and were incapable +of appreciating it in others. He at +once resigned his seat as deputy, and +appealed from the outrage offered +him by the Philippists to the judgment +of the electors. The electors answered +the appeal, and Ploermel sent +him back to the Chamber, where he +persevered in the same independent +course. When the base arts of corruption +employed by the government +of July were to be dragged to the +light of day, Larochejaquelein was +never silent. “A corrupting and +degrading selfishness pervades all +parts of society,” he said, in the discussion +of the budget in 1845. “I +have, in common with the rest of the +nation, given up all illusions about +the constitutional forms of the state, +and I have no longer any faith in +their independence. On all sides, in +all places, I behold the triumph of +the base over the generous, of evil +over good; and each day that passes +by brings us nearer to a tremendous +crisis—the future is indeed dark and +threatening!” These prophetic words +were destined to be soon realised—sooner, +perhaps, than the speaker +himself imagined.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We have said that M. de Larochejaquelein +was a frequent and a forcible +speaker on important occasions. Without +much claim to what is termed +oratory, his language is fluent and full +of energy; and he has scarcely uttered +a few sentences, when you feel that +he is a man of profound convictions—and +this we hold to be a great, as it +is a rare, merit in times like the present. +His portly presence, open brow, +and flowing hair—his quick, earnest, +and impassioned gesticulation, remind +you of the tribune of revolutionary +days. The haughty movement of his +head, and the scornful expression of +his eye, when repelling some unjust +accusation, give him an appearance +of pride, which certainly is not characteristic +of him, for in private life no +one can be gentler or more unaffected. +You see before you the gentleman of +the old <i>souche</i>, not the marquis of +the <i>salon</i>, or that trifling race which +the wit of Molière has perpetuated. +Had the Marquis de Larochejaquelein +not been born an aristocrat, he would +have been a tribune of the people. +Whatever be his merits or demerits +as a speaker or a politician, he possesses, +at all events, the courage, the +audacity of his opinions. He was +devoted to the Bourbons of the elder +branch (and they have not always +paid his devotedness with gratitude), +not for interest, but for honour, from +family traditions; and were not the +days of chivalry all but extinct in +what was once a nation of cavaliers, +and were men again to combat for +dynasties in France, we are inclined +to think that he would be among the +first to place his lance in rest, as his +ancestors did before him; and yet, if +we are to judge from recent events, +neither the hereditary devotedness of +his family to the cause which was so +often sealed with their blood, nor the +sacrifices (and we are informed they +are not few) which he himself has +made to it, have won him the favour +of the court of Frohsdorf. On +the contrary, we believe that he has +been exposed to all the persecution +that petty malignity can set at work; +and we know that attempts have, on +many occasions, been made to ruin +him among the primitive peasantry of +La Vendée and the Morbihan. His +position with reference to his own party +became so intolerable, that he has +considered it necessary to publish, in +a small volume, a review of the state +of parties in France in 1853, and +which is, at the same time, a vindication +of his own conduct.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The work is curious and instructive. +It notices the events which have recently +occurred in France; and though +the causes which led to that very decided +act of vigour known as the <i>coup-d’état</i> +of December 1851, have been +long since known to the public, and +appreciated by impartial men, a narrative +bearing the impress of truth, +and penned by one of the actors in the +drama, cannot fail to be interesting. +We do not concur in all the views of M. +de Larochejaquelein, nor do we agree +in all his deductions; but we readily +admit the truth of his sketch of political +parties in France previous to the +month of December, of the intrigues +of the Orleanist faction, their hypocrisy +and selfishness, their utter recklessness +of consequences, provided but +a chance was afforded them, no matter +at what cost to the country, of recovering +the power for which they had shown +themselves unfit, and of which they +were deprived almost without an effort. +In all this we agree; and we +confess we are not a little pleased at +finding the opinions we have already +had occasion to express on these points +fully borne out by one who has so intimate +a knowledge of affairs. We +believe that the French press has, with +one or two exceptions, passed over in +silence the work of M. de Larochejaquelein; +and we are not much surprised +at that silence. It is some time +since all political intercourse has ended +between him and the persons who +compose the court of Frohsdorf. +These persons, we fear, too truly represent +the extravagant opinions and +the intolerant conduct of the men who +contributed by their evil counsels to +the overthrow of the legitimate monarchy. +They are the same of whom +it has been said, and said truly, that +they returned from their long exile, +having learned nothing and forgotten +nothing; and were the Count de +Chambord to be restored to the throne +of his ancestors, their policy would +again lead to its overthrow. We desire +to speak with respect of the present +chief of the house of Bourbon. +We admire the dignity of his bearing; +the position he has assumed with respect +to the Orleans family; the proud +refusal to make any sacrifice of what +he considered to be a principle, even +though that sacrifice increased the +number of his partisans; the firmness +with which he maintains his superiority +over those who despoiled him—the +innocent victim of base intriguers, +and a successful insurrection—of his +rights. But we fear that he allows +himself to be too much influenced in +certain matters by a coterie composed +of persons of antiquated notions, +and who do not appear to have +any conception of the progress made +in the social and political world during +the last half-century. The errors +of that coterie are exposed by M. de +Larochejaquelein; and that exposure +will not narrow the distance which +separates him from his party, or rather +from the court of Frohsdorf. The +unpalatable truth he tells will not +easily be forgiven; and the Legitimist +organs of the press have considered it +more prudent to pass them over without +notice or contradiction. The +organs of what is called the <i>Fusion</i> +have been equally discreet, and with +one or two exceptions the other journals +have imitated their discretion, +either because they considered his +sketch not sufficiently Buonapartist to +merit unqualified praise, or too much +so for censure. The object of the +Marquis de Larochejaquelein, who still +professes to be a Legitimist in principle, +is to show that he has been guilty +of no inconsistency in giving in his +adhesion to the imperial government, +and that he has not discarded the +opinions he always professed; that he +has not denied the name he bears, nor +renounced the political faith in which +he was brought up, by accepting that +régime, and taking, as a member of +the Senate, the oaths of allegiance to +the Emperor and the constitution. +It is principally in this respect that +the interest of the book consists, and +we have noticed briefly and impartially +the conduct of the writer, and +that of a certain number of his fellow-Legitimists +who have, equally with +himself, comprehended the imminent +danger their common country was exposed +to, and availed themselves of +the only means of safety left at their +disposal.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The offence committed by M. de Larochejaquelein, +and which the more intolerant +of the Royalist party do not +pardon, is not of recent date. He was a +Legitimist, it is true, but he was also +attached to constitutional government. +He preferred a sovereign who inherited +a crown from his ancestors, but +he was likewise the supporter of representative +institutions. But so +many catastrophes—so many revolutions +had passed over France—so +many governments had been overthrown +and institutions subverted, +that all notions of right and justice, +as of government, were completely +lost. The actors in the first Republic +denounced all monarchical forms, as +not only incompatible with human +rights, but actually opposed to common +sense itself—in fact, something +monstrous and unnatural. After convulsing +all Europe, and utterly changing +the country where it first broke +into mad violence, that Revolution +became exhausted from its very excesses; +the Republic fell into contempt; +but the terror inspired by it was such, +that then, as in more recent days, +people were glad to take shelter in +any government that promised security +to life and property. The great +object of the Consulate, as of the Empire, +was to obliterate the last traces +of a system which had cost France so +dear. That régime was so great and +so dazzling that the loss of liberty was +soon forgotten; and the yoke that +pressed on the nation was the less galling +because it was concealed in glory; +and Frenchmen consoled themselves +for not being free, because their master +was a hero.</p> + +<p class='c009'>That brilliant meteor, after blinding +the world with its splendour, and +awing it by its power, fell into darkness. +The ancient line was restored; +and the Restoration in turn began by +proclaiming the imperial rule as a +usurpation; and Louis XVIII., in the +charter of 1814, dated his reign, not +from his return to France and the fall +of Napoleon, but from the death of +his nephew, the son of Louis XVI.;—as +if the imperial epoch, with all its +marvellous events, had never existed, +and as if the account popularly, but +erroneously, attributed to the famous +Father Loriquet, was exact, that +there had been no such government +as the Republic, and that the man +who was generally believed to have +ruled the French nation despotically, +but not ingloriously, for fourteen +years, was in reality only Monsieur +le Marquis de Buonaparte, lieutenant-general +in the service of his most +Christian Majesty.