woollen toga-like garment that is free from all ornament. I suspect
the adoption of this style of dress is borrowed from that of classical
Rome, whose laws and customs evidently form the basis of the Meleagrian
constitution. A white wand is carried in the hand, and a white fillet
is bound round the temples; only on the two great half-yearly festivals
are the ornate gold-fringed garments worn in public. The robes of the
Arch-priest are likewise of a white woollen material, which in his
case are relieved by a bordure of gold brocade, whilst the wand and
fillet are also of gold; but on state occasions he dons magnificent
vestments of cloth of gold and wears a golden mitre on his head. The
Arch-priest's office is naturally more sacerdotal in its nature than
that of his comrades, for it is he who is entrusted with the due
performance of all the services of the temple, and he too assists at
the solemn ceremony of censing the crystal altar of the Sun, as I
have already shown. He is also the custodian of the awful Fountain of
Rejuvenation, though his guardianship is shared by other members of the
inner ring. One day, finding the venerable head of the council in an
unusually expansive mood, I ventured to question him openly upon the
properties of this sacred well, this Zem-Zem of Meleagrian un-faith. He
replied that its medicated waters, though highly beneficial to a mortal
born of the Earth, would prove fatal to any Meleagrian rash enough to
attempt their use. Moreover, he added that should anyone plunge alone
and unattended into this well, the terrific suction of the current
beneath would infallibly drag the body under, never to reappear. I then
questioned him if many such accidents had ever occurred, whereupon he
answered dryly that none had happened in his own experience; which
equivocal reply I interpreted as admitting that fatal incidents in the
past were by no means unknown. I then twitted him jokingly for not
renewing his own youth, of course with all proper precautions, in the
fountain of his charge, to which he replied with considerable asperity
and horror, using the most solemn Meleagrian form of denial: "May the
God perish first and the Sun be darkened!" After this vigorous negation
he took his departure with some abruptness, nor could I ever entice
him to speak again of the fountain.
I fully realise that my account of the hierarchy or governing class of
Meleager is both incomplete and unsatisfactory, but I must plead again
the many difficulties of obtaining information which I have already
mentioned. In fact, it is from two sources only that I can derive
any details whatever, these being my own limited opportunities of
observation and discovery and the rare statements that the Arch-priest
lets fall from time to time, for I am not on confidential terms with
any other member of the council. From Hiridia and my friends of the
nobility I can gather absolutely nothing, for the simple reason that
their own ignorance of the private affairs of their ruling caste is
even greater than mine. Indeed, the marvel is that I have been able to
compile even the small amount I have inscribed here, considering the
obstacles in my way of acquiring knowledge. I must sum up therefore
by stating that I have very little communication with that body of
councillors with whom my own position and prerogative are so closely
interwoven, this state of affairs being due wholly to the persistent
refusal of the latter to take me into their confidence.
IX
Of the nobility I can speak with more confidence, for with many of them
I am on terms of intimacy and friendship. The well-bred gentleman is
not confined in our own world to any special climate or nation, for
he is to be found equally under a white, a yellow, a brown and even a
black skin; and the gentle type is also indigenous on the planet of
Meleager.
The aristocracy of Meleager is closely connected with the land, and it
is to some extent strongly impregnated with feudal principles. Every
noble is either the owner of an estate, be it large, moderate or small,
or else is connected by family ties with the actual landowner. Each
house forms a distinctive gens in itself, and all its male members are
entitled to bear a badge, which is its peculiar mark. These badges at
first suggested to my mind a relic of totem-kin, but I soon changed my
opinion on this point, and now hold the family badge to be heraldic
in its aim and use. I gather that the adoption of a conspicuous badge
or emblem for each family is of considerable antiquity, and perhaps
derives from reports made by the Meleagrian envoys on Earth at the
period of the Crusades, when coat-armour came into fashion among the
chivalry of Western Christendom.
