"All is not Heav"n"s while Abelard has part, Still rebel nature holds out half my heart!"
Sometimes, too, the idea occured, that Auguste might love her still--"And am I then," thought Madelaine, "going to reduce myself to a state in which I shall be forced to wish he were unfaithful, in order to save me from the agonies of remorse!"--She put off all thoughts of entering on her novitiate for some weeks longer--no letters arrived, and again her resolution to take the veil returned. "Why," cried she, "why should I still continue to lament that inconstant lover who thinks of me no more! Alas, alas, did he not see the anguish of my soul at parting with him?--Does he not know the deserted situation in which I am left?--Oh, yes! he knows I have no other refuge, no other resource, than taking the veil--no doubt he wishes to hear I have done so--he will find in my renunciation of the world some excuse for his infidelity--Oh, heavens! will Auguste hear then that I am separated from him for ever without one sigh?--Ah, why need I deliberate any longer?--My trials will soon be past--I feel that my heart will break--yes, death will come to my relief--and in heaven I shall find my father!"
Madelaine, at length, determined to join the holy sisterhood of the convent. The white veil for her novitiate was prepared. The day was fixed; when, prostrate with her face towards the earth, and with flowers scattered over her, and a part of her long tresses cut off, she was to enter upon that solemn trial preparatory to her eternal renunciation of the world--of Auguste!
A few days before that which was appointed for the ceremony, Madelaine was called to the parlour, where she found her lover, with some of the munic.i.p.al officers of the town, wearing their national scarfs.
Madeline, at the sight of Auguste, with difficulty reached a chair, in which she fell back senseless; while Auguste could not forbear uttering some imprecations against the iron gate by which they were separated, and which prevented him from flying to her a.s.sistance. He, however, procured help, and Madelaine recovered.
One of the munic.i.p.al officers then informed her, that they had received the day before a decree of the National a.s.sembly, forbidding any nuns to be professed. He added, that the munic.i.p.ality had already given information of this new law to the abbess, who had consented to allow Madelaine to leave the convent immediately. As he p.r.o.nounced these last words, Madelaine looked at her lover. Auguste hastened to explain to her that his uncle, who loved him, and pitied his sufferings, had at length made a will, leaving him his fortune, upon condition that his father consented to his marriage with Madelaine.
When her lover and the munic.i.p.al officers departed, Madelaine retired to her apartment, to give way to those delicious tears which were poured from a heart overflowing with wonder, thankfulness, and joy. When her first emotions had subsided, she began to pack up her little wardrobe in preparation for leaving the convent on the following day. "I always loved the revolution," thought Madelaine, as she laid aside the white gown in which she was to be married the next morning; "and this last decree is surely of all others the best and wisest--but if it had come too late!----" At this idea Madelaine took up the veil for her novitiate, which lay upon her table, and bathed it with a flood of tears.
The next morning Auguste and Madelaine were married in the parish church of ----, and immediately after the ceremony set out for Paris; where they now live, and are, I am told, two of the happiest people, and the best patriots in France.
[[Sources:
Original: _Letters Written in France in the Summer 1790 to a friend in England ..._, and 1791 and later editions "Containing Many New Anecdotes". Letter XXI (1792): Volume II, 156-182.
Author: Helen Maria Williams (1761 or 1762-1827).
Notes: The quoted poem is from "The Enthusiast; or, The Lover of Nature" (1744) by Joseph Warton.]]
IVAR AND MATILDA.
A Traditional Tale in the Isle of Man.
In the thirteenth century, Ivar, a young and gallant knight, was enamoured of the beauteous Matilda. Her birth and fortune were inferior; but his generous mind disdained such distinctions. He loved, and was most ardently beloved. The sanction of the king was alone wanting to consummate their happiness. To obtain this, Ivar, in obedience to the custom of the island, presented his bride to Reginald, a gay and amorous prince; who, struck with the beauty and innocence of Matilda, heightened by an air of modesty, immediately, for some pretended crimes, banished Ivar from his presence, and by violence detained the virgin. Grief and indignation alternately swelled her bosom; till, from the excess of anguish she sunk into a state of insensibility. On awakening, her virtue was insulted by the approaches of the tyrant. She was, however, deaf to his insinuations, and only smiled at his menaces. Irritated at her contempt, and flattering himself that severity would subdue her truth and chast.i.ty, he imprisoned her in the most solitary apartment of the castle; where, for some months, she pa.s.sed the tedious night and day in tears; far more solicitous for the fate of Ivar, than afflicted by her own misfortunes.
In the mean time, Ivar, failing in an attempt to revenge his injuries, a.s.sumed the monastic habit, and retired into Rushen Abbey. Here he dedicated his life to piety; but his heart was still devoted to Matilda.
For her he sighed; for her he wept; and, to indulge his sorrows without restraint, would frequently withdraw into the gloomiest solitudes. In one of those solitary rambles he discovered a grotto, which had been long unfrequented. The gloom and silence of this retirement corresponding with the anguish of his mind, he sauntered onward, without reflecting where the subterraneous path might conduct him. His imagination was pourtraying the graces of Matilda, while his heart was bleeding for her sufferings. From this reverie of woe, he was, however, soon awoke, by the shrieks of a female. Advancing eagerly, he heard in a voice nearly exhausted--"Mother of G.o.d! save Matilda!" while, through a c.h.i.n.k in the barrier that now separated them, he saw the virgin, with dishevelled hair and throbbing bosom, about to be sacrificed to the l.u.s.t and violence of Reginald. Rage and madness gave new energy to Ivar; who, forcing a pa.s.sage through the barrier, rushed upon the tyrant; and, seizing his sword, which lay carelessly on the table, plunged it into its master"s bosom.