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Next came the Revolution of July, +which proclaimed that Charles X. +had forfeited his right to the crown, +for himself and his heirs—who, however, +were admitted to have done nothing +to merit that forfeiture—by the +manner in which he interpreted the +14th article of the charter, which, +nevertheless, authorised him “to +make regulations and ordinances necessary +for the execution of the laws +and the safety of the state.”—(<cite><span lang="fr">Charte +Constitutionnelle de 1814.</span></cite>) Republican +writers (<cite><span lang="fr">Dictionnaire Politique</span></cite>, +p. 216) admit that the aforesaid article +left to the king “the dangerous privilege +of being the sole judge of the +necessity of the case;” though they +refused to recognise that or any other +article of a charter which had been +<i>octroyée</i>, or issued by royal authority +alone. The responsible advisers whom +Charles X. consulted, were of opinion +that his conduct in issuing the famous +ordinances was legal. The Orleanist +revolution denounced that act as a +violation of the charter, and declared +that Charles X. had broken some +imaginary compact between him and +his people, and had forfeited the +crown. This was admitting, to all +intents and purposes, the right of +armed insurrection. The principle +thus admitted by the new régime was +often turned against itself; and the +right of overthrowing the government +was many times tried during the +reign of Louis Philippe. Various insurrections +broke forth, which were +successively put down; but had any +of them succeeded, Louis Philippe +would long before 1848 have been +accused, on equally just grounds, of a +violation of the new charter, and consequent +forfeiture of the crown, as +his predecessor. At length <i>his</i> turn +came; and at the very moment that +most people believed the throne of +July to be fixed on the surest basis, +the insurrection of February in a few +hours overthrew that which had already +triumphed over so many previous +dangers. Louis Philippe rose +to power on the barricades of July;—that +power was laid prostrate by the +same means. He, in turn, was proclaimed +a usurper of the people’s +rights, a violater of public liberty, +and condemned to execration. It is +not strange, therefore, if the minds +of men became bewildered amid so +many conflicting doctrines. There no +longer appeared any fixed standard +by which to judge of authority. Monarchy +in its absolute form was decried +by some; constitutional monarchy by +others. Monarchy under any denomination, +or under any form whatever, +was denounced by many as an +outrage on human reason. Some +maintained that a republican rule was +hateful to the immense majority of +the nation, and that France only desired +a fair opportunity to declare its +will. Under such circumstances what +was to be done? The Royalists did +not conceal that they only <i>endured</i> +the Republic until an occasion offered +for re-establishing their own form of +government. Each party maintained +that it, <i>and it alone</i>, represented the +wants and wishes of the people; +while the unhappy people, in whose +name, and on whose behalf, all this +had been done, stood by in silent dismay, +and bent to the yoke which +each faction that got uppermost imposed +upon it. All was confusion, +anarchy, chaos;—and the country, +whose wellbeing was the pretext, +rapidly approached the brink of ruin.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Under such circumstances, we again +ask, what was to be done? The Marquis +de Larochejaquelein thought that +the only way of solving the problem +was by an appeal to the very people +in whose name every outrage was +successively perpetrated; and calling +upon it to declare, once for all, frankly +and freely, what form of government +it preferred—whether monarchy legitimate +or constitutional, or a republic. +From the day he took his seat in the +Chamber of Deputies until the 2d +December, when the National Assembly +was dissolved by the <i>coup-d’état</i>, +such was his constant theme. He +denied the legitimacy of the Orleans +monarchy of July, and refused to recognise +the right of two hundred deputies, +a portion of only one branch +of the legislature, to exceed the terms +of their mission, and to bestow sovereign +power on any one. He expressed +his belief that France would, if an +occasion offered, return to the government +of her legitimate sovereign, and +he did not conceal that such was the +motive for his appeal; but at all +events he demanded that France +should be consulted, and he pledged +himself to abide by the issue. By +such conduct he incurred the hatred +of Legitimists and Orleanists;—of the +former, because his doctrine was inconsistent +with the principle of divine +right; and of the latter, because the +admission of such an appeal vitiated, +<i>ab initio</i>, the right of the sovereign +whom the two hundred deputies +had, of their own sole act, given to +the nation. We offer no opinion as +to whether M. de Larochejaquelein +would have attained his object had his +plan been carried into effect, nor on the +abstract fitness of such an appeal; +but in so complete a dissolution of +authority of every kind, and amid +such a confusion of all ideas of government, +it would be difficult to suggest +any other experiment whereby the +right of those who founded their claim +on the will of the nation could be +tested.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The first great offence committed +by M. de Larochejaquelein consisted, +as we have just seen, in his having so +far deviated from the principle of +divine right, as to recommend an +“appeal to the nation;”—but the +crime for which he can hope for no +forgiveness from the court of Frohsdorf, +is his having recognised the imperial +government, and accepted the +office of senator under it. M. de Larochejaquelein +is of opinion, that after +so many revolutions there was no +chance for monarchy in France otherwise +than by means of universal suffrage, +by which the present government +has been elected. He thought +that the Legitimists, who had always +maintained that they, and they alone, +were acceptable to the nation, would +run no risk in abating something of +their <i>amour propre</i>, and in meeting +the reaction half-way. If they were +right, there was no fear of the result +of such an appeal. The Orleanists, +who were few in number and factious +in conduct, would indeed be justified +in shrinking from such an ordeal as +the ratification of the act of two hundred +deputies of the opposition; but +in any case he despaired of a monarchical +government in any form that +attempted to establish itself on a narrower +basis. “Let us now suppose,” +he says (p. 190), “that monarchy +were proclaimed in France otherwise +than by universal suffrage, which no +accredited leader of the old Royalist +parties admitted. Of the three monarchical +parties, two would have been +in open hostility with the government, +and would, as now, rely for aid +on the Republicans—this time in open +hostility, and with much more reason. +It is, perhaps, from a feeling akin to +paternal weakness that I invariably +recur to this article of my political +faith—If the question of <i>Monarchy</i> +or <i>Republic</i> had been frankly put to +the country under the Republican +government, under the Republican +constitution, all dynastic pretensions +would vanish before traditional right, +and the majority of the Republicans +themselves would have submitted to +the declared will of the nation. But +no!—it was thought better to carry +on intrigues up to the very day when +the <i>coup-d’état</i> of the 2d December +became a social and political necessity; +instead of cherishing carefully +that liberty which we claimed for the +national will, the parties I refer to +preferred reserving themselves for +chances which had only the effect of +prolonging our intestine divisions.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>M. de Larochejaquelein explains +why he has given his adhesion to the +present government, elected, as it has +been, by means of that very appeal +to the nation which he had, with certainly +the hope of a different result, +always advocated. “If I am asked,” +he says (p. 214), “the reason of the +humble support I give to the present +government, my answer is very simple: +I see before me a strong government, +which has rendered real +service to my country, and at this +moment I do not see any other that +can possibly succeed to it. The faults +that have been committed are so +numerous—revolutions have so exhausted +our strength—events have +such complete power over us—that, I +confess, my reason forces me to accept +the vote of eight millions of my +fellow-citizens. Nevertheless, I have +never been more convinced than I +now am, of the excellence of the hereditary +principle. Let us suppose +the Emperor to have issue—he has +also relations. Let us suppose the +Count de Chambord to have issue—but +the princes of the house of Orleans +are numerous. Under such +circumstances, France would be exposed +for centuries to the danger +resulting from the dissensions of the +monarchical parties disputing among +each other the possession of the +crown. Hereditary right, respected +by France for her own sake, saved +her from the evils which perhaps +were the fate of future generations, +and spared us the repetition of those +trials which we have already so severely +felt. I will be frank. The +reason that many Legitimists support +the government is, that they do not +wish on any account, or any terms, +either Orleanism or anarchy—the one +being, in their opinion, the consequence +of the other. Were there no +other motive than to destroy the +chance of either, the persons I speak +of are of opinion that they ought not +to refuse taking part in the affairs of +their country. Europe is equally interested +with us that the principle of +the Revolution should not be represented +on the throne of France by a +new family usurpation, for there is +no sovereign that such usurpation +should not alarm.