settled back to their usual flow where that little bark had gone down.
St. Clare was in many respects another man; he read his little Eva's
Bible seriously and honestly; he thought soberly of his relations to his
servants, and he commenced the legal steps necessary to Tom's
emancipation as he had promised Eva he would do. But, one evening while
Tom was sitting thinking of his home, feeling the muscles of his brawny
arms with joy as he thought how he would work to buy his wife and boys;
his master was brought home dying. He had interfered in an affray in a
cafe and been stabbed.
He reached out and took Tom's hand; he closed his eyes, but still
retained his hold; for in the gates of eternity the black hand and the
white hold each other with an equal grasp, and softly murmured some
words he had been singing that evening--words of entreaty to Infinite
Pity.
-IV.--Freedom-
Mrs. St. Clare decided at once to sell the place and all the servants,
except her own personal property, and although she was told of her
husband's intention of freeing Tom, he was sold by auction with the
rest. His new master, Mr. Simon Legree, came round to review his
purchases as they sat in chains on the lower deck of a small mean boat,
on their way to his cotton plantation, on the Red River. "I say, all on
ye," he said, "look at me--look me right in the eye--straight, now!"
stamping his foot. "Now," said he, doubling his great heavy fist, "d'ye
see this fist? Heft it," he said, bringing it down on Tom's hand. "Look
at these yer bones! Well, I tell ye this yer fist has got as hard as
iron knocking down niggers. I don't keep none of yer cussed overseers; I
does my own overseeing and I tell ye things -is- seen to. You won't find
no soft spot in me, nowhere. So, now, mind yourselves; for I don't show
no mercy!" The women drew in their breath; and the whole gang sat with
downcast, dejected faces. Trailing wearily behind a rude wagon, and over
a ruder road, Tom and his associates came to their new home. The whole
place looked desolate, everything told of coarse neglect and discomfort.
Three or four ferocious looking dogs rushed out and were with difficulty
restrained from laying hold of Tom and his companions.
"Ye see what ye'd get!" said Legree. "Ye see what ye'd get if you tried
to run off. They'd just as soon chaw one on ye up as eat their supper.
So mind yourself. How now, Sambo!" to a ragged fellow, who was officious
in his attentions, "How have things been goin' on?"
"Fust rate, mas'r."
"Quimbo," said Legree to another, "ye minded what I tell'd ye?"
"Guess I did, didn't I?"
Legree had trained these two men in savagery as systematically as he had
his bulldogs, and they were in admirable keeping with the vile character
of the whole place.
Tom's heart sank as he followed Sambo to the quarters. They had a
forlorn, brutal air. He had been comforting himself with the thought of
a cottage, rude indeed but one which he might keep neat and quiet and
read his Bible in out of his labouring hours. They were mere rude sheds
with no furniture but a heap of straw, foul with dirt. "Spec there's
room for another thar'," said Sambo, "thar's a pretty smart heap o'
niggers to each on 'em, now. Sure, I dunno what I's to do with more."
* * * * *
Tom looked in vain, as the weary occupants of the shanties came flocking
home, for a companionable face; he saw only sullen, embruted men and
feeble, discouraged women; or, those who, treated in every way like
brutes, had sunk to their level.
"Thar you!" said Quimbo throwing down a coarse bag containing a peck of
corn, "thar, nigger, grab, you won't get no more -dis- yer week."
Tom was faint for want of food, but moved by the utter weariness of two
women, whom he saw trying to grind their corn, he ground for them; and
then set about getting his own supper. An expression of kindness came
over their hard faces--they mixed his cake for him, and tended the
baking, and Tom drew out his Bible by the light of the fire--for he had
need of comfort.
Tom saw enough of abuse and misery in his new life to make him sick and
weary; but he toiled on with religious patience, committing himself to
Him that judgeth righteously. Legree took silent note, and rating him as
a first-class hand, made up his mind that Tom must be hardened; he had
bought him with a view to making him a sort of overseer, so one night he
told him to flog one of the women. Tom begged him not to set him at
that. He could not do it, "no way possible." Legree struck him
repeatedly with a cowhide. "There," said he stopping to rest, "now will
ye tell me ye can't do it?"
"Yes, mas'r," said Tom, wiping the blood from his face. "I'm willin' to
work, night and day; but this yer thing I can't feel it right to do; and
mas'r, I never shall do it, never!"
Legree looked stupefied--Tom was so respectful--but at last burst forth:
"What, ye blasted black beast! tell -me- ye don't think it right to do
what I tell ye. So ye pretend it's wrong to flog the girl?"
"I think so, mas'r," said Tom. "'Twould be downright cruel, the poor
critter's sick and feeble. Mas'r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but
as to my raising my hand against anyone here, I never will--I'll die
first." Legree shook with anger. "Here, Sambo!--Quimbo!" he shouted,
"give this dog such a breakin' in as he won't get over this month."
The two seized Tom with fiendish exultation, and dragged him
unresistingly from the place.
* * * * *
For weeks and months Tom wrestled, in darkness and sorrow--crushing back
to his soul the bitter thought that God had forgotten him. One night he
sat like one stunned when everything around him seemed to fade, and a
vision rose of One crowned with thorns, buffeted and bleeding; and a
voice said, "He that overcometh shall sit down with Me on My throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father upon His
throne."
