Tales of my landlord, fourth and last series

TALES OF MY LANDLORD.

ffmxvti mxH East ^txit».

VOL. 1. a

TALES OF MY LANDLORD,

COLLECTED AXD ARRAXGED
BY

JEDEDIAH CLEISHBOTHAM,

SCHOOLMASTER AND PARISH-CLERK OF GAXDERCLEUCH.

Tlie European with tlie Asian shore —

Sophia's cupola ivith golden gleam —
The cypress groves — Olympus high aud hoar —

The twelve isles, and the more than I could dream.
Far less describe, present the very view
That charm'd the charming Mary Montagu.

Don Juan.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

PRINTED FOR ROBERT CADELL, EDINBUflGH;'

AND WHITTAKER AND CO., LONDON.

1832.

' • . « . • '

r r ' t « •

EDINBURGH :

I'RISTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,

PAUL':3 work, CANONCATE.

V. 1

INTEODUCTION.

JEDEDIAH CLEISHBOTHAM, M.A.

To the loving Reader wisheth health and
prosperity.

It would ill become me, whose name has
been spread abroad by those former collec-
tions, bearing this title of " Tales of my
Landlord," and who have, by the candid
voice of a numerous crowd of readers, been
taught to think that I merit not the empty
fame alone, but also the more substantial
rewards, of successful pencraft — it would,
I say, ill become me to suffer this, my
youngest literary babe, and, probably, at
the same time, the last child of mine old
age, to pass into the world without some

VI INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

such modest ajiology for its defects, as it
has been my custom to put forth on pre-
ceding occasions of the hke nature. The
world has been sufficiently instructed, of a
truth, that I am not individually the per-
son to whom is to be ascribed the actiuil
inventing or designing of the scheme upon
which these Tales, which men have found
so pleasing, were originally constructed ; as
also that neither am I the actual workman,
who, furnished by a skilful architect with
an accurate plan, including elevations and
directions both general and particular, has
from thence toiled to bring forth and com-
plete the intended shape and proportion of
each division of the edifice. Nevertheless
I have been indisputably the man, who,
in placing my name at the head of the
undertaking, have rendered myself mainly
and principally responsible for its general
success. ^Vlien a shij* of war goetli forth
to battle with her crew, consisting of sun-

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. VU

dry foremast men and various officers, such
subordinate persons are not said to gain or
lose the vessel which they have manned or
attacked, (although each was natheless
sufficiently active in his own department ;)
but it is forthwith bruited and noised
abroad, without further phrase, that Cap-
tain Jedediah Cleishbotham hath lost such
a seventy-four, or won that which, by the
united exertions of all thereto pertaining,
is taken from the enemy. In the same
manner, shame and sorrow it were, if T,
the voluntary Captain and founder of these
adventures, after having upon three divers
occasions assumed to myself the emolu-
ments and reputation thereof, should now
withdraw myself from the risks of failure
proper to this fourth and last outgoing.
No ! I will rather address my associates in
this bottom with the constant spirit of
Matthew Prior's heroine :

a 2

Tin INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

" Did I but purpose to embark with thee
On the smooth surface of some summer sea.
But wouhl forsake the waves, and make the shore.
When the winds whistle, and the billows roar ?"

As little, nevertheless, ■would it become
my years and station not to admit witli-
ont cavil certain errors which may justly
be pointed out in these concluding " Tales
of my Landlord," — the last, and, it is
manifest, never carefully revised or cor-
rected handiwork, of Mr Peter Pattison,
now no more ; the same worthy young
man so repeatedly mentioned in these In-
troductory Essays, and never without that
tribute to his good sense and talents, nay,
even genius, which his contributions to
this my undertaking fairly entitled him to
claim at the hands of his surviving friend
and patron. These pages, I have said,
were the ultlmus labor of mine ingenious
assistant ; but I say not, as the great Dr
Pitcairn of his hero, — ultimus atque opti»

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS^ IX

mus. Alas ! even the giddiness attendant
on a journey on this Manchester rail-road
is not so perilous to the nerves, as that too
frequent exercise in the merry-go-round of
the ideal world, whereof the tendency to
render the fancy confused, and the judg-
ment inert, hath in all ages been noted, not
only by the erudite of the earth, but even
by many of the thick-witted Ofelli them-
selves ; whether the rapid pace at which
the fancy moveth in such exercitations,
where the wish of the penman is to him like
Prince Houssain's tapestry, in the East-
ern fable, be the chief source of peril — or
whether, without reference to this wearing
speed of movement, the dwelling habitually
in those realms of imagination, be as little
suited for man's intellect, as to breathe for
any considerable space " the difficult air of
the mountain top" is to the physical struc-
ture of his outward frame — this question
belongeth not to me : but certain it is, that

X INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

we often discover in the works of the fore-
most of this order of men, marks of bewil-
derment and confusion, such as do not so
frequently occur in those of persons to
whom nature hath conceded fancy weaker
of wing, or less ambitious in flight.

It is affecting to see the great Miguel
Cervantes himself, even like the sons of
meaner men, defending himself against
the critics of the day, who assailed him
upon such little discrepancies and inac-
curacies as are apt to cloud the pro-
gress even of a mind like his, when the
evening is closing around it. " It is cpite
a common thing," says Don Quixote,
"for men who have gained a very great
reputation by their writings before they
were printed, quite to lose it afterwards,
or, at least, the greater part." " The
reason is plain," answers the Bachelor
Carrasco ; " their faults are more easily
discovered after the books are printed, as

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XL

being then more read, and more narrowly-
examined, especially if the author has been
much cried up before, for then the severity
of the scrutiny is sure to be the greater.
Those who have raised themselves a name
by their own ingenuity, great poets and
celebrated historians, are commonly, if not
always, envied by a set of men who delight
in censuring the writings of others, though
they could never produce any of their
own." — " That is no wonder," quoth Don
Quixote ; " there are many divines that
would make but very dull preachers, and yet
are quick enough at finding faults and su-
perfluities in other men's sermons." — " All
this is true," says Carrasco, " and there-
fore I could wish such censurers would be
more merciful and less scrupulous, and not
dwell ungenerously uj^on small spots that
are in a manner but so many atoms on the
face of the clear sun they murmur at. If

XU INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

allquando dormitat Ilomenis, let tliein con-
sider how many niglits he kept himself
awake to bring his noble works to light as
little darkened with defects as might be.
But, indeed, it may many times happen,
that what is censured for a fault, is rather
an ornament, as moles often add to the
beauty of a face. When all is said, he that
publishes a book, runs a great risk, since
nothing can be so unlikely as that he
should have composed one capable of se-
curing the approbation of every reader."
" Sure," says Don Quixote, " that which
treats of me can have pleased but few ?"
" Quite the contrary," says Carrasco; " for
as wjinitus est numerus stiiltorum, so an
infinite number have admired your history.
Only some there are who have taxed the
author with want of memory or sincerity,
because he forgot to give an account who
it was that stole Sancho's Dapple, for that

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XIU

particular is not mentioned there, only we
find, by the story, that it was stolen ; and
yet, by and by, we find him riding the same
ass again, without any previous light given
us into the matter. Then they say that
the author forgot to tell the reader what
Sancho did with the hundred jweces of gold
he found in the portmanteau in the Sierra
Morena, for there is not a word said of
them more ; and many people have a great
mind to know what he did with them, and
how he spent them ; which is one of the
most material points in which the work is
defective."

How amusingly Sancho is made to clear
vip the obscurities thus alluded to by the
Bachelor Carrasco — no reader can have
forgotten ; but there remained enough of
similar lacunce, inadvertencies, and mis-
takes, to exercise the ingenuity of those
Spanish critics, who were too wise in their
own conceit to profit by the good-natured

XIV INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

and modest apology of this immortal au-
thor.

There can be no doubt, that if Cervantes
had deigned to use it, he might have plead-
ed also the apology of indifferent health,
under which he certainly laboured while
finishing the second part of " Don Quixote."
It must be too obvious that the intervals of
such a malady as then affected Cervantes,
could not be the most favourable in the
world for revising lighter compositions, and
correcting, at least, those grosser errors and
imperfections which each author should, if
it were but for shame's sake, remove from
his work, before bringing it forth into the
broad light of day, where they will never
■ fail to be distinctly seen, nor lack ingenious
persons, who will be too happy in dischar-
ging the office of pointing them out.

It is more than time to explain with wliat
purpose we have called thus fully to me-
mory the many venial errors of the inimita-

INTRODUCTORY ADDRFSS. XV-

ble Cervantes, and those passages in which
he has rather defied his adversaries than
pleaded his own justification ; for I suppose
it will be readily granted, that the difference
is too wide betwixt that great wit of Spain
and ourselves, to permit us to use a buckler
which was rendered sufficiently formidable
only by the strenuous hand in which it was
placed.

The history of my first publications is
sufficiently well known. Nor did I relin-
quish the purpose of concluding these
" Tales of my Landlord," which had been
so remarkably fortunate ; but Death, which
steals wpon us all with an inaudible foot,
cut short the ingenious young man to whose
memory I composed that inscription, and
erected, at my own charge, that monument
which protects his remains, by the side of
the river Gander, which he has contributed
so much to render immortal, and in a place
of his own selection, not very distant from

XVI INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

the school uiitler my care.* In a word,
the ingenious Mr Pattison was removed
from his place.

Nor did I confine my care to his posthu-
mous fame alone, but carefully inventoried
and preserved the effects which he left be-
hind him, namely, the contents of his small
wardrobe, and a number of printed books
of somewhat more consequence, together
with certain woefully blurred manuscripts,
discovered in his repository. On looking
these over, I found them to contain two
tales called " Count Robert of Paris," and
" Castle Dangerous ;" but was seriously
disappointed to perceive that they were
by no means in that state of correctness,
which would induce an experienced per-
son to pronounce any writing, in the tech-

* See volume IX. of the new edition of the Waverley
Kovels, p. 2-il, for some circumstances attending this
erection.

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XVH

nical language of bookcraft, " prepared
for press." There were not only hiatus
valde dejlencli, but even grievous inconsist-
encies, and other mistakes, which the pen-
man's leisurely revision, had he been spared
to bestow it, would doubtless have cleared
away. After a considerate perusal, I no
question flattered myself that these manu-
scripts, with all their faults, contained here
and there passages, which seemed plainly to
intimate that severe indisposition had been
unable to extinguish altogether the brillian-
cy of that fancy which the world had been
pleased to acknowledge in the creations of
Old Mortality, the Bride of Lammermoor,
and others of those narratives. But I, ne-
vertheless, threw the manuscripts into my
drawer, resolving not to think of commit-
ting them to the Ballantynian ordeal, until
I could either obtain the assistance of some
capable person to supply deficiencies, and
correct errors, so as they might face the

Xviil INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

public with credit, or perhaps numerous
and more serious avocatio-ns might permit
me to dedicate my own time and labour to
that task.

While I was in this uncertainty, I
had a visit fVoni a stranger, \vho was
announced as a young gentleman desirous
of speaking with me on particular busi-
ness. I immediately augured the acces-
sion of a new boarder, but was at once
checked by observing that the outward man
of the stranger was, in a most remarkable
degree what mine host of the Sir William
Wallace, in his phraseology, calls seedy.
His black coat had seen service : the waist-
coat of grey plaid bore yet stronger marks
of having encountered more than one cam-
paign ; his third piece of dress was an
absolute veteran compared to the others ;
his shoes were so loaded with mud as
showed his journey must have been pedes-
trian ; and a grey maivd, which fluttered

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XIX

around liis wasted limbs, completed such
an equipment as, since Juvenal's days, has
been the livery of the poor scholar. I there-
fore concluded that I beheld a candidate for
the vacant office of usher, and prepared to
listen to his proposals with the dignity be-
coming my station ; but what was my sur-
prise when I found I had before me, in this
rusty student, no less a man than Paul,
the brother of Peter Pattison, come to
gather in his brother's succession, and pos-
sessed, it seemed, with no small idea of the
value of that part of it which consisted in
the productions of his pen.

By the rapid study I made of him, this
Paul was a sharp lad, imbued with some
tincture of letters, like his regretted bro-
ther, but totally destitute of those amiable
qualities which had often induced me to
say within myself that Peter was, like the
famous John Gay, —

" In wit a man, simplicity a child."

XX INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

He set little by the legacy of my deceased
assistant's wardrobe, nor did the books
hold much greater value in his eyes : but
he peremptorily demanded to be put in pos-
session of the manuscripts, alleging, with
obstinacy, that no definite bargain had been
completed between his late brother and me,
and at length produced the opinion to that
effect of a writer, or man of business, — a
class of persons with whom I have always
chosen to have as little concern as j)ossible

But I had one defence left, which came
to my aid, tanqnam dciis ex machind. This
rapacious Paid Pattison could not pretend
to wrest the disputed manuscripts out of
my possession, unless upon repayment of
a considerable sum of money, which I had
advanced from time to time to tlie deceased
Peter, and particularly to purchase a small
annuity for his aged motlier. These ad-
vances, with the charges of the funeral and
other expenses, amounted to a considerable

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXI

sum, which tlie poverty-struck student and
his acute legal adviser equally foresaw great
difficulty in liquidating. The said Mr Paul
Pattison, therefore, listened to a suggestion,
which I dropped as if by accident, that if
he thought himself capable of filling his
brother's place of carrying the work through
the press, I would make him welcome to
bed and board within my mansion while he
was thus engaged, only requiring his occa-
sional assistance at hearing the more ad-
vanced scholars. This seemed to promise
a close of our dispute, alike satisfactory to
all parties, and the first act of Paul was to
draw on me for a round sum, under pre-
tence that his wardrobe must be wholly
refitted. To this I made no objection,
though it certainly showed like vanity to
purchase garments in the extremity of the
mode, when not only great part of the
defunct's habiliments were very fit for a
twelvemonth's use, but as I myself had

XXU INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

been, but yesterday as it were, equipped in
a becoming new stand of black clotbes, Mr
Pattison would liave been welcome to tlie
use of such of my quondam raiment as he
thought suitable, as indeed had always been
the case with his deceased brother.

The school, I must needs say, came tole-
rably on. My youngster was very smart,
and seemed to be so active in his duty of
usher, if I may |^so speak, that he even
overdid his part therein, and I began to
feel myself a cipher in my own school.

I comforted myself with the belief that
the publication was advancing as fast as
I could desire. On tliis subject, Paul
Pattison, like ancient Pistol, " talked bold
words at the bridge," and that not only at
our house, but in the society of our neigh-
bours, amongst whom, instead of imitating
tlie retired and monastic manner of his
brother deceased, he became a gay visitor,
and such a reveller, that in process of time

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. . XXIU

he was observed to vilipend the modest
fare which had at first been esteemed a
banquet by his hungry appetite, and there-
by highly disi:)leased my wife, who, with
justice, applauds herself for the plentiful,
cleanly, and healthy victuals, wherewith
she maintains her ushers and boarders.

Upon the whole, I rather hoped than
entertained a sincere confidence that all
was going on well, and was in that unplea-
sant state of mind which precedes the open
breach between two associates who have
been long jealous of each other, but are as
yet deterred by a sense of mutual interest
from coming to an open rupture.

The first thing which alarmed me was
a rumour in the village that Paul Pattison
intended, in some little space, to undertake
a voyage to the Continent — on account of
his health, as was pretended, but, as the
same report averred, much more with the
view of gratifying the curiosity which his

TOL. I. h

XXIV INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

perusal of the classics had impressed upon
him, than for any other purpose. I was, I
say, rather alarmed at this siisurrus, and
began to reflect that the retirement of Mr
Pattison, unless his loss could be supplied
in good time, was like to be a blow to the
establishment ; for, in truth, this Paul had
a winning way with the boys, especially
those who were gentle-tempered ; so that
I must confess my doubts whether, in cer-
tain respects, I myself could have fully
supplied his place in the school, with all
my authority and exj)erience. My wife,
jealous, as became her station, of Mr Patti-
son's intentions, advised me to take the
matter up immediately, and go to the bot-
tom at once ; and, indeed, I had always
found that way answered best with my
boys.

Mrs Cleishbotham was not long before
renewing the subject ; for, like most of
the race of Xantippe, (though my help-

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXV

mate is a well spoken woman,) slie loves
to thrust in her oar where she is not able
to pull it to purpose. " You are a sharp-
witted man, Mr Cleishbotham," would she
observe, " and a learned man, Mr Cleish-
botham— and the schoolmaster of Gander-
cleuch, Mr Cleishbotham, which is saying-
all in one word ; but many a man almost
as great as yourself has lost the saddle by
suffering an inferior to get up behind him •>
and though, with the world, Mr Cleish-
botham, you have the name of doing every
thing, both in directing the school and in
this new profitable book line which you
have taken up, yet it begins to be the
common talk of Gandercleuch, both up
the water and down the water, that the
usher both writes the dominie's books, and
teaches the dominie's school. Ay, ay,
ask maid, wife, or widow, and she'll tell
ye, the least gaitling among them all comes
to Paul Pattison with his lesson as natu-

XXvi INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

rally as they come to me for their four-
hours, puir things ; and never ane thinks
of applying to you aboot a kittle turn, or a
crabbed word, or about ony thing else, un-
less it were for licet exire, or the mending
of an auld pen."

Now, this address assailed me on a
summer evening, when I was whiling away
my leisure hours with the end of a cutty-
pipe, and indulging in such bland imagina-
ations as the Nicotian weed is wont to
produce, more especially in the case of
studious persons, devoted mus-is severiori-
hus. I was naturally loath to leave my
misty sanctuary, and endeavoured to silence
the clamour of Mrs Cleishbotham's tongue,
which has something in it peculiarly shrill
and penetrating. " Woman," said I, with
a tone of domestic authority befitting the
occasion, " res Uias agas ; — mind your
washings and your wringings, your stuf-
fings and your physicking, or whatever

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXVU

concerns the outward person of the pnpiis,
and leave the progress of their education to
my usher, Paul Pattison, and myself."

" I am glad to see," added the accursed
woman, (that I should say so !) " that ye
have the grace to name him foremost, for
there is little doubt that he ranks first of
the troop, if you'd but hear what the neigh-
bours speak — or whisper."

" What do they whisper, thou sworn
sister of the Eumenides ?" cried I, — the
irritating cestrum of the woman's objur-
gation totally counterbalancing the seda-
tive effects both of pipe and pot.

" Whisper ?" resumed she in her shrill-
est note — " "why, they Avhisper loud enough
for me at least to hear them, that the scliool-
mastcr of Gandercleuch is turned a doited
auld woman, and spends all his time in tip-
pling strong drink with the keeper of the
public-house, and leaves school and book-
making, and a' the rest o't, to the care

XXviii INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

of liis usher ; and, also, the wives in Gan-
dercleuch say, that you have engaged
Paul Pattison to write a new book, which
is to beat a' the lave that gaed afore it ;
and, to show what a sair lift you have
o' the job, you didna sae muckle as ken the
name o't — no, nor whether it was to be
about some Heathen Greek, or the Black
Douglas."

This was said with such bitterness that
it penetrated to the very quick, and I hurled
the poor old pipe, like one of Homer's
spears, not in the face of my provoking
helpmate, though the temptation was strong,
but into the river Gander, which, as is
now well known to tourists from the utter-
most parts of the earth, pursues its quiet
meanders beneath the bank on which the
school-house is pleasantly situated ; and,
starting up, fixed on my head the cocked
hat, (the pride of JMessrs Grieve and Scott's
repository,) and, plunging into the valley

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXIX

of the brook, jiursued my way upwards,
the voice of Mrs Cleishbotham accompany-
ing me in my retreat with something like
the angry scream of triumph with which
the brood-goose pursues the flight of some
unmannerly cur or idle boy who has in-
truded upon her premises, and fled before
her. Indeed, so great was the influence
of this clamour of scorn and wrath which
hung upon my rear, that while it rung in
my ears, I was so moved that I instinc-
tively tucked the skirts of my black coat
under my arm, as if I had been in actual
danger of being seized on by the grasp of
the pursuing enemy. Nor was it till I
had almost reached the well known bimal-
place, in which it was Peter Pattison's hap
to meet the far-famed personage called Old
Mortality, that I made a halt for the pur-
pose of composing my perturbed spirits, and
considering what was to be done ; for as
yet my mind was agitated by a chaos of pas-

XXX INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

sions, of which anger was predominant ;
and for what reason, or against whom, I
entertained such tumultuous displeasure, it
was not easy for me to determine.

Nevertheless, having settled my cocked
hat with becoming accuracy on my well
powdered wig, and suffered it to remain
uplifted for a moment to cool my flushed
Ijrow — having, moreover, re-adjusted and
shaken to rights the skirts of my black
coat, I came into case to answer to my own
questions, which, till these manoeuvres had
been sedately accomplished, I might have
asked myself in vain.

In the first place, therefore, to use the
phrase of Mr Docket, tlie w^riter (that is,
the attorney) of our village of Gander-
cleuch, I became satisfied that my anger
was directed against all and sundry, or, in
law Latin, contra omnes viortales, and
more particularly against the neighbour-
hood of Gandcrcleuch, for circulating

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXXI

reports to the prejudice of my literary
talents, as well as my accomplishments as
a pedagogue, and transferring the fame
thereof to mine own usher. Secondly,
against my spouse, Dorothea Cleishbotliam,
for transferring the said calumnious reports
to my ears in a j^i'erupt and uriseemly
manner, and without due respect either to
the language which she made use of, or
the person to whom she spoke, — treating
affairs in which I was so intimately cou-
cerned as if they were proper subjects for
jest among gossips at a christening, where
the womankind claim the privilege of wor-
shipping the Bona Dea according to tlieir
secret female rites. Thirdly, I became clear
that I was entitled to respond to any
whom it concerned to enquire, that my
wrath was kindled against Paul Pattison,
my usher, for giving occasion both for the
neighbours of Gandercleuch entertaining
such opinions, and for Mrs Cleishbotham

/>2

XXXU INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

disrespectfully urging tliein to my face,
since neither circumstance could have ex-
isted, without he had put forth sinful mis-
representations of transactions, private
and confidential, and of which I had myself
entirely refrained from dropping any the
least hint to any third person.

This arrangement of my ideas having
contributed to soothe the stormy atmos-
phere of which they had been the offspring,
gave reason a time to predominate, and to
ask me, with her calm but clear voice,
whether, under all the circumstances, I did
well to nourish so indiscriminate an indig-
nation ? In fine, on closer examination,
the various splenetic thoughts I had been
indulging against other parties, began to
be merged in that resentment against
my perfidious usher, which, like the ser-
pent of Moses, swallowed up all subor-
dinate objects of displeasure. To put my-
self at open feud with the whole of my

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXXlll

neighbours, unless I had been certain of
some effectual mode of avenging myself
upon them, would have been an underta-
king too weighty for my means, and not
unlikely, if rashly grappled withal, to end
in my ruin. To make a public quarrel
with my wife, on such an account as her
opinion of my literary accomplishments,
would sound ridiculous ; and, besides, IMrs
C. was sure to have all the women on her
side, who would represent her as a wife
persecuted by her husband for offering him
good advice, and urging it upon him with
only too enthusiastic sincerity.

There remained Paul Pattison, undoubt-
edly, the most natural and proper object
of my indignation, since I might be said to
Lave him in my own power, and might
punish him by dismissal, at my pleasure.
Yet even vindictive proceedings against
the said Paul, however easy to be enforced,
might be productive of serious consequen-

XXXIV INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

ces to my own purse ; and I began to
reflect, with anxiety^ that in this worhl it
is not often that the gratification of our
angry passions lies in the same road with
the advancement of our interest, and that
the wise man, the vere scqnens, seldom
hesitates which of these two he ought to
prefer.

I recollected also that I was quite uncer-
tain how far the present usher had really
been guilty of the foul acts of assumption
charged against him.

In a word, I began to perceive that it
would be no light matter, at once, and
without maturer perpending of sundry col-
lateral punctiioi cilia, to break up a joint
stock adventure, or society, as civilians
term it, which, if profitable to him, had
at least promised to be no less so to me,
established in years and learning and repu-
tation so much his superior. Moved by
which, and other the like considerations, I

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXXV

resolved to proceed with becoming caution
on the occasion, and not, by stating my
causes of complaint too hastily in the out-
set, exasperate into a positive breach what
might only prove some small misunder-
standing, easily explained or apologized
for, and Avhich, like a leak in a new vessel,
being once discovered and carefully stop-
ped, renders the vessel but more sea-wor-
thy than it was before.

About the time that I had adopted this
healing resolution, I reached the spot
where the almost perpendicular face of a
steep hill seems to terminate the valley,
or at least divides it into two dells, each
serving as a cradle to its own mountain-
stream, the GrufF-quack, namely, and the
shallower but more noisy Gusedub, on the
left hand, which, at their union, form the
Gander, properly so called. Each of these
little valleys has a walk winding up to its
recesses, rendered more easy by the labours

XXXVl INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

of the poor during the late hard season,
and one of which bears the name of Pat-
tison's path, while the other had been
kindly consecrated to my own memory,
by the title of the Dominie's Daidling-bit.
Here I made certain to meet my associate,
Paul Pattison, for by one or other of these
roads he was wont to return to my house
of an evening, after his lengthened rambles.
Nor was it long before I espied him
descending the Gusedub by that tortuous
path, marking so strongly the character
of a Scottish glen. He was easily distin-
guished, indeed, at some distance, by his
jaunty swagger, in which he presented to
you the flat of his leg, like the manly knave
of clubs, apparently with the most perfect
contentment, not only with his leg and
boot, but with every part of his outward
man, and the whole fashion of his gar-
ments, and, one would almost have thought,
the contents of his pockets.

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXXVU

In this, his wonted guise, he approached
me, where I was seated near the meeting
of the waters, and I could not but discern,
that his first impulse was to pass me with-
out any prolonged or formal greeting. But
as that would not have been decent, con-
sidering the terras on which we stood, he
seemed to adopt, on reflection, a course
directly opposite ; bustled up to me with au
air of alacrity, and, I may add, impudence ;
and hastened at once into the middle of the
important affairs which it had been my
purpose to bring under discussion in a man-
ner more becoming their gravity. " I am
glad to see you, Mr Cleishbotham," said he,
v/ith an inimitable mixture of confusion
and effrontery ; " the most wonderful news
which has been heard in the literary world
in my time — all Gandercleuch rings with it
— they positively speak of nothing else,
from Miss Buskbody's youngest apprentice
to the minister himself, and ask each other

XXXVlll INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

in amazement, whether the tidings are
trne or false — to be snre they are of an
astounding complexion, especially to you
and me."

" Mr Pattison," said I, " I am quite at
a loss to guess at your meaning. Davus
su7?i, noil CEd'ipiis — I nm Jedediali Cleish-
botham. Schoolmaster of the parish of Gan-
dercleuch ; no conjurer, and neither reader
of riddles, nor expounder of enigmata."

"Well," replied Paul Pattison, " Mr
Jedediali Cleishbotham, Schoolmaster of
the parish of Gandercleuch, and so forth,
all I have to inform you is, that our hope-
ful scheme is entirely blown up. The
Tales, on publisliing which we reckoned
with so much confidence, have already been
printed ; they are abroad, over all America,
and the British papers are clamorous."

I received this news with the same
equanimity with which I should have ac-
cepted a blow addressed to my stomach by

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. XXXIX

a modern gladiator, with the full energy
of his fist. " If this be correct information,
Mr Pattison," said I, " I must of neces-
sity suspect you to be the person who
have supplied the foreign press with the
copy which the printers have thus made
an unscrupulous use of, without respect
to the rights of the undeniable proprietors
of the manuscripts ; and I request to know
whether this American production em-
braces the alterations which you as well
as I judged necessary, before the work
could be fitted to meet the public eye?"
To this my gentleman saw it necessary to
make a direct answer, for my manner was
impressive, and my tone decisive. His
native audacity enabled him, however, to
keep his ground, and he answered with
firmness —

" Mr Cleishbotham, in the first place,
these manuscripts, over which you claim
a very doubtful right, were never given to

xl INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

any one by me, and must have been sent
to America either by yourself, or by some
one of the various gentlemen to whom, I
am well aware, you have afforded oppor-
tunities of perusing my brother's MS.
remains."

