confused dream; to the agony of betrayed love had quickly succeeded
indignation, aversion, and finally contempt: the charm of virtue and
tenderness united in the person of Aziek, completed his cure, and his
soul, formed for freedom, eagerly seized again upon its natural right.
How do our desires grow with our hopes! how does the possession of one
blessing, quicken and inflame our thirst after others!--but a little
while before, and Sebastian was indifferent to every thing; now, the
smallest of his expectations was considered with lively interest: he
contemplated his reception at Brazil, and his restoration to Portugal,
with the anxiety of a spirit newly roused to action; and secure of
domestic felicity, felt that no other station than that to which he was
born, could fill the expansion of his large soul.
It is not difficult to communicate our own fire to a heart that lives
only to reflect the feelings of ours. Kara Aziek lent not merely a
docile, but a delighted ear, to the animated discourses of her lover. He
talked to her of the charms of empire, of the sublime privilege of
diffusing comfort and protection throughout nations; he painted the
trials and the triumphs of that virtue which belongs to exalted
stations, its fame here, its immortal reward hereafter; he spoke to her
then of those softer joys which public duties endear and enhance; those
delightful throbbings of the heart, sacred to the names of husband and
of father, which contrasted with the severer virtues of royalty, seem
like the serene beatitude of Heaven.
His voice, his eyes, his smiles, heightened the effect of his eloquence:
Kara Aziek no longer saw before her the captive Fabian, but the powerful
monarch of Portugal and the two Indies, who, in selecting her from all
the world to share his throne and to fill his heart, was yielding the
most delicious proof of his tenderness; she saw in him only a beneficent
(not an ambitious) sovereign, who sought to extend the dominion of
happiness.
At these moments she kindled with congenial enthusiasm, and her soul
soaring after his, left far below its first humble and personal wishes.
But how were these ardours chilled, these transports arrested in their
flight, by the spirit with which Sebastian spoke of his wrongs! he
thirsted for vengeance: with the expectation of one day returning to
take his place amongst the monarchs of Europe, came the fatal belief
that he must wash out his stains in the blood of his injurers.
At mention of Don Antonio, a terrible light flamed on his brow, his
limbs shook, and his articulation became smothered; every look and every
word announced still that imperious and fierce character which had so
often in Barbary blazed before Kara Aziek like sudden earth-fires.
Her soft nature trembled and grieved; for it was to this intemperance of
feeling, this want of self-government, that all his misfortunes were
attributable; while it continued to rule him, there was no security for
his happiness either on a throne or in a cloister.
On the present subject, however, she found it difficult to oppose any
arguments that were not immediately overturned by his impetuous and
irresistible rhetoric: neither her education nor the precepts of her
religion afforded support to the merciful pleadings of her nature; she
could only urge that instinctive feeling which cries aloud from the
depths of every human heart, that forbearance and forgiveness ought to
be the virtues of erring man.
Sebastian’s vehement passions were deaf to the voice of her softer
sentiments; pity and mercy could not make themselves heard, where
insulted honour, love outraged into hatred, wounded pride, and
disappointed confidence, were clamorous for retribution: he sought to
teach her the lesson man learns from his cradle, that to preserve
reputation he must often do violence to his character, and seek revenge
where he would willingly concede pardon.
Ah fatal and monstrous spell, which not even Christianity itself has yet
had power to dissolve!--by thy enchantment the sacred laws of humanity
are disregarded, and murder is enrolled in the catalogue of honourable
deeds!
Aziek had nothing to urge against opinions which she was thus told were
sanctioned by great authorities; she could only repeat her native
abhorrence to whatever was the effect rather of passion than of reason.
To appease justice and to satiate revenge, were in her estimation very
different things, and she strove to convince Sebastian that true dignity
resided with the former.
Sometimes her gentle persuasives conquered: he would listen delighted to
the music of her voice and the tenderness of her sentiments; his heart
would melt under their genial softness, till the perfidious Antonio, his
court, his crown, his wrongs, and his deprivations, all forgotten, he
would remember only that he lived to love and to be loved by her.
CHAP. VI.