From this time an inviolable peace filled the lowly heart of the
oppressed one; life's uttermost woes fell from him unharming.
* * * * *
Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man
has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.
Tom lay dying at last; not suffering, for every nerve was blunted and
destroyed; when George Shelby found him, and his voice reached his dying
ear.
"Oh, Mas'r George, he ain't done me any real harm: only opened the gate
of Heaven for me. Who--who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"
and with a smile he fell asleep.
* * * * *
As George knelt by the grave of his poor friend, "Witness, eternal God,"
said he, "Oh, witness that, from this hour, I will do what one man can
to drive out the curse of slavery from my land!"
* * * * *
EUGÈNE SUE
Mysteries of Paris
Joseph Marie Sue, known as Eugène Sue, is the most notable
French exponent of the melodramatic style in fiction. Sue was
born in Paris on December 10, 1804 He was the son of a
physician in the household of Napoleon, and followed his
father's profession for a number of years. The death of his
father brought him a handsome fortune, upon the receipt of
which he devoted himself exclusively to literature. His first
novel, "Kernock, the Pirate," which appeared in 1830, was only
in a small measure successful. It was followed in quick
succession by four others, but with like results. His next
attempt was the quasi-historical "Jean Cavalier." About this
time Sue became imbued with the socialistic ideas that were
then spreading through France, and his attempt to express
these in fiction produced his most famous work, "The Mysteries
of Paris," which was published in 1842. The story first
appeared as a feuilleton in the "Journal des Débats." Its
success was remarkable, exceeded only by its tremendous
popularity in book form. "The Mysteries of Paris" is partly
melodrama; it has faults both in construction and in art; its
characters are mere puppets, dancing hither and thither at the
end of their creator's string. Yet withal the novel brought
about many legislative changes in Paris through the light
which it cast on existing legal abuses. Sue died on August 3,
1859.
-I-
One cold, rainy evening towards the end of October 1838, a man of
athletic build wearing an old straw hat and ragged serge shirt and
trousers dived into the City ward of Paris, a maze of dark, crooked
streets which spreads from the Palace of Justice Notre Dame. This
district is the Mint, the haunt of a great number of low malefactors who
swarm in the low drinking-dens.
The man we noticed slackened his pace, feeling that he was "on his own
ground." It was very dark and gusts of rain lashed the walls.
"Good arternoon, La Goualeuse (Sweet-Throat)" said he to one of a group
of girls sheltering under a projecting window. "You're the very girl to
stand some brandy."
"I'm out of money, Slasher," said the girl trembling; for the man was
the terror of the neighbourhood.
He grasped her arm, but she wrenched herself loose and fled down a dark
alley, pursued by the ruffian.
"I'll have you," he exclaimed after a few seconds as he seized in his
powerful hand one altogether as soft and slight.
"You shall dance for it," a masculine voice broke in, and under the soft
delicate skin of the hand the Slasher felt himself grasped by muscles of
iron. For some seconds nothing was heard save the sounds of a deadly
strife.
The struggle was short, for the ruffian, although of athletic make and
of first rate ability in rough and tumble fights, found he had met his
master; he measured his length on the ground.
Burning with rage the Slasher returned to the charge, whereupon the
defender of La Goualeuse showered upon the cut-throat's head a
succession of blows so weighty and crushing and so completely out of the
French mode of fighting that the Slasher was mentally as well as bodily
stunned by them and gave up, muttering, "I'm floored. Except the
Skeleton with his iron bones and the Schoolmaster, no one till now could
brag of having set his foot on my neck."
"Well, come and drink a glass and you shall know who I am," said the
Unknown. "Come, don't nurse a grudge against me."
"Bear malice? Not a bit of it! You're best man, make no mistake!"
The three, now upon the best terms, directed their steps towards a
tavern. As the Unknown followed his companions a charcoal-seller
approached him and whispered in German, "Be on your guard, -Your
Highness-!" The Unknown waved his hand carelessly and entered the
tavern.
Over their drinks the three related to each other their histories.
The Slasher was a man of tall stature, with light hair and enormous red
whiskers. Notwithstanding his terrible surname his features expressed
rather brutal hardihood and unconquerable boldness, than ferocity. In
his childhood he had strolled about with an old rag and bone picker, who
almost knocked the life out of him. He had never known his parents. His
first employment was to help knockers cut horses' throats at Montfauçon
till cutting and slashing became a rage with him and he was turned out
of the slaughter-house for spoiling the hides. Later he enlisted and
served three years. Then one day the bullying of the sergeant roused the
old rage and he turned on him and cut and slashed as if he had been in
the slaughter-house. That got him fifteen years in the hulks. Now he was
a lighterman on the Seine rafts.
Sweet-Throat was not over sixteen and a half. A forehead of the whitest
surmounted a face perfectly oval and of angelic expression, such as we
see in Raphael's beauties. She was also called "Fleur-de-Marie,"
doubtless on account of the maiden purity of her countenance. She, too,
had never known her parents. When she was about seven years of age she
lived with an old and one-eyed woman, called Screech-Owl because her
hooked nose and round green eye made her resemble an owl that had lost
its eye. She taunted the child with being picked up from the streets and
sent her out begging, rewarding her with beatings if she did not bring
her at least six pence at night, until at last she ran away from
Screech-Owl and hid in a wood-yard for the night. Next day she was
found, taken before a magistrate and sent to a reformatory as a vagrant
until she was sixteen. It was a perfect paradise compared to
Screech-Owl's miserable roost. But when she came out she fell into the
hands of the Ogress who kept the inn they were now in. The clothes she
stood in belonged to the Ogress, she owed her for board and lodgings and
could not stir from her or she must be taken up as a thief.