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The reign of Louis Philippe was +the reign of the <i>bourgeoisie</i>—of the +revolutionary shopkeepers of Paris. +The scepticism of the eighteenth century +had extended to morals—the +mockery that assailed religion gradually +undermined society—and all +notions about virtue, honour, independence, +were destroyed by a blighting +incredulity. We are no believers +in what is termed the perfectibility of +human nature, but we do not think +that, even with the most mercantile +people of the world, a love of gain +is incompatible with ideas of personal +and national honour. The all-powerful +<i>bourgeoisie</i> of the Orleanist régime +was not a good specimen of that class; +it carried into political life the characteristics +of its social life. Insolent +and overbearing in prosperity, it was +fawning and mean in adversity. A +difference is always observable between +the bearing of a gentleman—and +by the term we refer as much to +moral as to social superiority, as the +gentleman of nature may be found in +all classes—and the mere upstart, and +in France it was perhaps more striking +than elsewhere. Dignified humility, +lofty submission, obedience that +implies no forgetfulness, no sacrifice +of self-respect, loyalty which cannot +be degraded even in political servitude, +a sense of personal honour which +despotism cannot wound, are far different +from the pertness of the <i>parvenu</i>, +the nervous pedantry of the +<i>doctrinaire</i>, or the fawning of the sycophant. +The one inclines low, with a +consciousness of just subordination to +high station; but after so inclining he +stands up with erect face: the other +falls to the dust prostrate. The aristocratic +courtier will offer the incense +of his adulation, but his censer is not +rudely flung in the eyes of his royal +master, and his homage is not without +grace and dignity. His words may +be soft and insinuating, but he will +not change his nature. To use the +language of one who knew both classes +well, he may stoop to pick up his +master’s hat or handkerchief, but it +is the act of polite attention to superior +rank, and not the mercenary subserviency +of a valet; and there is an +air of equality about it which shocks +no one, and does not offend the personage +to whom it is paid. We rather +think that, generally speaking, a +prince prefers selecting his ministers +from the class of plebeians, because he +believes he shall be served by them +as mere mercenaries; while the others +he must treat as servants of his +crown, and no otherwise. It is mentioned +as one of the anecdotes of the +Court of Louis Philippe, whose fault +was want of dignity, that, one day, +wishing to gain over to some project +of family interest, on which he had set +his heart, one of his ministers, he +offered him, in a familiar, off-hand, and +half-contemptuous manner, a portion +of the fruit he was at the moment eating. +The minister appeared much +flattered, bowed low, and accepted +the royal gift. We are not aware +whether the bribe produced the effect +intended, but we much doubt if the +citizen-king would have treated with +such disdainful familiarity a Montmorency, +a Noailles, or a Molé.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The effect produced by the exclusiveness +of the July régime was such +as might have been expected. It was +inculcated that the primary object of +man’s existence was the gratification +of his meaner passion;—success in +the pursuit of wealth without any +close examination as to the means by +which it was acquired, was regarded +as the <i>summum bonum</i>; the <i>enrichissez-vous</i> +so often repeated in the banquet +and electioneering speeches of even +the most eminent of Louis Philippe’s +ministers (though we readily admit +that no such incentive influenced the +person who so spoke) were the leading +maxims of that system. Fidelity +to principles, faith in high and noble +aspirations, were rather sneered at as +the ravings of the imagination, suited +perhaps to the age of romance; and +strong attachment to traditions was referred +to as a folly unworthy of men of +sense. The <i>bourgeois</i> were often assured +that they alone were the sovereign; +that they alone were eminent in +eloquence and in thought; that to them +alone belonged the gifts of the earth; +that they alone, provided they were +men of substance, were superior in the +social as in the moral scale; that to +them belonged all distinctions as a +matter of right; that they only were +fit to occupy eminent posts in every +branch of the administration, and in +fact that in their hands were exclusively +placed the destinies of the state. +They who thus extravagantly exalted +the pursuit of mere material interests, +were destined to pay dearly for the +lessons they had taught. Faith and +reverence for the past had been held +up to contempt by the new school of +statesmen; but the doctrines that had +been inculcated for the overthrow of +the former dynasty, were equally applicable +to the modern one, and the +Revolution of February was the consequence. +Empty and dogmatic, the +real <i>bourgeois</i>—the <i>bourgeois</i> whose +stupidity or conceit makes him sure +good material in the hands of the revolutionists—has +nevertheless pretensions +to nothing less than universal +knowledge. Jealous of all superior to +him in social position, and insolent to +those below him, he would drag down +the former to his own level, but would +not permit the latter to rise to it. +With the examples yet before him, +and the preceptors he had to guide +him, he could not be a <i>bourgeois</i> such +as July encouraged, without being +somewhat of an infidel. The reverence +for religious forms that characterised +his fathers, was in his opinion +fit for times of ignorance, but not +for the enlightened nineteenth century. +He had dipped here and there +into the <cite>Philosophical Dictionary</cite> of +Voltaire; he could sneer at the Mosaic +chronology; be witty on the description +of Noah’s Ark; was incredulous +about the Deluge; and laughed outright +at the Passage of the Red Sea. +He had read the <cite>Origine de tous les +Cultes</cite> of Dupuis, and could quote +whole pages from Volney. He was +therefore a philosopher. With those +severer studies he mingled the lighter +graces of wit and poetry, and for +these accomplishments he was indebted +to the doggrel of the “philosopher +of Ferney” in <cite>Joan of Arc</cite>; the +<cite>Guerre des Dieux</cite> of Parny, and the +looser songs of Beranger. To show +that he thoroughly appreciated these +great masters, and that he was superior +to popular prejudice, he would +not enter the doors of a church, as +the observances of religion were only +fit for women and children. To prove +his independence, and to give “a lesson +to the government,” he would not +pay the just respect, which degrades no +man, to the accredited representative +of authority; but he would fall on his +knees to worship the merest political +mountebank. He incessantly clamoured +about <i>equality</i>, and decried the +aristocracy if he happened to see a +carriage, with a coronet or armorial +bearings, roll by him; but his pride +was up if a struggling artist or poor +man of letters addressed him otherwise +than with cap in hand. The +noisy advocate of social and political +liberty, there was no greater despot +in his domestic circle. His house-porter +crouched before him, and his +servants grew dumb when they heard +the creak of his shoe. Railing against +the “upper classes,” his ambition +was to scrape acquaintance with some +decayed viscount, some equivocal +marquis; and if he had a visit from +some one who bore a title, the coroneted +card lay for whole months in +full view on the central table of his +drawing-room, or was stuck in the +most conspicuous part of the looking-glass +frame. His personal pomposity +was increased the more he was disposed +to corpulence, and his boldness +was decisive proof of the superiority +of his intellect. Our worthy <i>bourgeois</i> +was rather hard to be pleased. When +the political world was tranquil, he +passed his leisure hours in running +down the government; and though no +one had more experienced the mischief +of agitation, he generally voted +for its most dangerous adversaries: +not because he approved of their principles, +or that the ministerial candidates +were not honourable men, but +because he was determined to let no +opportunity pass of making the king +and his government feel that he, M. +St Godibert, was not pleased with +them, and would “give them a lesson.” +These lessons occasionally cost +the teacher very dear; and when agitation, +warmed by himself into incipient +insurrection, grew dangerous, +he was sure to be the first to accuse +the government of having excited it +for its own special purposes. When +insurrection was defeated, he again +blamed the government for excessive +lenity in the punishment of those who +disturbed the public peace; and when +all peril was over, and a complete lull +ensued, then he accused the same government +of excessive cruelty to +those who a day or two before were +the <i>infame canaille</i>, but who now were +his <i>frères egarés</i>—his deluded brethren +and fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p class='c009'>These were the men who served as +the instruments to bring about the +Revolution of July, and these were +they who were feasted and flattered +until they were led to believe themselves +the only beings on earth worthy +of consideration. Such specimens +were of course to be met with as <i>employés</i> +in the various ministerial departments. +Nothing could be more +insolent, or more griping, than the +general run of those underlings. The +recommendation “<i>enrichissez-vous</i>,” +coming, as it did, from the first minister +of the crown, was not forgotten;—he +was one of the few who did not carry +out for himself his own theory; but +we fear that the love of power, which +was in him a passion, induced him to +tolerate, or at least not to prevent, +the scandalous jobbing which it was +known was going on—for it is not +credible that such things could be done +in secret. A government where such +men enjoy, in consequence of their +position, a great though underhand +influence, is humiliating for an honourable +man to live under. There is +something more respectable in the +audacity with which the insurgent +flings out his crimson flag, and eyes, +as he passes through the richest quarters +of Paris, the trembling <i>bourgeois</i>, +whose fine mansion he has already +marked out, than in the system which +admits as its principal instruments +the rapacious and insolent underlings, +who too often had the ministerial +ear under the Orleans régime.