gazing on the stranger's venerable appearance with affectionate respect;
"and I hope it will not be deemed intrusive or impertinent if I inquire
who it is I behold."
"You see before you the last of the Englishmen," said the old man,
looking proudly upon the inquirer.
"Is it possible?" exclaimed Oriel, regarding him with increased
admiration and a voluntary feeling of homage.
"The last of that powerful and illustrious race is now before you,"
he added, "and this is the child of my child's child. We are all that
remain of the great people who filled this island with their multitudes
and the world with their fame. Kindred and countrymen--all are gone;
their homes are the habitations of the wild cat and the vulture, and
even their very graves have been made desolate by the jackal and the
hyena."
"You appear to have attained a great age," remarked Zabra.
"Alas! I have outlived my country," replied the Englishman. "A hundred
and twenty years have passed since my existence commenced. Time has
forgotten me. I have been where the sword was ploughing deep furrows
around me far and near.--I have seen Death busy at his work amid the
youthful, the old, the innocent and the guilty.--I have noticed the
young trees grow up, put forth their bravery, and die.--I have beheld
mighty buildings crumble into dust.--I have known all things perish
before my eyes: yet I have remained untouched in the midst of the
desolation.--Three generations have passed away, and have left me to
gather consolation from their tombs."
"If the relation of what you have known and endured be not too painful,
I should much like to hear it," said the young merchant.
"If you have the patience to listen, all shall be told to you," replied
the old man. Then taking up his staff, he walked on to some fragments of
building that lay at a short distance, on which he sat with Lilya at his
feet. Oriel Porphyry, Zabra, Loop, the captain, Fortyfolios, and the
doctor sat or reclined in a circle round him, and beyond the circle, the
sailors stood leaning on their guns.
CHAP. V.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF OLD ENGLAND.
"It must be at least a century since the necessities of the kingdom
obliged me, for the first time, to attempt the trade of war," said the
Englishman. "There had been some dispute between the government and the
people, which was originally of little consequence, but the zeal of
furious partizans on each side gave it an importance which would not
otherwise have belonged to it. One said the safety of the people
depended on their success--another declared that the security of
the crown was involved in the question. One party were frantic for
liberty--another party, not so numerous, but far more influential,
were enthusiastic for loyalty. But words were soon given up for more
effective weapons. The Court, proud in their strength, prepared
themselves for a sanguinary conflict; and their antagonists, having
equal confidence in their numbers, followed their example with the same
alacrity. The whole country was astir with contention: families were
divided, and friends turned into foes. He who opposed the King was
denounced as a rebel; and he who differed with the people was declared
a traitor.
"Many disturbances had broken out before the parties took the field in
military array; but now the quarrel assumed a more serious aspect. Every
one armed himself, and hastened to join that cause which seemed to him
the best; and the most influential men on each side led these masses to
the battle. Though they were children of the same soil, and many had
relatives in the opposite ranks, nothing could equal the animosity with
which they engaged and the fury with which they fought. Never had they
against a foreign foe exhibited such fierceness. The battle raged
nearly the whole of the day with great slaughter on both sides. The
men of loyalty were less in number, but they were more experienced in
soldiership. The men of liberty had the most powerful army, but they
were deficient in military discipline and in martial appearance. They
fought with the most determined courage, resisting and making attacks,
attacking and defending positions, till, after a protracted struggle,
the latter succeeded in driving their opponents off the field.
"This was merely the commencement of hostilities. The crown party,
though defeated, were very soon in a condition to renew the contest; and
though this victory to the popular cause brought a great increase of
strength, it did not save its partizans from being defeated with immense
slaughter in the next battle that was fought. For several years a
destructive civil war raged with unexampled ferocity in every part of
the kingdom; sometimes one party being the strongest, sometimes the
other. Every individual capable of bearing arms was obliged to join
either the cause of the king or that of the people; and, as a great
diversity of opinion existed, brothers were set against brothers, and
fathers against sons, and thousands and tens of thousands of the bravest
of her citizens daily were cast into pits to feed the worms of the soil
of England. At last the popular cause triumphed, and the King became a
fugitive. Loud were the congratulations of the victors when no doubt
seemed to remain of their success; but they had little cause for their
joy--they had only changed a bad ruler for a worse.
"The triumphant party now sought out such of their fellow-citizens who
had most distinguished themselves by their hostility to their progress
during the late warfare; and they who did not succeed in escaping were
persecuted and exterminated in every way that vengeance could devise.