The mass of the nobles exhibits various degrees of wealth and
influence, and I have noted the existence of some ill-feeling between
the leading magnates and the smaller landowners. The social cleavage
between the two sets is however imperceptible, and the constant
intermarriage between the families of what I may call the major and
the minor barons tends to eradicate many cases of jealousy. This
landed aristocracy has, of course, its chief residence in the country
districts, though the wealthier families possess houses in the cities
in addition. The country house of Meleager is usually of moderate
size, and consists of a low square white-washed mansion enclosing a
courtyard. The native love of colonnades is prominently exhibited in
these houses, which are frequently surrounded on all sides by loggias
that can be utilised according to the varying conditions of weather.
The arrangements within are somewhat primitive according to our own
luxurious standards of the twentieth century, but they are not without
a sufficiency of comfort. The floors are generally tiled; there are no
rugs or carpets, save some skins of beasts; the furniture, though often
elaborately carved, is not plentiful. There are no family portraits,
for the art of painting pictures is unknown, but in compensation for
this defect there is always the curious family chapel or mausoleum.
This has usually a low domed roof pierced by windows of coloured glass
that admit only a dim light within the chamber which seems very similar
to the _columbaria_ of the Romans, from whom I conclude this idea has
been borrowed by their unknown admirers. Rows of small semicircular
apertures line the walls, many of these standing empty, whilst not a
few are occupied by busts of deceased members of the family. Beneath
these effigies are placed small urns of metal or marble which contain
the ashes, for cremation has for sanitary reasons been made compulsory
in Meleager for many centuries past. Some of these busts are of no
small artistic merit, and evidently well portray the features of the
noble ancestors; others again are of inferior workmanship; whilst some
are obviously merely conventional in their treatment. Such a collection
certainly forms rather a gruesome substitute for a family portrait
gallery, but its atmosphere does not seem to depress the spirits of
the present generation, for I am always cheerfully invited to enter
and inspect these queer oratories. The surrounding gardens are often
beautiful, but are far less artificial than our own. One broad long
flagged terrace usually suffices for the family to stroll; otherwise
the paths and lawns are unkempt and neglected. These pleasances are
however full of a luxuriant growth of wild or half-wild flowers, so
that I found myself often being reminded of the exuberant gardens of
old-world Italian villas in past days, before the late irruption of
wealthy cosmopolitan tourists had succeeded in thoroughly vulgarising
Italy and modernising all its old peaceful haunts.
Country life as pursued in Meleager varies little in its essence from
that of our Earth, _mutatis mutandis_, for time is pretty evenly
divided between the attractions of sport and the claims of estate
management and domestic concerns. Everything is, of course, conducted
in a manner that would appear as primitive to our pampered sportsmen
as it would seem suggestive to the antiquary, for both field sports
and agriculture have remained here in the mediæval, or even sometimes
in the archaic, stage of development. Firearms, though not unknown,
are at least never employed, so that in hunting the spear, the net,
the trap and even the bow still constitute the chief weapons of the
chase. All ploughing is performed by oxen with wooden implements, and
the thorough cultivation of the crops is on a tiny scale. Again and
again have the conditions of Meleagrian rural life recalled to me the
old-world bucolic practices of Tuscany and Castile, that even down
to the close of the nineteenth century retained so many picturesque
features of remote classical times. The tenor of existence in the
country is quiet enough, and would prove unspeakably dull and irksome
to the majority of our modern squires; but it must be remembered that
the Meleagrian landowners have no newspapers, no novels, no Stock
Exchange, no party politics to sweeten and distract their daily round,
so that they are perfectly content to follow in the secure footsteps
of their forefathers. Should the younger men find the calm routine of
country life wearisome, there are other avenues of occupation open to
such restless souls. In the first place there is the army, which is
officered solely by members of the aristocracy, some of whom make a
permanent profession of their military duties and attain in due course
to the higher commands therein. The usual plan is, however, for the
younger sons of the noble houses to spend some three or four years in
the army, after which they marry and come to settle in homes of their
own, where they busy themselves for the rest of their lives with a
medley of sport, agriculture and domestic economy. Again, the life
at Court is open to a certain number of those who care neither for a
career in the army nor for the monotony of the countryside. Here they
participate in the constant variety of the palace, and hope to win
honorary appointments in the royal household. A few, more adventurous
still than their fellows, proceed to Barbaria either for the purpose
of better hunting, or for the sake of the harder and more exciting
life in a new sphere of energy. Some proportion of these latter obtain
grants of land in this less than half-occupied territory, where they
found new estates modelled on the old lines, much as the younger
scions of our gentle English houses emigrated and settled in Virginia.
