Through the vain webs which puzzle sophists' skill,
Plain sense and honest meaning work their way;
So sink the varying clouds upon the hill,
When the clear dawning--brightens into day.
DR. WATTS.
The old man rose from the ground with alacrity, as Hereward approached.
"My bold Varangian" he said, "thou who valuest men and things not
according to the false estimate ascribed to them in this world, but to
their real importance and actual value, thou art welcome, whatever has
brought thee hither--thou art welcome to a place, where it is held the
best business of philosophy to strip man of his borrowed ornaments, and
reduce him to the just value of his own attributes of body and mind,
singly considered."
"You are a courtier, sir," said the Saxon, "and as a permitted
companion of the Emperor's Highness, you must be aware, that there are
twenty times more ceremonies than such a man as I can be acquainted
with, for regulating the different ranks in society; while a plain man
like myself may be well excused from pushing himself into the company
of those above him, where he does not exactly know how he should
comport himself."
"True," said the philosopher; "but a man like yourself, noble Hereward,
merits more consideration in the eyes of a real philosopher, than a
thousand of those mere insects, whom the smiles of a court call into
life, and whom its frowns reduce to annihilation."
"You are yourself, grave sir, a follower of the court," said Hereward.
"And a most punctilious one," said Agelastes. "There is not, I trust, a
subject in the empire who knows better the ten thousand punctilios
exigible from those of different ranks, and clue to different
authorities. The man is yet to be born who has seen me take advantage
of any more commodious posture than that of standing in presence of the
royal family. But though I use those false scales in society, and so
far conform to its errors, my real judgment is of a more grave
character, and more worthy of man, as said to be formed in the image of
his Creator."
"There can be small occasion," said the Varangian, "to exercise your
judgment in any respect upon me, nor am I desirous that any one should
think of me otherwise than I am; a poor exile, namely, who endeavours
to fix his faith upon Heaven, and to perform his duty to the world he
lives in, and to the prince in whose service he is engaged. And now,
grave sir, permit me to ask, whether this meeting is by your desire,
and for what is its purpose? An African slave, whom I met in the public
walks, and who calls himself Diogenes, tells me that you desired to
speak with me; he hath somewhat the humour of the old scoffer, and so
he may have lied. If so, I will even forgive him the beating which I
owe his assurance, and make my excuse at the same time for having
broken in upon your retirement, which I am totally unfit to share."
"Diogenes has not played you false," answered Agelastes; "he has his
humours, as you remarked even now, and with these some qualities also
that put him upon a level with those of fairer complexion and better
features."
"And for what," said the Varangian, "have you so employed him? Can your
wisdom possibly entertain a wish to converse with me?"
"I am an observer of nature and of humanity," answered the philosopher;
"is it not natural that I should tire of those beings who are formed
entirely upon artifice, and long to see something more fresh from the
hand of nature?"
"You see not that in me," said the Varangian; "the rigour of military
discipline, the camp--the centurion--the armour--frame a man's
sentiments and limbs to them, as the sea-crab is framed to its shell.
See one of us, and you see us all."
"Permit me to doubt that," said Agelastes; "and to suppose that in
Hereward, the son of Waltheoff, I see an extraordinary man, although he
himself may be ignorant, owing to his modesty, of the rarity of his own
good qualities."
"The son of Waltheoff!" answered the Varangian, somewhat startled.--"Do
you know my father's name?"
"Be not surprised," answered the philosopher, "at my possessing so
simple a piece of information. It has cost me but little trouble to
attain it, yet I would gladly hope that the labour I have taken in that
matter may convince you of my real desire to call you friend."
"It was indeed an unusual compliment," said Hereward, "that a man of
your knowledge and station should be at the trouble to enquire, among
the Varangian cohorts, concerning the descent of one of their
constables. I scarcely think that my commander, the Acolyte himself,
would think such knowledge worthy of being collected or preserved."
"Greater men than he," said Agelastes, "certainly would not-----You
know one in high office, who thinks the names of his most faithful
soldiers of less moment than those of his hunting dogs or his hawks,
and would willingly save himself the trouble of calling them otherwise
than by a whistle."
"I may not hear this," answered the Varangian.
"I would not offend you," said the philosopher, "I would not even shake
your good opinion of the person I allude to; yet it surprises me that
such should be entertained by one of your great qualities."
"A truce with this, grave sir, which is in fact trifling in a person of
your character and appearance," answered the Anglo-Saxon. "I am like
the rocks of my country; the fierce winds cannot shake me, the soft
rains cannot melt me; flattery and loud words are alike lost upon me."
"And it is even for that inflexibility of mind," replied Agelastes,
"that steady contempt of every thing that approaches thee, save in the
light of a duty, that I demand, almost like a beggar, that personal
acquaintance, which thou refusest like a churl."