Blood continued to flow, and hatred and strife still existed. The
leading men among them had scarcely settled themselves in their
authority, before they began to differ concerning their notions of
government. Some were for one form and some for another, and each had
his own theory to support or his own ambition to gratify. The difference
soon increased to open hostility; and as each was supported by a
numerous band of partizans, each strove for the mastery with all the
cunning and boldness he possessed. Battles were again fought--victims
were again sacrificed. Party succeeded party; and as one overpowered the
other, the vanquished were sure to be massacred if they remained within
the power of their conquerors.
"But the cause of the king was considered the cause of all kings; and
while the different leaders of the people seemed intent only upon
exterminating each other, a powerful armament was being fitted out in a
neighbouring kingdom for the purpose of restoring the deposed monarch to
his possessions. The first intimation that the ruling government had of
this expedition was derived from its landing upon the coast; and the
necessity of an immediate union between all parties against the common
enemy became so evident, that they lost no time in settling their
differences, joining their disposable forces, and making preparations
to resist the approaches of their expelled sovereign. Numbers, who had
suffered from the oppressions of the many, now hastened to the king's
standard. The loyal came from their hiding places, and those who had
fled to the neighbouring continent hurried back again to share in
the struggle. The battle-cry of one was, 'God and the King'--that of
the other, 'God and the People;' and, with increased animosity, the
contending armies rushed to the conflict, till the whole country seemed
flowing with blood.
"At first the king was successful in almost every encounter with his
rebellious subjects. Battle after battle was fought, and still he kept
advancing and triumphing on his way. But the leaders of the people
did not despair. They carried on the contest with the same spirit
notwithstanding their defeats. The whole population rose in arms. No
sooner was one army dispersed than another was ready for action. Three
times the court party took possession of the capital, and were again
driven out. The contest was prolonged by the military genius of one
man, whose mind seemed exhaustless in resources. He had risen from
obscurity, and had gradually exalted himself from one command to another
during the civil war, till the whole forces on the side of the people
were at his disposal. Success appeared to attend all his efforts. As he
in his own person exhibited the most determined bravery, his followers
were stimulated to copy his example. The most daring attacks were
planned and executed, and the royalists began to lose all the advantages
they had previously gained. It was the intention of the popular general
to terminate the contest at a blow; and with this object in view he
concentrated all his forces, and unexpectedly brought them upon the
enemy's camp. The royalists were taken quite unprepared, and few escaped
to announce their defeat. The king, the nobles, the foreign troops, and
a great portion of their native allies perished in one indiscriminate
slaughter; and thus the hopes of the loyal were utterly annihilated for
the time.
"As every man was obliged to join one or the other party, I had my share
in these struggles for mastery. I had inherited a small patrimony in
one of the inland counties, and I had recently married a young and
beautiful relative, to whom I had been attached from my youth, when I
was first called upon to contribute my assistance towards bringing the
contest to a termination. I was an ardent lover of liberty. I was a
great advocate for republics, and I had long looked upon kings as
expensive and useless machines, which the people could easily spare. It
may easily be imagined, from my acknowledgement of these sentiments,
that I eagerly embraced the popular cause. I mixed myself up as little
as possible with the squabbles of partizans; but there were few more
sincere adherents to the principles I professed than myself. I was
present at nearly all the great engagements, received several wounds,
and gradually acquired rank and experience in the republican army.
My superior officers respected me, and the men under my command were
attentive and obedient.
"After the destruction of the royalists, the people were so frantic in
praise of their leader that he thought he might be allowed to assume
the sovereign power. He did so, amid the acclamations of the multitude;
and in six months after was assassinated. No sooner was his decease
known than there rose the same intrigues for supremacy that his master
mind had quelled. Party succeeded party, and government followed
government, in rapid succession; and the gibbet and the axe were in
constant requisition by whatever party happened to be in power. As if
it was determined that this unhappy nation should enjoy no respite from
its troubles, the son of the late king, assuming the royal dignity, had
succeeded in inducing a foreign power to grant such assistance as might
be required to reinstate him in the throne of his fathers. He landed on
the English coast with a large army of foreigners, and advanced in a
very imposing manner towards the ancient metropolis. The government had
no force sufficient to dispute his progress, and fancying itself unable
to struggle successfully against the army brought against it, it took
the dangerous resolution of inviting to its assistance the monarch of a
neighbouring and powerful kingdom. While this was being done the young
king marched forward, meeting with very little opposition till he came
within a few miles of the metropolitan city. There the leaders of the
people had taken up a strong position, and although they were inferior
to the royalists in number and soldiership, and had not yet received the
expected succours from the foreign power, they determined to dispute
the passage with the royalists. The battle was long and sanguinary. The
people, favoured by their position, quietly awaited the attack of their
opponents, and as they advanced, poured into their ranks a heavy and
destructive fire; but although they fought in the most steady and heroic
manner, the superiority of the enemy in numbers and discipline was too
great to be counteracted by the most steady courage. The republicans
were driven from their position, and defeated with great slaughter;
after which the young monarch marched into the ancient city, of which
he took possession. It was at first resolved to renew the fight in the
streets of the metropolis; but dissension and ill-will arose in their
councils, and nothing being resolved on, the popular army retreated
from the city, leaving it open to the advance of the royalists.