Such experiments moreover are strongly commended and encouraged by
the special councillors who are charged with the conduct of colonial
affairs.
Yet another and a far more important means of escape from the alleged
tedium of family or rustic routine is the career of the probationer,
who aspires eventually to be elected a member of the hierarchy. This
ambition cannot, however, be gratified before the age of thirty, when
the intending candidate is admitted to the school of the neophytes.
Here for a year he receives a course of lectures on Meleagrian history
and is taught the rudiments of Latin grammar, but no instruction in
reading or writing is yet afforded him. At the end of a twelvemonth of
such preliminary training, the neophyte is either rejected as unfit
or unsuitable, or else he is admitted a probationer of the seminary
attached to the Temple of the Sun. In that case he receives a five
years' course of far more advanced tuition; he is taught to read, write
and speak the Latin language; and presumably he is also instructed in
astronomy, politics, theology and other subjects concerning which his
existing notions must be strangely vague or wholly erroneous. This long
period of instruction entails a severe strain on the pupil, who is
henceforth cut off from all private and external ties and interests,
for he is never allowed to quit the precincts of his seminary. Of his
final election and reception into the council of the hierarchy I have
spoken elsewhere. Whether or no any candidate has ever failed to obtain
his election and has been consequently compelled to remain in the
institution for years, perhaps for the term of his lifetime, I cannot
say; yet I do know for a fact that for its inmates there is but one
door leading out of the seminary of probationers and that is the door
which admits to the council chamber.
I always enjoy my occasional visits to the country seats of the
nobility, where the calm useful healthy life affords an agreeable
change to me from the atmosphere of the palace, which seems always
charged with mystery and intrigue. The genuine greeting of my host and
the members of his family, the delightful blend of divine honours and
of frank hospitality wherewith I am everywhere received, the pride
shown in their farms and agricultural schemes, the general air of
repose and safety, all tend to soothe a mind that has grown perplexed
and wearied with the endless cares of an exalted but anomalous office.
The conversation of these uneducated but well-bred persons is certainly
not exciting, and might fairly be described as trivial, but really I do
not think, from past experience, that it is more trifling or banal than
the average talk of the British aristocracy which of recent years has
elevated sport and money-making to be the prevalent topics of society
(using that term in its narrow technical application). And though all
these excellent folk in Meleager are of necessity quite illiterate in
the sense that they cannot read and write, their memory is marvellous,
so that often after the evening meal the different members of the
household recite whole poems in the Meleagrian language, or else tell
stories that are by no means devoid of wit and imagination. Often too
there is singing to the native lute of sweet melodious songs, which are
well rendered by the fresh voices of the young performers.
The land tenure of Meleager may perhaps be best described as a
modified form of primogeniture. The family estate, whether large or
small, descends in tail male, and only in the failure of masculine
issue in the whole family to the female heirs of the last possessor.
This strict entail is, however, subject to certain limitations, which
tend to allow provision for the widow and daughters of the landowner.
Moreover, all members of the family have a species of life interest in
the estate, so long as they continue unmarried. Thus on the death of
a father, the eldest-born will inherit, but the new owner's younger
brothers (and also his unmarried uncles), if still residing under the
family roof, own the right to remain in their old home. Patriarchal
life in this manner becomes highly developed, and the family council
consisting of all its male and all its unmarried female members can
exercise considerable power over all private affairs within the scope
of the family circle. Thus the expulsion of an unworthy relative can
be arranged, and this inherent family rule is admitted and upheld by
the hierarchy. A noble thus expelled forfeits his right to bear the
family badge, and also has to relinquish the crimson cloak and tunic
of his order. A member so degraded sinks automatically into the ranks
of the plebeian or third estate, and is generally lost sight of. Such
incidents are rare, but they do occur occasionally, and this private
form of prerogative to drive into social exile is undisputed.