Rudolph (for so we shall call the defender of La Goualeuse) listened
with deep interest to her recital, made with touching frankness. Misery,
destitution, ignorance of the world, had destroyed this wretched girl,
cast alone and unprotected on the immensity of Paris. He involuntarily
thought of a beloved child whom he had lost, who had died at six, and
would have been, had she lived, like Fleur-de-Marie, sixteen and a half
years old.
Rudolph appeared to be about thirty-six, tall, graceful, of a
contemplative air, yet with a haughty and imperious carriage of the
head. In other respects he sported with ease the language and manners
which gave him a perfect resemblance to the Ogress's other guests. He
represented himself as a painter of fans.
Presently the Schoolmaster entered the inn, with a woman. He was a
powerful, fleshy fellow with a face mutilated and scarred in a most
horribly repugnant fashion. The woman was old and her green eye, hooked
nose, and countenance, at once reminded Rudolph of the horrible woman of
whom Goualeuse had been the victim. Suddenly seizing his arm, Goualeuse
whispered "Oh! The Owl! The one-eyed woman!"
At this moment the Schoolmaster approached the table and said to Rudolph
"If you don't hand the wench over to me, I'll smash you."
"For the love of heaven, defend me," cried Goualeuse to Rudolph.
He rose and was about to attack the Schoolmaster when the
charcoal-dealer rushed into the inn, and coming up to him whispered in
German, "Your Highness, the countess and her brother are at the end of
the street."
At these words, Rudolph threw a louis on the counter and hurried towards
the door. The Schoolmaster attempted to stop him but fell heavily under
two or three blows straight from the shoulder.
Soon after he had gone two strangers entered, one in a military
frock-coat, the other easily detected as a woman in male attire. She was
the Countess Sarah Macgregor. They ordered drinks and proceeded to make
inquiries after Rudolph. When they left, the Schoolmaster and the
Screech-Owl followed them and robbed them in a dark street. But they
suffered the robbery quietly and even offered the ruffian and his woman
more to lay a trap for M. Rudolph. They parted, but an invisible
witness--the Slasher--had been present. Alarmed at the perils which
threatened his new friend, he resolved to warn him.
-II-
On the morrow Rudolph again made his way to the tavern and met the
Ogress, with whom he had a short conversation which resulted in his
paying La Goualeuse's debts to the old hag and taking the girl for a
drive in the country. They spent the day roaming about the fields.
Towards evening the carriage stopped at a farm near a pretty village and
to her amazed delight Rudolph told Fleur-de-Marie that she might stay
there with Mrs. George, the mistress of the farm. He explained his
sympathy for her in the loss of the child who would have been her age.
Fleur-de-Marie could not reply. She seized his hand, and before he could
prevent her, raised it to her lips with an air of modest submission;
then she followed Mrs. George, who was to play the character of her
aunt.
Before he left, Rudolph said to Mrs. George, "Marie will at least find a
corner in your heart?"
"Yes, I shall devote my time to her as I should be giving it to -him-,"
she said with emotion.
"Come, do not be again discouraged. If our search has been unsuccessful
hitherto, perhaps--"
"May the good God help you, M. Rudolph. My son would now be twenty. His
father would never reveal whether he lives. Since he was condemned to
the galleys, entreaties, prayers and letters have all been unanswered."
The next day Rudolph heard from the Slasher of the plot against him and
arranged to meet the Schoolmaster on the pretext of having a profitable
business on hand. The prospect of gain overcame the Schoolmaster's
suspicions and he and Screech-Owl met Rudolph in an inn. Rudolph
unfolded his scheme of entering a house in the Allee des Veuves, the
residence of a doctor gone into the country. The Schoolmaster agreed,
but insisted on their remaining together till the evening. On leaving
the inn Rudolph dropped a note, which he saw picked up by the
pseudo-charcoal-dealer, now attired as a gentleman.
The three retired to an inn of evil appearance, while Screech-Owl went
out to reconnoitre the house and grounds. She returned to the inn with a
favourable report. Suddenly the Schoolmaster threw himself on Rudolph
and hurled him into the cellar, locking the door behind him.
Rudolph's efforts to free himself were in vain. For hours he lay there,
gasping for breath. Suddenly, when he was about to suffocate, the door
was broken open, and he found himself fainting in the arms of the
Slasher.
When Rudolph recovered consciousness he was in his house, attended by
his doctor, a negro and the Slasher.
The Schoolmaster and the Screech-Owl had come to enter the house. The
Screech-Owl had remained at the gate to watch, but the Slasher, who had
observed all, had silenced her with a blow. Following the Schoolmaster
in, he came upon him as he was overcoming one of Rudolph's men and
downed him with another blow. Then the two robbers, being bound, were
carried in.
"Order them to bring him here," said Rudolph calmly, and the
Schoolmaster was carried in, bound with ropes. Rudolph addressed him.
"Escaped from the hulks, to which you were sentenced for life, you are
the husband of Mrs. George. What have you done with her son?"
