On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    No vEtitfiSB 20, 1852.] THE LEAOE It. 11...

  • 

    PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC, xnx INITIATI...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    {Ldmrgaa ®Pa ^&®Ab©{H®* Xl February, 29,...

    entleman , a father , and so forth , but , above all thiiigs , a landowner arid a mag istrate . The girl , somehow or other , though smothered under various ung irlish externals , still lurks in Mrs . Audley . That excellent lady confo rms to all the appearances of society , and conducts , with great discretion , th e u sual framework of costume and good manners j but within that factitious edifice lurks the simple woman . The girls have been brought up « strictly , " at least as strictly as a good deal of paternal negligence , and an endless amount of maternal ignorance , made possible . The strictfless had many loop-holes in it , better known to the housekeeper ' s room and the servant ' s hall , than to the drawing-room or the school-room . * ' Such thing s happen in the best regulated families , " as they say here . King is

    a man of the world * and as such , he is a man of pleasure . He knows what is due to society , —that is , " appearances "; hut having a good chest for a waistcoat , whiskers that comb forward conveniently , and features capable of an engaging arrangement , he has , by the gift of fortune , a power of fascination which at once surprises and delights himself . lie is very vain of his power as a lady-killer , and with all his awe of appearance , cannot help talking . Thus there is a kind of secret in the house , which by this time must be known to a considerable number of the bosom friends amongst whom King confidentially boasts . But the coxcomb already wearies of these embarrassing multiplicities . " It is not the—the—what shall I say ? but the damned jealousy . Sir . It becomes tedious . "

    But presently he surprised me by a new disclosure—some prize that was " peculiarly worthy of his attempts . " He was contemplating a new triumph , and promised me that I should see the lady in the evening , as she was coming there with her husband . " A beautiful woman ; young , uhstispicious , happy with her husband ; altogether a delicious creature . " "And what , " I said , " is your motive , Mr . King , for invadin g that lady ?" " Precisely that , my dear fellow . There is no credit in picking up a woman who is unappropriated ; but when a creature is devoted to her husband "

    I could stand this no longer . It might be very good worldly epicureanism ; but the total heartlessness of it , the mechanical licentiousness—nay , I suspect , the very want of enjoyment , exasperated me with the woo denfaced gentleman ; and rising from the table I told him that he had no right to surprise me with his confidences . I abruptly declared to him that I should put the lady on her guard . " Good Gaud ! " he exclaimed . " Upon my soul , sir , I took you for a gentleman ; but if I am so mistaken , let me warn you—aye , you may frown , but let me warn you that , perhaps , what I cannot expect from your honour may be enforced by a horsewhip . "

    " Don't apologise , " I replied , " for any freedom of language after what you have said ; but , in return for your admonition , allow me to warn you , that when any man touches me in that way , my flesh never feels easy till I have washed it in his blood , and I am never unprovided for extracting that restorative . Take what steps you llko > I have told , you mine , and I never depart from my declared purpose . " He tried " to recall me to a sense of gentlemanly feeling ; " he condescendingly suggested that , unaccustomed to English society , I had forgotten myself , and did not remember the usual mode of regarding the confidences of gentlemen ; and finally , he told me that I was beneath further notice ; but that if I made any outward scandal he should be obliged to call me to account .

    In the course of what passed I assured him that I should do what I said ; but should make no open scandal ; and should always be ready to account to any one . " We will join the ladies if you please , " he said ; and he made way for me to go first . In spite of my disgust I could not but admire the easy assurance with which he covered his discomfiture . I need not tell you all the details of the affair . In the evening came Mr . and Mrs . Hartwell ; pleasant people , and the lady all that King had

    described her to be . I found no difficulty in my self-appointed mission . 1 made Werncth specially introduce me , with a voucher for my honour ; made her promise to hear me out ; suggested to her the propriety of not telling her husband , or anybody ; and then disclosed to her , in the plainest terms , the coxcomb ' s intentions . When I told her she remained perfectly "lent , and I was about to leave her , as having no further claim on her attention , but she stopped me . "Iu the first . nWr « " slip . sni < l "if if : worn needed . I should thank vou in the first lace" she said" if it were neededI should thank you

    p , , , ° r the trust you have put in me , for most men would have hesitated to ( e ! " w'tli the matter so simply , and might have permitted no end of mis-< Ml (! f - In the second place , I am thinking what I can have done to give ri 8 « to such—projects . la the third , I am trying to wees if it is possible lftt there could have been any danger . I think , not : Charles is too frank ¦ lnd free himself ever to have believed even ' appearances ; ' and I now see " - man was studiously arranging appearances . But—it is all over now . wclucf might have been made , if you had not stopped it . " b | >« promised to tell nobody .

