SEPARATION--GUELPHS AND GHIBELINES--MONTAGUES AND
CAPULETS--SADNESS--THE REUNION--JOCKO AND HIS EDUCATION--THE
ENTERTAINMENTS OF A KING--THE MULES OF NERO AND THE ASSES OF
POPPÆA--HERCULES AND ACHILLES--LIBERTY AND EQUALITY--SEMIRAMIS AND
ELIZABETH--CHRISTIANITY AND THE RELIGION OF ZOROASTER--THE WILLISONIAN
METHOD--MORAL DISCIPLINE VERSUS BIRCH.
Winter was now drawing near, with its storms and deluges. Becker
therefore felt that it was necessary to make some alterations in their
domestic arrangements; and he saw that, for this season at all events,
the two families must be separated--this was to create a desert within
a desert; but propriety and convenience demanded the sacrifice.
It was decided that Wolston and his family should be quartered at
Rockhouse, whilst Becker and his family should pass the rainy season
at Falcon's Nest, where, though these aerial dwellings were but
indifferently adapted for winter habitations, they had passed the
first year of their sojourn in the colony. The rains came and
submerged the country between the two families, thus, for a time,
cutting off all communication between them. The barriers that
separated the Guelphs from the Ghibelines, the Montagues from the
Capulets, the Burgundians from the Armagnacs, and the House of York
from that of Lancaster, could not have been more impenetrable than
that which now existed between the Wolstons and Beckers.
Whenever a lull occurred in the storm, or a ray of sunshine shot
through the murky clouds, all eyes were mechanically turned to the
window, but only to turn them away again with a sigh; so completely
had the waters invaded the land, that nothing short of the dove from
Noah's Ark could have performed the journey between Rockhouse and
Falcon's Nest.
Dulness and dreariness reigned triumphant at both localities. The calm
tranquility that Becker's family formerly enjoyed under similar
circumstances had fled. They felt that happiness was no longer to be
enjoyed within the limits of their own circle. Study and conversation
lost their charms; and if they laughed now, the smile never extended
beyond the tips of their lips. The young people often wished they
possessed Fortunatus's cap, or Aladdin's wonderful lamp, to transport
them from the one dwelling to the other; but as they could obtain no
such occult mode of conveyance, there was no remedy for their miseries
but patience. To the Wolstons this interval of compulsory separation
was particularly irksome, as this was the first time in their lives
that they had been entirely isolated for any length of time.
At Falcon's Nest, Ernest was the most popular member of the domestic
circle. His astronomical predilections made him the Sir Oracle of the
storm, and he was constantly being asked for information relative to
the progress and probable duration of the rains. Every morning he was
called upon for a report as to the state of the weather; but, with all
his skill, he could afford them very little consolation.
But all things come to an end, as well as regards our troubles as our
joys. One morning, Ernest reported that less rain had fallen during
the preceding than any former night of the season; the next morning a
still more favorable report was presented; and on the third morning
the floods had subsided, but had left a substratum of mud that
obliterated all traces of the roads. Notwithstanding this, and a smart
shower that continued to fall, Fritz and Jack determined to force a
passage to Rockhouse.
Towards evening, the two young men returned, soaking with wet and
covered with mud, but with light hearts, for they had found their
companions in the enjoyment of perfect health and in the best spirits.
They brought back with them a missive, couched in the following
terms:--
"Mr. and Mrs. Wolston, greeting, desire the favor of Mr. and Mrs.
Becker's company to dinner, together with their entire family, this
day se'nnight, weather permitting."
Ernest was hereupon consulted, and stated that, in so far as the rain
was concerned, they should in eight days be able to undertake the
journey to Rockhouse. This assurance was not, however, entirely relied
upon, for between this and then many an anxious eye was turned
skywards, as if in search of some more conclusive evidence. Those who
possess a garden--and he who has not, were it only a box of
mignionette at the window--will often have observed, in consequence of
absence or forgetfulness, that their flowers have begun to droop; they
hasten to sprinkle them with water, then watch anxiously for signs of
their revival. So both families continued unceasingly during these
eight days to note the ever-varying modifications of the clouds.