"Pardon me," said Hereward, "if I doubt this. Whatever stories you may
have picked up concerning me, not unexaggerated probably--since the
Greeks do not keep the privilege of boasting so entirely to themselves
but the Varangians have learned a little of it--you can have heard
nothing of me which can authorise your using your present language,
excepting in jest."
"You mistake, my son," said Agelastes; "believe me not a person to mix
in the idle talk respecting you, with your comrades at the ale-cup.
Such as I am, I can strike on this broken image of Anubis"--(here he
touched a gigantic fragment of a statue by his side)--"and bid the
spirit who long prompted the oracle, descend, and once more reanimate
the trembling mass. We that are initiated enjoy high privileges--we
stamp upon those ruined vaults, and the echo which dwells there answers
to our demand. Do not think, that although I crave thy friendship, I
Heed therefore supplicate thee for information either respecting
thyself or others."
"Your words are wonderful," said the Anglo-Saxon; "but by such
promising words I have heard that many souls have been seduced from the
path of heaven. My grandsire, Kenelm, was wont to say, that the fair
words of the heathen philosophy were more hurtful to the Christian
faith than the menaces of the heathen tyrants."
"I know him," said Agelastes. "What avails it whether it was in the
body or in the spirit?--He was converted from the faith of Woden by a
noble monk, and died a priest at the shrine of saint Augustin."
[Footnote: At Canterbury.]
"True"--said Hereward; "all this is certain--and I am the rather bound
to remember his words now that he is dead and gone. When I hardly knew
his meaning, he bid me beware of the doctrine which causeth to err,
which is taught by false prophets, who attest their doctrine by unreal
miracles."
"This," said Agelastes, "is mere superstition. Thy grandsire was a good
and excellent man, but narrow-minded, like other priests; and, deceived
by their example, he wished but to open a small wicket in the gate of
truth, and admit the world only on that limited scale. Seest thou,
Hereward, thy grandsire and most men of religion would fain narrow our
intellect to the consideration of such parts of the Immaterial world as
are essential to our moral guidance here, and our final salvation
hereafter; but it is not the less true, that man has liberty, provided
he has wisdom and courage, to form intimacies with beings more powerful
than himself, who can defy the bounds of space by which he is
circumscribed, and overcome, by their metaphysical powers, difficulties
which, to the timid and unlearned, may appear wild and impossible."
"You talk of a folly," answered Hereward, "at which childhood gapes and
manhood smiles."
"On the contrary," said the sage, "I talk of a longing wish which every
man feels at the bottom of his heart, to hold communication with beings
more powerful than himself, and who are not naturally accessible to our
organs. Believe me, Hereward, so ardent and universal an aspiration had
not existed in our bosoms, had there not also been means, if steadily
and wisely sought, of attaining its accomplishment. I will appeal to
thine own heart, and prove to thee even by a single word, that what I
say is truth. Thy thoughts are even now upon a being long absent or
dead, and with the name of BERTHA, a thousand emotions rush to thy
heart, which in thy ignorance thou hadst esteemed furled up for ever,
like spoils of the dead hung above a tombstone!--Thou startest and
changest thy colour--I joy to see by these signs, that the firmness and
indomitable courage which men ascribe to thee, have left the avenues of
the heart as free as ever to kindly and to generous affections, while
they have barred them against those of fear, uncertainty, and all the
caitiff tribe of meatier sensations. I have proffered to esteem thee,
and I have no hesitation in proving it. I will tell thee, If thou
desirest to know it, the fate of that very Bertha, whose memory thou
hast cherished in thy breast in spite of thee, amidst the toil of the
day and the repose of the night, in the battle and in the truce, when
sporting with thy companions in fields of exercise, or attempting to
prosecute the study of Greek learning, in which if thou wouldst
advance, I can teach it by a short road."
While Agelastes thus spoke, the Varangian in some degree recovered his
composure, and made answer, though his voice was somewhat
tremulous,--"Who thou art, I know not--what thou wouldst with me, I
cannot tell--by what means thou hast gathered intelligence of such
consequence to me, and of so little to another, I have no
conception--But this I know, that by intention or accident, thou hast
pronounced a name which agitates my heart to its deepest recesses; yet
am I a Christian and Varangian, and neither to my God nor to my adopted
prince will I willingly stagger in my faith. What is to be wrought by
idols or by false deities, must be a treason to the real divinity. Nor
is it less certain that thou hast let glance some arrows, though the
rules of thy allegiance strictly forbid it, at the Emperor himself.