Hitherto light airs and cheering suns had accompanied them on their
voyage, but now the weather changed; thick clouds arose, volume after
volume, from the horizon, till the whole heavens were darkened; a hollow
wind muttered among these threatening clouds, and the turbid sea seemed
to labour with an approaching storm.
It was on the sixteenth day of their voyage that the tempest burst
forth. A tremendous gale from the south-west began to blow, accompanied
with lightning and hail; the ship drove before the blast, her rigging
all torn, and the waves washing over her deck: every peal of thunder was
followed by ghastly yelling of shrill winds, a thousand times more
dreary than thunder. The rattling of hail and rain among her cordage,
the flapping of her wet sails, the creaking of her masts, the confused
sound of voices and feet, as the sailors hurried to and fro along the
deck, the tremendous roaring of the sea, all struck terror to Kara
Aziek; she sat trembling in her cabin, listening to every sound, and
sensible to hope only when she saw Sebastian.
Aware of their danger, (for the ship was driving rapidly towards a lee
shore,) the King’s anxiety discovered itself in his pale and disturbed
countenance; he presented himself perpetually at the door of Aziek’s
cabin, as if to see that he had her still, and as often hurried away
again to assist in the labours of the seamen.
Whenever he appeared the devoted Aziek felt her terrors disperse; it
seemed impossible to her that Heaven should abandon him she loved, to a
dreadful death. Her women, drowned in tears, on their knees, and half
distracted, mingled shrieks with their prayers and lamentations; the
soft soul of their mistress became a coward for their sakes, and she
wept more for their apprehensions than from her own.
In the midst of this awful suspense a crash was heard, the next moment
Sebastian entered; his wild look and hurried step transfixed Kara Aziek;
for the first time she believed that they were about to perish together:
without speaking, he snatched her up and bore her in his arms to the
deck; she found he trembled violently: Yes Aziek, but it was for thee he
trembled,--that great soul knew no other fear!
Merciful Heaven! what a sight presented itself! the vessel, with her
masts swept by the board was lying a mere hull upon mountainous waves;
through the blackness of midnight, by repeated sheets of lightning the
whole ocean was momentarily discovered, dark, raging, covered with
horrid foam,--now swelling to the clouds, now sinking as if into the
depths of perdition.
Imprecations, vows, prayers, and cries, mingled with the dreadful roar
of the winds and waters; sometimes the storm made a pause, and then was
heard distinctly the noise of the ship, as she drove furiously towards
the rocks: but again the blast and thunder would unite, till heaven and
earth seemed rocking with the sound.
As the tempest had swept away their boat, and they were driving upon the
perilous coasts of Tarradunt and Suz, every soul on board gave himself
up to destruction. It was at this moment that Sebastian yielded to
despair: he pressed Kara Aziek in his arms with convulsive strength,
while he repeated wildly, “You perish Aziek! and my love cannot save
you.”
“I perish on thy bosom--in thy heart!” she said faintly, fixing on him
her asking eyes, swimming in grief and bliss.
“Yes, in my heart, Aziek!” he exclaimed vehemently, “I call God to
witness at this awful moment, that you only share my thoughts with Him!”
Aziek raised her speaking eyes to Heaven with a look of ineffable
emotion--“O grant,” she cried, “divine prophet, that we may live
together in thy paradise!”
At that expression, mortal pains seized Sebastian, his blood froze, cold
damps stood on his forehead; Aziek, the beloved and generous Aziek, was
a Mahometan, and in the other world they would never be re-united.
Pierced with pious sorrow, he uttered a deep groan, his arms lost their
strength, they slackened their hold, and the sea breaking over them,
carried with it the last earthly blessing of Sebastian.
The next moment the ship struck upon a steep coast; confusion, terror,
despair, followed; the frantic King calling on Kara Aziek, ran, from
side to side, yet hoping to find her he had lost. Some of the crew
clung to the shattered wreck, others threw themselves into the sea on
planks and spars; the women shrieking and invoking their prophet hung
round Sebastian, his heart was wrung with pity, and regardless of his
own situation, he exerted his small remains of strength to succour these
unfortunates.