At length the much wished-for day arrived; the morning broke with a
blaze of sunshine, and though hidden with a dense mist, the ground was
sufficiently hardened to bear their weight. Wolston awaited his guests
at a bridge of planks that had been thrown across the Jackal River,
where he and Willis had erected a sort of triumphal arch of mangoe
leaves and palm branches. Here Becker and his family were welcomed, as
if the one party had just arrived from Tobolsk, and the other from
Chandernagor, after an absence of ten years.
Another warm reception awaited them at Rockhouse, where an abundant
repast was already spread in the gallery. Mrs. Becker had often
intended to work herself a pair of gloves, but the increasing demand
for stockings had hitherto prevented her. She was pleased, therefore,
on sitting down to dinner, to discover a couple of pairs under her
plate, with her own initials embroidered upon them.
"Ah," said she, "I was almost afraid I had lost my daughters, but I
have found them again."
After dinner the girls showed her a quantity of cotton they had spun,
which proved that, though they might have been dull, they had, at
least, been industrious.
"Mary span the most of it," said Sophia; "but you know, Mrs. Becker,
she is the biggest."
"Oh, then," said Jack, "the power of spinning depends upon the bulk
of the spinner?"
"Oh, Master Jack, I thought you had been ill, that you had not
commenced quizzing us before."
"Never mind him, Soffy," said her father; "to quote Hudibras,
"There's nothing on earth hath so perfect a phiz,
As not to give birth to a passable quiz."
Here Willis led in the chimpanzee, who made a grimace to the assembled
company.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Willis, "Jocko is about to show you
the progress he has made in splicing and bracing."
"Good!" said Becker, "you have been able to make something of him,
then?"
"You will see presently. Jocko, bring me a plate."
Hereupon the chimpanzee seized a bottle of Rockhouse malaga, and
filled a glass.
"He has erred on the safe side there," said Jack, drily.
"Well," added Willis, laughing, "we must let that pass. Jocko," said
he, assuming a sententious tone, "I asked you for a plate."
The chimpanzee looked at him, hesitated a moment, then seized the
glass, and drank the contents off at a single draught. A box on the
ears then sent him gibbering into a corner.
"Your servant," remarked Mrs. Wolston, "has been taking lessons from
Dean Swift as well as yourself, Willis."
"I will serve him out for that, the swab; he does not play any of
those tricks when we are alone. I must admit, however, that I am
generally in the habit of helping myself."
Here attention was called to the parrot, who was screaming out
lustily, "I love Mary, I love Sophia."
"Holloa," exclaimed Fritz, "Polly loves everybody now, does she?"
"Well, you see," replied Sophia, "I grew tired of hearing him scream
always that he loved my sister, so by means of a little coaxing, and a
good deal of sugar, I got him to love me too."
The poultry were next mustered for the inspection of their old
masters. These did not consist of the ordinary domestic fowls alone;
amongst them were a beautiful flamingo, some cranes, bustards, and a
variety of tame tropical birds. With the fowls came the pigeons, which
were perching about them in all directions.
"We are now something like the court of France in the fourteenth
century," said Wolston.
"How so?" inquired Becker.
"In the reign of Charles V., they were obliged to place a trellis at
the windows of the Palace of St. Paul to prevent the poultry from
invading the dining room."
"Rural anyhow," observed Jack.
"Of course, most other features of the palace were in unison with this
primitive state of matters. The courtiers sat on stools. There was
only one chair in the palace, that was the arm-chair of the king,
which was covered with red leather, and ornamented with silk fringes."
"So that we may console ourselves with the reflection, that we are as
comfortable here as kings were at that epoch in Europe," remarked
Ernest.