"The young king, fancying that all opposition had ceased, or that the
defeated party could not now offer him any molestation, passed his time
in getting up the idle ceremonies of a coronation; but the leaders of
the people were preparing to recommence the struggle. A powerful army
from the monarch who had promised them assistance, had landed, and such
good use did they make of their time, that the young king was obliged
to leave the metropolis in the very midst of his coronation. Then again
the horrors of civil war broke out with fresh fury. As each party
was assisted by foreign allies, the war was never left to languish.
Reinforcements were continually being poured into the kingdom, and the
ranks of the opposing armies, thus strengthened, were led against each
other, and fiercer and more relentless became the strife. Blood
flowed like water, and flesh was cut down like grass. Villages were
deserted--towns burnt--cities depopulated. Whether by design or
accident is not known, but it was found out that in all engagements the
inhabitants suffered infinitely more than their foreign auxiliaries. At
every battle the fields were strewn with their dead, while the loss of
their allies was but trifling.
"After the war had been protracted till there scarcely seemed materials
left in the kingdom to continue it, the king's party were completely
annihilated, and the foreign troops that had assisted them were glad to
make their escape out of the country. The allies which the leaders of
the people had called to their assistance, had been gradually augmented
until they had become an exceedingly numerous and powerful body, and
when the war was over, it was the anxious desire of the people to get
rid of them as soon as possible. But their friends were not so easily
to be disposed of. On different pretexts they protracted their stay
till they had obtained possession of nearly all the strong places in the
empire, and then they not only refused to depart, but commenced a war
of extermination on the people they came to protect. For this treachery
the inhabitants were but ill prepared. The greater portion of the
English army had been disbanded, and the rest were insignificant in
comparison with the new enemy against which they were called to act. The
consequence was, that for a considerable time the foreign army passed
from one part of the island to the other, burning and destroying
whatever they met with, without meeting any resistance.
"A force was hastily organised for the purpose of driving these
treacherous friends out of the country. The old and young of all parties
and opinions rushed to the national standard with the hope of freeing
their native land from foreign rule. A battle ensued. Nothing could
exceed the desperate bravery of my countrymen; but the discipline of
their enemy was not to be resisted. The people were slaughtered in
multitudes, and I, who commanded one of the wings of the army on that
occasion, was the only general officer who retreated from the field
with anything like a respectable body of men. We were attacked as we
retreated by a force greatly our superior; but I continued to show a
resolute front, beat off the assailants, and maintained a successful
fight. I succeeded in placing my men within the shelter of impregnable
walls.
"The people had by this time become sick of war. Thirty years of
continued bloodshed had done destructive work all over the country. The
population had been greatly reduced; agriculture had been neglected;
commerce was rapidly decaying; manufactures had been destroyed; all the
resources of industry had been annihilated; poverty, misery, and ruin
existed throughout the land. The people sued for peace. The enemy sent
back a message:--it was, 'England must be destroyed;' and still they
continued their relentless work of pillage, burning, and slaughter.
But the spirit of the nation was not utterly broken. They still waged
a defensive and offensive war whenever there was an opportunity of
doing so with advantage. Every small party of the enemy were cut off,
stragglers killed wherever met with, and their army harassed in every
way that hatred and ingenuity could devise. Bands of well-armed
Englishmen, from fifty to a thousand in number, under separate and
independent leaders, surprised positions, destroyed convoys, and cut
off supplies. A new plan of warfare was now attempted, which, although
destructive to the country, was found a most effective means of
expelling the invaders. This was, wherever the enemy approached, to burn
the dwellings, and to move or destroy every kind of provision.
