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diff --git a/8571.txt b/8571.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f71de04 --- /dev/null +++ b/8571.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6752 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies, by Washington Irving + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies + +Author: Washington Irving + +Posting Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #8571] +Release Date: July, 2005 +First Posted: July 24, 2003 +Last Updated: December 7, 2005 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOLFERT'S ROOST AND MISCELLANIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, David Widger +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + + +WOLFERT'S ROOST + +AND + +MISCELLANIES + +BY + +WASHINGTON IRVING + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHRONICLE OF WOLFERT'S ROOST + +SLEEPY HOLLOW + +BIRDS OF SPRING + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ALHAMBRA + +ABENCERRAGE + +ENCHANTED ISLAND + +ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES + +NATIONAL NOMENCLATURE + +DESULTORY THOUGHTS ON CRITICISM + +SPANISH ROMANCE + +LEGEND OF DON MUIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA + +COMMUNIPAW + +CONSPIRACY OF THE COCKED HATS + +LEGEND OF COMMUNIPAW + +BERMUDAS, THE + +PELAYO AND THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER + +KNIGHT OF MALTA + +LEGEND OF THE ENGULPHED CONVENT + + + + +COUNT VAN HORN WOLFERT'S ROOST + +AND + +MISCELLANIES. + + +A CHRONICLE OF WOLFERT'S ROOST. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Sir: I have observed that as a man advances in life, he is subject to +a kind of plethora of the mind, doubtless occasioned by the vast +accumulation of wisdom and experience upon the brain. Hence he is apt to +become narrative and admonitory, that is to say, fond of telling long +stories, and of doling out advice, to the small profit and great +annoyance of his friends. As I have a great horror of becoming the +oracle, or, more technically speaking, the "bore," of the domestic +circle, and would much rather bestow my wisdom and tediousness upon the +world at large, I have always sought to ease off this surcharge of the +intellect by means of my pen, and hence have inflicted divers gossiping +volumes upon the patience of the public. I am tired, however, of writing +volumes; they do not afford exactly the relief I require; there is too +much preparation, arrangement, and parade, in this set form of coming +before the public. I am growing too indolent and unambitious for any +thing that requires labor or display. I have thought, therefore, of +securing to myself a snug corner in some periodical work where I might, +as it were, loll at my ease in my elbow-chair, and chat sociably with +the public, as with an old friend, on any chance subject that might pop +into my brain. + +In looking around, for this purpose, upon the various excellent +periodicals with which our country abounds, my eye was struck by the +title of your work--"THE KNICKERBOCKER." My heart leaped at the sight. +DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER, Sir, was one of my earliest and most valued +friends, and the recollection of him is associated with some of the +pleasantest scenes of my youthful days. To explain this, and to show how +I came into possession of sundry of his posthumous works, which I +have from time to time given to the world, permit me to relate a +few particulars of our early intercourse. I give them with the more +confidence, as I know the interest you take in that departed worthy, +whose name and effigy are stamped upon your title-page, and as they will +be found important to the better understanding and relishing divers +communications I may have to make to you. + +My first acquaintance with that great and good man, for such I may +venture to call him, now that the lapse of some thirty years has +shrouded his name with venerable antiquity, and the popular voice has +elevated him to the rank of the classic historians of yore, my first +acquaintance with him was formed on the banks of the Hudson, not far +from the wizard region of Sleepy Hollow. He had come there in the course +of his researches among the Dutch neighborhoods for materials for his +immortal history. For this purpose, he was ransacking the archives of +one of the most ancient and historical mansions in the country. It was +a lowly edifice, built in the time of the Dutch dynasty, and stood on a +green bank, overshadowed by trees, from which it peeped forth upon the +Great Tappan Zee, so famous among early Dutch navigators. A bright +pure spring welled up at the foot of the green bank; a wild brook came +babbling down a neighboring ravine, and threw itself into a little woody +cove, in front of the mansion. It was indeed as quiet and sheltered a +nook as the heart of man could require, in which to take refuge from the +cares and troubles of the world; and as such, it had been chosen in old +times, by Wolfert Acker, one of the privy councillors of the renowned +Peter Stuyvesant. + +This worthy but ill-starred man had led a weary and worried life, +throughout the stormy reign of the chivalric Peter, being one of those +unlucky wights with whom the world is ever at variance, and who are kept +in a continual fume and fret, by the wickedness of mankind. At the time +of the subjugation of the province by the English, he retired hither in +high dudgeon; with the bitter determination to bury himself from the +world, and live here in peace and quietness for the remainder of his +days. In token of this fixed resolution, he inscribed over his door the +favorite Dutch motto, "Lust in Rust," (pleasure in repose.) The mansion +was thence called "Wolfert's Rust"--Wolfert's Rest; but in process of +time, the name was vitiated into Wolfert's Roost, probably from its +quaint cock-loft look, or from its having a weather-cock perched on +every gable. This name it continued to bear, long after the unlucky +Wolfert was driven forth once more upon a wrangling world, by the +tongue of a termagant wife; for it passed into a proverb through the +neighborhood, and has been handed down by tradition, that the cock of +the Roost was the most hen-pecked bird in the country. + +This primitive and historical mansion has since passed through many +changes and trials, which it may be my lot hereafter to notice. At the +time of the sojourn of Diedrich Knickerbocker it was in possession of +the gallant family of the Van Tassels, who have figured so conspicuously +in his writings. What appears to have given it peculiar value, in his +eyes, was the rich treasury of historical facts here secretly hoarded +up, like buried gold; for it is said that Wolfert Acker, when he +retreated from New Amsterdam, carried off with him many of the records +and journals of the province, pertaining to the Dutch dynasty; swearing +that they should never fall into the hands of the English. These, like +the lost books of Livy, had baffled the research of former historians; +but these did I find the indefatigable Diedrich diligently deciphering. +He was already a sage in year's and experience, I but an idle stripling; +yet he did not despise my youth and ignorance, but took me kindly by the +hand, and led me gently into those paths of local and traditional lore +which he was so fond of exploring. I sat with him in his little chamber +at the Roost, and watched the antiquarian patience and perseverance +with which he deciphered those venerable Dutch documents, worse than +Herculanean manuscripts. I sat with him by the spring, at the foot of +the green bank, and listened to his heroic tales about the worthies of +the olden time, the paladins of New Amsterdam. I accompanied him in his +legendary researches about Tarrytown and Sing-Sing, and explored with +him the spell-bound recesses of Sleepy Hollow. I was present at many of +his conferences with the good old Dutch burghers and their wives, from +whom he derived many of those marvelous facts not laid down in books +or records, and which give such superior value and authenticity to his +history, over all others that have been written concerning the New +Netherlands. + +But let me check my proneness to dilate upon this favorite theme; I may +recur to it hereafter. Suffice it to say, the intimacy thus formed, +continued for a considerable time; and in company with the worthy +Diedrich, I visited many of the places celebrated by his pen. The +currents of our lives at length diverged. He remained at home to +complete his mighty work, while a vagrant fancy led me to wander about +the world. Many, many years elapsed, before I returned to the parent +soil. In the interim, the venerable historian of the New Netherlands +had been gathered to his fathers, but his name had risen to renown. His +native city, that city in which he so much delighted, had decreed all +manner of costly honors to his memory. I found his effigy imprinted upon +new-year cakes, and devoured with eager relish by holiday urchins; a +great oyster-house bore the name of "Knickerbocker Hall;" and I narrowly +escaped the pleasure of being run over by a Knickerbocker omnibus! + +Proud of having associated with a man who had achieved such greatness, +I now recalled our early intimacy with tenfold pleasure, and sought to +revisit the scenes we had trodden together. The most important of +these was the mansion of the Van Tassels, the Roost of the unfortunate +Wolfert. Time, which changes all things, is but slow in its operations +upon a Dutchman's dwelling. I found the venerable and quaint little +edifice much as I had seen it during the sojourn of Diedrich. There +stood his elbow-chair in the corner of the room he had occupied; +the old-fashioned Dutch writing-desk at which he had pored over the +chronicles of the Manhattoes; there was the old wooden chest, with the +archives left by Wolfert Acker, many of which, however, had been fired +off as wadding from the long duck gun of the Van Tassels. The scene +around the mansion was still the same; the green bank; the spring beside +which I had listened to the legendary narratives of the historian; the +wild brook babbling down to the woody cove, and the overshadowing locust +trees, half shutting out the prospect of the great Tappan Zee. + +As I looked round upon the scene, my heart yearned at the recollection +of my departed friend, and I wistfully eyed the mansion which he had +inhabited, and which was fast mouldering to decay. The thought struck me +to arrest the desolating hand of Time; to rescue the historic pile from +utter ruin, and to make it the closing scene of my wanderings; a quiet +home, where I might enjoy "lust in rust" for the remainder of my days. +It is true, the fate of the unlucky Wolfert passed across my mind; but +I consoled myself with the reflection that I was a bachelor, and that I +had no termagant wife to dispute the sovereignty of the Roost with me. + +I have become possessor of the Roost! I have repaired and renovated it +with religious care, in the genuine Dutch style, and have adorned and +illustrated it with sundry reliques of the glorious days of the New +Netherlands. A venerable weathercock, of portly Dutch dimensions, +which once battled with the wind on the top of the Stadt-House of New +Amsterdam, in the time of Peter Stuyvesant, now erects its crest on +the gable end of my edifice; a gilded horse in full gallop, once the +weathercock of the great Vander Heyden Palace of Albany, now glitters in +the sunshine, and veers with every breeze, on the peaked turret over +my portal; my sanctum sanctorum is the chamber once honored by the +illustrious Diedrich, and it is from his elbow-chair, and his identical +old Dutch writing-desk, that I pen this rambling epistle. + +Here, then, have I set up my rest, surrounded by the recollections of +early days, and the mementoes of the historian of the Manhattoes, with +that glorious river before me, which flows with such majesty through his +works, and which has ever been to me a river of delight. + +I thank God I was born on the banks of the Hudson! I think it an +invaluable advantage to be born and brought up in the neighborhood of +some grand and noble object in nature; a river, a lake, or a mountain. +We make a friendship with it, we in a manner ally ourselves to it for +life. It remains an object of our pride and affections, a rallying +point, to call us home again after all our wanderings. "The things which +we have learned in our childhood," says an old writer, "grow up with our +souls, and unite themselves to it." So it is with the scenes among which +we have passed our early days; they influence the whole course of our +thoughts and feelings; and I fancy I can trace much of what is good and +pleasant in my own heterogeneous compound to my early companionship with +this glorious river. In the warmth of my youthful enthusiasm, I used to +clothe it with moral attributes, and almost to give it a soul. I admired +its frank, bold, honest character; its noble sincerity and perfect +truth. Here was no specious, smiling surface, covering the dangerous +sand-bar or perfidious rock; but a stream deep as it was broad, and +bearing with honorable faith the bark that trusted to its waves. I +gloried in its simple, quiet, majestic, epic flow; ever straight +forward. Once, indeed, it turns aside for a moment, forced from its +course by opposing mountains, but it struggles bravely through them, and +immediately resumes its straightforward march. Behold, thought I, an +emblem of a good man's course through life; ever simple, open, and +direct; or if, overpowered by adverse circumstances, he deviate into +error, it is but momentary; he soon recovers his onward and honorable +career, and continues it to the end of his pilgrimage. + +Excuse this rhapsody, into which I have been betrayed by a revival of +early feelings. The Hudson is, in a manner, my first and last love; and +after all my wanderings and seeming infidelities, I return to it with a +heart-felt preference over all the other rivers in the world. I seem +to catch new life as I bathe in its ample billows and inhale the pure +breezes of its hills. It is true, the romance of youth is past, that +once spread illusions over every scene. I can no longer picture an +Arcadia in every green valley; nor a fairy land among the distant +mountains; nor a peerless beauty in every villa gleaming among the +trees; but though the illusions of youth have faded from the landscape, +the recollections of departed years and departed pleasures shed over it +the mellow charm of evening sunshine. + +Permit me, then, Mr. Editor, through the medium of your work, to +hold occasional discourse from my retreat with the busy world I have +abandoned. I have much to say about what I have seen, heard, felt, and +thought through the course of a varied and rambling life, and some +lucubrations that have long been encumbering my portfolio; together with +divers reminiscences of the venerable historian of the New Netherlands, +that may not be unacceptable to those who have taken an interest in his +writings, and are desirous of any thing that may cast a light back upon +our early history. Let your readers rest assured of one thing, that, +though retired from the world, I am not disgusted with it; and that if +in my communings with it I do not prove very wise, I trust I shall at +least prove very good-natured. + +Which is all at present, from + +Yours, etc., + +GEOFFREY CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Worthy Sir: In a preceding communication, I have given you some brief +notice of Wolfert's Roost, the mansion where I first had the good +fortune to become acquainted with the venerable historian of the New +Netherlands. As this ancient edifice is likely to be the place whence +I shall date many of my lucubrations, and as it is really a very +remarkable little pile, intimately connected with all the great epochs +of our local and national history, I have thought it but right to give +some farther particulars concerning it. Fortunately, in rummaging a +ponderous Dutch chest of drawers, which serves as the archives of the +Roost, and in which are preserved many inedited manuscripts of Mr. +KNICKERBOCKER, together with the precious records of New-Amsterdam, +brought hither by Wolfert Acker at the downfall of the Dutch dynasty, +as has been already mentioned, I found in one corner, among dried +pumpkin-seeds, bunches of thyme, and pennyroyal, and crumbs of new-year +cakes, a manuscript, carefully wrapped up in the fragment of an old +parchment deed, but much blotted, and the ink grown foxy by time, which, +on inspection, I discovered to be a faithful chronicle of the Roost. The +hand-writing, and certain internal evidences, leave no doubt in my +mind, that it is a genuine production of the venerable historian of the +New-Netherlands, written, very probably, during his residence at the +Roost, in gratitude for the hospitality of its proprietor. As such, I +submit it for publication. As the entire chronicle is too long for the +pages of your Magazine, and as it contains many minute particulars, +which might prove tedious to the general reader, I have abbreviated and +occasionally omitted some of its details; but may hereafter furnish +them separately, should they seem to be required by the curiosity of an +enlightened and document-hunting public. Respectfully yours, GEOFFREY +CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +A CHRONICLE OF WOLFERT'S ROOST. + +FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER. + +About five-and-twenty miles from the ancient and renowned city of +Manhattan, formerly called New-Amsterdam, and vulgarly called New-York, +on the eastern bank of that expansion of the Hudson, known among +Dutch mariners of yore, as the Tappan Zee, being in fact the great +Mediterranean Sea of the New-Netherlands, stands a little old-fashioned +stone mansion, all made up of gable-ends, and as full of angles and +corners as an old cocked hat. Though but of small dimensions, yet, like +many small people, it is of mighty spirit, and values itself greatly on +its antiquity, being one of the oldest edifices, for its size, in the +whole country. It claims to be an ancient seat of empire, I may rather +say an empire in itself, and like all empires, great and small, has had +its grand historical epochs. In speaking of this doughty and valorous +little pile, I shall call it by its usual appellation of "The Roost;" +though that is a name given to it in modern days, since it became the +abode of the white man. + +Its origin, in truth, dates far back in that remote region commonly +called the fabulous age, in which vulgar fact becomes mystified, and +tinted up with delectable fiction. The eastern shore of the Tappan Sea +was inhabited in those days by an unsophisticated race, existing in all +the simplicity of nature; that is to say, they lived by hunting and +fishing, and recreated themselves occasionally with a little tomahawking +and scalping. Each stream that flows down from the hills into the +Hudson, had its petty sachem, who ruled over a hand's-breadth of forest +on either side, and had his seat of government at its mouth. The +chieftain who ruled at the Roost, was not merely a great warrior, but a +medicine-man, or prophet, or conjurer, for they all mean the same thing, +in Indian parlance. Of his fighting propensities, evidences still +remain, in various arrowheads of flint, and stone battle-axes, +occasionally digged up about the Roost: of his wizard powers, we have a +token in a spring which wells up at the foot of the bank, on the +very margin of the river, which, it is said, was gifted by him with +rejuvenating powers, something like the renowned Fountain of Youth in +the Floridas, so anxiously but vainly sought after by the veteran Ponce +de Leon. This story, however, is stoutly contradicted by an old Dutch +matter-of-fact tradition, which declares that the spring in question was +smuggled over from Holland in a churn, by Femmetie Van Slocum, wife of +Goosen Garret Van Slocum, one of the first settlers, and that she took +it up by night, unknown to her husband, from beside their farm-house +near Rotterdam; being sure she should find no water equal to it in the +new country--and she was right. + +The wizard sachem had a great passion for discussing territorial +questions, and settling boundary lines; this kept him in continual feud +with the neighboring sachems, each of whom stood up stoutly for his +hand-breadth of territory; so that there is not a petty stream nor +ragged hill in the neighborhood, that has not been the subject of long +talks and hard battles. The sachem, however, as has been observed, was a +medicine-man, as well as warrior, and vindicated his claims by arts +as well as arms; so that, by dint of a little hard fighting here, and +hocus-pocus there, he managed to extend his boundary-line from field +to field and stream to stream, until he found himself in legitimate +possession of that region of hills and valleys, bright fountains and +limpid brooks, locked in by the mazy windings of the Neperan and the +Pocantico. [Footnote: As every one may not recognize these boundaries +by their original Indian names, it may be well to observe, that the +Neperan is that beautiful stream, vulgarly called the Saw-Mill River, +which, after winding gracefully for many miles through a lovely valley, +shrouded by groves, and dotted by Dutch farm-houses, empties itself +into the Hudson, at the ancient drop of Yonkers. The Pocantico is that +hitherto nameless brook, that, rising among woody hills, winds in many a +wizard maze through the sequestered banks of Sleepy Hollow. We owe it to +the indefatigable researches of Mr. KNICKERBOCKER, that those beautiful +streams are rescued from modern common-place, and reinvested with their +ancient Indian names. The correctness of the venerable historian may be +ascertained, by reference to the records of the original Indian grants +to the Herr Frederick Philipsen, preserved in the county clerk's office, +at White Plains.] + +This last-mentioned stream, or rather the valley through which it flows, +was the most difficult of all his acquisitions. It lay half way to the +strong-hold of the redoubtable sachem of Sing-Sing, and was claimed by +him as an integral part of his domains. Many were the sharp conflicts +between the rival chieftains for the sovereignty of this valley, and +many the ambuscades, surprisals, and deadly onslaughts that took place +among its fastnesses, of which it grieves me much that I cannot furnish +the details for the gratification of those gentle but bloody-minded +readers of both sexes, who delight in the romance of the tomahawk and +scalping-knife. Suffice it to say that the wizard chieftain was at +length victorious, though his victory is attributed in Indian tradition +to a great medicine or charm by which he laid the sachem of Sing-Sing +and his warriors asleep among the rocks and recesses of the valley, +where they remain asleep to the present day with their bows and +war-clubs beside them. This was the origin of that potent and drowsy +spell which still prevails over the valley of the Pocantico, and which +has gained it the well-merited appellation of Sleepy Hollow. Often, in +secluded and quiet parts of that valley, where the stream is overhung by +dark woods and rocks, the ploughman, on some calm and sunny day as +he shouts to his oxen, is surprised at hearing faint shouts from the +hill-sides in reply; being, it is said, the spell-bound warriors, who +half start from their rocky couches and grasp their weapons, but sink to +sleep again. + +The conquest of the Pocantico was the last triumph of the wizard sachem. +Notwithstanding all his medicine and charms, he fell in battle in +attempting to extend his boundary line to the east so as to take in the +little wild valley of the Sprain, and his grave is still shown near the +banks of that pastoral stream. He left, however, a great empire to his +successors, extending along the Tappan Zee, from Yonkers quite to Sleepy +Hollow; all which delectable region, if every one had his right, would +still acknowledge allegiance to the lord of the Roost--whoever he might +be. [Footnote: In recording the contest for the sovereignty of Sleepy +Hollow, I have called one sachem by the modern name of his castle or +strong-hold, viz.: Sing-Sing. This, I would observe for the sake +of historical exactness, is a corruption of the old Indian name, +O-sin-sing, or rather O-sin-song; that is to say, a place where any +thing may be had for a song--a great recommendation for a market town. +The modern and melodious alteration of the name to Sing-Sing is said to +have been made in compliment to an eminent Methodist singing-master, who +first introduced into the neighborhood the art of singing through the +nose. D. K.] + +The wizard sachem was succeeded by a line of chiefs, of whom nothing +remarkable remains on record. The last who makes any figure in history +is the one who ruled here at the time of the discovery of the country by +the white man. This sachem is said to have been a renowned trencherman, +who maintained almost as potent a sway by dint of good feeding as his +warlike predecessor had done by hard fighting. He diligently cultivated +the growth of oysters along the aquatic borders of his territories, and +founded those great oyster-beds which yet exist along the shores of the +Tappan Zee. Did any dispute occur between him and a neighboring sachem, +he invited him and all his principal sages and fighting-men to a solemn +banquet, and seldom failed of feeding them into terms. Enormous heaps of +oyster-shells, which encumber the lofty banks of the river, remain as +monuments of his gastronomical victories, and have been occasionally +adduced through mistake by amateur geologists from town, as additional +proofs of the deluge. Modern investigators, who are making such +indefatigable researches into our early history, have even affirmed that +this sachem was the very individual on whom Master Hendrick Hudson and +his mate, Robert Juet, made that sage and astounding experiment so +gravely recorded by the latter in his narrative of the voyage: "Our +master and his mate determined to try some of the cheefe men of the +country whether they had any treacherie in them. So they took them down +into the cabin and gave them so much wine and aqua vitae that they +were all very merrie; one of them had his wife with him, which sate so +modestly as any of our countrywomen would do in a strange place. In the +end one of them was drunke; and that was strange to them, for they +could not tell how to take it." [Footnote: See Juet's Journal, Purchas +Pilgrim.] + +How far Master Hendrick Hudson and his worthy mate carried their +experiment with the sachem's wife is not recorded, neither does the +curious Robert Juet make any mention of the after-consequences of this +grand moral test; tradition, however, affirms that the sachem on landing +gave his modest spouse a hearty rib-roasting, according to the connubial +discipline of the aboriginals; it farther affirms that he remained a +hard drinker to the day of his death, trading away all his lands, acre +by acre, for aqua vitae; by which means the Roost and all its domains, +from Yonkers to Sleepy Hollow, came, in the regular course of trade and +by right of purchase, into the possession of the Dutchmen. + +Never has a territorial right in these new countries been more +legitimately and tradefully established; yet, I grieve to say, the +worthy government of the New Netherlands was not suffered to enjoy this +grand acquisition unmolested; for, in the year 1654, the local Yankees +of Connecticut--those swapping, bargaining, squatting enemies of the +Manhattoes--made a daring inroad into this neighborhood and founded a +colony called Westchester, or, as the ancient Dutch records term it, +Vest Dorp, in the right of one Thomas Pell, who pretended to have +purchased the whole surrounding country of the Indians, and stood ready +to argue their claims before any tribunal of Christendom. + +This happened during the chivalrous reign of Peter Stuyvesant, and it +roused the ire of that gunpowder old hero; who, without waiting to +discuss claims and titles, pounced at once upon the nest of nefarious +squatters, carried off twenty-five of them in chains to the Manhattoes, +nor did he stay his hand, nor give rest to his wooden leg, until he had +driven every Yankee back into the bounds of Connecticut, or obliged +him to acknowledge allegiance to their High Mightinesses. He then +established certain out-posts, far in the Indian country, to keep an eye +over these debateable lands; one of these border-holds was the Roost, +being accessible from New Amsterdam by water, and easily kept supplied. +The Yankees, however, had too great a hankering after this delectable +region to give it up entirely. Some remained and swore allegiance to the +Manhattoes; but, while they kept this open semblance of fealty, they +went to work secretly and vigorously to intermarry and multiply, and by +these nefarious means, artfully propagated themselves into possession of +a wide tract of those open, arable parts of Westchester county, lying +along the Sound, where their descendants may be found at the present +day; while the mountainous regions along the Hudson, with the valleys +of the Neperan and the Pocantico, are tenaciously held by the lineal +descendants of the Copperheads. + + * * * * * + +The chronicle of the venerable Diedrich here goes on to relate how that, +shortly after the above-mentioned events, the whole province of the New +Netherlands 'was subjugated by the British; how that Wolfert Acker, one +of the wrangling councillors of Peter Stuyvesant, retired in dudgeon to +this fastness in the wilderness, determining to enjoy "lust in rust" for +the remainder of his days, whence the place first received its name of +Wolfert's Roost. As these and sundry other matters have been laid before +the public in a preceding article, I shall pass them over, and resume +the chronicle where it treats of matters not hitherto recorded: + +Like many men who retire from a worrying world, says DIEDRICH +KNICKERBOCKER, to enjoy quiet in the country, Wolfert Acker soon found +himself up to the ears in trouble. He had a termagant wife at home, +and there was what is profanely called "the deuce to pay," abroad. The +recent irruption of the Yankees into the bounds of the New Netherlands, +had left behind it a doleful pestilence, such as is apt to follow the +steps of invading armies. This was the deadly plague of witchcraft, +which had long been prevalent to the eastward. The malady broke out at +Vest Dorp, and threatened to spread throughout the country. The Dutch +burghers along the Hudson, from Yonkers to Sleepy Hollow, hastened to +nail horseshoes to their doors, which have ever been found of sovereign +virtue to repel this awful visitation. This is the origin of the +horse-shoes which may still be seen nailed to the doors of barns and +farmhouses, in various parts of this sage and sober-thoughted region. + +The evil, however, bore hard upon the Roost; partly, perhaps, from its +having in old times been subject to supernatural influences, during the +sway of the Wizard Sachem; but it has always, in fact, been considered a +fated mansion. The unlucky Wolfert had no rest day nor night. When the +weather was quiet all over the country, the wind would howl and whistle +round his roof; witches would ride and whirl upon his weathercocks, and +scream down his chimneys. His cows gave bloody milk, and his horses +broke bounds, and scampered into the woods. There were not wanting evil +tongues to whisper that Wolfert's termagant wife had some tampering +with the enemy; and that she even attended a witches' Sabbath in Sleepy +Hollow; nay, a neighbor, who lived hard by, declared that he saw her +harnessing a rampant broom-stick, and about to ride to the meeting; +though others presume it was merely flourished in the course of one of +her curtain lectures, to give energy and emphasis to a period. Certain +it is, that Wolfert Acker nailed a horse-shoe to the front door, during +one of her nocturnal excursions, to prevent her return; but as she +re-entered the house without any difficulty, it is probable she was +not so much of a witch as she was represented. [Footnote: HISTORICAL +NOTE.--The annexed extracts from the early colonial records, relate to +the irruption of witchcraft into Westchester county, as mentioned in the +chronicle: + +"JULY 7, 1670.--Katharine Harryson, accused of witchcraft on complaint of +Thomas Hunt and Edward Waters, in behalf of the town, who pray that she +may be driven from the town of Westchester. The woman appears before +the council.... She was a native of England, and had lived a year in +Weathersfield, Connecticut, where she had been tried for witchcraft, +found guilty by the jury, acquitted by the bench, and released out of +prison, upon condition she would remove. Affair adjourned. + +"AUGUST 24.--Affair taken up again, when, being heard at large, it was +referred to the general court of assize. Woman ordered to give security +for good behavior," etc. + +In another place is the following entry: + +"Order given for Katharine Harryson, charged with witchcraft, to leave +Westchester, as the inhabitants are uneasy at her residing there, and +she is ordered to go off."] + +After the time of Wolfert Acker, a long interval elapses, about which +but little is known. It is hoped, however, that the antiquarian +researches so diligently making in every part of this new country, may +yet throw some light upon what may be termed the Dark Ages of the Roost. + +The next period at which we find this venerable and eventful pile rising +to importance, and resuming its old belligerent character, is during the +revolutionary war. It was at that time owned by Jacob Van Tassel, or Van +Texel, as the name was originally spelled, after the place in Holland +which gave birth to this heroic line. He was strong-built, long-limbed, +and as stout in soul as in body; a fit successor to the warrior sachem +of yore, and, like him, delighting in extravagant enterprises and hardy +deeds of arms. But, before I enter upon the exploits of this worthy cock +of the Boost, it is fitting I should throw some light upon the state of +the mansion, and of the surrounding country, at the time. + +The situation of the Roost is in the very heart of what was the +debateable ground between the American and British lines, during the +war. The British held possession of the city of New York, and the island +of Manhattan on which it stands. The Americans drew up toward the +Highlands, holding their headquarters at Peekskill. The intervening +country, from Croton River to Spiting Devil Creek, was the debateable +land, subject to be harried by friend and foe, like the Scottish borders +of yore. It is a rugged country, with a line of rocky hills extending +through it, like a back bone, sending ribs on either side; but among +these rude hills are beautiful winding valleys, like those watered by +the Pocantico and the Neperan. In the fastnesses of these hills, +and along these valleys, exist a race of hard-headed, hard-handed, +stout-hearted Dutchmen, descendants of the primitive Nederlanders. Most +of these were strong whigs throughout the war, and have ever remained +obstinately attached to the soil, and neither to be fought nor bought +out of their paternal acres. Others were tories, and adherents to the +old kingly rule; some of whom took refuge within the British lines, +joined the royal bands of refugees, a name odious to the American ear, +and occasionally returned to harass their ancient neighbors. + +In a little while, this debateable land was overrun by predatory bands +from either side; sacking hen-roosts, plundering farm-houses, and +driving off cattle. Hence arose those two great orders of border +chivalry, the Skinners and the Cowboys, famous in the heroic annals of +Westchester county. The former fought, or rather marauded, under the +American, the latter under the British banner; but both, in the hurry of +their military ardor, were apt to err on the safe side, and rob friend +as well as foe. Neither of them stopped to ask the politics of horse or +cow, which they drove into captivity; nor, when they wrung the neck of +a rooster, did they trouble their heads to ascertain whether he were +crowing for Congress or King George. + +While this marauding system prevailed on shore, the Great Tappan Sea, +which washes this belligerent region, was domineered over by British +frigates and other vessels of war, anchored here and there, to keep an +eye upon the river, and maintain a communication between the various +military posts. Stout galleys, also, armed with eighteen-pounders, and +navigated with sails and oars, cruised about like hawks, ready to pounce +upon their prey. + +All these were eyed with bitter hostility by the Dutch yeomanry along +shore, who were indignant at seeing their great Mediterranean ploughed +by hostile prows; and would occasionally throw up a mud breast-work on a +point or promontory, mount an old iron field-piece, and fire away at the +enemy, though the greatest harm was apt to happen to themselves from the +bursting of their ordnance; nay, there was scarce a Dutchman along the +river that would hesitate to fire with his long duck gun at any British +cruiser that came within reach, as he had been accustomed to fire at +water-fowl. + +I have been thus particular in my account of the times and neighborhood, +that the reader might the more readily comprehend the surrounding +dangers in this the Heroic Age of the Roost. + +It was commanded at the time, as I have already observed, by the stout +Jacob Van Tassel. As I wish to be extremely accurate in this part of +my chronicle, I beg that this Jacob Van Tassel of the Roost may not be +confounded with another Jacob Van Tassel, commonly known in border story +by the name of "Clump-footed Jake," a noted tory, and one of the refugee +band of Spiting Devil. On the contrary, he of the Roost was a patriot of +the first water, and, if we may take his own word for granted, a thorn +in the side of the enemy. As the Roost, from its lonely situation on the +water's edge, might be liable to attack, he took measures for defence. +On a row of hooks above his fire-place, reposed his great piece of +ordnance, ready charged and primed for action. This was a duck, or +rather goose-gun, of unparalleled longitude, with which it was said he +could kill a wild goose, though half-way across the Tappan Sea. Indeed, +there are as many wonders told of this renowned gun, as of the enchanted +weapons of the heroes of classic story. + +In different parts of the stone walls of his mansion, he had made +loop-holes, through which he might fire upon an assailant. His wife was +stout-hearted as himself, and could load as fast as he could fire; and +then he had an ancient and redoubtable sister, Nochie Van Wurmer, a +match, as he said, for the stoutest man in the country. Thus garrisoned, +the little Roost was fit to stand a siege, and Jacob Van Tassel was the +man to defend it to the last charge of powder. + +He was, as I have already hinted, of pugnacious propensities; and, not +content with being a patriot at home, and fighting for the security of +his own fireside, he extended his thoughts abroad, and entered into a +confederacy with certain of the bold, hard-riding lads of Tarrytown, +Petticoat Lane, and Sleepy Hollow, who formed a kind of Holy +Brotherhood, scouring the country to clear it of Skinner and Cow-boy, +and all other border vermin. The Roost was one of their rallying points. +Did a band of marauders from Manhattan island come sweeping through the +neighborhood, and driving off cattle, the stout Jacob and his compeers +were soon clattering at their heels, and fortunate did the rogues esteem +themselves if they could but get a part of their booty across the lines, +or escape themselves without a rough handling. Should the mosstroopers +succeed in passing with their cavalcade, with thundering tramp and dusty +whirlwind, across Kingsbridge, the Holy Brotherhood of the Roost would +rein up at that perilous pass, and, wheeling about, would indemnify +themselves by foraging the refugee region of Morrisania. + +When at home at the Roost, the stout Jacob was not idle; but was prone +to carry on a petty warfare of his own, for his private recreation and +refreshment. Did he ever chance to espy, from his look-out place, a +hostile ship or galley anchored or becalmed near shore, he would take +down his long goose-gun from the hooks over the fire-place, sally +out alone, and lurk along shore, dodging behind rocks and trees, and +watching for hours together, like a veteran mouser intent on a rat-hole. +So sure as a boat put off for shore, and came within shot, bang! went +the great goose-gun; a shower of slugs and buck-shot whistled about the +ears of the enemy, and before the boat could reach the shore, Jacob had +scuttled up some woody ravine, and left no trace behind. About this +time, the Roost experienced a vast accession of warlike importance, in +being made one of the stations of the water-guard. This was a kind of +aquatic corps of observation, composed of long, sharp, canoe-shaped +boats, technically called whale-boats, that lay lightly on the water, +and could be rowed with great rapidity. They were manned by resolute +fellows, skilled at pulling an oar, or handling a musket. These lurked +about in nooks and bays, and behind those long promontories which run +out into the Tappan Sea, keeping a look-out, to give notice of the +approach or movements of hostile ships. They roved about in pairs; +sometimes at night, with muffled oars, gliding like spectres about +frigates and guard-ships riding at anchor, cutting off any boats that +made for shore, and keeping the enemy in constant uneasiness. These +mosquito-cruisers generally kept aloof by day, so that their harboring +places might not be discovered, but would pull quietly along, under +shadow of the shore, at night, to take up their quarters at the Roost. +Hither, at such time, would also repair the hard-riding lads of the +hills, to hold secret councils of war with the "ocean chivalry;" and in +these nocturnal meetings were concerted many of those daring forays, by +land and water, that resounded throughout the border. + + * * * * * + +The chronicle here goes on to recount divers wonderful stories of the +wars of the Roost, from which it would seem, that this little warrior +nest carried the terror of its arms into every sea, from Spiting Devil +Creek to Antony's Nose; that it even bearded the stout island of +Manhattan, invading it at night, penetrating to its centre, and burning +down the famous Delancey house, the conflagration of which makes such a +blaze in revolutionary history. Nay more, in their extravagant daring, +these cocks of the Roost meditated a nocturnal descent upon New York +itself, to swoop upon the British commanders, Howe and Clinton, by +surprise, bear them off captive, and perhaps put a triumphant close to +the war! + +All these and many similar exploits are recorded by the worthy Diedrich, +with his usual minuteness and enthusiasm, whenever the deeds in arms of +his kindred Dutchmen are in question; but though most of these warlike +stories rest upon the best of all authority, that of the warriors +themselves, and though many of them are still current among the +revolutionary patriarchs of this heroic neighborhood, yet I dare not +expose them to the incredulity of a tamer and less chivalric age, +Suffice it to say, the frequent gatherings at the Roost, and the hardy +projects set on foot there, at length drew on it the fiery indignation +of the enemy; and this was quickened by the conduct of the stout Jacob +Van Tassel; with whose valorous achievements we resume the course of the +chronicle. + + * * * * * + +THIS doughty Dutchman, continues the sage DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER, was +not content with taking a share in all the magnanimous enterprises +concocted at the Roost, but still continued his petty warfare along +shore. A series of exploits at length raised his confidence in his +prowess to such a height, that he began to think himself and his +goose-gun a match for any thing. Unluckily, in the course of one of his +prowlings, he descried a British transport aground, not far from shore, +with her stern swung toward the land, within point-blank shot. The +temptation was too great to be resisted; bang! as usual, went the great +goose-gun, shivering the cabin windows, and driving all hands forward. +Bang! bang! the shots were repeated. The reports brought several +sharp-shooters of the neighborhood to the spot; before the transport +could bring a gun to bear, or land a boat, to take revenge, she was +soundly peppered, and the coast evacuated. This was the last of Jacob's +triumphs. He fared like some heroic spider, that has unwittingly +ensnared a hornet, to his immortal glory, perhaps, but to the utter ruin +of his web. + +It was not long after this, during the absence of Jacob Van Tassel on +one of his forays, and when no one was in garrison but his stout-hearted +spouse, his redoubtable sister, Nochie Van Wurmer, and a strapping negro +wench, called Dinah, that an armed vessel came to anchor off the Roost, +and a boat full of men pulled to shore. The garrison flew to arms, that +is to say, to mops, broom-sticks, shovels, tongs, and all kinds of +domestic weapons; for, unluckily, the great piece of ordnance, the +goose-gun, was absent with its owner. Above all, a vigorous defence was +made with that most potent of female weapons, the tongue. Never did +invaded hen-roost make a more vociferous outcry. It was all in vain. The +house was sacked and plundered, fire was set to each corner, and in a +few moments its blaze shed a baleful light far over the Tappan Sea. The +invaders then pounced upon the blooming Laney Van Tassel, the beauty of +the Roost, and endeavored to bear her off to the boat. But here was the +real tug of war. The mother, the aunt, and the strapping negro wench, +all flew to the rescue. The struggle continued down to the very water's +edge; when a voice from the armed vessel at anchor, ordered the spoilers +to let go their hold; they relinquished their prize, jumped into their +boats, and pulled off, and the heroine of the Roost escaped with a mere +rumpling of the feathers. + +The fear of tiring my readers, who may not take such an interest as +myself in these heroic themes, induces me to close here my extracts from +this precious chronicle of the venerable Diedrich. Suffice it briefly to +say, that shortly after the catastrophe of the Roost, Jacob Van Tassel, +in the course of one of his forays, fell into the hands of the British; +was sent prisoner to New York, and was detained in captivity for +the greater part of the war. In the mean time, the Roost remained a +melancholy ruin; its stone walls and brick chimneys alone standing, +blackened by fire, and the resort of bats and owlets. It was not until +the return of