"Yes; historians report, that when Alphonso V. of Portugal went to
Paris to solicit the aid of Louis XI. against the King of Arragon, who
had taken Castile from him, the French monarch received him with great
honor, and endeavored to make his stay as agreeable as possible."
"Reviews, I suppose, feasts, tournaments, spectacles, and so forth."
"A residence was assigned him in the Rue de Prouvaires, at the house
of one Laurent Herbelot, a grocer."
"What! amongst dried peas and preserved plums?"
"Precisely; but the house of Herbelot might then have been one of the
most commodious buildings in all Paris. Alphonso was afterwards
conducted to the palace, where he pleaded his cause before the king.
Next day he was entertained at the archiepiscopal residence, where he
witnessed the induction of a doctor in theology. The day after that a
procession to the university was organized, which passed under the
grocer's windows."
"These were singular marvels to entertain a king withal," said Jack.
"Such were the amusements peculiar to the epoch. It must be observed
that the Louis in question was somewhat close-fisted, and rarely drew
his purse-strings unless he was certain of a good interest for his
money. But courts in those days were very simple and frugal. The
sumptuary laws of Philip le Bel (1285) had fixed supper at three
dishes and a lard soup. The king's own dinner was likewise limited to
three dishes."
"These three dishes might, however, have yielded a better repast than
the fifty-two saucers of the Chinese," remarked Jack.
"No one could obtain permission to give his wife four dresses a year,
unless he had an income of six thousand francs."
"What business had the laws to interfere with these things, I should
like to know?" inquired Mrs. Wolston.
"Those who possessed two thousand francs income were only allowed to
wear one dress a year, the cloth for which was not permitted to exceed
tenpence a yard; but ladies of rank could go as high as fifteen
pence."
"Philip le Bel must have been an old woman," insisted Mrs. Wolston.
"No private citizen was permitted to use a carriage, and such persons
were likewise interdicted the use of flambeaux."
"They were permitted to break their necks at all events, that is
something."
"In England, the same primitive simplicity prevailed; Queen Elizabeth
is said to have breakfasted on a gallon of ale, her dining-room floor
was strewn every day with fresh straw or rushes, and she had only one
pair of silk stockings in her entire wardrobe."
"At the same time," observed Ernest, "these usages stand in singular
contradiction to those that prevailed at an earlier age. The supper of
Lucullus rarely cost him less than thirty thousand francs, and he
could entertain five and twenty thousand guests. Six citizens of Rome
possessed a great part of Africa. Domitius had an estate in France of
eighty thousand acres."
"Poor fellow!"
"When Nero went to Baize he was accompanied by a thousand chariots and
two thousand mules caparisoned with silver. Poppæa followed him with
five hundred she asses to furnish milk for her bath. Cicero purchased
a dining-room table that cost him a million sesterces, or about two
hundred thousand francs. I can understand the progress of
civilization, and I can also understand civilization remaining
stationary for a given period; but I cannot understand why a citizen
of ancient Rome should be able to lodge twenty-five thousand men,
whilst a king of France could scarcely keep the ducks from waddling
about his apartments, and a queen of England could fare no better than
a ploughman."
"If," replied Frank, "there were no other criterion of civilization
than luxury and riches, you would have good grounds for surprise; but
such is not the case. Between ancient and modern times, Christianity
arose, and that has tended in some degree to keep down the ostentation
of the rich, and to augment, at the same time, the comforts of the
poor. In place of the heroes, Hercules and Achilles, we have had the
apostles Peter and Paul; so Luther and Calvin have been substituted
for Semiramis and Nero. Pride has given place to charity, and
corruption to virtue."
"Would that it were so, Frank," continued Ernest. "Christianity has,
doubtless, effected many beneficial changes, and produced many able
men; but in this last respect antiquity has not been behind. It has
also its sages: Thales, Socrates, and Pythagoras, for example."
"True," replied Frank, "antiquity has produced some virtuous men, but
their virtue was ideal, and their creed a dream."
"And the Stoics?"