" Mr Pattison," I replied, " I beg to re-
mind you that it never could be my inten-
tion, either by my own hands, or through
those of another, to remit these manuscripts
to the press, until, by the alterations which
I meditated, and which you yourself en-
gaged to make, they were rendered fit for
public perusal."

Mr Pattison answered me with much
heat : — " Sir, I would have you to know,
that if I accepted your paltry offer, it was
with less regard to its amount, than to the
honour and literary fame of my late bro-
ther. I foresaw that if I had declined it,
you would not hesitate to throw the task
into incapable hands, or, perhaps, have

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. xU

taken it upon yourself, the most unfit of
all men to tamper with the works of
departed genius, and that, God willing, I
was determined to prevent — but the justice
of Heaven has taken the matter into its
own hands. Peter Pattison's last labours
shall now go down to posterity unscathed
by the scalping-knife of alteration, in the
hands of a false friend — shame on the
thought that the unnatural weapon could
ever be wielded by the hand of a brother !"
I heard this speech not without a species
of vertigo or dizziness in my head, which
would probably have struck me lifeless at
his feet, had not a thought like that of the
old ballad —

" Earl Percy sees my fall,"

called to my recollection, that I should only
afford an additional triumph by giving way
to my feelings in the presence of Mr Paul
Pattison, who, I could not doubt, must
be more or less directly at the bottom of

xlii INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

the Transatlantic publication, and had in
one way or another found his own interest
in that nefarious transaction.

To get quit of his odious presence I bid
him an unceremonious good-night, and
marched down the glen with the air not of
one who has parted with a friend, but who
rather has shaken off an intrusive compa-
nion. On the road I pondered the whole
matter over with an anxiety which did
not in the smallest degree tend to relieve
me. Had I felt adequate to the exer-
tion, I might, of course, have suj^plant-
ed this spurious edition (of which the
literary gazettes are already doling out
copious specimens) by introducing into a
copy, to be instantly published at Edin-
burgh, adequate correction of the various
inconsistencies and imperfections which
have already been alluded to. I remem-
bered the easy victory of the real second
part of these " Tales of my Landlord"
over the performance sent forth by an

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. xlill

interloper under the same title ; and why-
should not the same triumph be rej^eated
now ? There would, in short, have been a
pride of talent in this manner of avenging
myself, which would have been justifiable
in the case of an injured man ; but the
state of my health has for some time been
such as to render any attempt of this
nature in every way imprudent.

Under such circumstances, the last
" Remains" of Peter Pattison must even
be accepted, as they were left in his desk ;
and I humbly retire in the hope that, such
as they are, they may receive the indul-
gence of those who have ever been but
too merciful to the productions of his pen,
and in all respects to the courteous read-
er's obliged servant,

J. C.

Gandercleuch,
15th Oct. 1831.

TALES OF MY LANDLORD.

:ff'ouxi^ mxti Jlast ^txit^.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS

VOL. I.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

CHAPTER I.

Leontius. That power that kindly spreads

The clouds, a signal of impending showers,
To warn the wandering linnet to the shade,
Beheld without concern expiring Greece,
And not one prodigy foretold our fate.

Demetrius. A thousand horrid prodigies foretold it.
A feeble government, eluded laws,
A factious populace, luxurious nobles,
And all the maladies of sinking states.
Wiien public viUainy, too strong for justice.
Shows Ms bold front, the harbinger of ruin,
Can brave Leontius call for airy wonders.
Which cheats interpret, and which fools regard ?

Irene, Act L

JL HE close observers of vegetable nature have
remarked, that when a new graft is taken from an
aged tree, it possesses indeed in exterior form the
appearance of a youthful shoot, but has in fact
attained to the same state of maturity, or even
decay, which has been reached by the parent

COUNT ROBERT Ol' PARIS.

Stem. Hence, it is said, arises the general de-
cline and death that about the same season is
often observed to spread itself through individual
trees of some particular _species, all of which,
deriving their vital powers from the parent stock,
are therefore incapable of protracting their ex-
istence longer than it does.

In the same manner, efforts have been made
l)y the mighty of the earth to transplant large
cities, states, and communities, by one great and
sudden exertion, expecting to secure to the new
capital the wealth, the dignity, the magnificent
decorations and unlimited extent of the ancient
city, which they desire to renovate ; while, at the
same time, they hope to begin a new succession
of affes from the date of the new structure, to
last, they imagine, as long, and with as much
fame, as its predecessor, which the founder hopes
his new metropolis may replace in all its youthful
glories. But nature has her laws, which seem to
apply to the social, as well as the vegetable sys-
tem. It appears to be a general rule, that what
is to last long should be slowly matured and
gradually improved, while every sudden effort.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. . 5

however gigantic, to bring about the speedy
execution of a plan calculated to endure for ages,
is doomed to exhibit symptoms of premature
decay from its very commencement. Thus, in
a beautiful Oriental tale, a dervise explains to
the sultan how he had reared the magnificent
trees among which they walked, by nursing
their shoots from the seed ; and the prince's pride
is damped when he reflects, that those planta-
tions, so simply reared, were gathering new
vigour from each returning sun, while his own
exhausted cedars, which liad been transplanted
by one violent effort, were drooping their ma-
jestic heads in the Valley of Orez.*

It has been allowed, I believe, by all men of
taste, many of whom have been late visitants of
Constantinople, that if it were possible to survey
the whole globe with a view to fixing a seat of
universal empire, all who are capable of making
such a choice, would give their preference to the
city of Constantine, as including the great recom-
mendations of beauty, wealth, security, and emi-

* Tale of Mirglip the Persian, in the Tales of the Genii.

6 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

nence. Yet with all these advantages of situ-
ation and climate, and with all the architectural
splendour of its churches and halls, its quarries
of marble, and its treasure-houses of gold, the
imperial founder must himself have learned, that
although he could employ all these rich materials
in obedience to his own wish, it was the mind of
man itself, those intellectual faculties refined by
the ancients to the highest degree, which had
produced the specimens of talent, at which men
paused and wondered, whether as subjects of art
or of moral labour. The power of the Emperor
might indeed strip other cities of their statues
and their shrines, in order to decorate that which
he had fixed upon as his new capital ; but the
men who had performed great actions, and those,
almost equally esteemed, by whom such deeds
were celebrated, in poetry, in painting, and in
music, had ceased to exist. The nation, though
still the most civilized in the world, had passed
beyond that period of society, when the desire
of fair fame is of itself the sole or chief reward
for the labour of the historian or the poet, the
painter or the statuary. The slavish and des-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 7

potic constitution introduced into the empire,
had long since entirely destroyed that public
spirit which animated the free history of Rome,
leaving nothing but feeble recollections, which
produced no emulation.

To speak as of an animated substance, if Con-
stantine could have regenerated his new metro-
polis, by transfusing into it the vivifying and
vital principles of old Rome, — that brilliant spark
no longer remained for Constantinople to bor-
row, or for Rome to lend.

In one most important circumstance, the state
of the capital of Constantine had been totally
changed, and unspeakably to its advantage. The
world was now Christian, and, with the Pagan
code, had got rid of its load of disgracefid super-
stition. Nor is there the least doubt, that the
better faith produced its natural and desirable
fruits in society, in gradually ameliorating the
hearts, and taming the passions, of the people.
But while many of the converts were turning
meekly towards their new creed, some, in the
arrogance of their understanding, were limiting
the Scriptures by their own devices, and others

8 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

failed not to make religious character or spi-
ritual rank the means of rising to temporal
power. Thus it happened at this critical period,
that the effects of this great change in the reli-
gion of the country, although producing an
immediate harvest, as well as sowing much good
seed which was to grow hereafter, did not, in
the fourth century, flourish so as to shed at once
that predominating influence which its principles
might have taught men to expect.

Even the borrowed splendour, in which Con-
stantine decked his city, bore in it something
which seemed to mark premature decay. The
imperial founder, in seizing upon the ancient
statues, pictures, obelisks, and works of art, ac-
knowledged his own incapacity to supply their
place with tlie productions of later genius ; and
when the world, and particularly Rome, was
plundered to adorn Constantinople, the Emperor,
under whom the work was carried on, might be
compared to a prodigal youth, who strips an
aged parent of her youthful ornaments, in order
to decorate a flaunting paramour, on whose brow
all must consider them as misplaced.

COUNT nCCEIlT OF PAKIS. 9

Constantinople, therefore, when in 3*24 it first
arose in imperial majesty out of the humble By-
zantium, showed even in its birth, and amid its
adventitious splendour, as we have already said,
some intimations of that speedy decay to which
the whole civilized world, then limited within the
Roman empire, was internally and imperceptibly
tending. Nor was it many ages ere these prog-
nostications of declension were fully verified.

In the year 1080, Alexius Comnenus ascend-
ed the throne of the Empire, that is, he was
declared sovereign of Constantinople, its pre-
cincts and dependencies ; nor, if he was dis-
posed to lead a life of relaxation, would the
savage incursions of the Scythians or the Hun-
garians frequently disturb the imperial slumbers,
if limited to his own capital. It may be sup-
posed that this safety did not extend much far-
ther; for it is said that the Empress Pidcheria
had built a chui'ch to the Virgin Mary, as remote
as possible from the gate of the city, to save her
devotions from the risk of being interrupted by
the hostile yell of the barbarians, and the reigning

a2

10 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Emperor luid constructed a palace near the same
spot, and for the same reason.

Alexius Comnenus was in the condition of a
monarch who rather derives consequence from
the wealth and importance of his predecessors,
and the great extent of their original dominions,
than from what remnants of fortune had descend-
ed to the present generation. This Emperor,
except nominally, no more ruled over his dis-
membered provinces, than a half-dead horse can
exercise power over those limbs, on which the
hooded crow and the vulture have already begun
to settle and select their prey.

In different parts of his territory, different
enemies arose, who waged successful or dubious
war against the Emperor ; and, of the numerous
nations with whom he was engaged in hostilities,
whether the Franks from the west, the Turks
advancing from the east, the Cumans and Scy-
thians pouring their barbarous numbers and
unceasing storm of arrows from the north, and
the Saracens, or the tribes into which they
were divided, pressing from the south, there was
not one for whom the Grecian empire did not

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. IT

spread a tempting repast. Each of these various
enemies had their own particular habits of war,
and a way of manoeuvring in battle peculiar
to themselves. But the Roman, as the unfor-
tunate subject of the Greek empire was still
called, was by far the weakest, the most ignorant,
and most timid, who could be dragged into the
field; and the Emperor was happy in his own
good luck, when he found it possible to con-
duct a defensive war on a counterbalancing
principle, making use of the Scythian to repel
the Turk, or of both these savage people to drive
back the fiery-footed Frank, whom Peter the
Hermit had, in the time of Alexius, waked to
double fury, by the powerful influence of the
crusades.

If, therefore, Alexius Comnenus was, during
his anxious seat upon the throne of the East,
reduced to use a base and truckling course of
policy, — if he was sometimes reluctant to fight
when he had a conscious doubt of the valour of
his troops, — if he commonly employed cunning
and dissimulation instead of wisdom, and perfidy

12 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

instead of courage — his expedients were the dis-
grace of the age, rather than his own.

Again, the Emperor Alexius may be bhimed
for affecting a degree of state which was closely
allied to imbecility. He was proud of assuming
in his own person, and of bestowing upon others,
the painted show of various orders of nobility,
even now, when the rank within the prince's
gift was become an additional reason for the
free barbarian despising the imperial noble.
That the Greek court was encumbered with
unmeaning ceremonies, in order to make amends
for the want of that veneration which ought to
have been called forth by real worth, and the
presence of actual power, M^as not the parti-
cular fault of that prince, but belonged to the
system of the government of Constantinople for
ages. Indeed, in its trumpery etiquette, M'hich
provided rules for the most trivial points of a
man's behaviour during the day, the Greek em-
pire resembled no existing power in its minute
follies, except that of Pekin ; both, doul)tless,
being influenced by the same vain wish, to add
seriousness and an appearance of importance to

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 13

'objects, which, from their trivial nature, could
admit no such distinction.

Yet thus far we must justify Alexius, that,
humble as were the expedients he had recourse
to, they were more useful to his empire than the
measures of a more proud and high-spirited prince
might have proved in the same circumstances.
He was no champion to break a lance against
the breastplate of his Frankish rival, the famous
Bohemond of Antioch, but there were many
occasions on which he hazarded his life freely ;
and, so far as we can see, from a minute perusal
of his achievements, the Emperor of Greece was
never so dangerous " under shield," as when
any foeman desired to stop him while retreating
from a conflict in which he had been worsted.

But, besides that he did not hesitate, accord-
ing to the custom of the time, at least occasion-
ally to commit his person to the perils of close
combat, Alexius also possessed such knowledge
of a general's profession, as is required in our
modern days. He knew how to occupy military
positions to the best advantage, and often cover-
ed defeats, or improved dubious conflicts, in a

14 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

manner highly to the disappointment of those
who deemed that the work of war was done only
on the field of battle.

If Alexius Comnenus thus understood the
evolutions of war, he was still better skilled in
those of politics, where, soaring far above the
express purpose of his immediate negotiation, the
Emperor was sure to gain some important and
permanent advantage ; though very often he was
ultimately defeated by the unblushing fickleness,
or avowed treachery, of the barbarians, as the
Greeks generally termed all other nations, and
particularly those tribes, (they can hardly be
termed states,) by which their own empire was
surrounded.

We may conclude our brief character of
Comnenus, by saying, that, had he not been called
on to fill the station of a monarch who was under
the necessity of making himself dreaded, as one
who was exposed to all manner of conspiracies,
both in and out of his own family, he might, in
all probability, have been regarded as an honest
and humane prince. Certainly he showed him-
self a good-natured man, and dealt less in cutting

COUNT ROBEIIT OF PARIS. 15

oif heads and extinguishing eyes, than had been
the practice of his predecessors, who generally
took this method of shortening the ambitious
views of competitors.

It remains to be mentioned, that Alexius had
his full share of the superstition of the age,
which he covered with a species of hypocrisy.
It is even said, that his wife, Irene, who of course
was best acquainted with the real character of the
Emperor, taxed her dying husband with practi-
sing, in his last moments, the dissimulation which
had been his companion during life. He took
also a deep interest in all matters respecting the
church, where heresy, which the Emperor held,
or affected to hold, in great horror, appeared to
him to lurk. Nor do we discover in his treat-
ment of the Manichseans, or Paulicians, that
pity for their speculative errors, which modern
times might think had been well purchased by
the extent of the temporal services of these un-
fortunate sectaries. Alexius knew no indul-
gence for those who misinterpreted the mysteries'
of the church, or of its doctrines ; and the duty
of defending religion against schismatics was, in

6 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

his opinion, as peremptorily demanded from him,
as that of protecting the empire against the num-
berless tribes of barbarians who were encroaching
on its boundaries on every side.

Such a mixture of sense and weakness, of
meanness and dignity, of prudent discretion and
poverty of spirit, which last, in the European
mode of viewing things, approached to cowardice,
formed the leading traits of the character of
Alexius Comnenus, at a period M'hen the fate
of Greece, and all that was left in that country of
art and civilisation, was trembling in the balance,
and likely to be saved or lost, according to the
abilities of the Emperor for playing the very
difficult game which was put into his hands.

These few leading circumstances will recall,
to any one who is tolerably well read in history,
the peculiarities of the period at which we have
found a resting place for the foundation of our
story.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 17

CHAPTER II.

Othus. This superb successor .

Of the earth's mistress, as thou vainly speakest,
Stands midst these ages as, on the wide ocean,
The last spared fragment of a spacious land,
Tliat in some granil and awful ministration
Of mighty nature has engulfed been,
Doth hft aloft its dark and rocky cUffs
O'er the wild waste around, and sadly frowns
In lonely majesty.

Constantine Paleologus, Scene I.

Our scene in the capital of the Eastern Em-
pire opens at what is termed the Golden Gate of
Constantinople ; and it may be said in passing,
tliat this splendid epithetisnot so lightly bestowed
as may be expected from the inflated language
of the Greeks, which throws such an appearance
of exaggeration about them, their buildings, and
monuments.

The massive, and seemingly impregnable
walls with which Constantine surrounded the
city, were greatly improved and added to by

18 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Theoclosius, called the Great. A triumphal arch,
decorated with the architecture of a better, though
already a degenerate age, and serving, at the
same time, as an useful entrance, introduced the
stranger into the city. On the top, a statue of
bronze represented Victory, the goddess who had
inclined the scales of battle in favour of Theo-
dosius ; and, as the artist determined to be weal-
thy if he could not be tasteful, the gilded orna-
ments with which the inscriptions were set off,
readily led to the popular name of the gate. Fi-
gures carved in a distant and happier period of
the artj glanced from the walls, without assorting
happily with the taste in which these were built.
The more modern ornaments of the Golden
Gate bore, at the period of our story, an aspect
very different from those indicating the " con-
quest brought back to the city," and " the eternal
peace" which the flattering inscriptions recorded
as having been extorted by the sword of Tlieodo-
sius. Four or five military engines, for throwing
darts of the largest size, were placed upon the
summit of the arch ; and what had been originally
designed as a specimen of architectural embel-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 19

lishment, was now applied to the purposes of
defence.

It was tlie hour of evening, and the cool and
refreshing- breeze from the sea inclined each pas-
senger, whose business was not of a very urgent
description, to loiter on his way, and cast a glance
at the romantic gateway, and the various inte-
resting objects of nature and art, which the city
of Constantinople presented, as well to the in-
habitants as to strangers.

One individual, however, seemed to indulge
more wonder and curiosity than could have been
expected from a native of the city, and looked
upon the rarities around with a quick and startled
eye, that marked an imagination awakened by
sights that were new and strange. The appear-
ance of this person bespoke a foreigner of mili-
tary habits, who seemed, from his complexion,
to have his birthplace far from the Grecian me-
tropolis, whatever chance had at present brought
him to the Golden Gate, or whatever place he
filled in the Emperor's service.

This young man was about two-and-twenty
years old, remarkably finely-formed and athle-

•20 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

tic — qualities well understood by the citizens of
Constantinople, whose habits of frequenting the
public games had taught them at least an ac-
quaintance with the human person, and where,
in the select of their own countrymen, they saw
the handsomest specimens of the hinnan race.

These were, however, not generally so tall as
the stranger at the Golden Gate, while his pier-
cing blue eyes, and the fair hair which descended
from under a light helmet gaily ornamented with
silver, bearing on its summit a crest resembling
a dragon in the act of expanding its terrible jaws,
intimated a northern descent, to w^hich the ex-
treme purity of his complexion also bore witness.
His beauty, however, though he was eminently
distinguished both in features and in person, was
not liable to the charge of effeminacy. From
this it was rescued, both by his strength, and by
the air of confidence and self-possession with
which the youth seemed to regard the wonders
around him, not indicating the stupid and help-
less gaze of a mind equally inexperienced and in-
capable of receiving instruction, but expressing
the bold intellect which at once understands the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 21

greater part of the information which it receives,
and commands the spirit to toil in search of the
meaning of that which it has not comprehended,
or may fear it has misinterpreted. This look
of awakened attention and intelligence gave in-
terest to the young barbarian ; and while the
bystanders were amazed that a savage from some
unknown or remote corner of the universe should
possess a noble countenance bespeaking a mind
so elevated, tliey respected him for the compo-
sure with which he witnessed so many things,
the fashion, the splendour, nay, the very use of
which, must have been recently new to him.

The young man's personal equipments exhi-
bited a singular mixture of splendour and effe-
minacy, and enabled the experienced spectators
to ascertain his nation, and the capacity in which
he served. We have already mentioned the fanci-
ful and crested helmet, which was a distinction
of the foreigner, to which the reader must add in
liis imagination a small cuirass, or breastplate of
silver, so sparingly fashioned as obviously to
afford little security to the broad chest, on which
it rather hung like an ornament than covered as

22 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

a buckler; nor, if a well-thro wndart, or strongly-
shod arrow, should alight full on thisrich piece
of armour, was there much hope that it could
protect the bosom which it partially shielded.

From betwixt the shoulders hung down over
the back what had the appearance of a bearskin ;
but, when more closely examined, it was only a
very skilful imitation of the spoils of the chase,
being in reality a surcoat composed of strong
shaggy silk, so woven as to exhibit, at a little
distance, no inaccurate representation of a bear's
hide. A light crooked sword, or scimitar,
sheathed in a scabbard of gold and ivory, hung
by the left side of the stranger, the ornamented
hilt of which appeared much too small for the
large-jointed hand of the young Hercules who
was thus gaily attired. A dress, purple in colour,
and sitting close to the limbs, covered the body
of the soldier to a little above the knee ; from
thence the knees and legs were bare to the calf,
to which the reticulated strings of the sandals
rose from the instep, the ligatures being there
fixed by a golden coin of the reigning Emperor,
oonverted into a species of clasp for the purpose.

4,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 23

But a weapon wliicli seemed more particularly-
adapted to the young barbarian's size, and inca-
pable of being used by a man of less formidable
limbs and sinews, was a battle-axe, the firm iron-
guarded staff of which was formed of tough elm,
strongly inlaid and defended with brass, while
many a plate and ring were indented in the
handle, to hold the wood and the steel parts
together. The axe itself was composed of two
blades, turning diiferent ways, with a sharp steel
spike projecting from between them. The steel
part, both spike and blade, was burnished as
bright as a mirror ; and though its ponderous
size must have been burdensome to one weaker
than himself, yet the young soldier carried it as
carelessly along, as if it were but a feather's
weight. It was, indeed, a skilfully constructed
weapon, so well balanced, that it was much lighter
in striking and in recovery, than he who saw it in
the hands of another could easily have believed.

The carrying arms of itself showed that the
military man was a stranger. The native Greeks
had that mark of a civilized people, that they
never bore weapons during the time of peace,

24 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

unless the wearer chanced to be numbered
among those whose military profession and em-
ployment required them to be always in arms.
Such soldiers by profession were easily distin-
guished from the peaceful citizens ; and it was
with some evident show of fear as well as dislike,
that the passengers observed to eacli other that the
stranger was a Varangian, an expression which
intimated a barbarian of the imperial body-guard.
To supply the deficiency of valour among
his own subjects, and to procure soldiers who
should be personally dependent on the Empe-
ror, the Greek sovereigns had been, for a great
many years, in the custom of maintaining in
their pay, as near their person as they coidd, the
steady services of a select number of mercenaries
in the capacity of body-guards, which were
numerous enough, when their steady discipline
and inflexible loyalty were taken in conjunction
with their personal strength and indomitable
courage, to defeat, not only any traitorous
attempt on the imperial person, but to quell
open rebellions, unless such were supported by
a great proportion of the military force. Their

8

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 25

pay was therefore liberal ; tlieir rank and esta-
blished character for prowess gave them a degree
of consideration among the people, whose repu-
tation for valour had not for some ages stood
high ; and if, as foreigners, and the members of
a privileged body, the Varangians were some-
times employed in arbitrary and unpopular ser-
vices, the natives were so apt to fear, while they
disliked them, that the hardy strangers disturbed
tliemselves but little about the light in -which
they were regarded by the inhabitants of Con-
stantinople. Their dress and accoutrements,
while -udthin the city, partook of the rich, or
rather gaudy costume, which we have described,
bearing only a sort of affected resemblance to
that which the Varangians wore in their native
forests. But the individuals of this select corps
were, when their services were required beyond
the city, furnished with armour and weapons
more resembling those which they were accus-
tomed to wield in their own country, possessing
much less of the splendour of war, and a far
greater portion of its effective terrors ; and thus
they were summoned to take the field.

This body of Varangians (which term is, ac-

vov. I. B

20 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

cording to one interpretation, merely a general
expression for barbarians) was, in an early age
of the empire, formed of the roving and piratical
inhabitants of the north, whom a love of adven-
ture, the greatest perhaps that ever was indul-
ged, and a contempt of danger, which never had
a parallel in the history of human nature, drove
forth upon the pathless ocean. " Piracy," says
Gibbon, with his usual spirit, " was the exercise,
the trade, the glory, and the virtue of the Scan-
dinavian youth. Impatient of a bleak climate and
narrow limits, they started from the banquet,
grasped their arms, sounded their horn, ascended
their ships, and explored every coast that pro-
mised either spoil or settlement." *

The conquests made in France and Britain by
these wild sea-kings, as they were called, have
obscured the remembrance of other northern
champions, who, long before the time of Com-
nenus, made excursions as far as Constantinople,
and witnessed with their own eyes the wealth
and the weakness of the Grecian empire itself.

* Decline and Fall of tl:e Roman Empire. Chapter LV. \o\. X.
p. 221, 8vo edition.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 27

Numbers found their way tliitlier tlirough the
pathless wastes of Russia ; others navigated the
jNIediterranean in their sea-serpents, as they
termed their piratical vessels. The Emperors,
terrified at the appearance of these daring inha-
bitants of the frozen zone, had recourse to the
usual policy of a rich and unwarlike people,
bought with gold the service of their swords,
and thus formed a corps of satellites more dis-
tinguished for valour than the famed Praetorian
Bands of Rome, and, perhaps because fewer in
number, unalterably loyal to their new princes.
But, at a later period of the empire, it began
to be more difficidt for the Emperors to obtain
recruits for their favourite and selected corps,
the northern nations having now in a great mea-
sure laid aside the piratical and roving habits,
which had driven their ancestors from the straits
of Elsinore to those of Sestos and Abydos. The
corps of the Varangians must therefore have died
out, or have been filled up with less worthy
materials, had not the conquests made by the
Normans in the far distant west, sent to the aid
of Comnenus a large body of the dispossessed
inhabitants of the islands of Britain, and parti-

28 COUNT hobeut of paris.

cularly of England, who furnished recruits to
his chosen body-guard. These were, in fact,
Anglo-Saxons; but, in the confused idea of geo-
graphy received at the court of Constantinople,
they were naturally enough called Anglo-Danes,
as their native country was confounded with the
Thule of the ancients, by which expression the
archipelago of Zetland and Orkney is properly
to be understood, though, according to the no-
tions of the Greeks, it comprised either Den-
mark or Britain. The emigrants, however, spoke
a language not very dissimilar to the original Va-
rangians, and adopted the name more readily,
that it seemed to remind them of their unhappy
fate, the appellation being in one sense capable
of being interpreted as exiles. Excepting one
or two chief commanders, whom the Emperor
judged worthy of such high trust, the Varangians
were officered by men of their own nation ; and
with so many privileges, being joined by many
of their countrymen from time to time, as the
crusades, pilgrimages, or discontent at home,
drove fresh supplies of the Anglo-Saxons, or
Anglo-Danes, to the east, the Varangians sub-
sisted in strength to the last days of the Greek

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 29

empire, retaining; their native language, along
with the unblemished loyalty, and unabated mar-
tial spirit, which characterised their fathers.

This account of the Varangian guard is strictly
historical, and might be proved by reference to
the Byzantine historians ; most of whom, and
also Villehardouin's account of the taking of the
city of Constantinople by the Franks and Vene-
tians, make repeated mention of this celebrated
and singular body of Englishmen, forming a
mercenary guard attendant on the person of the
Greek Emperors.*

Having said enough to explain why an indi-
vidual Varano-ian should be strolling about the
Golden Gate, we may proceed in the story which
we have commenced.

Let it not be thought extraordinary, that this
soldier of the life-guard should be looked upon
with some degree of curiosity by the passing
citizens. It must be supposed, that, from their
peculiar duties, they were not encouraged to

* Ducange has poured forth a tide of learning on this curious
subject, which wiU be found in the Notes on Villehardouin's Con-
stantinople under the French Emperors Paris, 1637, foho, p.

196. Gibbon's History may also be consulted, Vol. X. p. 231.

30 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

hold frequent intercourse or communication with
the inhabitants ; and, besides that they had du-
ties of police occasionally to exercise amongst
them, which made them generally more dreaded
than beloved, they were at the same time con-
scious, that their high pay, splendid appoint-
ments, and immediate dependence on the Em-
peror, were subjects of envy to the other forces.
They, therefore, kept much in the neighbour-
hood of their own barracks, and were seldom
seen straggling remote from them, unless they
had a commission of government intrusted to
their charge.

This being the case, it was natural that a people
so curious as the Greeks should busy themselves
in eyeing the stranger as he loitered in one spot,
or wandered to and fro, like a man who either
could not find some place which he was seeking,
or had failed to meet some person with whom he
had an appointment, for which the ingenuity of
the passengers found a thousand different and
inconsistent reasons. " A Varangian," said one
citizen to anotlier, " and upon duty — ahem !
Then I presume to say in your ear "

" What do you imagine is his object?" en-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 31

quired the party to whom this information was
addressed.