Believing his hour was come he trembled and whimpered "mercy." He
confessed all, even his crimes, his murders, speaking now in the
grammatical French of his guiltless days.
"He lived in the Rue du Temple, where he passed as François Germain. He
left there; now I do not know where he is."
"Good; your life shall be spared. But I will paralyse the strength you
have criminally abused. Doctor David, do as I have told you."
The Schoolmaster was seized by two servants and carried into another
room. A few minutes later he was brought back.
"You are free," said Rudolph. "Go and repent. Here are five thousand
francs. You are harmless."
The two men loosened the cords which bound him, then took a bandage from
his eyes. He sprang up in rage and terror; then falling back, cried in
agony and fury, "I am blind!"
-III-
Rudolph was the reigning Duke of the German State of Gerolstein. While
he was a boy a Scotch adventuress, Lady Sarah MacGregor, and her
brother, Sir Thomas Seyton, had appeared in the little German court and
begun an intrigue that resulted in a secret marriage between Sarah and
Rudolph. The old duke, then alive, on hearing of this annulled the
marriage. To his son he gave a letter from Sarah to her brother,
betraying her cold-blooded ambitions. The young prince's love had
frozen. Sarah gave birth to a child in England, whither she had fled. To
all Rudolph's appeals for this child she gave no answer. She had turned
it over to Jacques Ferrand, a notary in Paris. Six years later he
reported the child's death, and both parents believed their unhappy
daughter to be dead, though she was, in fact, the unfortunate
Fleur-de-Marie.
It was Sarah who now, having learned of Rudolph's presence in Paris, had
hurried hither to seek an interview with him, hoping to effect a
reconciliation, now that the old Grand Duke was dead and Rudolph
sovereign Prince of Gerolstein. Rudolph was known for his fondness for
strange adventures, and Lady Sarah had hoped to catch him during one of
his visits to the lower quarters of the city, seeking any aid, however
low.
Rudolph, grateful to the Slasher for saving his life, presented him with
an estate in Algiers; and the following day he set out for Algeria.
Rudolph was determined to find the son of Mrs. George, the unfortunate
wife of the Schoolmaster. He had saved her from starvation and he meant
to satisfy the great longing that still possessed her, but for some
while he had no real success.
Meanwhile, unknown to Rudolph, a misfortune had come to Fleur-de-Marie.
While on a visit to a neighbouring farm one evening she was suddenly
seized by Screech-Owl and the blind Schoolmaster and carried off to
Paris. They forced an oath of secrecy from her and liberated her near a
police station. Screech-Owl then informed the police that a vagrant had
passed down the street, and Fleur-de-Marie was arrested and sent to St
Lazare. A forged note was sent to Mrs. George, appearing to be signed by
Rudolph. Fleur-de-Marie's abduction had been caused by Sarah, who,
believing Rudolph too much interested in her, decided to rid herself of
a possible rival. Screech-Owl was her tool.
Rudolph learned of Germain's address through a second-hand dealer who
had bought his furniture. He was employed as cashier in the office of a
notary, Jacques Ferrand. Rudolph had heard evil reports of this man,
though he was highly respected and known as a pious man. When Rudolph
finally attempted to communicate with Germain he learned that the young
man had been accused of theft from notary Ferrand and imprisoned.
Screech-Owl conceived of a scheme to blackmail the notary Ferrand. His
housekeeper, ten years before, had turned over to her a child which she
was to care for in consideration of one thousand francs. She obtained an
interview with Ferrand, but he denied all knowledge of the child.
Ferrand was, in fact, thoroughly frightened. He learned that
Fleur-de-Marie was in St. Lazare, and determined to paralyse
Screech-Owl's threats by removing Fleur-de-Marie.
On an island in the Seine lived a criminal family, the Martials, who
throve by thieving and murder. With Nicholas Martial, Ferrand arranged
that Marie was to be conducted across the river and upset. His
housekeeper met the girl at the prison door after the notary had
procured her release and, pretending she had come from Mrs. George,
brought her down to the river.
Once on the shore, the old woman signalled, and two boats came from the
island. Fleur-de-Marie felt an instinctive uneasiness on beholding the
foul face of Nicholas Martial. But she seated herself in the boat with
the old woman, and they shot out into the stream.
Half an hour later two gentlemen strolling along the opposite river-bank
saw the body of a young girl floating by and rescued it. One was a
doctor. Discovering signs of life, he set to work and presently a faint
glow of vitality revived. Then she was carried to his home.
That same night Screech-Owl appeared at the home of Countess Sarah,
keeping an appointment. Lady Sarah took the creature into her private
room and locked the door, leaving open only the passage from the garden
whence they had entered.
"Listen," said the Countess, "I want you to find me a girl of about
seventeen, one who has lost her parents very early, of agreeable face,
and a sweet temper."
Screech-Owl showed her astonishment.
"My little lady, have you forgotten La Goualeuse?"
"I have nothing to do with her," said Lady Sarah impatiently.
"But listen a moment. Take La Goualeuse; she was only six years old when
Jacques Ferrand gave her to me, with a thousand francs, to get rid of
her."
"Jacques Ferrand!" cried Sarah, "the notary?"
"Yes, what of it?"
"Ten years ago? Fair? With blue eyes?
"Yes."
"Ah, Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" cried Sarah, falling on her knees. Suddenly
she rose. Hastily opening a secretary, she took from it an ebony casket,
which she opened. She took from it diamond necklaces and bracelets,
throwing them on the table in her hurry to reach the bottom.