"The Stoics despised suffering, and Christians resign themselves to
its chastisements; this constitutes one of the lines of demarcation
between ancient and modern theology."
"But there were many signal instances of virtue manifested in ancient
times."
"Yes; but for the most part, it was either exaggerated or false;
unyielding pride, obstinate courage, implacable resentment of
injuries. Errors promenaded in robes under the porticos. Ambition was
honored in Alexander, suicide in Cato, and assassination in Brutus."
"But what say you to Plato?"
"The immolation of ill-formed children, and of those born without the
permission of the laws, prosecution of strangers and slavery; such
were the basis of his boasted republic, and the gospel of his
philosophy."
"Why, then, are these men held up as models for our imitation?"
"Because they are distant and dead; likewise, because they were, in
many respects, great and wise, considering the paganism and darkness
with which they were surrounded. Life was then only sacred to the few;
the many were treated as beasts of burden. The Emperor Claudian even
felt bound to issue an edict prohibiting slaves from being slain _when
they were old and feeble_."
"Which leaves a margin for us to suppose that they might be slain when
they were young and strong," observed Jack.
"By the constitution of Constantine certain cases were defined, where
a master might suspend his slave by the feet, have him torn by wild
beasts, or tortured by slow fire."
"Does slavery and its horrors not still exist, for example, in Russia
and the United States of America?"
"Slavery does exist, to the great disgrace of modern civilization, in
the countries you mention; but, so far as I am aware, its horrors are
not recognized by the laws."
"There, Mr. Frank," said Wolston, "I am very sorry to be under the
necessity of contradicting you. I have visited the slave states of
North America, and have witnessed atrocities perhaps less brutal, but
not less heart-rending, than those you mention."
"But do the laws recognize them?"
"Yes, tacitly; the testimony of the slaves themselves is not received
as evidence."
"Why do a people that call their county a refuge for the down-trodden
nations of Europe suffer such abominations?"
"Well, according to themselves, it is entirely a question of the
_almighty dollar_. If there were no slaves, the swamps and morasses of
the south could not be cultivated. It has been found that the negro
will dance, and sing, and starve, but he will not work in the fields
when free. Besides, they assert, that the slaves are generally well
cared for, and that it is only a few detestable masters that beat them
cruelly."
"Then, at all events, dollars are preferred to humanity by the United
States men, in spite of their vaunted emblems--liberty and equality."
"Quite so. In all matters of internal policy, the dollar reigns
supreme."
"Admitting," continued Frank, "that the evils of slavery may exist in
a section of the American Union, and amongst the barbarous hordes of
Russia, these evils are trifling in comparison with others that stain
the annals of antiquity. We are told that a hundred and twenty persons
applied to Otho to be rewarded for killing Galba. That so many men
should contend for the honor of premeditated murder, is sufficiently
characteristic of the epoch. There was then no corruption, no brutal
passion, that had not its temple and its high priest. In the midst of
all this wickedness and vice there appeared a man, poor and humble,
who accomplished what no man ever did before, and what no man will
ever do again--he founded a moral and eternal civilization. Judaism
and the religion of Zoroaster were overthrown. The gods of Tyre and
Carthage were destroyed. The beliefs of Miltiades and of Pericles, of
Scipio and Seneca, were disavowed. The thousands that flocked annually
to worship the Eleusinian Ceres ceased their pilgrimage. Odin and his
disciples have all perished. The very language of Osiris, which was
afterwards spoken by the Ptolemies, is no longer known to his
descendants. The paganisms which still exist in the East are rapidly
yielding to the march of western intelligence. Christianity alone,
amidst all these ring and fallen fabrics, retains its original
vitality, for, like its author, it is imperishable."
"It is a curious thing what we call conversation," observed Mrs.
