_Description of Characters. Sweet Ellen Armstrong. Sudden
appearance of the Piratical Brig. The Earl's Request.
Blackbeard's Decision. The Desperadoes. The decision is
enforced. Perilous situation of Mary Hamilton and Ellen._
In order to carry forward the plan of our story in a consistent and
intelligible manner, it becomes necessary for us, here, to briefly
explain some important particulars relating to the history of the Earl
of Derwentwater and his companions, previous to their landing upon the
remote Island of Trinidad, as related in the course of our first
chapter.
The intelligent reader of history, will undoubtedly recollect, that the
year 1715, (two years before the time chosen for the commencement of our
romance,) was rendered famous by the important insurrection which then
took place throughout England and Scotland, in favor of the Chevalier de
St. George, or James the Third, a proud and haughty scion of the Roman
Catholic house of Stuart. This singular and renowned rebellion, although
premature in its beginning, and short in its duration, caused during its
continuence, the Hanoverian incumbent of the English sceptre to tremble
for the permanence of his seat on the throne, and though he at first
pretended to despise both it and its authors, he was finally compelled
to use vigorous and extraordinary means to bring it to a summary and
fatal conclusion. Through the instrumentality of foreign troops, and the
numerous cabels which sprang up in the rebel camp, King George was soon
enabled to quell this Jacobitical insurrection, which otherwise might
have proved formidable enough to have overturned the Protestant dynasty
of the British realm, and established in its place the despotic
hierarchy of the Church of Rome. So well aware was the reigning monarch
and his ministers of the truth of the above important fact, that they
deemed it imperatively incumbent upon them, in order to deal a death
blow to all future attempts of the same nature, to punish all the
noblemen and other leading characters connected with it, in the most
severe and exemplary manner. Acting upon the above principle, the Privy
Council caused immediately to be arrested, about thirty of the Scotch
and English nobility, the majority of whom fell by the bloody axe of
the executioner, whilst the remainder were sentenced to perpetual
banishment.
Amongst this latter class of insurgents, was George Armstrong, Earl of
Derwentwater, who succeeded to his father's rank and title, immediately
after his decease, which happened somewhere about the year 1694. Some
time previous to his death, however, the old earl, through his influence
with the crown, had obtained the grant of a large tract of land in the
province of South Carolina, near the mouth of the Roanoke river, which
was soon after settled by these minor and remote branches of his own
extensive family, whose fortunes had become sadly dilapidated by the
frequent intestine revolutions which happened in Great Britain during
the latter part of the seventeenth century. Upon the accession of Queen
Anne to the English throne, the old earl fell into disgrace with the
ministry, and with his family retired soon after that event, to his
plantations in America. Shortly after his arrival, however, the change
of climate proved fatal to his advanced age, and brought on an
intermittent fever, which ended his life, and caused his only son,
George Armstrong, to succeed to his grand title and extensive estates.
Although the character of the young earl, differed in many important
respects from that of his father, still, in one great feature there was
an exact resemblance between them. The disposition of the old earl was
stubborn, artful and avaricious, whilst that of his son, was frank, open
and generous. In temper, the former was cunning, revengeful and
unforgiving, whilst that of the latter, though hasty and violent in its
outbreaks, would a moment afterwards pass away, leaving no lingering
trace of its harsh and cruel effect upon the young earl's strong and
vigorous mind. Here, the wide contrast between the characters of the
father and son ended,--for the same vaulting ambition which had animated
the father, through a long and eventful life, descended upon the son in
its full and unstinted measure, whilst in blind and extravagant
adherence to the house of Stuart, and the Roman Catholic religion, the
son greatly outstripped the father, who had been moderate enough in his
political and religious machinations to ensure to him his titles, and
cause his estate to remain unconfiscated, and in his own particular
keeping.