"Is this she?" she cried, producing a small miniature.
"Yes."
Sarah took out paper and pen and began writing.
"Come," she said, "as you dictate, so I write. A written declaration--"
She did not finish. Screech-Owl brought down her arm and her dagger
entered Sarah's back between the shoulder-blades. She threw out her
hands and fell forward on the table.
Hastily gathering the jewels, the murderess slipped through the door
into the garden and escaped into the dark streets.
That night the police made one of the most notable hauls of the year;
they captured a group of notorious criminals in the act of murdering a
diamond-agent in a low-class resort on the banks of the Seine, among
them all the Martial family. In the cellar they found the blind
Schoolmaster chained to a pillar. He had been confined there by his
former comrades, who feared that in his helpless state he might fall
under the care of honest people and reveal to them the habits of his
associates. He was mad; in his arms he gripped, almost crushed, the dead
and mangled body of Screech-Owl, who, seeking to escape down the cellar,
had stumbled within the captive's reach.
-IV-
For some days Jacques Ferrand's clerks noticed in the notary a curious
change. He denied admission to his clients, though they knew his
interests suffered heavily thereby. His face thinned, his temples
hollowed, his complexion became ghastly yellow. In constant company with
him was a red-bearded man, known as Brodamonte.
Then came the announcement that Germain had been freed from prison, the
charges against him being dropped. Also that Monsieur Ferrand gave a
million francs to found a workingmen's bank where the poor could borrow
without paying interest. Germain was to be cashier.
Ferrand's sufferings were intense. Brodamonte, discovered in a criminal
act by Rudolph, was now his slave, and acted as his agent. Both were
watched by a well-concealed circle of spies. Brodamonte forced Ferrand's
system of restitution, under Rudolph's directions, who had succeeded in
obtaining from the notary by a trick papers which proved his crimes and
guilt. This was his punishment. A miser, he must give; and, always a
pious fraud, he was now compelled to place all his money in trust with
the good, simple old abbé he had long deceived.
By chance Rudolph now learned of the absence of the girl and the
deception that had caused Madame George to make no inquiries. He
suspected truly that La Goualeuse's abduction had been instigated by
Sarah.
Suddenly an idea burst upon him. Looking over the papers taken from
Ferrand, he saw that the notary had reason to fear the existence of a
certain child he had turned over to Screech-Owl ten years previously.
These suspicions changed to conviction when e learned that on the day of
Marie's release a woman had been drowned in the Seine. So great was his
rage that he now determined to revenge himself doubly on the criminal
notary.
The Countess Sarah was recovering slowly. Rudolph, believing her to be
dying, consented to visit her. He found her dressed and decked in her
jewels, but pale and weak.
"Rudolph, I am dying," she said; "I have something of great importance
to tell you." Her agitation was intense.
"Our child is not dead!" burst from her suddenly.
"Our child!"
"I tell you, she lives!"
"Enough, madame, you cannot deceive me. I know your schemes."
"But listen, I have proof!" she cried eagerly. "I have told you the
truth. You remember I had left the child with my notary to superintend
her education. He was false to me. She had not died, but was disposed of
to a woman known as the Screech-Owl, and----"
"No! No! I do not believe you--I do not wish to believe you!"
"See," she continued, "here is her portrait."
He seized the miniature. Yes, in the child's face were recognizable the
blue eyes, the oval face, the fair hair, so familiar to him in
Fleur-de-Marie.
"God!" he cried, "you wretched woman! La Goualeuse our daughter! Found,
only to lose her again. Dead!"
"No, she lives, Rudolph. Pity! I die!"
"Your child is dead, murdered. May the knowledge curse your last
moments!" And he rushed from the house, leaving Sarah in a fainting
condition.
Meanwhile, the Marquise d'Harville, a friend of Rudolph's, learned by
chance of the presence of La Goualeuse in the house of the doctor who
had rescued her from the Seine. Knowing Rudolph's keen interest in La
Goualeuse, Madame d'Harville determined to take her with her in her
carriage to convey the good news to Rudolph in person.
Some days later she appeared at Rudolph's magnificent apartments and
announced to him that Fleur-de-Marie was below in the carriage. Rudolph
rose, pale, supporting himself by the table. Madame d'Harville's
surprise restrained him.
"Ah, Clemence," he murmured, "you do not know what you have done for me.
Fleur-de-Marie is--my daughter!"
"Your daughter, your Highness?"
Then suddenly she understood. Fleur-de-Marie was brought up, and it
required Clemence to restrain Rudolph so that he broke the news gently.
Fleur-de-Marie was even then overcome, for she had loved Rudolph as she
would have loved her god.
Sarah died soon afterward. Rudolph asked Clemence d'Harville to become
mother to Marie, now the Princess Amelia, and they returned to Germany.
On setting out they passed in their carriage through a crowd attending
an execution. Several criminals in the crowd, recognising Rudolph,
attempted to attack him. Suddenly a man sprang forward in his defence,
but was stabbed by one of the crowd and fell dying. It was the Slasher.
"I could not go to Algiers," he murmured. "I wished to be near you,
Monsieur Rudolph."
A noble prince sought the hand of the Princess Amelia, but she, feeling
her past degradation, retired to a convent, where she died, beloved by
all, mourned deeply by Rudolph and Clemence.