Henceforward, therefore, I refuse to communicate with thee, be it for
weal or woe. I am the Emperor's waged soldier, and although I affect
not the nice precisions of respect and obedience, which are exacted in
so many various cases, and by so many various rules, yet I am his
defence, and my battle-axe is his body-guard."
"No one doubts it," said the philosopher. "But art not thou also bound
to a nearer dependence upon' the great Acolyte, Achilles Tatius?"
"No. He is my general, according to the rules of our service," answered
the Varangian; "to me he has always shown himself a kind and
good-natured man, and, his dues of rank apart, I may say has deported
himself as a friend rather than a commander. He is, however, my
master's servant as well as I am; nor do I hold the difference of great
amount, which the word of a man can give or take away at pleasure."
"It is nobly spoken," said Agelastes; "and you yourself are surely
entitled to stand erect before one whom you supersede in courage and in
the art of war."
"Pardon me," returned the Briton, "if I decline the attributed
compliment, as what in no respect belongs to me. The Emperor chooses
his own officers, in respect of their power of serving him as he
desires to be served. In this it is likely I might fail; I have said
already, I owe my Emperor my obedience, my duty, and my service, nor
does it seem to me necessary to carry our explanation farther."
"Singular man!" said Agelastes; "is there nothing than can move thee
but things that are foreign to thyself? The name of thy Emperor and thy
commander are no spell upon thee, and even that of the object thou has
loved"--
Here the Varangian interrupted him.
"I have thought," he said, "upon the words thou hast spoken--thou hast
found the means to shake my heart-strings, but not to unsettle my
principles. I will hold no converse with thee on a matter in which thou
canst not have interest.--Necromancers, it is said, perform their
spells by means of the epithets of the Holiest; no marvel, then, should
they use the names of the purest of his creation to serve their
unhallowed purposes. I will none of such truckling, disgraceful to the
dead perhaps as to the living. Whatever has been thy purpose, old
man--for, think not thy strange words have passed unnoticed--be thou
assured I bear that in my heart which defies alike the seduction of men
and of fiends."
With this the soldier turned, and left the ruined temple, after a
slight inclination of his head to the philosopher.
Agelastes, after the departure of the soldier, remained alone,
apparently absorbed in meditation, until he was suddenly disturbed by
the entrance, into the ruins, of Achilles Tatius. The leader of the
Varangians spoke not until he had time to form some result from the
philosopher's features. He then said, "Thou remainest, sage Agelastes,
confident in the purpose of which we have lately spoke together?"
"I do," said Agelastes, with gravity and firmness.
"But," replied Achilles Tatius, "thou hast not gained to our side that
proselyte, whose coolness and courage would serve us better in our hour
of need than the service of a thousand cold-hearted slaves?"
"I have not succeeded," answered the philosopher.
"And thou dost not blush to own it?" said the imperial officer in reply.
"Thou, the wisest of those who yet pretend to Grecian wisdom, the most
powerful of those who still assert the skill by words, signs, names,
periapts, and spells, to exceed the sphere to which thy faculties
belong, hast been foiled in thy trade of persuasion, like an infant
worsted in debate with its domestic tutor? Out upon thee, that thou
canst not sustain in argument the character which thou wouldst so fain,
assume to thyself!"
"Peace!" said the Grecian. "I have as yet gained nothing, it is true,
over this obstinate and inflexible man; but, Achilles Tatius, neither
have I lost. We both stand where yesterday we did, with this advantage
on my side, that I have suggested to him such an object of interest as
he shall never be able to expel from his mind, until he hath had
recourse to me to obtain farther knowledge concerning it.--And now let
this singular person remain for a time unmentioned; yet, trust me,
though flattery, avarice, and ambition may fail to gain him, a bait
nevertheless remains, that shall make him as completely our own as any
that is bound within our mystic and inviolable contract. Tell me then,
how go on the affairs of the empire? Does this tide of Xiatin warriors,
so strangely set aflowing, still rush on to the banks of the Bosphorus?
and does Alexius still entertain hopes to diminish and divide the
strength of numbers, which he could in vain hope to defy?"
"Something further of intelligence has been gained, even within a very
few hours," answered Achilles Tatius. "Bohemond came to the city with
some six or eight light horse, and in a species of disguise.
Considering how often he had been the Emperor's enemy, his project was
a perilous one. But when is it that these Franks draw back on account
of danger? The Emperor perceived at once that the Count was come to see
what he might obtain, by presenting himself as the very first object of
his liberality, and by offering his assistance as mediator with Godfrey
of Bouillon and the other princes of the crusade."
"It is a species of policy," answered the sage, "for which he would
receive full credit from the Emperor."