Instead, however, of copying the temporizing and crafty policy of his
father, the young earl, soon after his accession to the title and
fortune of the former, began openly to hold a correspondence with the
court of the pretender, which finally resulted in his becoming one of
the first noblemen to assist in raising the rebel banner in Scotland, in
the year 1715. After running through a short career of active service,
George Armstrong the last Earl of Derwentwater, found his vast estates
confiscated to the crown, and himself a prisoner in the Tower of London.
This event happened during the spring of 1716. Early in the summer of
the same year, he, with a number of others was brought to trial before a
special commission appointed for that purpose, found guilty of high
treason, (and although, others who had taken a less active part in the
rebellion, were doomed to immediate execution.) The earnest intercession
of the French Ambassador at the court of St. George Armstrong, to be
commuted to foreign and perpetual banishment, and in accordance with
this sentence, he was about to join his brother-in-law, a rich South
American merchant, who was located at Rio Janeiro in Brazil, when his
progress was somewhat singularly arrested by the adventure commenced in
our first chapter.
Having related as much of the earl's previous history, as is consistent
with the progress of our story, the next of our voyagers in order of
description, is his fair niece, Mary Hamilton. In form, as we have
before said, she was stately and beautiful, her features were striking
and regular, though they could not be called pre-eminently beautiful,
whilst her complexion was fair and elegantly transparent. Her hair,
which was as dark in color as the plumage of the raven, as it clustered
in short, rich, silken curls over her small white neck, gave conclusive
evidence, when combined to a pair of large, languishing black eyes, that
she was not born beneath the ruddy influence of England's cold and
vacillating climate. And such was the fact, for the mother that bore her
was of pure Castilian blood, who had fallen in love with and married
William Hamilton, whilst residing with her father, who, at that time,
held the high situation of Governor of the Island of Cuba. Under the
warm and enervating influences of the climate of this island, Mary
Hamilton first saw the light, but long before she had learnt to lisp her
mother's name, she was sent to England, there to receive, through the
agency of her uncle, an education calculated to fit her for the station
she would be called upon to assume, as the only child and heir of the
ancient house of Hamilton. As she advanced from infancy to childhood,
and her young mind began gradually to expand, nature (that beautiful but
mystic chain which connects man with his Creator,) prompted her to ask
for her mother. The answer which fell from her aunt's lips, in cold and
icy tones, which precluded all farther questioning, was,
'Mary, your maternal parent is dead, but I will be a mother to you so
long as I live, and my husband shall be to you an indulgent father. And
now, dear Mary,' continued Lady Armstrong, 'for various reasons which
cannot now be explained, I must strictly prohibit you from alluding to
your real mother in my presence, or that of my husband.'
Many a long and bitter hour as she passed from childhood to youth, and
from thence to woman's estate, did the future heiress of the House of
Hamilton ponder sadly over the mysterious and cruel prohibition of her
noble aunt, and as she thus pondered, a strong but indefinite
presentiment of future sorrow and grief and misery in connection with
the fate of her real parents became so completely fastened upon her mind
as to cause her whole deportment to become tinged with a sort of sad and
mournful melancholy, which all the seductive arts of a London life could
not eradicate.
Although numberless suitors of almost every variety of rank and
character had knelt in real and assumed adoration before the virtuous
shrine of the beautiful West Indian heiress, she had turned from them
all with almost loathing indifference, and the summons which she
received (about three months previous to the commencement of our story)
calling upon her to join her father, in company with her uncle, found
her at the age of twenty-three, unmarried and unengaged. In less than a
month however, after her embarcation on board of the Gladiator, a
gradual change had taken place in her whole demeanor, caused by the deep
interest she found herself constrained to take in the person of Henry
Huntington, the son of Sir Arthur Huntington, who had followed the
fortunes of the Earl of Derwentwater during the rebellion, and who had
chosen also to share his banishment. The baronet was a fine specimen of
the old English cavaliers, who had freely spent the greater portion of a
handsome fortune in the service of the Stuart family, and now, when
nearly at the close of a long and eventful life, he with his twin sons
(whose poor mother had died in giving them birth,) had left their own
dear and native soil, to live, and perhaps to die in a foreign land.