A sort of raft, hastily constructed, offered the only means of safety;
to that he committed them, while he sprang to the topmost part of the
stern, madly striving to catch a broader view of the ocean amid the
blazes of lightning.
Aziek’s name, coupled with that of the awful God he implored to save
her, were soon the sole human sounds heard mingling with the roaring
elements; alone and hopeless, his eyes were still straining round, when
another shock loosened every plank of the vessel, and scattered her in
fragments upon the waters.
Sebastian sunk; but his guardian angel yet watched over her charge, and
he rose again: cold, motionless, spent with grief and fatigue,
insensible to every thing, he was seized by his watchful dog who kept
hold in defiance of the storm, and at last brought him safely to land.
The chill morning air contributed to awaken Sebastian from that lethargy
into which his senses had fallen; when he unclosed his eyes, they fixed
upon Barémel, who lay shivering at his feet; he turned them from him to
the objects around: nothing was to be seen beyond arid rocks, and a
measureless ocean whose turbid waves sullenly heaved under a leaden sky.
He gazed wistfully, for his thoughts were dim and imperfect, and memory
seemed blotted out from his faculties; the confused idea of Kara Aziek,
alone remained.
He lay some time looking stedfastly before him, while his senses roused
slowly; on a sudden a cry escaped him, he leaped up, and glanced round
with a maniac’s wildness; the perfect recollection of his misfortune
had shot through his brain, enlightening while it maddened him: he tried
to articulate the name of her he lamented, but the sound expired on his
lips, and smiting his breast, he sat down again upon the ground.
It is not at first that our hearts feel the full force of a blow which
breaks them in pieces: we do not easily comprehend how a few hours or
moments can have made us so utterly wretched; ’tis only by degrees that
our thoughts, measuring the extent of an irrevocable calamity, ascertain
its existence and its magnitude: then rush forth regret and lamentation,
then the images of past joys surround us like demons assuming beloved
shapes to torture us more keenly; and those deadly words, _lost, lost
for ever_! resounding perpetually thro’ our souls, fill them with
desolation and despair.
Pale and motionless, Sebastian sat with his head leaning on his hand,
gazing on that wide ocean which had entombed Kara Aziek: even yet, his
senses were not quite awake; nay, they seemed to have fallen back into
that trance out of which they had transiently started.--His dull eyes
saw not the wistful ones of his dumb companion, who sensible to his
master’s grief, lay moaning before him: nothing rouzed him till some
fragments of wreck floating on shore gave birth to hope.
Again the face of Sebastian shone with animation, his nerves were
new-strung, he called to Barémel, and flew rather than ran towards the
sea.--Every where he beheld broken masts and yards, mixed with dead
bodies; some were already washed on shore, others borne in with the
tide: at that afflicting sight he averted his head and groaned heavily.
Alas! it appeared his destiny to be for ever surrounded by
destruction!--
He traversed the sands and shore in vain, he searched the rocks and
their caverns, he sent Barémel into the waves for every object but
faintly discernible; Barémel only brought him Kara Aziek’s shawl: at
this sight his fortitude ceased, he snatched the sad relic, while
burning drops rained from his eyes--she had perished then, she had lost
her life for him!--since but for his unhappy sake she would never have
consented to be the Basha’s wife, never have braved the sea, never have
met so disastrous a death.
Overcome with these convictions, the unfortunate prince held the shawl
to his lips, and remained in the same attitude with his face enveloped
in it, alternately pursuing in thought the body of Aziek to the hideous
depths of ocean, or following with trembling anxiety her pure spirit
into the courts of Heaven.
CHAP. VII.
In this state of abstraction, the King was perceived by a groupe of
natives, who had come to the strand, in hope of plundering such vessels
as they might find wrecked there; it cost them no trouble to make him
their prisoner; the formidable Sebastian had not then any care for
himself.--having explained to them as well as the difference of their
provincial Moresco would permit, that he had been cast on their shore by
the late storm, and was consequently too much enfeebled for great
exertion, they were induced to let him walk slowly.