</p> + +<p class='c009'>As for the representative system in +France during the period of which we +speak, it was a farce. Two hundred +thousand electors, for a population of +thirty-three or thirty-four millions, +was not much better than an oligarchy, +and the worst of all oligarchies, for its +corruption was its bond of union, as was +proved by the disclosures made to the +world towards the conclusion of Louis +Philippe’s reign, when some of the +highest functionaries were dragged +before the tribunals for mal-practices; +and we believe that there were other +persons who did not regret that the +Revolution of February came to save +them from public disgrace. A minister +who wishes to be regarded as a +philosopher and a statesman, should +try to purify his age rather than corrupt +it; and it is as immoral as impolitic +to encourage the baser passions +of men in order to keep yourself +in power, however clean your own +conscience, and virtuous your purposes. +Such things might be palliated +in so loose a politician as Walpole; +but they would shock and +disgust were they, by the remotest +chance, to be found in so austere a +moralist as Guizot.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Some time previous to the <i>coup-d’état</i> +of 1851, a new scheme was +formed by the Orleanists, who were +tired of the forced leisure to which +the successful imitation, in February +1848, of the example set by themselves +in 1830, condemned them. The +object of this new project was the +complete reconciliation of the elder +and younger branches of the Bourbon +family, and of the two important sections +of the Royalist party, with a +view to a restoration, on the expiry +of the presidential power in May +1852, by a <i>coup-d’état</i> on the part +of the majority of the National +Assembly, a successful rising of the +people or the army, or, in fact, any +other means that offered. None of +those eventualities were, it is true, +expressed in the journals that acted +as organs of the party, but they were +so understood by all the initiated. +Each party looked forward to the +term fixed by the constitution for +Louis Napoleon to lay down his +power, for the triumph of its cause. +The Mountain took no pains to conceal +its designs; and not unfrequently, +amid the stormy debates which raged +in the Assembly, the “second Sunday +in May” 1852 was declared to be the +date when full vengeance was to be +exacted from Legitimists, Orleanists, +Buonapartists, and “reactionists” of +every kind and colour. As that fatal +term approached, the Orleanists, who +surpass all others in intrigue, and +such of the Legitimists as were +credulous enough to trust them, and +simple enough to be led by them, did +their utmost to rouse the revolutionary +demon in the Chamber, and on several +occasions openly coalesced with +the Terrorists. The Republicans suspected, +as every one who knew him +must have suspected, the sincerity of +M. Thiers; and though they were +fully aware of his real motive for +seeking admittance into their ranks, +their passions would not allow them +to refuse the co-operation of any ally, +and they relied, besides, on their own +courage and energy against treachery +when the important moment arrived. +On the other hand, the Royalists were +full of confidence in their success, if +the preliminary and indispensable condition +of reconciliation were adopted, +and they agreed that France would +not again submit to the brutal tyranny +of some three hundred Socialists. +Their ordinary language was, that, +even at the worst, the “promised +land” would at length be reached +through the Red Sea—the “promised +land” being, of course, the Royalist +restoration; and the “Red Sea” the +massacre and pillage it would be necessary +for France to traverse before +it was attained. The leaders of the +Royalists, superior in all the arts of +intrigue to their more brutal rivals, +were vastly inferior to them in energy +of action. During a brief régime of +terror they would disappear, if necessary, +and remain in some place of +safety until France, exhausted and +panic-stricken, threw herself into their +arms, when they would at once establish +a dictatorship. Louis Napoleon +was, in their opinion, the obstacle +easiest to be got rid of; they would +leave his account to be settled by the +Republicans, in case they themselves +had not previously got him out of the +way. As for any difficulties on this +latter point, they considered that it +was absurd to think of them. Louis +Napoleon had, according to them, +fallen into such contempt with the +army and the nation, that not a finger +would be raised to save him. M. +Thiers, and other great statesmen like +him, had, not merely in the saloons +of Paris, and in his own particular +circle, but openly in the <cite>Salle des pas +Perdus</cite>, and the corridors of the National +Assembly, sneered at him as +“a poor creature;” and the redoubted +General Changarnier himself—on +whom, by the way, the eyes of the +whole world were fixed—had more +than once insulted him in the Chamber, +and in his official quarters in the +Tuileries. Louis Napoleon, therefore, +was so utterly scorned as to be +made the butt for continual sarcasm +in the saloons of an old foreign <i>intriguante</i>, +long resident in Paris; and +this was his last degradation. The +only doubt was, whether imprisonment +at Vincennes would not be investing +such a miserable being with +too much importance. The ditch of +Vincennes would be much better, and +if a few ignorant persons thought him +of consequence, why, an ounce of lead +would quiet their fears. Some of the +more judicious and far-seeing of the +political leaders of the day, very properly +considered that the main object +they had in view would be materially +advanced, if, as we have said, a reconciliation +could be effected between the +partisans of the Count de Chambord +and the Orleanists. The idea originated +with the latter. A meeting was +held of about a dozen persons at first, +in order to explain the plan which +had been formed, and to organise +what was termed a “fusionist agitation.” +Other meetings, more numerously +attended, were held at brief intervals; +and it was resolved to send +out agents to influential persons in +the departments to win them over to +the cause of the <i>fusion</i>—the <i>fusion</i> +having for object the restoration of the +Bourbons; and the parties who were +engaged in it were precisely the same +men who, in the press and in the Assembly, +expressed their preference for +the government as established in February, +and who denounced the man +who was <i>suspected</i> of an intention to +attack the immaculate purity of the +young and as yet innocent Republic. +The first step of the <i>fusionists</i> was +directed to the chief of the house of +Bourbon and the princes of Orleans. +But the Count de Chambord refused +to sacrifice a particle of what he considered +to be his just rights. He was +King of France, and the only representative +of legitimate royalty of his +family, and he would consent to no +divided allegiance. The princes of +Orleans had been princes of the blood +before their father had usurped the +crown, and they must remain so. Past +wrongs and injuries he was not unwilling +to forgive; he would not be +very exacting in matters of secondary +importance, but on the great principle +that the sovereignty resided in him +since the abdication of the Duke +d’Angoulême, which followed that of +Charles X., he would hear of no compromise. +On the other hand, the +princes of Orleans would not admit of +any act which had the effect of making +their father a usurper; they were +the more induced to do so that they +were receiving from their agents in +France, and particularly in Paris, assurances +that great popular sympathy +existed for them; and in fact, that to +the house of Orleans alone the nation +was looking for salvation! At the +same time it was known that the Prince +de Joinville was doing something on +his own account with reference to the +presidency of the Republic. Relying +on the popularity he enjoyed to a +greater degree than any of his family, +he seems to have entertained some +hopes of success. With the prudence +which characterised his father, he +would not, however, commit himself +to any declaration; would neither deny +nor admit that he was a candidate for +the presidency; would neither avow +nor disavow the acts of his friends; +he might profit by their exertions, but +if they failed, he would leave them to +all the consequences of their defeat, +and, in the latter case, would very +probably disavow them. This, it will +be admitted, was not very frank, or +straightforward, or princely. It can +scarcely be believed that the Prince +de Joinville had all at once become a +Republican; and it is not unfair to +conclude, that, if successful, he would +have employed his position as President +to the restoration of his family. +The mistrust of the house of Orleans +that had characterised the elder Bourbons—and +its history proves how their +mistrust was justified—was increased +by that conduct; and the Count de +Chambord was disgusted with the policy +which permitted, without disavowal, +the name of his cousin to be +spoken of by his partisans in Paris as +the candidate for the future presidency +of the Republic. M. Thiers did not, +after all, approve of the fusion. It was +sufficient that the suggestion of a reconciliation +had proceeded from a rival +of whom he had been always jealous, +for that clever and restless intriguer +to set his face against it. His utmost +energies were devoted to secure the +establishment of a <i>regency</i> in the person +of the Duchess of Orleans, mother +of the Count de Paris, whose confidential +adviser he was, and whose +minister he hoped to be. A restoration +by means of the fusion would +seriously interfere with his private +plans, and he gave it therefore his +most decided opposition. To secure +at any cost the services of the man +who at that time commanded the +army of Paris, and whose influence +over the vast military force of the Republic +was long believed to be unbounded, +was a great object. That +man had unquestionably rendered services +to order. But his head had been +turned by adulation arising from gratitude +for past and hopes of future +services; and he at length came to +believe that on him alone depended +the fate of France. He was flattered +with the idea that the part of Monk +was reserved for him; and to enhance +the value of his co-operation, he coquetted +with both parties, and affected +an air of mysterious reserve, which rendered +him equally impenetrable to all. +That reserve was carried on so long +that it began to be whispered that +General Changarnier would, when +matters came to the point, declare +neither for the one party nor the other, +but would offer himself as candidate +for the Presidency. This rumour was +absurd; and the silence of the general, +who was Legitimist by tradition +rather than from principle, and an +Orleanist from interest and habit, was +nothing more than the usual coquetry +in which he apparently took much +delight. In fact, he remained dreaming +away till the <i>coup-d’état</i> rudely +woke him and others from their slumber. +Of the possibility of a fusion of +interests between these parties, or of +a sincere reconciliation between the +elder and younger branches of the +royal family, we entertain very serious +doubts.</p> + +<p class='c009'>The house of Orleans had been, from +the time of the Regent, of infamous +memory, fatal to the elder Bourbons. +It was the evil genius that haunted +them from the cradle to the grave. +The government of Louis Philippe repaid +the benefits conferred on the +house of Orleans with ingratitude. +One of its earliest acts was the introduction +of a measure for the perpetual +banishment of the elder Bourbons, +and for the compulsory sale of the +property they held in France. They +who have been shocked, and, we +readily admit, <i>justly</i> shocked, at the +decree of the 22d January 1852, confiscating +to the state the appanages +which, according to the usages of the +French monarchy, should have reverted +to the state at the accession of +a prince of the royal family, and at +the compulsory sale of the Orleans +property, may have forgotten that +that decree was but an imitation of +the legislative enactment of the 10th +April 1832. We condemn, on principle, +such acts of confiscation; they are replete +with injustice; but we cannot help +feeling that the decree of the 22d January +1852, all bad as it was, was an act +of retribution. Signal ingratitude is +seldom left unpunished; and while +we reprobate the conduct of Louis +Napoleon, we cannot say that the +house of Orleans was wholly undeserving +of the treatment it met with. +The sentence of perpetual exile, +and confiscation of property, was +passed by the Restoration on the +Buonaparte family. That family +owed no gratitude to the Bourbons; +but the princes of Orleans were +bound by the strongest ties of gratitude +to them. On the 10th April +1832, the law was promulgated relative +to the elder branch of the Bourbons +and the family of Napoleon. +The law bore, of course, the signature +Louis Philippe, and the counter-signature +of M. Barthe, Louis Philippe’s +Minister of Justice. The 1st, 2d, +3d, and 6th articles were as follows: +“1st, The territory of France +and of its colonies is interdicted <i>for +ever</i> to Charles X., deposed as he is +from the royal dignity in virtue of +the declaration of the 7th August +1830; it is also interdicted to his +descendants, and to the husbands +and wives of his descendants. 2d, +The persons mentioned in the preceding +article shall not enjoy in +France any civil rights; they shall +not possess any property real or personal; +they shall not acquire any, +gratuitous or otherwise. 3d, The +aforesaid persons are bound to sell, +in a definitive manner, the whole +of the property, without exception, +which they possess in France. That +sale shall be effected, for the unencumbered +property, within the year dating +from the promulgation of the present +law; and for the property susceptible +of liquidation, within the year dating +from the period at which the right of +possession shall have been irrevocably +fixed. 6th, The provisions of +the first and second articles of the +present law are applicable to the +ascendants and descendants of Napoleon, +to his uncles and aunts, his +nephews and nieces; to his brothers, +their wives and their descendants; +to his sisters and their husbands.” +This law against the benefactors +and the kinsmen of Louis Philippe +was not enacted in the first heat of +animosity, and the first impulse of +revenge for real or fancied wrongs, +which, immediately following a great +revolution, might have been alleged as +a palliation. It was enacted one year +and nine months after the Revolution +of July, when the passions of political +parties, so far as they affected the +unfortunate Charles X. and his family, +had time to cool down. A high-minded +man would have preferred +forfeiting even the crown of France, +glorious though it be, to putting his +signature to such a document. The +public and private virtues of the +Orleans family have been enlarged +upon even to satiety. State reasons +may be alleged as an excuse for +things which morality condemns; but +the vaunted qualities of that family +should have placed them above any +such justification. State reasons may +be alleged for the perpetration of any +enormity. We have no doubt that +Catherine II. could allege them for +the partition of Poland; and the +Emperor Nicholas justifies his present +conduct towards the Ottoman Empire +quite as satisfactorily. Pretensions +to virtues far superior to those of +ordinary men should, however, place +those who are so gifted out of ordinary +rules. We have said that we +reprobate the decree of the 22d +January 1852, but we have no doubt +that Louis Napoleon justified that +arbitrary act by the law of 1832. +The house of Orleans renewed the +sentence of perpetual banishment +against the family of Napoleon, and +of incapability to possess property +in the French territory. Louis +Philippe owed a heavy debt of gratitude +to Charles X. and his family; +we have seen how that debt was paid +off; no such obligation bound the +Buonapartes to the house of Orleans.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But there existed another obstacle +in the way of reconciliation between +the elder and younger branches of +the Bourbons—another outrage which +it is scarcely in human nature to +forget. The Orleanist party had protested +in 1820 against the legitimacy +of the present Count de Chambord. +In that year a document appeared in +London, entitled “Protest of the +Duke of Orleans.” It was headed +as follows: “His Royal Highness +declares that he protests formally +against the minutes of the 29th September +last, which pretend to establish +that the child named Charles +Ferdinand Dieu-Donné is the legitimate +son of the Duchess of Berri. +The Duke of Orleans will produce, +in fitting time and place, witnesses +who can prove the origin of that +child and its mother. He will produce +all the papers necessary to show +that the Duchess of Berri has never +been <i>enceinte</i> since the unfortunate +death of her husband, and he will +point out the authors of the machination +of which that very weak-minded +princess has been the instrument. +Until such time as the favourable +moment arrives for disclosing the +whole of that intrigue, the Duke of +Orleans cannot do otherwise than +call attention to the fantastical scene +which, according to the above-mentioned +minutes, has been played at +the Pavilion Marsan (the apartment +of the Duchess of Berri at the +Tuileries.)” The paper then repeats +the whole of the account of the +<i>accouchement</i> as it appeared in the +<cite>Journal de Paris</cite>, the confidential +journal of the government, and shows +the alleged contradictions in it, with +the view of proving that the whole +was an imposture. The Protest and +the accompanying details to which we +have alluded, were republished in the +<cite><span lang="fr">Courrier Français</span></cite> of the 2d August +1830; and the <cite><span lang="fr">Courrier Français</span></cite> was +devoted to the Orleanist dynasty.</p> + +<p class='c009'>But those are not the only humiliations +which the elder Bourbons have +suffered from the family of Orleans; +and when we are told that the son of +the Duchess of Berri is about to take +to his bosom the sons of the man who +laid bare to the world’s mockery the +weakness of his mother, we are called +upon to believe that that son has +become lost to every manly sentiment. +We doubt much if this be the +case. There can be no sincerity on +the part of the Orleanists who first +suggested the <i>fusion</i>. They well +know that, in the event of a Legitimist +restoration, the men who overthrew +the throne of his grandfather +and drove him into exile, who resisted +all attempts to restore them +to their country, can never be his advisers—if +he be what we hope he is. +Could the Duchess of Berri receive +at her levee the purchasers of the Jew +Deutz, or those who signed and gave +to publication the medical report of +Blaye? It is a vile intrigue, got up +for the sole benefit of the Orleanists. +It was not out of love for the house +of Bourbon, but from hatred to Louis +Napoleon, that the fusion originated; +and we agree with M. de Larochejaquelein +when he says that “the Orleanists +and Legitimists, not being able +to effect a fusion of love, try to effect +one of hatred, with the predetermined +resolution to tear each other to pieces +hereafter, and with a violence all the +greater from the consciousness that +one party was tricked by the other, +if indeed both were not tricked.