" Gods and goddesses ! do you think I can
tell you? but suppose that he is lurking- here to
hear what folk say of the Emperor," answered
the quidnunc of Constantinople.

" That is not likely," said the querist ; " these
Varangians do not speak our language, and are
not extremely well fitted for spies, since few of
them pretend to any intelligible notion of the
Grecian tongue. It is not likely, I think, that
the Emperor would employ as a spy a man who
did not understand the language of the country."

" But if there are, as all men fancy," an-
swered the politician, " persons among these
barbarian soldiers who can speak almost all lan-
guages, you will admit that such are excellently
qualified for seeing clearly around them, since
they possess the talent of beholding and report-
ing, while no one has the slightest idea of sus-
pecting them."

" It may well be," replied his companion; " but
since we see so clearly the fox's foot and paws
protruding from beneath the seeming sheep's
fleece, or rather, by your leave, the bear's hide

32 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

yonder, had wc not better be jogging home-
ward, ere it be pretended we have insulted a
Varangian guard ?"

This surmise of danger insinuated by the
last speaker, who was a much older and more
experienced politician than his friend, deter-
mined both on a hasty retreat. They adjusted
their cloaks, caught hold of each other's arm,
and, speaking fast and thick as they started new
subjects of suspicion, they sped, close coupled
together, towards their habitations, in a diiferent
and distant quarter of the town.

In the meantime, the sunset was nigh over;
and the long shadows of the walls, bulwarks,
and arches, were projecting from the westward
in deeper and blacker shade. The Varangian
seemed tired of the short and lingering circle
in which he had now trodden for more than an
hour, and in which he still loitered like an unli-
berated spirit, which cannot leave the haunted
spot till licensed by the spell which has brought
it thither. Even so the barbarian, casting an
impatient glance to the sun, which was setting
in a blaze of light behind a rich grove of cypress-
trees, looked for some accommodation on the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 33

benclies of stone wliicli were placed under sha-
dow of the triumphal arch of Theodosius, drew
the axe, which was his principal weapon, close
to his side, wrapped his cloak about him, and,
though his dress was not in other respects a fit
attire for slumber, any more than the place well
selected for repose, yet in less than three minutes
he was fast asleep. The irresistible impulse
which induced him to seek for repose in a place
very indifferently fitted for the purpose, might
be weariness consequent upon the military vigils,
which had proved a part of his duty on the pre-
ceding evening. At the same time, his spirit was
so alive within him, even while. he gave way to
this transient fit of oblivion, that he remained
almost awake even with shut eyes, and no hound
ever seemed to sleep more lightly than our
Ano:lo- Saxon at the Golden Gate of Constanti-
nople.

And now the sluml>erer, as the loiterer had
been before, was the subject of observation to
the accidental passengers. Two men entered the
porch in company. One was a somewhat slight-
made, but alert-looking man, by name Lysima-
chus, and by profession a designer. A roll of pa-

b2

34 COUNT ROBERT OF TxVRIS.

per in his hand, with a little satchel containing a
few chalks, or pencils, completed his stock in
trade ; and his acquaintance with the remains of
ancient art gave him a power of talking on the
su1)ject, which unfortunately bore more than due
proportion to his talents of execution. His com-
panion, a magnificent-looking man in form, and
so far resembling the young barbarian, but more
clov^Tiish and peasant-like in the expression of
his features, was Stephanos the wrestler, well
known in the Palestra.

" Stop here, my friend," said the artist, pro-
ducing his pencils, " till I make a sketch for
my youthful Hercules."

" I thought Hercules had been a Greek,"
said the wrestler. " This sleeping animal is a
barbarian."

The tone intimated some offence, and the de-
signer hastened to soothe the displeasure which
he had thoughtlessly excited. Stephanos, known
by the surname of Castor, who was highly dis-
tinguished for gymnastic exercises, was a sort
of patron to the little artist, and not unlikely by
his own reputation to bring the talents of his
friend into notice.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 35

" Beauty and strength," said tlie adroit artist,
" are of no particular nation ; and may our Muse
never deign me her prize, but it is my greatest
pleasure to compare them, as existing in the
uncultivated savage of the north, and when they
are found in the darling of an enlightened people,
who has added the height of gymnastic skill to
the most distinguished natural qualities, such as
we can now only see in the works of Phidias
and Praxiteles — or in our living model of the
gymnastic champions of antiquity."

" Nay, I acknowledge that the Varangian is
a proper man," said the athletic hero, softening
his tone ; " but the poor savage hath not, per-
haps in his lifetime, had a single drop of oil on
his bosom ! Hercules instituted the Isthmian
Games "

" But, hold ! what sleeps he with, \\Tapt so
close in his bear-skin ?" said the artist. " Is it
a club ?"

" Away, away, my friend !" cried Stephanos*,
as they looked closer on the sleeper. " Do you
not know that is the instrument of their barba-
rous office ? They do not war with swords or
lances, as if destined to attack men of flesh and

86 COUNT llOBEUT OF PARIS.

blood ; but with maces and axes, as if tliey were
to hack limbs formed of stone, and sinews of oak.
I will M'ager my crown [of withered parsley}
that he lies here to arrest some distinguished
commander who has offended the government !
He would not have been thus formidably armed
otherwise — Away, away, good Lysimachus ; let
us respect the slumbers of the bear."

So saying, the champion of the Palestra
made off with less apparent confidence than his
size and strength might have inspired.

Others, now thinly straggling, passed onward
as the evening closed, and the shadows of the
cypref5s-trees fell darker around. Two females
of the lower rank cast their eyes on the sleeper.
" Holy Maria !" said one, " if he does not put
me in mind of the Eastern tale, how the Genie
brought a gallant young prince from his nuptial
chamber in Egypt, and left him sleeping at the
gate of Damascus. I will awake the poor lamb,
lest he catch harm from the night dew."

" Harm ?" answered the older and crosser-
looking woman. " Ay, such harm as the cold
water of the Cydnus does to the wild swan.
A lamb ? — ay, forsooth ! Why he's a wolf or a

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 3?

bear, at least a Varangian, and no modest matron
would excliange a word with such an unman-
nered barbarian. I'll tell you wliat one of these
English Danes did to me "

So saying, she drew on her companion, who
followed with some reluctance, seeming to listen
to her gabble, while she looked back upon the
sleeper.

The total disappearance of the sun, and nearly
at the same time the departure of the twilight,
which lasts so short time in that tropical region
• — one of the few advantages which a more tem-
perate climate possesses over it, being the longer
continuance of that sweet and placid light — gave
signal to the warders of the city to shut the fold-
ing leaves of the Golden Gate, leaving a wicket
lightly bolted for the passage of those whom
business might have detained too late without
the walls, and indeed for all who chose to pay a
small coin. The position and apparent insensi-
bility of the Varangian did not escape those who
had charge of the gate, of whom there was a
strong guard which belonged to the ordinary
Greek forces.

" By Castor and by Pollux," said the centu-

J_ \J .Hi -*- «> vi

38 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

rion, — for the Greeks swore by the ancient deities,
although they no longer worshipped them, and
preserved those military distinctions with which
" the steady Romans shook the world," although
they were altogether degenerated from their ori-
ginal manners, — " By Castor and Pollux, com-
rades, we cannot gather gold in this gate, ac-
cording as its legend tells us ; yet it will be our
fault if we cannot glean a goodly crop of silver ;
and though the golden age be the most ancient
and honourable, yet in this degenerate time it is
much if we see a glimpse of the inferior metal."

" Unworthy are we to follow the noble cen-
turion Harpax," answered one of the soldiers of
the watch, who showed the shaven head and the
single tuft of a Mussulman, " if we do not hold
silver a sufficient cause to bestir ourselves, when
there has been no gold to be had — as, by the
faith of an honest man, I think we can hardly
tell its colour, — whether out of the imperial
treasury, or obtained at the expense of indivi-
duals, for many long moons."

" But this silver," said the centurion, " thou
shalt see with thine own eye, and hear it ring
a knell in the purse which holds our common
stock."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 39

" Wliich did hold it, as tliou woiildst say,
most valiant commander," replied the inferior
warder ; " but what that purse holds now, save
a few miserable oboli for purchasing certain pick-
led potherbs and salt fish, to relish our allow-
ance of stummed wine, I cannot tell, but will-
ingly give my share of the contents to the devil,
if either purse or platter exhibits symptom of
any age richer than the age of copper."

" I will replenish our treasury," said the cen-
turion, " were our stock yet lower than it is.
Stand up close by the wicket, my masters. Be-
think you, we are the- imperial guards, or the
guards of the Imperial City, it is all one, and
let us have no man rush past us on a sudden ; —
and now that we are on our guard, I will unfold

to you But stop," said the valiant centurion,

" are we all here true brothers? Do all well
understand the an-cient and laudable customs of
our watch, — keeping all things secret which con-
cern the profit and advantage of this our vigil,
and aiding and abetting the common cause, with-
out information or treachery ?"

" You are strangely suspicious to-night," an-
swered the sentinel. " Methinks we have stood

40 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

by you without tale-telling in matters wliich
were more weighty. Have you forgot the pas-
sage of the jeweller — which was neither the gold
nor silver age; but if there were a diamond
one "

" Peace, good Ismail the Infidel," said the
centurion, — " for, I thank Heaven, we are of all
religions, so it is to be hoped we must have the
true one amongst us, — Peace, I say; it is unne-
cessary to prove thou canst keep new secrets, by
ripping up old ones. Come hither — look through
the wicket to the stone bench, on the shady side
of the grand porch — tell me, old lad, what dost
thou see there ?"

" A man asleep," said Ismail. " By Hea-
ven, I think from what I can see by the moon-
light, that it is one of those barbarians, one of
those island dogs, whom the Emperor sets such
store by !"

" And can thy fertile brain," said the centu-
rion, " spin nothing out of his present situation,
tending towards our advantage ?"

" Why, ay," said Ismail ; " they have large
pay, though they are not only barbarians, but
pagan dogs, in comparison with us Moslems and

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 41

Nazareues. That fellow hath besotted himself
with liquor, and hath not found his way home to
his barracks in good time. He will be severely
punished, unless we consent to admit him ; and
to prevail on us to do so, he must empty the
contents of his girdle."

" That, at least — that, at least," answered the
soldiers of the city watch, but carefully sup-
pressing their voices, though they spoke in an
eager tone.

" And is that all that you would make of such
an opportunity?" said Harpax, scornfully. " No,
no, comrades. If this outlandish animal indeed
escape us, he must at least leave his fleece
behind. See you not the gleams from his head-
piece and his cuirass ? I presume these betoken
substantial silver, though it may be of the thin-
nest. There Kes the silver mine I spoke of,
ready to enrich the dexterous hands who shall
labour it."

" But," said timidly, a young Greek, a com-
panion of their watch lately enlisted in the corps,
and unacquainted with their habits, " still this
barbarian, as you call him, is a soldier of the
Emperor ; and if we are convicted of depriving

42 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

him of his arms, we shall be justly punished for
a military crime."

" Hear to a new Lyeurgus come to teach
us our duty !" said the centurion. " Learn first,
young man, that the metropolitan cohort never
can commit a crime, and learn next, of course,
that they can never be convicted of one. Suppose
we found a straggling barbarian, a Varangian,
like this slumberer, perhaps a Frank, or some
other of these foreigners bearing unpronounce-
able names, while they dishonour us by putting
on the arms and apparel of the real Roman sol-
dier, are we, placed to defend an important post,
to admit a man so suspicious within our postern,
when the event may probably be to betray both
the Golden Gate and the hearts of gold who
guard it, — to have the one seized, and the throats
of the others handsomely cut ?"

" Keep him without side the gate then,"
replied the novice, " if you think him so danger-
ous. For my part, I should not fear him, were he
deprived of that huge double-edged axe, which
gleams from under his cloak, having a more
deadly glare than the comet which astrologers
prophesy such strange things of."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 43

" Nay, then we agree together," answered
Harpax, " and you speak like a youth of modesty
and sense ; and I promise you the state will lose
nothing in the despoiling of this same barbarian.
Each of these savages hath a double set of
accoutrements, the one wrought with gold, sil-
ver, inlaid work, and ivory, as becomes their
duties in the prince's household ; the other
fashioned of triple steel, strong, weighty, and
irresistible. Now, in taking from this suspi-
cious character his silver helmet and cuirass,
you reduce him to his proper weapons, and you
will see him start up in arms fit for duty."

" Yes," said the novice ; " but I do not see
that tliis reasoning will do more than warrant
our stripping the Varangian of his armour, to
be afterwards heedfully returned to him on the
morrow, if he prove a true man. How, I know
not, but I had adopted some idea that it was to
be confiscated for our joint behoof."

" Unquestionably," said Harpax ; " for such
has been the rule of our watch ever since the
days of the excellent centurion Sisyphus, in
whose time it was first determined, that all con-
traband commodities, or suspicious weapons, or

44 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the like, wliieli were brought into the city during-
the night-watch, shouhl be uniformly forfeited
to tlie use of the sohliery of the guard ; and
where the Emperor finds the goods or arms un-
j ustly seized, I hope he is rich enough to make it
up to tlie sufferer."

" But still— but still," said Sebastes of Mity-
lene, the young Greek aforesaid, " were the
Emperor to discover "

" Ass !" replied Harpax, " he cannot discover
if he had all the eyes of Argus's tail. — Here are
twelve of us, sworn according to the rules of the
watch to abide in the same story. Here is a
barbarian, who, if he remembers any thing of
the matter — which I greatly doubt — his choice of
a lodging arguing his familiarity with the wine-
pot — tells but a wild tale of losing his armour,
which we, my masters," (looking round to his
companions,) " deny stoutly — I hope we have
courage enough for that — and which party will be
believed? The companions of the watch, surely."

" Quite the contrary," said Sebastes. " I was
born at a distance from hence; yet, even in
the island of Mitylene, the rumour had reached
me that the cavaliers of the city-guard of Con-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 45

stantlnople were so accomplished in falsehood,
that the oath of a single barbarian would out-
weigh the Christian oath of the whole body, if
Christian some of them are — for example, this
dark man with a single tuft on his head."

" And if it were even so," said the centurion,
with a gloomy and sinister look, " there is an-
other way of making the transaction a safe one."

Sebastes, fixing his eye on his commander,
moved his hand to the hilt of an Eastern poniard
which he wore, as if to penetrate his exact mean-
ing. The centurion nodded in acquiescence.

" Young as I am," said Sebastes, "I have
been already a pirate five years at sea, and a
robber three years now in the hills, and it is the
first time I have seen or heard a man hesitate, in
such a case, to take the only part which is worth
a brave man's while to resort to in a pressing-
affair."

Harpax struck his hand into that of the soldier,
as sharing his uncompromising sentiments ; but
when he spoke, it was in a tremulous voice.

" How shall we deal with him ?" said he to
Sebastes, who, from the most raw recruit in the

46 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

corps, had now risen to the highest place in his
estimation.

" Any liow," returned the islander ; " I see
bows here and shafts, and if no other person can
use them "

" They are not," said the centurion, " the
regular arms of our corps."

" The fitter you to guard the gates of a
city," said the young soldier with a horse-laugh,
which had something insulting in it. " Well —
be it so. I can shoot like a Scythian," he pro-
ceeded ; " nod but with your head, one shaft
shall crash among the splinters of his skull and
his brains ; the second shall quiver in his heart."

" Bravo, my noble comrade !" said Harpax, in
a tone of affected rapture, always lowering his
voice, however, as respecting the slumbers of
the Varangian. " Such were the robbers of
ancient days, the Diomedes, Corynetes, Synnes,
Scyron, Procrustes, whom it required demigods
to bring to what was miscalled justice, and
whose compeers and fellows will remain masters
of the continent and the isles of Greece, until
Hercules and Theseus shall again appear upon
earth. Nevertheless, shoot not, my valiant Se-

6

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 47

bastes — draw not the bow, my invaluable Mity-
lenian ; you may wound and not kill."

" I am little wont to do so," said Sebastes,
again repeating the hoarse, chuckling, discord-
ant laugh, which grated upon the ears of the
centurion, though he could hardly tell the rea-
son why it was so uncommonly unpleasant.

" If I look not about me," was his internal
reflection, " we shall have two centurions of the
watch, instead of one. This Mitylenian, or be
he who the devil will, is a bow's length beyond
me. I must keep my eye on him." He then
spoke aloud, in a tone of authority. " But
come, young man, it is hard to discourage a
young beginner. If you have been such a
rover of wood and river as you tell us of, you
know how to play the Sicarius : there lies your
object, drunk or asleep, we know not which; —
you will deal with him in either case."

" Will you give me no odds to stab a stupi-
fied or drunken man, most noble centurion ?"
answered the Greek. " You would perhaps love
the commission yoiu'self ?" he continued, some-
what ironically.

" Do as you are directed, friend," said Harpax,

48 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

pointing to the turret staircase wliieli led down
from the battlement to the arched entrance un-
derneath the porch.

" He has the true cat-like stealthy pace," half
muttered the centurion, as his sentinel descended
to do such a crime as he was posted there to
prevent. " This cockerel's comb must be cut, or
he will become king of the roost. But let us see
if his hand be as resolute as his tongue ; then we
will consider what turn to give to the conclusion."

As Harpax spoke between his teeth, and rather
to himself than any of his companions, the Mity-
lenian emerged from under the archway, tread- •
ing on tiptoe, yet swiftly, with an admirable mix-
ture of silence and celerity. His poniard, drawn
as he descended, gleamed in his hand, which
was held a little behind the rest of his person, so
as to conceal it. The assassin hovered less than
an instant over the sleeper, as if to mark the
interval between the ill-fitted silver corslet, and
the body which it was designed to protect, when,
at the instant the blow M'as about to descend,
the Varangian started up at once, arrested the
armed hand of the assassin, by striking it upwards
with the head of his battle-axe ; and while he

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 49

thus parried the intended stab, struck the Greek
a blow heavier than Sebastes had ever learned
at the Pancration, which left him scarce the
power to cry help to his comrades on the battle-
ments. They saw what had happened, however,
and beheld the barbarian set his foot on their
companion, and brandish high his formidable
weapon, the whistling sound of which made the
old arch ring ominously, while he paused an
instant, with his weapon upheaved, ere he o-ave
the finishing blow to his enemy. The warders
made a bustle, as if some of them would descend
to the assistance of Sebastes, without, however,
appearing very eager to do so, when Harpax, in
a rapid whisper, commanded them to stand fast.
" Each man to his place," he said, " happen
what may. Yonder comes a captain of the
guard — the secret is our own, if the savage has
killed the Mitylenian, as I well trust, for he
stirs neither hand nor foot. But if he lives, my
comrades, make hard your faces as flint — he is
but one man, we are twelve. We know nothino-
of his purpose, save that he went to see where-
fore the barbarian slept so near the post."

VOL. I. c

50 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

While the centurion thus bruited his purpose
in busy insinuation to the companions of his
watch, the stately figure of a tall soldier, richly
armed, and presenting a lofty crest, which glist-
ened as he stept from the open moonlight into-
the shade of the vault, became visible beneath.
A whisper passed among the warders on the top
of the gate.

" Draw bolt, shut gate, come of the Mityle-
nian what will," said the centurion ; " we are
lost men if we own him. — Here comes the chief
of the Varangian axes, the Follower himself."

" Well, Hereward," said the officer who
came last upon the scene, in a sort of lingua
Franca, generally used by the barbarians of the
guard, " hast thou caught a night-hawk ?"

*' Ay, by Saint George !" answered the sol-
dier ; " and yet, in my country, we would call
him but a kite."

" What is he?" said the leader.

" He will tell you that himself," replied the
Varangian, " wdien I take my grasp from his
windpipe."

" Let him go, then," said the officer.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 51

The Englisliman did as he was commanded ;
but, escaping as soon as he felt himself at liberty,
with an alertness which could scarce have been
anticipated, the Mitylenian rushed out at the
arch, and, availing himself of the complicated
ornaments which had originally graced the ex-
terior of the gateway, he fled around buttress
and projection, closely pursued by the Varan-
gian, who, cumbered with his armour, was hardly
a match in the course for the light-footed Gre-
cian, as he dodged his pursuer from one skulking
place to another. The officer laughed heartily,
as the two figures, like shadows appearing, and
disappearing as suddenly, held rapid flight and
chase around the Arch of Theodosius.

" By Hercules ! it is Hector pursued round
the walls of Ilion by Achilles," said the officer ;
" but my Pelides will scarce overtake the son of
Priam. — What, ho ! goddess-born — son of the
white-footed Thetis ! — But the allusion is lost
on the poor savage — Hollo, Here ward ! I say,
stop — know thine own most barbarous name."
These last words were muttered; then raising
his voice, " Do not out-run thy vnnd, good Here-

52 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

ward. Thou mayst have more occasion for breath
to-night."

" If it had been my leader's will," answered
the Varangian, coming back in sulky mood, and
breathing like one who had been at the top of
his speed, " I would have had him as fast as ever
greyhound held hare ere I left off the chase.
Were it not for this foolish armour, which en-
cumbers without defending one, I would not
have made two bounds without taking him by
the throat."

" As well as it is," said the officer, who was,
in fact, the Acouloutos, or Folloiver, so called
because it was the duty of this highly-trusted
officer of the Varangians constantly to attend
on the person of the Emperor. " But let us
now see by what means we are to regain our
entrance through the gate : for if, as I suspect,
it was one of those warders -who was willing to
have played thee a trick, his companions may
not let us enter willingly."

" And is it not," said the Varangian, " your
Valour's duty to probe this want of discipline to
the bottom ?"

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 53

" Hush tliee here, my simple-minded savage !
I have often tokl you, most ignorant Here-
ward, that the skulls of those who come from
your cold and muddy Boeotia of the North, are
fitter to bear out twenty blows with a sledge-
hammer, than turn off one witty or ingenious
idea. But follow me, Hereward, and althougli
I am aware that showing the fine meshes of
Grecian policy to the coarse eye of an unprac-
tised barbarian like thee, is much like casting
pearls before swine, a thing forbidden in the
Blessed Gospel, yet, as thou hast so good a
heart, and so trusty, as is scarce to be met
with among my Varangians themselves, I care
not if, while thou art in attendance on my per-
son, I endeavour to indoctrinate thee in some of
that policy by which I myself — the Follower —
the Chief of the Varangians, and therefore erect-
ed by their axes into the most valiant of the
valiant, am content to guide myself, although
every way qualified to bear me through the cross
currents of the court by main pull of oar and
press of sail — a condescension in me, to do that
by policy, which no man in this imperial court,

54 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the chosen spliere of superior wits, could so well
accomplish by open force as myself. What
think'st thou, good savage ?"

" I knoM^" answered the Varangian, who
walked about a step and a half behind his leader,
like an orderly of the present day behind his of-
ficer's shoulder, " I would be sorry to trouble
my head with what I could do by my hands at
once."

" Did I not say so?" said the Follower, who
had now for som'e minutes led the way from the
Golden Gate, and was seen gliding along the
outside of the moonlight walls, as if seeking an
entrance elsewhere. " Lo, such is the stuff of
which what you call your head is made ! Your
hands and arms are perfect Achitophels, com-
pared to it. Hearken to me, thou most ignorant
of all animals, — but, for that very reason, thou
stoutest of confidents, and bravest of soldiers, —
I will tell thee the very riddle of this night-
work, and yet, even then, I doubt if thou canst
understand me."

" It is my present duty to try to comprehend
your Valour," said the Varangian — " I would say

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 55

your policy, since you condescend to expound
it to me. As for your valour," he added, " I
should be unlucky if I did not think I under-
stand its length and breadth already."

The Greek general coloured a little, but re-
plied, with unaltered voice, " True, good Here-
ward. We have seen each other in battle."

Hereward here could not suppress a short
cough, which, to those grammarians of the day
who were skilful in applying the use of accents,
would have implied no peculiar eulogium on this
officer's military bravery. Indeed, during their
whole intercourse, the conversation of the gene-
ral, in spite of his tone of affected importance
and superiority, displayed an obvious respect for
his companion, as one who, in many points of
action, might, if brought to the test, prove a more
effective soldier than himself. On the other hand,
when the powerful Northern warrior replied,
although it was with all observance of discipline
and duty, yet the discussion might sometimes
resemble that between an ignorant macaroni
officer, before the Duke of York's reformation
of the British army^ and a steady sergeant of

56 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the regiment in which they both served. There
was a consciousness of superiority, disguised by
external respect, and half admitted by the leader.

" You will grant me, my simple friend,"
continued the chief, in the same tone as before,
" in order to lead thee by a short passage into
the deepest principle of policy which pervades
this same court of Constantinople, that the favour
of the Emperor" — (here the officer raised his
casque, and the soldier made a semblance of
doing so also) — " who (be the place where he
puts his foot sacred!) is the vivifying principle
of the sphere in which we live, as the sun itself
is that of humanity "

" I have heard something like this said by our
tribunes," said the Varangian.

" It is their duty so to instruct you," answered
the leader ; " and I trust that the priests also, in
their sphere, forget not to teach my A'arangians
their constant service to their Emperor."

" They do not omit it," replied the soldier,
" though we of the exiles know our duty."

" God forbid I should doubt it," said the com-
mander of the Battle-axes. " All I mean is to

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 57

make thee understand, my dear Hereward, tliat
as there are, though perhaps such do not exist
in thy dark and gloomy climate, a race of insects
which are born in the first rays of the morning,
and expire with those of sunset, (thence called
by us ephemerae, as enduring one day only,)
such is the case of a favourite at court, while
enjoying the smiles of the most sacred Emperor.
And happy is he whose favour, rising as the
person of the sovereign emerges from the level
space which extends around the throne, displays
itself in the first imperial blaze of glory, and who,
keeping his post during the meridian splendour
of the crown, has only the fate to disappear and
die with the last beam of imperial brightness."

" Your Valour," said the islander, " speaks
higher language than my northern wits are able
to comprehend. Only, methinks, rather than
part with life at the sunset, I would, since insect
I must needs be, become a moth for two or three
dark hours."

" Such is the sordid desire of the x-ulgar,
Hereward," answered the Follower, with assumed
superiority, " who are contented to enjoy life,

c2

58 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

lacking distinction; wliereas we, on tlie otlier
hand, we of choicer qnality, who form the near-
est and innermost circle around the Imperial
Alexius, in which he himself forms the central
point, are watchful, to woman's jealousy, of the
distribiition of his favours, and omit no opportu-
nity, whether by leaguing with or against each
other, to recommend ourselves individually to
the peculiar light of his countenance."

" I think I comprehend what you mean,"
said the guardsman ; " although, as for living
such a life of intrigue — but that matters not."

" It does indeed matter not, my good Here-
ward," said his officer, " and thou art lucky in
having no appetite for the life I have described.
Yel> have I seen barbarians rise high in the em-
pire, and if they have not altogether the flexi-
bility, the malleability, as it is called — that happy
ductility which can give way to circumstances,
I have yet known those of barbaric tribes, espe-
cially if bred up at court fi-om their youth, who
joined to a limited portion of this flexile quality
enough of a certain tough dural)ility of temper,
which, if it does not excel in availing itself of

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 59

opportunity, has no contemptible talent at cre-
ating it. But letting comparisons pass, it fol-
lows, from this emulation of glory, that is, of
royal favour, amongst the servants of the im-
perial and most sacred court, that each is de-
sirous of distinguishing himself by shovi^ing to
the Emperor, not only that he fully understands
the duties of his own employments, but that he
is capable, in case of necessity, of discharging
those of others."

" I understand," said the Saxon ; " and
thence it happens that the under ministers, sol-
diers, and assistants of the great crown-officers,
are perpetually engaged, not in aiding each
other, but in acting as spies on their neighbours'
actions ?"

" Even so," answered the commander; " it is
but few days since I had a disagreeable instance
of it. Every one, however dull in the intellect,
hath understood this much, that the great Proto-
spathaire, which title thou knowest signifies the
general-in-chief of the forces of the empire, hath
me at hatred, because I am the leader of those
redoubtable Varangians, who enjoy, and well

60 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

deserve, privileges exempting tliem from the
absolute command which he possesses over all
other corps of the army — an authority which
becomes Nicanor, notvvitlistanding the ^-ictorious
sound of his name, nearly as well as a war-saddle
would become a bullock."