They led him towards some mean houses, which lay at a distance up the
country; there they left him, and ran off again to the wreck. Barémel,
though beaten away by those surly Africans, had still returned and
followed his master’s steps, but plunged in profound grief, Sebastian
ceased to think of his faithful dog, and entered a hut, unconscious that
clubs and stones were then driving the poor animal far away.
An old woman within offered him some coarse provisions, and pointed to a
miserable bed of dried weeds, where she said he might sleep off his
fatigue: Sebastian threw himself down in silence, and the woman quitting
him, bolted the door on her charge.--
The certainty of being again a slave, made little impression on a heart
already exhausted of its capability of suffering. There are periods in
our existence, when we seem able to refuse any further sacrifices to
grief; in these moments a species of sullen resignation succeeds the
transports of despair, and life or death appears equally a matter of
indifference.
Such were the feelings of Sebastian; he lay on his rude bed, gloomy and
tearless, careless of the passing hours which were to bring back his new
masters.
It was evening when these men returned: they brought with them many
things from the wreck, which they greedily shared. Their captive’s
silent acquiescence in his destiny, moved them to promise that they
would sell him only to a good master, and that in the mean time he
should be well fed and kindly treated.
While tempting him to eat part of their hard fare, some one opened the
outer door, and Barémel rushing in, sprung to his master’s feet: one of
the Moors would have thrust him out, had not Sebastian besought the
comfort of retaining his only friend: after a short demur, consent was
granted; and having devoured some scanty fragments of the supper,
Barémel was suffered to retire to rest in the same corner with his
master.
As the King put aside his doublet and vest, he observed on the back of
them the deep indents of teeth; the miracle of his preservation was
then shewn to him; grief mixed with gratitude, and a sentiment nearly
amounting to tenderness, swelled from his heart to his eyes; it burst
forth in tears, while hastily glancing from his clothes to his mute
friend, he exclaimed, “Ah Barémel, what a life hast thou preserved?”
The feelings once melted are not soon restored to their former state;
Sebastian wept silently a long time; for he thought of Kara Aziek, and
wished that Barémel had saved her only.
Vain were these wishes, these poignant regrets; the hollow blasts
sweeping over the roof which sheltered him, and the hoarse waves
resounding from afar, seemed to repeat again and again that Aziek had
been their victim.
It was now that Sebastian felt conscious of having loved that generous
Being, her loss had torn away the veil of self-delusion, and convinced
him that what he believed but solicitude for her happiness, was in
reality anxiety for his own.--Ah wretched condition of humanity! no
sooner do we begin to feel the full value of our possessions, than they
are wrested from us!--is it the law of our being that we are never to
possess and to enjoy at the same moment?
Providence had consigned the unfortunate monarch to merciful men; they
tried to cheer his melancholy, and did not urge him to any services: if
he would but share their meal and submit to confinement, they were
satisfied.--’Tis true, it was interest they chiefly consulted in this
conduct, (for on his healthful looks depended their expected profit) yet
ignorant men do not often calculate remote advantages.
The first day after a new moon, these people set off with their captive
for the town of Mesa, where repairing to the house of a slave merchant,
they encountered an aged man in want of a servant, who purchased
Sebastian.
Something of his former fierceness blazed in the eyes of the proud King
when he found himself the object of degrading traffic, but the gentle
image of Kara Aziek glided before his fancy, and absorbed every other
sentiment in that of regret; he paused, sighed profoundly, and tears
stole down his cheek.
The old man looked at him with an air of compassion; that look
encouraged Sebastian to ask if Barémel might share his destiny, the
request was granted, and soon after these inseparable companions were
removed to a comfortable abode in the town of Mesa.
Tefza, Sebastian’s master, was a native of the kingdom of Fez, and
having made a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, bore the title of Hadgé;
(a religious distinction conferred only on such as have visited the
birth-place, and the tomb of their prophet) far advanced in life, and
naturally averse to domestic cares, the Hadgé had neither wives nor
children, so that all the occupations of Sebastian were to work in a
little garden, and assist in charitable offices.
The latter part of his duty was one to which his benevolent nature
yielded with delight, and by sharing in it, he learned to esteem his
master, and to obey him in other matters without reluctance. Assuredly
there can be no degradation in serving the good.