Ferrand, the notary, died in convulsions, killing Brodamonte with a
poisoned dagger. Germain, restored to his mother, married happily, his
wife's dowry coming from the prince.
* * * * *
JONATHAN SWIFT
Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World
Jonathan Swift, the greatest and most original satirist of his
own, or perhaps of any age, was born in Dublin, Ireland, of
English parents, November 30, 1667. His poverty and abject
dependence upon his relatives in his early youth may have
given the first impetus to that bitter resentment and haughty
spirit of pride which characterized him through life. After a
somewhat troubled career in Trinity College, Dublin, he
removed to England, where he entered the household of the
retired English statesman, Sir William Temple, whose literary
executor he became ten years later. The advertisement which
this connection, and the performance of its final office, gave
him, led to his appointment to a small living and certain
other church emoluments in Ireland. In the following years he
paid several protracted visits to London, where by the power
of his pen and his unrivalled genius as a satirist of the
politics of his time, he rapidly rose to a most formidable
position in the State,--the intimate of poets and of
statesmen. And yet, owing to the opposition which his claims
met with at court, he derived no higher preferment for himself
than the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 1713. In time
Swift reconciled himself to this change by vehemently
espousing the cause of the Irish against their English rulers,
and by his writings made himself as famous in that country as
he had formerly done in England. Gradually the gloom of
cerebral decay descended upon his magnificent intellect, and
he died October 19, 1745. "To think of his ruin," said
Thackeray, "is like thinking of the ruin of an empire." No
more original work of genius than Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"
exists in the English language. For sheer intellectual power
it may not be equal to the "Tale of a Tub," but as it has more
variety, so it has more art. "Gulliver" was published in 1726,
at a period when life's disappointments had ceased to worry
Swift. It is probable, however, that the book was planned some
years previously, the keenness of the satire on courts and
statesmen suggesting that his frustrated aims still rankled in
his mind. Curious is it that so perfect an artist should
nevertheless have missed the main purpose which he set himself
in this book, namely, "to vex the world rather than divert
it." The world refused to be vexed, and was hugely diverted.
The real greatness of "Gulliver" lies in its teeming
imagination and implacable logic. Swift succeeded in endowing
the wildest improbabilities with an air of veracity rivalling
Defoe himself. (See also Vol. X, p. 282.)
-I.--A Voyage to Lilliput-
My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire, but the charge of
maintaining me at Cambridge being too great, after three years there I
was bound apprentice to an eminent surgeon in London; in my spare time I
studied navigation, and mathematics, useful to those who travel, as I
always believed, at some time, it would be my fortune to do.
After studying physics in Leyden for two years, I became surgeon to the
Swallow, and made a voyage or two in the Levant. I then settled in
London, married, but after some years, my business beginning to fail,
having consulted with my wife, I determined to go again to sea and made
several voyages to the East and West Indies, by which I got some
addition to my fortune.
In 1699, being on a voyage in the South Seas, we were driven on a rock,
and the ship immediately split. I conclude my companions were all lost;
for my part, I swam as fortune directed me, and being pushed forward by
wind and tide, found myself at last within my depth, and had to wade
near a mile before I got to shore. I was extremely tired, and lay down
on the grass and slept soundly until daylight. I attempted to rise, but
found myself strongly fastened to the ground, not able to turn even my
head. I felt something moving gently up my leg, and over my breast, when
bending my eyes downward, I perceived a human creature, not six inches
high, with a bow and arrows in his hand; and felt a number more
following him. I roared so loud, they all fell off in a fright, but soon
returned. I struggled, and broke the strings that fastened my left hand,
but the creatures ran off before I could seize them, and I felt about a
hundred arrows discharged into my left hand, which pricked like so many
needles. I lay still, groaning with grief and pain, till some of the
inhabitants came and cut the strings that fastened my head, when turning
it a little I saw one, who seemed to be a person of quality, who made me
a long speech, of which I understood not one word; but in which I could
observe many periods of threatening, and others of pity and kindness.
I answered in the most submissive manner, and being famished with hunger
(perhaps against the strict rules of decency), put my finger in my
mouth, to signify I wanted food. He understood me very well. Several
ladders were applied to my sides, and a hundred of the inhabitants
mounted, laden with food and drink, and supplied me as fast as they
could, with marks of wonder at my bulk and appetite.
It seems that at the first moment I was discovered, the Emperor had
notice by an express, and it was determined in council that I should be
secured and fed, and at once conveyed to the capital city.
A sleepy potion having been mingled with my wine, I again slept. These
people have arrived to a great perfection in mechanics, and by means of
cords and pulleys, in less than three hours, I was raised and slung on
to the largest of their machines, used for the carriage of trees and
other great weights. Fifteen hundred of the largest horses, each about
four and a half inches high, were employed to draw me towards the
metropolis. The Emperor and all his Court came out to meet us. In the
largest temple in the kingdom, disused because polluted by a murder some
years before, I was to be lodged, secured by fourscore and eleven chains
locked to my left leg. They were about two yards long and being fixed
within four inches of the gate of the temple, allowed me to creep in and
lie on the ground at my full length.
The Emperor is taller, by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his
court, his features strong and masculine, and his deportment majestic.