" How !" said the Varangian, " does the
Proto-spathaire pretend to any authority over
the noble exiles? — By the red dragon, under
which we will live and die, we will obey no man
alive but Alexius Comnenus himself, and our
own officers !"

" Rightly and bravely resolved," said the
leader ; " but, my good Hereward, let not your
just indignation hurry you so far as to name
the most sacred Emperor, without raising your
hand to your casque, and adding the epithets of
his lofty rank."

" I will raise my hand often enough and high
enough," said the Norseman, " when the Empe-
ror's service requires it."

" I dare be sworn thou Avilt," said Achilles
Tatius, the commander of the Varangian Imperial
Body Guard, who thought the time was unfa-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 61

vourable for distinguishing himself by insisting
on that exact observance of etiquette, which was
one of his great pretensions to the name of a
soldier. " Yet, were it ncrt for the constant vigi-
lance of your leader, my child, the noble Varan-
gians would be trod down, in the common mass
of the army, with the heathen cohorts of Huns,
Scythians, or those turban'd infidels the rene-
gade Turks ; and even for this is your commander
here in peril, because he vindicates his axe-men
as worthy of being prized above the paltry shafts
of the Eastern tribes, and the javelins of the
Moors, which are only fit to be playthings for
children."

" You are exposed to no danger," said the
soldier, closing up to Achilles in a confidential
manner, " from which these axes can protect
you."

" Do I not know it ?" said Achilles. " But
it is to your arm alone that the Follower of his
most sacred Majest)'^ now intrusts his safety."

" In aught that a soldier may do," answered
Hereward ; " make your own computation, and
then reckon this single arm worth two against

62 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

any man the Emperor has, not being of our own
corps."

" Listen, my brave friend," continued Achil-
les. " This Nicanor was daring enough to
throw a reproach on our noble corps, accusing
them — gods and goddesses ! — of plundering in
the field, and, yet more sacrilegious, of drinking
the precious wine which was prepared for his
most sacred Majesty's own blessed consumption.
I, the sacred person of the Emperor being pre-
sent, proceeded, as thou mayst well believe "

" To give him the lie in his audacious throat !"
burst in the Varangian — " named a place of meet-
ing somewhere in the vicinity, and called the
attendance of your poor follower, Hereward of
Hampton, who is your bond-slave for life-long,
for such an honour ! I wish only you had told
me to get my work-day arms ; but, however, I
have my battle-axe, and " Here his com-
panion seized a moment to break in, for he was
somewhat abashed at the lively tone of the young
soldier.

" Hush thee, my son," said Achilles Tatius ;
" speak low, my excellent Hereward. Thou mis-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 63

takest this thing. With thee by my side, I
would not, indeed, hesitate to meet five such as
Nicanor ; but such is not the law of this most
hallowed empire, nor the sentiments of the three
times illustrious Prince who now rules it. Thou
art debauched, my soldier, with the swaggering
stories of the Franks, of whom we hear more
and more every day."

" I would not willingly borrow any thing from
those whom you call Franks, and we Normans,"
answered the Varangian, in a disappointed, dog-
ged tone.

" Why, listen, then," said the officer, as
they proceeded on their walk, " listen to the
reason of the thing, and consider whether such
a custom can obtain, as that which they term
the duello, in any country of civilisation and
common sense, to say nothing of one which is
blessed with the domination of the most rare
Alexius Comnenus. Two great lords, or high
officers, quarrel in the court, and before the
reverend person of the Emperor. They dispute
about a point of fact. Now, instead of each
maintaining his own opinion, by argument or

64 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

evidence, suppose they had adopted the custom
of these barbarous Franks, ' Why, thou liest in
thy throat,' says the one ; * and thou liest in thy
very lungs,' says another; and they measure
forth the lists of battle in the next meadow.
Each swears to the truth of his quarrel, though
probably neither well knows precisely how the
fact stands. One, perhaps the hardier, truer, and
better man of the two, the Follower of the Em-
peror, and father of the Varangians, (for death,
my faithful follower, spares no man,) lies dead
on the ground, and the other comes back to
predominate in the court, where, had the mat-
ter been enquired into by the rules of com-
mon sense and reason, the victor, as he is term-
ed, would have been sent to the gallows. And
yet this is the law of arms, as your fancy pleases
to call it, friend Hereward !"

" May it please your Valour," answered the
barbarian, " there is a show of sense in what
you say ; but you will sooner convince me that
this blessed moonlight is the blackness of a
wolf's mouth, than that I ought to hear myself
called liar, without cramming the epithet down

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 65

the speaker's throat with the spike of my battle-
axe. The lie is to a man the same as a blow,
and a blow degrades him into a slave and a beast
of burden, if endured without retaliation."

" Ay, there it is !" said Achilles ; " could I
but get you to lay aside that inborn barbarism,
which leads you, otherwise the most disciplined
soldiers who serve the sacred Emperor, into
such deadly quarrels and feuds "

" Sir Captain," said the Varangian, in a sullen
tone, " take my advice, and take the Varangians
as you have them; for, believe my word, that
if you could teach them to endure reproaches,
bear the lie, or tolerate stripes, you would harcUy
find them, when their discipline is completed,
worth the single day's salt which they cost to
his holiness, if that be his title. I must tell
you, moreover, valorous sir, that the Varangians
will little thank their leader, who heard them
called marauders, drunkards, and what not, and
repelled not the charge on the spot."

" Now, if I knew not the humours of my
barbarians," thought Tatius, in his own mind,
" I shoidd bring on myself a quarrel with these
untamed islanders, who the Emperor thinks can

06 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

be so easily kept in discipline. But I will settle
tliis sport presently." Accordingly, he addressed
the Saxon in a soothing tone.

" My faithful soldier," he proceeded aloud,
" we Romans, according to the custom of our
ancestors, set as much glory on actually telling
the truth, as you do in resenting the imputation
of falsehood ; and I could not with honour return
a charge of falsehood upon Nicanor, since what
he said was substantially true."

" What ! that we Varangians were plunderers,
drunkards, and the like ?" said Hereward, more
impatient than before.

" No, surely, not in that broad sense," said
Achilles ; " but there was too much foundation
for the legend."

" When and where ?" asked the Anglo-Saxon.
" You remember," replied his leader, " the
long march near Laodicea, where the Varangians
beat oif a cloud of Turks, and retook a train of
the imperial baggage ? You know what was done
that day — how you quenched your thirst, I
mean ?"

" I have some reason to remember it," said
Hereward of Hampton; " for we were half

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 67

choked with dust, fatigue, and, whicli was worst
of all, constantly fighting with our faces to the
rear, when we found some firkins of wine in
certain carriages which were broken down —
down our throats it went, as if it had been the
best ale in Southampton."

" Ah, unhappy !" said the Follower ; " saw
you not that the firkins were stamped with the
thrice excellent Grand Butler's own inviolable
seal, and set apart for the private use of his
Imperial Majesty's most sacred lips ?"

" By good Saint George of merry England,
worth a dozen of your Saint George of Cappa-
docia, I neither thought nor cared about the mat-
ter," answered Here ward. " And I know your
Valour drank a mighty draught yourself out of
my head-piece ; not this silver bauble, but my
steel-cap, which is twice as ample. By the same
token, thar whereas before you were giving
orders to fall back, you were a changed man
when you had cleared your throat of the dust,
and cried, ' Bide the other brunt, my brave and
stout boys of Britain.' "

" Ay," said Achilles, " I know I am but too

68 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

apt to be venturous in action. But you mistake,
good Hereward ; the M'ine I tasted in the extre-
mity of martial fatigue, was not that set apart
for his sacred Majesty's own peculiar mouth, but
a secondary sort, preserved for the Grand Butler
himself, of which, as one of the great officers
of the household, I might right lawfully par-
take— the chance was nevertheless sinfully un-
happy."

" On my life," replied Plereward, " I cannot
see the infelicity of drinking, when we are dying
of thirst."

" But, cheer up, my noble comrade," said
Achilles, after he had hurried over his own
exculpation, and without noticing the Varan-
gian's light estimation of the crime, " his Im-
perial Majesty, in his ineffable graciousness,
imputes these ill-advised draughts as a crime to
no one who partook of them. He rebuked the
Proto-spathaire for fishing up this accusation,
and said, when he had recalled the bustle and
confusion of that toilsome day, ' I thought myself
well off amid that seven times heated furnace,
when we obtained a draught of the barley-wine

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 69

drank by my poor Varangians ; and I drank their
health, as well I might, since, had it not been for
their services, I had drunk my last, and well fare
their hearts, though they quaffed my wine in
return !' And with that he turned off, as one who
said, ' I have too much of this, being a finding of
matter and ripping up of stories against Achilles
Tatius and his gallant Varangians.' "

" Now, may God bless his honest heart for
it !" said Hereward, with more downright heart-
iness than formal respect. " I'll drink to his
health in what I put next to my lips that
quenches thirst, whether it may be ale, wine, or
ditch-water."

" Why, well said, but speak not above thy
breath ! and remember to put thy hand to thy
forehead, when naming, or even thinking of the
Emperor ! — Well ; thou knowest, Hereward,
that having thus obtained the advantage, I knew
that the moment of a repulsed attack is always
that of a successful charge; and so I brought
against the Proto-spathaire, Nicanor, the robber-
ies which have been committed at the Golden
Gate, and other entrances of the city, where a

70 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

merchant was but of late kidnapped and mur-
dered, having on him certain jewels, the pro-
perty of the Patriarch."

" Ay ! indeed ?" said the Varangian ; " and
what said Alex 1 mean the most sacred Em-
peror, when he heard such tilings said of the
city warders? — though he had himself given,
as we say in our land, the fox the geese to
keep."

" It may be he did," replied Achilles ; " but
he is a sovereign of deep policy, and was resol-
ved not to proceed against these treacherous
warders, or their general, the Proto-spathaire,
without decisive proof. His sacred Majesty,
therefore, charged me to obtain specific circum-
stantial proof by thy means."

" And that I would have managed in two
minutes, had you not called me off the chase
of yon cut-throat vagabond. But his grace
knows the word of a Varangian, and I can assure
him that either lucre of my silver gaberdine,
which they nickname a cuirass, or the hatred of
my corps, would be sufficient to incite any of
these knaves to cut the throat of a Varangian,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 71

who appeared tb be asleep. — So we go, I sup-
pose, captain, to bear evidence before tlie Em-
peror to this night's work ?"

" No, my active soldier, hadst thou taken the
runaway villain, my first act must have been to
set him free again ; and my present charge to
you is, to forget that such an adventure has ever
taken place."

" Ha !" said the Varangian ; " this is a change
of policy indeed !"

" Why, yes, brave Hereward ; ere I left the
palace this night, the Patriarch made overtures
of reconciliation betwixt me and the Proto-spa-
thaire, which, as our agreement is of much con-
sequence to the state, I could not very well
reject, either as a good soldier or a good Chris-
tian. All offences to my honour are to be in
the fullest degree repaid, for which the Patriarch
interposes his warrant. The Emperor, who will
rather wink hard than see disagreements, loves
better the matter should be slurred over thus."

" And the reproaches upon the Varangians,"
said Hereward

" Shall be fully retracted and atoned for,"

5

72 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

answered Achilles ; " and a weighty donative in
gold dealt among the corps of the Anglo-Danish
axe-men. Thou, my Hereward, mayst be dis-
tributor ; and thus, if well-managed, mayst plate
thy battle-axe with gold."

" I love my axe better as it is," said the
Varangian. " My father bore it against the
robber Normans at Hastings. Steel instead of
gold for my money."

" Thou mayst make thy choice, Hereward,"
answered his officer ; " only, if thou art poor,
say the fault was thine own."

But here, in the course of their circuit round
Constantinople, the officer and his soldier came
to a very small wicket or sallyport, opening
on the interior of a large and massive advanced
work, which terminated an entrance to the city
itself. Here the officer halted, and made his
obeisance, as a devotee who is about to enter
a chapel of peculiar sanctity.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 73

CHAPTER III.

Here, youtli, thy foot unbrace,

Here, youtli, thy brow unbraid,
Each tribute that may grace

The threshold here be paid.
Walk with the stealthy pace

TVTiich Nature teaches deer.
When, echoing in the chase,
. The hunter's horn they hear.

The Court.

Before entering, Achilles Tatius made vari-
ous gesticulations, which were imitated roughly
and awkwardly by the unpractised Varangian,
whose service with his corps had been almost
entirely in the field, his routine of duty not
having, till very lately, called him to serve as
one of the garrison of Constantinople. He was
not, therefore, acquainted with the minute obser-
vances which the Greeks, who were the most
formal and ceremonious soldiers and courtiers
in the world, rendered not merely to the Greek
Emperor in person, but throughout the sphere
which peculiarly partook of his influence.

VOL. I. D

74 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Achilles, having gesticulated after his own
fashion, at length touched the door with a rap,
distinct at once and modest. This was thrice
repeated, M^hen the captain whispered to his
attendant, " The interior ! — for thy life, do as
thou seest me do." At the same moment he
started back, and, stooping his head on his breast,
with his hands over his eyes, as if to save them
from being dazzled by an expected burst of light,
awaited the answer to his summons. The Anglo-
Dane, desirous to obey his leader, imitating him
as near as he could, stood side by side in the
posture of Oriental humiluition. The little
portal opened inwards, when no burst of light
was seen, but four of the Varangians were made
visible in the entrance, holding each his battle-
axe, as if about to strike down the intruders who
had disturbed the silence of their watch.

" Acouloutos," said the leader, by way of
password.

" Tatius and Acouloutos," murmured the
warders, as a countersign.

Each sentinel sunk his weapon.

Achilles then reared his stately crest, with a

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 75

conscious dignity at making tliis display of court
influence in the eyes of his soldiers. Hereward
observed an undisturbed gravity, to the surprise
of his officer, who marvelled in his own mind how
he could be such a barbarian as to regard with
apathy a scene, which had in his eyes the most
impressive and peculiar awe. This indiffierence
he imputed to the stupid insensibility of his com-
panion. They passed on between the sentinels,
who wheeled backward in file, on each side of
the portal, and gave the strangers entrance to a
long narrow plank, stretched across the city-
moat, which was here drawn within the enclo-
sure of an external rampart projecting beyond
the principal wall of the city.

" This," he whispered to Hereward, " is call-
ed the Bridge of Peril, and it is said that it has
been occasionally smeared with oil, or strewed
with dried peas, and that the bodies of men, known
to have been in company with the Emperor's most
sacred person, have been taken out of the Gold-
en Horn,* into which the moat empties itself."

* The harbour of Constantinople.

76 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" I would not have tliouglit," said the islander,
raising his voice to its usual rough tone, " that
Alexius Comnenus "

" Hush, rash and regardless of your life !"
said Achilles Tutius ; " to awaken the daughter
of the imperial arch,* is to incur deep penalty at
all times; but when a rash delinquent has dis-
turbed her with reflections on his most sacred
Highness the Emperor, death is a punishment
far too light for the effrontery which has inter-
rupted her blessed slumber ! — 111 hath been ray
fate, to have positive commands laid on me,
enjoining me to bring into the sacred precincts a
creature who hath no more of the salt of civi-
lization in him than to keep his mortal frame
from corruption, since of all mental culture he is
totally incapable. Consider thyself, Hereward,
and bethink thee what thou art. By nature a
poor barbarian — thy best boast that thou hast
slain certain Mussulmans in thy sacred master's
quarrel; and here art thou admitted into the

* The daughter of the arch was a ccfurtly expression for the
echo, as we find explained by the courtly commander himself.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 77

inviolable enclosure of the Blaquernal, and in the
hearing not only of the royal daughter of the
imperial arch, which means," said the eloquent
leader, " the echo of the sublime vaults ; but —
Heaven be our guide, — for what I know, within
the natural hearing of the sacred ear itself !"

" Well, my captain," replied the Varangian,
" I cannot presume to speak my mind after the
fashion of this place ; but I can easily suppose I
am but ill qualified to converse in the presence of
the court, nor do I mean therefore to say a word
till I am spoken to, unless when I shall see no
better company than ourselves. To be plain, I
find difficulty in modelling my voice to a smoother
tone than nature has given it. So, henceforth,
my brave captain, I will be mute, unless when
you give me a sign to speak."
• "Youwill act wisely," said the captain. "Here
be certain persons of high rank, nay, some that
have been born in the purple itself, that •will,
Hereward, (alas, for thee !) prepare to sound
with the line of their courtly understanding the
depths of thy barbarous and shallow conceit. Do
not, therefore, then, join their graceful smiles

78 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

with thy inhuman bursts of cachinnation, with
which thou art wont to thunder forth when open-
ing in chorus with thy messmates."

" I tell thee I will be silent," said the Varan-
gian, moved somewhat beyond his mood. " If
you trust my word, so ; if you think I am a jack-
daw that must be speaking, whether in or out of
place and purpose, I am contented to go back
again, and therein we can end the matter."

Achilles, conscious perhaps tliat it was his best
policy not to drive his subaltern to extremity,
lowered his tone somewhat in reply to the un-
courtly note of the soldier, as if allowing some-
thing for the rude manners of one whom he
considered as not easily matched among the Va-
rangians themselves, for strength and valour ;
qualities which, in despite of Hereward's dis-
courtesy, Achilles suspected in his heart were
fully more valuable than all those nameless
graces which a more courtly and accomplished
soldier might possess.

The expert navigator of the intricacies of
the imperial residence, carried the "S^arangian
through two or three small complicated courts.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 79

forming a part of the extensive Palace of tlie
Blaquernal, and entered the building itself by
a side-door — watched in like manner by a senti-
nel of the Varangian guard, whom they passed
on being recognized. In the next apartment
was stationed the court of guard, where were
certain soldiers of the same corps amusing them-
selves at games somewhat resembling the modern
draughts and dice, while they seasoned their
pastime with frequent applications to deep flagons
of ale, which were furnished to them while pass-
ing away their hours of duty. Some glances
passed between Hereward and his comrades, and
he would have joined them, or at least spoke to
them ; for, since the adventure of the Mityle-
nian, Hereward had rather thought himself an-
noyed than distinguished by his moonlight ramble
in the company of his commander, excepting
always the short and interesting period during
which he conceived they were on the way to
fight a duel. Still, however negligent in the strict
observance of the ceremonies of the sacred palace,
the Varangians had, in their own way, rigid
notions of calculating their military duty ; in

80 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

consequence of which Hereward, without speak-
ing to his companions, followed his leader through
the guard-room, and one or two ante-chambers
adjacent, the splendid and luxurious furniture of
which convinced him that he could be nowhere
else save in the sacred residence of his master
the Emperor.

At length, having traversed passages and apart-
ments with which the captain seemed familiar,
and which he threaded with a stealthy, silent,
and apparently a reverential pace, as if, in his
own inflated phrase, afraid to awaken the sound-
ing echoes of those lofty and monumental halls,
another species of inhabitants began to be visible.
In different entrances, and in different apart-
ments, the northern soldier beheld those unfortu-
nate slaves, chiefly of African descent, raised occa-
sionally under the Emperors of Greece to great
power and honours, who, in that respect, imitated
one of the most barbarous points of Oriental
despotism. These slaves were differently occu-
pied ; some standing, as if on guard, at gates or in
passages, with their drawn sabres in their hands ;
some were sitting in the Oriental fashion, on

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 81

carpets, reposing themselves, or playing at vari-
ous games, all of a character profoundly silent.
Not a word passed between the guide of Here ward
and the withered and deformed beings, whom
they thus encountered. The exchange of a
glance with the principal soldier seemed all that
was necessary to ensure both an uninterrupted
passage.

After making their way through several apart-
ments, empty or thus occupied, they at length
entered one of black marble, or some other dark-
coloiu-ed stone, much loftier and longer than the
rest. Side passages opened into it, so far as the
islander could discern, descending from several
portals in the wall ; but as the oils and gums
with which the lamps in these passages were fed
diffused a dim vapour around, it was difficult to
ascertain, from the imperfect light, either the
shape of the hall, or the style of its architecture.
At the upper and lower ends of the chamber, there
was a stronger and clearer light. It was when
they were in the middle of this huge and long
apartment, that Achilles said to the soldier, in the
sort of cautionary whisper which he appeared to

D 2

82 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

have substituted in place of his natural voice since
he had crossed the Bridge of Peril —

" Remain here till I return, and stir from this
hall on no account."

" To hear is to obey," answered the Varan-
gian, an expression of obedience, which, like
many other phrases and fashions, the empire,
which still affected the name of Roman, had bor-
rowed from the barbarians of the East. Achilles
Tatius then hastened up the steps which led to
one of the side-doors of the hall, which being
slightly pressed, its noiseless hinge gave way and
admitted him.

Left alone to amuse himself as he best could,
within the limits permitted to him, the Varangian
visited in succession both ends of the hall, where
the objects were more visible than elsewhere.
The lower end had in its centre a small low-
browed door of iron. Over it was displayed the
Greek crucifix in bronze, and around and on
every side, the representation of shackles, fetter-
bolts, and the like, were also executed in bronze,
and disposed as appropriate ornaments over the
entrance. The door of the dark archway was half

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 83

open, and Hereward naturally looked in, tlie orders
of his chief not prohibiting his satisfying his curi-
osity thus far. A dense red light, more like a dis-
tant spark than a lamp, affixed to the wall of what
seemed a very narrow and winding stair, resem-
bling in shape and size a draw-well, the verge of
which opened on the threshold of the iron door,
showed a descent which seemed to conduct to
the infernal regions. The Varangian, however
obtuse he might be considered by the quick-
witted Greeks, had no difficulty in comprehend-
ing that a staircase having such a gloomy appear-
ance, and the access to which was by a portal
decorated in such a melancholy style of architec-
ture, could only lead to the dungeons of the
imperial palace, the size and complicated number
of which were neither the least remarkable, nor
the least awe-imposing portion of the sacred edi-
fice. Listening profoundly, he even thought he
caught such accents as befit those graves of living
men, the faint echoing of groans and sighs, sound-
ing as it were from the deep abyss beneath. But
in this respect his fancy probably filled up the
sketch which his conjectures bodied out.

84 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" I have done nothing," he thought, " to merit
being immured in one of these subterranean dens.
Surely, though my captain, Achilles Tatius, is,
under favour, little better than an ass, he cannot
be so false of word as to train me to prison under
false pretexts ? I trow he shall first see for the
last time how the English axe plays, if such is
to be the sport of the evening. But let us see
the upper end of this enormous vault ; it may bear
a better omen."

Thus thinking, and not quite ruling the tramp
of his armed footstep according to the ceremonies
of the place, the large-limbed Saxon strode to
the upper end of the black marble hall. The
ornament of the portal here was a small altar,
like those in the temples of the heathen deities,
which projected above the centre of the arch. On
this altar smoked incense of some sort, the fumes
of which rose curling in a thin cloud to the roof,
and thence extending through the hall, enve-
loped in its column of smoke a singular emblem,
of which the Varangian could make nothing. It
was the representation of two human arms and
hands, seeming to issue from the wall, having

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 85

the palms extended and open, as about to con-
fer some boon on those who approached the
altar. These arms were formed of bronze, and
being placed farther back than the altar with its
incense, were seen through the curling smoke by-
lamps so disposed as to illuminate the whole arch-
way. " The meaning of this," thought the simple
barbarian, " I should well know how to explain,
were these fists clenched, and were the hall de-
dicated to the pancration, which we call boxing ;
but as even these helpless Greeks use not their
hands without their fingers being closed, by St
George, I can make out nothing of their mean-
ing.

At this instant Achilles entered the black
marble hall at the same door by which he had
left it, and came up to his neophyte, as the Varan-
gian might be termed.

" Come with me now, Hereward, for here ap-
proaches the thick of the onset. Now display
the utmost courage that thou canst summon up,
for believe me, thy credit and name also depend
on it."

" Fear nothing for either," said Hereward,

86 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" if the heart or hand of one man can bear him
through the adventure by the help of a toy like
this."

*' Keep thy voice low and submissive, I have
told thee a score of times," said the leader, " and
lower thine axe, which, as I bethink me, thou
hadst better leave in the outer apartment."

*' With your leave, noble captain," replied
Here ward, " I am unwilling to lay aside my
breadwinner. I am one of those awkward
clowns who cannot behave seemly unless I have
something to occupy my hands, and my faithful
battle-axe comes most natural to me."

" Keep it then ; but remember thou dash it
not about according to thy custom, nor bellow,
nor shout, nor cry as in a battle-field ; think of
the sacred character of the place, which exag-
gerates riot into blasphemy, and remember the
persons whom thou mayst chance to see, an oiFence
to some of whom, it may be, ranks in the same
sense with blasphemy against Heaven itself."

This lecture carried the tutor and the pupil so
far as to the side-door, and thence inducted them
into a species of ante-room, from which Achilles

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 87

led his Varangian forward, until a pair of fold-
ing-doors, opening into what proved to be a prin-
cipal apartment of the palace, exhibited to the
rough-hewn native of the north a sight equally
new and surprising.

It was an apartment of the Palace of the Bla-

quernal, dedicated to the special service of the

beloved daughter of the Emperor Alexius, the

Princess Anna Comnena, known to our times

by her literary talents, which record the history

of her father's reign. She was seated, the queen

and sovereign of a literary circle, such as an

imperial Princess, porphyrogenita, or born in

the sacred purple chamber itself, could assemble

in those days, and a glance around will enable

us to form an idea of her guests, or companions.

The literary Princess herself had the bright

eyes, straight features, and comely and pleasing

manners, which all would have allowed to the

Emperor's daughter, even if she could not have

been, with severe truth, said to have possessed

them. She was placed upon a small bench, or sofa,

the fair sex here not being permitted to recline,

as was the fashion of the Roman ladies. A table

88 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

before her was loaded with books, plants, herbs,
and drawings. She sat on a slight elevation, and
those who enjoyed the intimacy of the Princess,
or to whom she wished to speak in particular,
were allowed, during such sublime colloquy, to
rest their loiees on the little dais, or elevated
place where her chair found its station, in a pos-
ture half standing, half kneeling. Three other
seats, of different heights, were placed on the
dais, and under the same canopy of state which
overshadowed that of the Princess Anna.

The first, which strictly resembled her own
chair in size and convenience, was one designed
for her husband, Nicephorus Briennius. He was
said to entertain or affect the greatest respect for
his wife's erudition, though the courtiers were
of opinion he would have liked to absent him-
self from her evening parties more frequently
than was particularly agreeable to the Princess
Anna and her imperial parents. This was partly
explained by the private tattle of the court, which
averred that the Princess Anna Comnena had
been more beautiful when she was less learned ;
and that, though still a fine woman, she had

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 89

somewhat lost tlie charms of her person, as she
became enriched in lier mind.

To atone for the lowly fashion of the seat of
Nicephorus Briennius, it was placed as near to
his princess as it could possibly be edged by the
ushers, so that she might not lose one look of
her handsome spouse, nor he the least particle
of wisdom which might drop from the lips of his
erudite consort.

Two other seats of honour, or rather thrones, —
for they had footstools placed for the support of
the feet, rests for the arms, and embroidered
pillows for the comfort of the back, not to mention
the glories of the outspreading canopy, — were
destined for the imperial couple, who frequently
attended their daughter's studies, which she pro-
secuted in public in the way we have intimated.
On such occasions, the Empress Irene enjoyed
the triumph peculiar to the mother of an accom-
plished daughter, while Alexius, as it might
happen, sometimes listened with complacence to
the rehearsal of his own exploits in the inflated
language of the princess, and sometimes mildly
nodded over her dialogues upon the mysteries of

90 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

philosophy, with tlie Patriarcli Zosimus, and
other sages.

All these four distinguished seats, for the per-
sons of the Imperial family, were occupied at
the moment which we have described, excepting
that which ought to have been filled by Nice-
phorus Briennius, the husband of the fair Anna
Comnena. To his negligence and absence was
perhaps owing the angry spot on the brow of
his fair bride. Beside her on the platform were
two white-robed nymphs of her household ; fe-
male slaves, in a word, who reposed themselves
on their knees on cushions, when their assistance
was not wanted as a species of living book-desks,
to support and extend the parchment rolls, in
which the princess recorded her own wisdom, or
from which she quoted that of others. One of
these young maidens, called Astarte, was so dis-
tinguished as a calligrapher, or beautiful writer of
various alphabets and languages, that she nar-
rowly escaped being sent as a present to the
Caliph, (who could neither read nor write,) at
a time when it was necessary to bribe him into
peace. Violanto, usually called the Muse, the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 91

other attendant of the Princess, a mistress of the
vocal and instrumental art of music, was actually-
sent in a compliment to soothe the temper of
Robert Guiscard, the Archduke of Apulia, who,
being aged and stone-deaf, and the girl under
ten years old at the time, returned the valued
present to the imperial donor, and, with the
selfishness which was one of that wily Norman's
characteristics, desired to have some one sent
him who could contribute to his pleasure, instead
of a twangling squalling infant.