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>The Legitimists are no match for their +rivals in cunning—in the lower arts of +Machiavellism—in what is vulgarly +but expressively termed <i>la politique de +cuisine</i>. In 1848 the former occupied +a much better position than the latter. +The régime they had combated for +eighteen long years was at length +overthrown, and the comparison between +the fall of <i>their</i> sovereign and +that of the “citizen” king was infinitely +in favour of the former.</p> + +<p class='c009'>Charles X. retired slowly before +his enemies, and with all the dignity +of a defeat which is not dishonourable, +nor dishonouring. In the most critical +moments, and when menaced with +great danger, he never forgot who +and what he was. He assumed no +disguise; he put on no menial livery; +and to the last moment of his embarkation +for the land of his exile, his +friends had no cause to blush for him. +He was throughout a king—“Ay, +every inch a king!” Whatever the +faults he may have committed when +on the throne—and we are free to +admit that his rule was far from +faultless—there was no loss of personal +dignity in his descent from it. If the +revolution of February succeeded without +the co-operation of the Legitimists, +it was not against them that it +was directed, nor was it the Legitimists +who were to be conquered. And +yet, in the course of a very few +months, the party became completely +subordinate to their more clever and +more unscrupulous rivals. It is true +that in the first movement, when +anarchy was wildest, the instinct of +self-preservation from the evils which +menaced society itself, bound all men +of order, without reference to party, +against the common enemy, Socialism. +But it is difficult to understand, when +the impossibility of a Republican system +was recognised, when the necessity +of substituting another form of +government was evident to all, how +the Legitimists allowed themselves +to be seduced by their enemies. A +snare in the form of the “fusion” was +laid for them, and they easily fell +into it. It would be a waste of time +to detail all the manœuvres, the negotiations, +the conferences, the +schemes for the realisation of that +idea. There was nothing positive +or real at bottom. Everything was +left to chance. It was soon evident +that neither of the parties was sincere; +each tried to deceive the other. +Some of the more confident, or the more +audacious, suggested that propositions +should be made to Louis Napoleon +himself; and among the Legitimists +there were found persons silly enough +to believe that he would, notwithstanding +all the chances in his favour, +derived from the spontaneous election +of the 10th December 1848, gladly +co-operate in the restoration of a +prince of the house of Bourbon. The +name of General Changarnier was +proposed as the person to whom the +dictatorship was to be intrusted until +such time as the Royalist restoration +was accomplished. A dictatorship +was the great object with all +parties: the Socialists, in order that +France should be regenerated according +to their peculiar ideas; the “moderate +Republicans” would have +selected General Cavaignac, as they +did after the insurrection of June, +and would have tried once more to +force their system on a terrified population; +the Legitimists and Orleanists +looked to a dictatorship as the surest +means toward a Royalist restoration, +though it was not decided among +them who was to be the future sovereign. +The Orleanists counted much +on their cleverness to beat their allies +out of the field—allies in the moment +of uncertainty and danger, but foes to +be got rid of at any cost when the booty +came to be divided. “In 1849,” says +M. de Larochejaquelein, “I was one +of those who wished at least to maintain +the Republic, in order to insure +the union of all that was reasonable +and patriotic in the country; to call +on France to put an end, once for all, +to revolutions; and our object was to +form the electoral committee, known +afterwards by the name of the Committee +of the <i>Rue de Poitiers</i>. I had +been chosen by the Legitimists; but +when we met, I requested to have it +explained to me for what reason the +committee was only composed of Orleanists +and Legitimists. It appeared +to me fitting and proper that the more +judicious and moderate Republicans +should form at least a third part of +our committee, as we had at heart +hopes of a different kind. I was told +that the committee did not wish for +Republicans, simply because it did not +wish for the Republic. I demanded +why, out of sixty members of the +committee, forty-five belonged to the +Orleanists, and only fifteen to the Legitimist +party. An ex-minister replied +that, though the party of legitimacy +was, no doubt, honourable, yet +that it formed a very small minority, +while the other was in fact the nation. +Not being of that opinion, I withdrew, +and I declined being made use of as +an instrument for the restoration to +the throne of France of the revolutionary +monarchy of 1830.” The +division and weakness of those parties +is further illustrated in this passage: +“There remained another means of +which the intimate confidants of the +Count de Chambord were dupes—a +plan which was never admitted except +by them, and the impossibility of +which was evident—namely, to bring +about a restoration through the instrumentality +of the Legislative Assembly +itself. Without understanding +what they were doing, the parliamentary +Legitimists of 1850 directed +all their efforts to renew the act of +1830, when 219 deputies, without +right of any kind, and with the most +flagrant disregard of their duty, +presumed to change the form of +Government. The Assembly was +divided into so many parties that +it was in vain to hope for a majority +for that object. It is true that towards +the close of the Assembly all +parties made a desperate attempt to +combat Buonapartism; but the moment +that a serious proposition was +made to substitute a government for +that of the President, it was found +that concord did not and could not +exist between two of the great parties +who composed that Assembly.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>M. de Larochejaquelein gives some +interesting details of the secret intrigues +of the Orleanists to win over +the Legitimists to the “fusion;” and +it is amusing to find how both parties +were deeply engaged in the duty of +allotting crowns and imposing conditions +on pretenders, up to the very +eve of the <i>coup-d’état</i>. We had +already become acquainted, through +the channel of the public press, with +the intrigues which made the presidency +of Louis Napoleon one continued +agitation, and we are not sorry +to have the testimony of one who was +an eye and an ear witness of the +whole. “I appeal,” says M. de Larochejaquelein, +“to the good faith of +all political men—Is it, or is it not, +true, that the idea of the most confidential +advisers of the house of Orleans +was to induce the Count de +Chambord to abdicate in favour of the +Count de Paris? Is it, or is it not +true, that they urged the adoption of +the Count de Paris by the Count de +Chambord, even to the prejudice of +the issue of the latter, supposing that +he had any? Is it, or is it not true, +that on the eve of the 2d December, +certain persons who were the most +influential, who stood highest in favour +at Claremont, made that monstrous +proposition in the <cite>Salle des Conferences</cite> +of the National Assembly, and that it +produced a great effect on the Legitimist +members of the Assembly? Is it, +or is it not true, that the <i>Sceptics</i> of the +party replied, with surprising impertinence, +Yes, no doubt we earnestly +desire the fusion! What then? But +it is not our interest to oppose it. +You (the Legitimists) have for a long +time kept yourselves apart from public +affairs. The country belongs to us. +<i>Your</i> principle is the best; we do not +dispute the fact; but, above all, it is +certain that your principle (legitimacy) +is necessary for us to adopt. <i>Your</i> +prince (the Count de Chambord) may +return with <i>our</i> royal family. <i>He</i> is +its chief; agreed. But at the end +of six months he will see what his +position really is. He will see that it +is impossible for him to govern with +<i>you</i>, and without <i>us</i>. He has no children; +he has too deep a sense of religion +to be ambitious; he loves France +too much to wish her to be given up +to commotions which would expose +her to new revolutions. He will prefer +the castle of Chambord as a residence +to the Tuileries. You may be +certain that we shall treat him well, +and we shall all be contented. The +principle itself will be respected, and +<i>we</i> shall govern France.” Such were +the propositions, and such the language +of the partisans of the Orleans +family to the Legitimists. Not a word, +of course, was said of Louis Napoleon; +and these profound statesmen were +thus disposing in sure confidence of +the fruit of their schemes only a few +hours before they were scattered like +chaff before the wind by the man on +whom they disdained even to pass a +thought! The Orleanists were still +tormented by one fear; they trembled +lest the proposition so often presented +to the Assembly by M. de Larochejaquelein +should again be renewed at +that critical moment which preceded +the expiration of the presidency of +Louis Napoleon. The President of +the Assembly, M. Dupin, the principal +agent of the Orleans family, +urged, and with more than usual energy, +that body to refuse its authorisation +for the printing of M. Leo de +Laborde’s proposition, namely, that +France should, at the important moment +when every faction was struggling +for supremacy, be consulted as +to whether she desired, or not, the +re-establishment of her traditional +monarchy. M. Dupin treated the +question as if it were one of life or +death to himself. He threw off all +restraint, and resisted with his utmost +efforts any measure resembling an appeal +to the nation, or embodying the +principle of legitimacy. “And even +at the present moment,” says M. de +Larochejaquelein, “the language of the +Orleanists is this: ‘We find that the +<i>fusion</i> is the best instrument of hostility +against the government of Louis +Napoleon, and for that object we must +effect it. But if the Count de Chambord +should ever become a widower, +he must not think of forming a new +matrimonial engagement. Should he +happen to have children, he must no +longer count on our support.’”