He had reigned for seven years in great felicity, and generally
victorious. I lay on my side, for the better convenience of beholding
him, but I have had him many times since in my hand, and therefore
cannot be deceived in this description. He held his sword drawn in his
hand to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose, and spoke to
me many times, and I answered, but neither of us could understand a
syllable.
The Emperor had frequent councils to debate what course should be taken
with me; they apprehended I might break loose; or might cause a famine;
but my behaviour had made a favourable impression, and his Majesty made
provision for me out of his own Treasury, and coming frequently to see
me, I soon learnt to express my desire for liberty, which was after a
time granted on certain conditions.
I soon learnt, in spite of its flourishing appearance, this country
laboured under two evils; a violent faction at home, and the danger of
invasion, by a most potent enemy, from abroad. The two parties in the
kingdom were distinguished by the high or low heels of their shoes. The
high heels were most agreeable to their ancient constitution, but the
present Emperor was determined only to make use of low heels in the
administration of the government--but the heir apparent seemed to have
some tendency to high heels.
They were threatened with an invasion from the Island of Blefusco, which
had been engaged in an obstinate war with Lilliput for a long time, on a
question of a schism in religion. They had now prepared a numerous
fleet, and were about to descend upon us, and his Majesty, in his
confidence in my strength and valour, laid this account of his affairs
before me.
-II. I Depart from Blefusco-
Having ascertained the depth of the channel between the two countries,
and viewed the enemy's fleet through my perspective glass, I obtained a
great quantity of cable and bars of iron. I twisted the bars into hooks
which I fixed to fifty cables, and walked into the sea, wading with what
haste I could, swam about thirty yards in the middle, and arrived at the
fleet in about half an hour.
The enemy were so frightened when they saw me that they fled, and swam
to shore. I then took my tackling, fixed a hook to each vessel, and tied
all my cords together at the end; but not a ship would stir, they were
held too fast by their anchors. The enemy's arrows disturbed me much,
but I resolutely cut all the cables, and with the greatest ease drew
fifty of the largest men of war with me. The tide had now fallen, and I
waded safe to the royal port of Lilliput, where the Emperor received me
with the highest honour. So immeasurable is the ambition of princes,
that he thought now of nothing less than the complete submission of
Blefusco; but I plainly protested "that I would never be an instrument
of bringing a free and brave people into slavery"; and the wisest part
of the Council were of my opinion.
His Majesty never forgave me, and an intrigue began which had like to
have been my utter ruin; but a considerable person at Court informed me
of the schemes against me, and I resolved at once to pay a visit to
Blefusco, whose Emperor had sent a solemn embassy to Lilliput with
humble offers of peace, and who received me with the generosity suitable
to so great a Prince.
Three days after my arrival I observed a boat overturned on the coast,
which with great difficulty I managed to get to the royal port of
Blefusco; I told the Emperor that my good fortune had thrown this boat
in my way, to carry me towards my native country, and begged his orders
for materials to fit it up, together with his license to depart, which,
after some kind expostulation, he was pleased to grant.
His Majesty of Lilliput had sent an envoy, to ask his brother of
Blefusco to have me sent back to be punished as a traitor with the loss
of my eyes; so that I resolved to "venture myself on the ocean rather
than be an occasion of difference between two such mighty monarchs."
I stored the boat with the carcasses of sheep and oxen, and with bread
and drink proportionable, and as much ready-dressed meat as four-hundred
cooks could provide. I took with me cows and bulls, and rams and ewes,
intending to propagate the breed in my own country; and would gladly
have taken a dozen or two of the natives, but this his Majesty would not
permit. Besides making a diligent search in my pockets, his Majesty
engaged my honour "not to carry away any of his subjects, although by
their own desire."
I set sail, and on the third day descried a sail steering to the
south-east. I made all the sail I could, and in half an hour she espied
me and flung out her flag and fired a gun.
My heart leaped within me to see her English colours, and putting my
cows and sheep into my pockets, I soon got on board with all my
provisions.
The Captain, a very civil man, and an excellent sailor, treated me with
kindness, and we arrived in England with only one misfortune: the rats
carried off one of my sheep. The rest I got safely ashore, and made a
considerable profit in showing them to persons of quality, and before I
began my second voyage I sold them for six hundred pounds.
I stayed but two months with my wife and family, for my insatiable
desire of seeing foreign countries would suffer me to stay no longer. I
left fifteen hundred pounds with my wife; my uncle had left me a small
estate near Epping of about thirty pounds a year, and I had a long lease
of the Black Bull in Fetter Lane; so that I was in no danger of leaving
my wife and family upon the parish. My son Johnny was at the grammar
school, and a towardly child. My daughter Betty (who is now well
married) was then at her needlework.
I took leave of them with tears on both sides, and went on board the
Adventure, a merchant ship of 300 tons, bound for Surat.
-III.--A Voyage to Brobdingnag-
We made a good voyage, until we had passed the Straits of Madagascar,
when the southern monsoon set in, and we were driven many leagues out of
our course. Being in distress for water, and coming in sight of land,
some of us went on shore in search of it. I walked alone about a mile,
when, seeing nothing to satisfy my curiosity, I was returning when I saw
our men already in the boat, and rowing for life to the ship, with a
huge creature walking after them, the sea up his knees.