Wolston. "No sooner is one subject broached than another is
introduced; and we go on from one thing to another until the original
idea is lost sight of. Leaving the palace of Charles V., to go with
the King of Portugal to a grocer's shop in some street or other of
Paris, we cross the Alps, the Himalaya, and the Atlantic. Lucullus,
Nero, Achilles, Peter, Paul, Tyre and Sidon, Semiramis and
Elizabeth--queens, saints, and philosophers, are all passed in review,
and why? Because the pigeons put my husband in mind of the Palace of
St. Paul!"
"No wonder," observed Jack; "these pigeons are carriers, and naturally
suggest wandering."
Once more seated round the table, Fritz, observing that the
misunderstanding between Willis and the chimpanzee still continued,
thrust a plate into the hand of the latter, and pointed with his
finger to Willis. This time Jocko obeyed, for the language was
intelligible, and he went and placed the plate before his master.
"Ho, ho!" cried Willis, "so you have come to your senses at last, have
you? Well, that saves you an extra lesson to-morrow, you lubber you."
"He takes rather long to obey your orders, though, Willis; it is
rather awkward to wait an hour for anything you ask for. What system
do you pursue in educating him--the Pestalozzian or the parochial?"
"We follow the system in fashion aboard ship," replied Willis.
"And what does that consist of?"
"A rope's end."
"Oh, then, you are an advocate for the birch, are you?" said Wolston;
"it is, doubtless, a very good thing when moderately and judiciously
administered. That puts me in mind of the missionary and the king of
the Kuruman negroes."
"A tribe of Southern Africa, is it not?"
"Yes, the missionary and the king were great friends. The king not
only permitted him to baptize his subjects, but offered to whip them
all into Christianity in a week. This summary mode of proselytism did
not, however, coincide with the Englishman's ideas, and he refused the
offer, although the king insisted that it was the only kind of
argument that could ever reach their understandings."
The day at length drew to a close, and, though no one asked the time
yet all felt that the moment of departure was approaching; whether
they were willing to go was doubtful, but at they were loth to depart
was certain.
"It is time to return now," said Becker, rising.
"Already!"
"There are some clouds in the distance that bode no good."
"Nothing more than a little rain at worst," said Jack.
"And your mother?" inquired Decker.
"Oh! we can make a palanquin for her."
"Your plan, Jack, is not particularly bright; it puts me in mind of
some genius or other that took shelter in the water to keep out of the
wet."
"Very odd," said Jack, "we are always wishing for rain, and when it
comes, we do all we can to keep out of its way."
"That is, because we are neither green pease nor gooseberries," said
Ernest, drily.
"True, brother; and as the rain is your affair, perhaps you will be
good enough to delay it for an hour or so."
"I am sorry on my own account, as well as yours, that I have not yet
discovered the art of controlling the skies."
Here Fritz whispered a few words in his mother's ear, that called up
one of those ineffable smiles that the maternal heart alone can
produce.
"Well," said Mrs. Becker, "if you think so, deliver the message
yourself."
"Mrs. Wolston," said Fritz, "I am charged to invite you and your
family to Falcon's Nest this day week."
"The invitation is accepted, unless my daughters have any objections
to urge."
"How can you fancy such a thing, mamma?" said both girls.
"The fact is, that my daughters have got such a dread of cold water,
that they dread to wet the soles of their shoes, unless one or other
of you gentlemen is within hail."
"Mamma does so love to tease us," said Mary; "we are afraid of nothing
but putting you to inconvenience."
"Well, in that case, we shall be at Falcon's Nest on the appointed
day, unless the roads are positively submerged."
"In that case," said Jack, "a line of canoes will be placed upon the
highway, between the two localities."
As the prospect of a prize incites the young scholar to increased
exertion--as the prospect of worldly honors urges the ambitious man on
in his career--as the oasis cheers the weary traveller on his journey
through the desert, and makes him forget hunger and thirst--as the
dreams of comfort and home warm the blood of a wayfarer amongst snow
and ice--as hope smooths the ruggedness of poverty and softens the
calamities of adversity, so the prospect of meeting again mitigates
the regrets of parting.