</p> + +<p class='c009'>One of the hallucinations under +which the Orleanists laboured was, +that Louis Napoleon was in his heart +devoted to them exclusively; and that +when the <i>fusion</i> was consummated, +he would transfer his power to them. +That delusion survived even the <i>coup-d’état</i>. +M. de Larochejaquelein admits, +in common with all rational men, that +the <i>coup-d’état</i> was the salvation of +society itself, and they who were +loudest in their applause of it were +the Orleanists. “The most ardent in +their approbation,” the noble writer remarks, +“were the Orleanists, because +they were convinced that the President +was, perhaps without meaning it, +working for them. The decrees of the +22d January undeceived them. From +that moment they became divided into +two camps, that of the extreme opponents, +and that of the men who +accept the government, but who yet +cherish a spirit of hostility to it, more +or less openly declared.”</p> + +<p class='c009'>We have often thought it extraordinary +why those Legitimists who +had freely taken the oaths of allegiance +to Louis Philippe refused them +to Louis Napoleon; and on what +grounds those who yielded prompt +obedience to a revolutionary system, +established by some two hundred deputies, +should, while demanding an +appeal to the people, decline to recognise +a power which is the issue of +the national will. M. de Larochejaquelein +professes to be unable to account +for the fact. “It would be +curious,” he says, “to find out the +reasons on which they found that refusal. +I confess that I cannot explain +a proceeding of the kind, and which +is so advantageous to the revolution +of July. It is true that the Legitimists +must be pained at seeing their +hopes baffled once more; but were it +only in a social point of view, they +ought to give their co-operation to +the government. By keeping apart, +they leave the place open to the men +whom they had for so many years +combated, and they commit the injustice +of placing on an equality the +usurpation of 1830 with the election +of the Emperor successively by six, +by seven, and by eight millions of +suffrages. Prince Louis Napoleon had +overthrown nothing which was endeared +to us; it was not he who had +persecuted the princes who were the +object of our reverence and of our devotedness; +it was not he who placed +the revolution on a throne; but it was +he who combated the revolution. He +had, in the opinion of the immense +majority of the people, rendered a +signal service to France by effacing +beforehand the fatal term of May 1852. +He made an appeal to all honest men, +without distinction of party, to aid him +in saving the country. The majority +of Legitimists could not well disregard +the will of the nation; they submitted +to the verdict without sacrificing +their principles.” We need not +say that we approve of the policy +which has preferred the good of their +country to the mere gratification of +party feeling or personal ambition; +and we see no inconsistency in the +accepting a government that has +fulfilled the conditions which, in the +eyes of these persons, alone justified +their adhesion.</p> + +<p class='c009'>As for the Orleanists, they began +in intrigue, have continued in it, and +we have no reason to suppose that +they will ever change. Place and +power are, with very few exceptions, +their object. The Palais Royal +was, during the Restoration, the favourite +resort, the headquarters of +all the malcontents of the day: all +who stirred up opposition to the government, +all who intrigued against +Louis XVIII. or Charles X., were +welcome to the palace of “our cousin +of Orleans.” They were not true even +to the government of their own choice; +they had overthrown one dynasty, and +because M. Thiers or M. Odillon Barrot +wanted the place, which M. Guizot +preferred exposing the country to convulsion +rather than be torn from, another +dynasty was flung down after it. +The tactics of the party have been always +pretty much the same; revolution +was evoked by them to the hypocritical +cry of <i><span lang="fr">Vive la Charte</span></i>, or <i><span lang="fr">Vive la Constitution</span></i>. +They were the men who organised, +in 1829, the formidable associations +against the payment of the taxes. +At that time, also, as twenty years +later, banquets were got up; and at +one of those scenes of feasting, 221 +crowns, in honour of the 221 deputies +of the opposition, adorned the hall; +and that nothing should be wanting +to complete the resemblance, it was +M. Odillon Barrot who made the +speech on the 4th July 1830, which +was the prelude to the fall of Charles +X.—the same great citizen whose +banquettings and whose orations +helped to destroy the throne of Orleans +in 1848—the same demagogue +whose conceit led him to suppose that +<i>he</i> alone could lay the fiend he had +evoked. There was nothing too low +for them to stoop to, no instrument +too mean for them to reject. It was +that faction that brought about the +revolution of July, it was the same +that helped on that of February, and +it was the coalition of the <i>fusionists</i> +with the Mountain that provoked the +<i>coup-d’état</i> of December 1851. Where +were all those eminent statesmen, +those solemn orators, those sour pedants, +those profound thinkers, those +philosophers, those great citizens, when +the widowed Duchess of Orleans faced +the mob, who had been rendered infuriate +by the men who were afterwards +unable or afraid to control them?</p> + +<p class='c009'>It has been made a matter of reproach +to Louis Napoleon, that the +persons who enjoy his confidence, or +preside at his councils, are obscure +adventurers, of no moral or social influence; +and that no man of eminence, +worth, or standing, will accept either +power or place in a government so +degraded. This, we rather think, is +too sweeping an assertion. We should +like to know what was the social, +moral, or political eminence of M. +Thiers, when the Revolution of July +brought him first into notice. If we +cast our eye over the list of senators +under the imperial régime, we find +names there that may stand a comparison +with many in the late Chamber +of Peers; and as for corruption, +we may point to the events that immediately +preceded the Revolution of +February, when some of the highest +had to answer for acts which were +anything but moral. It is true that +some of the leading men who directed +the policy of the country under Louis +Philippe have taken no active part in +public affairs under the imperial government. +But when we hear all this +talk about “eminent men” refusing +office, and declining all participation +in the government of the day, we are +tempted to ask how had those “eminent +men” managed the business of the +country when they had its sole direction +and control? Their government, +with immense resources at its command, +and after eighteen years of profound +peace, was upset in a few hours +by a contemptible street row.</p> + +<p class='c009'>We are not aware that M. de Larochejaquelein +has been answered by +any of the parties whose intrigues he +has exposed. We think it would be +difficult to answer him; his sketch +carries with it internal evidence of its +correctness. It is no answer, so far +as the truth of his allegations is concerned, +that he has abandoned the +party with which he had been connected. +We believe that he has had +to undergo the petty persecutions of +the <i>coterie</i> of Frohsdorf, who have resorted +to every stratagem to destroy +whatever influence his name may still +carry with it in La Vendée; and, +judging from his present production, +he is of opinion that that <i>coterie</i> is not +worth any man’s making any extraordinary +sacrifices for them. But +whatever be the motives that have +influenced his conduct, or whatever +the value of his “appeal to the +people,” we are bound to admit, that +so far he has acted consistently with +his theory.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c018'> + <div><i>Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.</i></div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c019'> +<div class='footnote' id='f1'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. <cite>The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.</cite> By <span class='sc'>Jonathan Pereira</span>, +M.D., F.R.S. Third Edition. London, 1849–50. Pp. 1538.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f2'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. <cite>The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.</cite> Fifth Edition. London.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f3'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. <cite>M‘Culloch’s Commercial Dictionary</cite>, edit. 1847, p. 1314.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f4'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. Madden, <cite>Travels in Turkey</cite>, vol. i. p. 16.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f5'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. The effects, real or imaginary, of this “juice” are thus described:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in8'>“Sleeping within mine orchard,</div> + <div class='line'>My custom always of the afternoon,</div> + <div class='line'>Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,</div> + <div class='line'>With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,</div> + <div class='line'>And in the porches of mine ears did pour</div> + <div class='line'>The leperous distilment: whose effect</div> + <div class='line'>Holds such an enmity with blood of man,</div> + <div class='line'>That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through</div> + <div class='line'>The natural gates and alleys of the body;</div> + <div class='line'>And, with a sudden vigour, it doth posset</div> + <div class='line'>And curd, like eager droppings into milk,</div> + <div class='line'>The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;</div> + <div class='line'>And a most instant tetter bark’d about,</div> + <div class='line'>Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,</div> + <div class='line'>All my smooth body.”