Beneath these elevated, seats there sat, or
reposed on the floor of the hall, such favourites
as were admitted. The Patriarch Zosimus,
and one or two old men, were permitted the use
of certain lowly stools, which were the only
seats prepared for the learned members of the
Princess's evening parties, as they would have
been called in our days. As for the younger
magnates, the honour of being permitted to join
the imperial conversation was expected to render
them far superior to the paltry accommodation of
a joint stool. Five or six courtiers, of different
dress and ages, might compose the party, who

VOL. I.

92 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

either stood, or relieved their posture by kneeling,
along the verge of an adorned fountain, which
shed a mist of such very small rain as to dispel
almost insensibly, cooling the fragrant breeze
which lireathed from the flowers and shrubs, that
were so disposed as to send a waste of sweets
around. One goodly old man, named Michael
Agelastes, big, burly, and dressed like an ancient
Cynic philosopher, was distinguished by assu-
ming, in a great measure, the ragged garb and
mad bearing of that sect, and by his inflexible
practice of the strictest ceremonies exigible by
the Imperial family. He was known by an af-
fectation of cynical principle and language, and
of republican philosophy, strangely contradicted
by his practical deference to the great. It was
wonderful how long this man, now sixty years
old and upwards, disdained to avail himself of
the accustomed privilege of leaning, or sup-
porting his limbs, and with what regularity he
maintained either the standing posture or that
of absolute kneeling ; but the first was so much
his usual attitude, that he acquired among his
court friends the name of Elephans, or the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 93

Elephant, because the ancients had an idea that
the half-i'easoning- animal, as it is called, has
joints incapable of kneeling down.

" Yet I have seen them kneel when I ^vas in
the country of the Gymnosophists," said a person
present on the evening of Hereward's introduc-
tion.

" To take up his master on his shoulders ? so
will ours," said the Patriarch Zosimus, with the
slight sneer which was the nearest advance to
a sarcasm that the etiquette of the Greek court
permitted ; for on all ordinary occasions, it would
nothave offended the Presence more surely, lite-
rally to have drawn a poniard, than to exchange
a repartee in the imperial circle. Even the sar-
casm, such as it was, would have been thought
censurable by that ceremonious court in any
but the Patriarch, to whose high rank some
license was allowed. •

Just as he had thus far offended deconmi,
Achilles Tatius, and his soldier, Hereward, en-
tered the apartment. The former bore him with
even more than a usual degree of courtliness, as
if to set his own good breeding off by a compa-

4

94 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

rison with the inexpert bearing of his follower ;
while, nevertheless, he had a secret pride in
exhibiting, as one under his own immediate and
distinct command, a man whom he was accus-
tomed to consider as one of the finest soldiers
in the army of Alexius, whether appearance or
reality were to be considered.

Some astonishment followed the abrupt en-
trance of the new comers. Achilles indeed
glided into the presence with the easy and
quiet extremity of respect which intimated his
habitude in these regions. But Herew^ard start-
ed on his entrance, and perceiving himself in
company of the court, hastily strove to remedy
his disorder. His commander, throwing round a
scarce visible shrug of apology, made then a
confidential and monitory sign to Hereward to
mind his conduct. What he meant was, that he
should doff his helmet and fall prostrate on the
ground. But the Anglo-Saxon, unaccustomed to
interpret obscure inferences, naturally thought of
his military duties, and advanced in front of the
Emperor, as when he rendered his military ho-
mage. He made reverence with his knee, half

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 95

touched his cap, and then, recovering and shoul-
dering his axe, stood in advance of the imperial
chair, as if on duty as a sentinel.

A gentle smile of surprise went round the
circle as they gazed on the manly appearance,
and somewhat unceremonious, but martial de-
portment of the northern soldier. The various
spectators around consulted the Emperor's face,
not knowing whether they were to take the
intrusive manner of the Varangian's entrance as
matter of ill-breeding, and manifest their horror,
or whether they ought rather to consider the
bearing of the life-guardsman as indicating blunt
and manly zeal, and therefore to be received
with applause.

It was some little time ere the Emperor reco-
vered himself sufficiently to strike a key-note,
as was usual upon such occasions. Alexius
Comnenus had been wrapt for a moment into
some species of slumber, or at least absence of
mind. Out of this he had been startled by the
sudden appearance of the Varangian ; for though
he was accustomed to commit the outer guards
of the palace to this trusty corps, yet the de-
formed blacks whom we have mentioned, and

96 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

who sometimes rose to be ministers of state and
commanders of armies, were, on all ordinary occa-
sions, intrusted with the guard of the interior of
the palace. Alexius, therefore, awakened from
his slumber, and the military phrase of his
daughter still ringing in his ears as she was
reading a description of the great historical work,
in which she had detailed the conflicts of his
reign, felt somewhat unprepared for the entrance
and military deportment of one of the Saxon
guard, with whom he was accustomed to associate,
in general, scenes of blows, danger, and death.

After a troubled glance around, his look rest-
ed on Achilles Tatius. " Why here," he said,
" trusty Follower ? why this soldier here at this
time of night ?" Here, of course, was the moment
for modelling the visages, rer/is ad exemplum ;
but, ere the Patriarch could frame his coun-
tenance into devout apprehension of danger,
Achilles Tatius had spoken a word or two, which
reminded Alexius' memory that the soldier had
been brought there by his own special orders.
" Oh, ay ! true, good fellows," said he, smooth-
ing his troubled brow ; " we had forgot that
passage among the cares of state." He then

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 97

spoke to the Varangian with a countenance more
frank, and a heartier accent, than he used to his
courtiers ; for, to a despotic monarch, a faithful
life-guardsman is a person of confidence, while
an oflEicer of high rank is always in some degree
a subject of distrust. " Ha !" said he, " our
worthy Anglo-Dane, how fares he ?" This un-
ceremonious salutation surprised all but him to
whom it was addressed. Hereward answered,
accompanying his words with a military obei-
sance which partook of heartiness rather than
reverence, with a loud unsubdued voice, which
startled the presence still more that the language
was Saxon, which these foreigners occasionally
used, " Waes hael, Kaisar mirrig und machtigh /"
— that is, Be of good health, stout and mighty
Emperor. Tlie Emperor, with a smile of intelli-
gence, to show he could speak to his guards in
their own foreign language, replied, by the well-
known counter-signal — '•'^ Drink hael !"

Immediately a page brought a silver goblet
of wine. The Emperor put his lips to it, though
he scarce tasted the liquor, then commanded it
to be handed to Hereward, and bade the soldier

VOL. I. E

98 COUNT ROBERT OF PAHIS.

drink. The Saxon did not wait till he was
desired a second time, but took off the contents
without hesitation. A gentle smile, decorous as
the presence required, passed over the assembly,
at a feat whicli, though by no means wonderful
in a hyperborean, seemed prodigious in the esti-
mation of the moderate Greeks. Alexius himself
laughed more loudly than his courtiers thought
might be becoming on their part, and muster-
ing what few words of Varangian he possessed,
which he eked out with Greek, demanded of
his life-guardsman — " Well, my bold Briton, or
Edward, as men call thee, dost thou know the
flavour of that wine ?"

" Yes," answered the Varangian, without
change of countenance, " I tasted it once before
at Laodicea"

Here his officer, Achilles Tatius, became sen-
sible that his soldier approached delicate ground,
and in vain endeavoured to gain his attention,
ill order that he might furtively convey to him
a hint to be silent, or at least take heed what
he said in such a presence. But the soldier, who,
with proper military observance, continued to

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 99

have Ills eye and attention fixed on the Emperor,
as the prince whom he was bound to answer or
to serve, saw none of the hints, which Achilles
at length suffered to become so broad, that Zo-
simus and the Proto-spathaire exchanged ex-
pressive glances, as calling on each other to no-
tice the by-play of the leader of the Varangmns.
In the meanwhile, the dialogue between the
Emperor and his soldier continued : — " How,"
said Alexius, " did this draught relish, compared
with the former?"

" There is fairer company here, my liege,
than that of the Arabian archers," answered
Hereward, ^\ith a look and bow of instinctive
good breeding ; " Nevertheless, there lacks the
flavour which the heat of the sun, the dust of
the combat, wdth the fatigue of wielding such a
weapon as this" (advancing his axe) " for eight
hours together, give to a cup of rare wine."

" Another deficiency there might be," said
Agelastes the Elephant, of whom we have al-
ready spoken, " provided I am pardoned hint-
ing at it," he added, with a look to the throne,
— " it mioht be the smaller size of the cup com-
pared ^nth that at Laodicea."

100 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" By Taraiiis, you say true," answered tlie
life-guardsman ; " at Laodicea I used my hel-
met."

" Let us see the cups compared together,
good friend," said Agelastes, continuing his rail-
lery, " that we may be sure thou hast not swal-
lowed the present goblet ; for I thought, from the
manner of the draught, there was a chance of its
going down with its contents."

" There are some things which I do not easily
s^\^low," answered the Varangian, in a calm
and indifferent tone ; " but they must come from
a younger and more active man than you."

The company again smiled to each other, as if
to hint that the philosopher, though also parcel
wit by profession, had the worst of the encounter.

The Emperor at the same time interfered —
" Nor did I send for thee hither, good fellow, to
be baited by idle taunts."

Here Agelastes shrunk back in the circle, as
a hound that has been rebuked by the huntsman
for babbling — and the Princess Anna Comnena,
who had indicated by her fair features a certain
degree of impatience, at length spoke — " Will it
then please you, my imperial and much-beloved

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 10 1

fatlier, to inform those blessed with admission to
the Muses' temple, for what it is that you have
ordered this soldier to be this night admitted to
a place so far above his rank in life ? Permit me
to say, we ought not to waste, in frivolous and
silly jests, the time which is sacred to the wel-
fare of the empire, as every moment of your
leisure must be."

*' Our daughter speaks wisely," said the Em-
press Irene, who, like most mothers who do not
possess much talent themselves, and are not very
capable of estimating it in others, was, never-
theless, a great admirer of her favourite daugh-
ter's accomplishments, and ready to draw them
out on all occasions. " Permit me to remark,
that in this divine and selected palace of the
Muses, dedicated to the studies of our well-be-
loved and highly-gifted daughter, whose pen will
preserve your reputation, our most imperial hus-
band, till the desolation of the universe, and
which enlivens and delights this society, the very
flower of the wits of our sublime court ; — permit
me to say, that we have, merely by admitting a
single life-guardsman, given our conversation the
character of that which distinguishes a barrack."

102 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Now the Emperor Alexius Comnenus liad the
same feeling with many an honest man in ordi-
nary life when his wife begins a long oration,
especially as the Empress Irene did not always
retain the observance consistent with his awful
rule and right supremacy, although especially
severe in exacting it from all others, in reference
to her lord. Therefore, though he had felt some
pleasure in gaining a short release from the
monotonous recitation of the Princess's history,
he now saw the necessity of resuming it, or of
listening to the matrimonial eloquence of the
Empress. He sighed, therefore, as he said, " I
crave your pardon, good our imperial spouse,
and our daughter born in the purple chamber.
I remember me, our most amiable and accom-
plished daughter, that hist night you wished to
know the particulars of the battle of Laodicea,
with the heathenish Arabs, whom Heaven con-
found. And for certain considerations which
moved ourselves to add other enquiries to our
own recollection, Achilles Tatius, our most trusty
Follower, was commissioned to introduce into
this place one of those soldiers under his com-
mand, being such a one whose courage and pre-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 103

sence of mind could best enable him to remark
what passed around him on that remarkable and
bloody day. And this I suppose to be the man
brought to us for that purpose."

" If I am permitted to speak, and live," an-
swered the Follower, " your Imperial Highness,
with those divine Princesses, whose name is to us
as those of blessed saints, have in your presence
the flower of my Anglo-Danes, or whatsoever
unbaptised name is given to my soldiers. He is,
as I may say, a barbarian of barbarians ; for
although in birth and breeding unfit to soil with
his feet the carpet of this precinct of accomplish-
ment and eloquence, he is so brave — so trusty
— so devotedly attached — and so unhesitatingly
zealous, that "

" Enough, good Follower," said the Emperor ;
"let us only know that he is cool and observant,
not confused and fluttered during close battle,
as we have sometimes observed in you and other
great commanders — and, to speak truth, have
even felt in our imperial self on extraordinary
occasions. Which difterence in man's constitu-
tion is not owing to any inferiority of courage,
but, in us, to a certain consciousness of the

104 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

importance of our own safety to the welfare of
tJie whole, and to a feeling of the number of
duties which at once devolve on us. Speak then,
and speak quickly, Tatius ; for I discern that our
dearest consort, and our thrice fortunate daughter
born ill the imperial chamber of purple, seem to
wax somewhat impatient."

" Hereward," answered Tatius, " is as com-
j)osed and observant in battle, as another in a
festive dance. The dust of war is the breath of
his nostrils ; and he will prove his worth in com-
bat against any four others, (Varangians except-
ed,) who shall term themselves your Imperial
Highness's bravest servants."

" Follower," said the Emperor, with a dis-
pleased look and tone, " instead of instructing
these poor, ignorant barbarians in the rules and
civilisation of our enlightened empire, you fos-
ter, by such boastful words, the idle pride and
fury of their temper, which hurries them into
brawls with the legions of other foreign countries,
and even breeds quarrels among themselves."

" If my mouth may be opened in the way of
most humble excuse," said the Follower, " I
would presume to reply, that I but an hour hence

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 105

talked with tliis poor ignorant Anglo-Dane, on
the paternal care with which the Imperial Ma-
jesty of Greece regards the preservation of that
concord which unites the followers of his stand-
ard, and how desirous he is to promote that har-
mony, more especially amongst the various na-
tions who have the happiness to serve you, in
spite of the bloodthirsty quarrels of the Franks,
and other northern men, who are never free from
civil broil. I think the poor youth's understand-
ing can bear witness to this much in my behalf."
He then looked towards Hereward, who gravely
inclined his head in token of assent to what his
captain said. His excuse thus ratified, Achilles
proceeded in his apology more firmly. " What
I have said even now was spoken without consi-
deration; for, instead of pretending that this
Hereward would face four of your Imperial
Highness's servants, I ought to have said, that
he was willing to defy six of your Imperial Ma-
jesty's most deadly enemies, and permit them to
choose every circumstance of time, arms, and
place of combat."

" That hath a better sound," said the Empe-
ror ; " and in truth, for the information of my

E 2

106 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

dearest daugliter, who piously has undertaken to
record the things which I have been the blessed
means of doing for the empire, I earnestly wish
that she should remember, that though the sword
of Alexius hath not slept in its sheath, yet he hath
never sought his own aggrandisement of fame at
the price of bloodshed among his subjects."

" I trust," said Anna Comnena, *' that in my
humble sketch of the life of the princely sire
from whom I derive my existence, I have not
forgot to notice his love of peace, and care for
the lives of his soldiery, and abhorrence of the
bloody manners of the heretic Franks, as one of
his most distinguishing characteristics."

Assuming then an attitude more command-
ing, as one who was about to claim the attention
of the company, the Princess inclined her head
gently around to the audience, and taking a roll
of parchment from the fair amanuensis, which
she had, in a most beautiful handwriting, en-
grossed to her mistress's dictation, Anna Com-
nena prepared to read its contents.

At this moment, the eyes of the Princess
rested for an instant on the barbarian Hereward,
to whom she deigned this greeting — " Valiant

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 107

barbarian, of whom my fancy recalls some me-
mory, as if in a dream, thou art now to hear a
work, which, if the author be put into compari-
son with the subject, might be likened to a por-
trait of Alexander, in executing which, some
inferior dauber has usurped the pencil of Apelles ;
but which essay, however it may appear unwor-
thy of the subject in the eyes of many, must
yet command some envy in those who candidly
consider its contents, and the difficulty of pour-
traying the great personage concerning whom
it is written. Still, I pray thee, give thine
attention to what I have now to read, since this
account of the battle of Laodicea, the details
thereof being principally derived from his Im-
perial Highness, my excellent father, from the
altogether valiant Proto-spathaire, his invincible
general, together with Achilles Tatius, the faith-
ful Follower of our victorious Emperor, may
nevertheless be in some circumstances inaccu-
rate. For it is to be thought, that the high offices
of those great commanders retained them at a dis-
tance from some particularly active parts of the
fray, in order that they might have more cool and
accurate opportunity to form a judgment upon the

108 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

whole, and transmit their orders, without being
disturbed by any thoughts of personal safety.
Even so, brave barbarian, in tlie art of emljroi-
dery, (marvel not that we are a proficient in that
mechanical process, since it is patronized by Mi-
nerva, whose studies we aifect to follow,) M'e
reserve to ourselves the superintendence of the
entire w'eb, and commit to our maidens and others
the execution of particular parts. Thus, in the
same manner, thou, valiant Varangian, being
engaged in the very thickest of the affray before
Laodicea, mayst point out to us, the unworthy
historian of so renowned a war, those chances
which befell where men fought hand to hand, and
where the fate of war was decided by the edge
of the sword. Therefore, dread not, thou bravest
of the axe-raen to whom we owe that victory,
and so many others, to correct any mistake or
misapprehension which we may have been led
into concerning the details of that glorious event."
, " IMadam," said the Varangian, " I shall
attend with diligence to what your Highness may
be pleased to read to me ; although, as to pre-
suming to blame the history of a Princess born
in the purple, far be such a presumption from

COUNT B.0BE11T OF PARIS. 109

me ; still less would it become a barbaric Varan-
gian to pass a judgment on tlie military conduct
of tlie Emperor, by whom lie is liberally paid,
or of the commander, by wliom he is well treated.
Before an action, if our advice is required, it is
ever faithfully tendered; but according to my
rough wit, our censure after the field is fought
would be more invidious than useful. Touching
the Proto-spathaire, if it be the duty of a gene-
ral to absent himself from close action, I can
safely say, or swear, were it necessary, that the
invincible commander was never seen by me
within a javelin's cast of aught that looked like
danger."

This speech, boldly and bluntly delivered,
had a general efi"ect on the company present.
The Emperor himself, and Achilles Tatius,
looked like men who had got off from a danger
better than they expected. The Proto-spathaire
laboured to conceal a movement of resentment.
Agelastes whispered to the Patriarch, near whom
he was placed, " The northern battle-axe lacks
neither point nor edge."

" Hush !" said Zosimus, "let us hear how
this is to end ; the Princess is about to speak."

110 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

CHAPTER IV.

We heai-d tlie Tecbir, so tliese Ai-abs call
Their Aout of onset, when with loud acclaim
They challenged Heaven, as if demanding conquest.
The battle join'd, and, through the barb'rous herd.
Fight, fight ! and P;iradise ! was all their cry.

The Siege of Damascus.

The voice of the northern soldier, although
modified by feelings of respect to the Emperor,
and even attachment to his captain, had more of
a tone of blunt sincerity, nevertheless, than was
usually heard by the sacred echoes of the impe-
rial palace ; and tliough the Princess Anna Com-
nena began to think that she had invoked the
opinion of a severe judge, she was sensible, at
the same time, by the deference of his manner,
that his respect was of a character more real, and
his applause, should she gain it, would prove
more truly flattering, than the gilded assent of
the whole court of her father. She gazed with

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. Ill

some surprise and attention on Hereward, abeady
described as a very handsome young man, and felt
the natural desire to please, which is easily cre-
ated in the mind towards a fine person of the
other sex. His attitude was easy and bold, but
neither clownish nor uncourtly. His title of a
barbarian, placed him at once free from the forms
of civilized life, and the rules of artificial polite-
ness. But his character for valour, and the noble
self-confidence of his bearing, gave him a deeper
interest than would have been acquired by a more
studied and anxious address, or an excess of re-
verential awe.

In short, the Princess Anna Comnena, high
in rank as she was, and born in the imperial
purple, which she herself deemed the first of all
attributes, felt herself, nevertheless, in preparing
to resume the recitation of her history, more
anxious to obtain the approbation of this rude
soldier, than that of all the rest of the courteous
audience. She knew them well, it is true, and
felt nowise solicitous about the applause which
the daughter of the Emperor was sure to receive
with full hands from those of the Grecian court

3

112 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

to wliom she miglit clioose to communicate tlie
productions of her father's daughter. But she
had now a judge of a new character, whose ap-
plause, if bestowed, must liave sometliing in it
intrinsically real, since it could only be obtained
by affecting his head or his heart.

It was perhaps under the influence of these
feelings, that the Princess was somewhat longer
than usual in finding out the passage in the roll
of history at which she purposed to commence.
It was also noticed, that she began her recitation
with a diffidence and embarrassment surprising
to the noble hearers, who had often seen her in
full possession of her presence of mind before
what they conceived a more distinguished, and
even more critical audience.

Neither were the circumstances of the Varan-
gian such as rendered the scene indifferent to
him. Anna Comnena had indeed • attained her
fifth lustre, and that is a period after which Gre-
cian beauty is understood to commence its decline.
How long she had passed that critical period, was
a secret to all but the trusted ward-women of the
purple chamber. Enough, that it was affirmed

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 113

by the popular tongue, and seemed to be attest-
ed by tliat bent towards pliilosopliy and litera-
ture wliieli is not supposed to be congenial to
l)eauty in its earlier buds, to amount to one or
two years more. She might be seven-and-twenty.
Still Anna Comnena was, or had very lately
been, a beauty of the very first rank, and must
l)e supposed to have still retained charms to cap-
tivate a barbarian of the north ; if, indeed, he
himself was not careful to maintain an heedful
recollection of the immeasurable distance be-
tween them. Indeed, even this recollection might
hardly have saved Hereward from the charms of
this enchantress, bold, free-born, and fearless as
he was ; for, during that time of strange revo-
lutions, there were many instances of successful
generals sharing the couch of imperial princesses,
whom perhaps they had themselves rendered
widows, in order to make way for their own pre-
tensions. But besides the influence of other
recollections, which the reader may learn here-
after, Hereward, though flattered by the unusual
degree of attention which the Princess bestowed
upon him, saw in her only the daughter of his

114 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Emperor and adopted liege lord, and the wife of
a noble prince, whom reason and duty alike for-
bade him to think of in any other light.

It was after one or two preliminary eflbrts
that tlie Princess Anna began her reading, with
an uncertain voice, which gained strength and
fortitude as she proceeded wdth the following
passage from a well-known part of her history
of Alexius Comnenus, but which unfortunately
has not been republished in the Byzantine histo-
rians. The narrative cannot, therefore, be other-
wise than acceptable to the antiquarian reader;
and the author hopes to receive the thanks of
the learned world for the recovery of a curious
fragment, which, without his exertions, must pro-
bably have passed to the gulf of total oblivion.

COUNT ROBEET OF PARIS. 115

CI)e iUtoat ot Elaotrirta,

NOW FIRST PUDLISHED FROM THE GREEK OF THE PRIX-
CESS COMNENA's history OF HER FATHER.

" The sun had betaken himself to his bed in
the ocean, ashamed, it would seem, to see the im-
mortal army of our most sacred Emperor Alexius
surrounded by those barbarous hordes of unbe-
lieving barbarians, who, as described in our last
chapter, had occupied the various passes both in
front and rear of the Romans,* secured during
the preceding night by the wily barbarians.
Although, therefore, a triumphant course of
advance had brought U5 to this point, it now
became a serious and doubtful question whether
our victorious eagles should be able to pene-
trate any farther into the country of the enemy,
or even to retreat with safety into their own.

" The extensive acquaintance of the Emperor

* More properly termed the Greeks ; but we follow tte phrase-
ology of the fair authoress.

llfi COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

with military affairs, in wliicli he exceeds most
living princes, had induced him, on the prece-
ding evening, to ascertain, with marA^ellons ex-
actitude and foresight, the precise position of the
enemy. In this most necessary service he em-
ployed certain light-armed barl)arians, whose ha-
bits and discipline had been originally derived
from the wilds of Syria ; and, if I am required
to speak according to the dictation of Truth,
seeing she ought always to sit upon the pen of
a historian, I must needs say they were infidels
like their enemies ; faithfully attached, however,
to the Roman service, and, as I believe, true
slaves of the Emperor, to whom they communi-
cated the information required by him respect-
ing the position of his dreaded opponent Jezde-
gerd. These men did not bring in their infor-
mation till long after the hour when the Em-
peror usually betook himself to rest.

" Notwithstanding this derangement of his
most sacred time, our imperial father, who had
postponed the ceremony of disrobing, so import-
ant were the necessities of the moment, conti-
nued, until deep in the night, to hold a council

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 117

of his wisest chiefs, men whose depth of judg-
ment might have saved a sinking workl, and who
now consulted what was to be done under the
pressure of the circumstances in which they were
now placed. And so great was the urgency,
that all ordinary observances of the household
were set aside, since I have heard from those
who witnessed the fact, that the royal bed was
displayed in the very room where the council
assembled, and that the sacred lamp, called the
Light of the Council, and which always burns
when the Emperor presides in person over the
deliberations of his servants, was for that night
— a thing unknown in our annals — fed with un-
perfumed oil ! !"

The fair speaker here threw her fine form
into an attitude which expressed holy horror,
and the hearers intimated their sympathy in the
exciting cause by corresponding signs of interest ;
as to which we need only say, that the sigh of
Achilles Tatius was the most pathetic; while
the groan of Agelastes the Elephant was deepest
and most tremendously bestial in its sound. He-
reward seemed little moved, except by a slight

118 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

motion of surprise at the wonder expressed by
the others. The Princess, having allowed due
time for the sympathy of her hearers to exhibit
itself, proceeded as follows :

" In this melancholy situation, when even the
best-established and most sacred rites of the im-
perial household gave way to the necessity of a
hasty provision for the morrow, the opinions of
the counsellors were different, according to their
tempers and habits ; a thing, by the way, which
may be remarked as likely to happen among the
best and wisest on such occasions of doubt and
danger.

" I do not in this place put down the names
and opinions of those whose counsels were pro-
posed and rejected, herein paying respect to the
secrecy and freedom of debate justly attached to
the imperial cabinet. Enough it is to say, that
some there were who advised a speedy attack
upon the enemy, in the direction of our original
advance. Others thought it was safer, and might
be easier, to force our way to the rear, and
retreat by the same course which had brought
us hither; nor must it be concealed, that there

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 119

were persons of unsuspected fidelity, who pro-
posed a third course, safer indeed than the
others, but totally alien to the mind of our most
magnanimous father. They recommended that
a confidential slave, in company with a mini-
ster of the interior of our imperial palace, should
be sent to the tent of Jezdegerd, in order to
ascertain upon what terms the barbarian would
permit our triumphant father to retreat in safety
at the head of his victorious army. On learn-
ing such opinion, our imperial father was heard
to exclaim, ' Sancta Sophia !' being the nearest
approach to an adjuration which he has been
knowTi to permit himself, and was apparently
about to say something violent both concerning
the dishonour of the advice, and the cowardice
of those by whom it was preferred, when, recol-
lecting the mutability of human things, and the
misfortune of several of his majesty's gracious
predecessors, some of whom had been compelled
to surrender their sacred persons to the infidels in
the same region, his imperial majesty repressed
his generous feelings, and only suffered his army
counsellors to understand his sentiments by a

120 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

speech, in wliicli he declared so desperate and so
dishonourable a course would be the last which
he would adopt even in the last extremity of
danger. Thus did the judgment of this mighty
Prince at once reject counsel that seemed shame-
ful to his arms, and thereby encourage the zeal
of his troops, while privately he kept this postern
in reserve, which in utmost need might serve
for a safe, though not altogether, in less urgent
circumstances, an honourable retreat.

" M hen the discussion had reached this me-
lancholy crisis, the renowned Achilles Tatius
arrived with the hopeful intelligence, that he
himself and some soldiers of his corps hatl dis-
covered an opening on the left flank of our pre-
sent encampment, by which, making indeed a
considerable circuit, but reaching, if we marched
with vigour, the town of Laodicea, we might, by
falling back on our resources, be in some mea-
sure in surety from the enemy.