peace, when this belligerent neighborhood once more +resumed its quiet agricultural pursuits, that the stout Jacob sought the +scene of his triumphs and disasters; rebuilt the Roost, and reared again +on high its glittering weather-cocks. + +Does any one want further particulars of the fortunes of this eventful +little pile? Let him go to the fountain-head, and drink deep of historic +truth. Reader! the stout Jacob Van Tassel still lives, a venerable, +gray-headed patriarch of the revolution, now in his ninety-fifth year! +He sits by his fireside, in the ancient city of the Manhattoes, and +passes the long winter evenings, surrounded by his children, and +grand-children, and great-grand-children, all listening to his tales of +the border wars, and the heroic days of the Roost. His great goose-gun, +too, is still in existence, having been preserved for many years in a +hollow tree, and passed from hand to hand among the Dutch burghers, as a +precious relique of the revolution. It is now actually in possession of +a contemporary of the stout Jacob, one almost his equal in years, who +treasures it up at his house in the Bowerie of New-Amsterdam, hard by +the ancient rural retreat of the chivalric Peter Stuyvesant. I am not +without hopes of one day seeing this formidable piece of ordinance +restored to its proper station in the arsenal of the Roost. Before +closing this historic document, I cannot but advert to certain notions +and traditions concerning the venerable pile in question. Old-time +edifices are apt to gather odd fancies and superstitions about them, as +they do moss and weather-stains; and this is in a neighborhood a little +given to old-fashioned notions, and who look upon the Roost as somewhat +of a fated mansion. A lonely, rambling, down-hill lane leads to it, +overhung with trees, with a wild brook dashing along, and crossing +and re-crossing it. This lane I found some of the good people of the +neighborhood shy of treading at night; why, I could not for a long time +ascertain; until I learned that one or two of the rovers of the Tappan +Sea, shot by the stout Jacob during the war, had been buried hereabout, +in unconsecrated ground. + +Another local superstition is of a less gloomy kind, and one which I +confess I am somewhat disposed to cherish. The Tappan Sea, in front of +the Roost, is about three miles wide, bordered by a lofty line of waving +and rocky hills. Often, in the still twilight of a summer evening, when +the sea is like glass, with the opposite hills throwing their purple +shadows half across it, a low sound is heard, as of the steady, vigorous +pull of oars, far out in the middle of the stream, though not a boat +is to be descried. This I should have been apt to ascribe to some boat +rowed along under the shadows of the western shore, for sounds are +conveyed to a great distance by water, at such quiet hours, and I can +distinctly hear the baying of the watch-dogs at night, from the farms on +the sides of the opposite mountains. The ancient traditionists of the +neighborhood, however, religiously ascribed these sounds to a judgment +upon one Rumbout Van Dam, of Spiting Devil, who danced and drank late +one Saturday night, at a Dutch quilting frolic, at Kakiat, and set off +alone for home in his boat, on the verge of Sunday morning; swearing he +would not land till he reached Spiting Devil, if it took him a month of +Sundays. He was never seen afterward, but is often heard plying his oars +across the Tappan Sea, a Flying Dutchman on a small scale, suited to +the size of his cruising-ground; being doomed to ply between Kakiat and +Spiting Devil till the day of judgment, but never to reach the land. + +There is one room in the mansion which almost overhangs the river, and +is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a young lady who died of love +and green apples. I have been awakened at night by the sound of oars and +the tinkling of guitars beneath the window; and seeing a boat loitering +in the moonlight, have been tempted to believe it the Flying Dutchman of +Spiting Devil, and to try whether a silver bullet might not put an end +to his unhappy cruisings; but, happening to recollect that there was a +living young lady in the haunted room, who might be terrified by the +report of fire-arms, I have refrained from pulling trigger. + +As to the enchanted fountain, said to have been gifted by the wizard +sachem with supernatural powers, it still wells up at the foot of the +bank, on the margin of the river, and goes by the name of the Indian +spring; but I have my doubts as to its rejuvenating powers, for though +I have drank oft and copiously of it, I cannot boast that I find myself +growing younger. + +GEOFFREY CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +SLEEPY HOLLOW. + +BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. + +HAVING pitched my tent, probably for the remainder of my days, in the +neighborhood of Sleepy Hollow, I am tempted to give some few particulars +concerning that spell-bound region; especially as it has risen to +historic importance under the pen of my revered friend and master, the +sage historian of the New Netherlands. Beside, I find the very existence +of the place has been held in question by many; who, judging from its +odd name and from the odd stories current among the vulgar concerning +it, have rashly deemed the whole to be a fanciful creation, like the +Lubber Land of mariners. I must confess there is some apparent cause for +doubt, in consequence of the coloring given by the worthy Diedrich to +his descriptions of the Hollow; who, in this instance, has departed +a little from his usually sober if not severe style; beguiled, very +probably, by his predilection for the haunts of his youth, and by a +certain lurking taint of romance whenever any thing connected with the +Dutch was to be described. I shall endeavor to make up for this amiable +error on the part of my venerable and venerated friend by presenting the +reader with a more precise and statistical account of the Hollow; though +I am not sure that I shall not be prone to lapse in the end into the +very error I am speaking of, so potent is the witchery of the theme. + +I believe it was the very peculiarity of its name and the idea of +something mystic and dreamy connected with it that first led me in my +boyish ramblings into Sleepy Hollow. The character of the valley seemed +to answer to the name; the slumber of past ages apparently reigned over +it; it had not awakened to the stir of improvement which had put all the +rest of the world in a bustle. Here reigned good, old long-forgotten +fashions; the men were in home-spun garbs, evidently the product of +their own farms and the manufacture of their own wives; the women were +in primitive short gowns and petticoats, with the venerable sun-bonnets +of Holland origin. The lower part of the valley was cut up into small +farms, each consisting of a little meadow and corn-field; an orchard +of sprawling, gnarled apple-trees, and a garden, where the rose, the +marigold, and the hollyhock were permitted to skirt the domains of the +capacious cabbage, the aspiring pea, and the portly pumpkin. Each had +its prolific little mansion teeming with children; with an old hat +nailed against the wall for the housekeeping wren; a motherly hen, under +a coop on the grass-plot, clucking to keep around her a brood of vagrant +chickens; a cool, stone well, with the moss-covered bucket suspended +to the long balancing-pole, according to the antediluvian idea of +hydraulics; and its spinning-wheel humming within doors, the patriarchal +music of home manufacture. + +The Hollow at that time was inhabited by families which had existed +there from the earliest times, and which, by frequent intermarriage, had +become so interwoven, as to make a kind of natural commonwealth. As +the families had grown larger the farms had grown smaller; every new +generation requiring a new subdivision, and few thinking of swarming +from the native hive. In this way that happy golden mean had been +produced, so much extolled by the poets, in which there was no gold and +very little silver. One thing which doubtless contributed to keep up +this amiable mean was a general repugnance to sordid labor. The sage +inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow had read in their Bible, which was the only +book they studied, that labor was originally inflicted upon man as a +punishment of sin; they regarded it, therefore, with pious abhorrence, +and never humiliated themselves to it but in cases of extremity. There +seemed, in fact, to be a league and covenant against it throughout +the Hollow as against a common enemy. Was any one compelled by dire +necessity to repair his house, mend his fences, build a barn, or get in +a harvest, he considered it a great evil that entitled him to call in +the assistance or his friend? He accordingly proclaimed a 'bee' or +rustic gathering, whereupon all his neighbors hurried to his aid like +faithful allies; attacked the task with the desperate energy of lazy men +eager to overcome a job; and, when it was accomplished, fell to eating +and drinking, fiddling and dancing for very joy that so great an amount +of labor had been vanquished with so little sweating of the brow. + +Yet, let it not be supposed that this worthy community was without its +periods of arduous activity. Let but a flock of wild pigeons fly across +the valley and all Sleepy Hollow was wide awake in an instant. +The pigeon season had arrived. Every gun and net was forthwith in +requisition. The flail was thrown down on the barn floor; the spade +rusted in the garden; the plough stood idle in the furrow; every one was +to the hillside and stubble-field at daybreak to shoot or entrap the +pigeons in their periodical migrations. + +So, likewise, let but the word be given that the shad were ascending the +Hudson, and the worthies of the Hollow were to be seen launched in boats +upon the river setting great stakes, and stretching their nets like +gigantic spider-webs half across the stream to the great annoyance +of navigators. Such are the wise provisions of Nature, by which she +equalizes rural affairs. A laggard at the plough is often extremely +industrious with the fowling-piece and fishing-net; and, whenever a man +is an indifferent farmer, he is apt to be a first-rate sportsman. For +catching shad and wild pigeons there were none throughout the country to +compare with the lads of Sleepy Hollow. + +As I have observed, it was the dreamy nature of the name that first +beguiled me in the holiday rovings of boyhood into this sequestered +region. I shunned, however, the populous parts of the Hollow, and sought +its retired haunts far in the foldings of the hills, where the Pocantico +"winds its wizard stream" sometimes silently and darkly through solemn +woodlands; sometimes sparkling between grassy borders in fresh, green +meadows; sometimes stealing along the feet of rugged heights under +the balancing sprays of beech and chestnut trees. A thousand crystal +springs, with which this neighborhood abounds, sent down from the +hill-sides their whimpering rills, as if to pay tribute to the +Pocantico. In this stream I first essayed my unskilful hand at angling. +I loved to loiter along it with rod in hand, watching my float as it +whirled amid the eddies or drifted into dark holes under twisted roots +and sunken logs, where the largest fish are apt to lurk. I delighted +to follow it into the brown accesses of the woods; to throw by my +fishing-gear and sit upon rocks beneath towering oaks and clambering +grape-vines; bathe my feet in the cool current, and listen to the summer +breeze playing among the tree-tops. My boyish fancy clothed all nature +around me with ideal charms, and peopled it with the fairy beings I +had read of in poetry and fable. Here it was I gave full scope to my +incipient habit of day dreaming, and to a certain propensity, to weave +up and tint sober realities with my own whims and imaginings, which has +sometimes made life a little too much like an Arabian tale to me, and +this "working-day world" rather like a region of romance. + +The great gathering-place of Sleepy Hollow in those days was the church. +It stood outside of the Hollow, near the great highway, on a green bank +shaded by trees, with the Pocantico sweeping round it and emptying +itself into a spacious mill-pond. At that time the Sleepy Hollow +church was the only place of worship for a wide neighborhood. It was +a venerable edifice, partly of stone and partly of brick, the latter +having been brought from Holland in the early days of the province, +before the arts in the New Netherlands could aspire to such a +fabrication. On a stone above the porch were inscribed the names of the +founders, Frederick Filipsen, a mighty patroon of the olden time, who +reigned over a wide extent of this neighborhood and held his seat of +power at Yonkers; and his wife, Katrina Van Courtlandt, of the no less +potent line of the Van Courtlandts of Croton, who lorded it over a great +part of the Highlands. + +The capacious pulpit, with its wide-spreading sounding-board, were +likewise early importations from Holland; as also the communion-table, +of massive form and curious fabric. The same might be said of a +weather-cock perched on top of the belfry, and which was considered +orthodox in all windy matters, until a small pragmatical rival was set +up on the other end of the church above the chancel. This latter bore, +and still bears, the initials of Frederick Filipsen, and assumed great +airs in consequence. The usual contradiction ensued that always exists +among church weather-cocks, which can never be brought to agree as to +the point from which the wind blows, having doubtless acquired, from +their position, the Christian propensity to schism and controversy. + +Behind the church, and sloping up a gentle acclivity, was its capacious +burying-ground, in which slept the earliest fathers of this rural +neighborhood. Here were tombstones of the rudest sculpture; on which +were inscribed, in Dutch, the names and virtues of many of the first +settlers, with their portraitures curiously carved in similitude of +cherubs. Long rows of grave-stones, side by side, of similar names, +but various dates, showed that generation after generation of the same +families had followed each other and been garnered together in this last +gathering-place of kindred. + +Let me speak of this quiet grave-yard with all due reverence, for I owe +it amends for the heedlessness of my boyish days. I blush to acknowledge +the thoughtless frolic with which, in company with other whipsters, I +have sported within its sacred bounds during the intervals of worship; +chasing butterflies, plucking wild flowers, or vying with each other +who could leap over the tallest tomb-stones, until checked by the stern +voice of the sexton. + +The congregation was, in those days, of a really rural character. City +fashions were as yet unknown, or unregarded, by the country people +of the neighborhood. Steam-boats had not as yet confounded town with +country. A weekly market-boat from Tarry town, the "Farmers' Daughter," +navigated by the worthy Gabriel Requa, was the only communication +between all these parts and the metropolis. A rustic belle in those days +considered a visit to the city in much the same light as one of our +modern fashionable ladies regards a visit to Europe; an event that may +possibly take place once in the course of a lifetime, but to be hoped +for, rather than expected. Hence the array of the congregation was +chiefly after the primitive fashions existing in Sleepy Hollow; or if, +by chance, there was a departure from the Dutch sun-bonnet, or the +apparition of a bright gown of flowered calico, it caused quite a +sensation throughout the church. As the dominie generally preached by +the hour, a bucket of water was providently placed on a bench near the +door, in summer, with a tin cup beside it, for the solace of those who +might be athirst, either from the heat of the weather, or the drouth of +the sermon. + +Around the pulpit, and behind the communion-table, sat the elders of the +church, reverend, gray-headed, leathern-visaged men, whom I regarded +with awe, as so many apostles. They were stern in their sanctity, kept +a vigilant eye upon my giggling companions and myself, and shook a +rebuking finger at any boyish device to relieve the tediousness of +compulsory devotion. Vain, however, were all their efforts at vigilance. +Scarcely had the preacher held forth for half an hour, on one of his +interminable sermons, than it seemed as if the drowsy influence of +Sleepy Hollow breathed into the place; one by one the congregation sank +into slumber; the sanctified elders leaned back in their pews, spreading +their handkerchiefs over their faces, as if to keep off the flies; while +the locusts in the neighboring trees would spin out their sultry summer +notes, as if in imitation of the sleep-provoking tones of the dominie. + +I have thus endeavored to give an idea of Sleepy Hollow and its church, +as I recollect them to have been in the days of my boyhood. It was in +my stripling days, when a few years had passed over my head, that I +revisited them, in company with the venerable Diedrich. I shall never +forget the antiquarian reverence with which that sage and excellent man +contemplated the church. It seemed as if all his pious enthusiasm for +the ancient Dutch dynasty swelled within his bosom at the sight. +The tears stood in his eyes, as he regarded the pulpit and the +communion-table; even the very bricks that had come from the mother +country, seemed to touch a filial chord within his bosom. He almost +bowed in deference to the stone above the porch, containing the names +of Frederick Filipsen and Katrina Van Courtlandt, regarding it as the +linking together of those patronymic names, once so famous along the +banks of the Hudson; or rather as a key-stone, binding that mighty Dutch +family connexion of yore, one foot of which rested on Yonkers, and the +other on the Groton. Nor did he forbear to notice with admiration, the +windy contest which had been carried on, since time immemorial, and with +real Dutch perseverance, between the two weather-cocks; though I could +easily perceive he coincided with the one which had come from Holland. + +Together we paced the ample church-yard. With deep veneration would +he turn down the weeds and brambles that obscured the modest brown +grave-stones, half sunk in earth, on which were recorded, in Dutch, the +names of the patriarchs of ancient days, the Ackers, the Van Tassels, +and the Van Warts. As we sat on one of the tomb-stones, he recounted to +me the exploits of many of these worthies; and my heart smote me, when I +heard of their great doings in days of yore, to think how heedlessly I +had once sported over their graves. + +From the church, the venerable Diedrich proceeded in his researches up +the Hollow. The genius of the place seemed to hail its future historian. +All nature was alive with gratulation. The quail whistled a greeting +from the corn-field; the robin carolled a song of praise from the +orchard; the loquacious catbird flew from bush to bush, with restless +wing, proclaiming his approach in every variety of note, and anon would +whisk about, and perk inquisitively into his face, as if to get a +knowledge of his physiognomy; the wood-pecker, also, tapped a tattoo on +the hollow apple-tree, and then peered knowingly round the trunk, to +see how the great Diedrich relished his salutation; while the +ground-squirrel scampered along the fence, and occasionally whisked his +tail over his head, by way of a huzza! + +The worthy Diedrich pursued his researches in the valley with +characteristic devotion; entering familiarly into the various cottages, +and gossiping with the simple folk, in the style of their own +simplicity. I confess my heart yearned with admiration, to see so great +a man, in his eager quest after knowledge, humbly demeaning himself +to curry favor with the humblest; sitting patiently on a three-legged +stool, patting the children, and taking a purring grimalkin on his lap, +while he conciliated the good-will of the old Dutch housewife, and drew +from her long ghost stories, spun out to the humming accompaniment of +her wheel. + +His greatest treasure of historic lore, however, was discovered in an +old goblin-looking mill, situated among rocks and waterfalls, with +clanking wheels, and rushing streams, and all kinds of uncouth noises. +A horse-shoe, nailed to the door to keep off witches and evil spirits, +showed that this mill was subject to awful visitations. As we approached +it, an old negro thrust his head, all dabbled with flour, out of a hole +above the water-wheel, and grinned, and rolled his eyes, and looked like +the very hobgoblin of the place. The illustrious Diedrich fixed upon +him, at once, as the very one to give him that invaluable kind of +information never to be acquired from books. He beckoned him from his +nest, sat with him by the hour on a broken mill-stone, by the side of +the waterfall, heedless of the noise of the water, and the clatter +of the mill; and I verily believe it was to his conference with this +African sage, and the precious revelations of the good dame of the +spinning-wheel, that we are indebted for the surprising though true +history of Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman, which has since +astounded and edified the world. + +But I have said enough of the good old times of my youthful days; let me +speak of the Hollow as I found it, after an absence of many years, +when it was kindly given me once more to revisit the haunts of my +boyhood. It was a genial day, as I approached that fated region. The +warm sunshine was tempered by a slight haze, so as to give a dreamy +effect to the landscape. Not a breath of air shook the foliage. The +broad Tappan Sea was without a ripple, and the sloops, with drooping +sails, slept on its grassy bosom. Columns of smoke, from burning +brush-wood, rose lazily from the folds of the hills, on the opposite +side of the river, and slowly expanded in mid-air. The distant lowing +of a cow, or the noontide crowing of a cock, coming faintly to the ear, +seemed to illustrate, rather than disturb, the drowsy quiet of the +scene. + +I entered the hollow with a beating heart. Contrary to my apprehensions, +I found it but little changed. The march of intellect, which had +made such rapid strides along every river and highway, had not yet, +apparently, turned down into this favored valley. Perhaps the wizard +spell of ancient days still reigned over the place, binding up the +faculties of the inhabitants in happy contentment with things as they +had been handed down to them from yore. There were the same little farms +and farmhouses, with their old hats for the housekeeping wren; their +stone wells, moss-covered buckets, and long balancing poles. There were +the same little rills, whimpering down to pay their tributes to the +Pocantico; while that wizard stream still kept on its course, as of old, +through solemn woodlands and fresh green meadows: nor were there wanting +joyous holiday boys to loiter along its banks, as I have done; throw +their pin-hooks in the stream, or launch their mimic barks. I watched +them with a kind of melancholy pleasure, wondering whether they were +under the same spell of the fancy that once rendered this valley a fairy +land to me. Alas! alas! to me every thing now stood revealed in its +simple reality. The echoes no longer answered with wizard tongues; the +dream of youth was at an end; the spell of Sleepy Hollow was broken! + +I sought the ancient church on the following Sunday. There it stood, on +its green bank, among the trees; the Pocantico swept by it in a deep +dark stream, where I had so often angled; there expanded the mill-pond, +as of old, with the cows under the willows on its margin, knee-deep in +water, chewing the cud, and lashing the flies from their sides with +their tails. The hand of improvement, however, had been busy with the +venerable pile. The pulpit, fabricated in Holland, had been superseded +by one of modern construction, and the front of the semi-Gothic +edifice was decorated by a semi-Grecian portico. Fortunately, the two +weather-cocks remained undisturbed on their perches at each end of the +church, and still kept up a diametrical opposition to each other on all +points of windy doctrine. + +On entering the church the changes of time continued to be apparent. The +elders round the pulpit were men whom I had left in the gamesome frolic +of their youth, but who had succeeded to the sanctity of station of +which they once had stood so much in awe. What most struck my eye was +the change in the female part of the congregation. Instead of the +primitive garbs of homespun manufacture and antique Dutch fashion, +I beheld French sleeves, French capes, and French collars, and a +fearful-fluttering of French ribbands. + +When the service was ended I sought the church-yard, in which I had +sported in my unthinking days of boyhood. Several of the modest brown +stones, on which were recorded in Dutch the names and virtues of the +patriarchs, had disappeared, and had been succeeded by others of white +marble, with urns and wreaths, and scraps of English tomb-stone poetry, +marking the intrusion of taste and literature and the English language +in this once unsophisticated Dutch neighborhood. + +As I was stumbling about among these silent yet eloquent memorials of +the dead, I came upon names familiar to me; of those who had paid +the debt of nature during the long interval of my absence. Some, I +remembered, my companions in boyhood, who had sported with me on the +very sod under which they were now mouldering; others who in those days +had been the flower of the yeomanry, figuring in Sunday finery on the +church green; others, the white-haired elders of the sanctuary, once +arrayed in awful sanctity around the pulpit, and ever ready to rebuke +the ill-timed mirth of the wanton stripling who, now a man, sobered by +years and schooled by vicissitudes, looked down pensively upon their +graves. "Our fathers," thought I, "where are they!--and the prophets, +can they live for ever!" + +I was disturbed in my meditations by the noise of a troop of idle +urchins, who came gambolling about the place where I had so often +gambolled. They were checked, as I and my playmates had often been, by +the voice of the sexton, a man staid in years and demeanor. I looked +wistfully in his face; had I met him any where else, I should probably +have passed him by without remark; but here I was alive to the traces of +former times, and detected in the demure features of this guardian of +the sanctuary the lurking lineaments of one of the very playmates I have +alluded to. We renewed our acquaintance. He sat down beside me, on one +of the tomb-stones over which we had leaped in our juvenile sports, and +we talked together about our boyish days, and held edifying discourse +on the instability of all sublunary things, as instanced in the scene +around us. He was rich in historic lore, as to the events of the last +thirty years and the circumference of thirty miles, and from him I +learned the appalling revolution that was taking place throughout the +neighborhood. All this I clearly perceived he attributed to the boasted +march of intellect, or rather to the all-pervading influence of steam. +He bewailed the times when the only communication with town was by the +weekly market-boat, the "Farmers' Daughter," which, under the pilotage +of the worthy Gabriel Requa, braved the perils of the Tappan Sea. Alas! +Gabriel and the "Farmer's Daughter" slept in peace. Two steamboats now +splashed and paddled up daily to the little rural port of Tarrytown. The +spirit of speculation and improvement had seized even upon that once +quiet and unambitious little dorp. The whole neighborhood was laid out +into town lots. Instead of the little tavern below the hill, where +the farmers used to loiter on market days and indulge in cider and +gingerbread, an ambitious hotel, with cupola and verandas, now crested +the summit, among churches built in the Grecian and Gothic styles, +showing the great increase of piety and polite taste in the +neighborhood. As to Dutch dresses and sun-bonnets, they were no longer +tolerated, or even thought of; not a farmer's daughter but now went to +town for the fashions; nay, a city milliner had recently set up in the +village, who threatened to reform the heads of the whole neighborhood. + +I had heard enough! I thanked my old playmate for his intelligence, and +departed from the Sleepy Hollow church with the sad conviction that I +had beheld the last lingerings of the good old Dutch times in this once +favored region. If any thing were wanting to confirm this impression, +it would be the intelligence which has just reached me, that a bank is +about to be established in the aspiring little port just mentioned. The +fate of the neighborhood is therefore sealed. I see no hope of averting +it. The golden mean is at an end, The country is suddenly to be deluged +with wealth. The late simple farmers are to become bank directors and +drink claret and champagne; and their wives and daughters to figure in +French hats and feathers; for French wines and French fashions commonly +keep pace with paper money. How can I hope that even Sleepy Hollow can +escape the general inundation? In a little while, I fear the slumber of +ages will be at end--the strum of the piano will succeed to the hum of +the spinning-wheel; the trill of the Italian opera to the nasal quaver +of Ichabod Crane; and the antiquarian visitor to the Hollow, in the +petulance of his disappointment, may pronounce all that I have recorded +of that once favored region a fable. + + + * * * * * + +THE BIRDS OF SPRING. + +BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. + +My quiet residence in the country, aloof from fashion, politics, and the +money market, leaves me rather at a loss for important occupation, and +drives me to the study of nature, and other low pursuits. Having few +neighbors, also, on whom to keep a watch, and exercise my habits of +observation, I am fain to amuse myself with prying into the domestic +concerns and peculiarities of the animals around me; and, during the +present season, have derived considerable entertainment from certain +sociable little birds, almost the only visitors we have, during this +early part of the year. + +Those who have passed the winter in the country, are sensible of the +delightful influences that accompany the earliest indications of spring; +and of these, none are more delightful than the first notes of the +birds. There is one modest little sad-colored bird, much resembling a +wren, which came about the house just on the skirts of winter, when not +a blade of grass was to be seen, and when a few prematurely warm days +had given a flattering foretaste of soft weather. He sang early in the +dawning, long before sun-rise, and late in the evening, just before the +closing in of night, his matin and his vesper hymns. It is true, he sang +occasionally throughout the day; but at these still hours, his song was +more remarked. He sat on a leafless tree, just before the window, and +warbled forth his notes, free and simple, but singularly sweet, with +something of a plaintive tone, that heightened their effect. The first +morning that he was heard, was a joyous one among the young folks of my +household. The long, deathlike sleep of winter was at an end; nature +was once more awakening; they now promised themselves the immediate +appearance of buds and blossoms. I was reminded of the tempest-tossed +crew of Columbus, when, after their long dubious voyage, the field birds +came singing round the ship, though still far at sea, rejoicing them +with the belief of the immediate proximity of land. A sharp return of +winter almost silenced my little songster, and dashed the hilarity of +the household; yet still he poured forth, now and then, a few plaintive +notes, between the frosty pipings of the breeze, like gleams of sunshine +between wintry clouds. + +I have consulted my book of ornithology in vain, to find out the name +of this kindly little bird, who certainly deserves honor and favor far +beyond his modest pretensions. He comes like the lowly violet, the most +unpretending, but welcomest of flowers, breathing the sweet promise of +the early year. + +Another of our feathered visitors, who follows close upon the steps of +winter, is the Pe-wit, or Pe-wee, or Phoebe-bird; for he is called by +each of these names, from a fancied resemblance to the sound of his +monotonous note. He is a sociable little being, and seeks the habitation +of man. A pair of them have built beneath my porch, and have reared +several broods there for two years past, their nest being never +disturbed. They arrive early in the spring, just when the crocus and +the snow-drop begin to peep forth. Their first chirp spreads gladness +through the house. "The Phoebe-birds have come!" is heard on all sides; +they are welcomed back like members of the family, and speculations are +made upon where they have been, and what countries they have seen +during their long absence. Their arrival is the more cheering, as it is +pronounced, by the old weather-wise people of the country, the sure sign +that the severe frosts are at an end, and that the gardener may resume +his labors with confidence. + +About this time, too, arrives the blue-bird, so poetically yet truly +described by Wilson. His appearance gladdens the whole landscape. +You hear his soft warble in every field. He sociably approaches your +habitation, and takes up his residence in your vicinity. But why should +I attempt to describe him, when I have Wilson's own graphic verses to +place him before the reader? + + When winter's cold tempests and snows are no more, + Green meadows and brown furrowed fields re-appearing: + The fishermen hauling their shad to the shore, + And cloud-cleaving geese to the lakes are a-steering; + When first the lone butterfly flits on the wing, + When red glow the maples, so fresh and so pleasing, + O then comes the blue-bird, the herald of spring, + And hails with his warblings the charms of the season. + + The loud-piping frogs make the marshes to ring; + Then warm glows the sunshine, and warm glows the weather; + The blue woodland flowers just beginning to spring, + And spice-wood and sassafras budding together; + O then to your gardens, ye housewives, repair, + Your walks border up, sow and plant at your leisure; + The blue-bird will chant from his box such an air, + That all your hard toils will seem truly a pleasure. + + He flits through the orchard, he visits each tree, + The red flowering peach, and the apple's sweet blossoms; + He snaps up destroyers, wherever they be, + And seizes the caitiffs that lurk in their bosoms; + He drags the vile grub from the corn it devours, + The worms from the webs where they riot and welter; + His song and his services freely are ours, + And all that he asks is, in summer a shelter. + + The ploughman is pleased when he gleams in his train, + Now searching the furrows, now mounting to cheer him; + The gard'ner delights in his sweet simple strain, + And leans on his spade to survey and to hear him. + The slow lingering school-boys forget they'll be chid, + While gazing intent, as he warbles before them, + In mantle of sky-blue, and bosom so red, + That each little loiterer seems to adore him. + +The happiest bird of our spring, however, and one that rivals the +European lark, in my estimation, is the Boblincon, or Boblink, as he is +commonly called. He arrives at that choice portion of our year, which, +in this latitude, answers to the description of the month of May, so +often given by the poets. With us, it begins about the middle of May, +and lasts until nearly the middle of June. Earlier than this, winter is +apt to return on its traces, and to blight the opening beauties of +the year; and later than this, begin the parching, and panting, and +dissolving heats of summer. But in this genial interval, nature is in +all her freshness and fragrance: "the rains are over and gone, the +flowers appear upon the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, +and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land." The trees are now in +their fullest foliage and brightest verdure; the woods are gay with the +clustered flowers of the laurel; the air is perfumed by the sweet-briar +and the wild rose; the meadows are enamelled with clover-blossoms; while +the young apple, the peach, and the plum, begin to swell, and the cherry +to glow, among the green leaves. + +This is the chosen season of revelry of the Boblink. He comes amidst the +pomp and fragrance of the season; his life seems all sensibility and +enjoyment, all song and sunshine. He is to be found in the soft bosoms +of the freshest and sweetest meadows; and is most in song when the +clover is in blossom. He perches on the topmost twig of a tree, or on +some long flaunting weed; and as he rises and sinks with the breeze, +pours forth a succession of rich tinkling notes; crowding one upon +another, like the outpouring melody of the skylark, and possessing the +same rapturous character. Sometimes he pitches from the summit of a +tree, begins his song as soon as he gets upon the wing, and flutters +tremulously down to the earth, as if overcome with ecstasy at his own +music. Sometimes he is in pursuit of his paramour; always in full +song, as if he would win her by his melody; and always with the same +appearance of intoxication and delight. + +Of all the birds of our groves and meadows, the Boblink was the envy of +my boyhood. He crossed my path in the sweetest weather, and the sweetest +season of the year, when all nature called to the fields, and the rural +feeling throbbed in every bosom; but when I, luckless urchin! was doomed +to be mewed up, during the livelong day, in that purgatory of boyhood, a +school-room. It seemed as if the little varlet mocked at me, as he flew +by in full song, and sought to taunt me with his happier lot. Oh, how +I envied him! No lessons, no tasks, no hateful school; nothing but +holiday, frolic, green fields, and fine weather. Had I been then more +versed in poetry, I might have addressed him in the words of Logan to +the cuckoo: + + Sweet bird! thy bower is ever green, + Thy sky is ever clear; + Thou hast no sorrow in thy note, + No winter in thy year. + + Oh! could I fly, I'd fly with thee; + We'd make, on joyful wing, + Our annual visit round the globe, + Companions of the spring! + +Farther observation and experience have given me a different idea of +this little feathered voluptuary, which I will venture to impart, for +the benefit of my school-boy readers, who may regard him with the same +unqualified envy and admiration which I once indulged. I have shown him +only as I saw him at first, in what I may call the poetical part of his +career, when he in a manner devoted himself to elegant pursuits +and enjoyments, and was a bird of music, and song, and taste, and +sensibility, and refinement. While this lasted, he was sacred from +injury; the very school-boy would not fling a stone at him, and the +merest rustic would pause to listen to his strain. But mark the +difference. As the year advances, as the clover-blossoms disappear, and +the spring fades into summer, his notes cease to vibrate on the ear. He +gradually gives up his elegant tastes and habits, doffs his poetical and +professional suit of black, assumes a russet or rather dusty garb, and +enters into the gross enjoyments of common, vulgar birds. He becomes a +bon-vivant, a mere gourmand; thinking of nothing but good cheer, and +gormandizing on the seeds of the long grasses on which he lately swung, +and chaunted so musically. He begins to think there is nothing like "the +joys of the table," if I may be allowed to apply that convivial phrase +to his indulgences. He now grows discontented with plain, every-day +fare, and sets out on a gastronomical tour, in search of foreign +luxuries. He is to be found in myriads among the reeds of the Delaware, +banqueting on their seeds; grows corpulent with good feeding, and soon +acquires the unlucky renown of the ortolan. Whereever he goes, pop! pop! +pop! the rusty firelocks of the country are cracking on every side; +he sees his companions falling by the thousands around him; he is +the _reed-bird_, the much-sought-for tit-bit of the Pennsylvanian +epicure. + +Does he take warning and reform? Not he! He wings his flight still +farther south, in search of other luxuries. We hear of him gorging +himself in the rice swamps; filling himself with rice almost to +bursting; he can hardly fly for corpulency. Last stage of his career, +we hear of him spitted by dozens, and served up on the table of the +gourmand, the most vaunted of southern dainties, the _rice-bird_ of the +Carolinas. + +Such is the story of the once musical and admired, but finally sensual +and persecuted Boblink. It contains a moral, worthy the attention of all +little birds and little boys; warning them to keep to those refined +and intellectual pursuits, which raised him to so high a pitch of +popularity, during the early part of his career; but to eschew all +tendency to that gross and dissipated indulgence, which brought this +mistaken little bird to an untimely end. + +Which is all at present, from the well-wisher of little boys and little +birds, + +GEOFFREY CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ALHAMBRA. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +During a summer's residence in the old Moorish palace of the Alhambra, +of which I have already given numerous anecdotes to the public, I used +to pass much of my time in the beautiful hall of the Abencerrages, +beside the fountain celebrated in the tragic story of that devoted +race. Here it was, that thirty-six cavaliers of that heroic line were +treacherously sacrificed, to appease the jealousy or allay the fears of +a tyrant. The fountain which now throws up its sparkling jet, and sheds +a dewy freshness around, ran red with the noblest blood of Granada, +and a deep stain on the marble pavement is still pointed out, by the +cicerones of the pile, as a sanguinary record of the massacre. I have +regarded it with the same determined faith with which I have regarded +the traditional stains of Rizzio's blood on the floor of the chamber of +the unfortunate Mary, at Holyrood. I thank no one for endeavoring to +enlighten my credulity, on such points of popular belief. It is like +breaking up the shrine of the pilgrim; it is robbing a poor traveller of +half the reward of his toils; for, strip travelling of its historical +illusions, and what a mere fag you make of it! + +For my part, I gave myself up, during my sojourn in the Alhambra, to all +the romantic and fabulous traditions connected with the pile. I lived in +the midst of an Arabian tale, and shut my eyes, as much as possible, to +every thing that called me back to every-day life; and if there is any +country in Europe where one can do so, it is in poor, wild, legendary, +proud-spirited, romantic Spain; where the old magnificent barbaric +spirit still contends against the utilitarianism of modern civilization. + +In the silent and deserted halls of the Alhambra; surrounded with the +insignia of regal sway, and the still vivid, though dilapidated traces +of oriental voluptuousness, I was in the strong-hold of Moorish story, +and every thing spoke and breathed of the glorious days of Granada, +when under the dominion of the crescent. When I sat in the hall of the +Abencerrages, I suffered my mind to conjure up all that I had read of +that illustrious line. In the proudest days of Moslem domination, the +Abencerrages were the soul of every thing noble and chivalrous. The +veterans of the family, who sat in the royal council, were the foremost +to devise those heroic enterprises, which carried dismay into the +territories of the Christians; and what the sages of the family devised, +the young men of the name were the foremost to execute. In all services +of hazard; in all adventurous forays, and hair-breadth hazards; the +Abencerrages were sure to win the brightest laurels. In those noble +recreations, too, which bear so close an affinity to war; in the tilt +and tourney, the riding at the ring, and the daring bull-fight; still +the Abencerrages carried off the palm. None could equal them for the +splendor of their array, the gallantry of their devices; for their noble +bearing, and glorious horsemanship. Their open-handed munificence made +them the idols of the populace, while their lofty magnanimity, and +perfect faith, gained them golden opinions from the generous and +high-minded. Never were they known to decry the merits of a rival, or to +betray the confidings of a friend; and the "word of an Abencerrage" was +a guarantee that never admitted of a doubt. + +And then their devotion to the fair! Never did Moorish beauty consider +the fame of her charms established, until she had an Abencerrage for a +lover; and never did an Abencerrage prove recreant to his vows. Lovely +Granada! City of delights! Who ever bore the favors of thy dames more +proudly on their casques, or championed them more gallantly in the +chivalrous tilts of the Vivarambla? Or who ever made thy moon-lit +balconies, thy gardens of myrtles and roses, of oranges, citrons, and +pomegranates, respond to more tender serenades? + +I speak with enthusiasm on this theme; for it is connected with the +recollection of one of the sweetest evenings and sweetest scenes that +ever I enjoyed in Spain. One of the greatest pleasures of the Spaniards +is, to sit in the beautiful summer evenings, and listen to traditional +ballads, and tales about the wars of the Moors and Christians, and the +"buenas andanzas" and "grandes hechos," the "good fortunes" and "great +exploits" of the hardy warriors of yore. It is worthy of remark, also, +that many of these songs, or romances, as they are called, celebrate +the prowess and magnanimity in war, and the tenderness and, fidelity in +love, of the Moorish cavaliers, once their most formidable and hated +foes. But centuries have elapsed, to extinguish the bigotry of the +zealot; and the once detested warriors of Granada are now held up by +Spanish poets, as the mirrors of chivalric virtue. + +Such was the amusement of the evening in question. A number of us were +seated in the Hall of the Abencerrages, listening to one of the most +gifted and fascinating beings that I had ever met with in my wanderings. +She was young and beautiful; and light and ethereal; full of fire, and +spirit, and pure enthusiasm. She wore the fanciful Andalusian dress; +touched the guitar with speaking eloquence; improvised with wonderful +facility; and, as she became excited by her theme, or by the rapt +attention of her auditors, would pour forth, in the richest and +most melodious strains, a succession of couplets, full of striking +description, or stirring narration, and composed, as I was assured, at +the moment. Most of these were suggested by the place, and related to +the ancient glories of Granada, and the prowess of her chivalry. The +Abencerrages were her favorite heroes; she felt a woman's admiration of +their gallant courtesy, and high-souled honor; and it was touching and +inspiring to hear the praises of that generous but devoted race, chanted +in this fated hall of their calamity, by the lips of Spanish beauty. + +Among the subjects of which she treated, was a tale of Moslem honor, and +old-fashioned Spanish courtesy, which made a strong impression on me. +She disclaimed all merit of invention, however, and said she had merely +dilated into verse a popular tradition; and, indeed, I have since found +the main facts inserted at the end of Conde's History of the Domination +of the Arabs, and the story itself embodied in the form of an episode in +the Diana of Montemayor. From these sources I have drawn it forth, and +endeavored to shape it according to my recollection of the version of +the beautiful minstrel; but, alas! what can supply the want of that +voice, that look, that form, that action, which gave magical effect to +her chant, and held every one rapt in breathless admiration! Should this +mere travestie of her inspired numbers ever meet her eye, in her stately +abode at Granada, may it meet with that indulgence which belongs to her +benignant nature. Happy should I be, if it could awaken in her bosom +one kind recollection of the lonely stranger and sojourner, for +whose gratification she did not think it beneath her to exert those +fascinating powers which were the delight of brilliant circles; and who +will ever recall with enthusiasm the happy evening passed in listening +to her strains, in the moon-lit halls of the Alhambra. + + * * * * * + +GEOFFREY CRAYON. + +THE ABENCERRAGE. + +A SPANISH TALE. + +On the summit of a craggy hill, a spur of the mountains of Ronda, stands +the castle of Allora, now a mere ruin, infested by bats and owlets, but +in old times one of the strong border holds of the Christians, to keep +watch upon the frontiers of the warlike kingdom of Granada, and to hold +the Moors in check. It was a post always confided to some well-tried +commander; and, at the time of which we treat, was held by Rodrigo de +Narvaez, a veteran, famed, both among Moors and Christians, not only for +his hardy feats of arms, but also for that magnanimous courtesy which +should ever be entwined with the sterner virtues of the soldier. + +The castle of Allora was a mere part of his command; he was Alcayde, or +military governor of Antiquera, but he passed most of his time at this +frontier post, because its situation on the borders gave more frequent +opportunity for those adventurous exploits which were the delight of the +Spanish chivalry. His garrison consisted of fifty chosen cavaliers, all +well mounted and well appointed: with these he kept vigilant watch +upon the Moslems; patrolling the roads, and paths, and defiles of the +mountains, so that nothing could escape his eye; and now and then +signalizing himself by some dashing foray into the very Vega of Granada. + +On a fair and beautiful night in summer, when the freshness of the +evening breeze had tempered the heat of day, the worthy Alcayde sallied +forth, with nine of his cavaliers, to patrol the neighborhood, and +seek adventures. They rode quietly and cautiously, lest they should be +overheard by Moorish scout or traveller; and kept along ravines and +hollow ways, lest they should be betrayed by the glittering of the full +moon upon their armor. Coming to where the road divided, the Alcayde +directed five of his cavaliers to take one of the branches, while he, +with the remaining four, would take the other. Should either party be in +danger, the blast of a horn was to be the signal to bring their comrades +to their aid. + +The party of five had not proceeded far, when, in passing through a +defile, overhung with trees, they heard the voice of a man, singing. +They immediately concealed themselves in a grove, on the brow of a +declivity, up which the stranger would have to ascend. The moonlight, +which left the grove in deep shadow, lit up the whole person of the +wayfarer, as he advanced, and enabled them to distinguish his dress and +appearance with perfect accuracy. He was a Moorish cavalier, and his +noble demeanor, graceful carriage, and splendid attire showed him to +be of lofty rank. He was superbly mounted, on a dapple-gray steed, of +powerful frame, and generous spirit, and magnificently caparisoned. +His dress was a marlota, or tunic, and an Albernoz of crimson damask, +fringed with gold. His Tunisian turban, of many folds, was of silk and +cotton, striped, and bordered with golden fringe. At his girdle hung a +scimitar of Damascus steel, with loops and tassels of silk and gold. On +his left arm he bore an ample target, and his right hand grasped a long +double-pointed lance. Thus equipped, he sat negligently on his steed, as +one who dreamed of no danger, gazing on the moon, and singing, with a +sweet and manly voice, a Moorish love ditty. + +Just opposite the place where the Spanish cavaliers were concealed, was +a small fountain in the rock, beside the road, to which the horse turned +to drink; the rider threw the reins on his neck, and continued his song. + +The Spanish cavaliers conferred together; they were all so pleased with +the gallant and gentle appearance of the Moor, that they resolved not to +harm, but to capture him, which, in his negligent mood, promised to be +an easy task; rushing, therefore, from their concealment, they thought +to surround and seize him. Never were men more mistaken. To gather up +his reins, wheel round his steed, brace his buckler, and couch his +lance, was the work of an instant; and there he sat, fixed like a castle +in his saddle, beside the fountain. + +The Christian cavaliers checked their steeds and reconnoitered him +warily, loth to come to an encounter, which must end in his destruction. + +The Moor now held a parley: "If you be true knights," said he, "and seek +for honorable fame, come on, singly, and I am ready to meet each in +succession; but if you be mere lurkers of the road, intent on spoil, +come all at once, and do your worst!" + +The cavaliers communed for a moment apart, when one, advancing singly, +exclaimed: "Although no law of chivalry obliges us to risk the loss of a +prize, when clearly in our power, yet we willingly grant, as a courtesy, +what we might refuse as a right. Valiant Moor! defend thyself!" So +saying, he wheeled, took proper distance, couched his lance, and putting +spurs to his horse, made at the stranger. The latter met him in mid +career, transpierced him with his lance, and threw him headlong from his +saddle. A second and a third succeeded, but were unhorsed with equal +facility, and thrown to the earth, severely wounded. The remaining +two, seeing their comrades thus roughly treated, forgot all compact of +courtesy, and charged both at once upon the Moor. He parried the thrust +of one, but was wounded by the other in the thigh, and, in the shock and +confusion, dropped his lance. Thus disarmed, and closely pressed, he +pretended to fly, and was hotly pursued. Having drawn the two cavaliers +some distance from the spot, he suddenly wheeled short about, with +one of those dexterous movements for which the Moorish horsemen are +renowned; passed swiftly between them, swung himself down from his +saddle, so as to catch up his lance, then, lightly replacing himself, +turned to renew the combat. + +Seeing him thus fresh for the encounter, as if just issued from his +tent, one of the cavaliers put his lips to his horn, and blew a blast, +that soon brought the Alcayde and his four companions to the spot. + +The valiant Narvaez, seeing three of his cavaliers extended on the +earth, and two others hotly engaged with the Moor, was struck with +admiration, and coveted a contest with so accomplished a warrior. +Interfering in the fight, he called upon his followers to desist, and +addressing the Moor, with courteous words, invited him to a more equal +combat. The latter readily accepted the challenge. For some time, their +contest was fierce and doubtful; and the Alcayde had need of all his +skill and strength to ward off the blows of his antagonist. The Moor, +however, was exhausted by previous fighting, and by loss of blood. He +no longer sat his horse firmly, nor managed him with his wonted skill. +Collecting all his strength for a last assault, he rose in his stirrups, +and made a violent thrust with his lance; the Alcayde received it upon +his shield, and at the same time wounded the Moor in the right arm; then +closing, in the shock, he grasped him in his arms, dragged him from his +saddle, and fell with him to the earth: when putting his knee upon his +breast, and his dagger to his throat, "Cavalier," exclaimed he, "render +thyself my prisoner, for thy life is in my hands!" + +"Kill me, rather," replied the Moor, "for death would be less grievous +than loss of liberty." The Alcayde, however, with the clemency of the +truly brave, assisted the Moor to rise, ministered to his wounds with +his own hands, and had him conveyed with great care to the castle of +Allora. His wounds were slight, and in a few days were nearly cured; but +the deepest wound had been inflicted on his spirit. He was constantly +buried in a profound melancholy. + +The Alcayde, who had conceived a great regard for him, treated him more +as a friend than a captive, and tried in every way to cheer him, but in +vain; he was always sad and moody, and, when on the battlements of +the castle, would keep his eyes turned to the south, with a fixed and +wistful gaze. + +"How is this?" exclaimed the Alcayde, reproachfully, "that you, who were +so hardy and fearless in the field, should lose all spirit in prison? If +any secret grief preys on your heart, confide it to me, as to a friend, +and I promise you, on the faith of a cavalier, that you shall have no +cause to repent the disclosure." + +The Moorish knight kissed the hand of the Alcayde. "Noble cavalier," +said he "that I am cast down in spirit, is not from my wounds, which are +slight, nor from my captivity, for your kindness has robbed it of all +gloom; nor from my defeat, for to be conquered by so accomplished and +renowned a cavalier, is no disgrace. But to explain to you the cause of +my grief, it is necessary to give you some particulars of my story; and +this I am moved to do, by the great sympathy you have manifested toward +me, and the magnanimity that shines through all your actions." + +"Know, then, that my name is Abendaraez, and that I am of the noble but +unfortunate line of the Abencerrages of Granada. You have doubtless +heard of the destruction that fell upon our race. Charged with +treasonable designs, of which they were entirely innocent, many of +them were beheaded, the rest banished; so that not an Abencerrages was +permitted to remain in Granada, excepting my father and my uncle, whose +innocence was proved, even to the satisfaction of their persecutors. It +was decreed, however, that, should they have children, the sons should +be educated at a distance from Granada, and the daughters should be +married out of the kingdom. + +"Conformably to this decree, I was sent, while yet an infant, to be +reared in the fortress of Cartama, the worthy Alcayde of which was an +ancient friend of my father. He had no children, and received me into +his family as his own child, treating me with the kindness and affection +of a father; and I grew up in the belief that he really was such. A few +years afterward, his wife gave birth to a daughter, but his tenderness +toward me continued undiminished. I thus grew up with Xarisa, for so +the infant daughter of the Alcayde was called, as her own brother, and +thought the growing passion which I felt for her, was mere fraternal +affection. I beheld her charms unfolding, as it were, leaf by leaf, like +the morning rose, each moment disclosing fresh beauty and sweetness. + +"At this period, I overheard a conversation between the Alcayde and his +confidential domestic, and found myself to be the subject. 'It is time,' +said he, 'to apprise him of his parentage, that he may adopt a career +in life. I have deferred the communication as long as possible, through +reluctance to inform him that he is of a proscribed and an unlucky +race.' + +"This intelligence would have overwhelmed me at an earlier period, but +the intimation that Xarisa was not my sister, operated like magic, and +in an instant transformed my brotherly affection into ardent love. + +"I sought Xarisa, to impart to her the secret I had learned. I found her +in the garden, in a bower of jessamines, arranging her beautiful hair by +the mirror of a crystal fountain. The radiance of her beauty dazzled +me. I ran to her with open arms, and she received me with a sister's +embraces. When we had seated ourselves beside the fountain, she began to +upbraid me for leaving her so long alone. + +"In reply, I informed her of the conversation I had overheard. The +recital shocked and distressed her. 'Alas!' cried she, 'then is our +happiness at an end!' + +"'How!' exclaimed I; 'wilt thou cease to love me, because I am not thy +brother?' + +"'Not so,' replied she; 'but do you not know that when it is once known +we are not brother and sister, we can no longer be permitted to be thus +always together?' + +"In fact, from that moment our intercourse took a new character. We +met often at the fountain among the jessamines, but Xarisa no longer +advanced with open arms to meet me. She became reserved and silent, and +would blush, and cast down her eyes, when I seated myself beside her. My +heart became a prey to the thousand doubts and fears that ever attend +upon true love. I was restless and uneasy, and looked back with regret +to the unreserved intercourse that had existed between us, when we +supposed ourselves brother and sister; yet I would not have had the +relationship true, for the world. + +"While matters were in this state between us, an order came from the +King of Granada for the Alcayde to take command of the fortress of Coyn, +which lies directly on the Christian frontier. He prepared to remove, +with all his family, but signified that I should remain at Cartama. I +exclaimed against the separation, and declared that I could not be +parted from Xarisa. 'That is the very cause,' said he, 'why I leave thee +behind. It is time, Abendaraez, that thou shouldst know the secret of +thy birth; that thou art no son of mine, neither is Xarisa thy sister.' +'I know it all,' exclaimed I, 'and I love her with tenfold the +affection of a brother. You have brought us up together; you have made +us necessary to each other's happiness; our hearts have entwined +themselves with our growth; do not now tear them asunder. Fill up the +measure of your kindness; be indeed a father to me, by giving me Xarisa +for my wife.' + +"The brow of the Alcayde darkened as I spoke. 'Have I then been +deceived?' said he. 'Have those nurtured in my very bosom, been +conspiring against me? Is this your return for my paternal +tenderness?--to beguile the affections of my child, and teach her to +deceive her father? It was cause enough to refuse thee the hand of my +daughter, that thou wert of a proscribed race, who can never approach +the walls of Granada; this, however, I might have passed over; but never +will I give my daughter to a man who has endeavored to win her from me +by deception.' + +"All my attempts to vindicate myself and Xarisa were unavailing. I +retired in anguish from his presence, and seeking Xarisa, told her of +this blow, which was worse than death to me. 'Xarisa,' said I, 'we +part for ever! I shall never see thee more! Thy father will guard thee +rigidly. Thy beauty and his wealth will soon attract some happier rival, +and I shall be forgotten!' + +"Xarisa reproached me with my want of faith, and promised me eternal +constancy. I still doubted and desponded, until, moved by my anguish and +despair, she agreed to a secret union. Our espousals made, we parted, +with a promise on her part to send me word from Coyn, should her +father absent himself from the fortress. The very day after our secret +nuptials, I beheld the whole train of the Alcayde depart from Cartama, +nor would he admit me to his presence, or permit me to bid farewell +to Xarisa. I remained at Cartama, somewhat pacified in spirit by this +secret bond of union; but every thing around me fed my passion, and +reminded me of Xarisa. I saw the windows at which I had so often beheld +her. I wandered through the apartment she had inhabited; the chamber in +which she had slept. I visited the bower of jessamines, and lingered +beside the fountain in which she had delighted. Every thing recalled her +to my imagination, and filled my heart with tender melancholy. + +"At length, a confidential servant brought me word, that her father +was to depart that day for Granada, on a short absence, inviting me to +hasten to Coyn, describing a secret portal at which I should apply, and +the signal by which I would obtain admittance. + +"If ever you have loved, most valiant Alcayde, you may judge of the +transport of my bosom. That very night I arrayed myself in my most +gallant attire, to pay due honor to my bride; and arming myself against +any casual attack, issued forth privately from Cartama. You know the +rest, and by what sad fortune of war I found myself, instead of a happy +bridegroom, in the nuptial bower of Coyn, vanquished, wounded, and a +prisoner, withing the walls of Allora. The term of absence of the father +of Xarisa is nearly expired. Within three days he will return to Coyn, +and our meeting will no longer be possible. Judge, then, whether I +grieve without cause, and whether I may not well be excused for showing +impatience under confinement." + +Don Rodrigo de Narvaez was greatly moved by this recital; for, though +more used to rugged war, than scenes of amorous softness, he was of a +kind and generous nature. + +"Abendaraez," said he, "I did not seek thy confidence to gratify an idle +curiosity. It grieves me much that the good fortune which delivered thee +into my hands, should have marred so fair an enterprise. Give me thy +faith, as a true knight, to return prisoner to my castle, within three +days, and I will grant thee permission to accomplish thy nuptials." + +The Abencerrage would have thrown himself at his feet, to pour out +protestations of eternal gratitude, but the Alcayde prevented him. +Calling in his cavaliers, he took the Abencerrage by the right hand, in +their presence, exclaiming solemnly, "You promise, on the faith of a +cavalier, to return to my castle of Allora within three days, and render +yourself my prisoner?" And the Abencerrage said, "I promise." + +Then said the Alcayde, "Go! and may good fortune attend you. If +you require any safeguard, I and my cavaliers are ready to be your +companions." + +The Abencerrage kissed the hand of the Alcayde, in grateful +acknowledgment. "Give me," said he, "my own armor, and my steed, and +I require no guard. It is not likely that I shall again meet with so +valorous a foe." + +The shades of night had fallen, when the tramp of the dapple-gray steed +sounded over the drawbridge, and immediately afterward the light clatter +of hoofs along the road, bespoke the fleetness with which the youthful +lover hastened to his bride. It was deep night when the Moor arrived at +the castle of Coyn. He silently and cautiously walked his panting steed +under its dark walls, and having nearly passed round them, came to the +portal denoted by Xarisa. He paused and looked around to see that he was +not observed, and then knocked three times with the butt of his lance. +In a little while the portal was timidly unclosed by the duenna of +Xarisa. "Alas! senor," said she, "what has detained you thus long? Every +night have I watched for you; and my lady is sick at heart with doubt +and anxiety." + +The Abencerrage hung his lance, and shield, and scimitar against the +wall, and then followed the duenna, with silent steps, up a winding +stair-case, to the apartment of Xarisa. Vain would be the attempt to +describe the raptures of that meeting. Time flew too swiftly, and the +Abencerrage had nearly forgotten, until too late, his promise to return +a prisoner to the Alcayde of Allora. The recollection of it came to him +with a pang, and suddenly awoke him from his dream of bliss. Xarisa +saw his altered looks, and heard with alarm his stifled sighs; but her +countenance brightened, when she heard the cause. "Let not thy spirit be +cast down," said she, throwing her white arms around him. "I have the +keys of my father's treasures; send ransom more than enough to satisfy +the Christian, and remain with me." + +"No," said Abendaraez, "I have given my word to return in person, and +like a true knight, must fulfil my promise. After that, fortune must do +with me as it pleases." + +"Then," said Xarisa, "I will accompany thee. Never shall you return a +prisoner, and I remain at liberty." + +The Abencerrage was transported with joy at this new proof of devotion +in his beautiful bride. All preparations were speedily made for their +departure. Xarisa mounted behind the Moor, on his powerful steed; they +left the castle walls before daybreak, nor did they pause, until they +arrived at the gate of the castle of Allora, which was flung wide to +receive them. + +Alighting in the court, the Abencerrage supported the steps of his +trembling bride, who remained closely veiled, into the presence of +Rodrigo de Narvaez. "Behold, valiant Alcayde!" said he, "the way in +which an Abencerrage keeps his word. I promised to return to thee a +prisoner, but I deliver two captives into your power. Behold Xarisa, +and judge whether I grieved without reason, over the loss of such a +treasure. Receive us as your own, for I confide my life and her honor to +your hands." + +The Alcayde was lost in admiration of the beauty of the lady, and the +noble spirit of the Moor. "I know not," said he, "which of you surpasses +the other; but I know that my castle is graced and honored by your +presence. Enter into it, and consider it your own, while you deign to +reside with me." + +For several days the lovers remained at Allora, happy in each other's +love, and in the friendship of the brave Alcayde. The latter wrote a +letter, full of courtesy, to the Moorish king of Granada, relating the +whole event, extolling the valor and good faith of the Abencerrage, and +craving for him the royal countenance. + +The king was moved by the story, and was pleased with an opportunity of +showing attention to the wishes of a gallant and chivalrous enemy; for +though he had often suffered from the prowess of Don Rodigro de Narvaez, +he admired the heroic character he had gained throughout the land. +Calling the Alcayde of Coyn into his presence, he gave him the letter to +read. The Alcayde turned pale, and trembled with rage, on the perusal. +"Restrain thine anger," said the king; "there is nothing that the +Alcayde of Allora could ask, that I would not grant, if in my power. Go +thou to Allora; pardon thy children; take them to thy home. I receive +this Abencerrage into my favor, and it will be my delight to heap +benefits upon you all." + +The kindling ire of the Alcayde was suddenly appeased. He hastened to +Allora; and folded his children to his bosom, who would have fallen at +his feet. The gallant Rodrigo de Narvaez gave liberty to his prisoner +without ransom, demanding merely a promise of his friendship. He +accompanied the youthful couple and their father to Coyn, where their +nuptials were celebrated with great rejoicings. When the festivities +were over, Don Rodrigo de Narvaez returned to his fortress of Allora. + +After his departure, the Alcayde of Coyn addressed his children: "To +your hands," said he, "I confide the disposition of my wealth. One of +the first things I charge you, is not to forget the ransom you owe to +the Alcayde of Allora. His magnanimity you can never repay, but you can +prevent it from wronging him of his just dues. Give him, moreover, your +entire friendship, for he merits it fully, though of a different faith." + +The Abencerrage thanked him for his generous proposition, which so truly +accorded with his own wishes. He took a large sum of gold, and enclosed +it in a rich coffer; and, on his own part, sent six beautiful horses, +superbly caparisoned; with six shields and lances, mounted and embossed +with gold. The beautiful Xarisa, at the same time, wrote a letter to the +Alcayde, filled with expressions of gratitude and friendship, and sent +him a box of fragrant cypress-wood, containing linen, of the finest +quality, for his person. The valiant Alcayde disposed of the present +in a characteristic manner. The horses and armor he shared among the +cavaliers who had accompanied him on the night of the skirmish. The +box of cypress-wood and its contents he retained, for the sake of the +beautiful Xarisa; and sent her, by the hands of a messenger, the sum +of gold paid as a ransom, entreating her to receive it as a wedding +present. This courtesy and magnanimity raised the character of the +Alcayde Rodrigo de Narvaez still higher in the estimation of the Moors, +who extolled him as a perfect mirror of chivalric virtue; and from that +time forward, there was a continual exchange of good offices between +them. + + * * * * * + +THE ENCHANTED ISLAND. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + + Break, Phantsie, from thy cave of cloud, + And wave thy purple wings, + Now all thy figures are allowed, + And various shapes of things. + Create of airy forms a stream; + It must have blood and nought of phlegm; + And though it be a walking dream, + Yet let it like an odor rise + To all the senses here, + And fall like sleep upon their eyes, + Or music on their ear.--BEN JONSON. + +"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our +philosophy," and among these may be placed that marvel and mystery of +the seas, the island of St. Brandan. Every school-boy can enumerate and +call by name the Canaries, the Fortunate Islands of the ancients; which, +according to some ingenious speculative minds, are mere wrecks and +remnants of the vast island of Atalantis, mentioned by Plato, as having +been swallowed up by the ocean. Whoever has read the history of those +isles, will remember the wonders told of another island, still more +beautiful, seen occasionally from their shores, stretching away in the +clear bright west, with long shadowy promontories, and high, sun-gilt +peaks. Numerous expeditions, both in ancient and modern days, have +launched forth from the Canaries in quest of that island; but, on their +approach, mountain and promontory have gradually faded away, until +nothing has remained but the blue sky above, and the deep blue water +below. Hence it was termed by the geographers of old, Aprositus, or the +Inaccessible; while modern navigators have called its very existence in +question, pronouncing it a mere optical illusion, like the Fata Morgana +of the Straits of Messina; or classing it with those unsubstantial +regions known to mariners as Cape Flyaway, and the Coast of Cloud Land. + +Let not, however, the doubts of the worldly-wise sceptics of modern days +rob us of all the glorious realms owned by happy credulity in days of +yore. Be assured, O reader of easy faith!--thou for whom I delight to +labor--be assured, that such an island does actually exist, and has, +from time to time, been revealed to the gaze, and trodden by the feet, +of favored mortals. Nay, though doubted by historians and philosophers, +its existence is fully attested by the poets, who, being an inspired +race, and gifted with a kind of second sight, can see into the mysteries +of nature, hidden from the eyes of ordinary mortals. To this gifted race +it has ever been a region of fancy and romance, teeming with all kinds +of wonders. Here once bloomed, and perhaps still blooms, the famous +garden of the Hesperides, with its golden fruit. Here, too, was the +enchanted garden of Armida, in which that sorceress held the Christian +paladin, Rinaldo, in delicious but inglorious thraldom; as is set forth +in the immortal lay of Tasso. It was on this island, also, that Sycorax, +the witch, held sway, when the good Prospero, and his infant daughter +Miranda, were wafted to its shores. The isle was then + + ---"full of noises, + Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not." + +Who does not know the tale, as told in the magic page of Shakspeare? + +In fact, the island appears to have been, at different times, under the +sway of different powers, genii of earth, and air, and ocean; who made +it their shadowy abode; or rather, it is the retiring place of old +worn-out deities and dynasties, that once ruled the poetic world, +but are now nearly shorn of all their attributes. Here Neptune and +Amphitrite hold a diminished court, like sovereigns in exile. Their +ocean-chariot lies bottom upward, in a cave of the island, almost a +perfect wreck, while their pursy Tritons and haggard Nereids bask +listlessly, like seals about the rocks. Sometimes they assume a shadow +of their ancient pomp, and glide in state about the glassy sea; while +the crew of some tall Indiaman, that lies becalmed with flapping sails, +hear with astonishment the mellow note of the Triton's shell swelling +upon the ear, as the invisible pageant sweeps by. Sometimes the quondam +monarch of the ocean is permitted to make himself visible to mortal +eyes, visiting the ships that cross the line, to exact a tribute from +new-comers; the only remnant of his ancient rule, and that, alas! +performed with tattered state, and tarnished splendor. + +On the shores of this wondrous island, the mighty kraken heaves his +bulk, and wallows many a rood; here, too, the sea-serpent lies coiled +up, during the intervals of his much-contested revelations to the +eyes of true believers; and here it is said, even the Flying Dutchman +finds a port and casts his anchor, and furls his shadowy sail, and +takes a short repose from his eternal wanderings. + +Here all the treasures lost in the deep are safely garnered. The caverns +of the shores are piled with golden ingots, hexes of pearls, rich bales +of oriental silks; and their deep recesses sparkle with diamonds, or +flame with carbuncles. Here, in deep bays and harbors, lies many a +spell-bound ship, long given up as lost by the ruined merchant. Here, +too, its crew, long bewailed as swallowed up in ocean, lie sleeping in +mossy grottoes, from age to age, or wander about enchanted shores and +groves, in pleasing oblivion of all things. + +Such are some of the marvels related of this island, and which may serve +to throw some light on the following legend, of unquestionable truth, +which I recommend to the entire belief of the reader. + + * * * * * + +_THE ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES_. + +A LEGEND OF ST. BRANDAN. + +In the early part of the fifteenth century, when Prince Henry of +Portugal, of worthy memory, was pushing the career of discovery along +the western coast of Africa, and the world was resounding with reports +of golden regions on the main land, and new-found islands in the ocean, +there arrived at Lisbon an old bewildered pilot of the seas, who had +been driven by tempests, he knew not whither, and who raved about an +island far in the deep, on which he had landed, and which he had found +peopled with Christians, and adorned with noble cities. + +The inhabitants, he said, gathered round, and regarded him with +surprise, having never before been visited by a ship. They told him they +were descendants of a band of Christians, who fled from Spain when that +country was conquered by the Moslems. They were curious about the state +of their fatherland, and grieved to hear that the Moslems still held +possession of the kingdom of Granada. They would have taken the old +navigator to church, to convince him of their orthodoxy; but, either +through lack of devotion, or lack of faith in their words, he declined +their invitation, and preferred to return on board of his ship. He was +properly punished. A furious storm arose, drove him from his anchorage, +hurried him out to sea, and he saw no more of the unknown island. + +This strange story caused great marvel in Lisbon and elsewhere. Those +versed in history, remembered to have read, in an ancient chronicle, +that, at the time of the conquest of Spain, in the eighth century, when +the blessed cross was cast down, and the crescent erected in its place, +and when Christian churches were turned into Moslem mosques, seven +bishops, at the head of seven bands of pious exiles, had fled from the +peninsula, and embarked in quest of some ocean island, or distant land, +where they might found seven Christian cities, and enjoy their faith +unmolested. + +The fate of these pious saints errant had hitherto remained a +mystery, and their story had faded from memory; the report of the old +tempest-tossed pilot, however, revived this long-forgotten theme; and +it was determined by the pious and enthusiastic, that the island thus +accidentally discovered, was the identical place of refuge, whither the +wandering bishops had been guided by a protecting Providence, and where +they had folded their flocks. + +This most excitable of worlds has always some darling object of +chimerical enterprise: the "Island of the Seven Cities" now awakened as +much interest and longing among zealous Christians, as has the renowned +city of Timbuctoo among adventurous travellers, or the North-east +Passage among hardy navigators; and it was a frequent prayer of the +devout, that these scattered and lost portions of the Christian family +might be discovered, and reunited to the great body of Christendom. + +No one, however, entered into the matter with half the zeal of Don +Fernando de Ulmo, a young cavalier of high standing in the Portuguese +court, and of most sanguine and romantic temperament. He had recently +come to his estate, and had run the round of all kinds of pleasures and +excitements, when this new theme of popular talk and wonder presented +itself. The Island of the Seven Cities became now the constant subject +of his thoughts by day and his dreams by night; it even rivalled his +passion for a beautiful girl, one of the greatest belles of Lisbon, to +whom he was betrothed. At length his imagination became so inflamed on +the subject, that he determined to fit out an expedition, at his own +expense, and set sail in quest of this sainted island. It could not be +a cruise of any great extent; for according to the calculations of the +tempest-tossed pilot, it must be somewhere in the latitude of the +Canaries; which at that time, when the new world was as yet undiscovered, +formed the frontier of ocean enterprise. Don Fernando applied to the +crown for countenance and protection. As he was a favorite at court, the +usual patronage was readily extended to him; that is to say, he received +a commission from the king, Don Ioam II., constituting him Adelantado, +or military governor, of any country he might discover, with the single +proviso, that he should bear all the expenses of the discovery and pay a +tenth of the profits to the crown. + +Don Fernando now set to work in the true spirit of a projector. He sold +acre after acre of solid land, and invested the proceeds in ships, guns, +ammunition, and sea-stores. Even his old family mansion in Lisbon was +mortgaged without scruple, for "he looked forward to a palace in one of +the Seven Cities of which he was to be Adelantado." This was the age of +nautical romance, when the thoughts of all speculative dreamers were +turned to the ocean. The scheme of Don Fernando, therefore, drew +adventurers of every kind. The merchant promised himself new marts of +opulent traffic; the soldier hoped to sack and plunder some one or other +of those Seven Cities; even the fat monk shook off the sleep and sloth +of the cloister, to join in a crusade which promised such increase to +the possessions of the church. + +One person alone regarded the whole project with sovereign contempt +and growling hostility. This was Don Ramiro Alvarez, the father of the +beautiful Serafina, to whom Don Fernando was betrothed. He was one of +those perverse, matter-of-fact old men who are prone to oppose every +thing speculative and romantic. He had no faith in the Island of the +Seven Cities; regarded the projected cruise as a crack-brained freak; +looked with angry eye and internal heart-burning on the conduct of his +intended son-in-law, chaffering away solid lands for lands in the moon, +and scoffingly dubbed him Adelantado of Lubberland. In fact, he had +never really relished the intended match, to which his consent had been +slowly extorted by the tears and entreaties of his daughter. It is true +he could have no reasonable objections to the youth, for Don Fernando +was the very flower of Portuguese chivalry. No one could excel him at +the tilting match, or the riding at the ring; none was more bold and +dexterous in the bull-fight; none composed more gallant madrigals in +praise of his lady's charms, or sang them with sweeter tones to the +accompaniment of her guitar; nor could any one handle the castanets +and dance the bolero with more captivating grace. All these admirable +qualities and endowments, however, though they had been sufficient to +win the heart of Serafina, were nothing in the eyes of her unreasonable +father. O Cupid, god of Love! why will fathers always be so +unreasonable! + +The engagement to Serafina had threatened at first to throw an obstacle +in the way of the expedition of Don Fernando, and for a time perplexed +him in the extreme. He was passionately attached to the young lady; but +he was also passionately bent on this romantic enterprise. How should +he reconcile the two passionate inclinations? A simple and obvious +arrangement at length presented itself: marry Serafina, enjoy a portion +of the honeymoon at once, and defer the rest until his return from the +discovery of the Seven Cities! + +He hastened to make known this most excellent arrangement to Don Ramiro, +when the long-smothered wrath of the old cavalier burst forth in a storm +about his ears. He reproached him with being the dupe of wandering +vagabonds and wild schemers, and of squandering all his real possessions +in pursuit of empty bubbles. Don Fernando was too sanguine a projector, +and too young a man, to listen tamely to such language. He acted with +what is technically called "becoming spirit." A high quarrel ensued; Don +Ramiro pronounced him a mad man, and forbade all farther intercourse +with his daughter, until he should give proof of returning sanity by +abandoning this mad-cap enterprise; while Don Fernando flung out of +the house, more bent than ever on the expedition, from the idea of +triumphing over the incredulity of the gray-beard when he should return +successful. + +Don Ramiro repaired to his daughter's chamber the moment the youth had +departed. He represented to her the sanguine, unsteady character of her +lover and the chimerical nature of his schemes; showed her the propriety +of suspending all intercourse with him until he should recover from his +present hallucination; folded her to his bosom with parental fondness, +kissed the tear that stole down her cheek, and, as he left the chamber, +gently locked the door; for although he was a fond father, and had a +high opinion of the submissive temper of his child, he had a still +higher opinion of the conservative virtues of lock and key. Whether the +damsel had been in any wise shaken in her faith as to the schemes of her +lover, and the existence of the Island of the Seven Cities, by the sage +representations of her father, tradition does not say; but it is certain +that she became a firm believer the moment she heard him turn the key in +the lock. + +Notwithstanding the interdict of Don Ramiro, therefore, and his +shrewd precautions, the intercourse of the lovers continued, although +clandestinely. Don Fernando toiled all day, hurrying forward his +nautical enterprise, while at night he would repair, beneath the +grated balcony of his mistress, to carry on at equal pace the no less +interesting enterprise of the heart. At length the preparations for the +expedition were completed. Two gallant caravels lay anchored in the +Tagus, ready to sail with the morning dawn; while late at night, by the +pale light of a waning moon, Don Fernando sought the stately mansion of +Alvarez to take a last farewell of Serafina. The customary signal of a +few low touches of a guitar brought her to the balcony. She was sad at +heart and full of gloomy forebodings; but her lover strove to impart to +her his own buoyant hope and youthful confidence. "A few short months," +said he, "and I shall return in triumph. Thy father will then blush at +his incredulity, and will once more welcome me to his house, when +I cross its threshold a wealthy suitor and Adelantado of the Seven +Cities." + +The beautiful Serafina shook her head mournfully. It was not on those +points that she felt doubt or dismay. She believed most implicitly in +the Island of the Seven Cities, and trusted devoutly in the success of +the enterprise; but she had heard of the inconstancy of the seas, and +the inconstancy of those who roam them. Now, let the truth be spoken, +Don Fernando, if he had any fault in the world, it was that he was a +little too inflammable; that is to say, a little too subject to take +fire from the sparkle of every bright eye: he had been somewhat of a +rover among the sex on shore, what might he not be on sea? Might he +not meet with other loves in foreign ports? Might he not behold some +peerless beauty in one or other of those seven cities, who might efface +the image of Serafina from his thoughts? + +At length she ventured to hint her doubts; but Don Fernando spurned at +the very idea. Never could his heart be false to Serafina! Never could +another be captivating in his eyes!