These humane employments softened the bitterness of Sebastian’s regrets,
but though he complained no more, raved no more, an austere sadness
settled on his character: the virtues and the love of Kara Aziek had
penetrated the utmost depths of his heart, and now devoured with vain
remorse at having ever preferred another to her, he abandoned every
other wish, and every other source of enjoyment.
His docility and his dejection, but above all, that dignity which the
divine hand had stamped upon his lineaments, interested the Hadgé; he
would frequently endeavour to draw him into conversation about his past
life and condition, and would often urge on him what he believed the
only true religion: but Sebastian contrived to elude his questions, and
silence his arguments.
A month had not elapsed, when Tefza informed his slave that they were on
the point of commencing a long journey; he had a brother in Fez, dying
of a lingering disorder, who had sent to beg he would come and close his
eyes; he was therefore about to set forward on the morrow.
What a tumult of sweet and maddening remembrances did not the prospect
of this journey awaken!--Fez had been the scene of Sebastian’s principal
misfortune; it was once the residence of Kara Aziek; he was going again
to tread that ground, bathed in the blood of his bravest warriors, and
sacred to the memory of Stukeley; he was going to revisit as a slave,
the place which he had left only two or three months back, with love
and a kingdom before him!--How would the worthy Tefza have been amazed,
could he have seen all the movements of that heart, which to him was so
mysteriously reserved!
Accompanied by Barémel, sometimes travelling on camels or on mules, the
Hadgé and his companion quitted the territory of Tarradunt, crossed the
range of Atlas, and journeying over the plains of Morocco, penetrated
through the passes of the Green Mountains into the kingdom of Fez;
directing their course westward, they came at length to the dwelling of
the Hadgé’s brother, a solitary house near the town of Riffa.
Death had already sealed the eyes of the sick man; but as his property
devolved to the nearest relative, after providing for his widows, the
good Hadgé resolved upon spending the remnant of his own days in his
native place: they returned therefore no more to Tarradunt.
Days and weeks now revolved in the same wearisome round of trifling
employments and complete retirement; Sebastian almost wished for
laborious tasks which might distract his attention by fatiguing his
body; his attention alas! was occupied with past events. Regret assuming
the form of remorse, preyed on him incessantly, reminding him of the
worthless woman for whose sake he had slighted happiness when he might
have secured it with Kara Aziek.
With this regret was mixed some repining at the hard destiny which had
never presented him to Aziek but under circumstances of humiliation; he
wished she had seen him in his prosperous days, surrounded by pomps and
pleasures, yet disdaining their caresses, and emulous only of fame! he
wished she had beheld the man she loved in the full plenitude of power;
his preference then, might have appeared a distinction!
Fruitless were these wishes! that proud heart could now never be
gratified by laying worldly honours at the feet of one chosen object.
Once a frightful apprehension suddenly sprung out of these meditations;
Kara Aziek might have perished doubting the reality of his rights,
surely their strange rencontre on the ocean might authorize such a
suspicion!
Not even the pang inflicted by her death could equal that which now
wrung Sebastian; he imagined himself to have been suspected an impostor;
the thought was maddening to honour.
It was many moments ere that impatient spirit could calm itself
sufficiently to silence so preposterous a fear: gradually it was
tranquilized by the recollections of Aziek’s ingenuous looks, where
respect ever mixed itself with love.--But the vanquished alarm had left
behind it some thoughts which roused the slumbering energies of
Sebastian: he felt that Kara Aziek’s memory required that he should
endeavour to restore the man she adored to the rank and the duties
allotted him by Providence.
Often when plunged in deep fits of gloom, during which his faculties
seemed benumbed and his feelings callous, an inward voice would cry out
to him, “Awake! arise Sebastian! days of glory yet await thee!” then the
blood would pour in tides of fire through his veins, he would start from
his desponding posture, and look round with an inflamed countenance, as
if on the point of breaking the bonds which held him.
Had they been real bonds how soon would his powerful arm have burst them
asunder! but they were the bonds of gratitude and honour!