"About this period, there appeared amongst the crowd of wretched beings
who congregated the cities, a new and malignant epidemic. How it first
originated was a mystery. It came, and none knew from what cause. Its
fatal character was soon proved. At first, the people died in tens
and twenties, then they perished by hundreds, and then thousands fell
victims to its malignity. The rich fled from their town houses into the
country, carrying with them the very infection from which they were
flying, and in a short time it penetrated into the most remote corner
of the kingdom. Where the population had not been extensive, there were
not left enough to bury the dead. In some rural districts they died,
and none knew of their decease. It attacked all constitutions with the
same violence: the old, the young, the strong and the weak, were its
continual victims. The rich were as much subject to its ravages as the
poor. There was no condition or class of society in which the disease
did not enter and carry off the majority of its members.
"The system which had been pursued, chiefly under my direction, against
the enemy, gave them considerable annoyance; but still the inhabitants
generally would have done anything to have purchased the blessings of
peace. Again was the boon sued for, and the reply was, 'You haughty
islanders have continued too long to lord it over the world. We have
been your victims many a time; but now you shall be ours--England must
be destroyed.' They might have triumphed over our hostility; they
might, by keeping up a communication with their ships, continue to have
supplies of provision and forage independent of the country; but they
saw that they could not escape the plague: and, after effecting all the
mischief they could produce, they hastened to their vessels, and sailed
from the pestilential shores they had come to conquer.
"I had not mingled in the sufferings of my country without having to
endure my own share. I had found my home burnt to the ground, and my
wife sacrificed in the flames. Three of my sons had died fighting by
my side. But worse suffering was now in store for me: the plague was
amongst us. I had used every precaution to prevent the infection
spreading among my relatives. I had retired to a dwelling up a steep
mountain in the west, and there I resided with my children and their
families. There were four of my sons, strong, robust men, well inured
to all the dangers of war; and there were their wives, all of healthy
constitutions, and their children, of different ages, every one full
of health and spirits. With these were my two daughters, with their
husbands and families, none of whom were touched by the slightest
illness. One morning I was congratulating them upon the beneficial
effect of my regulations to prevent the spread of the infection, and
the mothers looked at their children and the husbands on their wives,
and I gazed on all, with a delight we found to be unspeakable. In less
than a week I had buried them all but one."
Here the old man's voice sunk, and he appeared to be powerfully
agitated. No one attempted an observation; and after making a strong
effort to recover his self-possession, he continued.
"The survivor was a boy of ten years of age; he was one of the few whom
the plague had touched and spared. Me it had passed by harmless. But
the destruction caused by the pestilence exceeded all calculation. As
in my case, whole families were carried off, and districts entirely
depopulated. The pits that were dug to throw in the dead were quickly
filled, and none were strong enough to dig others. The dead cart stood
in the street with its load piled up; for both the driver and the horse
had been destroyed by the pestilence. Physicians and surgeons appeared
to have been the earliest of its victims. They came to visit their
patients, and they died by the bedside. All remedies were tried without
avail; all precautions were used, but they were equally useless. There
were different opinions existing as to its origin. The royalists said
that it was a punishment for the sins of the republicans; and the
republicans retorted by proclaiming that it was a judgment on the
profligacy of the royalists. Religious fanatics went running about the
deserted streets, with streaming hair and blood-shot eyes, shouting out,
in piercing tones, 'Wo! wo! the day of judgment is at hand!'"
This lasted for the better portion of a year; and, after putting the
boy in a place of safety, when the pestilence was over, as I journeyed
through the country to notice the effects it had produced, where I
had once known crowded thoroughfares, I passed along without meeting
a single inhabitant. The country appeared to have been completely
unpeopled; and in the city, the few persons I met with only made the
immense mortality which had existed appear more great. I inquired for
the government, and found that not a trace of it was in existence.
I asked for the army, and I was shown about a couple of hundred men.
I called a meeting of the citizens in the metropolis, and they all
came; and they filled a moderate sized room. I explained to them the
deplorable state into which the plague had reduced the country, and I
asked their counsel and assistance to form some sort of government to
manage its affairs. There was a melancholy silence for some minutes.
None attempted to speak. Their hearts seemed too full for utterance. At
last one of the citizens ventured to wish that I would do what I thought
best for the community; and I did do what I thought best. I travelled
through every part of this once populous island to notice with my own
eyes the exact state of the remaining population. Some cities I found
deserted; in others two-thirds of their buildings were untenanted; the
rank grass was growing in the public streets, and the gardens of the
rich were filled with nettles.