--never--never! Repeatedly did he +bend his knee, and smite his breast, and call upon the silver moon to +witness the sincerity of his vows. But might not Serafina, herself, be +forgetful of her plighted faith? Might not some wealthier rival present, +while he was tossing on the sea, and, backed by the authority of her +father, win the treasure of her hand? Alas, how little did he know +Serafina's heart! The more her father should oppose, the more would she +be fixed in her faith. Though years should pass before his return, he +would find her true to her vows. Even should the salt seas swallow him +up, (and her eyes streamed with salt tears at the very thought,) never +would she be the wife of another--never--never! She raised her beautiful +white arms between the iron bars of the balcony, and invoked the moon as +a testimonial of her faith. + +Thus, according to immemorial usage, the lovers parted, with many a vow +of eternal constancy. But will they keep those vows? Perish the doubt! +Have they not called the constant moon to witness? + +With the morning dawn the caravels dropped down the Tagus and put +to sea. They steered for the Canaries, in those days the regions of +nautical romance. Scarcely had they reached those latitudes, when a +violent tempest arose. Don Fernando soon lost sight of the accompanying +caravel, and was driven out of all reckoning by the fury of the storm. +For several weary days and nights he was tossed to and fro, at the mercy +of the elements, expecting each moment to be swallowed up. At length, +one day toward evening, the storm subsided; the clouds cleared up, as +though a veil had suddenly been withdrawn from the face of heaven, and +the setting sun shone gloriously upon a fair and mountainous island, +that seemed close at hand. The tempest-tossed mariners rubbed their +eyes, and gazed almost incredulously upon this land, that had emerged so +suddenly from the murky gloom; yet there it lay, spread out in lovely +landscapes; enlivened by villages, and towers, and spires, while the +late stormy sea rolled in peaceful billows to its shores. About a league +from the sea, on the banks of a river, stood a noble city, with lofty +walls and towers, and a protecting castle. Don Fernando anchored off +the mouth of the river, which appeared to form a spacious harbor. In a +little while a barge was seen issuing from the river. It was evidently +a barge of ceremony, for it was richly though quaintly carved and gilt, +and decorated with a silken awning and fluttering streamers, while a +banner, bearing the sacred emblem of the cross, floated to the breeze. +The barge advanced slowly, impelled by sixteen oars, painted of a bright +crimson. The oarsmen were uncouth, or rather antique, in their garb, and +kept stroke to the regular cadence of an old Spanish ditty. Beneath the +awning sat a cavalier, in a rich though old-fashioned doublet, with an +enormous sombrero and feather. When the barge reached the caravel, the +cavalier stepped on board. He was tall and gaunt, with a long, Spanish +visage, and lack-lustre eyes, and an air of lofty and somewhat pompous +gravity. His mustaches were curled up to his ears, his beard was forked +and precise; he wore gauntlets that reached to his elbows, and a Toledo +blade that strutted out behind, while, in front, its huge basket-hilt +might have served for a porringer. + +Thrusting out a long spindle leg, and taking off his sombrero with a +grave and stately sweep, he saluted Don Fernando by name, and welcomed +him, in old Castilian language, and in the style of old Castilian +courtesy. + +Don Fernando was startled at hearing himself accosted by name, by an +utter stranger, in a strange land. As soon as he could recover from his +surprise, he inquired what land it was at which he had arrived. + +"The Island of the Seven Cities!" + +Could this be true? Had he indeed been thus tempest-driven upon the very +land of which he was in quest? It was even so. The other caravel, from +which he had been separated in the storm, had made a neighboring port of +the island, and announced the tidings of this expedition, which came to +restore the country to the great community of Christendom. The whole +island, he was told, was given up to rejoicings on the happy event; and +they only awaited his arrival to acknowledge allegiance to the crown of +Portugal, and hail him as Adelantado of the Seven Cities. A grand fete +was to be solemnized that very night in the palace of the Alcayde or +governor of the city; who, on beholding the most opportune arrival of +the caravel, had despatched his grand chamberlain, in his barge of +state, to conduct the future Adelantado to the ceremony. + +Don Fernando could scarcely believe but that this was all a dream. +He fixed a scrutinizing gaze upon the grand chamberlain, who, having +delivered his message, stood in buckram dignity, drawn up to his full +stature, curling his whiskers, stroking his beard, and looking down upon +him with inexpressible loftiness through his lack-lustre eyes. There was +no doubting the word of so grave and ceremonious a hidalgo. + +Don Fernando now arrayed himself in gala attire. He would have launched +his boat, and gone on shore with his own men, but he was informed the +barge of state was expressly provided for his accommodation, and, after +the fete, would bring him back to his ship; in which, on the following +day, he might enter the harbor in befitting style. He accordingly +stepped into the barge, and took his seat beneath the awning. The grand +chamberlain seated himself on the cushion opposite. The rowers bent to +their oars, and renewed their mournful old ditty, and the gorgeous, but +unwieldy barge moved slowly and solemnly through the water. + +The night closed in, before they entered the river. They swept along, +past rock and promontory, each guarded by its tower. The sentinels at +every post challenged them as they passed by. + +"Who goes there?" + +"The Adelantado of the Seven Cities." + +"He is welcome. Pass on." + +On entering the harbor, they rowed close along an armed galley, of the +most ancient form. Soldiers with cross-bows were stationed on the deck. + +"Who goes there?" was again demanded. + +"The Adelantado of the Seven Cities." + +"He is welcome. Pass on." + +They landed at a broad flight of stone steps, leading up, between two +massive towers, to the water-gate of the city, at which they knocked for +admission. A sentinel, in an ancient steel casque, looked over the wall. +"Who is there?" + +"The Adelantado of the Seven Cities." + +The gate swung slowly open, grating upon its rusty hinges. They entered +between two rows of iron-clad warriors, in battered armor, with +cross-bows, battle-axes, and ancient maces, and with faces as +old-fashioned and rusty as their armor. They saluted Don Fernando in +military style, but with perfect silence, as he passed between their +ranks. The city was illuminated, but in such manner as to give a more +shadowy and solemn effect to its old-time architecture. There were +bonfires in the principal streets, with groups about them in such +old-fashioned garbs, that they looked like the fantastic figures that +roam the streets in carnival time. Even the stately dames who gazed from +the balconies, which they had hung with antique tapestry, looked more +like effigies dressed up for a quaint mummery, than like ladies in their +fashionable attire. Every thing, in short, bore the stamp of former +ages, as if the world had suddenly rolled back a few centuries. Nor was +this to be wondered at. Had not the Island of the Seven Cities been for +several hundred years cut off from all communication with the rest of +the world, and was it not natural that the inhabitants should retain +many of the modes and customs brought here by their ancestors? + +One thing certainly they had conserved; the old-fashioned Spanish +gravity and stateliness. Though this was a time of public rejoicing, and +though Don Fernando was the object of their gratulations, every thing +was conducted with the most solemn ceremony, and wherever he appeared, +instead of acclamations, he was received with profound silence, and the +most formal reverences and swayings of their sombreros. + +Arrived at the palace of the Alcayde, the usual ceremonial was repeated. +The chamberlain knocked for admission. + +"Who is there?" demanded the porter. + +"The Adelantado of the Seven Cities." + +"He is welcome. Pass on." + +The grand portal was thrown open. The chamberlain led the way up a vast +but heavily moulded marble stair-case, and so through one of those +interminable suites of apartments, that are the pride of Spanish +palaces. All were furnished in a style of obsolete magnificence. As they +passed through the chambers, the title of Don Fernando was forwarded on +by servants stationed at every door; and every where produced the most +profound reverences and courtesies. At length they reached a magnificent +saloon, blazing with tapers, in which the Alcayde, and the principal +dignitaries of the city, were waiting to receive their illustrious +guest. The grand chamberlain presented Don Fernando in due form, and +falling back among the other officers of the household, stood as usual +curling his whiskers and stroking his forked beard. + +Don Fernando was received by the Alcayde and the other dignitaries with +the same stately and formal courtesy that he had every where remarked. +In fact, there was so much form and ceremonial, that it seemed difficult +to get at any thing social or substantial. Nothing but bows, and +compliments, and old-fashioned courtesies. The Alcayde and his courtiers +resembled, in face and form, those quaint worthies to be seen in the +pictures of old illuminated manuscripts; while the cavaliers and dames +who thronged the saloon, might have beep taken for the antique figures +of gobelin tapestry suddenly vivified and put in motion. + +The banquet, which had been kept back until the arrival of Don Fernando, +was now announced; and such a feast! such unknown dishes and obsolete +dainties; with the peacock, that bird of state and ceremony, served up +in full plumage, in a golden dish, at the head of the table. And then, +as Don Fernando cast his eyes over the glittering board, what a vista of +odd heads and head-dresses, of formal bearded dignitaries, and stately +dames, with castellated locks and towering plumes! + +As fate would have it, on the other side of Don Fernando, was seated the +daughter of the Alcayde. She was arrayed, it is true, in a dress that +might have been worn before the flood; but then, she had a melting black +Andalusian eye, that was perfectly irresistible. Her voice, too, her +manner, her movements, all smacked of Andalusia, and showed how female +fascination may be transmitted from age to age, and clime to clime, +without ever losing its power, or going out of fashion. Those who know +the witchery of the sex, in that most amorous region of old Spain, may +judge what must have been the fascination to which Don Fernando +was exposed, when seated beside one of the most captivating of its +descendants. He was, as has already been hinted, of an inflammable +temperament; with a heart ready to get in a light blaze at every +instant. And then he had been so wearied by pompous, tedious old +cavaliers, with their formal bows and speeches; is it to be wondered at +that he turned with delight to the Alcayde's daughter, all smiles, and +dimples, and melting looks, and melting accents? Beside, for I wish to +give him every excuse in my power, he was in a particularly excitable +mood, from the novelty of the scene before him, and his head was almost +turned with this sudden and complete realization of all his hopes and +fancies; and then, in the flurry of the moment, he had taken frequent +draughts at the wine-cup, presented him at every instant by officious +pages, and all the world knows the effect of such draughts in giving +potency to female charms. In a word, there is no concealing the matter, +the banquet was not half over, before Don Fernando was making love, +outright, to the Alcayde's daughter. It was his cold habitude, +contracted long before his matrimonial engagement. The young lady hung +her head coyly; her eye rested upon a ruby heart, sparkling in a ring on +the hand of Don Fernando, a parting gage of love from Serafina. A blush +crimsoned her very temples. She darted a glance of doubt at the +ring, and then at Don Fernando. He read her doubt, and in the giddy +intoxication of the moment, drew off the pledge of his affianced bride, +and slipped it on the finger of the Alcayde's daughter. + +At this moment the banquet broke up. The chamberlain with his lofty +demeanor, and his lack-lustre eyes, stood before him, and announced that +the barge was waiting to conduct him back to the caravel. Don Fernando +took a formal leave of the Alcayde and his dignitaries, and a tender +farewell of the Alcayde's daughter, with a promise to throw himself at +her feet on the following day. He was rowed back to his vessel in the +same slow and stately manner, to the cadence of the same mournful old +ditty. He retired to his cabin, his brain whirling with all that he had +seen, and his heart now and then giving him a twinge as he recollected +his temporary infidelity to the beautiful Serafina. He flung himself on +his bed, and soon fell into a feverish sleep. His dreams were wild and +incoherent. How long he slept he knew not, but when he awoke he found +himself in a strange cabin, with persons around him of whom he had no +knowledge. He rubbed his eyes to ascertain whether he were really awake. +In reply to his inquiries, he was informed that he was on board of a +Portuguese ship, bound to Lisbon; having been taken senseless from a +wreck drifting about the ocean. + +Don Fernando was confounded and perplexed. He retraced every thing +distinctly that had happened to him in the Island of the Seven Cities, +and until he had retired to rest on board of the caravel. Had his vessel +been driven from her anchors, and wrecked during his sleep? The people +about him could give him no information on the subject. He talked to +them of the Island of the Seven Cities, and of all that had befallen him +there. They regarded his words as the ravings of delirium, and in their +honest solicitude, administered such rough remedies, that he was fain to +drop the subject, and observe a cautious taciturnity. + +At length they arrived in the Tagus, and anchored before the famous city +of Lisbon. Don Fernando sprang joyfully on shore, and hastened to his +ancestral mansion. To his surprise, it was inhabited by strangers; and +when he asked about his family, no one could give him any information +concerning them. + +He now sought the mansion of Don Ramiro, for the temporary flame kindled +by the bright eyes of the Alcayde's daughter had long since burnt itself +out, and his genuine passion for Serafina had revived with all its +fervor. He approached the balcony, beneath which he had so often +serenaded her. Did his eyes deceive him? No! There was Serafina herself +at the balcony. An exclamation of rapture burst from him, as he raised +his arms toward her. She cast upon him a look of indignation, and +hastily retiring, closed the casement. Could she have heard of his +flirtation with the Alcayde's daughter? He would soon dispel every doubt +of his constancy. The door was open. He rushed up-stairs, and entering +the room, threw himself at her feet. She shrank back with affright, and +took refuge in the arms of a youthful cavalier. + +"What mean you, Sir," cried the latter, "by this intrusion?" + +"What right have you," replied Don Fernando, "to ask the question?" + +"The right of an affianced suitor!" + +Don Fernando started, and turned pale. "Oh, Serafina! Serafina!" cried +he in a tone of agony, "is this thy plighted constancy?" + +"Serafina?--what mean you by Serafina? If it be this young lady you +intend, her name is Maria." + +"Is not this Serafina Alvarez, and is not that her portrait?" cried Don +Fernando, pointing to a picture of his mistress. + +"Holy Virgin!" cried the young lady; "he is talking of my +great-grandmother!" + +An explanation ensued, if that could be called an explanation, which +plunged the unfortunate Fernando into tenfold perplexity. If he might +believe his eyes, he saw before him his beloved Serafina; if he might +believe his ears, it was merely her hereditary form and features, +perpetuated in the person of her great-granddaughter. + +His brain began to spin. He sought tho office of the Minister of Marine, +and made a report of his expedition, and of the Island of the Seven +Cities, which he had so fortunately discovered. No body knew any thing +of such an expedition, or such an island. He declared that he had +undertaken the enterprise under a formal contract with the crown, and +had received a regular commission, constituting him Adelantado. This +must be matter of record, and he insisted loudly, that the books of the +department should be consulted. The wordy strife at length attracted the +attention of an old, gray-headed clerk, who sat perched on a high stool, +at a high desk, with iron-rimmed spectacles on the top of a thin, +pinched nose, copying records into an enormous folio. He had wintered +and summered in the department for a great part of a century, until he +had almost grown to be a piece of the desk at which he sat; his memory +was a mere index of official facts and documents, and his brain was +little better than red tape and parchment. After peering down for a time +from his lofty perch, and ascertaining the matter in controversy, he +put his pen behind his ear, and descended. He remembered to have heard +something from his predecessor about an expedition of the kind in +question, but then it had sailed during the reign of Don Ioam II., and +he had been dead at least a hundred years. To put the matter beyond +dispute, however, the archives of the Torve do Tombo, that sepulchre of +old Portuguese documents, were diligently searched, and a record was +found of a contract between the crown and one Fernando de Ulmo, for the +discovery of the Island of the Seven Cities, and of a commission secured +to him as Adelantado of the country he might discover. + +"There!" cried Don Fernando, triumphantly, "there you have proof, before +your own eyes, of what I have said. I am the Fernando de Ulmo specified +in that record. I have discovered the Island of the Seven Cities, and am +entitled to be Adelantado, according to contract." + +The story of Don Fernando had certainly, what is pronounced the best +of historical foundation, documentary evidence; but when a man, in the +bloom of youth, talked of events that had taken place above a century +previously, as having happened to himself, it is no wonder that he was +set down for a mad man. + +The old clerk looked at him from above and below his spectacles, +shrugged his shoulders, stroked his chin, reascended his lofty stool, +took the pen from behind his ears, and resumed his daily and eternal +task, copying records into the fiftieth volume of a series of gigantic +folios. The other clerks winked at each other shrewdly, and dispersed to +their several places, and poor Don Fernando, thus left to himself, flung +out of the office, almost driven wild by these repeated perplexities. + +In the confusion of his mind, he instinctively repaired to the mansion +of Alvarez, but it was barred against him. To break the delusion under +which the youth apparently labored, and to convince him that the +Serafina about whom he raved was really dead, he was conducted to her +tomb. There she lay, a stately matron, cut out in alabaster; and there +lay her husband beside her; a portly cavalier, in armor; and there +knelt, on each side, the effigies of a numerous progeny, proving that +she had been a fruitful vine. Even the very monument gave proof of the +lapse of time, for the hands of her husband, which were folded as if in +prayer, had lost their fingers, and the face of the once lovely Serafina +was noseless. + +Don Fernando felt a transient glow of indignation at beholding this +monumental proof of the inconstancy of his mistress; but who could +expect a mistress to remain constant during a whole century of absence? +And what right had he to rail about constancy, after what had passed +between him and the Alcayde's daughter? The unfortunate cavalier +performed one pious act of tender devotion; he had the alabaster nose of +Serafina restored by a skilful statuary, and then tore himself from the +tomb. + +He could now no longer doubt the fact that, somehow or other, he had +skipped over a whole century, during the night he had spent at the +Island of the Seven Cities; and he was now as complete a stranger in his +native city, as if he had never been there. A thousand times did he +wish himself back to that wonderful island, with its antiquated banquet +halls, where he had been so courteously received; and now that the once +young and beautiful Serafina was nothing but a great-grandmother in +marble, with generations of descendants, a thousand times would he +recall the melting black eyes of the Alcayde's daughter, who doubtless, +like himself, was still flourishing in fresh juvenility, and breathe a +secret wish that he were seated by her side. + +He would at once have set on foot another expedition, at his own +expense, to cruise in search of the sainted island, but his means were +exhausted. He endeavored to rouse others to the enterprise, setting +forth the certainty of profitable results, of which his own experience +furnished such unquestionable proof. Alas! no one would give faith to +his tale; but looked upon it as the feverish dream of a shipwrecked +man. He persisted in his efforts; holding forth in all places and +all companies, until he became an object of jest and jeer to the +light-minded, who mistook his earnest enthusiasm for a proof of +insanity; and the very children in the streets bantered him with the +title of "The Adelantado of the Seven Cities." + +Finding all his efforts in vain, in his native city of Lisbon, he took +shipping for the Canaries, as being nearer the latitude of his former +cruise, and inhabited by people given to nautical adventure. Here he +found ready listeners to his story; for the old pilots and mariners of +those parts were notorious island-hunters and devout believers in all +the wonders of the seas. Indeed, one and all treated his adventure as a +common occurrence, and turning to each other, with a sagacious nod of +the head, observed, "He has been at the Island of St. Brandan." + +They then went on to inform him of that great marvel and enigma of +the ocean; of its repeated appearance to the inhabitants of their +islands; and of the many but ineffectual expeditions that had been made +in search of it. They took him to a promontory of the island of Palma, +from whence the shadowy St. Brandan had oftenest been descried, and they +pointed out the very tract in the west where its mountains had been +seen. + +Don Fernando listened with rapt attention. He had no longer a doubt that +this mysterious and fugacious island must be the same with that of +the Seven Cities; and that there must be some supernatural influence +connected with it, that had operated upon himself, and made the events +of a night occupy the space of a century. + +He endeavored, but in vain, to rouse the islanders to another attempt at +discovery; they had given up the phantom island as indeed inaccessible. +Fernando, however, was not to be discouraged. The idea wore itself +deeper and deeper in his mind, until it became the engrossing subject of +his thoughts and object of his being. Every morning he would repair to +the promontory of Palma, and sit there throughout the live-long day, in +hopes of seeing the fairy mountains of St. Brandan peering above the +horizon; every evening he returned to his home, a disappointed man, but +ready to resume his post on the following morning. + +His assiduity was all in vain. He grew gray in his ineffectual attempt; +and was at length found dead at his post. His grave is still shown in +the island of Palma, and a cross is erected on the spot where he used +to sit and look out upon the sea, in hopes of the reappearance of the +enchanted island. + + * * * * * + +NATIONAL NOMENCLATURE. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Sir: I am somewhat of the same way of thinking, in regard to names, with +that profound philosopher, Mr. Shandy, the elder, who maintained that +some inspired high thoughts and heroic aims, while others entailed +irretrievable meanness and vulgarity; insomuch that a man might sink +under the insignificance of his name, and be absolutely "Nicodemused +into nothing." I have ever, therefore, thought it a great hardship for a +man to be obliged to struggle through life with some ridiculous or +ignoble _Christian_ name, as it is too often falsely called, inflicted +on him in infancy, when he could not choose for himself; and would give +him free liberty to change it for one more to his taste, when he had +arrived at years of discretion. + +I have the same notion with respect to local names. Some at once +prepossess us in favor of a place; others repel us, by unlucky +associations of the mind; and I have known scenes worthy of being the +very haunt of poetry and romance, yet doomed to irretrievable vulgarity, +by some ill-chosen name, which not even the magic numbers of a Halleck +or a Bryant could elevate into poetical acceptation. + +This is an evil unfortunately too prevalent throughout our country. +Nature has stamped the land with features of sublimity and beauty; but +some of our noblest mountains and loveliest streams are in danger of +remaining for ever unhonored and unsung, from bearing appellations +totally abhorrent to the Muse. In the first place, our country is +deluged with names taken from places in the old world, and applied to +places having no possible affinity or resemblance to their namesakes. +This betokens a forlorn poverty of invention, and a second-hand spirit, +content to cover its nakedness with borrowed or cast-off clothes of +Europe. + +Then we have a shallow affectation of scholarship: the whole catalogue +of ancient worthies is shaken out from the back of Lempriere's Classical +Dictionary, and a wide region of wild country sprinkled over with the +names of the heroes, poets, and sages of antiquity, jumbled into the +most whimsical juxtaposition. Then we have our political god-fathers; +topographical engineers, perhaps, or persons employed by government to +survey and lay out townships. These, forsooth, glorify the patrons that +give them bread; so we have the names of the great official men of the +day scattered over the land, as if they were the real "salt of the +earth," with which it was to be seasoned. Well for us is it, when these +official great men happen to have names of fair acceptation; but wo unto +us, should a Tubbs or a Potts be in power: we are sure, in a little +while, to find Tubbsvilles and Pottsylvanias springing up in every +direction. + +Under these melancholy dispensations of taste and loyalty, therefore, +Mr. Editor, it is with a feeling of dawning hope, that I have lately +perceived the attention of persons of intelligence beginning to be +awakened on this subject. I trust if the matter should once be taken +up, it will not be readily abandoned. We are yet young enough, as a +country, to remedy and reform much of what has been done, and to release +many of our rising towns and cities, and our noble streams, from names +calculated to vulgarize the land. + +I have, on a former occasion, suggested the expediency of searching out +the original Indian names of places, and wherever they are striking and +euphonious, and those by which they have been superseded are glaringly +objectionable, to restore them. They would have the merit of +originality, and of belonging to the country; and they would remain as +reliques of the native lords of the soil, when every other vestige had +disappeared. Many of these names may easily be regained, by reference to +old title deeds, and to the archives of states and counties. In my own +case, by examining the records of the county clerk's office, I have +discovered the Indian names of various places and objects in the +neighborhood, and have found them infinitely superior to the trite, +poverty-stricken names which had been given by the settlers. A beautiful +pastoral stream, for instance, which winds for many a mile through one +of the loveliest little valleys in the state, has long been known by the +common-place name of the "Saw-mill River." In the old Indian grants, it +is designated as the Neperan. Another, a perfectly wizard stream, which +winds through the wildest recesses of Sleepy Hollow, bears the hum-drum +name of Mill Creek: in the Indian grants, it sustains the euphonious +title of the Pocantico. + +Similar researches have released Long-Island from many of those paltry +and vulgar names which fringed its beautiful shores; their Cow Bays, and +Cow Necks, and Oyster Ponds, and Mosquito Coves, which spread a spell of +vulgarity over the whole island, and kept persons of taste and fancy at +a distance. + +It would be an object worthy the attention of the historical societies, +which are springing up in various parts of the Union, to have maps +executed of their respective states or neighborhoods, in which all the +Indian local names should, as far as possible, be restored. In fact, +it appears to me that the nomenclature of the country is almost of +sufficient importance for the foundation of a distinct society; or +rather, a corresponding association of persons of taste and judgment, of +all parts of the Union. Such an association, if properly constituted and +composed, comprising especially all the literary talent of the country, +though it might not have legislative power in its enactments, yet +would have the all-pervading power of the press; and the changes in +nomenclature which it might dictate, being at once adopted by elegant +writers in prose and poetry, and interwoven with the literature of the +country, would ultimately pass into popular currency. + +Should such a reforming association arise, I beg to recommend to its +attention all those mongrel names that have the adjective _New_ prefixed +to them, and pray they may be one and all kicked out of the country. +I am for none of these second-hand appellations, that stamp us a +second-hand people, and that are to perpetuate us a new country to the +end of time. Odds my life! Mr. Editor, I hope and trust we are to live +to be an old nation, as well as our neighbors, and have no idea that +our cities, when they shall have attained to venerable antiquity, shall +still be dubbed _New_-York, and _New_-London, and _new_ this and _new_ +that, like the Pont-Neuf, (the New Bridge,) at Paris, which is the +oldest bridge in that capital, or like the Vicar of Wakefield's horse, +which continued to be called "the colt," until he died of old age. + +Speaking of New-York, reminds me of some observations which I met with +some time since, in one of the public papers, about the name of our +state and city. The writer proposes to substitute for the present names, +those of the State of Ontario, and the CITY OF MANHATTAN. I concur in +his suggestion most heartily. Though born and brought up in the city of +New-York, and though I love every stick and stone about it, yet I do +not, nor ever did, relish its name. I like neither its sound nor its +significance. As to its _significance_, the very adjective _new_ gives +to our great commercial metropolis a second-hand character, as if +referring to some older, more dignified, and important place, of which +it was a mere copy; though in fact, if I am rightly informed, the whole +name commemorates a grant by Charles II. to his brother, the duke of +York, made in the spirit of royal munificence, of a tract of country +which did not belong to him. As to the _sound_, what can you make of it, +either in poetry or prose? New-York! Why, Sir, if it were to share the +fate of Troy itself; to suffer a ten years' siege, and be sacked and +plundered; no modern Homer would ever be able to elevate the name to +epic dignity. + +Now, Sir, ONTARIO would be a name worthy of the empire state. It bears +with it the majesty of that internal sea which washes our northwestern +shore. Or, if any objection should be made, from its not being +completely embraced within our boundaries, there is the MOHEGAN, one +of the Indian names for that glorious river, the Hudson, which would +furnish an excellent state appellation. So also New-York might be called +Manhatta, as it is named in some of the early records, and Manhattan +used as the adjective. Manhattan, however, stands well as a substantive, +and "Manhattanese," which I observe Mr. COOPER has adopted in some of +his writings, would be a very good appellation for a citizen of the +commercial metropolis. + +A word or two more, Mr. Editor, and I have done. We want a NATIONAL +NAME. We want it poetically, and we want it politically. With the +poetical necessity of the case I shall not trouble myself. I leave it to +our poets to tell how they manage to steer that collocation of words, +"The United States of North America," down the swelling tide of song, +and to float the whole raft out upon the sea of heroic poesy. I am now +speaking of the mere purposes of common life. How is a citizen of this +republic to designate himself? As an American? There are two Americas, +each subdivided into various empires, rapidly rising in importance. As a +citizen of the United States? It is a clumsy, lumbering title, yet still +it is not distinctive; for we have now the United States of Central +America; and heaven knows how many "United States" may spring up under +the Proteus changes of Spanish America. + +This may appear matter of small concernment; but any one that has +travelled in foreign countries must be conscious of the embarrassment +and circumlocution sometimes occasioned by the want of a perfectly +distinct and explicit national appellation. In France, when I have +announced myself as an American, I have been supposed to belong to one +of the French colonies; in Spain, to be from Mexico, or Peru, or some +other Spanish-American country. Repeatedly have I found myself involved +in a long geographical and political definition of my national identity. + +Now, Sir, meaning no disrespect to any of our co-heirs of this great +quarter of the world, I am for none of this coparceny in a name that is +to mingle us up with the riff-raff colonies and off-sets of every nation +of Europe. The title of American may serve to tell the quarter of the +world to which I belong, the same as a Frenchman or an Englishman may +call himself a European; but I want my own peculiar national name to +rally under. I want an appellation that shall tell at once, and in a +way not to be mistaken, that I belong to this very portion of America, +geographical and political, to which it is my pride and happiness to +belong; that I am of the Anglo-Saxon race which founded this Anglo-Saxon +empire in the wilderness; and that I have no part or parcel with any +other race or empire, Spanish, French, or Portuguese, in either of the +Americas. Such an appellation, Sir, would have magic in it. It would +bind every part of the confederacy together as with a keystone; it would +be a passport to the citizen of our republic throughout the world. + +We have it in our power to furnish ourselves with such a national +appellation, from one of the grand and eternal features of our country; +from that noble chain of mountains which formed its back-bone, and ran +through the "old confederacy," when it first declared our national +independence. I allude to the Appalachian or Alleghany mountains. We +might do this without any very inconvenient change in our present +titles. We might still use the phrase, "The United States," substituting +Appalachia, or Alleghania, (I should prefer the latter,) in place of +America. The title of Appalachian, or Alleghanian, would still announce +us as Americans, but would specify us as citizens of the Great Republic. +Even our old national cypher of U. S. A. might remain unaltered, +designating the United States of Alleghania. + +These are crude ideas, Mr. Editor, hastily thrown out to elicit the +ideas of others, and to call attention to a subject of more national +importance than may at first be supposed. + +Very respectfully yours, + +Geoffrey Crayon. + + * * * * * + +DESULTORY THOUGHTS ON CRITICISM. + +"Let a man write never so well, there are now-a-days a sort of persons +they call critics, that, egad, have no more wit in them than so many +hobby-horses: but they'll laugh at you, Sir, and find fault, and censure +things, that, egad, I'm sure they are not able to do themselves; a sort +of envious persons, that emulate the glories of persons of parts, and +think to build their fame by calumniation of persons that, egad, to my +knowledge, of all persons in the world, are in nature the persons that +do as much despise all that, as--a--In fine, I'll say no more of 'em!" +-REHEARSAL. + +All the world knows the story of the tempest-tossed voyager, who, coming +upon a strange coast, and seeing a man hanging in chains, hailed it with +joy, as the sign of a civilized country. In like manner we may hail, as +a proof of the rapid advancement of civilization and refinement in +this country, the increasing number of delinquent authors daily gibbeted +for the edification of the public. + +In this respect, as in every other, we are "going ahead" with +accelerated velocity, and promising to outstrip the superannuated +countries of Europe. It is really astonishing to see the number of +tribunals incessantly springing up for the trial of literary offences. +Independent of the high courts of Oyer and Terminer, the great quarterly +reviews, we have innumerable minor tribunals, monthly and weekly, down +to the Pie-poudre courts in the daily papers; insomuch that no culprit +stands so little chance of escaping castigation, as an unlucky author, +guilty of an unsuccessful attempt to please the public. + +Seriously speaking, however, it is questionable whether our national +literature is sufficiently advanced, to bear this excess of criticism; +and whether it would not thrive better, if allowed to spring up, for +some time longer, in the freshness and vigor of native vegetation. When +the worthy Judge Coulter, of Virginia, opened court for the first time +in one of the upper counties, he was for enforcing all the rules and +regulations that had grown into use in the old, long-settled counties. +"This is all very well," said a shrewd old farmer; "but let me tell you, +Judge Coulter, you set your coulter too deep for a new soil." + +For my part, I doubt whether either writer or reader is benefited by +what is commonly called criticism. The former is rendered cautious and +distrustful; he fears to give way to those kindling emotions, and brave +sallies of thought, which bear him up to excellence; the latter is made +fastidious and cynical; or rather, he surrenders his own independent +taste and judgment, and learns to like and dislike at second hand. + +Let us, for a moment, consider the nature of this thing called +criticism, which exerts such a sway over the literary world. The pronoun +we, used by critics, has a most imposing and delusive sound. The reader +pictures to himself a conclave of learned men, deliberating gravely and +scrupulously on the merits of the book in question; examining it page by +page, comparing and balancing their opinions, and when they have united +in a conscientious verdict, publishing it for the benefit of the world: +whereas the criticism is generally the crude and hasty production of +an individual, scribbling to while away an idle hour, to oblige a +book-seller, or to defray current expenses. How often is it the +passing notion of the hour, affected by accidental circumstances; by +indisposition, by peevishness, by vapors or indigestion; by personal +prejudice, or party feeling. Sometimes a work is sacrificed, because +the reviewer wishes a satirical article; sometimes because he wants +a humorous one; and sometimes because the author reviewed has become +offensively celebrated, and offers high game to the literary marksman. + +How often would the critic himself, if a conscientious man, reverse his +opinion, had he time to revise it in a more sunny moment; but the press +is waiting, the printer's devil is at his elbow; the article is wanted +to make the requisite variety for the number of the review, or the +author has pressing occasion for the sum he is to receive for the +article, so it is sent off, all blotted and blurred; with a shrug of +the shoulders, and the consolatory ejaculation: "Pshaw! curse it! it's +nothing but a review!" + +The critic, too, who dictates thus oracularly to the world, is perhaps +some dingy, ill-favored, ill-mannered varlet, who, were he to speak by +word of mouth, would be disregarded, if not scoffed at; but such is the +magic of types; such the mystic operation of anonymous writing; such the +potential effect of the pronoun we, that his crude decisions, fulminated +through the press, become circulated far and wide, control the opinions +of the world, and give or destroy reputation. + +Many readers have grown timorous in their judgments since the +all-pervading currency of criticism. They fear to express a revised, +frank opinion about any new work, and to relish it honestly and +heartily, lest it should be condemned in the next review, and they stand +convicted of bad taste. Hence they hedge their opinions, like a gambler +his bets, and leave an opening to retract, and retreat, and qualify, +and neutralise every unguarded expression of delight, until their very +praise declines into a faintness that is damning. + +Were every one, on the contrary, to judge for himself, and speak his +mind frankly and fearlessly, we should have more true criticism in the +world than at present. Whenever a person is pleased with a work, he may +be assured that it has good qualities. An author who pleases a variety +of readers, must possess substantial powers of pleasing; or, in other +words, intrinsic merits; for otherwise we acknowledge an effect, and +deny the cause. The reader, therefore, should not suffer himself to be +readily shaken from the conviction of his own feelings, by the sweeping +censures of pseudo critics. The author he has admired, may be chargeable +with a thousand faults; but it is nevertheless beauties and excellencies +that have excited his admiration; and he should recollect that taste +and judgment are as much evinced in the perception of beauties among +defects, as in a detection of defects among beauties. For my part, I +honor the blessed and blessing spirit that is quick to discover and +extol all that is pleasing and meritorious. Give me the honest bee, that +extracts honey from the humblest weed, but save me from the ingenuity +of the spider, which traces its venom, even in the midst of a +flower-garden. + +If the mere fact of being chargeable with faults and imperfections is to +condemn an author, who is to escape? The greatest writers of antiquity +have, in this way, been obnoxious to criticism. Aristotle himself has +been accused of ignorance; Aristophanes of impiety and buffoonery; +Virgil of plagiarism, and a want of invention; Horace of obscurity; +Cicero has been, said to want vigor and connexion, and Demosthenes to +be deficient in nature, and in purity of language. Yet these have all +survived the censures of the critic, and flourished on to a glorious +immortality. Every now and then the world is startled by some new +doctrines in matters of taste, some levelling attacks on established +creeds; some sweeping denunciations of whole generations, or schools of +writers, as they are called, who had seemed to be embalmed and canonized +in public opinion. Such has been the case, for instance, with Pope, and +Dryden, and Addison, who for a time have almost been shaken from their +pedestals, and treated as false idols. + +It is singular, also, to see the fickleness of the world with respect +to its favorites. Enthusiasm exhausts itself, and prepares the way +for dislike. The public is always for positive sentiments, and new +sensations. When wearied of admiring, it delights to censure; thus +coining a double set of enjoyments out of the same subject. Scott and +Byron are scarce cold in their graves, and already we find criticism +beginning to call in question those powers which held the world in magic +thraldom. Even in our own country, one of its greatest geniuses has +had some rough passages with the censors of the press; and instantly +criticism begins to unsay all that it has repeatedly said in his praise; +and the public are almost led to believe that the pen which has so often +delighted them, is absolutely destitute of the power to delight! + +If, then, such reverses in opinion as to matters of taste can be so +readily brought about, when may an author feel himself secure? Where is +the anchoring-ground of popularity, when he may thus be driven from his +moorings, and foundered even in harbor? The reader, too, when he is to +consider himself safe in admiring, when he sees long-established altars +overthrown, and his household deities dashed to the ground! + +There is one consolatory reflection. Every abuse carries with it its +own remedy or palliation. Thus the excess of crude and hasty criticism, +which has of late prevailed throughout the literary world, and +threatened to overrun our country, begins to produce its own antidote. +Where there is a multiplicity of contradictory paths, a man must make +his choice; in so doing, he has to exercise his judgment, and that is +one great step to mental independence. He begins to doubt all, where all +differ, and but one can be in the right. He is driven to trust to his +own discernment, and his natural feelings; and here he is most likely +to be safe. The author, too, finding that what is condemned at one +tribunal, is applauded at another, though perplexed for a time, gives +way at length to the spontaneous impulse of his genius, and the dictates +of his taste, and writes in the way most natural to himself. It is thus +that criticism, which by its severity may have held the little world of +writers in check, may, by its very excess, disarm itself of its terrors, +and the hardihood of talent become restored. + +G.C. + + * * * * * + +SPANISH ROMANCE. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Sir: I have already given you a legend or two drawn from ancient Spanish +sources, and may occasionally give you a few more. I love these old +Spanish themes, especially when they have a dash of the Morisco in them, +and treat of the times when the Moslems maintained a foot-hold in the +peninsula. They have a high, spicy, oriental flavor, not to be found in +any other themes that are merely European. In fact, Spain is a country +that stands alone in the midst of Europe; severed in habits, manners, +and modes of thinking, from all its continental neighbors. It is a +romantic country; but its romance has none of the sentimentality of +modern European romance: it is chiefly derived from the brilliant +regions of the East, and from the high-minded school of Saracenic +chivalry. + +The Arab invasion and conquest brought a higher civilization and +a nobler style of thinking into Gothic Spain. The Arabs were a +quick-witted, sagacious, proud-spirited, and poetical people, and were +imbued with oriental science and literature. Wherever they established a +seat of power, it became a rallying place for the learned and ingenious; +and they softened and refined the people whom they conquered. By +degrees, occupancy seemed to give them a hereditary right to their +foothold in the land; they ceased to be looked upon as invaders, and +were regarded as rival neighbors. The peninsula, broken up into a +variety of states, both Christian and Moslem, became for centuries +a great campaigning ground, where the art of war seemed to be the +principal business of man, and was carried to the highest pitch of +romantic chivalry. The original ground of hostility, a difference of +faith, gradually lost its rancor. Neighboring states, of opposite +creeds, were occasionally linked together in alliances, offensive and +defensive; so that the cross and crescent were to be seen side by side +fighting against some common enemy. In times of peace, too, the noble +youth of either faith resorted to the same cities, Christian or Moslem, +to school themselves in military science. Even in the temporary truces +of sanguinary wars, the warriors who had recently striven together in +the deadly conflicts of the field, laid aside their animosity, met at +tournaments, jousts, and other military festivities, and exchanged the +courtesies of gentle and generous spirits. Thus the opposite races +became frequently mingled together in peaceful intercourse, or if any +rivalry took place, it was in those high courtesies and nobler acts +which bespeak the accomplished cavalier. Warriors of opposite creeds +became ambitious of transcending each other in magnanimity as well as +valor. Indeed, the chivalric virtues were refined upon to a degree +sometimes fastidious and constrained; but at other times, inexpressibly +noble and affecting. The annals of the times teem with illustrious +instances of high-wrought courtesy, romantic generosity, lofty +disinterestedness, and punctilious honor, that warm the very soul to +read them. These have furnished themes for national plays and poems, or +have been celebrated in those all-pervading ballads which are as the +life-breath of the people, and thus have continued to exercise an +influence on the national character which centuries of vicissitude and +decline have not been able to destroy; so that, with all their faults, +and they are many, the Spaniards, even at the present day, are on many +points the most high-minded and proud-spirited people of Europe. +It is true, the romance of feeling derived from the sources I have +mentioned, has, like all other romance, its affectations and extremes. +It renders the Spaniard at times pompous and grandiloquent; prone to +carry the "pundonor," or point of honor, beyond the bounds of sober +sense and sound morality; disposed, in the midst of poverty, to affect +the "grande caballero," and to look down with sovereign disdain upon +"arts mechanical," and all the gainful pursuits of plebeian life; but +this very inflation of spirit, while it fills his brain with vapors, +lifts him above a thousand meannesses; and though it often keeps him in +indigence, ever protects him from vulgarity. + +In the present day, when popular literature is running into the low +levels of life and luxuriating on the vices and follies of mankind, and +when the universal pursuit of gain is trampling down the early growth +of poetic feeling and wearing out the verdure of the soul, I question +whether it would not be of service for the reader occasionally to turn +to these records of prouder times and loftier modes of thinking, and to +steep himself to the very lips in old Spanish romance. + +For my own part, I have a shelf or two of venerable, parchment-bound +tomes, picked up here and there about the peninsula, and filled with +chronicles, plays, and ballads, about Moors and Christians, which I keep +by me as mental tonics, in the same way that a provident housewife has +her cupboard of cordials. Whenever I find my mind brought below par by +the commonplace of every-day life, or jarred by the sordid collisions +of the world, or put out of tune by the shrewd selfishness of modern +utilitarianism, I resort to these venerable tomes, as did the worthy +hero of La Mancha to his books of chivalry, and refresh and tone up my +spirit by a deep draught of their contents. They have some such effect +upon me as Falstaff ascribes to a good Sherris sack, "warming the blood +and filling the brain with fiery and delectable shapes." + +I here subjoin, Mr. Editor, a small specimen of the cordials I have +mentioned, just drawn from my Spanish cupboard, which I recommend to +your palate. If you find it to your taste, you may pass it on to your +readers. + + Your correspondent and well-wisher, + GEOFFREY CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +LEGEND OF DON MUNIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +In the cloisters of the ancient Benedictine convent of San Domingo, at +Silos, in Castile, are the mouldering yet magnificent monuments of the +once powerful and chivalrous family of Hinojosa. Among these, reclines +the marble figure of a knight, in complete armor, with the hands pressed +together, as if in prayer. On one side of his tomb is sculptured in +relief a band of Christian cavaliers, capturing a cavalcade of male and +female Moors; on the other side, the same cavaliers are represented +kneeling before an altar. The tomb, like most of the neighboring +monuments, is almost in ruins, and the sculpture is nearly +unintelligible, excepting to the keen eye of the antiquary. The story +connected with the sepulchre, however, is still preserved in the old +Spanish chronicles, and is to the following purport. + + * * * * * + +In old times, several hundred years ago, there was a noble Castilian +cavalier, named Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa, lord of a border castle, +which had stood the brunt of many a Moorish foray. He had seventy +horsemen as his household troops, all of the ancient Castilian proof; +stark warriors, hard riders, and men of iron; with these he scoured the +Moorish lands, and made his name terrible throughout the borders. His +castle hall was covered with banners, and scimitars, and Moslem helms, +the trophies of his prowess. Don Munio was, moreover, a keen huntsman; +and rejoiced in hounds of all kinds, steeds for the chase, and hawks for +the towering sport of falconry. When not engaged in warfare, his delight +was to beat up the neighboring forests; and scarcely ever did he ride +forth, without hound and horn, a boar-spear in his hand, or a hawk upon +his fist, and an attendant train of huntsmen. + +His wife, Donna Maria Palacin, was of a gentle and timid nature, little +fitted to be the spouse of so hardy and adventurous a knight; and many +a tear did the poor lady shed, when he sallied forth upon his daring +enterprises, and many a prayer did she offer up for his safety. + +As this doughty cavalier was one day hunting, he stationed himself in a +thicket, on the borders of a green glade of the forest, and dispersed +his followers to rouse the game, and drive it toward his stand. He had +not been here long, when a cavalcade of Moors, of both sexes, came +prankling over the forest lawn. They were unarmed, and magnificently +dressed in robes of tissue and embroidery, rich shawls of India, +bracelets and anklets of gold, and jewels that sparkled in the sun. + +At the head of this gay cavalcade, rode a youthful cavalier, superior +to the rest in dignity and loftiness of demeanor, and in splendor of +attire; beside him was a damsel, whose veil, blown aside by the breeze, +displayed a face of surpassing beauty, and eyes cast down in maiden +modesty, yet beaming with tenderness and joy. + +Don Munio thanked his stars for sending him such a prize, and exulted at +the thought of bearing home to his wife the glittering spoils of these +infidels. Putting his hunting-horn to his lips, he gave a blast that +rung through the forest. His huntsmen came running from all quarters, +and the astonished Moors were surrounded and made captives. + +The beautiful Moor wrung her hands in despair, and her female attendants +uttered the most piercing cries. The young Moorish cavalier alone +retained self-possession. He inquired the name of the Christian knight, +who commanded this troop of horsemen. When told that it was Don Munio +Sancho de Hinojosa, his countenance lighted up. Approaching that +cavalier, and kissing his hand, "Don Munio Sancho," said he, "I have +heard of your fame as a true and valiant knight, terrible in arms, but +schooled in the noble virtues of chivalry. Such do I trust to find you. +In me you behold Abadil, son of a Moorish Alcayde. I am on the way to +celebrate my nuptials with this lady; chance has thrown us in your +power, but I confide in your magnanimity. Take all our treasure and +jewels; demand what ransom you think proper for our person, but suffer +us not to be insulted or dishonored." + +When the good knight heard this appeal, and beheld the beauty of the +youthful pair, his heart was touched with tenderness and courtesy. +"God forbid," said he, "that I should disturb such happy nuptials. My +prisoners in troth shall ye be, for fifteen days, and immured within +my castle, where I claim, as conqueror, the right of celebrating your +espousals." + +So saying, he despatched one of his fleetest horsemen in advance, to +notify Donna Maria Palacin of the coming of this bridal party; while he +and his huntsmen escorted the cavalcade, not as captors, but as a guard +of honor. As they drew near to the castle, the banners were hung out, +and the trumpets sounded from the battlements; and on their nearer +approach, the draw-bridge was lowered, and Donna Maria came forth +to meet them, attended by her ladies and knights, her pages and her +minstrels. She took the young bride, Allifra, in her arms, kissed her +with the tenderness of a sister, and conducted her into the castle. In +the mean time, Don Munio sent forth missives in every direction, and had +viands and dainties of all kinds collected from the country round; and +the wedding of the Moorish lovers was celebrated with all possible state +and festivity. For fifteen days, the castle was given up to joy and +revelry. There were tiltings and jousts at the ring, and bullfights, and +banquets, and dances to the sound of minstrelsy. When the fifteen days +were at an end, he made the bride and bridegroom magnificent presents, +and conducted them and their attendants safely beyond the borders. Such, +in old times, were the courtesy and generosity of a Spanish cavalier. + +Several years after this event, the King of Castile summoned his nobles +to assist him in a campaign against the Moors. Don Munio Sancho was +among the first to answer to the call, with seventy horsemen, all +staunch and well-tried warriors. His wife, Donna Maria, hung about his +neck. "Alas, my lord!" exclaimed she, "how often wilt thou tempt thy +fate, and when will thy thirst for glory be appeased?" + +"One battle more," replied Don Munio, "one battle more, for the honor of +Castile, and I here make a vow, that when this is over, I will lay by my +sword, and repair with my cavaliers in pilgrimage to the sepulchre of +our Lord at Jerusalem." The cavaliers all joined with him in the vow, +and Donna Maria felt in some degree soothed in spirit: still, she saw +with a heavy heart the departure of her husband, and watched his banner +with wistful eyes, until it disappeared among the trees of the forest, + +The King of Castile led his army to the plains of Almanara, where they +encountered the Moorish host, near to Ucles. The battle was long and +bloody; the Christians repeatedly wavered, and were as often rallied by +the energy of their commanders. Don Munio was covered with wounds, but +refused to leave the field. The Christians at length gave way, and the +king was hardly pressed, and in danger of being captured. + +Don Munio called upon his cavaliers to follow him to the rescue. "Now is +the time," cried he, "to prove your loyalty. Fall to, like brave men! +We fight for the true faith, and if we lose our lives here, we gain a +better life hereafter." + +Rushing with his men between the king and his pursuers, they checked the +latter in their career, and gave time for their monarch to escape; but +they fell victims to their loyalty. They all fought to the last gasp. +Don Munio was singled out by a powerful Moorish knight, but having been +wounded in the right arm, he fought to disadvantage, and was slain. The +battle being over, the Moor paused to possess himself of the spoils of +this redoubtable Christian warrior. When he unlaced the helmet, however, +and beheld the countenance of Don Munio, he gave a great cry, and smote +his breast. "Woe is me!" cried he: "I have slain my benefactor! The +flower of knightly virtue! the most magnanimous of cavaliers!" + + * * * * * + +While the battle had been raging on the plain of Salmanara, Donna Maria +Palacin remained in her castle, a prey to the keenest anxiety. Her eyes +were ever fixed on the road that led from the country of the Moors, and +often she asked the watchman of the tower, "What seest thou?" + +One evening, at the shadowy hour of twilight, the warden sounded his +horn. "I see," cried he, "a numerous train winding up the valley. There +are mingled Moors and Christians. The banner of my lord is in the +advance. Joyful tidings!" exclaimed the old seneschal: "my lord returns +in triumph, and brings captives!" Then the castle courts rang with +shouts of joy; and the standard was displayed, and the trumpets were +sounded, and the draw-bridge was lowered, and Donna Maria went forth +with her ladies, and her knights, and her pages, and her minstrels, to +welcome her lord from the wars. But as the train drew nigh, she beheld a +sumptuous bier, covered with black velvet, and on it lay a warrior, as +if taking his repose: he lay in his armor, with his helmet on his head, +and his sword in his hand, as one who had never been conquered, and +around the bier were the escutcheons of the house of Hinojosa. + +A number of Moorish cavaliers attended the bier, with emblems of +mourning, and with dejected countenances: and their leader cast himself +at the feet of Donna Maria, and hid his face in his hands. She beheld in +him the gallant Abadil, whom she had once welcomed with his bride to +her castle, but who now came with the body of her lord, whom he had +unknowingly slain in battle! + +The sepulchre erected in the cloisters of the Convent of San Domingo was +achieved at the expense of the Moor Abadil, as a feeble testimony of his +grief for the death of the good knight Don Munio, and his reverence for +his memory. The tender and faithful Donna Maria soon followed her lord +to the tomb. On one of the stones of a small arch, beside his sepulchre, +is the following simple inscription: "_Hic jacet Maria Palacin, uxor +Munonis Sancij de Finojosa_:" Here lies Maria Palacin, wife of Munio +Sancho de Hinojosa. + +The legend of Don Munio Sancho does not conclude with his death. On the +same day on which the battle took place on the plain of Salmanara, a +chaplain of the Holy Temple at Jerusalem, while standing at the outer +gate, beheld a train of Christian cavaliers advancing, as if in +pilgrimage. The chaplain was a native of Spain, and as the pilgrims +approached, he knew the foremost to be Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa, +with whom he had been well acquainted in former times. Hastening to the +patriarch, he told him of the honorable rank of the pilgrims at the +gate. The patriarch, therefore, went forth with a grand procession of +priests and monks, and received the pilgrims with all due honor. There +were seventy cavaliers, beside their leader, all stark and lofty +warriors. They carried their helmets in their hands, and their faces +were deadly pale. They greeted no one, nor looked either to the right or +to the left, but entered the chapel, and kneeling before the Sepulchre +of our Saviour, performed their orisons in silence. When they had +concluded, they rose as if to depart, and the patriarch and his +attendants advanced to speak to them, but they were no more to be seen. +Every one marvelled what could be the meaning of this prodigy. The +patriarch carefully noted down the day, and sent to Castile to learn +tidings of Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa. He received for reply, that +on the very day specified, that worthy knight, with seventy of his +followers, had been slain in battle. These, therefore, must have been +the blessed spirits of those Christian warriors, come to fulfil their +vow of a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Such was +Castilian faith, in the olden time, which kept its word, even beyond the +grave. + +If any one should doubt of the miraculous apparition of these phantom +knights, let him consult the History of the Kings of Castile and Leon, +by the learned and pious Fray Prudencio de Sandoval, Bishop of Pamplona, +where he will find it recorded in the History of the King Don Alonzo +VI., on the hundred and second page. It is too precious a legend to be +lightly abandoned to the doubter. + + * * * * * + +COMMUNIPAW. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Sir: I observe, with pleasure, that you are performing from time to time +a pious duty, imposed upon you, I may say, by the name you have adopted +as your titular standard, in following in the footsteps of the venerable +KNICKERBOCKER, and gleaning every fact concerning the early times of the +Manhattoes which may have escaped his hand. I trust, therefore, a few +particulars, legendary and statistical, concerning a place which +figures conspicuously in the early pages of his history, will not be +unacceptable. I allude, Sir, to the ancient and renowned village of +Communipaw, which, according to the veracious Diedrich, and to equally +veracious tradition, was the first spot where our ever-to-be-lamented +Dutch progenitors planted their standard and cast the seeds of empire, +and from whence subsequently sailed the memorable expedition under +Oloffe the Dreamer, which landed on the opposite island of Manhatta, +and founded the present city of New-York, the city of dreams and +speculations. + +Communipaw, therefore, may truly be called the parent of New-York; yet +it is an astonishing fact, that though immediately opposite to the great +city it has produced, from whence its red roofs and tin weather-cocks +can actually be descried peering above the surrounding apple orchards, +it should be almost as rarely visited, and as little known by the +inhabitants of the metropolis, as if it had been locked up among the +Rocky Mountains. Sir, I think there is something unnatural in this, +especially in these times of ramble and research, when our citizens are +antiquity-hunting in every part of the world. Curiosity, like charity, +should begin at home; and I would enjoin it on our worthy burghers, +especially those of the real Knickerbocker breed, before they send their +sons abroad to wonder and grow wise among the remains of Greece and +Rome, to let them make a tour of ancient Pavonia, from Weehawk even +to the Kills, and meditate, with filial reverence, on the moss-grown +mansions of Communipaw. Sir, I regard this much neglected village as one +of the most remarkable places in the country. The intelligent traveller, +as he looks down upon it from the Bergen Heights, modestly nestled among +its cabbage-gardens, while the great flaunting city it has begotten is +stretching far and wide on the opposite side of the bay, the intelligent +traveller, I say, will be filled with astonishment; not, Sir, at the +village of Communipaw, which in truth is a very small village, but at +the almost incredible fact that so small a village should have produced +so great a city. It looks to him, indeed, like some squat little +dame, with a tall grenadier of a son strutting by her side; or some +simple-hearted hen that has unwittingly hatched out a long-legged +turkey. + +But this is not all for which Communipaw is remarkable. Sir, it is +interesting on another account. It is to the ancient province of +the New-Netherlands and the classic era of the Dutch dynasty, what +Herculaneum and Pompeii are to ancient Rome and the glorious days of the +empire. Here every thing remains in statu quo, as it was in the days of +Oloffe the Dreamer, Walter the Doubter, and the other worthies of the +golden age; the same broad-brimmed hats and broad-bottomed breeches; +the same knee-buckles and shoe-buckles; the same close-quilled caps +and linsey-woolsey short-gowns and petticoats; the same implements and +utensils and forms and fashions; in a word, Communipaw at the present +day is a picture of what New-Amsterdam was before the conquest. The +"intelligent traveller" aforesaid, as he treads its streets, is struck +with the primitive character of every thing around him. Instead of +Grecian temples for dwelling-houses, with a great column of pine boards +in the way of every window, he beholds high peaked roofs, gable ends +to the street, with weather-cocks at top, and windows of all sorts and +sizes; large ones for the grown-up members of the family, and little +ones for the little folk. Instead of cold marble porches, with +close-locked doors and brass knockers, he sees the doors hospitably +open; the worthy burgher smoking his pipe on the old-fashioned stoop in +front, with his "vrouw" knitting beside him; and the cat and her kittens +at their feet sleeping in the sunshine. + +Astonished at the obsolete and "old world" air of every thing around +him, the intelligent traveller demands how all this has come to pass. +Herculaneum and Pompeii remain, it is true, unaffected by the varying +fashions of centuries; but they were buried by a volcano and preserved +in ashes. What charmed spell has kept this wonderful little place +unchanged, though in sight of the most changeful city in the universe? +Has it, too, been buried under its cabbage-gardens, and only dug out +in modern days for the wonder and edification of the world? The reply +involves a point of history, worthy of notice and record, and reflecting +immortal honor on Communipaw. + +At the time when New-Amsterdam was invaded and conquered by British +foes, as has been related in the history of the venerable Diedrich, a +great dispersion took place among the Dutch inhabitants. Many, like the +illustrious Peter Stuyvesant, buried themselves in rural retreats in the +Bowerie; others, like Wolfert Acker, took refuge in various remote +parts of the Hudson; but there was one staunch, unconquerable band that +determined to keep together, and preserve themselves, like seed corn, +for the future fructification and perpetuity of the Knickerbocker race. +These were headed by one Garret Van Horne, a gigantic Dutchman, the +Pelayo of the New-Netherlands. Under his guidance, they retreated across +the bay and buried themselves among the marshes of ancient Pavonia, as +did the followers of Pelayo among the mountains of Asturias, when Spain +was overrun by its Arabian invaders. + +The gallant Van Horne set up his standard at Communipaw, and invited +all those to rally under it, who were true Nederlanders at heart, and +determined to resist all foreign intermixture or encroachment. A strict +non-intercourse was observed with the captured city; not a boat ever +crossed to it from Communipaw, and the English language was rigorously +tabooed throughout the village and its dependencies. Every man was sworn +to wear his hat, cut his coat, build his house, and harness his horses, +exactly as his father had done before him; and to permit nothing but the +Dutch language to be spoken in his household. + +As a citadel of the place, and a strong-hold for the preservation and +defence of every thing Dutch, the gallant Van Horne erected a lordly +mansion, with a chimney perched at every corner, which thence derived +the aristocratical name of "The House of the Four Chimneys." Hither he +transferred many of the precious reliques of New-Amsterdam; the great +round-crowned hat that once covered the capacious head of Walter the +Doubter, and the identical shoe with which Peter the Headstrong kicked +his pusillanimous councillors down-stairs. St. Nicholas, it is said, +took this loyal house under his especial protection; and a Dutch +soothsayer predicted, that as long as it should stand, Communipaw would +be safe from the intrusion either of Briton or Yankee. + +In this house would the gallant Van Home and his compeers hold frequent +councils of war, as to the possibility of re-conquering the province +from the British; and here would they sit for hours, nay, days, together +smoking their pipes and keeping watch upon the growing city of New-York; +groaning in spirit whenever they saw a new house erected or ship +launched, and persuading themselves that Admiral Van Tromp would one +day or other arrive to sweep out the invaders with the broom which he +carried at his mast-head. + +Years rolled by, but Van Tromp never arrived. The British strengthened +themselves in the land, and the captured city flourished under their +domination. Still, the worthies of Communipaw would not despair; +something or other, they were sure, would turn up to restore the power +of the Hogen Mogens, the Lord States-General; so they kept smoking and +smoking, and watching and watching, and turning the same few thoughts +over and over in a perpetual circle, which is commonly called +deliberating. In the mean time, being hemmed up within a narrow compass, +between the broad bay and the Bergen hills, they grew poorer and poorer, +until they had scarce the wherewithal to maintain their pipes in fuel +during their endless deliberations. + +And now must I relate a circumstance which will call for a little +exertion of faith on the part of the reader; but I can only say that if +he doubts it, he had better not utter his doubts in Communipaw, as it is +among the religious beliefs of the place. It is, in fact, nothing more +nor less than a miracle, worked by the blessed St. Nicholas, for the +relief and sustenance of this loyal community. + +It so happened, in this time of extremity, that in the course of +cleaning the House of the Four Chimneys, by an ignorant housewife who +knew nothing of the historic value of the reliques it contained, the old +hat of Walter the Doubter and the executive shoe of Peter the Headstrong +were thrown out of doors as rubbish. But mark the consequence. The good +St. Nicholas kept watch over these precious reliques, and wrought out of +them a wonderful providence. + +The hat of Walter the Doubter falling on a stercoraceous heap of +compost, in the rear of the house, began forthwith to vegetate. Its +broad brim, spread forth grandly and exfoliated, and its round crown +swelled and crimped and consolidated until the whole became a prodigious +cabbage, rivalling in magnitude the capacious head of the Doubter. In a +word, it was the origin of that renowned species of cabbage known, by +all Dutch epicures, by the name of the Governor's Head, and which is to +this day the glory of Communipaw. + +On the other hand, the shoe of Peter Stuyvesant being thrown into the +river, in front of the house, gradually hardened and concreted, and +became covered with barnacles, and at length turned into a gigantic +oyster; being the progenitor of that illustrious species known +throughout the gastronomical world by the name of the Governor's Foot. + +These miracles were the salvation of Communipaw. The sages of the place +immediately saw in them the hand of St. Nicholas, and understood their +mystic signification. They set to work with all diligence to cultivate +and multiply these great blessings; and so abundantly did the +gubernatorial hat and shoe fructify and increase, that in a little time +great patches of cabbages were to be seen extending from the village of +Communipaw quite to the Bergen Hills; while the whole bottom of the +bay in front became a vast bed of oysters. Ever since that time this +excellent community has been divided into two great classes: those who +cultivate the land and those who cultivate the water. The former have +devoted themselves to the nurture and edification of cabbages, rearing +them in all their varieties; while the latter have formed parks and +plantations, under water, to which juvenile oysters are transplanted +from foreign parts, to finish their education. + +As these great sources of profit multiplied upon their hands, the worthy +inhabitants of Communipaw began to long for a market at which to +dispose of their superabundance. This gradually produced once more an +intercourse with New-York; but it was always carried on by the old +people and the negroes; never would they permit the young folks, of +either sex, to visit the city, lest they should get tainted with foreign +manners and bring home foreign fashions. Even to this day, if you see an +old burgher in the market, with hat and garb of antique Dutch fashion, +you may be sure he is one of the old unconquered race of the "bitter +blood," who maintain their strong-hold at Communipaw. + +In modern days, the hereditary bitterness against the English has lost +much of its asperity, or rather has become merged in a new source of +jealousy and apprehension: I allude to the incessant and wide-spreading +irruptions from New-England. Word has been continually brought back to +Communipaw, by those of the community who return from their trading +voyages in cabbages and oysters, of the alarming power which the Yankees +are gaining in the ancient city of New-Amsterdam; elbowing the genuine +Knickerbockers out of all civic posts of honor and profit; bargaining +them out of their hereditary homesteads; pulling down the venerable +houses, with crow-step gables, which have stood since the time of the +Dutch rule, and erecting, instead, granite stores, and marble banks; in +a word, evincing a deadly determination to obliterate every vestige of +the good old Dutch times. + +In consequence of the jealousy thus awakened, the worthy traders from +Communipaw confine their dealings, as much as possible, to the genuine +Dutch families. If they furnish the Yankees at all, it is with inferior +articles. Never can the latter procure a real "Governor's Head," or +"Governor's Foot," though they have offered extravagant prices for the +same, to grace their table on the annual festival of the New-England +Society. + +But what has carried this hostility to the Yankees to the highest pitch, +was an attempt made by that all-pervading race to get possession of +Communipaw itself. Yes, Sir; during the late mania for land speculation, +a daring company of Yankee projectors landed before the village; stopped +the honest burghers on the public highway, and endeavored to bargain +them out of their hereditary acres; displayed lithographic maps, +in which their cabbage-gardens were laid out into town lots: their +oyster-parks into docks and quays; and even the House of the Four +Chimneys metamorphosed into a bank, which was to enrich the whole +neighborhood with paper money. + +Fortunately, the gallant Van Hornes came to the rescue, just as some of +the worthy burghers were on the point of capitulating. The Yankees were +put to the rout, with signal confusion, and have never since dared to +show their faces in the place. The good people continue to cultivate +their cabbages, and rear their oysters; they know nothing of banks, nor +joint stock companies, but treasure up their money in stocking-feet, at +the bottom of the family chest, or bury it in iron pots, as did their +fathers and grandfathers before them. + +As to the House of the Four Chimneys, it still remains in the great and +tall family of the Van Hornes. Here are to be seen ancient Dutch corner +cupboards, chests of drawers, and massive clothes-presses, quaintly +carved, and carefully waxed and polished; together with divers thick, +black-letter volumes, with brass clasps, printed of yore in Leydon and +Amsterdam, and handed down from generation to generation, in the family, +but never read. They are preserved in the archives, among sundry old +parchment deeds, in Dutch and English, bearing the seals of the early +governors of the province. + +In this house, the primitive Dutch holidays of Paas and Pinxter +are faithfully kept up; and New-Year celebrated with cookies and +cherry-bounce; nor is the festival of the blessed St. Nicholas +forgotten, when all the children are sure to hang up their stockings, +and to have them filled according to their deserts; though, it is said, +the good saint is occasionally perplexed in his nocturnal visits, which +chimney to descend. + +Of late, this portentous mansion has begun to give signs of dilapidation +and decay. Some have attributed this to the visits made by the young +people to the city, and their bringing thence various modern fashions; +and to their neglect of the Dutch language, which is gradually becoming +confined to the older persons in the community. The house, too, was +greatly shaken by high winds, during the prevalence of the speculation +mania, especially at the time of the landing of the Yankees. Seeing how +mysteriously the fate of Communipaw is identified with this venerable +mansion, we cannot wonder that the older and wiser heads of the +community should be filled with dismay, whenever a brick is toppled +down from one of the chimneys, or a weather-cock is blown off from a +gable-end. + +The present lord of this historic pile, I am happy to say, is calculated +to maintain it in all its integrity. He is of patriarchal age, and is +worthy of the days of the patriarchs. He has done his utmost to increase +and multiply the true race in the land. His wife has not been inferior +to him in zeal, and they are surrounded by a goodly progeny of children, +and grand-children, and great-grand-children, who promise to perpetuate +the name of Van Horne, until time shall be no more. So be it! Long may +the horn of the Van Hornes continue to be exalted in the land! Tall as +they are, may their shadows never be less! May the House of the Four +Chimneys remain for ages, the citadel of Communipaw, and the smoke of +its chimneys continue to ascend, a sweet-smelling incense in the hose of +St. Nicholas! + +With great respect, Mr. Editor, + +Your ob't servant, + +HERMANUS VANDERDONK. + + * * * * * + +CONSPIRACY OF THE COCKED HATS. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER. + +Sir: I have read with great satisfaction the valuable paper of your +correspondent, Mr. HERMANUS VANDERDONK, (who, I take it, is a descendant +of the learned Adrian Vanderdonk, one of the early historians of the +Nieuw-Nederlands,) giving sundry particulars, legendary and statistical, +touching the venerable village of Communipaw and its fate-bound citadel, +the House of the Four Chimneys. It goes to prove what I have repeatedly +maintained, that we live in the midst of history and mystery and +romance; and that there is no spot in the world more rich in themes for +the writer of historic novels, heroic melodramas, and rough-shod epics, +than this same business-looking city of the Manhattoes and its environs. +He who would find these elements, however, must not seek them among the +modern improvements and modern people of this moneyed metropolis, but +must dig for them, as for Kidd the pirate's treasures, in out-of-the-way +places, and among the ruins of the past. + +Poetry and romance received a fatal blow at the overthrow of the ancient +Dutch dynasty, and have ever since been gradually withering under the +growing domination of the Yankees. They abandoned our hearths when the +old Dutch tiles were superseded by marble chimney-pieces; when brass +andirons made way for polished grates, and the crackling and blazing +fire of nut-wood gave place to the smoke and stench of Liverpool coal; +and on the downfall of the last gable-end house, their requiem was +tolled from the tower of the Dutch church in Nassau-street by the old +bell that came from Holland. But poetry and romance still live unseen +among us, or seen only by the enlightened few, who are able to +contemplate this city and its environs through the medium of tradition, +and clothed with the associations of foregone ages. + +Would you seek these elements in the country, Mr. Editor, avoid all +turnpikes, rail-roads, and steamboats, those abominable inventions by +which the usurping Yankees are strengthening themselves in the land, and +subduing every thing to utility and common-place. Avoid all towns and +cities of white clapboard palaces and Grecian temples, studded with +"Academics," "Seminaries," and "Institutes," which glisten along our +bays and rivers; these are the strong-holds of Yankee usurpation; but if +haply you light upon some rough, rambling road, winding between stone +fences, gray with moss, and overgrown with elder, poke-berry, mullein, +and sweet-briar, with here and there a low, red-roofed, whitewashed +farm-house, cowering among apple and cherry trees; an old stone church, +with elms, willows, and button-woods, as old-looking as itself, and +tombstones almost buried in their own graves; and, peradventure, a small +log school-house at a cross-road, where the English is still taught with +a thickness of the tongue, instead of a twang of the nose; should you, +I say, light upon such a neighborhood, Mr. Editor, you may thank your +stars that you have found one of the lingering haunts of poetry and +romance. + +Your correspondent, Sir, has touched upon that sublime and affecting +feature in the history of Communipaw, the retreat of the patriotic band +of Nederlanders, led by Van Horne, whom he justly terms the Pelayo of +the New-Netherlands. He has given you a picture of the manner in which +they ensconced themselves in the House of the Four Chimneys, and awaited +with heroic patience and perseverance the day that should see the flag +of the Hogen Mogens once more floating on the fort of New-Amsterdam. + +Your correspondent, Sir, has but given you a glimpse over the threshold; +I will now let you into the heart of the mystery of this most mysterious +and eventful village. + + Yes, sir, I will now--"unclasp a secret book; + And to your quick conceiving discontents, + I'll read you matter deep and dangerous, + As full of peril and adventurous spirit, + As to o'er walk a current, roaring loud, + On the unsteadfast footing of a spear." + +Sir, it is one of the most beautiful and interesting facts connected +with the history of Communipaw, that the early feeling of resistance to +foreign rule, alluded to by your correspondent, is still kept up. Yes, +sir, a settled, secret, and determined conspiracy has been going on +for generations among this indomitable people, the descendants of the +refugees from New-Amsterdam; the object of which is to redeem their +ancient seat of empire, and to drive the losel Yankees out of the land. + +Communipaw, it is true, has the glory of originating this conspiracy; +and it was hatched and reared in the House of the Four Chimneys; but it +has spread far and wide over ancient Pavonia, surmounted the heights of +Bergen, Hoboken, and Weehawk, crept up along the banks of the Passaic +and the Hackensack, until it pervades the whole chivalry of the country +from Tappan Slote in the north to Piscataway in the south, including the +pugnacious village of Rahway, more heroically denominated Spank-town. + +Throughout all these regions a great "in-and-in confederacy" prevails, +that is to say, a confederacy among the Dutch families, by dint of +diligent and exclusive intermarriage, to keep the race pure and to +multiply. If ever, Mr. Editor, in the course of your travels between +Spank-town and Tappan Slote, you should see a cosey, low-eaved +farm-house, teeming with sturdy, broad-built little urchins, you may set +it down as one of the breeding places of this grand secret confederacy, +stocked with the embryo deliverers of New-Amsterdam. + +Another step in the progress of this patriotic conspiracy, is the +establishment, in various places within the ancient boundaries of the +Nieuw-Nederlands, of secret, or rather mysterious associations, composed +of the genuine sons of the Nederlanders, with the ostensible object of +keeping up the memory of old times and customs, but with the real object +of promoting the views of this dark and mighty plot, and extending its +ramifications throughout the land. + +Sir, I am descended from a long line of genuine Nederlanders, who, +though they remained in the city of New-Amsterdam after the conquest, +and throughout the usurpation, have never in their hearts been able to +tolerate the yoke imposed upon them. My worthy father, who was one of +the last of the cocked hats, had a little knot of cronies, of his own +stamp, who used to meet in our wainscoted parlor, round a nut-wood fire, +talk over old times, when the city was ruled by its native burgomasters, +and groan over the monopoly of all places of power and profit by the +Yankees. I well recollect the effect upon this worthy little conclave, +when the Yankees first instituted then New-England Society, held their +"national festival," toasted their "father land," and sang their foreign +songs of triumph within the very precincts of our ancient metropolis. +Sir, from that day, my father held the smell of codfish and potatoes, +and the sight of pumpkin pie, in utter abomination; and whenever the +annual dinner of the New-England Society came round, it was a sore +anniversary for his children. He got up in an ill humor, grumbled and +growled throughout the day, and not one of us went to bed that night, +without having had his jacket well trounced, to the tune of "The Pilgrim +Fathers." + +You may judge, then, Mr. Editor, of the exaltation of all true patriots +of this stamp, when the Society of Saint Nicholas was set up among us, +and intrepidly established, cheek by jole, alongside of the society of +the invaders. Never shall I forget the effect upon my father and his +little knot of brother groaners, when tidings were brought them that the +ancient banner of the Manhattoes was actually floating from the window +of the City Hotel. Sir, they nearly jumped out of their silver-buckled +shoes for joy. They took down their cocked hats from the pegs on which +they had hanged them, as the Israelites of yore hung their harps upon +the willows, in token of bondage, clapped them resolutely once more upon +their heads, and cocked them in the face of every Yankee they met on the +way to the banqueting-room. + +The institution of this society was hailed with transport throughout the +whole extent of the New-Netherlands; being considered a secret foothold +gained in New-Amsterdam, and a flattering presage of future triumph. +Whenever that society holds its annual feast, a sympathetic hilarity +prevails throughout the land; ancient Pavonia sends over its +contributions of cabbages and oysters; the House of the Four Chimneys is +splendidly illuminated, and the traditional song of St. Nicholas, the +mystic bond of union and conspiracy, is chaunted with closed doors, in +every genuine Dutch family. + +I have thus, I trust, Mr. Editor, opened your eyes to some of the grand +moral, poetical, and political phenomena with which you are surrounded. +You will now be able to read the "signs of the times." You will +now understand what is meant by those "Knickerbocker Halls," and +"Knickerbocker Hotels," and "Knickerbocker Lunches," that are daily +springing up in our city and what all these "Knickerbocker Omnibuses" +are driving at. You will see in them so many clouds before a storm; so +many mysterious but sublime intimations of the gathering vengeance of a +great though oppressed people. Above all, you will now contemplate +our bay and its portentous borders, with proper feelings of awe and +admiration. Talk of the Bay of Naples, and its volcanic mountains! Why, +Sir, little Communipaw, sleeping among its cabbage gardens, "quiet as +gunpowder," yet with this tremendous conspiracy brewing in its bosom is +an object ten times as sublime (in a moral point of view, mark me) as +Vesuvius in repose, though charged with lava and brimstone, and ready +for an eruption. + +Let me advert to a circumstance connected with this theme, which +cannot but be appreciated by every heart of sensibility. You must have +remarked, Mr. Editor, on summer evenings, and on Sunday afternoons, +certain grave, primitive-looking personages, walking the Battery, in +close confabulation, with their canes behind their backs, and ever and +anon turning a wistful gaze toward the Jersey shore. These, Sir, are the +sons of Saint Nicholas, the genuine Nederlanders; who regard Communipaw +with pious reverence, not merely as the progenitor, but the destined +regenerator, of this great metropolis. Yes, Sir; they are looking with +longing eyes to the green marshes of ancient Pavonia, as did the poor +conquered Spaniards of yore toward the stern mountains of Asturias, +wondering whether the day of deliverance is at hand. Many is the time, +when, in my boyhood, I have walked with my father and his confidential +compeers on the Battery, and listened to their calculations and +conjectures, and observed the points of their sharp cocked hats evermore +turned toward Pavonia. Nay, Sir, I am convinced that at this moment, if +I were to take down the cocked hat of my lamented father from the peg on +which it has hung for years, and were to carry it to the Battery, its +centre point, true as the needle to the pole, would turn to Communipaw. + +Mr. Editor, the great historic drama of New-Amsterdam, is but half +acted. The reigns of Walter the Doubter, William the Testy, and Peter +the Headstrong, with the rise, progress, and decline of the Dutch +dynasty, are but so many parts of the main action, the triumphant +catastrophe of which is yet to come. Yes, Sir! the deliverance of +the New-Nederlands from Yankee domination will eclipse the far-famed +redemption of Spain from the Moors, and the oft-sung conquest of Granada +will fade before the chivalrous triumph of New-Amsterdam. Would that +Peter Stuyvesant could rise from his grave to witness that day! + +Your humble servant, + +ROLOFF VAN RIPPER. + + * * * * * + +P. S. Just as I had concluded the foregoing epistle, I received a piece +of intelligence, which makes me tremble for the fate of Communipaw. +I fear, Mr. Editor, the grand conspiracy is in danger of being +countermined and counteracted, by those all-pervading and +indefatigable Yankees. Would you think it, Sir! one of them has actually +effected an entry in the place by covered way; or in other words, under +cover of the petticoats. Finding every other mode ineffectual, he +secretly laid siege to a Dutch heiress, who owns a great cabbage-garden +in her own right. Being a smooth-tongued varlet, he easily prevailed on +her to elope with him, and they were privately married at Spank-town! +The first notice the good people of Communipaw had of this awful event, +was a lithographed map of the cabbage garden laid out in town lots, and +advertised for sale! On the night of the wedding, the main weather-cock +of the House of the Four Chimneys was carried away in a whirlwind! The +greatest consternation reigns throughout the village! + + * * * * * + +A LEGEND OF COMMUNIPAW. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE. + +Sir: I observed in your last month's periodical, a communication from +a Mr. VANDERDONK, giving some information concerning Communipaw. I +herewith send you, Mr. Editor, a legend connected with that place; and +am much surprised it should have escaped the researches of your very +authentic correspondent, as it relates to an edifice scarcely less fated +than the House of the Four Chimneys. I give you the legend in its crude +and simple state, as I heard it related; it is capable, however, of +being dilated, inflated, and dressed up into very imposing shape and +dimensions. Should any of your ingenious contributors in this line feel +inclined to take it in hand, they will find ample materials, collateral +and illustrative, among the papers of the late Reinier Skaats, many +years since crier of the court, and keeper of the City Hall, in the +city of the Manhattoes; or in the library of that important and utterly +renowned functionary, Mr. Jacob Hays, long time high constable, who, +in the course of his extensive researches, has amassed an amount of +valuable facts, to be rivalled only by that great historical collection, +"The Newgate Calendar." + +Your humble servant, + +BARENT VAN SCHAICK. + + * * * * * + +_GUESTS FROM GIBBET-ISLAND_. + +A LEGEND OF COMMUNIPAW. + +Whoever has visited the ancient and renowned village of Communipaw, +may have noticed an old stone building, of most ruinous and sinister +appearance. The doors and window-shutters are ready to drop from their +hinges; old clothes are stuffed in the broken panes of glass, while +legions of half-starved dogs prowl about the premises, and rush out and +bark at every passer-by; for your beggarly house in a village is most +apt to swarm with profligate and ill-conditioned dogs. What adds to the +sinister appearance of this mansion, is a tall frame in front, not +a little resembling a gallows, and which looks as if waiting to +accommodate some of the inhabitants with a well-merited airing. It is +not a gallows, however, but an ancient sign-post; for this dwelling, in +the golden days of Communipaw, was one of the most orderly and peaceful +of village taverns, where all the public affairs of Communipaw were +talked and smoked over. In fact, it was in this very building that +Oloffe the Dreamer, and his companions, concerted that great voyage of +discovery and colonization, in which they explored Buttermilk Channel, +were nearly shipwrecked in the strait of Hell-gate, and finally landed +on the Island of Manhattan, and founded the great city of New-Amsterdam. + +Even after the province had been cruelly wrested from the sway of their +High Mightinesses, by the combined forces of the British and Yankees, +this tavern continued its ancient loyalty. It is true, the head of the +Prince of Orange disappeared from the sign; a strange bird being painted +over it, with the explanatory legend of "DIE WILDE GANS," or The Wild +Goose; but this all the world knew to be a sly riddle of the landlord, +the worthy Teunis Van Gieson, a knowing man in a small way, who laid +his finger beside his nose and winked, when any one studied the +signification of his sign, and observed that his goose was hatching, but +would join the flock whenever they flew over the water; an enigma which +was the perpetual recreation and delight of the loyal but fat-headed +burghers of Communipaw. + +Under the sway of this patriotic, though discreet and quiet publican, +the tavern continued to flourish in primeval tranquillity, and was +the resort of all true-hearted Nederlanders, from all parts of Pavonia; +who met here quietly and secretly, to smoke and drink the downfall of +Briton and Yankee, and success to Admiral Van Tromp. + +The only drawback on the comfort of the establishment, was a nephew of +mine host, a sister's son, Yan Yost Vanderscamp by name, and a real +scamp by nature. This unlucky whipster showed an early propensity to +mischief, which he gratified in a small way, by playing tricks upon the +frequenters of the Wild Goose; putting gunpowder in their pipes, or +squibs in their pockets, and astonishing them with an explosion, while +they sat nodding round the fire-place in the bar-room; and if perchance +a worthy burgher from some distant part of Pavonia had lingered until +dark over his potation, it was odds but that young Vanderscamp would +slip a briar under his horse's tail, as he mounted, and send him +clattering along the road, in neck-or-nothing style, to his infinite +astonishment and discomfiture. + +It may be wondered at, that mine host of the Wild Goose did not turn +such a graceless varlet out of doors; but Teunis Van Gieson was an +easy-tempered man, and, having no child of his own, looked upon his +nephew with almost parental indulgence. His patience and good-nature +were doomed to be tried by another inmate of his mansion. This was a +cross-grained curmudgeon of a negro, named Pluto, who was a kind of +enigma in Communipaw. Where he came from, nobody knew. He was found one +morning, after a storm, cast like a sea-monster on the strand, in front +of the Wild Goose, and lay there, more dead than alive. The neighbors +gathered round, and speculated on this production of the deep; whether +it were fish or flesh, or a compound of both, commonly yclept a merman. +The kind-hearted Teunis Van Gieson, seeing that he wore the human form, +took him into his house, and warmed him into life. By degrees, he showed +signs of intelligence, and even uttered sounds very much like language, +but which no one in Communipaw could understand. Some thought him a +negro just from Guinea, who had either fallen overboard, or escaped from +a slave-ship. Nothing, however, could ever draw from him any account +of his origin. When questioned on the subject, he merely pointed to +Gibbet-Island, a small rocky islet, which lies in the open bay, just +opposite to Communipaw, as if that were his native place, though every +body knew it had never been inhabited. + +In the process of time, he acquired something of the Dutch language, +that is to say, he learnt all its vocabulary of oaths and maledictions, +with just words sufficient to string them together. "Donder en +blicksen!" (thunder and lightning,) was the gentlest of his +ejaculations. For years he kept about the Wild Goose, more like one of +those familiar spirits, or household goblins, that we read of, than +like a human being. He acknowledged allegiance to no one, but performed +various domestic offices, when it suited his humor; waiting occasionally +on the guests; grooming the horses, cutting wood, drawing water; and all +this without being ordered. Lay any command on him, and the stubborn +sea-urchin was sure to rebel. He was never so much at home, however, +as when on the water, plying about in skiff or canoe, entirely alone, +fishing, crabbing, or grabbing for oysters, and would bring home +quantities for the larder of the Wild Goose, which he would throw down +at the kitchen door, with a growl. No wind nor weather deterred him from +launching forth on his favorite element: indeed, the wilder the weather, +the more he seemed to enjoy it. If a storm was brewing, he was sure to +put off from shore; and would be seen far out in the bay, his light +skiff dancing like a feather on the waves, when sea and sky were all +in a turmoil, and the stoutest ships were fain to lower their sails. +Sometimes, on such occasions, he would be absent for days together. How +he weathered the tempest, and how and where he subsisted, no one +could divine, nor did any one venture to ask, for all had an almost +superstitious awe of him. Some of the Communipaw oystermen declared that +they had more than once seen him suddenly disappear, canoe and all, as +if they plunged beneath the waves, and after a while come up again, in +quite a different part of the bay; whence they concluded that he could +live under water like that notable species of wild duck, commonly called +the Hell-diver. All began to consider him in the light of a foul-weather +bird, like the Mother Carey's Chicken, or Stormy Petrel; and whenever +they saw him putting far out in his skiff, in cloudy weather, made up +their minds for a storm. + +The only being for whom he seemed to have any liking, was Yan Yost +Vanderscamp, and him he liked for his very wickedness. He in a manner +took the boy under his tutelage, prompted him to all kinds of mischief, +aided him in every wild, harum-scarum freak, until the lad became the +complete scapegrace of the village; a pest to his uncle, and to every +one else. Nor were his pranks confined to the land; he soon learned to +accompany old Pluto on the water. Together these worthies would cruise +about the broad bay, and all the neighboring straits and rivers; poking +around in skiffs and canoes; robbing the set-nets of the fishermen; +landing on remote coasts, and laying waste orchards and water-melon +patches; in short, carrying on a complete system of piracy, on a small +scale, Piloted by Pluto, the youthful Vanderscamp soon became acquainted +with all the bays, rivers, creeks, and inlets of the watery world around +him; could navigate from the Hook to Spiting-devil on the darkest night, +and learned to set even the terrors of Hell-gate at defiance. + +At length, negro and boy suddenly disappeared, and days and weeks +elapsed, but without tidings of them. Some said they must have run away +and gone to sea; others jocosely hinted, that old Pluto, being no other +than his namesake in disguise, had spirited away the boy to the nether +regions. All, however, agreed in one thing, that the village was well +rid of them. + +In the process of time, the good Teunis Van Gieson slept with his +fathers, and the tavern remained shut up, waiting for a claimant, for +the next heir was Yan Yost Vanderscamp, and he had not been heard of for +years. At length, one day, a boat was seen pulling for the shore, from a +long, black, rakish-looking schooner, that lay at anchor in the bay. The +boat's crew seemed worthy of the craft from which they debarked. Never +had such a set of noisy, roistering, swaggering varlets landed in +peaceful Communipaw. They were outlandish in garb and demeanor, and were +headed by a rough, burly, bully ruffian, with fiery whiskers, a copper +nose, a scar across his face, and a great Flaunderish beaver slouched on +one side of his head, in whom, to their dismay, the quiet inhabitants +were made to recognize their early pest, Yan Yost Vanderscamp. The rear +of this hopeful gang was brought up by old Pluto, who had lost an +eye, grown grizzly-headed, and looked more like a devil than ever. +Vanderscamp renewed his acquaintance with the old burghers, much against +their will, and in a manner not at all to their taste. He slapped them +familiarly on the back, gave them an iron grip of the hand, and was hail +fellow well met. According to his own account, he had been all the world +over; had made money by bags full; had ships in every sea, and now meant +to turn the Wild Goose into a country seat, where he and his comrades, +all rich merchants from foreign parts, might enjoy themselves in the +interval of their voyages. Sure enough, in a little while there was a +complete metamorphose of the Wild Goose. From being a quiet, peaceful +Dutch public house, it became a most riotous, uproarious private +dwelling; a complete rendezvous for boisterous men of the seas, who came +here to have what they called a "blow out" on dry land, and might be +seen at all hours, lounging about the door, or lolling out of the +windows; swearing among themselves, and cracking rough jokes on every +passer-by. The house was fitted up, too, in so strange a manner: +hammocks slung to the walls, instead of bedsteads; odd kinds of +furniture, of foreign fashion; bamboo couches, Spanish chairs; pistols, +cutlasses, and blunderbusses, suspended on every peg; silver crucifixes +on the mantel-pieces, silver candle-sticks and porringers on the +tables, contrasting oddly with the pewter and Delf ware of the original +establishment. And then the strange amusements of these sea-monsters! +Pitching Spanish dollars, instead of quoits; firing blunderbusses out of +the window; shooting at a mark, or at any unhappy dog, or cat, or pig, +or barn-door fowl, that might happen to come within reach. + +The only being who seemed to relish their rough waggery, was old Pluto; +and yet he led but a dog's life of it; for they practised all kinds of +manual jokes upon him; kicked him about like a foot-ball; shook him by +his grizzly mop of wool, and never spoke to him without coupling a curse +by way of adjective to his name, and consigning him to the infernal +regions. The old fellow, however, seemed to like them the better, the +more they cursed him, though his utmost expression of pleasure never +amounted to more than the growl of a petted bear, when his ears are +rubbed. + +Old Pluto was the ministering spirit at the orgies of the Wild Goose; +and such orgies as took place there! Such drinking, singing, whooping, +swearing; with an occasional interlude of quarrelling and fighting. The +noisier grew the revel, the more old Pluto plied the potations, until +the guests would become frantic in their merriment, smashing every thing +to pieces, and throwing the house out of the windows. Sometimes, after a +drinking bout, they sallied forth and scoured the village, to the dismay +of the worthy burghers, who gathered their women within doors, and would +have shut up the house. Vanderscamp, however, was not to be rebuffed. +He insisted on renewing acquaintance with his old neighbors, and on +introducing his friends, the merchants, to their families; swore he was +on the look-out for a wife, and meant, before he stopped, to find +husbands for all their daughters. So, will-ye, nil-ye, sociable he was; +swaggered about their best parlors, with his hat on one side of his +head; sat on the good wife's nicely-waxed mahogany table, kicking his +heels against the carved and polished legs; kissed and tousled the young +vrouws; and, if they frowned and pouted, gave them a gold rosary, or a +sparkling cross, to put them in good humor again. + +Sometimes nothing would satisfy him, but he must have some of his old +neighbors to dinner at the Wild Goose. There was no refusing him, for +he had got the complete upper-hand of the community, and the peaceful +burghers all stood in awe of him. But what a time would the quiet, +worthy men have, among these rake-hells, who would delight to astound +them with the most extravagant gunpowder tales, embroidered with all +kinds of foreign oaths; clink the can with them; pledge them in deep +potations; bawl drinking songs in their ears; and occasionally fire +pistols over their heads, or under the table, and then laugh in their +faces, and ask them how they liked the smell of gunpowder. + +Thus was the little village of Communipaw for a time like the +unfortunate wight possessed with devils; until Vanderscamp and his +brother merchants would sail on another trading voyage, when the Wild +Goose would be shut up, and every thing relapse into quiet, only to be +disturbed by his next visitation. + +The mystery of all these proceedings gradually dawned upon the tardy +intellects of Communipaw. These were the times of the notorious +Captain Kidd, when the American harbors were the resorts of piratical +adventurers of all kinds, who, under pretext of mercantile voyages, +scoured the West Indies, made plundering descents upon the Spanish Main, +visited even the remote Indian Seas, and then came to dispose of their +booty, have their revels, and fit out new expeditions, in the English +colonies. + +Vanderscamp had served in this hopeful school, and having risen to +importance among the bucaniers, had pitched upon his native village and +early home, as a quiet, out-of-the-way, unsuspected place, where he and +his comrades, while anchored at New York, might have their feasts, and +concert their plans, without molestation. + +At length the attention of the British government was called to these +piratical enterprises, that were becoming so frequent and outrageous. +Vigorous measures were taken to check and punish them. Several of +the most noted freebooters were caught and executed, and three of +Vanderscamp's chosen comrades, the most riotous swash-bucklers of the +Wild Goose, were hanged in chains on Gibbet-Island, in full sight of +their favorite resort. As to Vanderscamp himself, he and his man Pluto +again disappeared, and it was hoped by the people of Communipaw that he +had fallen in some foreign brawl, or been swung on some foreign gallows. + +For a time, therefore, the tranquillity of the village was restored; +the worthy Dutchmen once more smoked their pipes in peace, eying, with +peculiar complacency, their old pests and terrors, the pirates, dangling +and drying in the sun, on Gibbet-Island. + +This perfect calm was doomed at length to be ruffled. The fiery +persecution of the pirates gradually subsided. Justice was satisfied +with the examples that had been made, and there was no more talk of +Kidd, and the other heroes of like kidney. On a calm summer evening, a +boat, somewhat heavily laden, was seen pulling into Communipaw. What +was the surprise and disquiet of the inhabitants, to see Yan Yost +Vanderscamp seated at the helm, and his man Pluto tugging at the oars! +Vanderscamp, however, was apparently an altered man. He brought home +with him a wife, who seemed to be a shrew, and to have the upper-hand of +him. He no longer was the swaggering, bully ruffian, but affected the +regular merchant, and talked of retiring from business, and settling +down quietly, to pass the rest of his days in his native place. + +The Wild Goose mansion was again opened, but with diminished splendor, +and no riot. It is true, Vanderscamp had frequent nautical visitors, and +the sound of revelry was occasionally overheard in his house; but every +thing seemed to be done under the rose; and old Pluto was the only +servant that officiated at these orgies. The visitors, indeed, were +by no means of the turbulent stamp of their predecessors; but quiet, +mysterious traders, full of nods, and winks, and hieroglyphic signs, +with whom, to use their cant phrase, "every thing was smug." Their ships +came to anchor at night in the lower bay; and, on a private signal, +Vanderscamp would launch his boat, and accompanied solely by his man +Pluto, would make them mysterious visits. Sometimes boats pulled in at +night, in front of the Wild Goose, and various articles of merchandise +were landed in the dark, and spirited away, nobody knew whither. One of +the more curious of the inhabitants kept watch, and caught a glimpse of +the features of some of these night visitors, by the casual glance of +a lantern, and declared that he recognized more than one of the +freebooting frequenters of the Wild Goose, in former times; from whence +he concluded that Vanderscamp was at his old game, and that this +mysterious merchandise was nothing more nor less than piratical plunder. +The more charitable opinion, however, was, that Vanderscamp and his +comrades, having been driven from their old line of business, by the +"oppressions of government," had resorted to smuggling to make both ends +meet. + +Be that as it may: I come now to the extraordinary fact, which is the +butt-end of this story. It happened late one night, that Yan Yost +Vanderscamp was returning across the broad bay, in his light skiff, +rowed by his man Pluto. He had been carousing on board of a vessel, +newly arrived, and was somewhat obfuscated in intellect, by the liquor +he had imbibed. It was a still, sultry night; a heavy mass of lurid +clouds was rising in the west, with the low muttering of distant +thunder. Vanderscamp called on Pluto to pull lustily, that they might +get home before the gathering storm. The old negro made no reply, but +shaped his course so as to skirt the rocky shores of Gibbet-Island. A +faint creaking overhead caused Vanderscamp to cast up his eyes, when, +to his horror, he beheld the bodies of his three pot companions and +brothers in iniquity dangling in the moonlight, their rags fluttering, +and their chains creaking, as they were slowly swung backward and +forward by the rising breeze. + +"What do you mean, you blockhead!" cried Vanderscamp, "by pulling so +close to the island?" + +"I thought you'd be glad to see your old friends once more," growled the +negro; "you were never afraid of a living man, what do you fear from the +dead?" + +"Who's afraid?" hiccupped Vanderscamp, partly heated by liquor, partly +nettled by the jeer of the negro; "who's afraid! Hang me, but I would be +glad to see them once more, alive or dead, at the Wild Goose. Come, my +lads in the wind!" continued he, taking a draught, and flourishing the +bottle above his head, "here's fair weather to you in the other world; +and if you should be walking the rounds to-night, odds fish! but I'll be +happy if you will drop in to supper." + +A dismal creaking was the only reply. The wind blew loud and shrill, and +as it whistled round the gallows, and among the bones, sounded as if +there were laughing and gibbering in the air. Old Pluto chuckled to +himself, and now pulled for home. The storm burst over the voyagers, +while they were yet far from shore. The rain fell in torrents, the +thunder crashed and pealed, and the lightning kept up an incessant +blaze. It was stark midnight, before they landed at Communipaw. + +Dripping and shivering, Vanderscamp crawled homeward. He was completely +sobered by the storm; the water soaked from without, having diluted and +cooled the liquor within. Arrived at the Wild Goose, he knocked timidly +and dubiously at the door, for he dreaded the reception he was to +experience from his wife. He had reason to do so. She met him at the +threshold, in a precious ill humor. + +"Is this a time," said she, "to keep people out of their beds, and to +bring home company, to turn the house upside down?" + +"Company?" said Vanderscamp, meekly; "I have brought no company with me, +wife." + +"No, indeed! they have got here before you, but by your invitation; and +blessed-looking company they are, truly!" + +Vanderscamp's knees smote together. "For the love of heaven, where are +they, wife?" + +"Where?--why, in the blue-room, up-stairs, making themselves as much at +home as if the house were their own." + +Vanderscamp made a desperate effort, scrambled up to the room, and threw +open the door. Sure enough, there at a table, on which burned a light as +blue as brimstone, sat the three guests from Gibbet-Island, with halters +round their necks, and bobbing their cups together, as if they were +hob-or-nobbing, and trolling the old Dutch freebooter's glee, since +translated into English: + + "For three merry lads be we, + And three merry lads be we; + I on the land, and thou on the sand, + And Jack on the gallows-tree." + +Vanderscamp saw and heard no more. Starting back with horror, he missed +his footing on the landing-place, and fell from the top of the stairs to +the bottom. He was taken up speechless, and, either from the fall or the +fright, was buried in the yard of the little Dutch church at Bergen, on +the following Sunday. + +From that day forward, the fate of the Wild Goose was sealed. It was +pronounced a _haunted house_, and avoided accordingly. No one inhabited +it but Vanderscamp's shrew of a widow, and old Pluto, and they were +considered but little better than its hobgoblin visitors. Pluto grew +more and more haggard and morose, and looked more like an imp of +darkness than a human being. He spoke to no one, but went about +muttering to himself; or, as some hinted, talking with the devil, who, +though unseen, was ever at his elbow. Now and then he was seen pulling +about the bay alone, in his skiff, in dark weather, or at the approach +of night-fall; nobody could tell why, unless on an errand to invite more +guests from the gallows. Indeed it was affirmed that the Wild Goose +still continued to be a house of entertainment for such guests, and that +on stormy nights, the blue chamber was occasionally illuminated, and +sounds of diabolical merriment were overheard, mingling with the howling +of the tempest. Some treated these as idle stories, until on one such +night, it was about the time of the equinox, there was a horrible uproar +in the Wild Goose, that could not be mistaken. It was not so much +the sound of revelry, however, as strife, with two or three piercing +shrieks, that pervaded every part of the village. Nevertheless, no one +thought of hastening to the spot. On the contrary, the honest burghers +of Communipaw drew their night-caps over their ears, and buried their +heads under the bed-clothes, at the thoughts of Vanderscamp and his +gallows companions. + +The next morning, some of the bolder and more curious undertook to +reconnoitre. All was quiet and lifeless at the Wild Goose. The door +yawned wide open, and had evidently been open all night, for the storm +had beaten into the house. Gathering more courage from the silence and +apparent desertion, they gradually ventured over the threshold. The +house had indeed the air of having been possessed by devils. Every thing +was topsy-turvy; trunks had been broken open, and chests of drawers and +corner cupboards turned inside out, as in a time of general sack and +pillage; but the most woful sight was the widow of Yan Yost Vanderscamp, +extended a corpse on the floor of the blue-chamber, with the marks of a +deadly gripe on the wind-pipe. + +All now was conjecture and dismay at Communipaw; and the disappearance +of old Pluto, who was no where to be found, gave rise to all kinds of +wild surmises. Some suggested that the negro had betrayed the house to +some of Vanderscamp's bucaniering associates, and that they had decamped +together with the booty; others surmised that the negro was nothing more +nor less than a devil incarnate, who had now accomplished his ends, and +made off with his dues. Events, however, vindicated the negro from this +last imputation. His skiff was picked up, drifting about the bay, bottom +upward, as if wrecked in a tempest; and his body was found, shortly +afterward, by some Communipaw fishermen, stranded among the rocks of +Gibbet-Island, near the foot of the pirates' gallows. The fishermen +shook their heads, and observed that old Pluto had ventured once too +often to invite Guests from Gibbet-Island. + + * * * * * + +THE BERMUDAS. + +A SHAKSPERIAN RESEARCH: BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCHBOOK. + +"Who did not think, till within these foure yeares, but that these +islands had been rather a habitation for Divells, than fit for men to +dwell in? Who did not hate the name, when hee was on land, and shun the +place when he was on the seas? But behold the misprision and conceits of +the world! For true and large experience hath now told us, it is one of +the sweetest paradises that be upon earth."--"A PLAINE DESCRIPT. OF THE +BARMUDAS:" 1613. + +In the course of a voyage home from England, our ship had been +struggling, for two or three weeks, with perverse headwinds, and a +stormy sea. It was in the month of May, yet the weather had at times +a wintry sharpness, and it was apprehended that we were in the +neighborhood of floating islands of ice, which at that season of the +year drift out of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and sometimes occasion the +wreck of noble ships. + +Wearied out by the continued opposition of the elements, our captain at +length bore away to the south, in hopes of catching the expiring breath +of the trade-winds, and making what is called the southern passage. A +few days wrought, as it were, a magical "sea change" in every thing +around us. We seemed to emerge into a different world. The late dark and +angry sea, lashed up into roaring and swashing surges, became calm and +sunny; the rude winds died away; and gradually a light breeze sprang up +directly aft, filling out every sail, and wafting us smoothly along on +an even keel. The air softened into a bland and delightful temperature. +Dolphins began to play about us; the nautilus came floating by, like a +fairy ship, with its mimic sail and rainbow tints; and flying-fish, from +time to time, made their short excursive flights, and occasionally fell +upon the deck. The cloaks and overcoats in which we had hitherto wrapped +ourselves, and moped about the vessel, were thrown aside; for a summer +warmth had succeeded to the late wintry chills. Sails were stretched as +awnings over the quarter-deck, to protect us from the mid-day sun. Under +these we lounged away the day, in luxurious indolence, musing, with +half-shut eyes, upon the quiet ocean. The night was scarcely less +beautiful than the day. The rising moon sent a quivering column of +silver along the undulating surface of the deep, and, gradually climbing +the heaven, lit up our towering top-sails and swelling main-sails, and +spread a pale, mysterious light around. As our ship made her whispering +way through this dreamy world of waters, every boisterous sound on board +was charmed to silence; and the low whistle, or drowsy song of a sailor +from the forecastle, or the tinkling of a guitar, and the soft warbling +of a female voice from the quarter-deck, seemed to derive a witching +melody from the scene and hour. I was reminded of Oberon's exquisite +description of music and moonlight on the ocean: + + --"Thou rememberest + Since once I sat upon a promontory, + And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back, + Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, + That the rude sea grew civil at her song? + And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, + To hear the sea-maid's music." + +Indeed, I was in the very mood to conjure up all the imaginary beings +with which poetry has peopled old ocean, and almost ready to fancy +I heard the distant song of the mermaid, or the mellow shell of the +triton, and to picture to myself Neptune and Amphitrite with all their +pageant sweeping along the dim horizon. + +A day or two of such fanciful voyaging brought us in sight of the +Bermudas, which first looked like mere summer clouds, peering above the +quiet ocean. All day we glided along in sight of them, with just wind +enough to fill our sails; and never did land appear more lovely. They +were clad in emerald verdure, beneath the serenest of skies: not an +angry wave broke upon their quiet shores, and small fishing craft, +riding on the crystal waves, seemed as if hung in air. It was such a +scene that Fletcher pictured to himself, when he extolled the halcyon +lot of the fisherman: + + Ah! would thou knewest how much it better were + To bide among the simple fisher-swains: + No shrieking owl, no night-crow lodgeth here, + Nor is our simple pleasure mixed with pains. + Our sports begin with the beginning year; + In calms, to pull the leaping fish to land, + In roughs, to sing and dance along the yellow sand. + +In contemplating these beautiful islands, and the peaceful sea +around them, I could hardly realize that these were the "still vexed +Bermoothes" of Shakspeare, once the dread of mariners, and infamous in +the narratives of the early discoverers, for the dangers and disasters +which beset them. Such, however, was the case; and the islands derived +additional interest in my eyes, from fancying that I could trace in +their early history, and in the superstitious notions connected with +them, some of the elements of Shakspeare's wild and beautiful drama of +the Tempest. I shall take the liberty of citing a few historical facts, +in support of this idea, which may claim some additional attention from +the American reader, as being connected with the first settlement of +Virginia. + +At the time when Shakspeare was in the fulness of his talent, and +seizing upon everything that could furnish aliment to his imagination, +the colonization of Virginia was a favorite object of enterprise among +people of condition in England, and several of the courtiers of the +court of Queen Elizabeth were personally engaged in it. In the year +1609 a noble armament of nine ships and five hundred men sailed for the +relief of the colony. It was commanded by Sir George Somers, as admiral, +a gallant and generous gentleman, above sixty years of age, and +possessed of an ample fortune, yet still bent upon hardy enterprise, and +ambitious of signalizing himself in the service of his country. + +On board of his flag-ship, the Sea-Vulture, sailed also Sir Thomas +Gates, lieutenant-general of the colony. The voyage was long and +boisterous. On the twenty-fifth of July, the admiral's ship was +separated from the rest, in a hurricane. For several days she was driven +about at the mercy of the elements, and so strained and racked, that her +seams yawned open, and her hold was half filled with water. The storm +subsided, but left her a mere foundering wreck. The crew stood in the +hold to their waists in water, vainly endeavoring to bail her with +kettles, buckets, and other vessels. The leaks rapidly gained on them, +while their strength was as rapidly declining. They lost all hope of +keeping the ship afloat, until they should reach the American coast; and +wearied with fruitless toil, determined, in their despair, to give up +all farther attempt, shut down the hatches, and abandon themselves to +Providence. Some, who had spirituous liquors, or "comfortable waters," +as the old record quaintly terms them, brought them forth, and shared +them with their comrades, and they all drank a sad farewell to one +another, as men who were soon to part company in this world. + +In this moment of extremity, the worthy admiral, who kept sleepless +watch from the high stern of the vessel, gave the thrilling cry of +"land!" All rushed on deck, in a frenzy of joy, and nothing now was to +be seen or heard on board, but the transports of men who felt as if +rescued from the grave. It is true the land in sight would not, in +ordinary circumstances, have inspired much self-gratulation. It could be +nothing else but the group of islands called after their discoverer, one +Juan Bermudas, a Spaniard, but stigmatized among the mariners of those +days as "the islands of devils!" "For the islands of the Bermudas," says +the old narrative of this voyage, "as every man knoweth that hath heard +or read of them, were never inhabited by any Christian or heathen +people, but were ever esteemed and reputed a most prodigious and +inchanted place, affording nothing but gusts, stormes, and foul weather, +which made every navigator and mariner to avoide them, as Scylla and +Charybdis, or as they would shun the Divell himself." [Footnote: "A +Plaine Description of the Barmudas."] + +Sir George Somers and his tempest-tossed comrades, however, hailed them +with rapture, as if they had been a terrestrial paradise. Every sail was +spread, and every exertion made to urge the foundering ship to land. +Before long, she struck upon a rock. Fortunately, the late stormy winds +had subsided, and there was no surf. A swelling wave lifted her from off +the rock, and bore her to another; and thus she was borne on from rock +to rock, until she remained wedged between two, as firmly as if set upon +the stocks. The boats were immediately lowered, and, though the shore +was above a mile distant, the whole crew were landed in safety. + +Every one had now his task assigned him. Some made all haste to unload +the ship, before she should go to pieces; some constructed wigwams of +palmetto leaves, and others ranged the island in quest of wood and +water. To their surprise and joy, they found it far different from the +desolate and frightful place they had been taught, by seamen's stories, +to expect. It was well-wooded and fertile; there were birds of various +kinds, and herds of swine roaming about, the progeny of a number that +had swam ashore, in former years, from a Spanish wreck. The island +abounded with turtle, and great quantities of their eggs were to be +found among the rocks. The bays and inlets were full of fish; so tame, +that if any one stepped into the water, they would throng around him. +Sir George Somers, in a little while, caught enough with hook and line +to furnish a meal to his whole ship's company. Some of them were so +large, that two were as much as a man could carry. Crawfish, also, +were taken in abundance. The air was soft and salubrious, and the sky +beautifully serene. Waller, in his "Summer Islands," has given us a +faithful picture of the climate: + + "For the kind spring, (which but salutes us here,) + Inhabits these, and courts them all the year: + Ripe fruits and blossoms on the same trees live; + At once they promise, and at once they give: + So sweet the air, so moderate the clime, + None sickly lives, or dies before his time. + Heaven sure has kept this spot of earth uncursed + To shew how all things were created first." + +We may imagine the feelings of the shipwrecked marines on finding +themselves cast by stormy seas upon so happy a coast; where abundance +was to be had without labor; where what in other climes constituted the +costly luxuries of the rich, were within every man's reach; and where +life promised to be a mere holiday. Many of the common sailors, +especially, declared they desired no better lot than to pass the rest of +their lives on this favored island. + +The commanders, however, were not so ready to console themselves +with mere physical comforts, for the severance from the enjoyment of +cultivated life, and all the objects of honorable ambition. Despairing +of the arrival of any chance ship on these shunned and dreaded islands, +they fitted out the long-boat, making a deck of the ship's hatches, +and having manned her with eight picked men, despatched her, under +the command of an able and hardy mariner, named Raven, to proceed to +Virginia, and procure shipping to be sent to their relief. + +While waiting in anxious idleness for the arrival of the looked-for +aid, dissensions arose between Sir George Somers and Sir Thomas Gates, +originating, very probably, in jealousy of the lead which the nautical +experience and professional station of the admiral gave him in the +present emergency. Each commander, of course, had his adherents: +these dissensions ripened into a complete schism; and this handful +of shipwrecked men, thus thrown together, on an uninhabited island, +separated into two parties, and lived asunder in bitter feud, as men +rendered fickle by prosperity instead of being brought into brotherhood +by a common calamity. + +Weeks and months elapsed, without bringing the looked-for aid from +Virginia, though that colony was within but a few days' sail. Fears were +now entertained that the long-boat had been either swallowed up in +the sea, or wrecked on some savage coast; one or other of which most +probably was the case, as nothing was ever heard of Raven and his +comrades. + +Each party now set to work to build a vessel for itself out of the cedar +with which the island abounded. The wreck of the Sea-Vulture furnished +rigging, and various other articles; but they had no iron for bolts, and +other fastenings; and for want of pitch and tar, they payed the seams of +their vessels with lime and turtle's oil, which soon dried, and became +as hard as stone. + +On the tenth of May, 1610, they set sail, having been about nine months +on the island. They reached Virginia without farther accident, but found +the colony in great distress for provisions. The account they gave of +the abundance that reigned in the Bermudas, and especially of the herds +of swine that roamed the island, determined Lord Delaware, the governor +of Virginia, to send thither for supplies. Sir George Somers, with his +wonted promptness and generosity, offered to undertake what was still +considered a dangerous voyage. Accordingly, on the nineteenth of June, +he set sail, in his own cedar vessel of thirty tons, accompanied by +another small vessel, commanded by Captain Argall. + +The gallant Somers was doomed again to be tempest-tossed. His companion +vessel was soon driven back to port, but he kept the sea; and, as usual, +remained at his post on deck, in all weathers. His voyage was long and +boisterous, and the fatigues and exposures which he underwent, were too +much for a frame impaired by age, and by previous hardships. He arrived +at Bermudas completely exhausted and broken down. + +His nephew, Captain Mathew Somers, attended him in his illness with +affectionate assiduity. Finding his end approaching, the veteran called +his men together, and exhorted them to be true to the interests of +Virginia; to procure provisions with all possible despatch, and hasten +back to the relief of the colony. + +With this dying charge, he gave up the ghost, leaving us nephew and crew +overwhelmed with grief and consternation. Their first thought was to +pay honor to his remains. Opening the body, they took out the heart and +entrails, and buried them, erecting a cross over the grave. They then +embalmed the body, and set sail with it for England; thus, while paying +empty honors to their deceased commander, neglecting his earnest wish +and dying injunction, that they should return with relief to Virginia. + +The little bark arrived safely at Whitechurch, in Dorsetshire, with its +melancholy freight. The body of the worthy Somers was interred with the +military honors due to a brave soldier, and many volleys were fired +over his grave. The Bermudas have since received the name of the Somer +Islands, as a tribute to his memory. + +The accounts given by Captain Mathew Somers and his crew of the +delightful climate, and the great beauty, fertility, and abundance of +these islands, excited the zeal of enthusiasts, and the cupidity of +speculators, and a plan was set on foot to colonize them. The Virginia +company sold their right to the islands to one hundred and twenty of +their own members, who erected themselves into a distinct corporation, +under the name of the "Somer Island Society;" and Mr. Richard More was +sent out, in 1612, as governor, with sixty men, to found a colony: and +this leads me to the second branch of this research. + + * * * * * + +_THE THREE KINGS OF BERMUDA_. + +AND THEIR TREASURE OF AMBERGRIS. + +At the time that Sir George Somers was preparing to launch his +cedar-built bark, and sail for Virginia, there were three culprits among +his men, who had been guilty of capital offences. One of them was shot; +the others, named Christopher Carter and Edward Waters, escaped. Waters, +indeed, made a very narrow escape, for he had actually been tied to a +tree to be executed, but cut the rope with a knife, which he had +concealed about his person, and fled to the woods, where he was joined by +Carter. These two worthies kept themselves concealed in the secret parts +of the island, until the departure of the two vessels. When Sir George +Somers revisited the island, in quest of supplies for the Virginia +colony, these culprits hovered about the landing-place, and succeeded in +persuading another seaman, named Edward Chard, to join them, giving him +the most seductive pictures of the ease and abundance in which they +revelled. + +When the bark that bore Sir George's body to England had faded from the +watery horizon, these three vagabonds walked forth in their majesty and +might, the lords and sole inhabitants of these islands. For a time their +little commonwealth went on prosperously and happily. They built a +house, sowed corn, and the seeds of various fruits; and having plenty +of hogs, wild fowl, and fish of all kinds, with turtle in abundance, +carried on their tripartite sovereignty with great harmony and much +feasting. All kingdoms, however, are doomed to revolution, convulsion, +or decay; and so it fared with the empire of the three kings of Bermuda, +albeit they were monarchs without subjects. In an evil hour, in their +search after turtle, among the fissures of the rocks, they came upon a +great treasure of ambergris, which had been cast on shore by the ocean. +Beside a number of pieces of smaller dimensions, there was one great +mass, the largest that had ever been known, weighing eighty pounds, and +which of itself, according to the market value of ambergris in those +days, was worth about nine or ten thousand pounds! + +From that moment, the happiness and harmony of the three kings of +Bermuda were gone for ever. While poor devils, with nothing to share +but the common blessings of the island, which administered to present +enjoyment, but had nothing of convertible value, they were loving and +united: but here was actual wealth, which would make them rich men, +whenever they could transport it to a market. + +Adieu the delights of the island! They now became flat and insipid. Each +pictured to himself the consequence he might now aspire to, in civilized +life, could he once get there with this mass of ambergris. No longer a +poor Jack Tar, frolicking in the low taveriis of Wapping, he might roll +through London in his coach, and perchance arrive, like Whittington, at +the dignity of Lord Mayor. + +With riches came envy and covetousness. Each was now for assuming the +supreme power, and getting the monopoly of the ambergris. A civil war at +length broke out: Chard and Waters defied each other to mortal combat, +and the kingdom of the Bermudas was on the point of being deluged with +royal blood. Fortunately, Carter took no part in the bloody feud. +Ambition might have made him view it with secret exultation; for if +either or both of his brother potentates were slain in the conflict, +he would be a gainer in purse and ambergris. But he dreaded to be left +alone in this uninhabited island, and to find himself the monarch of +a solitude: so he secretly purloined and hid the weapons of the +belligerent rivals, who, having no means of carrying on the war, +gradually cooled down into a sullen armistice. + +The arrival of Governor More, with an overpowering force of sixty men, +put an end to the empire. He took possession of the kingdom, in the +name of the Somer Island Company, and forthwith proceeded to make a +settlement. The three kings tacitly relinquished their sway, but stood +up stoutly for their treasure. It was determined, however, that they +had been fitted out at the expense, and employed in the service, of the +Virginia Company; that they had found the ambergis while in the service +of that company, and on that company's land; that the ambergis, +therefore, belonged to that company, or rather to the Somer Island +Company, in consequence of their recent purchase of the island, and all +their appurtenances. Having thus legally established their right, and +being moreover able to back it by might, the company laid the lion's paw +upon the spoil; and nothing more remains on historic record of the Three +Kings of Bermuda, and their treasure of ambergris. + + * * * * * + +The reader will now determine whether I am more extravagant than most +of the commentators on Shakspeare, in my surmise that the story of Sir +George Somers' shipwreck, and the subsequent occurrences that took place +on the uninhabited island, may have furnished the bard with some of the +elements of his drama of the Tempest. The tidings of the shipwreck, and +of the incidents connected with it, reached England not long before the +production of this drama, and made a great sensation there. A narrative +of the whole matter, from which most of the foregoing particulars are +extracted, was published at the time in London, in a pamphlet form, and +could not fail to be eagerly perused by Shakspeare, and to make a vivid +impression on his fancy. His expression, in the Tempest, of "the still +vext Bermoothes," accords exactly with the storm-beaten character of +those islands. The enchantments, too, with which he has clothed the +island of Prospero, may they not be traced to the wild and superstitious +notions entertained about the Bermudas? I have already cited two +passages from a pamphlet published at the time, showing that they +were esteemed "a most _prodigious_ and _inchanted_ place," and the +"habitation of divells;" and another pamphlet, published shortly +afterward, observes: "And whereas it is reported that this land of the +Barmudas, with the islands about, (which are many, at least a hundred,) +are inchanted and kept with evil and wicked spirits, it is a most idle +and false report." [Footnote: "Newes from the Barmudas;" 1612.] + +The description, too, given in the same pamphlets, of the real beauty +and fertility of the Bermudas, and of their serene and happy climate, so +opposite to the dangerous and inhospitable character with which they had +been stigmatized, accords with the eulogium of Sebastian on the island +of Prospero: + +"Though this island seem to be desert, uninhabitable, and almost +inaccessible, it must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate +temperance. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly. Here is every +thing advantageous to life. How lush and lusty the grass looks! how +green!" + +I think too, in the exulting consciousness of ease, security, and +abundance felt by the late tempest-tossed mariners, while revelling in +the plenteousness of the island, and their inclination to remain there, +released from the labors, the cares, and the artificial restraints of +civilized life, I can see something of the golden commonwealth of honest +Gonzalo: + + "Had I plantation of this isle, my lord, + And were the king of it, what would I do? + I' the commonwealth I would by contraries + Execute all things: for no kind of traffic + Would I admit; no name of magistrate; + Letters should not be known; riches, poverty, + And use of service, none; contract, succession, + Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none: + No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil: + No occupation; all men idle, all. + + All things in common, nature should produce, + Without sweat or endeavor: Treason, felony, + Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine, + Would I not have; but nature should bring forth, + Of its own kind, all foizon, all abundance, + To feed my innocent people." + +But above all, in the three fugitive vagabonds who remained in +possession of the island of Bermuda, on the departure of their comrades, +and in their squabbles about supremacy, on the finding of their +treasure, I see typified Sebastian, Trinculo, and their worthy companion +Caliban: + + "Trinculo, the king and all our company being drowned, +we will inherit here." + + "Monster, I will kill this man; his daughter and I will be king and +queen, (save our graces!) and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys." + +I do not mean to hold up the incidents and characters in the narrative +and in the play as parallel, or as being strikingly similar: neither +would I insinuate that the narrative suggested the play; I would only +suppose that Shakspeare, being occupied about that time on the drama of +the Tempest, the main story of which, I believe, is of Italian origin, +had many of the fanciful ideas of it suggested to his mind by the +shipwreck of Sir George Somers on the "still vext Bermothes," and by the +popular superstitions connected with these islands, and suddenly put in +circulation by that event. + + * * * * * + +PELAYO AND THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +It is the common lamentation of Spanish historiographers, that, for an +obscure and melancholy space of time immediately succeeding the conquest +of their country by the Moslems, its history is a mere wilderness of +dubious facts, groundless fables, and rash exaggerations. Learned men, +in cells and cloisters, have worn out their lives in vainly endeavoring +to connect incongruous events, and to account for startling +improbabilities, recorded of this period. The worthy Jesuit, Padre +Abarca, declares that, for more than forty years during which he had +been employed in theological controversies, he had never found any so +obscure and inexplicable as those which rise out of this portion of +Spanish history, and that the only fruit of an indefatigable, prolix, +and even prodigious study of the subject, was a melancholy and +mortifying state of indecision. [Footnote: PADRE PEDRO ABARCA. Anales +de Aragon, Anti Regno, F2.] During this apocryphal period, flourished +PELAYO, the deliverer of Spain, whose name, like that of William +Wallace, will ever be linked with the glory of his country, but linked, +in like manner, by a bond in which fact and fiction are inextricably +interwoven. + +The quaint old chronicle of the Moor Rasis, which, though wild and +fanciful in the extreme, is frequently drawn upon for early facts by +Spanish historians, professes to give the birth, parentage, and whole +course of fortune of Pelayo, without the least doubt or hesitation. It +makes him a son of the Duke of Cantabria, and descended, both by father +and mother's side, from the Gothic kings of Spain. I shall pass over the +romantic story of his childhood, and shall content myself with a scene +of his youth, which was spent in a castle among the Pyrenees, under +the eye of his widowed and noble-minded mother, who caused him to be +instructed in everything befitting a cavalier of gentle birth. While the +sons of the nobility were revelling amid the pleasures of a licentious +court, and sunk in that vicious and effeminate indulgence which led +to the perdition of unhappy Spain, the youthful Pelayo, in his rugged +mountain school, was steeled to all kinds of hardy exercise. A great +part of his time was spent in hunting the bears, the wild boars, and the +wolves, with which the Pyrenees abounded; and so purely and chastely was +he brought up, by his good lady mother, that, if the ancient chronicle +from which I draw my facts may be relied on, he had attained his +one-and-twentieth year, without having once sighed for woman! + +Nor were his hardy contests confined to the wild beasts of the forest. +Occasionally he had to contend with adversaries of a more formidable +character. The skirts and defiles of these border mountains were often +infested by marauders from the Gallic plains of Gascony. The Gascons, +says an old chronicler, were a people who used smooth words when +expedient, but force when they had power, and were ready to lay their +hands on every thing they met. Though poor, they were proud; for there +was not one who did not pride himself on being a hijo-dalgo, or the son +of somebody. + +At the head of a band of these needy hijodalgos of Gascony, was one +Arnaud, a broken-down cavalier. He and four of his followers were well +armed and mounted; the rest were a set of scamper-grounds on foot, +furnished with darts and javelins. They were the terror of the border; +here to-day and gone to-morrow; sometimes in one pass, sometimes in +another. They would make sudden inroads into Spain, scour the roads, +plunder the country, and were over the mountains and far away before a +force could be collected to pursue them. + +Now it happened one day, that a wealthy burgher of Bordeaux, who was a +merchant, trading with Biscay, set out on a journey for that province. +As he intended to sojourn there for a season, he took with him his +wife, who was a goodly dame, and his daughter, a gentle damsel, of +marriageable age, and exceeding fair to look upon. He was attended by a +trusty clerk from his comptoir, and a man servant; while another servant +led a hackney, laden with bags of money, with which he intended to +purchase merchandise. + +When the Gascons heard of this wealthy merchant and his convoy passing +through the mountains, they thanked their stars, for they considered +all peaceful men of traffic as lawful spoil, sent by providence for the +benefit of hidalgos like themselves, of valor and gentle blood, who +lived by the sword. Placing themselves in ambush, in a lonely defile, by +which the travellers had to pass, they silently awaited their coming. In +a little while they beheld them approaching. The merchant was a fair, +portly man, in a buff surcoat and velvet cap. His looks bespoke the good +cheer of his native city, and he was mounted on a stately, well-fed +steed, while his wife and daughter paced gently on palfreys by his side. + +The travellers had advanced some distance in the defile, when the +Bandoleros rushed forth and assailed them. The merchant, though but +little used to the exercise of arms, and unwieldy in his form, yet made +valiant defence, having his wife and daughter and money-bags at hazard. +He was wounded in two places, and overpowered; one of his servants was +slain, the other took to flight. + +The freebooters then began to ransack for spoil, but were disappointed +at not finding the wealth they had expected. Putting their swords to the +breast of the trembling merchant, they demanded where he had concealed +his treasure, and learned from him of the hackney that was following, +laden with, money. Overjoyed at this intelligence, they bound their +captives to trees, and awaited the arrival of the golden spoil. + +On this same day, Pelayo was out with his huntsmen among the mountains, +and had taken his stand on a rock, at a narrow pass, to await the +sallying forth of a wild boar. Close by him was a page, conducting a +horse, and at the saddle-bow hung his armor, for he was always prepared +for fight among these border mountains. While thus posted, the servant +of the merchant came flying from the robbers. On beholding Pelayo, he +fell on his knees, and implored his life, for he supposed him to be +one of the band. It was some time before he could be relieved from his +terror, and made to tell his story. When Pelayo heard of the robbers, +he concluded they were the crew of Gascon hidalgos, upon the scamper. +Taking his armor from the page, he put on his helmet, slung his buckler +round his neck, took lance in hand, and mounting his steed, compelled +the trembling servant to guide him to the scene of action. At the same +time he ordered the page to seek his huntsmen, and summon them to his +assistance. + +When the robbers saw Pelayo advancing through the forest, with a single +attendant on foot, and beheld his rich armor sparkling in the sun, they +thought a new prize had fallen into their hands, and Arnaud and two of +his companions, mounting their horses, advanced to meet him. As they +approached, Pelayo stationed himself in a narrow pass between two rocks, +where he could only be assailed in front, and bracing his buckler, and +lowering his lance, awaited their coming. + +"Who and what are ye," cried he, "and what seek ye in this land?" + +"We are huntsmen," replied Arnaud, "and lo! our game runs into our +toils!" + +"By my faith," replied Pelayo, "thou wilt find the game more readily +roused than taken: have at thee for a villain!" + +So saying, he put spurs to his horse, and ran full speed upon him. The +Gascon, not expecting so sudden an attack from a single horseman, was +taken by surprise. He hastily couched his lance, but it merely glanced +on the shield of Pelayo, who sent his own through the middle of his +breast, and threw him out of his saddle to the earth. One of the other +robbers made at Pelayo, and wounded him slightly in the side, but +received a blow from the sword of the latter, which cleft his skull-cap, +and sank into his brain. His companion, seeing him fall, put spurs to +his steed, and galloped off through the forest. + +Beholding several other robbers on foot coming up, Pelayo returned to +his station between the rocks, where he was assailed by them all at +once. He received two of their darts on his buckler, a javelin razed his +cuirass, and glancing down, wounded his horse. Pelayo then rushed forth, +and struck one of the robbers dead: the others, beholding several +huntsmen advancing, took to flight, but were pursued, and several of +them taken. + +The good merchant of Bordeaux and his family beheld this scene with +trembling and amazement, for never had they looked upon such feats of +arms. They considered Don Pelayo as a leader of some rival band of +robbers; and when the bonds were loosed by which they were tied to +the trees, they fell at his feet and implored mercy. The females were +soonest undeceived, especially the daughter; for the damsel was struck +with the noble countenance and gentle demeanor of Pelayo, and said to +herself: "Surely nothing evil can dwell in so goodly and gracious a +form." + +Pelayo now sounded his horn, which echoed from rock to rock, and was +answered by shouts and horns from various parts of the mountains. The +merchant's heart misgave him at these signals, and especially when he +beheld more than forty men gathering from glen and thicket. They were +clad in hunters' dresses, and armed with boar-spears, darts, and +hunting-swords, and many of them led hounds in long leashes. All this +was a new and wild scene to the astonished merchant; nor were his fears +abated, when he saw his servant approaching with the hackney, laden with +money-bags; "for of a certainty," said he to himself, "this will be too +tempting a spoil for these wild hunters of the mountains." + +Pelayo, however, took no more notice of the gold than if it had been +so much dross; at which the honest burgher marvelled exceedingly. He +ordered that the wounds of the merchant should be dressed, and his own +examined. On taking off his cuirass, his wound was found to be but +slight; but his men were so exasperated at seeing his blood, that +they would have put the captive robbers to instant death, had he not +forbidden them to do them any harm. + +The huntsmen now made a great fire at the foot of a tree, and bringing +a boar which they had killed, cut off portions and roasted them, or +broiled them on the coals. Then drawing forth loaves of bread from their +wallets, they devoured their food half raw, with the hungry relish of +huntsmen and mountaineers. The merchant, his wife, and daughter, looked +at all this, and wondered, for they had never beheld so savage a repast. + +Pelayo then inquired of them if they did not desire to eat; they were +too much in awe of him to decline, though they felt a loathing at the +thought of partaking of this hunter's fare; but he ordered a linen cloth +to be spread under the shade of a great oak, on the grassy margin of a +clear running stream; and to their astonishment, they were served, not +with the flesh of the boar, but with dainty cheer, such as the merchant +had scarcely hoped to find out of the walls of his native city of +Bordeaux. + +The good burgher was of a community renowned for gastronomic prowess: +his fears having subsided, his appetite was now awakened, and he +addressed himself manfully to the viands that were set before him. His +daughter, however, could not eat: her eyes were ever and anon stealing +to gaze on Pelayo, whom she regarded with gratitude for his protection, +and admiration for his valor; and now that he had laid aside his helmet, +and she beheld his lofty countenance, glowing with manly beauty, +she thought him something more than mortal. The heart of the gentle +donzella, says the ancient chronicler, was kind and yielding; and had +Pelayo thought fit to ask the greatest boon that love and beauty could +bestow--doubtless meaning her fair hand--she could not have had the +cruelty to say him nay. Pelayo, however, had no such thoughts: the love +of woman had never yet entered his heart; and though he regarded the +damsel as the fairest maiden he had ever beheld, her beauty caused no +perturbation in his breast. + +When the repast was over, Pelayo offered to conduct the merchant and +his family through the defiles of the mountains, lest they should be +molested by any of the scattered band of robbers. The bodies of the +slain marauders were buried, and the corpse of the servant was laid upon +one of the horses captured in the battle. Having formed their cavalcade, +they pursued their way slowly up one of the steep and winding passes of +the Pyrenees. + +Toward sunset, they arrived at the dwelling of a holy hermit. It was +hewn out of the living rock; there was a cross over the door, and before +it was a great spreading oak, with a sweet spring of water at its foot. +The body of the faithful servant who had fallen in the defence of his +lord, was buried close by the wall of this sacred retreat, and the +hermit promised to perform masses for the repose of his soul. Then +Pelayo obtained from the holy father consent that the merchant's wife +and daughter should pass the night within his cell; and the hermit made +beds of moss for them, and gave them his benediction; but the damsel +found little rest, so much were her thoughts occupied by the youthful +champion who had rescued her from death or dishonor. + +Pelayo, however, was visited by no such wandering of the mind; but, +wrapping himself in his mantle, slept soundly by the fountain under the +tree. At midnight, when every thing was buried in deep repose, he was +awakened from his sleep and beheld the hermit before him, with the beams +of the moon shining upon his silver hair and beard. + +"This is no time," said the latter, "to be sleeping; arise and listen to +my words, and hear of the great work for which thou art chosen!" + +Then Pelayo arose and seated himself on a rock, and the hermit continued +his discourse. + +"Behold," said he, "the ruin of Spain is at hand! It will be delivered +into the hands of strangers, and will become a prey to the spoiler. Its +children will be slain or carried into captivity; or such as may escape +these evils, will harbor with the beasts of the forest or the eagles of +the mountain. The thorn and bramble will spring up where now are seen +the cornfield, the vine, and the olive; and hungry wolves will roam in +place of peaceful flocks and herds. But thou, my son! tarry not thou +to see these things, for thou canst not prevent them. Depart on a +pilgrimage to the sepulchre of our blessed Lord in Palestine; purify +thyself by prayer; enroll thyself in the order of chivalry, and prepare +for the great work of the redemption of thy country; for to thee it will +be given to raise it from the depth of its affliction." + +Pelayo would have inquired farther into the evils thus foretold, but the +hermit rebuked his curiosity. + +"Seek not to know more," said he, "than heaven is pleased to reveal. +Clouds and darkness cover its designs, and prophecy is never permitted +to lift up but in part the veil that rests upon the future." + +The hermit ceased to speak, and Pelayo laid himself down again to take +repose, but sleep was a stranger to his eyes. + +When the first rays of the rising sun shone upon the tops of the +mountains, the travellers assembled round the fountain beneath the tree +and made their morning's repast. Then, having received the benediction +of the hermit, they departed in the freshness of the day, and descended +along the hollow defiles leading into the interior of Spain. The good +merchant was refreshed by sleep and by his morning's meal; and when he +beheld his wife and daughter thus secure by his side, and the hackney +laden with his treasure close behind him, his heart was light in his +bosom, and he carolled a chanson as he went, and the woodlands echoed to +his song. But Pelayo rode in silence, for he revolved in his mind the +portentous words of the hermit; and the daughter of the merchant ever +and anon stole looks at him full of tenderness and admiration, and deep +sighs betrayed the agitation of her bosom. + +At length they came to the foot of the mountains, where the forests and +the rocks terminated, and an open and secure country lay before the +travellers. Here they halted, for their roads were widely different. +When they came to part, the merchant and his wife were loud in thanks +and benedictions, and the good burgher would fain have given Pelayo the +largest of his sacks of gold; but the young man put it aside with a +smile. "Silver and gold," said he, "need I not, but if I have deserved +aught at thy hands, give me thy prayers, for the prayers of a good man +are above all price." + +In the mean time the daughter had spoken never a word. At length she +raised her eyes, which were filled with tears, and looked timidly at +Pelayo, and her bosom throbbed; and after a violent struggle between +strong affection and virgin modesty, her heart relieved itself by words. + +"Senor," said she, "I know that I am unworthy of the notice of so noble +a cavalier; but suffer me to place this ring upon a finger of that hand +which has so bravely rescued us from death; and when you regard it, you +may consider it as a memorial of your own valor, and not of one who is +too humble to be remembered by you." + +With these words, she drew a ring from her finger and put it upon the +finger of Pelayo; and having done this, she blushed and trembled at her +own boldness, and stood as one abashed, with her eyes cast down upon the +earth. + +Pelayo was moved at the words of the simple maiden, and at the touch of +her fair hand, and at her beauty, as she stood thus trembling and in +tears before him; but as yet he knew nothing of woman, and his heart was +free from the snares of love. "Amiga," (friend,) said he, "I accept thy +present, and will wear it in remembrance of thy goodness;" so saying, he +kissed her on the cheek. + +The damsel was cheered by these words, and hoped that she had awakened +some tenderness in his bosom; but it was no such thing, says the grave +old chronicler, for his heart was devoted to higher and more sacred +matters; yet certain it is, that he always guarded well that ring. + +When they parted, Pelayo remained with his huntsmen on a cliff, watching +that no evil befell them, until they were far beyond the skirts of the +mountain; and the damsel often turned to look at him, until she could no +longer discern him, for the distance and the tears that dimmed her eyes. + +And for that he had accepted her ring, says the ancient chronicler, she +considered herself wedded to him in her heart, and would never marry; +nor could she be brought to look with eyes of affection upon any other +man; but for the true love which she bore Pelayo, she lived and died a +virgin. And she composed a book which treated of love and chivalry, +and the temptations of this mortal life; and one part discoursed of +celestial matters, and it was called "The Contemplations of Love;" +because at the time she wrote it, she thought of Pelayo, and of his +having accepted her jewel and called her by the gentle appellation of +"Amiga." And often thinking of him in tender sadness, and of her never +having beheld him more, she would take the book and would read it as +if in his stead; and while she repeated the words of love which it +contained, she would endeavor to fancy them uttered by Pelayo, and that +he stood before her. + + * * * * * + +THE KNIGHT OF MALTA. + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER + + +SIR: In the course of a tour which I made in Sicily, in the days of my +juvenility, I passed some little time at the ancient city of Catania, +at the foot of Mount AEtna. Here I became acquainted with the Chevalier +L----, an old Knight of Malta. It was not many years after the time that +Napoleon had dislodged the knights from their island, and he still wore +the insignia of his order. He was not, however, one of those reliques of +that once chivalrous body, who had been described was "a few worn-out +old men, creeping about certain parts of Europe, with the Maltese cross +on their breasts;" on the contrary, though advanced in life, his form +was still light and vigorous; he had a pale, thin, intellectual visage, +with a high forehead, and a bright, visionary eye. He seemed to take a +fancy to me, as I certainly did to him, and we soon became intimate, +I visited him occasionally, at his apartments, in the wing of an old +palace, looking toward Mount AEtna. He was an antiquary, a virtuoso, and +a connoisseur. His rooms were decorated with mutilated statues, dug up +from Grecian and Roman ruins; old vases, lachrymals, and sepulchral +lamps. He had astronomical and chemical instruments, and black-letter +books, in various languages. I found that he had dipped a little in +chimerical studies and had a hankering after astrology and alchymy. He +affected to believe in dreams and visions, and delighted in the fanciful +Rosicrucian doctrines. I cannot persuade myself, however, that he really +believed in all these: I rather think he loved to let his imagination +carry him away into the boundless fairy land which they unfolded. + +In company with the chevalier, I took several excursions on horseback +about the environs of Catania, and the picturesque skirts of Mount Etna. +One of these led through a village, which had sprung up on the very +tract of an ancient eruption, the houses being built of lava. At one +time we passed, for some distance, along a narrow lane, between two high +dead convent walls. It was a cut-throat-looking place, in a country +where assassinations are frequent; and just about midway through it, +we observed blood upon the pavement and the walls, as if a murder had +actually been committed there. + +The chevalier spurred on his horse, until he had extricated himself +completely from this suspicious neighborhood. He then observed, that it +reminded him of a similar blind alley in Malta, infamous on account of +the many assassinations that had taken place there; concerning one +of which, he related a long and tragical story, that lasted until +we reached Catania. It involved various circumstances of a wild and +supernatural character, but which he assured me were handed down in +tradition, and generally credited by the old inhabitants of Malta. + +As I like to pick up strange stories, and as I was particularly struck +with several parts of this, I made a minute of it, on my return to my +lodgings. The memorandum was lost, with several others of my travelling +papers, and the story had faded from my mind, when recently, in perusing +a French memoir, I came suddenly upon it, dressed up, it is true, in a +very different manner, but agreeing in the leading facts, and given upon +the word of that famous adventurer, the Count Cagliostro. + +I have amused myself, during a snowy day in the country, by rendering it +roughly into English, for the entertainment of a youthful circle round +the Christmas fire. It was well received by my auditors, who, however, +are rather easily pleased. One proof of its merits is that it sent +some of the youngest of them quaking to their beds, and gave them very +fearful dreams. Hoping that it may have the same effect upon your +ghost-hunting readers, I offer it, Mr. Editor, for insertion in your +Magazine. I would observe, that wherever I have modified the French +version of the Story, it has been in conformity to some recollection of +the narrative of my friend, the Knight of Malta. + +Your obt. servt., + +GEOFFREY CRAYON. + + * * * * * + +_THE GRAND PRIOR OF MINORCA,_ + +A VERITABLE GHOST STORY. + + "Keep my wits, heaven! They say spirits appear + To melancholy minds, and the graves open!"--FLETCHER. + +About the middle of the last century, while the Knights of Saint John of +Jerusalem still maintained something of their ancient state and sway in +the Island of Malta, a tragical event took place there, which is the +groundwork of the following narrative. + +It may be as well to premise, that at the time we are treating of, +the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, grown excessively wealthy, had +degenerated from its originally devout and warlike character. Instead +of being a hardy body of "monk-knights," sworn soldiers of the cross, +fighting the Paynim in the Holy Land, or scouring the Mediterranean, and +scourging the Barbary coasts with their galleys, or feeding the poor, +and attending upon the sick at their hospitals, they led a life of +luxury and libertinism, and were to be found in the most voluptuous +courts of Europe. The order, in fact, had become a mode of providing +for the needy branches of the Catholic aristocracy of Europe. "A +commandery," we are told, was a splendid provision for a younger +brother; and men of rank, however dissolute, provided they belonged +to the highest aristocracy, became Knights of Malta, just as they did +bishops, or colonels of regiments, or court chamberlains. After a brief +Residence at Malta, the knights passed the rest of their time in their +own countries, or only made a visit now and then to the island. While +there, having but little military duty to perform, they beguiled their +idleness by paying attentions to the fair. + +There was one circle of society, however, into which they could not +obtain currency. This was composed of a few families of the old Maltese +nobility, natives of the island. These families, not being permitted +to enroll any of their members in the order, affected to hold no +intercourse with its chevaliers; admitting none into their exclusive +coteries but the Grand Master, whom they acknowledged as their +sovereign, and the members of the chapter which composed his council. + +To indemnify themselves for this exclusion, the chevaliers carried their +gallantries into the next class of society, composed of those who held +civil, administrative, and judicial situations. The ladies of this class +were called _honorate_, or honorables, to distinguish them from the +inferior orders; and among them were many of superior grace, beauty, and +fascination. + +Even in this more hospitable class, the chevaliers were not all equally +favored. Those of Germany had the decided preference, owing to their +fair and fresh complexions, and the kindliness of their manners: next +to these came the Spanish cavaliers, on account of their profound and +courteous devotion, and most discreet secrecy. Singular as it may seem, +the chevaliers of France fared the worst. The Maltese ladies dreaded +their volatility, and their proneness to boast of their amours, and +shunned all entanglement with them. They were forced, therefore, to +content themselves with conquests among females of the lower orders. +They revenged themselves, after the gay French manner, by making the +"honorate" the objects of all kinds of jests and mystifications; by +prying into their tender affairs with the more favored chevaliers, and +making them the theme of song and epigram. + +About this time, a French vessel arrived at Malta, bringing out a +distinguished personage of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, +the Commander de Foulquerre, who came to solicit the post of +commander-in-chief of the galleys. He was descended from an old and +warrior line of French nobility, his ancestors having long been +seneschals of Poitou, and claiming descent from the first counts of +Angouleme. + +The arrival of the commander caused a little uneasiness among the +peaceably inclined, for he bore the character, in the island, of being +fiery, arrogant, and quarrelsome. He had already been three times at +Malta, and on each visit had signalized himself by some rash and deadly +affray. + +As he was now thirty-five years of age, however, it was hoped that time +might have taken off the fiery edge of his spirit, and that he might +prove more quiet and sedate than formerly. The commander set up an +establishment befitting his rank and pretensions; for he arrogated to +himself an importance greater even than that of the Grand Master. His +house immediately became the rallying place of all the young French +chevaliers. They informed him of all the slights they had experienced or +imagined, and indulged their petulant and satirical vein at the expense +of the honorate and their admirers. The chevaliers of other nations soon +found the topics and tone of conversation at the commander's irksome and +offensive, and gradually ceased to visit there. The commander remained +the head of a national _clique_, who looked up to him as their model. +If he was not as boisterous and quarrelsome as formerly, he had become +haughty and overbearing. He was fond of talking over his past affairs of +punctilio and bloody duel. When walking the streets, he was generally +attended by a ruffling train of young French cavaliers, who caught his +own air of assumption and bravado. These he would conduct to the scenes +of his deadly encounters, point out the very spot where each fatal lunge +had been given, and dwell vaingloriously on every particular. + +Under his tuition, the young French chevaliers began to add bluster and +arrogance to their former petulance and levity; they fired up on the +most trivial occasions, particularly with those who had been most +successful with the fair; and would put on the most intolerable +drawcansir airs. The other chevaliers conducted themselves with all +possible forbearance and reserve; but they saw it would be impossible to +keep on long, in this manner, without coming to an open rupture. + +Among the Spanish cavaliers was one named Don Luis de Lima Vasconcellos. +He was distantly related to the Grand Master; and had been enrolled at +an early age among his pages, but had been rapidly promoted by him, +until, at the age of twenty-six, he had been given the richest Spanish +commandery in the order. He had, moreover, been fortunate with the fair, +with one of whom, the most beautiful honorata of Malta, he had long +maintained the most tender correspondence. + +The character, rank, and connexions of Don Luis put him on a par with +the imperious Commander de Foulquerre, and pointed him out as a leader +and champion to his countrymen. The Spanish chevaliers repaired to him, +therefore, in a body; represented all the grievances they had sustained, +and the evils they apprehended, and urged him to use his influence with +the commander and his adherents to put a stop to the growing abuses. + +Don Luis was gratified by this mark of confidence and esteem on the part +of his countrymen, and promised to have an interview with the Commander +de Foulquerre on the subject. He resolved to conduct himself with +the utmost caution and delicacy on the occasion; to represent to +the commander the evil consequences which might result from the +inconsiderate conduct of the young French chevaliers, and to entreat him +to exert the great influence he so deservedly possessed over them, to +restrain their excesses. Don Luis was aware, however, of the peril that +attended any interview of the kind with this imperious and fractious +man, and apprehended, however it might commence, that it would terminate +in a duel. Still, it was an affair of honor, in which Castilian dignity +was concerned; beside, he had a lurking disgust at the overbearing +manners of De Foulquerre, and perhaps had been somewhat offended by +certain intrusive attentions which he had presumed to pay to the +beautiful honorata. + +It was now Holy Week; a time too sacred for worldly feuds and passions, +especially in a community under the dominion of a religious order; it +was agreed, therefore, that the dangerous interview in question should +not take place until after the Easter holidays. It is probable, from +subsequent circumstances, that the Commander de Foulquerre had some +information of this arrangement among the Spanish chevaliers, and was +determined to be beforehand, and to mortify the pride of their champion, +who was thus preparing to read him a lecture. He chose Good Friday for +his purpose. On this sacred day, it is customary in Catholic countries +to make a tour of all the churches, offering up prayers in each. In +every Catholic church, as is well known, there is a vessel of holy water +near the door. In this, every one, on entering, dips his fingers, and +makes therewith the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast. An +office of gallantry, among the young Spaniards, is to stand near the +door, dip their hands in the holy vessel, and extend them courteously +and respectfully to any lady of their acquaintance who may enter; who +thus receives the sacred water at second hand, on the tips of her +fingers, and proceeds to cross herself, with all due decorum. The +Spaniards, who are the most jealous of lovers, are impatient when this +piece of devotional gallantry is proffered to the object of their +affections by any other hand: on Good Friday, therefore, when a lady +makes a tour of the churches, it is the usage among them for the +inamorato to follow her from church to church, so as to present her the +holy water at the door of each; thus testifying his own devotion, and at +the same time preventing the officious services of a rival. + +On the day in question, Don Luis followed the beautiful honorata, to +whom, as has already been observed, he had long been devoted. At the +very first church she visited, the Commander de Foulquerre was stationed +at the portal, with several of the young French chevaliers about him. +Before Don Luis could offer her the holy water, he was anticipated by +the commander, who thrust himself between them, and, while he performed +the gallant office to the lady, rudely turned his back upon her admirer, +and trod upon his feet. The insult was enjoyed by the young Frenchmen +who were present: it was too deep and grave to be forgiven by Spanish +pride; and at once put an end to all Don Luis' plans of caution and +forbearance. He repressed his passion for the moment, however, and +waited until all the parties left the church; then, accosting the +commander with an air of coolness and unconcern, he inquired after his +health, and asked to what church he proposed making his second visit. +"To the Magisterial Church of Saint John." Don Luis offered to conduct +him thither, by the shortest route. His offer was accepted, apparently +without suspicion, and they proceeded together. After walking some +distance, they entered a long, narrow lane, without door or window +opening upon it, called the "Strada Stretta," or narrow street. It was a +street in which duels were tacitly permitted, or connived at, in Malta, +and were suffered to pass as accidental encounters. Every where else +they were prohibited. This restriction had been instituted to diminish +the number of duels, formerly so frequent in Malta. As a farther +precaution to render these encounters less fatal, it was an offence, +punishable with death, for any one to enter this street armed with +either poniard or pistol. It was a lonely, dismal street, just wide +enough for two men to stand upon their guard, and cross their swords; +few persons ever traversed it, unless with some sinister design; and on +any preconcerted duello, the seconds posted themselves at each end, to +stop all passengers, and prevent interruption. + +In the present instance, the parties had scarce entered the street, +when Don Luis drew his sword, and called upon the commander to defend +himself. + +De Foulquerre was evidently taken by surprise: he drew back, and +attempted to expostulate; but Don Luis persisted in defying him to the +combat. + +After a second or two, he likewise drew his sword, but immediately +lowered the point. + +"Good Friday!" ejaculated he, shaking his head: "one word with you; it +is full six years since I have been in a confessional: I am shocked at +the state of my conscience; but within three days--that is to say, on +Monday next--" + +Don Luis would listen to nothing. Though naturally of a peaceable +disposition, he had been stung to fury, and people of that character, +when once incensed, are deaf to reason. He compelled the commander to +put himself on his guard. The latter, though a man accustomed to brawl +in battle, was singularly dismayed. Terror was visible in all his +features. He placed himself with his back to the wall, and the weapons +were crossed. The contest was brief and fatal. At the very first thrust, +the sword of Don Luis passed through the body of his antagonist. The +commander staggered to the wall, and leaned against it. + +"On Good Friday!" ejaculated he again, with a failing voice, and +despairing accents. "Heaven pardon you!" added he; "take my sword to +Tetefoulques, and have a hundred masses performed in the chapel of the +castle, for the repose of my soul!" With these words he expired. + +The fury of Don Luis was at an end. He stood aghast, gazing at the +bleeding body of the commander. He called to mind the prayer of the +deceased for three days' respite, to make his peace with heaven; he had +refused it; had sent him to the grave, with all his sins upon his head! +His conscience smote him to the core; he gathered up the sword of the +commander, which he had been enjoined to take to Tetefoulques, and +hurried from the fatal Strada Stretta. + +The duel of course made a great noise in Malta, but had no injurious +effect upon the worldly fortunes of Don Luis. He made a full declaration +of the whole matter, before the proper authorities; the Chapter of +the Order considered it one of those casual encounters of the Strada +Stretta, which were mourned over, but tolerated; the public, by whom +the late commander had been generally detested, declared that he had +deserved his fate. It was but three days after the event, that Don +Luis was advanced to one of the highest dignities of the Order, being +invested by the Grand Master with the priorship of the kingdom of +Minorca. + +From that time forward, however, the whole character and conduct of Don +Luis underwent a change. He became a prey to a dark melancholy, which +nothing could assuage. The most austere piety, the severest penances, +had no effect in allaying the horror which preyed upon his mind. He was +absent for a long time from Malta; having gone, it was said, on remote +pilgrimages: when he returned, he was more haggard than ever. There +seemed something mysterious and inexplicable in this disorder of his +mind. The following is the revelation made by himself, of the horrible +visions, or chimeras, by which he was haunted: + +"When I had made my declaration before the Chapter," said he, "and my +provocations were publicly known, I had made my peace with man; but it +was not so with God, nor with my confessor, nor with my own conscience. +My act was doubly criminal, from the day on which it was committed, +and from my refusal to a delay of three days, for the victim of my +resentment to receive the sacraments. His despairing ejaculation, 'Good +Friday! Good Friday!' continually rang in my ears. 'Why did I not grant +the respite!' cried I to myself; 'was it not enough to kill the body, +but must I seek to kill the soul!' + +"On the night of the following Friday, I started suddenly from my sleep. +An unaccountable horror was upon me. I looked wildly around. It seemed +as if I were not in my apartment, nor in my bed, but in the fatal Strada +Stretta, lying on the pavement. I again saw the commander leaning +against the wall; I again heard his dying words: 'Take my sword to +Tetefoulques, and have a hundred masses performed in the chapel of the +castle, for the repose of my soul!' + +"On the following night, I caused one of my servants to sleep in the +same room with me. I saw and heard nothing, either on that night, or any +of the nights following, until the next Friday; when I had again the +same vision, with this difference, that my valet seemed to be lying at +some distance from me on the pavement of the Strada Stretta. The vision +continued to be repeated on every Friday night, the commander always +appearing in the same manner, and uttering the same words: 'Take my +sword to Tetefoulques, and have a hundred masses performed in the chapel +of the castle for the repose of my soul!' On questioning my servant on +the subject, he stated, that on these occasions he dreamed that he was +lying in a very narrow street, but he neither saw nor heard any thing of +the commander. + +"I knew nothing of this Tetefoulques, whither the defunct was so urgent +I should carry his sword. I made inquiries, therefore, concerning it +among the French chevaliers. They informed me that it was an old castle, +situated about four leagues from Poitiers, in the midst of a forest. +It had been built in old times, several centuries since, by Foulques +Taillefer, (or Fulke Hackiron,) a redoubtable, hard-fighting Count of +Angouleme, who gave it to an illegitimate son, afterward created Grand +Seneschal of Poitou, which son became the pro genitor of the Foulquerres +of Tetefoulques, hereditary Seneschals of Poitou. They farther +informed me, that strange stories were told of this old castle, in the +surrounding country, and that it contained many curious reliques. Among +these, were the arms of Foulques Taillefer, together with all those of +the warriors he had slain; and that it was an immemorial usage with the +Foulquerres to have the weapons deposited there which they had wielded +either in war or in single combat. This, then, was the reason of the +dying injunction of the commander respecting his sword. I carried this +weapon with me, wherever I went, but still I neglected to comply with +his request. + +"The visions still continued to harass me with undiminished horror. +I repaired to Rome, where I confessed myself to the Grand Cardinal +penitentiary, and informed him of the terrors with which I was haunted. +He promised me absolution, after I should have performed certain acts of +penance, the principal of which was, to execute the dying request of the +commander, by carrying the sword to Tetefoulques, and having the hundred +masses performed in the chapel of the castle for the repose of his soul. + +"I set out for France as speedily as possible, and made no delay in my +journey. On arriving at Poitiers, I found that the tidings of the death +of the commander had reached there, but had caused no more affliction +than among the people of Malta. Leaving my equipage in the town, I +put on the garb of a pilgrim, and taking a guide, set out on foot +for Tetefoulques, Indeed the roads in this part of the country were +impracticable for carriages. + +"I found the castle of Tetefoulques a grand but gloomy and dilapidated +pile. All the gates were closed, and there reigned over the whole place +an air of almost savage loneliness and desertion. I had understood that +its only inhabitant were the concierge, or warder, and a kind of hermit +who had charge of the chapel. After ringing for some time at the gate, +I at length succeeded in bringing forth the warder, who bowed with +reverence to my pilgrim's garb. I begged him to conduct me to the +chapel, that being the end of my pilgrimage. We found the hermit there, +chanting the funeral service; a dismal sound to one who came to perform +a penance for the death of a member of the family. When he had ceased +to chant, I informed him that I came to accomplish an obligation of +conscience, and that I wished him to perform a hundred masses for the +repose of the soul of the commander. He replied that, not being in +orders, he was not authorized to perform mass, but that he would +willingly undertake to see that my debt of conscience was discharged. I +laid my offering on the altar, and would have placed the sword of the +commander there, likewise. 