" So soon as this ray of hope darted on the
troubled mind of our gracious father, he pro-
ceeded to make such arrangements as might
secure the full benefit of the advantage. His

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 1*21

Imperial Highness would not permit the brave
Varangians, whose battle-axes he accounted the
flower of his imperial army, to take the ad-
vanced post of assailants on the present occasion.
He repressed the love of battle by which these
generous foreigners have been at all times dis-
tinguished, and directed that the Syrian forces
in the army, who have been belore mentioned^
should be assembled with as little noise as pos-
sible in the vicinity of the deserted pass, with
instructions to occupy it. The good genius of
the empire suggested that, as their speech, arms,
and appearance resembled those of the enemy,
they might be permitted unopposed to take post
in the defile with their light-armed forces, and
thus secure it for the passage of the rest of the
army, of which he proposed that the Varangians,
as immediately attached to his o\vn sacred per-
son, should form the vanguard. The well-known
battalions, termed the Immortals, came next,
comprising the gross of the army, and forming
the centre and rear. Achilles Tatius, the faith-
ful Follower of his royal Master, although mor-
tified that he was not permitted to assume the

VOL. I. F

122 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

charge of tlie rear, wliich he had proposed for
himself and his valiant troops, as the post of
danger at the time, cheerfully acquiesced, never-
theless, in the arrangement proposed by the
Emperor, as most fit to effect the imperial safety,
and that of the army.

" Tlie imperial orders, as they were sent in-
stantly abroad, were in like manner executed
with the readiest punctuality, the rather that
they indicated a course of safety which had been
almost despaired of even by the oldest soldiers.
During the dead period of time, when, as the
divine Homer tells us, gods and men are alike
asleep, it was found that the vigilance and pru-
dence of a single individual had provided safety
for the whole Roman army. The pinnacles of the
mountain passes were scarcely touched by the
earliest beams of the dawn, when these beams
were also reflected from the steel caps and spears
of the Syrians, under the command of a captain
named Monastras, M'ho, with his tribe, had at-
tached himself to the empire. The Emperor,
at the head of his faithful Varangians, defiled
through the passes, in order to gain that degree

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 123

of advance on the road to the city of Laodicea
which was desired, so as to avoid coming into
collision with the barbarians.

" It was a goodly sight to see the dark mass
of northern warriors, who now led the van of the
army, moving slowly and steadily through the
defiles of the mountains, around the insulated
rocks and precipices, and surmounting the gentler
acclivities, like the course of a strong and mighty
river ; while the loose bands of archers and jave-
lin-men, armed after the eastern manner, were
dispersed on the steep sides of the defiles, and
might be compared to light foam upon the edge
of the torrent. In the midst of the squadrons of
the life-guard might be seen the proud war-horse
of his Imperial Majesty, which pawed the earth
indignantly, as if impatient at the delay which
separated him from his august burden. The
Emperor Alexius himself travelled in a litter,
borne by eight strong African slaves, that he
might rise perfectly refreshed if the army should
be overtaken by the enemy. The valiant Achilles
Tatius rode near the couch of his master, that
none of those luminous ideas, by which our

124 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

august sire so often decided the fate of battle,
might be lost for want of instant communicat?on
to those whose duty it was to execute them. I
may also say, that there were close to the litter of
the Emperor, three or four carriages of the same
kind ; one prepared for the Moon, as she may
be termed, of the universe, the gracious Empress
Irene. Among the others which might be men-
tioned, was that which contained the authoress of
this history, unworthy as she may be of distinc-
tion, save as the daughter of the eminent and
sacred persons whom the narration chiefly con-
cerns. In this manner the imperial army pressed
on through the dangerous defiles, where their
march was exposed to insults from the barba-
rians. They were happily cleared without any
opposition. Wlien we came to the descent of
the pass which looks down on the city of Laodi-
cea, the sagacity of the Emperor commanded the
van — which, though the soldiers com[)Osing the
same were heavily armed, had hitherto marched
extremely fast — to halt, as well that they them-
selves might take some repose and refreshment,
as to give the rearward forces time to come up,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 1'25

and close various gaps wliicli tlie rapid move-
ment of those in front had occasioned in the line
of march.

" The place chosen for this purpose was emi-
nently beautiful, from the small and compara-
tively insignificant ridge of hills v.'hich melt irre-
gularly down into the plains stretching between
the pass which we occupied and Laodicea. The
town was about one hundred stadia distant, and
some of our more sanguine warriors pretended
that they could already discern its towers and
pinnacles, glittering in the early beams of the
sun, which had not as yet risen high into the
horizon. A mountain torrent, which found its
source at the foot of a huge rock, that yawned
to give it birth as if struck by the rod of the
prophet Moses, poured its liquid treasure down
to the more level country, nourishing herbage,
and even large trees, in its descent, until, at the
distance of some four or five miles, the stream,
at least in dry seasons, was lost amid heaps of
sand and stones, which in the rainy season mark-
ed the strength and fury of its current.

" It was pleasant to see the attention of the

126 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Emperor to the comforts of the companions and
guardians of his march. The trumpets from time
to time gave license to various parties of the
Varangians to hiy down their arms, to eat the
food whicli was distributed to them, and quench
their thirst at the pure stream, which poured its
bounties down the hill, or they might be seen to
extend their bulky forms upon the turf around
them. The Emperor, his most serene spouse,
and the princesses and ladies, were also served
with breakfast, at the fountain formed by the
small brook in its very birth, and which the
reverent feelings of the soldiers had left unpol-
luted by vulgar touch, for the use of that family,
emphatically said to be born in the purple. Our
beloved husband was also present on this occa-
sion, and was among the first to detect one of the
disasters of the day. For, although all the rest
of the repast had been, by the dexterity of the
officers of the imperial mouth, so arranged, even
on so awful an occasion, as to exhibit little differ-
ence from the ordinary provisions of the house-
hold, yet, when his Imperial Highness called
for wine, behold, not only was the sacred liquor

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 127

dedicated to liis own peculiar imperial use wholly
exhausted or left behind, but, to use the language
of Horace, not the vilest Sabine vintage could
be procured ; so that his Imperial Highness was
glad to accept the offer of a rude Varangian, who
proffered his modicum of decocted barley, which
these barbarians prefer to the juice of the grape.
The Emperor, nevertheless, accepted of this
coarse tribute."

" Insert," said the Emperor, who had been
hitherto either plunged in deep contemplation,
or in an incipient slumber, " insert, I say, these
very words : ' And with the heat of the morning,
and anxiety of so rapid a march, with a nume-
rous enemy in his rear, the Emperor was so
thirsty, as never in liis life to think beverage
more delicious.' "

In obedience to her imperial father's orders,
the Princess resigned the manuscript to the
beautiful slave by whom it was written, repeat-
ing to the fair scribe the commanded addition,
requiring her to note it, as made by the express
sacred command of the Emperor, and then pro-
ceeded thus : — " More I had said here respect-

128 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

ing the favourite liquor of your Imperial Iligh-
ness's faithful Varangians ; but your Highness
having once graced it with a word of commend-
ation, this ail, as they call it, doubtless because re-
movini'- all disorders, which they term ' ailments,'
liecomes a theme too lofty for the discussion of
any inferior person. Suffice it to say, that thus
were we all pleasantly engaged, the ladies and
slaves trying to find some amusement for the
imperial ears ; the soldiers, in a long line down
the ravine, seen in different postures, some strag-
gling to the watercourse, some keeping guard
over the arms of their comrades, in which duty
they relieved each other, while body after body
of the remaining troops, under command of the
Proto-spathaire, and particularly those called Im-
mortals, joined the main army as they came up.
Those soldiers who were already exhausted, were
allowed to take a short repose, after which they
were sent forward, with directions to advance
steadily on the road to Laodicea; while their
leader was instructed, so soon as he should open
a free communication with that city, to send thi-
ther a command for reinforcements and refresh-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 1'29

ments, not forgetting fitting provision of the
sacred wine for the imperial mouth. According-
ly, the Roman bands of Immortals and others had
resumed their march, and held some way on their
journey, it being the imperial pleasure that the
Varangians, lately the vanguard, should now
form the rear of the whole army, so as to bring-
off in safety the Syrian light troops, by whom
the hilly pass was still occupied, when we heard
upon the other side of this defile, which we had
traversed with so much safety, the awful sound
of the Lelies, as the Arabs name their shout of
onset, though in what language it is expressed,
it would be hard to say. Perchance some in this
audience may enlighten my ignorance."

" May I speak and live ?" said the Acoulou-
tos Achilles, proud of his literary knowledge,
" the words are. Alia ilia alia Mohamed resold
alia. These, or something like them, contain the
Arabs' profession of faith, which they always call
out when they join battle ; I have heard them
many times."

" And so have I," said the Emperor; " and
as thou didst, I warrant me, I have sometimes

F 2

130 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

wished myself anywhere else than within hear-
ing."

All the circle were alive to hear the answer
of Achilles Tatius. He was too good a courtier,
however, to make any imprudent reply. " It
was my duty," he replied, " to desire to be as
near your Imperial Highness, as your faithful
Follower ought, wherever you might wish your-
self for the time."

Agelastes and Zosimus exchanged looks, and
the Princess Anna Comnena proceeded in her
recitation.

" The cause of these ominous sounds, which
came in wild confusion up the rocky pass, were
soon explained to us by a dozen cavaliers, to
whom the task of bringing intelligence had been
assigned.

" These informed us, that the barbarians, whose
host had been dispersed around the position in
which we had encamped the preceding day, hatl
not been enabled to get their forces together
until our light troops were evacuating the post
they had occupied for securing the retreat of
our army. They were then drawing off from

COUNT ROBERT OF PAR1S> 131

tlie tops of the Mils into tlie pass itself, wlien, in
despite of the rocky ground, they were charged
furiously by Jezdegerd, at the head of a large
body of his followers, which, after repeated ex-
ertions, he had at length brought to operate on
the rear of the Syrians. Notwithstanding that
the pass was unfavourable for cavalry, the per-
sonal exertions of the infidel chief made his fol-
lowers advance with a degree of resolution un-
known to the Syrians of the Roman army, who,
finding themselves at a distance from their com-
panions, formed the injurious idea that they were
left there to be sacrificed, and thought of flight in
various directions, rather than of a combined and
resolute resistance. The state of affairs, there-
fore, at the further end of the pass, was less
favourable than we could wish, and those whose
curiosity desired to see something which might
be termed the rout of the rear of an army, be-
held the Syrians pursued from the hill tops, over-
whelmed, and individually cut down and made
prisoners by the bands of caitiff Mussulmen.

" His Imperial Highness looked upon the scene
of battle for a few minutes, and, much commoved

132 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

at what lie saw, Avas somewhat hasty in his direc-
tions to the Varangians to resume their arms,
and precipitate tlieir march towards Laodicea;
whereupon one of those northern soklicrs said
boldly, though in opposition to the imperial com-
mand, ' If we attempt to go hastily down this
liill, our rearguard will be confused, not only
b)^ our o^yn hurry, but by these runaway scoun-
drels of Syrians, who in their headlong flight
will not fail to mix themselves among our ranks.
Let two hundred Varangians, who will live and
die for the honour of England, abide in the very
throat of this pass with me, while the rest escort
the Emperor to this Laodicea, or whatever it is
called. We may perish in our defence, but we
shall die in our duty ; and I have little doubt
but we will furnish such a meal as will stay the
stomach of these yelping hounds from seeking
any farther banquet this day.'

" My imperial father at once discovered the im-
portance of this advice, though it made him well-
nigh weep to see with what unshrinking fidelity
these poor barbarians pressed to fill up the num-
ber of those who were to undertake this desperate

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 133

duty-— with what kindness they took leave of their
comrades, and with what jovial shouts they fol-
lowed their sovereign with their eyes, as he pro-
ceeded on his march down the hill, leaving them
behind to resist and perish. The imperial eyes
were filled with tears ; and I am not ashamed to
confess, that amid the terror of the moment,
tlie Empress, and I myself, forgot our rank, in
paying a similar tribute to these bold and self-
devoted men.

" We left their leader carefully arraying his
handful of comrades in defence of the pass,
where the middle path was occupied by their
centre, while their wings, on either side, were so
disposed as to act upon the flanks of the enemy,
should he rashly press upon such as appeared
opposed to him in the road. We had not pro-
ceeded half way towards the plain, when a dread-
ful shout arose, in which the yells of the Arabs
were mingled with the deep and more regular
shout which these strangers usually repeat thrice,
as well when bidding hail to their commanders
and princes, as when in the act of engaging in
battle. ]Manv a look was turned l?ack by their

134 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

comrades, and many a form was seen in the
ranks wliicli might have claimed the chisel of a
sculptor, while the soldier hesitated whether to
follow the line of his duty, which called him to
march forward with his Emperor, or the impulse
of courage, which prompted him to rush back
to join his companions. Discipline, however,
prevailed, and the main body marched on.

" An hour had elapsed, during which we heard,
from time to time, the noise of battle, when a
mounted Varangian presented himself at the side
of the Emperor's litter. The horse was covered
with foam, and had obviously, from his trappings,
the fineness of his limbs, and the smallness of his
joints, been the charger of some chief of the
desert, which had fallen by the chance of battle
into the possession of the northern warrior. The
broad axe which the Varangian bore was also
stained with blood, and the paleness of death
itself was upon his countenance. These marks
of recent battle were held sufficient to excuse
the irregularity of his salutation, while he ex-
claimed,— * Noble Prince, the Arabs are de-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 135

feated, and you may pursue your marcli at more
leisure.'

" ' Wliere is Jezdegerd ?' said the Emperor,
who had many reasons for dreading this cele-
brated chief.

" ' Jezdegerd/ continued the Varangian, ' is
where brave men are who fall in their duty.'

" ' And that is — ' said the Emperor, impatient
to know distinctly the fate of so formidable an
adversary

" ' Where I am now going,' answered the
faithful soldier, who dropped from his horse as
he spoke, and expired at the feet of the litter-
bearers.

" The Emperor called to his attendants to see
that the body of this faithful retainer, to whom
he destined an honourable sepulchre, was not left
to the jackall or vulture ; and some of his bre-
thren, the Anglo-Saxons, among whom he was a
man of no mean repute, raised the body on their
shoulders, and resumed their march with this
additional encumbrance, prepared to fight for
their precious burden, like the valiant Menelaus
for the body of Patroclus."

136 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

The Princess Anna Comnena here naturally
paused ; for, having attained what she probably
considered as the rounding of a period, she was
willing to gather an idea of the feelings of her
audience. Indeed, but that she had been intent
upon her own manuscript, the emotions of the
foreign soldier must have more early attracted
her attention. In the beginning of her reci-
tation, he had retained the same attitude which
he had at first assumed, stiff and rigid as a sen-
tinel upon duty, and apparently remembering
notliing, save that he was performing that duty
in presence of the imperial court. As the narra-
tive advanced, however, he appeared to take
more interest in what was read. The anxious
fears expressed by the various leaders in the
midnight council, he listened to with a smile of
suppressed contempt, and he almost laughed at
the praises bestowed upon the leader of his own
corps, Achilles Tatius. Nor did even the name
of the Emperor, though listened to respectfully,
gain that applause for which his daughter fcnight
so hard, and used so much exaggeration.
Hitherto the Varangian's countenance indicated

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 137

very sUglitly any Internal emotions ; but they
appeared to take a deeper hold on his mind as
she came to the description of the halt after
the main army had cleared the pass ; the unex-
pected advance of the Arabs ; the retreat of the
column which escorted the Emperor; and the
account of the distant engagement. He lost, on
hearing the narration of these events, the rigid
and constrained look of a soldier, who listened
to the history of his Emperor with the same
feelinofs with which he would have mounted
guard at his palace. His colour began to come
and go ; his eyes to fill and to sparkle ; his limbs
to become more agitated than their owmer seemed
to assent to; and his whole appearance was
changed into that of a listener, highly interested
by the recitation which he hears, and insensible,
or forgetful, of whatever else is passing before
him, as well as of the quality of those who are
present.

As the historian proceeded, Hereward became
less able to conceal his agitation ; and at the
moment the Princess looked round, his feelings
became so acute, that, forgetting where he was.

138 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

he dropped liis ponderous axe upon the floor,
and, clasping his hands together, exclaimed, —
" My unfortunate brother !"

All were startled by the clang of the falling
weapon, and several persons at once attempted
to interfere, as called upon to explain a circum-
stance so unusual. Achilles Tatius made some
small progress in a speech designed to apologise
for the rough mode of venting his sorrows to
which Hereward had given way, by assuring the
eminent persons present, that the poor unculti-
vated barbarian was actually younger brother to
him who had commanded and fallen at the me-
morable defile. Tlie Princess said nothing, but
was evidently struck and affected, and not ill-
pleased, perhaps, at having given rise to feelings
of interest so flattering to her as an authoress.
The others, each in their character, uttered inco-
herent words of what was meant to be consola-
tion ; for distress which flows from a natural cause,
generally attracts sympathy even from the most
artificial characters. The voice of Alexius silen-
ced all these imperfect speakers : " Hah, my
brave soldier, Edward !" said the Emperor, " I

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 139

must have been blind tliat I did not sooner recog-
nise tbee, as I think there is a memorandum
entered, respecting five hundred pieces of gold
due from us to Edward the Varangian ; we have
it in our secret scroll of such liberalities for wliich
we stand indebted to our servitors, nor shall the
payment be longer deferred."

" Not to me, if it may please you, my liege,"
said the Anglo-Dane, hastily composing his
countenance into its rough gravity of lineament,
" lest it should be to one who can claim no inte-
rest in your imperial munificence. My name is
Hereward ; that of Edward is borne by three of
my companions, all of them as likely as I to have
deserved your Highness's reward for the faithful
performance of their duty."

Many a sign was made by Tatius in order to
guard his soldier against the folly of declining
the liberality of the Emperor. Agelastes spoke
more plainly : " Young man," he said, " rejoice
in an honour so unexpected, and answer hence-
forth to no other name save that of Edward, by
which it hath pleased the light of the world, as
it poured a ray upon thee, to distinguish thee

140 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

from other barbarians. A^^liat is to tbee the font-
stone, or the priest officiating thereat, sliouldst
thou have derived from either any epithet different
from that by which it liath now pleased the Empe-
ror to distinguish thee from the common mass of
humanity, and by which proud distinction thou
hast now a right to be known ever afterwai'ds ?"

" Here ward was the name of my father," said
the soklier, M'ho had now altogether recovered
his composure. " I cannot abandon it while I
honour his memory in death. Edward is the
title of my comrade — I must not run the risk
of usurping his interest."

" Peace all," interrupted the Emperor. " If
we have made a mistake, we are rich enough to
right it ; nor shall Hereward be the poorer, if an
Edward shall be found to merit this gratuity."

" Your Highness may trust that to your affec-
tionate consort," answered the Empress Irene.

" His most sacred Highness," said the Prin-
cess Anna Comnena, "is so avariciously desirous
to do whatever is good and gracious, that he leaves
no room even for his nearest connexions to dis-
play generosity or munificence. Nevertheless, I,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 141

in my degree, will testify my gratitude to this
brave man ; for where his exploits are mentioned
in this history, I will cause to be recorded, —
' This feat was done by Here ward the Anglo-
Dane, whom it hath pleased his Imperial Ma-
jesty to call Edward.' Keep this, good youth,"
she continued, bestowing at the same time a ring
of price, " in token that we will not forget our
engagement."

Here ward accepted the token with a profound
obeisance, and a discomposure which his station
rendered not unbecoming. It was obvious to
most persons present, that the gratitude of the
beautiful Princess was expressed in a manner
more acceptable to the youthful life-guardsman,
than that of Alexius Comnenus. He took the
ring with great demonstration of thankfulness :
" Precious relic !" he said, as he saluted this
pledge of esteem by pressing it to his lips ; " we
may not remain long together, but be assured,"
bending reverently to the Princess, " that death
alone shall part us."

" Proceed, our princely daughter," said the
Empress Irene ; " you have done enough to show

142 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

that valour is precious to her who can confer fame,
whether it be found in a Roman or a barbarian."

The Princess resumed her narrative with some
slight appearance of embarrassment.

" Our movement upon Laodicea \vas now
resumed, and continued with good hopes on the
part of those engaged in the march. Yet instinc-
tively we could not help casting our eyes to
the rear, which had been so long the direction
in which we feared attack. At length, to our
surprise, a thick cloud of dust was visible on
the descent of the hill, half way betwixt us and
the place at which we had halted. Some of the
troops who composed our retreating body, par-
ticularly those in the rear, began to exclaim,
' The Arabs ! the Arabs !' and their march assu-
med a more precipitate character when they
believed themselves pursued by the enemy. But
the Varangian guards affirmed with one voice,
that the dust was raised by the remains of their
own comrades, who, left in the defence of the
pass, had marched off after having so valiantly
maintained the station intrusted to them. They
fortified their opinion by professional remarks,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 143

that the cloud of dust was more concentrated
than if raised by the Arab horse, and they even
pretended to assert, from their knowledge of
such cases, that the number of their comrades
had been much diminished in the action. Some
Syrian horsemen, dispatched to reconnoitre the
approaching body, brought intelligence corre-
sponding with the opinion of the Varangians
in every particular. The portion of the body-
guard had beaten back the Arabs, and their gal-
lant leader had slain their chief Jezdegerd, in
which service he was mortally wounded, as this
history hath already mentioned. The survivors
of the detachment, diminished by one half, were
now on their march to join the Emperor, as fast
as the encumbrance of bearing their womided
to a place of safety would permit.

" The Emperor Alexius, with one of those
brilliant and benevolent ideas which mark his
paternal character towards his soldiers, ordered
all the litters, even that for his own most sacred
use, to be instantly sent back to relieve the bold
Varangians of the task of bearing the wounded.
Tlie shouts of the Varangians' gratitude may be

144 COUNT ROBERT OF TARIS.

more easily conceived than described, when they
beheld the Emperor himself descend from his
litter, like an ordinary cavalier, and assume his
war-horse, at the same time that the most sacred
Empress, as well as the authoress of this history,
with other princesses born in the purple, mounted
upon mules, in order to proceed upon the march,
while their litters were unhesitatingly assigned
for the accommodation of the wounded men.
This was indeed a mark, as well of military saga-
city as of humanity ; for the relief afforded to the
bearers of the wounded, enabled the survivors of
those who had defended the defile at the foun-
tain, to join us sooner than would otherwise have
been possible.

" It was an awful thing to see those men who
had left us in the full splendour which military
equipment gives to youth and strength, again
appearing in diminished numbers — their armour
shattered — their shields full of arrows — their
offensive weapons marked with blood, and they
themselves exhibiting all the signs of desperate
and recent battle. Nor was it less interesting to
remark the meeting of the soldiers who had been

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 145

engaged, with the comrades whom they had
rejoined. The Emperor, at the suggestion of
the trusty Acouloutos, permitted them a few
moments to leave their ranks, and learn from
each other the fate of the battle.

" As the two bands mingled, it seemed a meet-
ing where grief and joy had a contest together.
The most rugged of these barbarians, — and I
who saw it can bear witness to the fact, — as he
welcomed with a grasp of his strong hand some
comrade whom he had given up for lost, had his
large blue eyes filled with tears at hearing of
the loss of some one whom he had hoped might
have survived. Other veterans reviewed the
standards which had been in the conflict, satis-
fied themselves that they had all been brought
back in honour and safety, and counted the fresh
arrow-shots with which they had been pierced,
in addition to similar marks of former battles.
All were loud in the praises of the brave young
leader they had lost, nor were the acclamations
less general in laud of him who h^d succeeded
to the command, who brought up the party of
his deceased brother, and whom," said the Prin-

VOL. I. G

146 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

cess, in a few words which seemed apparently
interpohited for tlie occasion, " I now assure of
the hiffh honour and estimation in which he is
held by the author of this history — that is, I
would say, by every member of the imperial
family — for his gallant services in such an im-
portant crisis."

Havina: hurried over her tribute to her friend
the Varangian, in which emotions mingled that
are not willingly expressed before so many hear-
ers, Anna Comnena proceeded \nth composure in
the part of her history which was less personal.
" We had not much time to make more obser-
vations on what passed among those brave sol-
diers : for a few minutes having been allowed to
their feelings, the trumpets sounded the advance
towards Laodicea, and we soon beheld the town,
now about four miles from us, in fields M'hich were
chiefly covered with trees. Apparently the gar-
rison had already some notice of our approach,
for carts and wains were seen advancing from
the gates with refreshments, which the heat of
the day, the length of the march, and columns of
dust, as well as the want of water, had rendered

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 147

of the last necessity to us. The soldiers joyfully
mended their pace in order to meet the sooner
with the supplies of which they stood so much
in need. But as the cup doth not carry in all
cases the liquid treasure to the lips for which
it was intended, however much it may be longed
for, what was our mortification to behold a cloud
of Arabs issue at full gallop from the wooded
plain, betwixt the Roman army and the city, and
throw themselves upon the waggons, slaying the
drivers, and making havoc and spoil of the con-
tents ! This, we afterwards learned, was a body
of the enemy, headed by Varanes, equal in mili-
tary fame, among those infidels, to Jezdegerd,
his slain brother. When this chieftain saw that
it was probable tliat the Varangians would suc-
ceed in their desperate defence of the pass, he
put himself at the head of a large body of cavalry;
and as these infidels are mounted on horses un-
matched either in speed or Mand, performed a
long circuit, traversed the stony ridge of hills at
a more northerly defile, and placed himself in
ambuscade in the wooded plain I have men-
tioned, with the hope of making an unexpected

148 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

assault upon the Emperor and his army, at tlie
very time when they might be supposed to reckon
upon an undisputed retreat. This surprise would
certainly have taken place, and it is not easy
to say what might have been the consequence,
had not the unexpected appearance of the train
of waggons awakened the unbridled rapacity of
the Arabs, in spite of their commander's pru-
dence, and attempts to restrain them. In this
manner the proposed ambuscade was discovered.
"ButVaranes, willing still to gain some advan-
tage from the rapidity of his movements, assem-
bled as many of his horsemen as could be col-
lected from the spoil, and pushed forward towards
the Romans, who had stopt short on their march
at so unlooked for an apparition. There was an
uncertainty and wavering in our first ranks which
made their hesitation known even to so poor a
judge of military demeanour as myself. On the
contrary, the Varangians joined in a unanimous
cry of ' Bills' (that is, in their language, battle-
axes) * to the front !' and the Emperor's most gra-
cious will acceding to their valorous desire, they
pressed forward from the rear to the head of the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 149

column. I can hardly say how this manoeuvre
was executed, but it was doubtless by the wise
directions of my most serene father, distinguished
for his presence of mind upon such difficult occa-
sions. It was, no doubt, much facilitated by the
good-will of the troops themselves ; the Roman
bands, called the Immortals, showing, as it
seemed to me, no less desire to fall into the rear,
than did the Varangians to occupy the places
which the Immortals left vacant in front. The
manoeuvre was so happily executed, that before
Varanes and his Arabs had arrived at the van
of our troops, they found it occupied by the
inflexible guard of northern soldiers. I might
have seen with my own eyes, and called upon
them as sure evidences of that which chanced
upon the occasion. But, to confess the truth,
ray eyes were little used to look upon such
sights ; for of Varanes's charge I only beheld, as
it were, a thick cloud of dust rapidly driven for-
ward, tlirough which were seen the glittering
points of lances, and the waving plumes of tur-
baned cavaliers imperfectly visible. The tecbir
was so loudly uttered, that I was scarcely aware

150 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS

that kettle-drums and brazen cymbals were sound-
ing in concert with it. But this wild and outra-
geous storm was met as effectually as if encoun-
tered by a rock.

" The Varangians, unshaken by the furious
charge of the Arabs, received horse and rider
with a shower of blows from their massive battle-
axes, which the bravest of the enemy could not
face, nor the strongest endure. The guards
strengthened their ranks also, by the hindmost
pressing so close upon those that went before,
after the manner of the ancient Macedonians,
that the fine-limbed, though slight steeds of tkese
Jdumeans could not make the least inroad upon
the northern phalanx. The bravest men, the
most gallant horses, fell in the first rank. Ilie
weighty, though short, horse javelins, flung from
the rear ranks of the brave Varangians with good
aim and sturdy arm, completed the confusion of
the assailants, who turned their back in affright,
and fled from the field in total confusion.