Although a very distinct line is drawn between the Reds and the Greens,
between the noble and the mercantile classes, there seems no contempt
or envy of class on either side. Such jealousy as exists is rather
noticeable within the ranks of the aristocracy itself, wherein, though
nominally all are of equal rank, some are rich and some poor, some
influential and some of little account. And the same remark holds good
of the conditions prevailing in the mercantile class. Taxation of the
landed interest is raised in two ways: first by a direct tax on land
itself, which is apportioned at certain intervals; and second, by a
poll-tax on every noble. Occasionally a landed estate left without
any male heirs is sold for the benefit of the female inheritors; but
it is clear that in the vast majority of cases the present estates in
Meleager have descended in unbroken succession and unreduced in area
for many generations.
As to the characteristics of the Meleagrian nobles, doubtless they have
their failings, but these in my estimation are fully redeemed by their
many good qualities. There is apparent some display of haughtiness in
the higher nobility towards other less wealthy members of their own
caste, but their attitude and bearing towards their many dependents
and also towards the general populace would be worthy of imitation
even in our so-called democratic world. Of course such intimacy as I
can attain with them is necessarily limited, when one considers my own
range of knowledge and their utter inability to grasp the meaning of
any one of the many serious questions that perpetually vex my mind.
I sometimes have the sensation of living in a world of shadows, with
which I sport and even converse, for the mental gulf fixed between me
and them is fathomless and unbridgeable. Even my Hiridia, faithful
friend and delightful companion though he be, seems often a plaything
rather than a co-equal being of the same flesh and blood as myself. I
can study all these people and analyse with ease their simple empty
minds; I can sympathise with their artless pleasures and pastimes; I
can play and sing and hunt and bathe and feast with them;--but I cannot
talk with them seriously any more than can a septuagenarian professor
carry on a rational conversation with a child. Yet all the same they
are charming grown-up children; and was it not the Divine Master of our
world who more than once insisted that to share His promised kingdom
all His grown-up hearers must become as little children? Nevertheless,
despite such consoling thoughts, the fact remains that I am always
lonely.
* * * * *
Of the mercantile class I intend to say very little. So much that I
have just written applies with equal force to the Greens, or second
estate of the realm. I am often entertained by the leading merchants
of Tamarida and Zapyro, but these occasions really produce little
more than the exchange of polite formalities, and I know far less of
these persons than I do of the nobility. A portion of this class is
connected with the land in the form of yeomen, or small freeholders,
whose properties are however confined to Barbaria or to the poorer
districts of the Regio Solis. In their case the law of primogeniture
is enforced more strictly than amongst the landed aristocracy, for as
the yeoman's estate is reckoned insufficient to provide for all the
males of the family, only the eldest son enjoys the paternal acres. The
younger sons are accordingly dispatched to make their living or fortune
in some trade, and it is usually the stalwart young men of this small
landed stock who supply the greater part of the petty officers in the
army. The great majority of the Greens, as they are commonly termed,
are traders either on a large or a small scale, though a certain number
fill some of the lesser official posts of stewards and assistants in
connection with the work of the hierarchy. In the case of members of
this order who have amassed considerable wealth and are desirous of
entering the class of the nobles, application is made to the council,
and such appeals are either granted or refused after a full hearing
of the circumstances. The royal consent is likewise necessary for
the bestowal of this coveted privilege; and I may add that such
applications constitute the sole exception to the general rule, that
the nobles are never given to intrigue with myself. Naturally they are
jealous concerning the prerogative of their order, and some at least
are certain to resent fiercely any such attempts of outsiders to be
admitted to their ranks. A good many of such appeals are rejected,
but in the event of a successful application a large contribution
has to be paid to the coffers of the temple and the palace; a landed
estate has somehow to be purchased, usually in Barbaria, and then the
fortunate postulant doffs the green robes and dons the red, which he
is now permitted to wear, and also assumes the use of a badge granted
him by the King, who selects the emblem he deems most suitable. The
position of the new-comers for a considerable time, perhaps for a
couple of generations, is not an enviable one, for they are treated
coldly and looked at askance by the majority of their fellow-nobles.