—<cite>Hamlet</cite>, Act i. scene v.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f6'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Pereira, p. 1427.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f7'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. English edition, p. 278, quoted in M‘Culloch’s <cite>Commercial Dictionary</cite>, p. 1314.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f8'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. <cite>Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry.</cite> London edition of 1812, p. 167.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f9'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. <i>Ale</i> was the name given to unhopped malt liquor before the use of hops was introduced. +When hops were added, it was called <i>beer</i>, by way of distinction, I suppose, +because we imported the custom from the Low Countries, where the word beer was, +and is still, in common use. Ground ivy (<i>Glechoma hederacea</i>), called also alehoof +and tunhoof, was generally employed for preserving ale before the use of hops was +known. “The manifold virtues in hops,” says Gerard in 1596, “do manifestly argue +the holesomeness of <i>beere</i> above <i>ale</i>, for the hops rather make it physicall drink to +keep the body in health, than an ordinary drink for the quenching of our thirst.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f10'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. <span lang="fr"><cite>Voyage dans le Nord de la Bolivie, et dans les parties voisines du Perou.</cite> Par <span class='sc'>H. +A. Weddell</span>, M.D., &c. &c. Paris, Bertrand; London, Baillière. 1853.</span></p> + +<p class='c009'><span lang="fr"><cite>Scènes et Récits des Pays d’Outre-Mer.</cite> Par <span class='sc'>Théodore Pavie</span>. Paris, Lévy. +1853.</span></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f11'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. <cite>Blackwood’s Magazine</cite>, No. CCCCXXX., for August 1851.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f12'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. The occupants of the pit at a theatre are called in Spain the <i>mosqueteria</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f13'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. “Be not so well pleased, Juana, to see how I suffer for thee; that which is my +fate to-day, to-morrow may chance to be thine.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f14'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. This arm, which the <i>gauchos</i> throw to a distance of twenty paces, consists of +three balls fastened to the same number of cords. The one held in the hand is +longer than the two others.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f15'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. <cite>History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St Helena.</cite> By <span class='sc'>John Forsyth</span>, M.A. +3 vols. London: Murray.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f16'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. <i>Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays, from Early MS. Corrections +in a Copy of the Folio, 1632, in the possession of J. Payne Collier, Esq., F.S.A.; +forming a Supplemental Volume to the Works of Shakespeare, by the same Editor.</i></p> + +<p class='c009'><i>The Text of Shakespeare vindicated from the Interpolations and Corruptions advocated +by J. P. Collier, Esq., in his Notes and Emendations.</i> By <span class='sc'>Samuel Weller +Singer</span>. 1853.</p> + +<p class='c009'><cite>Old Lamps or New? A Plea for the Original Editions of the Text of Shakespeare, +forming an Introductory Notice to the Stratford Shakespeare.</cite> Edited by <span class='sc'>Charles +Knight</span>. 1853.</p> + +<p class='c009'><cite>A Few Notes on Shakespeare, with Occasional Remarks on the Emendations of the +MS. Corrector in Mr Collier’s Copy of the Folio, 1632.</cite> By the Rev. <span class='sc'>Alexander +Dyce</span>. 1853.</p> + +<p class='c009'><cite>A Few Remarks on the Emendation “Who smothers her with Painting,” in the Play +of Cymbeline, discovered by Mr Collier in a Corrected Copy of the Second Edition of +Shakespeare.</cite> 1852.</p> + +<p class='c009'><cite>New Illustrations of the Life, Studies, and Writings of Shakespeare, supplementary +to all Editions.</cite> By <span class='sc'>Joseph Hunter</span>. In 2 vols. 1845.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f17'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. <cite>A Few Notes on Shakespeare</cite>, &c., p. 22.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f18'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. This expression, “to cry aim,” occurs, in a serious application, in the following +lines from “King John,” <cite>Act II. Scene 1</cite>:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c013'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<i>K. Philip.</i>—Peace, lady; pause or be more temperate:</div> + <div class='line in13'>It ill beseems this presence, <i>to cry aim</i></div> + <div class='line in13'>To these ill-tuned repetitions”—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>that is, to give encouragement to these ill-tuned wranglings.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f19'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. <cite>A Few Notes</cite>, &c., p. 50.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f20'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. <cite>The Text of Shakespeare Vindicated</cite>, &c., p. 24.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f21'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. Molesworth’s edition, vol. iv. p. 46.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f22'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. See <cite>New Illustrations</cite>, &c., vol. i. p. 356.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f23'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. <span lang="fr"><cite>L’Insurrection en Chine, depuis son Origine jusqu’à la Prise de Nankin.</cite> Par MM. +<span class='sc'>Callery</span> et <span class='sc'>Yvan</span>. Avec une Carte topographique, et le Portrait du Prétendant. +Paris: 1853.</span></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f24'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. Painted upon the bucklers of the Chinese soldiers are all manner of ferocious +animals;—the tiger is the one most frequently seen, hence the surname. On behalf +of his Celestial friend, and in extenuation of this ridiculous custom, Dr Yvan maintains +that, in many of our European military equipments, the same intention of terrifying +by a fierce aspect is manifest—as, for instance, in the bear-skin caps of grenadiers, +hussars, &c. The Spaniards, who bear little love to any foreigners, and who +are particularly given to laughing at their Portuguese neighbours, assert that there +was formerly in use, in the Portuguese army, the word of command, “<i>Rosto feroz a o +enimigo!</i>”—Ferocious face to the enemy!—upon receiving which, the soldiers looked +excessively savage, showed their teeth, and made a threatening gesture. This must +have been a base imitation of the Chinese. To this day the <i>tigers</i>, who are often +faint-hearted enough, go into action making horrible grimaces. Dr Yvan gives a +very curious account of the Chinese army, in which sound of gong is used instead of +word of command, and the officers are stationed behind their men to prevent their +running away—an exercise to which they are extremely addicted. Silence in the +ranks is far from being enjoined; on the contrary, when approaching an enemy, the +tigers and other wild beasts roar in character—their sweet voices, with a gong accompaniment, +combining in a discord that is truly infernal. There exists a Chinese +treatise on the art of war, in twenty-four volumes, entitled Ou-Pi-Tche. Its perusal +is not allowed to civil mandarins below the third rank, or to military mandarins +below the fourth, nor, of course, to persons of inferior degree. It is not admitted in +China that a private person, a literary man, a merchant, an agriculturist, can have +any good motive in studying such a work. Booksellers are permitted to keep but +one copy at a time, and are compelled to register the names of purchasers. “Before +beginning the war with the Celestial Empire,” Dr Yvan says, “the English procured +several copies of this treatise. One day, at Canton, an American merchant mentioned +this fact to a mandarin of very high rank. The mandarin struck the palm of +his left hand with his fan: ‘I no longer wonder,’ he cried, ‘that the red-haired barbarians +vanquished us!’”—<cite><span lang="fr">L’Insurrection en Chine</span></cite>, chap. ix. pp. 119–124.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f25'> +<p class='c009'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. <cite>La France en 1853.</cite> Par Le Marquis <span class='sc'>De Larochejaquelein</span>. Paris: 1853.</p> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c005'> +</div> +<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> + +<div class='chapter ph2'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c006'> + <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + + <ul class='ul_1 c018'> + <li>Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + + </li> + <li>Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter. + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76973 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-09-12 17:27:06 GMT --> +</html> + diff --git a/76973-h/images/cover.jpg b/76973-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..888010b --- /dev/null +++ b/76973-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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