" The enemy thus repulsed, we proceeded on
our march, and only halted when we recovered
our half-plundered waggons. Here, also, some

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 151

invidious remarks were made by certain officers-
of the interior of the household, who had been
on duty over the stores, and having fled from
their posts on the assault of the infidels, had only
returned upon their being repulsed. These men,
quick in malice, though slow in perilouis service,
reported, that, on this occasion, the Varangians
so far forgot their duty as to consume a part of
the sacred wine reserved for the imperial lips
alone. It would be criminal to deny that this was
a great and culpable oversight ; nevertheless, our
imperial hero passed it over as a pardonable of-
fence ; remarking, in a jesting manner, that since
he had drank the ail, as they termed it, of his
trusty guard, the Varangians had acquired a right
to quench the thirst, and to relieve the fatigue,
which they had imdergone that day in his de-
fence, though they used for these purposes the
sacred contents of the imperial cellar.

" In the meantime, the cavalry of the army
were dispatched in pursuit of the fugitive Arabs ;
and having succeeded in driving them behind the
chain of hills which had so recently divided them
from the Romans, the imperial arms might justly

152 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

be considered as having obtained a complete and
glorious victory.

" We are now to mention tlie rejoicings of the
citizens of Laodicea, who, having witnessed from
their ramparts, with alternate fear and hope, the
fluctuations of the battle, now descended to con-
gratulate the imperial conqueror."

Here the fair narrator was interrupted. The
principal entrance of the apartment flew open,
noiselessly indeed, but with both folding leaves
at once, not as if to accommodate the entrance
of an ordinary courtier, studying to create as
little disturbance as possible, but as if there was
entering a person, who ranked so high as to make
it indifi'erent how much attention was drawn to
his motions. It could only be one born in the
])urple, or nearly allied to it, to whom such free-
dom was lawful ; and most of the guests, know-
ing who were likely to appear in that Temple of
the Muses, anticipated, from the degree of bustle,
the ai'rival of Nicephorus Briennius, the son-in-
law of Alexius Comnenus, the husband to the
fair historian, and in the rank of Csesar, which
however did not at that period imply, as in early

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 153

ages, the dignity of second person in the empire.
The policy of Alexins had interposed more than
one person of condition between the Caesar, and
his original rights and rank, which had once been
second to those only of the Emperor himself.

G 'J

154 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

CHAPTER V.

The storm increases — 'tis no sunny shower,
Foster'il in the moist breast of ^larch or A])ril,
Or such as parclied Summer cools his hp with ■
Heaven's windows are flung wide ; the inmost deei)8
Call in hoarse greeting one upon another;
On comes the flood in all its foaming horrors,
And where's the dike shall stop it '

The Deluge^ a Poem.

'J'he distinguished individual who entered was
a noble Grecian, of stately presence, whose habit
was adorned with every mark of dignity, saving
those which Alexius had declared sacred to the
Emperor's own person, and that of the Sebasto-
crator, whom he had established as next in rank
to the head of the empire. Nicephorus Brien-
nius, who was in the bloom of youth, retained
all the marks of that manly beauty which had

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 155

made tlie match acceptable to Anna Comnena ;
while political considerations, and the desire of
attaching a powerful house as friendly adherents
of the throne, recommended the union to the
Emperor.

We have already hinted that the royal bride
had, though in no great degree, the very doubtful
advantage of years. Of her literary talents we
have seen tokens. Yet it was not believed by
those who best knew, that, with the aid of those
claims to respect, Anna Comnena was success-
ful in possessing the unlimited attachment of
her handsome husband. To treat her with ap-
parent neglect, her connexion vnth the cro^A■n
rendered impossible ; while, on the other hand,
the power of Nicephorus's family was too great
to permit his being dictated to even by the
Emperor himself. He was possessed of talents,
as it was believed, calculated both for war and
peace. His advice was, therefore, listened to,
and his assistance required, so that he claimed
complete liberty with respect to his own time,
which he sometimes used with less regular atten-
dance upon the Temple of the Muses, than the

156 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

goddess of the place thought herself entitled to,
or than the Empress Irene was disposed to exact
on the part of her daughter. The good-humour-
ed Alexius observed a sort of neutrality in this
matter, and kept it as much as possible from be-
coming visible to the public, conscious that it
required the whole united strength of his family
to maintain his place in so agitated an empire.

He pressed his son-in-law's hand, as Nicepho-
rus, passing his father-in-law's seat, bent his knee
in token of homage. The constrained manner
of the Empress indicated a more cold reception
of her son-in-law, while the fair muse herself
scarcely deigned to signify her attention to his
arrival, when her handsome mate assumed the
vacant seat by her side, which we have already
made mention of.

There was an awkward pause, during which
the imperial son-in-law, coldly received when
he expected to be welcomed, attempted to enter
into some light conversation with the fair slave
Astarte, who knelt behind her mistress. This
was interrupted by the Princess commanding her

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 157

attendant to enclose the manuscript within its
appropriate casket, and convey it with her own
hands to the cabinet of Apollo, the usual scene
of the Princess's studies, as the Temple of the
Muses was that commonly dedicated to her re-
citations.

The Emperor himself was the first to break
an unpleasant silence. " Fair son-in-law," he
said, " though it now wears something late in the
night, you will do yourself wrong if you permit
our Anna to send away that volume, with which
this company have been so delectably entertained
that they may well say, that the desert hath pro-
duced roses, and the barren rocks have poured
forth milk and honey, so agreeable is the narra-
tive of a toilsome and dangerous campaign, in
the language of our daughter."

" Tlie Csesar," said the Empress, " seems to
have little taste for such dainties as this family
can produce. He hath of late repeatedly absent-
ed himself from this Temple of the Muses, and
found doubtless more agreeable conversation and
amusement elsewhere."

158 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" I trust, madam," said Niccphorus, " that my
taste may vindicate me from the charge implied.
But it is natural that our sacred father should be
most delighted with the milk and honey which
is produced for his own special use."

The Princess spoke in the tone of a handsome
woman offended by her lover, and feeling the
offence, yet not indisposed to a reconciliation.

" If," she said, " the deeds of Nicephorus
Briennius are less frequently celebrated in that
poor roll of parchment than those of my illustri-
ous father, he must do me the justice to remem-
ber that such was his own special request ; either
proceeding from that modesty which is justly
ascribed to him, as serving to soften and adorn
his other attributes, or because he with justice
distrusts his wife's power to compose their eulo-
gium."

" We will then summon back Astarte," said
the Empress, "who cannot yet have carried her
offering to the cabinet of Apollo."

" With your imperial pleasure," said Nice-
phorus, " it might incense the Pythian god were a

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 159

deposit to be recalled of wliich he alone can fitly
estimate tlie value. I came hither to speak with
the Emperor upon pressing affairs of state, and
not to hold a literary conversation with a com-
pany wliich I must needs say is something of a
miscellaneous description, since I behold an ordi-
nary lifeguardsman in the imperial circle."

" By the tood, son-in-law," said Alexius, "you
do this gallant man wrong. He is the brother
of that brave Anglo-Dane who secured the vic-
tory at Laodicea by his valiant conduct and death ;
he himself is that Edmund — or Edward — or
Hereward — ^to whom we are ever bound for se-
curing the success of that victorious day. He
was called into our presence, son-in-law, since it
imports that you should know so much, to refresh
the memory of my Follower, Achilles Tatius, as
well as mine own, concerning some transactions
of the day of which we had become in some de-
gree oblivious."

" Truly, imperial sir," answered Briennius,
" I grieve that, by having intruded on such im-
portant researches, I may have, in some degree.

160 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

intercepted a portion of that liglit which is to
illuminate future ages. ^Nlethinks that in a battle-
field, fought under your imperial guidance, and
that of your great captains, your evidence might
well supersede the testimony of such a man as
this. — Let me know," he added, turning haughti-
ly to the Varangian, " what particular thou canst
add, that is unnoticed in the Princess's narra-
tive?"

The Varangian replied instantly, " Only that
when we made a halt at the fountain, the music
that was there made by the ladies of the Empe-
ror's household, and particularly by those two
whom I now behold, was the most exquisite that
ever reached my ears."

" Hah ! darest thou to speak so audacious an
opinion ?" exclaimed Nicephorus ; " is it for such
as thou to suppose for a moment that the music
which the wife and daughter of the Emperor
might condescend to make, was intended to afford
either matter of pleasure or of criticism to every
plebeian barbarian who might hear them ? Be-
gone from this })lace ! nor dare, on any pretext,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 161

again to appear before mine eyes — under allow-
ance always of our imperial father's pleasure."

The Varangian bent his looks upon Achilles
Tatius, as the person from whom he was to take
his orders to stay or withdraw. But the Empe-
ror himself took up the subject with considerable
dignity.

" Son," he said, "we cannot permit this. On
account of some love quarrel, as it would seem,
betwixt you and our daughter, you allow your-
self strangely to forget our imperial rank, and to
order from our presence those whom we liave
pleased to call to attend us. This is neither right
nor seemly, nor is it our pleasure that this same
Hereward — or Edward — or whatever be his
name — either leave us at this present moment,
or do at any time hereafter regulate himself by
any commands save our own, or those of our
Follower, Achilles Tatius. And now, allowing
this foolish affair, which I think was blown among
us by the wind, to pass as it came, without fer-
ther notice, we crave to know the grave matters
of state which brought you to our presence at so

162 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

late an liour. — You look again at this Varangian.
— Withhold not your words, I pray you, on ac-
count of his presence ; for he stands as high in
our trust, and we are convinced with as good
reason, as any councillor who has been sworn
our domestic servant."

" To hear is to obey," returned the Emperor's
son-in-law, who saw that Alexius was somewhat
moved, and knew that in such cases it was neither
safe nor expedient to drive him to extremity.
" What I have to say," continued he, " must
so soon be public new^s, that it little matters who
hears it ; and yet the West, so full of strange
changes, never sent to the Eastern half of the
globe tidings so alarming as those I now came
to tell your imperial highness. Europe, to bor-
row an expression from this lady, who honours me
by calling me husband, seems loosened from its
foundations and about to precipitate itself uj)on
Asia "

" So I did express myself," said the Princess
Anna Comnena, " and, as I trust, not altogether
unforcibly, when we first heard that the wild

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 163

impulse of these restless barbarians of Europe
had driven a tempest as of a thousand nations
upon our western frontier, with the extravagant
purpose, as they pretended, of possessing them-
selves of Syria, and the holy places there marked
as the sepulchres of prophets, the martyrdom
of saints, and the great events detailed in the
blessed gospel. But that storm, by all accounts,
hath burst and passed away, and we well hoped
that the danger had gone with it. Devoutly shall
we sorrow to find it otherwise."

" And otherwise we must expect to find it,"
said her husband. " It is very true, as reported
to us, that a huge body of men of low rank, and
little understanding, assumed arms at the insti-
gation of a mad hermit, and took the road from
Germany to Hungary, expecting miracles to be
wrought in their favom-, as when Israel was guided
through the wilderness by a pillar of flame and a
cloud. But no showers of manna or of quails
relieved their necessities, or proclaimed them the
chosen people of God. No waters gushed from
the rock for their refreshment. They were en-

164 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

raged at tlieir suflferings, and endeavoured to
obtain supplies by pillaging the country. The
Hungarians, and other nations on our western
frontiers, Christians, like themselves, did not he-
sitate to fall upon this disorderly rabble ; and
immense piles of bones, in wild passes and un-
frequented deserts, attest the calamitous defeats
which extirpated these unholy pilgrims."

" All this," said the Emperor, " we knew
before ;— r-but what new evil now threatens, since
we have already escaped so important a one ?"

" Knew before ?" said the Prince Nicephorus.
" We knew nothing of our real danger before,
save that a wild herd of animals, as brutal and
as furious as wild bulls, threatened to bend their
way to a pasture for which they had formed a
fancy, and deluged the Grecian empire, and its
vicinity, in their passtige, expecting that Pales-
tine, with its streams of milk and honey, once
more awaited them, as God's predestined people.
But so wild and disorderly an invasion had no
terrors for a civilized nation like the Romans.
The brute herd was terrified by our Greek fire ;

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 165

it was snared and shot down by the wild nations
who, while they pretend to independence, cover
our frontier as with a protecting fortification.
The vile multitude has been consumed even by
the very quality of the provisions thrown in their
way; — those wise means of resistance which
were at once suggested by the paternal care of
tiie Emperor, and by his unfailing policy. Thus
wisdom has played its part, and the bark over
which the tempest had poured its thunder, has
escaped, notwithstanding all its violence. But
the second storm, by which the former is so
closely followed, is of a new descent of these
Western nations, more formidable than any
whicji we or our fathers have yet seen. This
consists not of the ignorant or of the fanatical —
not of the base, the needy, and the improvident.
Now, — all that wide Europe possesses of what
is wise and worthy, brave and noble, are united
by the most religious vows, in the same purpose."
" And what is that purpose ? Speak plainly,"
said Alexius. " The destruction of our whole
Roman empire, and the blotting out the very
name of its chief from among the princes of the

1G6 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

eartli, among which it lias long been predomi-
nant, can alone be an adequate motiv e for a con-
federacy such as thy speech infers."

" No such design is avowed," said Nicepho-
rus ; " and so many princes, wise men, and
statesmen of eminence, aim, it is pretended, at
nothing else than the same extravagant purpose
announced by the brute multitude who first ap-
peared in these regions. Here, most gracious
Emperor, is a scroll, in which you will find
marked down a list of the various armies which,
by different routes, are approaching the vicinity
of the empire. Behold, Hugh of Vermandois,
called from his dignity Hugh the Great, has set
sail from the shores of Italy. Twenty knights
have already announced their coming, sheathed
in armour of steel, inlaid with gold, bearing this
proud greeting : — ' Let the Emperor of Greece,
and his lieutenants, understand that Hugo, Earl
of Vermandois, is approaching his territories.
He is brother to the king of kings — the King of
France, namely — and is attended by the flower
of the French nobility. He bears the blessed
bainicr of St Peter, intrusted to his victorious

6

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 167

care by tlie lioly successor of the apostle, and
warns thee of all this, that thou mayst provide a
reception suitable to his rank.' "

" Here are sounding words," said the Empe-
ror ; " but the wind which whistles loudest is not
always most dangerous to the vessel. We know
something of this nation of France, and have
heard more. They are as petulant at least as
they are valiant ; we will flatter their vanity till
we get time and oppo tunity for more eifectual
defence. Tush ! if words can pay debt, there is
no fear of our exchequer becoming insolvent. —
What follows here, Nicephorus ? A list, I sup-
pose, of the followers of this great count ?"

"My liege, no !" answered Nicephorus Brien-
nius; " so many independent chiefs, as your
Imperial Highness sees in that memorial, so
many independent European armies are advan-
cing by different routes towards the East, and
announce the conquest of Palestine from the
infidels as their common object."

" A dreadful enumeration," said the Empe-
ror, as he perused the list ; " yet so far happy.

168 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

that its very length assures us of the impossibility
that so many princes can be seriously and con-
sistently united in so wild a project. Thus al-
ready my eyes catch the well-known name of an
old friend, our enemy — for such are the alter-
nate chances of peace and war — Bohemond of
Antioch. Is not he the son of the celebrated
Robert of Apidia, so renowned amonjr his coun-
trymen, who raised himself to the rank of grand
duke from a simple cavalier, and became sove-
reign of those of his warlike nation, both in Sicily
and Italy ? Did not the standards of the German
Emperor, of the Roman P'^ '% nay, our own
imperial banners, give way uefore him ; until,
equally a wily statesman and a brav^ warrior,
he became the terror of Europe, from being a
knight whose Norman castle would have been
easily garrisoned by six crossbows, and as many
lances? It is a dreadful family, a race of craft
as well as power. But Bohemond, the son of
old Robert, will follow his father's politics. He
may talk of Palestine and of the interests of Chris-
tendom, but if I can ^nke his interests the same
with mine, he is not likely to be guided by any

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 169

Other object. So, then, with the knowledge I
already possess of his wishes and projects, it may
chance that Heaven sends us an ally in the guise
of an enemy. — Whom have we next ? Godfrey
Duke of Bouillon — leading, I see, a most formi-
dable band from the banks of a huge river called
the Rhine. What is this person's character ?"

" As we hear," replied Nicephorus, " this God-
frey is one of the wisest, noblest, and bravest of
the leaders who have thus strangely put them-
selves in motion; and among a list of independent
princes, as many in number as those who assem-
bled for the siege' Troy, and followed, most of
them, by subjects tlin times more numerous, this
Godfrey may be regarded as the Agamemnon.
The princes and counts esteem him, because he
is the foremost in the ranks of those whom they
fantastically call Knights, and also on account
of the good faith and generosity which he prac-
tises in all his transactions. The clergy give
him credit for the highest zeal for the doctrines
of religion, and a corresponding respect for the
church and its dignitaries^.. Justice, liberality,
and frankness, have equally attached to this God-

VOL. I. H

170 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

frey the lower class of the people. His general
attention to moral obligations is a pledge to
them that his religion is real ; and, gifted with
so much that is excellent, he is already, although
inferior in rank, birth, and power, to many chiefs
of the crusade, justly regarded as one of its prin-
cipal leaders."

" Pity," said the Emperor, " that a character
such as you describe this Prince to be, should be
under the dominion of a fanaticism scarce worthy
of Peter the Hermit, or the clownish multitude
which he led, or of the very ass which he rode
upon ! which I am apt to think the wisest of the
first multitude whom we beheld, seeing that it
ran away towards Europe as soon as water and
barley became scarce."

" Might I be permitted here to speak, and yet
live," said Agelastes, " I would remark, that the
Patriarch himself made a similar retreat so soon
as blows became plenty and food scarce."

" Thou hast hit it, Agelastes," said the Em-
peror; " but the question now is, whether an
lionourable and important principality could not
be formed out of part of the provinces of the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 171

Lesser Asia, now laid waste by the Turks. Such
a principality, methinks, with its various advan-
tages of soil, climate, industrious inhabitants,
and a healthy atmosphere, were well worth the
morasses of Bouillon. It might be held as a
dependance upon the sacred Roman empire, and
garrisoned, as it were, by Godfrey and his vic-
torious Franks, would be a bulwark on that point
to our just and sacred person. Ha ! most holy
Patriarch, would not such a prospect shake the
most devout Crusader's attachment to the burn-
ing sands of Palestine ?"

" Especially," answered the Patriarch, " if
the prince for whom such a rich theme * was
changed into a feudal appanage, should be pre-
viously converted to the only true faith, as your
Imperial Highness undoubtedly means."

" Certainly — most unquestionably" — answer-
ed the Emperor, with a due affectation of gra-
vity, notwithstanding he was internally conscious
how often he had been compelled, by state ne-
cessities, to admit, not only Latin Christians, but

* The provinces were called Themes.

172 COUNT ItOUEKT OF PARIS.

Maiiichcans, and other heretics, nay Mahomedan
barbarians, into tlie number of his subjects, and
that witJiout experiencing opposition from the
scruples of the Patriarch. " Here I find," con-
tinued the Emperor, " such a numerous list of
j)rinces and principalities in the act of approach-
ing our boundaries, as might well rival the armies
of old, who were said to have drunk up rivers,
exhausted realms, and trod down forests, in their
■wasteful advance." As he pronounced these
words, a shade of paleness came over the impe-
rial brow, similar to that which had already clo-
thed in sadness most of his counsellors.

" This war of nations," said Nicephorus, " has
also circumstances distinguisliing it from every
otlier, save that which his Imperial Highness
hath waged in former times against those whom
we are accustomed to call Franks. We must
go forth against a people to whom the strife of
combat is as the breath of their nostrils ; who,
rather than not be engaged in war, will do battle
witli their nearest neighbours, and challenge
each other to mortal fight, as much in sport as
we would defy a comrade to a chariot race.

COUNT UOBERT OF PARIS. 173

They are covered witli an impenetrable armour
of steel, defending them from blows of the lance
and sword, and which the uncommon strength
of their horses renders them able to support,
though one of ours could as well bear Mount
Olympus upon his loins. Their foot- ranks carry
a missile weapon unknown to us, termed an
arblast, or cross-bow. It is not drawn with the
right hand, lilce the bow of other nations, but
by placing the feet upon the weapon itself, and
pulling with the whole force of the body ; and
it dispatches arrows, called Bolts, of hard wood
pointed with iron, which the strength of the bow
can send through the strongest breastplates, and
even through stone walls, where not of uncom-
mon thickness."

" Enough," said the Emperor; " we have
seen with our own eyes the lances of Frankish
knights, and the cross-bows of their infantry.
If Heaven has allotted them a degree of bra-
very, which to other nations seems well nigh
preternatural, the Divine will has given to the
Greek councils that wisdom which it hath re-
fused to barbarians ; — the art of achieving con-

174 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

quest by wisdom rather than brute-force, — ob-
taining by our skill in treaty advantages which
victory itself could not have procured. If we
have not the use of that dreadful weapon, which
our son-in-law terras the cross-bow, Heaven, in
its favour, has concealed from tliese western bar-
barians the composition and use of the Greek fire,
— well so called, since by Grecian hands alone
it is prepared, and by such only can its light-
nings be darted upon the astonished foe." The
Emperor paused, and looked around him ; and
although the faces of his councillors still looked
blank, he boldly proceeded : — " But to return yet
again to this black scroll, containing the names
of those nations who approach our frontier, here
occur more than one with which, methinks, old
memory should make us familiar, though our
recollections are distant and confused. It be-
comes us to know who these men are, that we
may avail ourselves of those feuds and quar-
rels among them, which, being blown into life,
may happily divert them from the prosecution
of this extraordinary attempt in which they are
now united. Here is, for example, one Robert,

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 175

Styled Duke of Normandy, who commands a
goodly band of counts, with which title we are
but too well acquainted ; of earls, a word totally
strange to us, but apparently some barbaric title
of honour; — and of knights, whose names are
compounded, as we think, chiefly of the French
language, but also of another jargon, which we
are not ourselves competent to understand. To
you, most reverend and most learned Patriarch,
we may fittest apply for information on this
subject."

" The duties of my station," replied the pa-
triarch Zosimus, " have withheld my riper years
from studying the history of distant realms ; but
the wise Agelastes, who hath read as many
volumes as would fill the shelves of the famous
Alexandrian library, can no doubt satisfy your
Imperial Majesty's enquiries."

Agelastes erected himself on those enduring
legs which had procured him the surname of
Elephant, and began a reply to the enquiries
of the Emperor, rather remarkable for readiness
than accuracy. " I have read," said he, " in
that brilliant mirror which reflects the time of

176 COUNT ROBERT Of PARIS.

our fathers, the volumes of the learned Proco-
plus, that the people separately called Normans
and Angles are in truth the same race, and that
Normandy, sometimes so called, is in fact a part
of a district of Gaul. Beyond, and nearly op-
posite to it, but separated by an arm of the sea,
lies a ghastly region, on which clouds and tem-
pests for ever rest, and which is well known to
its continental neighbours as the abode to which
departed spirits are sent after this life. On one
side of the strait dwell a few fishermen, men pos-
sessed of a strange charter, and enjoying singu-
lar privileges, in consideration of their being the
living ferrymen who, performing the office of the
heathen Charon, carry the spirits of the departed
to the island which is their residence after death.
At the dead of night, these fishermen are, in rota-
tion, summoned to perform the duty by which
they seem to hold the permission to reside on this
strange coast. A knock is heard at the door of his
cottage who holds the turn of this singular ser-
vice, sounded by no mortal hand. A whispering,
as of a decaying breeze, summons the ferryman
to his duty. He hastens to his bark on the sea-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 177

shore, and has no sooner launched it than he per-
ceives its hull sink sensibly in the water, so as
to express the weight of the dead with whom
it is filled. No form is seen, and though voices
are heard, yet the accents are undistinguishable,
as of one who speaks in his sleep. Thus he tra-
verses the strait between the continent and the
island, impressed with the mysterious awe which
affects the living when they are conscious of the
presence of the dead. They arrive upon the
opposite coast, where the cliffs of white chalk
form a strange contrast with the eternal dark-
ness of the atmosphere. They stop at a land-
ing-place appointed, but disembark not, for the
land is never trodden by earthly feet. Here
the passage-boat is gradually lightened of its
unearthly inmates, who wander forth in the way
appointed to them, while the mariners gradually
return to their own side of the strait, having
performed for the time this singular service, by
which they hold their fishing-huts and their pos-
sessions on that strange coast." Here he ceased,
and the Emperor replied, —

h2

178 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" If this legend be actually told us by Pro-
eopius, most learned Agelastes, it shows that
that celebrated historian came more near the
heathen than the Christian belief respecting the
future state. In truth, this is little more than
the old fable of the infernal Styx. Procopius,
we believe, lived before the decay of heathenism,
and, as we M^ould gladly disbelieve much which
he hath told us respecting our ancestor and pre-
decessor Justinian, so we will not pay him much
credit in future in point of geographical know-
ledge.— Meanwhile, what ails thee, Achilles
Tatius, and wliy dost thou whisper with that
soldier?"

" My head," answered Achilles Tatius, " is
at your imperial command, prompt to pay for
the unbecoming trespass of my tongue. I did
but ask of this Hereward here what he knew of
this matter; for I have heard my Varangians
repeatedly call themselves Anglo-Danes, Nor-
mans, Britons, or some such barbaric epithet,
and I am sure that one or other, or it may be
all, of these barbarous sounds, at different times
serve to designate the birth-place of these exiles.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 179

too liappy in being banished from the darkness
of barbarism, to the luminous vicinity of your
imperial presence."

" Speak, then, Varangian, in the name of
Heaven," said the Emperor, " and let us know
whether we are to look for friends or enemies in
those men of Normandy who are now approach-
ing our frontier. Speak with courage, man;
and if thou apprehendest danger, remember thou
servest a prince well qualified to protect thee."

" Since I am at liberty to speak," answered
the life-guardsman, " although my knowledge of
the Greek language, which you term the Ro-
man, is but slight, I trust it is enough to demand
of his Imperial Highness, in place of all pay,
donative, or gift whatsoever, since he has been
pleased to talk of designing such for me, that
he would place me in the first line of battle
which shall be formed against these same Nor-
mans, and their Duke Robert ; and if he pleases
to allow me the aid of such Varangians as, for
love of me, or hatred of their ancient tyrants,
may be disposed to join their arms to mine, I
have little doubt so to settle our long accounts

180 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

with these men, that the Grecian eagles and
wolves shall do them the last office, by tearing
the flesh from their bones."

" What dreadful feud is this, my soldier,"
said the Emperor, " that after so many years
still drives thee to such extremities when the
very name of Normandy is mentioned ?"

" Your Imperial Highness shall be judge," said
the Varangian. " My fathers, and those of most,
though not all of tlie corps to whom I belong,
are descended from a valiant race who dwelt in
the north of Germany, called Anglo-Saxons.
Nobody, save a priest possessed of the art of con-
sulting ancient chronicles, can even guess how
long it is since they came to the island of Bri-
tain, then distracted with civil war. They came,
however, on the petition of tlie natives of the
island, for the aid of the Angles was requested
by the southern inhabitants. Provinces were
granted in recompense of the aid thus liberally
afforded, and the greater proportion of the island
became, by degrees, the property of the Anglo-
Saxons, who occupied it at first as several prin-
cipalities, and latterly as one Idngdom, speaking

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 181

the language, and observing tlie laws, of most of
those who now form your imperial bodyrguard of
Varangians, or exiles. In process of time, the
Northmen became known to the people of the
more southern climates. They were so called
from their coming from the distant regions of the
Baltic sea — an immense ocean, sometimes frozen
with ice as hard as the cliffs of Mount Caucasus.
They came seeking milder regions than nature
had assigned them at home ; and the climate of
France being delightful, and its people slow in
battle, they extorted from them the grant of a
large province, which was, from the name of the
new settlers, called Normandy, though I have
heard my father say that was not its proper ap-
pellation. They settled there under a duke,
who acknowledged the superior authority of the
King of France, that is to say, obeying him when
it suited his convenience so to do.