Achilles Tatius proceeded:--"Count Bohemond was discovered to the
imperial court as if it were by mere accident, and he was welcomed with
marks of favour and splendour which had never been even mentioned as
being fit for any one of the Frankish race. There was no word of
ancient enmity or of former wars, no mention of Bohemond as the ancient
usurper of Antioch, and the encroacher upon the empire. But thanks to
Heaven were returned on all sides, which had sent a faithful ally to
the imperial assistance at a moment of such imminent peril."
"And what said Bohemond?" enquired the philosopher.
"Little or nothing," said the captain of the Varangians, "until, as I
learned from the domestic slave Narses, a large sum of gold had been
abandoned to him. Considerable districts were afterwards agreed to be
ceded to him, and other advantages granted, on condition he should
stand on this occasion the steady friend of the empire and its master.
Such was the Emperor's munificence towards the greedy barbarian, that a
chamber in the palace was, by chance, as it were, left exposed to his
view, containing large quantities of manufactured silks, of jewellers'
work, of gold and silver, and other articles of great value. When the
rapacious Frank could not forbear some expressions of admiration, he
was assured, that the contents of the treasure-chamber were his own,
provided he valued them as showing forth the warmth and sincerity of
his imperial ally towards his friends; and these precious articles were
accordingly conveyed to the tent of the Norman leader. By such
measures, the Emperor must make himself master of Bohemond, both body
and soul, for the Franks themselves say it is strange to see a man of
undaunted bravery, and towering ambition, so infected, nevertheless,
with avarice, which they term a mean and unnatural vice."
"Bohemond," said Agelastes, "is then the Emperor's for life and
death--always, that is, till the recollection of the royal munificence
be effaced by a greater gratuity. Alexius, proud as he naturally is of
his management with this important chieftain, will no doubt expect to
prevail by his counsels, on most of the other crusaders, and even on
Godfrey of Bouillon himself, to take an oath of submission and fidelity
to the Emperor, which, were it not for the sacred nature of their
warfare, the meanest gentleman among them would not submit to, were it
to be lord of a province. There, then, we rest. A few days must
determine what we have to do. An earlier discovery would be
destruction."
"We meet not then to-night?" said the Acolyte.
"No," replied the sage; "unless we are summoned to that foolish
stage-play or recitation; and then we meet as playthings in the hand of
a silly woman, the spoiled child of a weak-minded parent."
Tatius then took his leave of the philosopher, and, as if fearful of
being seen in each other's company, they left their solitary place of
meeting by different routes. The Varangian, Hereward, received, shortly
after, a summons from his superior, who acquainted him, that he should
not, as formerly intimated, require his attendance that evening.
Achilles then paused, and added,--"Thou hast something on thy lips thou
wouldst say to me, which, nevertheless hesitates to break forth."
"It is only this," answered the soldier: "I have had an interview with
the man called Agelastes, and he seems something so different from what
he appeared when we last spoke of him, that I cannot forbear mentioning
to you what I have seen. He is not an insignificant trifler, whose
object it is to raise a laugh at his own expense, or that of any other.
He is a deep-thinking and far-reaching man, who, for some reason or
other, is desirous of forming friends, and drawing a party to himself.
Your own wisdom will teach you to beware of him."
"Thou art an honest fellow, my poor Hereward," said Achilles Tatius,
with an affectation of good-natured contempt. "Such men as Agelastes do
often frame their severest jests in the shape of formal gravity--they
will pretend to possess the most unbounded power over elements and
elemental spirits--they will make themselves masters of the names and
anecdotes best known to those whom they make their sport; and any one
who shall listen to them, shall, in the words of the Divine Homer, only
expose himself to a flood of inextinguishable laughter. I have often
known him select one of the rawest and most ignorant persons in
presence, and to him for the amusement of the rest, he has pretended to
cause the absent to appear, the distant to draw near, and the dead
themselves to burst the cerements of the grave. Take care, Hereward,
that his arts make not a stain on the credit of one of my bravest
Varangians."
"There is no danger," answered Hereward. "I shall not be fond of being
often with this man. If he jests upon one subject which he hath
mentioned to me, I shall be but too likely to teach him seriousness
after a rough manner. And if he is serious in his pretensions in such
mystical matters, we should, according to the faith of my grandfather,
Kenelm, do insult to the deceased, whose name is taken in the mouth of
a soothsayer, or impious enchanter. I will not, therefore, again go
near this Agelastes, be he wizard, or be he impostor."
"You apprehend me not," said the Acolyte, hastily; "you mistake my
meaning. He is a man from whom, if he pleases to converse with such as
you, you may derive much knowledge; keeping out of the reach of those
pretended secret arts, which he will only use to turn thee into
ridicule." With these words, which he himself would perhaps have felt
it difficult to reconcile, the leader and his follower parted.