These twin sons and brothers, Henry and Arthur Huntington, had arrived
(at the time of which we are speaking,) to the age of twenty-two, and in
personal appearance they might have been considered as correct models of
manly beauty. Their forms were tall, erect, and muscular, and thus far,
each was the exact counterpart of the other, but here the resemblance
between the brothers ended. In temper and disposition, Henry was mild,
generous and forgiving, whilst Arthur was sanguine, violent and
irascible. Although they had both been educated alike, they differed
very widely in strength of mind and capacity of intellect, for the mind
of Henry was strong, and undeviatingly based on the principles of right,
while that of his brother was weak and vacillating. The affections of
the former when once fixed, were immoveable as the solid rock, whilst
the passions of the latter, although more violent, were not capable of
remaining fixed for any length of time on any particular object. These
two brothers had both felt a partiality for Mary Hamilton, and so far as
Henry was concerned, the partiality was fully reciprocated, but she
looked coldly upon Arthur, which caused him to turn from her in disgust,
and transport his vacillating affections to sweet Ellen Armstrong, whom,
as being our principal heroine, we must now proceed briefly to notice
and describe.
At the time of her introduction to the notice of our readers, she was to
all outward appearance a bright and joyous being, who seemed to think of
nothing but the happiness of herself and those around her. Although but
fourteen summers had then passed over her head, and her fair form was
slight and fragile as the first pale flower of Spring, her high and
noble thoughts, as they escaped from her vermillion lips in soft and
musical words, gave sufficient evidence that her mind and intellect was
far beyond her years. She was, in very fact and deed, a singular and
uncommon being, such an one as is rarely to be met with in the daily
walks of life. Her form, though slight, was faultless in its
proportions, her countenance was intelligent and highly expressive,
whilst in her fair complexion, the pure red and white, seemed to have
been most judiciously combined. To all these embellishments, permit us
to add, a head of luxuriant hair, of a golden auburn color, with a pair
of large and sparkling blue eyes, shaded by long, dark, silken eye
lashes, and the personal portrait of our heroine is complete. Her
character, also, in many of its traits was as good as her person was
beautiful. The bland sweetness of her disposition and the apparent
mildness of her temper, had even in the years of her childhood, endeared
her to all who happened to be within reach of her acquaintance, but
still she had faults, for there are none perfect, no, not one. Ellen
Armstrong was fanciful, wayward, and highly romantic, a being of strong
and ardent passions which would sometimes, in spite of the watchful
vigilance which she always endeavored to keep over them, get the better
of her right judgment, and high sense of rectitude.
Presuming, kind reader, that you may have inferred that sweet Ellen
Armstrong, as the Earl was wont to term her, was his daughter, we must
now undeceive you, stating that such was not the case. The history of
her connection with the earl was as follows:
As he returned home from an exciting session of the House of Peers, late
on a cold night in December, 1703, (nearly 14 years previous to the date
of the commencement of our story,) he was greatly surprised, upon
entering the drawing-room of his elegant mansion, to find his wife
busily employed in fondling and carressing a beautiful infant,
apparently not more than two or three weeks old.
'What does this all mean, Lady Armstrong?' exclaimed the earl, as soon
as his surprise had in a measure subsided.
'Listen, and I will tell you,' replied the lady, 'About two hours ago,
the street-door bell rang violently, which caused me to despatch a
serving maid to ascertain from whom this loud summons proceeded. She
immediately went to the door and opened it, but found no one there. Upon
turning back again into the entry, her ears were assailed by the faint
cries of this dear babe, whom she soon after discovered, esconced very
comfortably in a large wicker basket. This with its contents was soon
conveyed to my presence, and upon removing the infant from its place of
rest, I found this note attached to its dress.'
So saying, Lady Armstrong handed a letter to her husband, which he
opened, and then read from it as follows:
'To the Right Honorable George Armstrong, Earl of
Derwentwater.