But as the older folk pass away, and memories grow shorter, the new
lord, or rather his progeny, becomes gradually absorbed by matrimonial
connection into the mass of the nobility, and intermingles with the
rest. Still, the stigma of having risen from the Greens clings, I
fancy, to this type of pseudo-aristocratic house for a long time.
On the other hand, marriage with a junior member of the nobility at
once confers the husband's rank on a bride of the second estate,
who henceforth ceases to hold open intercourse with her own family.
Contrariwise, ladies of the nobility who ally themselves with merchants
or yeomen sink to the level of their husbands' station.
* * * * *
With the populace again I have more intimacy and sympathy than with
the Greens, and through my attendants and bodyguard at the palace I
am brought more closely into touch with the people at large. This
third estate of the realm consists of all the manual labourers, the
artisans, the fisher-folk, and in short all such persons as live by
receiving wages, whether in money or kind. I have already hinted
that their condition and well-being form the constant care of the
councillors, who see that their homes are sanitary, well built and
generally adequate, whilst the wages paid must be deemed sufficient
to support the individual or his family in decency and comfort. In
fact, the supervision of this, the largest and economically the most
important section of the community, constitutes the first care of the
hierarchy. The people seem hale and happy, nor do they exhibit any envy
of the better-fed and better-clad Greens, nor yet of the majestic and
privileged Reds. The rules of family life prevail less strongly here
owing to the wider dispersal of its members, but they are nominally
identical with those in the classes above. There are no law courts
in Meleager, and usually disputes and difficulties in this class
are settled, as I have already shown, in the judgment hall of the
capital, where I sit on most days. The women-folk of the third estate
live in less seclusion than do those of the nobility and merchants, a
result that is due (as in our Mohammedan countries) to the necessity
of the poor having to perform their marketing and daily business in
public. This same class also may be said to include the numerous
tribe of indentured labourers, mostly from Barbaria, whose status
somewhat resembles that of the Roman slaves under the Empire. Vice and
drunkenness, though by no means unfrequent, are not conspicuous in
this class; whilst the police patrols keep a pretty sharp eye on the
landlords of the lower sort of wine-shop and brothel. These resorts
of the more dissipated of the people are also visited at times by the
councillors charged with their management and reputation, so that the
streets of Tamarida at night would compare favourably with those of
most European cities, and such debauchery as does exist is assuredly
kept well concealed behind doors and is not allowed to offend the eyes
or the ears of the passer-by in the streets, which, though dark and
narrow, can be safely traversed by all after nightfall. A few cases of
quarrelling and use of the knife occur and are severely punished by
the lash whenever the culprits are brought to book; deliberate murder
is very rare; theft is not frequent; assaults on women and children
are practically unknown. So far as my observations tend, I can sum up
without hesitation by saying that the proletariat of Meleager is a
remarkably happy, healthy, well-behaved, industrious and sober body
under what I may call the benign despotism of councillors who have not
only been educated to command by years of special training, but also
possess a natural gift for such functions.
X
I should not like the reader from anything I have written hitherto to
carry away the impression that, because I am myself debarred from their
society, the women of Meleager own a status at all similar to that
prevailing in Mohammedan countries. On the contrary, setting aside the
exceptional case of their semi-divine monarch, the sex has little to
lament on the score of inferior or unfair treatment. The Council of
Seventy, it is true, contains no female element, but to balance this,
the college of the priestesses of the Sun, which I shall describe
presently, wields considerable powers in the government of the state.
Moreover, the severe restrictions concerning their relations with the
King rest, at least nominally, on religious grounds and would therefore
naturally be less likely to cause resentment. I think therefore I
had better first discuss the existing attitude of my female subjects
towards myself, for on this point I can at least offer some correct and
detailed information, both from personal knowledge and as the result of
inquiries I have from time to time cautiously ventured to make of the
older women, with whom alone I am permitted to hold social intercourse.