'Hold!' said the hermit, with a melancholy +shake of the head,'this is no place for so deadly a weapon, that has so +often been bathed in Christian blood. Take it to the armory; you will +find there trophies enough of like character. It is a place into which I +never enter.' + +"The warder here took up the theme abandoned by the peaceful man of +God. He assured me that I would see in the armory the swords of all the +warrior race of Foulquerres, together with those of the enemies over +whom they had triumphed. This, he observed, had been a usage kept +up since the time of Mellusine, and of her husband, Geoffrey a la +Grand-dent, or Geoffrey with the Great-tooth. + +"I followed the gossiping warder to the armory. It was a great dusty +hall, hung round with Gothic-looking portraits, of a stark line of +warriors, each with his weapon, and the weapons of those he had slain in +battle, hung beside his picture. The most conspicuous portrait was that +of Foulques Taillefer, (Fulke Hackiron,) Count of Angouleme, and founder +of the castle. He was represented at full-length, armed cap-a-pie, and +grasping a huge buckler, on which were emblazoned three lions passant. +The figure was so striking, that it seemed ready to start from the +canvas: and I observed beneath this picture, a trophy composed of many +weapons, proofs of the numerous triumphs of this hard-fighting old +cavalier. Beside the weapons connected with the portraits, there were +swords of all shapes, sizes, and centuries, hung round the hall; with +piles of armor, placed as it were in effigy. + +"On each side of an immense chimney, were suspended the portraits of the +first seneschal of Poitou (the illegitimate son of Foulques Taillefer) +and his wife Isabella de Lusignan; the progenitors of the grim race of +Foulquerres that frowned around. They had the look of being perfect +likenesses; and as I gazed on them, I fancied I could trace in their +antiquated features some family resemblance to their unfortunate +descendant, whom I had slain! This was a dismal neighborhood, yet the +armory was the only part of the castle that had a habitable air; so I +asked the warder whether he could not make a fire, and give me something +for supper there, and prepare me a bed in one corner. + +"'A fire and a supper you shall have, and that cheerfully, most worthy +pilgrim,' said he; 'but as to a bed, I advise you to come and sleep in +my chamber.' + +"'Why so?' inquired I; 'why shall I not sleep in this hall?' + +"'I have my reasons; I will make a bed for you close to mine.' + +"I made no objections, for I recollected that it was Friday, and I +dreaded the return of my vision. He brought in billets of wood, kindled +a fire in the great overhanging chimney, and then went forth to prepare +my supper. I drew a heavy chair before the fire, and seating myself in +it, gazed muzingly round upon the portraits of the Foulquerres, and the +antiquated armor and weapons, the mementos of many a bloody deed. As +the day declined, the smoky draperies of the hall gradually became +confounded with the dark ground of the paintings, and the lurid gleams +from the chimney only enabled me to see visages staring at me from the +gathering darkness. All this was dismal in the extreme, and somewhat +appalling; perhaps it was the state of my conscience that rendered me +peculiarly sensitive, and prone to fearful imaginings. + +"At length the warder brought in my supper. It consisted of a dish of +trout, and some crawfish taken in the fosse of the castle. He procured +also a bottle of wine, which he informed me was wine of Poitou. I +requested him to invite the hermit to join me in my repast; but the holy +man sent back word that he allowed himself nothing but roots and herbs, +cooked with water. I took my meal, therefore, alone, but prolonged it as +much as possible, and sought to cheer my drooping spirits by the wine of +Poitou, which I found very tolerable. + +"When supper was over, I prepared for my evening devotions. I have +always been very punctual in reciting my breviary; it is the prescribed +and bounden duty of all chevaliers of the religious orders; and I can +answer for it, is faithfully performed by those of Spain. I accordingly +drew forth from my pocket a small missal and a rosary, and told the +warder he need only designate to me the way to his chamber, where I +could come and rejoin him, when I had finished my prayers. + +"He accordingly pointed out a winding stair-case, opening from the hall. +'You will descend this stair-case,' said he, 'until you come to the +fourth landing-place, where you enter a vaulted passage, terminated by +an arcade, with a statue of the blessed Jeanne of France; you cannot +help finding my room, the door of which I will leave open; it is the +sixth door from the landing-place. I advise you not to remain in this +hall after midnight. Before that hour, you will hear the hermit ring the +bell, in going the rounds of the corridors. Do not linger here after +that signal.' + +"The warder retired, and I commenced my devotions. I continued at them +earnestly; pausing from time to time to put wood upon the fire. I did +not dare to look much around me, for I felt myself becoming a prey to +fearful fancies. The pictures appeared to become animated. If I regarded +one attentively, for any length of time, it seemed to move the eyes and +lips. Above all, the portraits of the Grand Seneschal and his lady, +which hung on each side of the great chimney, the progenitors of the +Foulquerres of Tetefoulque, regarded me, I thought, with angry and +baleful eyes: I even fancied they exchanged significant glances with +each other. Just then a terrible blast of wind shook all the casements, +and, rushing through the hall, made a fearful rattling and clashing +among the armor. To my startled fancy, it seemed something supernatural. + +"At length I heard the bell of the hermit, and hastened to quit the +hall. Taking a solitary light, which stood on the supper-table, I +descended the winding stair-case; but before I had reached the vaulted +passage leading to the statue of the blessed Jeanne of France, a blast +of wind extinguished my taper. I hastily remounted the stairs, to light +it again at the chimney; but judge of my feelings, when, on arriving at +the entrance to the armory, I beheld the Seneschal and his lady, who had +descended from their frames, and seated themselves on each side of the +fire-place! "'Madam, my love,' said the Seneschal, with great formality, +and in antiquated phrase, 'what think you of the presumption of this +Castilian, who comes to harbor himself and make wassail in this our +castle, after having slain our descendant, the commander, and that +without granting him time for confession?' + +"'Truly, my lord,' answered the female spectre, with no less stateliness +of manner, and with great asperity of tone; 'truly, my lord, I opine +that this Castilian did a grievous wrong in this encounter; and he +should never be suffered to depart hence, without your throwing him the +gauntlet.' I paused to hear no more, but rushed again down-stairs, to +seek the chamber of the warder. It was impossible to find it in the +darkness, and in the perturbation of my mind. After an hour and a half +of fruitless search, and mortal horror and anxieties, I endeavored +to persuade myself that the day was about to break, and listened +impatiently for the crowing of the cock; for I thought if I could hear +his cheerful note, I should be reassured; catching, in the disordered +state of my nerves, at the popular notion that ghosts never appear after +the first crowing of the cock. + +"At length I rallied myself, and endeavored to shake off the vague +terrors which haunted me. I tried to persuade myself that the two +figures which I had seemed to see and hear, had existed only in my +troubled imagination. I still had the end of the candle in my hand, and +determined to make another effort to re-light it, and find my way to +bed; for I was ready to sink with fatigue. I accordingly sprang up the +stair-case, three steps at a time, stopped at the door of the armory, +and peeped cautiously in. The two Gothic figures were no longer in the +chimney corners, but I neglected to notice whether they had reascended +to their frames. I entered, and made desperately for the fire-place, but +scarce had I advanced three strides, when Messire Foolques Taillefer +stood before me, in the centre of the hall, armed cap-a-pie, and +standing in guard, with the point of his sword silently presented to +me. I would have retreated to the stair-case, but the door of it was +occupied by the phantom figure of an esquire, who rudely flung a +gauntlet in my face. Driven to fury, I snatched down a sword from the +wall: by chance, it was that of the commander which I had placed there. +I rushed upon my fantastic adversary, and seemed to pierce him through +and through; but at the same time I felt as if something pierced my +heart, burning like a red-hot iron. My blood inundated the hall, and I +fell senseless. + +"When I recovered consciousness, it was broad day, and I found myself in +a small chamber, attended by the warder and the hermit. The former told +me that on the previous night, he had awakened long after the midnight +hour, and perceiving that I had not come to his chamber, he had +furnished himself with a vase of holy water, and set out to seek me. He +found me stretched senseless on the pavement of the armory, and bore me +to this room. I spoke of my wound, and of the quantity of blood that I +had lost. He shook his head, and knew nothing about it; and to my +surprise, on examination, I found myself perfectly sound and unharmed. +The wound and blood, therefore, had been all delusion. Neither the +warder nor the hermit put any questions to me, but advised me to leave +the castle as soon as possible. I lost no time in complying with their +counsel, and felt my heart relieved from an oppressive weight, as I left +the gloomy and fate-bound battlements of Tetefoulques behind me. + +"I arrived at Bayonne, on my way to Spain, on the following Friday. At +midnight I was startled from my sleep, as I had formerly been; but it +was no longer by the vision of the dying commander. It was old Foulques +Taillefer who stood before me, armed cap-a-pie, and presenting the point +of his sword. I made the sign of the cross, and the spectre vanished, +but I received the same red-hot thrust in the heart which I had felt in +the armory, and I seemed to be bathed in blood. I would have called out, +or have arisen from my bed and gone in quest of succor, but I could +neither speak nor stir. This agony endured until the crowing of the +cock, when I fell asleep again; but the next day I was ill, and in a +most pitiable state. I have continued to be harassed by the same vision +every Friday night; no acts of penitence and devotion have been able to +relieve me from it; and it is only a lingering hope in divine mercy, +that sustains me, and enables me to support so lamentable a visitation." + + * * * * * + +The Grand Prior of Minorca wasted gradually away under this constant +remorse of conscience, and this horrible incubus. He died some time +after having revealed the preceding particulars of his case, evidently +the victim of a diseased imagination. + +The above relation has been rendered, in many parts literally, from the +French memoir, in which it is given as a true story: if so, it is one of +those instances in which truth is more romantic than fiction. + + + * * * * * + +LEGEND OF +THE ENGULPHED CONVENT. + +BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. + +At the dark and melancholy period when Don Roderick the Goth and his +chivalry were overthrown on the banks of the Guadalete, and all Spain +was overrun by the Moors, great was the devastation of churches and +convents throughout that pious kingdom. The miraculous fate of one of +those holy piles is thus recorded in one of the authentic legends of +those days. + +On the summit of a hill, not very distant from the capital city of +Toledo, stood an ancient convent and chapel, dedicated to the invocation +of Saint Benedict, and inhabited by a sisterhood of Benedictine nuns. +This holy asylum was confined to females of noble lineage. The younger +sisters of the highest families were here given in religious marriage to +their Saviour, in order that the portions of their elder sisters might +be increased, and they enabled to make suitable matches on earth, or +that the family wealth might go undivided to elder brothers, and the +dignity of their ancient houses be protected from decay. The convent was +renowned, therefore, for enshrining within its walls a sisterhood of the +purest blood, the most immaculate virtue, and most resplendent beauty, +of all Gothic Spain. + +When the Moors overran the kingdom, there was nothing that more +excited their hostility than these virgin asylums. The very sight of a +convent-spire was sufficient to set their Moslem blood in a foment, and +they sacked it with as fierce a zeal as though the sacking of a nunnery +were a sure passport to Elysium. + +Tidings of such outrages committed in various parts of the kingdom +reached this noble sanctuary and filled it with dismay. The danger +came nearer and nearer; the infidel hosts were spreading all over the +country; Toledo itself was captured; there was no flying from the +convent, and no security within its walls. + +In the midst of this agitation, the alarm was given one day that a great +band of Saracens were spurring across the plain. In an instant the whole +convent was a scene of confusion. Some of the nuns wrung their fair +hands at the windows; others waved their veils and uttered shrieks from +the tops of the towers, vainly hoping to draw relief from a country +over-run by the foe. The sight of these innocent doves thus fluttering +about their dove-cote, but increased the zealot fury of the whiskered +Moors. They thundered at the portal, and at every blow the ponderous +gates trembled on their hinges. + +The nuns now crowded round the abbess. They had been accustomed to look +up to her as all-powerful, and they now implored her protection. The +mother abbess looked with a rueful eye upon the treasures of beauty +and vestal virtue exposed to such imminent peril. Alas! how was she to +protect them from the spoiler! She had, it is true, experienced many +signal inter-positions of providence in her individual favor. Her early +days had been passed amid the temptations of a court, where her virtue +had been purified by repeated trials, from none of which had she escaped +but by a miracle. But were miracles never to cease? Could she hope that +the marvelous protection shown to herself would be extended to a +whole sisterhood? There was no other resource. The Moors were at the +threshold; a few moments more and the convent would be at their mercy. +Summoning her nuns to follow her, she hurried into the chapel; and +throwing herself on her knees before the image of the blessed Mary, "Oh, +holy Lady!" exclaimed she, "oh, most pure and immaculate of virgins! +thou seest our extremity. The ravager is at the gate, and there is none +on earth to help us! Look down with pity, and grant that the earth may +gape and swallow us rather than that our cloister vows should suffer +violation!" + +The Moors redoubled their assault upon the portal; the gates gave way, +with a tremendous crash; a savage yell of exultation arose; when of a +sudden the earth yawned; down sank the convent, with its cloisters, its +dormitories, and all its nuns. The chapel tower was the last that sank, +the bell ringing forth a peal of triumph in the very teeth of the +infidels. + + * * * * * + +Forty years had passed and gone, since the period of this miracle. The +subjugation of Spain was complete. The Moors lorded it over city and +country; and such of the Christian population as remained, and were +permitted to exercise their religion, did it in humble resignation to +the Moslem sway. + +At this time, a Christian cavalier, of Cordova, hearing that a patriotic +band of his countrymen had raised the standard of the cross in the +mountains of the Asturias, resolved to join them, and unite in breaking +the yoke of bondage. Secretly arming himself, and caparisoning his +steed, he set forth from Cordova, and pursued his course by unfrequented +mule-paths, and along the dry channels made by winter torrents. His +spirit burned with indignation, whenever, on commanding a view over a +long sweeping plain, he beheld the mosque swelling in the distance, and +the Arab horsemen careering about, as if the rightful lords of the soil. +Many a deep-drawn sigh, and heavy groan, also, did the good cavalier +utter, on passing the ruins of churches and convents desolated by the +conquerors. + +It was on a sultry midsummer evening, that this wandering cavalier, in +skirting a hill thickly covered with forest, heard the faint tones of a +vesper bell sounding melodiously in the air, and seeming to come from +the summit of the hill. The cavalier crossed himself with wonder, at +this unwonted and Christian sound. He supposed it to proceed from one +of those humble chapels and hermitages permitted to exist through the +indulgence of the Moslem conquerors. Turning his steed up a narrow +path of the forest, he sought this sanctuary, in hopes of finding a +hospitable shelter for the night. As he advanced, the trees threw a deep +gloom around him, and the bat flitted across his path. The bell ceased +to toll, and all was silence. + +Presently a choir of female voices came stealing sweetly through the +forest, chanting the evening service, to the solemn accompaniment of +an organ. The heart of the good cavalier melted at the sound, for it +recalled the happier days of his country. Urging forward his weary +steed, he at length arrived at a broad grassy area, on the summit of the +hill, surrounded by the forest. Here the melodious voices rose in full +chorus, like the swelling of the breeze; but whence they came, he could +not tell. Sometimes they were before, sometimes behind him; sometimes in +the air, sometimes as if from within the bosom of the earth. At length +they died away, and a holy stillness settled on the place. + +The cavalier gazed around with bewildered eye. There was neither chapel +nor convent, nor humble hermitage, to be seen; nothing but a moss-grown +stone pinnacle, rising out of the centre of the area, surmounted by a +cross. The greensward around appeared to have been sacred from the tread +of man or beast, and the surrounding trees bent toward the cross, as if +in adoration. + +The cavalier felt a sensation of holy awe. He alighted and tethered +his steed on the skirts of the forest, where he might crop the tender +herbage; then approaching the cross, he knelt and poured forth his +evening prayers before this relique of the Christian days of Spain. +His orisons being concluded, he laid himself down at the foot of the +pinnacle, and reclining his head against one of its stones, fell into a +deep sleep. + +About midnight, he was awakened by the tolling of a bell, and found +himself lying before the gate of an ancient convent. A train of nuns +passed by, each bearing a taper. The cavalier rose and followed them +into the chapel; in the centre of which was a bier, on which lay the +corpse of an aged nun. The organ performed a solemn requiem: the nuns +joining in chorus. When the funeral service was finished, a melodious +voice chanted, "_Requiescat in pace!_"--"May she rest in peace!" The +lights immediately vanished; the whole passed away as a dream; and the +cavalier found himself at the foot of the cross, and beheld, by the +faint rays of the rising moon, his steed quietly grazing near him. + +When the day dawned, the cavalier descended the hill, and following the +course of a small brook, came to a cave, at the entrance of which was +seated an ancient man, clad in hermit's garb, with rosary and cross, +and a beard that descended to his girdle. He was one of those holy +anchorites permitted by the Moors to live unmolested in dens and caves, +and humble hermitages, and even to practise the rites of their religion. +The cavalier checked his horse, and dismounting, knelt and craved a +benediction. He then related all that had befallen him in the night, and +besought the hermit to explain the mystery. + +"What thou hast heard and seen, my son," replied the other, "is but type +and shadow of the woes of Spain." + +He then related the foregoing story of the miraculous deliverance of the +convent. + +"Forty years," added the holy man, "have elapsed since this event, yet +the bells of that sacred edifice are still heard, from time to time, +sounding from under ground, together with the pealing of the organ, and +the chanting of the choir. The Moors avoid this neighborhood, as haunted +ground, and the whole place, as thou mayest perceive, has become covered +with a thick and lonely forest." + +The cavalier listened with wonder to the story of this engulphed +convent, as related by the holy man. For three days and nights did they +keep vigils beside the cross; but nothing more was to be seen of nun or +convent. It is supposed that, forty years having elapsed, the natural +lives of all the nuns were finished, and that the cavalier had beheld +the obsequies of the last of the sisterhood. Certain it is, that from +that time, bell, and organ, and choral chant have never more been heard. + +The mouldering pinnacle, surmounted by the cross, still remains an +object of pious pilgrimage. Some say that it anciently stood in front +of the convent, but others assert that it was the spire of the sacred +edifice, and that, when the main body of the building sank, this +remained above ground, like the top-mast of some tall ship that +has foundered. These pious believers maintain, that the convent is +miraculously preserved entire in the centre of the mountain, where, if +proper excavations were made, it would be found, with all its treasures, +and monuments, and shrines, and reliques, and the tombs of its virgin +nuns. + +Should any one doubt the truth of this marvelous interposition of the +Virgin, to protect the vestal purity of her votaries, let him read the +excellent work entitled "Espana Triumphante," written by Padre Fray +Antonio de Sancta Maria, a bare-foot friar of the Carmelite order, and +he will doubt no longer. + + * * * * * + +THE COUNT VAN HORN. + + +During the minority of Louis XV., while the Duke of Orleans was Regent +of France, a young Flemish nobleman, the Count Antoine Joseph Van Horn, +made his sudden appearance in Paris, and by his character, conduct, and +the subsequent disasters in which he became involved, created a great +sensation in the high circles of the proud aristocracy. He was about +twenty-two years of age, tall, finely formed, with a pale, romantic +countenance, and eyes of remarkable brilliancy and wildness. + +He was of one of the most ancient and highly-esteemed families of +European nobility, being of the line of the Princes of Horn and +Overique, sovereign Counts of Hautekerke, and hereditary Grand Veneurs +of the empire. + +The family took its name from the little town and seigneurie of Horn, in +Brabant; and was known as early as the eleventh century among the little +dynasties of the Netherlands, and since that time by a long line of +illustrious generations. At the peace of Utrecht, when the Netherlands +passed under subjection to Austria, the house of Van Horn came under the +domination of the emperor. At the time we treat of, two of the branches +of this ancient house were extinct; the third and only surviving branch +was represented by the reigning prince, Maximilian Emanuel Van Horn, +twenty-four years of age, who resided in honorable and courtly style +on his hereditary domains at Baussigny, in the Netherlands, and his +brother, the Count Antoine Joseph, who is the subject of this memoir. + +The ancient house of Van Horn, by the intermarriage of its various +branches with the noble families of the continent, had become widely +connected and interwoven with the high aristocracy of Europe. The Count +Antoine, therefore, could claim relationship to many of the proudest +names in Paris. In fact, he was grandson, by the mother's side, of the +Prince de Ligne, and even might boast of affinity to the Regent (the +Duke of Orleans) himself. There were circumstances, however, connected +with his sudden appearance in Paris, and his previous story, that placed +him in what is termed "a false position;" a word of baleful significance +in the fashionable vocabulary of France. + +The young count had been a captain in the service of Austria, but had +been cashiered for irregular conduct, and for disrespect to Prince Louis +of Baden, commander-in-chief. To check him in his wild career, and +bring him to sober reflection, his brother the prince caused him to be +arrested and sent to the old castle of Van Wert, in the domains of Horn. +This was the same castle in which, in former times, John Van Horn, +Stadtholder of Gueldres, had imprisoned his father; a circumstance which +has furnished Rembrandt with the subject of an admirable painting. The +governor of the castle was one Van Wert, grandson of the famous John Van +Wert, the hero of many a popular song and legend. It was the intention +of the prince that his brother should be held in honorable durance, for +his object was to sober and improve, not to punish and afflict him. Van +Wert, however, was a stern, harsh man of violent passions. He treated +the youth in a manner that prisoners and offenders were treated in the +strong-holds of the robber counts of Germany in old times; confined him +in a dungeon and inflicted on him such hardships and indignities that +the irritable temperament of the young count was roused to continual +fury, which ended in insanity. For six months was the unfortunate youth +kept in this horrible state, without his brother the prince being +informed of his melancholy condition or of the cruel treatment to which +he was subjected. At length, one day, in a paroxysm of frenzy, the count +knocked down two of his gaolers with a beetle, escaped from the castle +of Van Wert, and eluded all pursuit; and after roving about in a state +of distraction, made his way to Baussigny and appeared like a sceptre +before his brother. + +The prince was shocked at his wretched, emaciated appearance and his +lamentable state of mental alienation. He received him with the most +compassionate tenderness; lodged him in his own room, appointed three +servants to attend and watch over him day and night, and endeavored by +the most soothing and affectionate assiduity to atone for the past act +of rigor with which he reproached himself. When he learned, however, the +manner in which his unfortunate brother had been treated in confinement, +and the course of brutalities that had led to his mental malady, he was +roused to indignation. His first step was to cashier Van Wert from his +command. That violent man set the prince at defiance, and attempted to +maintain himself in his government and his castle by instigating the +peasants, for several leagues round, to revolt. His insurrection might +have been formidable against the power of a petty prince; but he was put +under the ban of the empire and seized as a state prisoner. The memory +of his grandfather, the oft-sung John Van Wert, alone saved him from a +gibbet; but he was imprisoned in the strong tower of Horn-op-Zee. There +he remained until he was eighty-two years of age, savage, violent, and +unconquered to the last; for we are told that he never ceased fighting +and thumping as long as he could close a fist or wield a cudgel. + +In the mean time a course of kind and gentle treatment and wholesome +regimen, and, above all, the tender and affectionate assiduity of his +brother, the prince, produced the most salutary effects upon Count +Antoine. He gradually recovered his reason; but a degree of violence +seemed always lurking at the bottom of his character, and he required +to be treated with the greatest caution and mildness, for the least +contradiction exasperated him. + +In this state of mental convalescence, he began to find the supervision +and restraints of brotherly affection insupportable; so he left the +Netherlands furtively, and repaired to Paris, whither, in fact, it +is said he was called by motives of interest, to make arrangements +concerning a valuable estate which he inherited from his relative, the +Princess d'Epinay. + +On his arrival in Paris, he called upon the Marquis of Crequi, and other +of the high nobility with whom he was connected. He was received with +great courtesy; but, as he brought no letters from his elder brother, +the prince, and as various circumstances of his previous history had +transpired, they did not receive him into their families, nor introduce +him to their ladies. Still they feted him in bachelor style, gave him +gay and elegant suppers at their separate apartments, and took him to +their boxes at the theatres. He was often noticed, too, at the doors of +the most fashionable churches, taking his stand among the young men +of fashion; and at such times, his tall, elegant figure, his pale but +handsome countenance, and his flashing eyes, distinguished him from +among the crowd; and the ladies declared that it was almost impossible +to support his ardent gaze. + +The Count did not afflict himself much at his limited circulation in the +fastidious circles of the high aristocracy. He relished society of a +wilder and less ceremonious cast; and meeting with loose companions to +his taste, soon ran into all the excesses of the capital, in that most +licentious period. It is said that, in the course of his wild career, he +had an intrigue with a lady of quality, a favorite of the Regent; that +he was surprised by that prince in one of his interviews; that sharp +words passed between them; and that the jealousy and vengeance thus +awakened, ended only with his life. + +About this time, the famous Mississippi scheme of Law was at its height, +or rather it began to threaten that disastrous catastrophe which +convulsed the whole financial world. Every effort was making to keep the +bubble inflated. The vagrant population of France was swept off from the +streets at night, and conveyed to Havre de Grace, to be shipped to the +projected colonies; even laboring people and mechanics were thus crimped +and spirited away. As Count Antoine was in the habit of sallying forth +at night, in disguise, in pursuit of his pleasures, he came near being +carried off by a gang of crimps; it seemed, in fact, as if they had been +lying in wait for him, as he had experienced very rough treatment at +their hands. Complaint was made of his case by his relation, the Marquis +de Crequi, who took much interest in the youth; but the Marquis received +mysterious intimations not to interfere in the matter, but to advise the +Count to quit Paris immediately; "If he lingers, he is lost!" This has +been cited as a proof that vengeance was dogging at the heels of the +unfortunate youth, and only watching for an opportunity to destroy him. + +Such opportunity occurred but too soon. Among the loose companions with +whom the Count had become intimate, were two who lodged in the same +hotel with him. One was a youth only twenty years of age, who passed +himself off as the Chevalier d'Etampes, but whose real name was Lestang, +the prodigal son of a Flemish banker. The other, named Laurent de Mille, +a Piedmontese, was a cashiered captain, and at the time an esquire +in the service of the dissolute Princess de Carignan, who kept +gambling-tables in her palace. It is probable that gambling propensities +had driven these young men together, and that their losses had brought +them to desperate measures: certain it is, that all Paris was suddenly +astounded by a murder which they were said to have committed. What made +the crime more startling, was, that it seemed connected with the great +Mississippi scheme, at that time the fruitful source of all kinds of +panics and agitations. A Jew, a stock-broker, who dealt largely in +shares of the bank of Law, founded on the Mississippi scheme, was the +victim. The story of his death is variously related. The darkest account +states, that the Jew was decoyed by these young men into an obscure +tavern, under pretext of negotiating with him for bank shares to the +amount of one hundred thousand crowns, which he had with him in his +pocket-book. Lestang kept watch upon the stairs. The Count and De Mille +entered with the Jew into a chamber. In a little while there were heard +cries and struggles from within. A waiter passing by the room, looked +in, and seeing the Jew weltering in his blood, shut the door again, +double-locked it, and alarmed the house. Lestang rushed downstairs, made +his way to the hotel, secured his most portable effects, and fled the +country. The Count and De Mille endeavored to escape by the window, but +were both taken, and conducted to prison. + +A circumstance which occurs in this part of the Count's story, seems to +point him out as a fated man. His mother, and his brother, the Prince +Van Horn, had received intelligence some time before at Baussigny, of +the dissolute life the Count was leading at Paris, and of his losses at +play. They despatched a gentleman of the prince's household to Paris, to +pay the debts of the Count, and persuade him to return to Flanders; or, +if he should refuse, to obtain an order from the Regent for him to quit +the capital. Unfortunately the gentleman did not arrive at Paris until +the day after the murder. + +The news of the Count's arrest and imprisonment on a charge of murder, +caused a violent sensation among the high aristocracy. All those +connected with him, who had treated him hitherto with indifference, +found their dignity deeply involved in the question of his guilt or +innocence. A general convocation was held at the hotel of the Marquis de +Crequi, of all the relatives and allies of the house of Horn. It was +an assemblage of the most proud and aristocratic personages of Paris. +Inquiries were made into the circumstances of the affair. It was +ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the Jew was dead, and that he had been +killed by several stabs of a poniard. In escaping by the window, it was +said that the Count had fallen, and been immediately taken; but that De +Mille had fled through the streets, pursued by the populace, and had +been arrested at some distance from the scene of the murder; that the +Count had declared himself innocent of the death of the Jew, and that +he had risked his own life in endeavoring to protect him; but that De +Mille, on being brought back to the tavern, confessed to a plot to +murder the broker, and rob him of his pocket-book, and inculpated the +Count in the crime. + +Another version of the story was, that the Count Van Horn had deposited +with the broker, bank shares to the amount of eighty-eight thousand +livres; that he had sought him in this tavern, which was one of his +resorts, and had demanded the shares; that the Jew had denied the +deposit; that a quarrel had ensued, in the course of which the Jew +struck the Count in the face; that the latter, transported with rage, +had snatched up a knife from a table, and wounded the Jew in the +shoulder; and that thereupon De Mille, who was present, and who had +likewise been defrauded by the broker, fell on him, and despatched him +with blows of a poniard, and seized upon his pocket-book; that he had +offered to divide the contents of the latter with the Count, _pro rata_, +of what the usurer had defrauded them; that the latter had refused the +proposition with disdain, and that, at a noise of persons approaching, +both had attempted to escape from the premises, but had been taken. + +Regard the story in any way they might, appearances were terribly +against the Count, and the noble assemblage was in great consternation. +What was to be done to ward off so foul a disgrace and to save their +illustrious escutcheons from this murderous stain of blood? Their +first attempt was to prevent the affair from going to trial, and their +relative from being dragged before a criminal tribunal, on so horrible +and degrading a charge. They applied, therefore, to the Regent, to +intervene his power; to treat the Count as having acted under an access +of his mental malady; and to shut him up in a madhouse. The Regent was +deaf to their solicitations. He replied, coldly, that if the Count was a +madman, one could not get rid too quickly of madmen who were furious in +their insanity. The crime was too public and atrocious to be hushed up +or slurred over; justice must take its course. + +Seeing there was no avoiding the humiliating scene of a public trial, +the noble relatives of the Count endeavored to predispose the minds of +the magistrates before whom he was to be arraigned. They accordingly +made urgent and eloquent representations of the high descent, and noble +and powerful connexions of the Count; set forth the circumstances of his +early history; his mental malady; the nervous irritability to which he +was subject, and his extreme sensitiveness to insult or contradiction. +By these means they sought to prepare the judges to interpret every +thing in favor of the Count, and, even if it should prove that he had +inflicted the mortal blow on the usurer, to attribute it to access of +insanity, provoked by insult. + +To give full effect to these representations, the noble conclave +determined to bring upon the judges the dazzling rays of the whole +assembled aristocracy. Accordingly, on the day that the trial took +place, the relations of the Count, to the number of fifty-seven persons, +of both sexes, and of the highest rank, repaired in a body to the Palace +of Justice, and took their stations in a long corridor which led to the +court-room. Here, as the judges entered, they had to pass in review this +array of lofty and noble personages, who saluted them mournfully and +significantly, as they passed. Any one conversant with the stately pride +and jealous dignity of the French noblesse of that day, may imagine the +extreme state of sensitiveness that produced this self-abasement. It was +confidently presumed, however, by the noble suppliants, that having once +brought themselves to this measure, their influence over the tribunal +would be irresistible. There was one lady present, however, Madame de +Beauffremont, who was affected with the Scottish gift of second sight, +and related such dismal and sinister apparitions as passing before +her eyes, that many of her female companions were filled with doleful +presentiments. + +Unfortunately for the Count, there was another interest at work, more +powerful even than the high aristocracy. The all-potent Abbe Dubois, the +grand favorite and bosom counsellor of the Regent, was deeply interested +in the scheme of Law, and the prosperity of his bank, and of course in +the security of the stock-brokers. Indeed, the Regent himself is said to +have dipped deep in the Mississippi scheme. Dubois and Law, therefore, +exerted their influence to the utmost to have the tragic affair pushed +to the extremity of the law, and the murder of the broker punished in +the most signal and appalling manner. Certain it is, the trial was +neither long nor intricate. The Count and his fellow prisoner were +equally inculpated in the crime; and both were condemned to a death the +most horrible and ignominious--to be broken alive on the wheel! + +As soon as the sentence of the court was made public, all the nobility, +in any degree related to the house of Van Horn, went into mourning. +Another grand aristocratical assemblage was held, and a petition to the +Regent, on behalf of the Count, was drawn out and left with the Marquis +de Crequi for signature. This petition set forth the previous insanity +of the Count, and showed that it was a hereditary malady of his family. +It stated various circumstances in mitigation of his offence, and +implored that his sentence might be commuted to perpetual imprisonment. + +Upward of fifty names of the highest nobility, beginning with the Prince +de Ligne, and including cardinals, archbishops, dukes, marquises, etc., +together with ladies of equal rank, were signed to this petition. By +one of the caprices of human pride and vanity, it became an object of +ambition to get enrolled among the illustrious suppliants; a kind of +testimonial of noble blood, to prove relationship to a murderer! The +Marquis de Crequi was absolutely besieged by applicants to sign, and had +to refer their claims to this singular honor, to the Prince de Ligne, +the grandfather of the Count. Many who were excluded, were highly +incensed, and numerous feuds took place. Nay, the affronts thus given to +the morbid pride of some aristocratical families, passed from generation +to generation; for, fifty years afterward, the Duchess of Mazarin +complained of a slight which her father had received from the Marquis +de Crequi; which proved to be something connected with the signature of +this petition. This important document being completed, the illustrious +body of petitioners, male and female, on Saturday evening, the eve of +Palm Sunday, repaired to the Palais Royal, the residence of the Regent, +and were ushered, with great ceremony but profound silence, into his +hall of council. They had appointed four of their number as deputies, to +present the petition, viz.: the Cardinal de Rohan, the Duke de Havre, +the Prince de Ligne, and the Marquis de Crequi. After a little while, +the deputies were summoned to the cabinet of the Regent. They entered, +leaving the assembled petitioners in a state of the greatest anxiety. +As time slowly wore away, and the evening advanced, the gloom of the +company increased. Several of the ladies prayed devoutly; the good +Princess of Armagnac told her beads. + +The petition was received by the Regent with a most unpropitious aspect. +"In asking the pardon of the criminal," said he, "you display more zeal +for the house of Van Horn, than for the service of the king." The noble +deputies enforced the petition by every argument in their power. They +supplicated the Regent to consider that the infamous punishment in +question would reach not merely the person of the condemned, not +merely the house of Van Horn, but also the genealogies of princely +and illustrious families, in whose armorial bearings might be found +quarterings of this dishonored name. + +"Gentlemen," replied the Regent, "it appears to me the disgrace consists +in the crime, rather than in the punishment." + +The Prince de Ligne spoke with warmth: "I have in my genealogical +standard," said he, "four escutcheons of Van Horn, and of course have +four ancestors of that house. I must have them erased and effaced, and +there would be so many blank spaces, like holes, in my heraldic ensigns. +There is not a sovereign family which would not suffer, through the +rigor of your Royal Highness; nay, all the world knows, that in the +thirty-two quarterings of Madame, your mother, there is an escutcheon of +Van Horn." + +"Very well," replied the Regent, "I will share the disgrace with you, +gentlemen." + +Seeing that a pardon could not be obtained, the Cardinal de Rohan and +the Marquis de Crequi left the cabinet; but the Prince de Ligne and the +Duke de Havre remained behind. The honor of their houses, more than the +life of the unhappy Count, was the great object of their solicitude. +They now endeavored to obtain a minor grace. They represented that in +the Netherlands, and in Germany, there was an important difference in +the public mind as to the mode of inflicting the punishment of death +upon persons of quality. That decapitation had no influence on the +fortunes of the family of the executed, but that the punishment of the +wheel was such an infamy, that the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters +of the criminal, and his whole family, for three succeeding generations, +were excluded from all noble chapters, princely abbeys, sovereign +bishoprics, and even Teutonic commanderies of the Order of Malta. They +showed how this would operate immediately upon the fortunes of a sister +of the Count, who was on the point of being received as a canoness into +one of the noble chapters. + +While this scene was going on in the cabinet of the Regent, the +illustrious assemblage of petitioners remained in the hall of council, +in the most gloomy state of suspense. The re-entrance from the cabinet +of the Cardinal de Rohan and the Marquis de Crequi, with pale, downcast +countenances, had struck a chill into every heart. Still they lingered +until near midnight, to learn the result of the after application. At +length the cabinet conference was at an end. The Regent came forth, and +saluted the high personages of the assemblage in a courtly manner. One +old lady of quality, Madame de Guyon, whom he had known in his infancy, +he kissed on the cheek, calling her his "good aunt." He made a most +ceremonious salutation to the stately Marchioness de Crequi, telling +her he was charmed to see her at the Palais Royal; "a compliment very +ill-timed," said the Marchioness, "considering the circumstance which +brought me there." He then conducted the ladies to the door of the +second saloon, and there dismissed them, with the most ceremonious +politeness. + +The application of the Prince de Ligne and the Duke de Havre, for a +change of the mode of punishment, had, after much difficulty, been +successful. The Regent had promised solemnly to send a letter of +commutation to the attorney-general on Holy Monday, the 25th of March, +at five o'clock in the morning. According to the same promise, a +scaffold would be arranged in the cloister of the Conciergerie, +or prison, where the Count would be beheaded on the same morning, +immediately after having received absolution. This mitigation of the +form of punishment gave but little consolation to the great body of +petitioners, who had been anxious for the pardon of the youth: it was +looked upon as all-important, however, by the Prince de Ligne, who, as +has been before observed,--was exquisitely alive to the dignity of his +family. + +The Bishop of Bayeux and the Marquis de Crequi visited the unfortunate +youth in prison. He had just received the communion in the chapel of the +Conciergerie, and was kneeling before the altar, listening to a mass for +the dead, which was performed at his request. He protested his innocence +of any intention to murder the Jew, but did not deign to allude to the +accusation of robbery. He made the bishop and the Marquis promise to see +his brother the prince, and inform him of this his dying asseveration. + +Two other of his relations, the Prince Rebecq-Montmorency and the +Marshal Van Isenghien, visited him secretly, and offered him poison, as +a means of evading the disgrace of a public execution. On his refusing +to take it, they left him with high indignation. "Miserable man!" said +they, "you are fit only to perish by the hand of the executioner!" + +The Marquis de Crequi sought the executioner of Paris, to bespeak an +easy and decent death--for the unfortunate youth. "Do not make him +suffer," said he; "uncover no part of him but the neck; and have his +body placed in a coffin, before you deliver it to his family." The +executioner promised all that was requested, but declined a rouleau of a +hundred louis-d'ors which the Marquis would have put into his hand. "I +am paid by the king for fulfilling my office," said he; and added that +he had already refused a like sum, offered by another relation of the +Marquis. + +The Marquis de Crequi returned home in a state of deep affliction. There +he found a letter from the Duke de St. Simon, the familiar friend of the +Regent, repeating the promise of that prince, that the punishment of the +wheel should be commuted to decapitation. + +"Imagine," says the Marchioness de Crequi, who in her memoirs gives a +detailed account of this affair, "imagine what we experienced, and what +was our astonishment, our grief, and indignation, when, on Tuesday, the +26th of March, an hour after midday, word was brought us that the Count +Van Horn had been exposed on the wheel, in the Place de Greve, since +half-past six in the morning, on the same scaffold with the Piedmontese +de Mille, and that he had been tortured previous to execution!" + +One more scene of aristocratic pride closed this tragic story. The +Marquis de Crequi, on receiving this astounding news, immediately +arrayed himself in the uniform of a general officer, with his cordon +of nobility on the coat. He ordered six valets to attend him in grand +livery, and two of his carriages, each with six horses, to be brought +forth. In this sumptuous state, he set off for the Place de Greve, where +he had been preceded by the Princes de Ligne, de Rohan, de Crouey, and +the Duke de Havre. + +The Count Van Horn was already dead, and it was believed that the +executioner had had the charity to give him the coup de grace, or +"death-blow," at eight o'clock in the morning. At five o'clock in the +evening, when the Judge Commissary left his post at the Hotel de Ville, +these noblemen, with their own hands, aided to detach the mutilated +remains of their relation; the Marquis de Crequi placed them in one of +his carriages, and bore them off to his hotel, to receive the last sad +obsequies. + +The conduct of the Regent in this affair excited general indignation. +His needless severity was attributed by some to vindictive jealousy; by +others to the persevering machinations of Law. The house of Van Horn, +and the high nobility of Flanders and Germany, considered themselves +flagrantly outraged: many schemes of vengeance were talked of, and a +hatred engendered against the Regent, that followed him through life, +and was wreaked with bitterness upon his memory after his death. + +The following letter is said to have been written to the Regent by the +Prince Van Horn, to whom the former had adjudged the confiscated effects +of the Count: + +"I do not complain, Sir, of the death of my brother, but I complain +that your Royal Highness has violated in his person the rights of the +kingdom, the nobility, and the nation. I thank you for the confiscation +of his effects; but I should think myself as much disgraced as he, +should I accept any favor at your hands. _I hope that God and the +King may render to you as strict justice as you have rendered to my +unfortunate brother._" + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies, by +Washington Irving + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOLFERT'S ROOST AND MISCELLANIES *** + +***** This file should be named 8571.txt or 8571.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/5/7/8571/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, David Widger +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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