I ran off as fast as I could, up a hill, and along what I took for a
highroad, but could see little, on either side the corn rising at least
forty feet, until I came to a stone stile, which it was impossible for
me to climb. I was looking for a gap in the hedge, when I saw one of the
inhabitants in the next field. He seemed as high as an ordinary spire
steeple, and took about ten yards at each step. I ran to hide myself in
the corn, whence I saw him at the stile calling out in a voice which at
first I certainly took for thunder. Seven monsters like himself then
came, and began to reap the field where I lay. I made a shift to get
away, squeezing myself between the stalks, till I came to a part laid by
the rain and wind. It was impossible to advance a step, and I heard the
reapers not a hundred yards behind me. Being quite dispirited with toil,
I lay down and began to bemoan my widow and fatherless children, when
one of the reapers came quite near me, and I screamed as loud as I
could, fearing I should be squashed to death by his foot. He looked
about, and at last espying me, took me carefully behind, between his
finger and thumb, as I myself had done with a weasel in England.
I resolved not to struggle, but ventured to put my hands together in a
supplicating manner, and say some words in a humble, melancholy tone,
and letting him know by my gestures how grievously he pinched my sides.
He seemed to apprehend my meaning, and put me gently in the lapel of his
coat, and ran along to show me to his master, the substantial farmer I
had first seen in the field.
He placed me gently on all fours on the ground, but I immediately got
up, and walked slowly backwards and forwards to let those people see I
had no intent to run away. They all sat down in a circle round me, and
the farmer was soon convinced I was a rational creature, but we were
quite unintelligible to one another. He put me gently in his
handkerchief and took me to show to his wife. She at first screamed, as
women do at a toad, but seeing how well I observed the signs her husband
made, she, by degrees, grew extremely fond of me.
A servant brought in dinner, and the farmer put me on the table. The
wife minced some bread and meat and placed it before me. I made her a
low bow, took out my knife and fork, and fell to eating, which gave them
great delight. The farmer's youngest son, an arch boy of ten, took me up
by the legs and held me so high in the air, that I trembled in every
limb; but the farmer snatched me from him and gave him such a box on the
ear, as would have felled a European troop of horse to the earth.
I fell on my knees, and pointing to the boy made my master understand I
desired his son to be pardoned. The lad took his seat again and I went
and kissed his hand, which my master took and made him stroke me gently
with it.
When dinner was almost done, the nurse came in with a child of a year
old in her arms, who at once began to squall to get me for a plaything.
The mother, out of pure indulgence, held me up to the child, who seized
me by the middle and got my head into his mouth, where I roared so loud,
the urchin was frightened, and let me drop, and I should have infallibly
broke my neck, if the mother had not held her apron underneath.
My mistress, perceiving I was very tired, put me on her own bed after
dinner, and covered me with a clean white handkerchief; I slept, and
dreamed I was at home with my wife and children, which aggravated my
sorrows when I awoke, to find myself alone in a bed twenty feet wide.
Two rats had crept up the curtains, and had the boldness to attack me,
but I had the good fortune to rip one up with my hanger, before he could
do me any mischief, and the other ran away; though not without one good
wound. These creatures were the size of a large mastiff, and infinitely
more nimble and fierce. My mistress was extremely rejoiced to find I was
not hurt, and with her little daughter fitted me up the baby's cradle
against night, which was then placed on a shelf for fear of rats.
The daughter, nine years old, and not above forty feet high, was very
good natured, became my schoolmistress, and called me Grildrig, which
imports in English, mannikin. To her I chiefly owe my preservation: I
called her Glumdalclitch, or Little Nurse, and I heartily wish it was in
my power to requite her care and affection as she deserves, instead of
being, as I have reason to fear, the innocent unhappy instrument of her
disgrace.
My master, being advised to show me as a sight in the next town, I was
carried there in a box by Glumdalclitch on a pillion behind her father,
who, after consulting the inn-keeper, hired the crier to give notice to
the town of a strange creature to be seen not six feet long, resembling
in every part a human creature, could speak several words, and perform a
hundred diverting tricks.
I was shown that day till I was half dead with weariness and vexation,
for those who had seen me made such wonderful reports that the people
were ready to break down the doors to come in.
My master, finding how profitable I was likely to be, showed me in all
the considerable towns in the kingdom, till observing that I was almost
reduced to a skeleton, concluded I must soon die, and sold me to the
Queen for a thousand pieces of gold. Her Majesty asked me "whether I
should be content to live at Court?" I bowed down to the table, and
humbly answered, "I should be proud to devote my life to her Majesty's
service," and begged the favour that Glumdalclitch might be admitted
into her service and continue to be my nurse and instructor.
-IV.--At the Court of Brobdingnag-
Her Majesty agreed, and easily got the farmer's consent, and the poor
girl herself was not able to hide her joy.
The Queen was surprised at so much wit and good sense in so small an
animal, and took me in her own hand to the King, who, though as learned
a person as any in his dominions, conceived I might be a piece of
clockwork, until he heard me speak. He sent for three great scholars,
who, after much debate, concluded that I was only -lusus naturae-; a
determination agreeable to the modern philosophy of Europe, whose
professors have invented this wonderful solution of all difficulties, to
the unspeakable advancement of human knowledge.
I entreated to be heard a word or two, and assured them that I came from
a country where everything was in proportion, and where, in consequence,
I might defend myself and find sustenance. To which they only replied,
with a smile of contempt, saying, "that the farmer had instructed me
very well in my lesson." The King, who had a much better understanding,
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