The tyrant died; and the lovers, through this subterraneous communication, escaped to the sea-side, where they fortunately met with a boat which conveyed them to Ireland: and in that kingdom the remainder of their years was devoted to the most exquisite of all human felicities; the raptures of a generous love, heightened by mutual admiration and grat.i.tude.
This is the substance of the tradition; but, according to some of the Manks records, Reginald was slain by Ivar, not in the castle of Rushen, but in a neighbouring meadow. This variation of the scene, however, does not materially affect the credit of the tradition; as the Manks historians impute Reginald"s death, not so much to Ivar"s ambition, as to his revenge of private injuries.
[[For sources, see the end of the second installment. These pieces are listed in the Index under the names of the individual persons.]]
+ANECDOTES and REMAINS+ Of Persons Connected with the French Revolution.
+Madame Lafayette.+
This lady, the wife of a man whose history is blended with two important revolutions, was a marchioness before the late changes in France; the family name of her husband was also both spelled and p.r.o.nounced differently, being then De la Fayette; but the _de_ being a mark of n.o.bility, as having a feudal allusion (the French term it, a _nomme de terre_) it was, of course, omitted on the extinction of t.i.tles.
Madame Lafayette is an eminent instance of the instability of greatness, the mutability of fortune, and the inefficacy of wealth. Descended from an ancient lineage, united to an amiable and ill.u.s.trious husband, who possessed estates in Europe, America, and the West-Indies; she, nevertheless, has not been exempted from the must bitter calamities that can afflict suffering humanity.
When Lafayette resisted the commands of the sole remaining legitimate power in France, his "widowed wife" was arrested. Under the despotism of Robespierre, she escaped death only by a miracle (part of her family was actually immolated to his vengeance) but what to some will appear more terrible, she experienced an unremitting captivity of fifteen months, during which, she suffered all the horrors of a close confinement, being immured within four walls, subjected to a scanty and precarious diet, secluded from her children, and prohibited even from the light of heaven.
On the death of the tyrant, the voice of humanity was once more heard, and she was liberated, and restored to the arms of her afflicted daughters. But she was a wife as well as a mother! and her beloved husband was still in bondage; for he who had endeavoured to avert the execution of Louis XVI. (such is the grat.i.tude of courts) was languishing in an Austrian prison!
She accordingly repaired to Hamburgh, accompanied by her children only, for she had not wealth sufficient to hire a single domestic, and she possesses a lofty sense of independence, which taught her to reject pecuniary a.s.sistance, even from her few remaining friends. As soon as her health was a little restored, she posted to Vienna, and prostrated herself at the feet of the emperor.
Francis III. is in the flower of his youth. The chilling hand of age has not yet rendered him morose; and surely _victory_ cannot have blunted his feelings, and made him at once haughty and insensible! No! no! there is not a prince of his house, from the obscure count de Hapsburg, of a former period, to the late powerful tenant of the Imperial diadem, who has had more occasion to find and to feel that he is a _man_.
Weeping beauty did not supplicate in vain; the German monarch raised her from her lowly posture, and promised better days. With his permission, she flew on the wings of affection, and, strengthened by conjugal love, knocked at the gate of the fortress that confined her dearly beloved husband, whose speedy deliverance (vain idea!) she hoped instantly to announce.
The ma.s.sive bolts of the dungeon give way, the grating hinges of the iron doors pierce the ears; she and her virgin daughters are eyed, searched, rifled, by an odious and horrible gaoler; and those, who, but a moment before, deemed themselves deliverers, now find themselves captives!
Reclining in the bottom of thy dungeon, these tears cannot be seen, these sighs cannot be heard, nor can the quick decay of youth and beauty, cankered in the bloom, and dissolving amidst the horrors of a German prison, be contemplated. But the heart of sympathy throbs for you, ye lovely mourners; the indignation of mankind is aroused; the present age shudders at your unmerited sufferings; and posterity will shed a generous tear at their recital. Anguish may not yet rend the bosoms of your persecutors, but a dreadful _futurity_ awaits them, and, were it possible to escape the scourge of offended heaven, they will yet experience all the vengeance of indignant history!
+Champagneaux+
Was the editor of one of the three-score newspapers, that imparted the revolutionary stimulus to France. He is the father of a numerous family; a man of unimpeached morals, and was attached to liberty from principle, at a time, and in a country, when it was not unusual to be so, from mere speculation! He was selected by Roland on account of his industry and talents; and was put by him at the head of the princ.i.p.al division of the home department. In short, during his administration, he became, what is termed in England, _under secretary of state_.
+Camus+,
This is another of Roland"s _eleves_, and does great credit to his discernment. Soon after the resignation of his friend, he quitted the home department, and was elected a member of the Convention, and is now _Archivist_ to the present legislature. He was one of the deputies delivered over by Dumouriez to, and confined by, the Prince de Cobourg.
From an Austrian prison he has been restored to the exercise of his legislative functions, (for he is one of the _two thirds_) and, on the first vacancy, is likely to become a member of the Directory.
NEW-YORK.
_MARRIED,_
On the evening of the 8th instant at the seat of Colonel Ramsay, Carpenter"s Point, Caecil county, by the Rev. Mr. Ireland, Mr. SEPTIMUS CLAYPOOLE, of the city of Philadelphia, to the amiable Miss ELIZABETH POLK.
On Sat.u.r.day evening last, by the Rev. Mr. Milldollar, Mr. ELEAZER REID, of this city, to Miss CATHERINE ACKERSON of Orange County.
[[Claypoole"s marriage may be a "professional courtesy" listing.
Claypoole (~1764-1798) published the _American Daily Advertiser_.
After his death it became _Poulson"s_ (1800-1839), and then merged with the _North American_, surviving in various forms until 1869.
Elizabeth Polk was a niece of Charles Willson Peale.]]