    You arc wanted for a trio , " said King , approaching us with nn air of " "' xlued defiance , and speaking to Mrs . Hartwell ; " may I lead you to the m 8 truiiu : nt ?" 4 , " she answered , with a self-possession that bore down his impudent -yes ; •« j sjmll ^ a ( , 0 inv 8 eif un ( un . the protection of this gentleman . " J low simple the words , how deep the indignation , how bitter the baflled mal 1 ( . ( . | » i o

    More than one pair of eyes were watching us with angry vigilance ; but no outward conflict disturbed the unbroken serenity of the evening . So much may pass around us , in the quietest of circles , that we suspect not . But—I observed to Mrs . Hartwell , who noticed to me the unseen drama of which so many deeply-interested were unconscious—it is a silence which enables a cunning and hypocritical vice to confound itself with real virtue and abnegation . In real life , " villains are not driven from society /* they are its most constant attendants .

    No Vetitfisb 20, 1852.] The Leaoe It. 11...

    No vEtitfiSB 20 , 1852 . ] THE LEAOE It . 1131

    Passages From A Boy's Epic, Xnx Initiati...

    PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC , xnx INITIATION * The Princess slept ; and lig hting all her sleep A vision came , and with Soft luminous rings Encircled her pale face . Nor marvel thou , For where she lies no less than Goddess kneels , And pathos looking out thro' dewy eyes , Tells that the Gods are human . Soon arose The fairest form that ever dreamer Saw , And cried , Awake ! Awake ! Ev ' n as she spoke The vision faded from the sleeper ' s eyes , And like to one long laid in feverish trance , While months have hurried past , and seemed one day , And who when Gods have wrought a sudden cure , Leaps from his couch and wonderingly behold * The true appearances of men and things , Awakened Ariadne . Soon she sttw The Eternal Loveliness , and wonder rose To silent worship , till reviving thought Past into words , and thus relieved her soul : " Now first I know what love , what nobleness , Adorn the heart , what tender feelings clothe Our mortal life , as violets the white roots Of antique trees , when the birds call the Spring . I was a dreamer once , and dwelt alone , Or wandered through the blighted woods of life As some lorn child , belated in his play , Wanders thro' lengthening fields and winding lanes , Arid sobs out helplessly ; but now I Wear The delicate white garments of Delight . ; Henceforth , fair Mother of the Universe ! I shall not live the life of trees and flowers , And toil and grieve as other women do , In the bare desert of Humanity . Hope have I now of more majestic hours ; For is there not a world where music dwells With love ? a world soft gleams of whose blue heaven Thrill gentle souls with dim delicious hopes Till Pleasure smiling trembles into tears V * The Goddess answered : " Such a world there i » , And I by all my lovely ministers , In sun and cloud and sylvan glooms remote , Have led thee upward to the golden realms Where dwell the Gods in light arid azure calm . But leave we now this land , for Fate ordains Naxos for close of this high Tragedy . " Uranian Aphrodite , speaking thus , Raised her light wand , and from the loftier sky The magic car ran down the slanting winds , With gradual motion : in the ear enshrined , The Goddess and the godlike woman rose , With wave of wand , into the parted air ; Now soaring to the Olympian palaces , Until they toueht the overhanging stars ; Now falling till they skirred the level sea . But when the Isle drew near , with tenser rein , Guiding the car down purple slop es of air , The Goddess sought the shore . Wild , shelterless Barren , and desolate , it stretcht away ; With moaning soiind , the waves , sluggish and green , Plunged over slippery rocks , one here , one there . Leafless and dry , were croueht about the shore Dwarf-featured trees , or images of trees , And ever ' mid their rattling skeletons , Crept a low wailing wind with human tone , And over all , and magnifying all , Rolled like some stagnant sea a yellow mist . Hither the fairest of the Olympians came , And with soft words upon their downward path , Cheering her coursers with the silver wings , Approacht that savage shore , rind pausing there , On ft gray heap of withered moss threw out The exulting traveller of ncthcrlul realms . And lo ! while yet her orbs were dim with fear ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20111852/page/21/