Sir: The writer of this, being well aware that your
matrimonial union still remains unblest with children, would
earnestly entreat you to adopt the infant which this
accompanies, as your own. If you should see fit to comply with
my request, you can rest assured that no pecuniary means shall
be wanting, to insure to her, if she lives, all the
educational and other accomplishments fitting to your rank,
and that to which at some future day she herself, will be
entitled. A draft for the necessary funds will be punctually
placed at your disposal at the commencement of each year,
until those who have a right, shall claim her at your hands.
If you do right by her, you will gain the approval of a good
conscience; if not, you will feel the vengeance of a parent's
heart. But I can explain no farther. Adieu, yours, &c.,
MONTMORENCI.'
After having read the above singular epistle, the earl held a long
consultation with his amiable wife, which resulted in their concluding
to comply with the request of the mysterious writer, to adopt the poor
foundling as their own daughter, and at the same time, they determined
never to reveal to her the secret of her strange advent amongst them. In
accordance with these resolutions a suitable nurse for the young infant
was immediately procured, and when it had reached a proper age, it was
baptized by the name of Ellen Armstrong.
Such kind readers, is a brief description of the person and fortunes of
our heroine, previous to the commencement of our narrative, and now
presuming your generous permission as granted, we shall now proceed to
extend the great chain of events connected with our singular and
romantic history.
As the pirate Blackbeard, uttered in a commanding tone the words
recorded at the close of our first chapter, he pointed with his finger
towards the ship, and as the earl involuntarily turned his eyes in the
same direction, he observed a small brig then about two miles off,
making all sail towards the island, which caused him to say, in answer
to the pirate's words:
'I have looked yonder as you directed me to do, yet I can see nothing
but our own noble ship, and another vessel which appears to be a much
smaller one.'
'If you will have the goodness to look again,' replied Blackbeard,
somewhat satirically, 'you will see that the small vessel gains very
fast upon the larger one.'
'There seems to be nothing very strange or alarming about that,'
answered the earl.
'You may possibly, soon have occasion to entertain a very different
opinion.'
'How so?' asked the earl.
'Because the small vessel appears to be a piratical brig, whose
commander, I am well assured, will not pass a rich Indiaman without
politely undertaking to inspect his inventory and overhaul his cargo,'
replied the pirate.
'I am rather inclined to think,' answered the earl, 'that he will first
be favored through the medium of our guns with an opportunity to
cultivate an extensive acquaintance with the sharks and other monsters
of the deep. Now, sir,' he continued, turning to the pirate, 'we will
with your leave, get as quickly as possible on board of our own ship.'
'Oh, certainly,' replied Blackbeard, 'only, as it appears to me quite
probable, that these two young ladies will be exposed to great danger in
getting on board of your noble ship, I shall claim the privilege of
keeping them here under my protection until I learn the result of the
engagement, which I am sure the piratical commander of the brig is about
to venture upon.'
As the pirate calmly concluded his strange speech, sweet Ellen Armstrong
sank fainting into the arms of Arthur Huntington; and Mary Hamilton,
with a blanched cheek, shrank closer to her uncle's side, as he thus
indignantly addressed the pirate:
'Villain, I command you to leave the presence of these ladies,
instantly.'
'Until their safety is duly cared for, I shall not stir from this spot,'
coolly replied the pirate.
'Take your fair burthen to the boat, Arthur,' exclaimed the earl,
impatiently, 'and I will follow you.'
'You may go, but the ladies will remain,' said the pirate decidedly, who
at the same time gave a loud peculiar whistle, and the next moment the
earl found himself and his companions surrounded by a band of ferocious
desperadoes, who, with brandished weapons, stood ready to execute the
commands of their leader.
'Two of you take these ladies to the palace,' exclaimed Blackbeard,
'whilst the remainder of you will see the gentlemen safely embarked for
yonder ship.'
Although the earl and Arthur Huntington resisted manfully, their efforts
were unavailing, for whilst the two ladies were borne off in one
direction, they were quickly hurried on board their boat and compelled
by the threats of their ruffianly assailants to row swiftly towards the
noble Gladiator.