" Now, it chanced many years since, while
these two nations of Normans and Anglo-Saxons
were quietly residing upon different sides of the
salt-water channel which divides France from
England, that William, Duke of Normandy,

182 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

suddenly levied a large army, came over to Kent,
which is on the opposite side of the channel,
and there defeated, in a great battle, Harold, who
was at that time King of the Anglo-Saxons. It
is but grief to tell what followed. Battles have
been fought in old time, that have had dread-
ful results, which years, nevertheless, could wash
away ; but at Hastings — O woes me ! — the ban-
ner of my country fell, never again to be raised
up. Oppression has driven her wheel over us.
All that was valiant amongst us have left the
land ; and of Englishmen — for such is our proper
designation — no one remains in England save as
the thrall of the invaders. Many men of Danish
descent, who had found their way on diiferent
occasions to England, were blended in the com-
mon calamity. All was laid desolate by the com-
mand of the victors. My father's home lies now
an undistinguished ruin, amid an extensive forest,
composed out of what were formerly fair fields
and domestic pastures, where a manly race de-
rived nourishment by cultivating a friendly soil.
The fire has destroyed the church where sleep
the fathers of my race ; and I, the last of their

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 183

line, am a wanderer in other climates — a fighter
of the battles of others — the servant of a foreign,
though a kind master ; in a word, one of the
banished — a Varangian."

" Happier in that station," said Achilles Ta-
tius, " than in all the barbaric simplicity which
your forefathers prized so highly, since you are
now under the cheering influence of that smile
which is the life of the world."

" It avails not talking of this," said the Va-
rangian, with a cold gesture.

" These Normans," said the Emperor, " are

then the people by M'hom the celebrated island

of Britain is now conquered and governed ?"

" It is but too true," answered the Varangian.

" They are, then, a brave and warlike people?"

— said Alexius.

" It would be base and false to say otherwise
of an enemy," said Hereward. " Wrong have
they done me, and a WTong never to be atoned ;
but to speak falsehood of them were but a wo-
man's vengeance. Mortal enemies as they are
to me, and mingling with all my recollections as
that which is hateful and odious, yet were the

184 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

troops of Europe mustered, as it seems they are
likely to be, no nation or tribe dared in gallant-
ry claim the advance of the haughty Norman."
" And this Duke Robert, who is he ?"
" That," answered the Varangian, " I cannot
so well explain. He is the son — the eldest son,
as men say, of the tyrant William, who subdued
England when I hardly existed, or was a child
in the cradle. That William, the victor of Has-
tings, is now dead, we are assured by concur-
ring testimony ; but while it seems his eldest son
Duke Robert has become his heir to the duchy
of Normandy, some other of his children have
been so fortunate as to acquire the throne of
England, — unless, indeed, like the petty farm of
some obscure yeoman, the fair kingdom has been
divided among the tyrant's issue."

" Concerning thLs," said the Emperor^ " we
have heard something, which we shall try to
reconcile with the soldier's narrative at leisure,
holding the words of this honest Varangian as po-
sitive proof, in whatsoever he avers from his own
knowledge. — And now, my grave and worthy
councillors, we must close this evening's service

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 185

in tlie Temple of the Muses, this distressing
news, brought us by our dearest son-in-law the
Caesar, having induced us to prolong our wor-
ship of these learned goddesses, deeper into the
night than is consistent with the health of our
beloved wife and daughter ; while, to ourselves,
this intelligence brings subject for grave deli-
beration."

The courtiers exhausted their ingenuity in
forming the most ingenious prayers, that all evil
consequences should be averted which could
attend this excessive vigilance.

Nicephorus and his fair bride spoke together
as a pair equally desirous to close an accidental
breach between them. " Some things thou hast
said, my Caesar," observed the lady, " in detail-
ing this dreadful intelligence, as elegantly turn-
ed as if the nine goddesses, to whom this temple
is dedicated, had lent each her aid to the sense
and expression."

" I need none of their assistance," answered
Nicephorus, " since I possess a muse of my own,
in whose genius are included all those attributes

186 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

which the heathens vainly ascribed to the nine
deities of l^arnassns !"

" It is well," said the fair historian, retiring
by the assistance of her husband's arm ; " but if
you will load your wife with praises far beyond
her merits, you must lend her your arm to sup-
port her under the weighty burden you have
been pleased to impose." The council parted
when the imperial persons had retired, and most
of them sought to indemnify themselves in more
free, though less dignified circles, for the con-
straint which they had practised in the Temple
of the Muses.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 187

CHAPTER VI.

" Vain man ! thou may'st esteem thy love as fair

As fond hyperboles suffice to raise.

She may be all that's matchless in her person,

And all-divine in soul to match her body ;

But take this fi-om me — thou shalt never call her

Superior to her sex, while one survives,

And I am her true votary."

Old Play.

Achilles Tatius, witli his faithful Varangian
close by his shoulder, melted from the dispersing
assembly silently and almost invisibly, as snow
is dissolved from its Alpine abodes as the days
become more genial. No lordly step, or clash
of armour, betokened the retreat of the military
persons. The very idea of the necessity of guards
was not ostentatiously brought forward, because,
so near the presence of the Emperor, the emana-
tion supposed to flit around thatdivinity of earthly

188 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

sovereigns, had credit for rendering it impassive
and unassailable. Thus the oldest and most skil-
ful courtiers, among whom our friend Agelastes
was not to be forgotten, were of opinion, that
although the Emperor employed the ministry of
the Varangians and other guards, it was rather
for form's sake, than from any danger of the
commission of a crime of a kind so heinous, that
it was the fashion to account it almost impossible.
And this doctrine, of the rare occurrence of such
a crime, was repeated from mouth to mouth in
those very chambers, where it had oftener than
once been perpetrated, and sometimes by the
very persons who monthly laid schemes for car-
rying some dark conspiracy against the reigning
Emperor into positive execution.

At length the captain of the life-guardsmen,
and his faitliful attendant, found themselves on
the outside of the Blacquernal Palace. The pas-
sage which Achilles found for their exit, was
closed by a postern which a single Varangian
shut behind them, drawing, at the same time,
bolt and bar with an ill-omened and jarring
sound. Looking back at the mass of turrets.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 189

battlements, and spires, out of wliicli they had
at length emerged, Hereward could not but feel
his heart lighten to find himself once more under
the deep blue of a Grecian heaven, where the
planets were burning with unusual lustre. He
sighed and rubbed his hands with pleasure, like a
man newly restored to liberty. He even spoke to
his leader, contrary to his custom uidess address-
ed : — " Methinks the air of yonder halls, valor-
ous Captain, carries with it a perfiune, which,
tliough it may be well termed sweet, is so suf-
focating, as to be more suitable to sepulchrous
diambers, than to the dwellings of men. Happy
I am that I am free, as I trust, from its influ-
ences."

" Be happy, then," said Achilles Tatius,
" since thy vile, cloddish spirit feels sujBbcation
rather than refreshment in gales, which, instead
of causing death, might recall the dead them-
selves to life. Yet this I will say for thee, Here-
ward, that, born a barbarian within the narrow
circle of a savage's desires and pleasures, and
having no idea of life save what thou derivest
from such vile and base connexions, thou art.

190 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

nevertheless, designed by nature for better things,
and hast this day sustained a trial, in which, I
fear me, not even one of mine own noble corps,
frozen as they are into lumps of unftishioned bar-
barity, could have equalled thy bearing. And
speak now in true faith, hast not thou been re-
warded ?"

" That will I never deny," said the Varangian,
" The pleasure of knowing, twenty-four hours
perhaps before my comrades, that the Normans
are coming hither to afford us a full revenge of the
bloody day of Hastings, is a lordly recompense,
for the task of spending some hours in hearing
the lengthened chat of a lady, who has WTitten
about she knows not what, and the flattering
commentaries of the bystanders, who pretended
to give her an account of what they did not them-
selves stop to witness."

" Hereward, my good youth," said Achilles
Tatius, " thou ravest, and I think I should do
well to place thee under the custody of some
person of skill. Too much hardihood, my valiant
soldier, is in soberness allied to overdaring. It
was only natural that thou shouldst feel a beco-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 191

ming pride in thy late position ; yet, let it but
taint tliee mtli vanity, and the effect will be
little short of madness. Why, thou hast looked
boldly in the face of a Princess born in the purple,
before whom my own eyes, though well used to
such spectacles, are never raised beyond the
foldings of her veil."

" So be it, in the name of Heaven !" replied
Here ward, " Nevertheless, handsome faces
were made to look upon, and the eyes of young
men to see withal."

" If such be their final end," said Achilles,
" never did thine, I will freely suppose, find a
richer apology for the somewhat overbold licence
which thou tookest in thy gaze upon the Princess
this evening."

" Good leader, or Follower, whichever is
your favourite title," said the Anglo-Briton,
" drive not to extremity a plain man, who de-
sires to hold his duty in all honour to the impe-
rial family. The Princess, wife of the Csesar,
and born, you tell me, of a purple colour, has
now inherited, notwithstanding, the features of
a most lovely woman. She hath composed a his-

192 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

tory, of which I presume not to form a judgment,
since I cannot understand it ; she sings like an
angel ; and to conclude, after the fashion of the
knights of this day — though I deal not ordina-
rily with their language — I would say cheer-
fully, that I am ready to place myself in lists
against any one whomsoever, who dares detract
from the beauty of the imperial Anna Comnena's
person, or from the virtues of her mind. Having
said this, my noble captain, we have said all
that it is competent for you to enquire into, or
for me to answer. That there are handsomer
women than the Princess, is unquestionable ; and
I question it the less, that I have myself seen a
person whom I think far her superior ; and with
that let us close the dialogue."

" Thy beauty, thou unparalleled fool," said
Achilles, " must, I ween, be the daughter of the
lai-ge-bodied northern boor, living next door to
him upon whose farm was brought up the per-
son of an ass, curst with such intolerable want of
judgment."

" You may say your pleasure, captain," re-
plied Hereward ; " because it is the safer for us

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 193

botli tliat thou canst not on such a topic either
offend me, who hokl thy judgment as light as
thou canst esteem mine, or speak any derogation
of a person whom you never saw, but whom, if
you had seen, perchance I might not so patiently
have brooked any reflections upon, even at the
hands of a military superior."

Achilles Tatius had a good deal of the pene-
tration necessary for one in his situation. He
never provoked to extremity the daring spirits
whom he commanded, and never used any free-
dom with them beyond the extent that he knew
their patience could bear. Hereward was a fa-
vourite soldier, and had, in that respect at least,
a sincere liking and regard for his commander :
when, therefore, the Follower, instead of resent-
ing his petulance, good-humouredly apologized
for having hurt his feelings, the momentary dis-
pleasure between them was at an end ; the officer
at once reassumed his superiority, and the sol-
dier sunk back with a deep sigh, given to some
period which was long past, into his wonted
silence and reserve. Indeed the Follower had
another and further design upon Hereward, of

VOL. I. I

194 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

which he was as yet unwilling to do more than
give a distant hint.

After a long pause, during which they ap-
proached the barracks, a gloomy fortified build-
ing constructed for the residence of their corps,
the captain motioned his soldier to draw close up
to his side, and proceeded to ask him, in a con-
fidential tone — " Hereward, my friend, although
it is scarce to be supposed that in the presence
of the imperial family thou shouldst mark any
one who did not partake of their blood, or rather,
as Homer has it, who did not participate of the
divine ichor, which, in their sacred persons, sup-
plies the place of that vulgar fluid ; yet, during
so long an audience, thou mightest possibly, from
his uncourtly person and attire, have distinguish-
ed Agelastes, whom we courtiers call The Ele-
phant, from his strict observation of the rule
which forbids any one to sit down or rest in the
Imperial presence."

" I think," replied the soldier, " I marked the
man you mean ; his age was some seventy and
upwards, — a big burley person ; — and the bald-
ness which reached to the top of his head was

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 195

well atoned for by a white beard of prodigious
size, which descended in waving curls over his
breast, and reached to the towel with which his
loins were girded, instead of the silken sash used
by other persons of rank."

" Most accurately marked, my Varangian,"
said the officer. " \Vliat else didst thou note
about this person ?"

" His cloak was in its texture as coarse as that
of the meanest of the people, but it was strictly
clean, as if it had been the intention of the wearer
to exhibit poverty, or carelessness and contempt
of dress, avoiding, at the same time, every par-
ticular which implied any thing negligent, sor-
did, or disgusting."

'5 By St Sophia!" said the officer, "thou
astonishest me ! The Prophet Balaam was not
more surprised when his ass turned round her
head and spoke to him ! — And what else didst
thou note concerning this man ? I see those who
meet thee must beware of thy observation, as
well as of thy battle-axe."

" If it please your Valour," answered the sol-
dier, " we English have eyes as well as hands ;

196 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

but it is only when discharging our duty that we
])ermit our tongues to dwell on what we have ob-
served. I noted but little of this man's conver-
sation, but from what I heard, it seemed he was
not unwilling to play what we call the jester, or
jack-pudding, in the conversation, a character
which, considering the man's age and physiog-
nomy, is not, I should be tempted to say, natural,
but assumed for some purpose of deeper import."
" Hereward," answered his officer, " thou hast
spoken like an angel sent down to examine
men's bosoms : that man, Agelastes, is a contra-
diction, such as earth has seldom witnessed.
Possessing all^that wisdom which in former times
united the sages of this nation with the gods
themselves, Agelastes has the same cuiniing as
the elder Brutus, who disguised his talents under
the semblance of an idle jester. He appears to
seek no office — he desires no consideration — lie
pays suit at court only when positively required
to do so ; yet what shall I say, my soldier,
concerning the cause of an influence gained
Avithout apparent effort, and extending almost
into the very thoughts of men, who appear to act

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 197

as he would desire, without his soliciting them
to that purpose ? Men say strange things con-
cerning the extent of his communications with
other beings, whom our fathers worshipped with
prayer and sacrifice. I am determined, however,
to know the road by which he clunbs so high
and so easily towards the point to which all men
aspire at court, and it will go hard but he shall
either share his ladder with me, or I will strike
its support from under him. Thee, Hereward,
I have chosen to assist me in tliis matter, as
the knights among these Frankish infidels select,
when going upon an adventure, a sturdy squire,
or inferior attendant, to share the dano-ers and
the recompence; and this I am moved to, as
much by the shrewdness thou hast this night
manifested, as by the courage which thou mayst
boast, in common with, or rather beyond, thy
companions."

" I am obliged, and I thank your Valour,"
replied the Varangian, more coldly perhaps than
his ofl&cer expected ; " I am ready, as is my duty,
to serve you in any thing consistent with God
and the Emperor's claims upon my service. I

198 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

would only say, that, as a sworn inferior soldier,
I will do nothing contrary to the laws of the
empire, and, as a sincere though ignorant Chris-
tian, I will have nothing to do with the gods of
the heathens, save to defy them in the name and
strength of tlie holy saints."

" Idiot !" said Achilles Tatius, " dost thou
think that I, already possessed of one of the first
dignities of the empire, could meditate any thing
contrary to the interests of Alexius Comnenus ?
or, what would be scarce more atrocious, that I,
the chosen friend and ally of the reverend Pa-
triarch Zozimus, should meddle with any thing
bearing a relation, however remote, to heresy
or idolatry ?"

" Truly," answered the Varangian, " no one
would be more surprised or grieved than I should;
but when we walk in a labyrinth, we must assume
and announce that we have a steady and forward
purpose, which is one mode at least of keeping
a straight path. The people of this country have
so many ways of saying the same thing, that one
can hardly know at last what is their real mean-
ing. We English, on the other hand, can only

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 199

express ourselves in one set of words, but it is
one out of which all the ingenuity of the world
could not extract a double meaning."

" 'Tis well," said his officer; " to-morrow we
will talk more of this, for which purpose thou
wilt come to my quarters a little after sunset.
And hark thee, to-morrow, while the sun is in
heaven, shall be thine own, either to sport thyself
or to repose. Employ thy time in the latter, by
my advice, since to-morrow night, lilvc the pre-
sent, may find us both watchers."

So saying, they entered the barracks, where
they parted company — the commander of the
lifeguards taking his way to a splendid set of
apartments which belonged to him in that capa-
city, and the Anglo-Saxon seeking his more
humble accommodations as a subaltern officer of
the same corps.

•200 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

CHAPTER VII.

Siicli forces met not, nor so vast a camp,

When Agricau, with all his Northern powers,

Besieged Albraeca, as romances tell,

Tlie city of Gallaplune, fi'om whence to win

The fairest of her sex, Angelica,

His daughter, sought by many prowess'd knights,

Both Paynim, and the Peers of Charlemagne.

Paradise Regained.

Early on tlie morning of the day following
that which we have commemorated, the Imperial
Council was assembled, where the number of
general officers with sounding titles, disguised
under a thin veil the real weakness of the Gre-
cian empire. The commanders were numerous,
and the distinctions of their rank minute, but the
soldiers were very few in comparison.

The offices formerly filled by prefects, praetors,
and questors, were now held by persons who
had gradually risen into the authority of those
officers, and who, though designated from their

COUNT EGBERT OF PARIS. '201

domestic duties about the Emperor, yet, from
that very circumstance, possessed what, in that
despotic court, was the most effectual source of
power. A long train of officers entered the
great hall of the Castle of Blacquernal, and pro-
ceeded so far together as their different grades
admitted, while in each chamber through which
they passed in succession, a certain number of
the train whose rank permitted them to advance
no farther, remained behind the others. Thus,
when the interior cabinet of audience was gained,
which was not until their passage through ten
anterooms, five persons only found themselves
in the presence of the Emperor in this innermost
and most sacred recess of royalty, decorated by
all the splendour of the period.

The Emperor Alexius sat upon a stately
throne, rich with barbaric gems and gold, and
flanked on either hand, in imitation probably of
Solomon's magnificence, with the form of a cou-
chant lion in the same precious metal. Not to
dwell upon other marks of splendour, a tree, whose
trunk seemed also of gold, shot up behind the
throne, which it overcanopied with its branches.

I 2

•202 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Amid the boughs were birds of various kinds
curiously wrought and enamelled, and fruit
composed of precious stones seemed to glisten
among the leaves. Five officers alone, the high-
est in the state, had the privilege of entering this
sacred recess when the Emperor held council.
I'hese were — the Grand Domestic, w^ho might be
termed of rank with a modern prime minister —
the Logothete, or chancellor — the Proto-spathaire,
or commander of the guards, already mentioned
— the Acolyte, or Follower, and leader of the
Varangians — and the Patriarch.

The doors of this secret apartment, and the ad-
jacent antechamber, were guarded by six deform-
ed Nubian slaves, whose writhen and withered
countenances formed a hideous contrast with
their snow-white dresses and splendid equip-
ment. They were mutes, a species of wretches
borrowed from the despotism of the East, that
they might be unable to proclaim the deeds of
tyranny of which they were the unscrupulous
agents. They were generally held in a kind of
horror, rather than compassion, for men consi-
dered that slaves of this sort had a malignant

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 203

pleasure in avenging upon others the irreparable
wrongs which had severed themselves from
humanity.

It was a general custom, though, like many
other usages of the Greeks, it would be held
childish in modern times, that by means of ma-
chinery easily conceived, the lions, at the en-
trance of a stranger, were made, as it were, to
rouse themselves and roar, after which a wind
seemed to rustle the foliage of the tree, the birds
hopped from branch to branch, pecked the fruit,
and appeared to fill the chamber with their carol-
ling. This display had alarmed many an igno-
rant foreign ambassador, and even the Grecian
councillors themselves were expected to display
the same sensations of fear, succeeded by surprise,
when they heard the roar of the lions, followed
by the concert of the birds, although perhaps it
was for the fiftieth time. On this occasion, as
a proof of the urgency of the present meeting
of the council, these ceremonies were entirely
omitted.

The speech of the Emperor himself seemed to
supply by its commencement the bellowing of

•204 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the lions, while it ended in a strain more resem-
bling the warbling of the birds.

In his first sentences, he treated of the auda-
city and unheard-of boldness of the millions of
Franks, who, under the pretence of wresting
Palestine from the infidels, had ventured to in-
vade the sacred territories of the empire. He
threatened them with such chastisement as his
innumerable forces and officers would, he affirm-
ed, find it easy to inflict. To all this the au-
dience, and especially the military officers, gave
symptoms of ready assent.

Alexius, however, did not long persist in the
warlike intentions which he at first avowed.
The Franks, he at length seemed to reflect, were,
in profession, Christians. They might possibly
be serious in their pretext of a crusade, in which
case their motives claimed a degree of indul-
gence, and, although erring, a certain portion of
respect. Their numbers also were great, and
their valour could not be despised by those who
had seen them fight at Durazzo, and elsewhere.
They might also, by the permission of Supreme
Providence, be, in the long run, the instruments

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 205

of advantage to the most sacred empire, though
they approached it with so little ceremony. He
had, therefore, mingling the virtues of prudence,
humanity, and generosity, with that valour which
must always burn in the heart of an Emperor,
formed a plan, which he was about to submit to
their consideration, for present execution ; and,
in the first place, he requested of the Grand Do-
mestic, to let him know what forces he might
count upon on the western side of the Bosphorus.

" Innumerable are the forces of the empire
as the stars in heaven, or the sand on the sea-
shore," answered the Grand Domestic.

" That is a goodly answer," said the Empe-
ror, " provided there were strangers present at
this conference ; but since we hold consultation
in private, it is necessary that I know precisely to
what number that army amounts which I have
to rely upon. Reserve your eloquence till some
fitter time, and let me know what you, at this
present moment, mean by the word innumer-
able r

The Grand Domestic paused, and hesitated
for a short space ; but as he became aware that

206 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the moment was one in wliich the Emperor
could not be trifled with, (for Alexius Comnenus
was at times dangerous,) he answered thus, but
not without liesitation. " Imperial master and
lord, none better knows that such an answer can-
not be hastily made, if it is at the same time to
be correct in its results. The number of the
imperial host betwixt this city and the western
frontier of the empire, deducing those absent
upon furlough, cannot be counted upon as
amounting to more than twenty-five thousand
men, or thirty thousand at most."

Alexius struck his forehead with his hand ; and
the councillors, seeing him give way to such vio-
lent expressions of grief and surprise, began to
enter into discussions, which they would other-
wise have reserved for a fitter place and time.

" By the trust your Highness reposes in me,"
said the Logothete, " there has been drawni from
your Highness's coflfers during the last year,
gold enough to pay double the niunber of the
armed warriors whom the Grand Domestic now
mentions."

" Your Imperial Highness," retorted the im-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 207

peached minister, Math no small animation,
" will at once remember the stationary garrisons,
in addition to the moveable troops, for which this
figure-caster makes no allowance."

" Peace, both of you !" said Alexius, compo-
sing himself hastily ; " our actual numbers are in
truth less than we counted on, but let us not by
wTangKng augment the difficulties of the time.
Let those troops be dispersed in valleys, in passes,
behind ridges of hills, and in difficult ground,
where a little art being used in the position, can
make few men supply the appearance of numbers,
between this city and the western frontier of
the empire. While this disposal is made, we
will continue to adjust with these crusaders, as
they call themselves, the terms on which we will
consent to let them pass through our dominions ;
nor are we without hope of negotiating with
them, so as to gain great advantage to our king-
dom. We will insist that they pass through our
country only by armies of perhaps fifty thousand
at once, whom we will successively transport into
Asia, so that no greater number shall, by as-

208 COUNT UOBERT OF PARIS.

sembling beneath our walls, ever endanger tlie
safety of the metropolis of the world.

" On their way towards the banks of the Bos-
phorus, we will supply them with provisions, if
they march peaceably, and in order ; and if any
straggle from their standards, or insult the coun-
try by marauding, we suppose our valiant pea-
sants will not hesitate to repress their excesses,
and that without our giving positive orders, since
we would not willingly be charged ^nth any thing
like a breach of engagement. We suppose, also,
that the Scythians, Arabs, Syrians, and other
mercenaries in our service, will not suffer our
subjects to be overpowered in their own just
defence ; as, besides that there is no justice in
stripping our own country of provisions, in order
to feed strangers, we will not be surprised, nor
unpardonably displeased to learn, that of the
ostensible quantity of flour, some sacks should
be found filled with chalk, or lime, or some such
substance. It is, indeed, truly wonderful, what
the stomach of a Frank will digest comfortably.
Their guides, also, whom you shall choose with
reference to such duty, will take care to conduct

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 209

the crusaders by difficult and circuitous routes ;
which will be doing them a real service, by inu-
ring them to the hardships of the country and
climate, which they would otherwise have to face
without seasoning.

" In the mean time, in your intercourse with
their chiefs, whom they call Counts, each of
whom thinks himself as great as an Emperor,
you will take care to give no offence to their
natural presumption, and omit no opportunity of
informing them of the wealth and bounty of our
government. Sums of money may be even given
to persons of note, and largesses of less avail to
those under them. You, our Logothete, will
take good order for this, and you, our Grand
Domestic, will take care that such soldiers as
may cut off detached parties of the Franks shall
be presented, if possible, in savage dress, and
under the show of infidels. In commending
these injunctions to your care, I purpose that, the
crusaders having found the value of our friend-
ship, and also in some sort the danger of our
enmity, those whom we shall safely transport to
Asia, shall be, however unwieldy, still a smaller

210 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

and more compact body, whom we may deal with
in all Christian prudence. Thus, by using fair
words to one, threats to another, gold to the
avaricious, power to the ambitious, and reasons
to those that are capable of listening to them,
we doubt not but to prevail upon those Franks,
met as they are from a thousand points, and
enemies of each other, to acknowledge us as
their common superior, rather than choose a
leader among themselves, when they are made
aware of the great fact, that every village in
Palestine, from Dan to Beersheba, is the original
property of the sacred Roman empire, and that
whatever Christian goes to war for their recovery,
must go as our subject, and hold any conquest
whichhe maymake,as ourvassal. Vice and virtue,
sense and follv, ambition and disinterested devo-
tion, will alike recommend to the survivors of
these singular-minded men, to become the feu-
datories of the empire, not its enemy, and the
shield,not the enemy,of your paternal Emperor."
There was a general inclination of the head
among the courtiers, with the eastern exclama-
tion of, — " Long live the Emperor !"

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 211

When the murmur of this applausive excla-
mation had subsided, Alexius proceeded: — "Once
more, I say, that my faithful Grand Domestic,
and those who act under him, will take care to
commit the execution of such part of these orders
as may seem aggressive, to troops of foreign
appearance and language, which, I grieve to
say, are more numerous in our imperial army
than our natural born and orthodox subjects."

The Patriarch here interposed his opinion. —
" There is a consolation," he said, " in the
thought, that the genuine Romans in the im-
perial army are but few, since a trade so bloody
as war, is most fitly prosecuted by those whose
doctrines, as well as their doings, on earth, merit
eternal condemnation in the next world."

" Reverend Patriarch," said the Emperor,
*' we would not willingly hold, with the wild in-
fidels, that Paradise is to be gained by the sabre ;
nevertheless, we would hope that a Roman dying
in battle for his religion and his Emperor, may
find as good hope of acceptation, after the mortal
pang is over, as a man who dies in peace, and
with unblooded hand."

212 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" It is enough for me to say," resumed the
Patriarch, " that the Church's doctrine is not so
indulgent : she is herself peaceful, and her pro-
mises of favour are for those who have been men
of peace. Yet think not I bar the gates of heaven
against a soldier, as such, if believing all the
doctrines of our church, and complying with all
our observances ; far less would I condemn your
Imperial Majesty's wise precautions, both for
diminishing the power and thinning the ranks
of those Latin heretics, who come hither to de-
spoil us, and plunder perhaps both church and
temple, under the vain pretext that Heaven
would permit them, stained with so many heresies,
to reconquer that Holy Land, which true ortho-
dox Christians, your Majesty's sacred predeces-
sors, have not been enabled to retain from the
infidel. And well I trust that no settlement
made under the Latins will be permitted by your
Majesty to establish itself, in which the Cross
shall not be elevated with limbs of the same
length, instead of that irregular and most damn-
able error which prolongs, in western churches,
the nether limb of that most holy emblem."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 213

" Reverend Patriarch," answered the Empe-
ror, " do not deem that we think lightly of your
weighty scruples ; but the question is now, not
in what manner we may convert these Latin
heretics to the true faith, but how we may avoid
being overrun by their myriads, which resemble
those of the locusts by which their approach
was preceded and intimated."

" Your Majesty," said the Patriarch, " will
act with your usual wisdom ; for my part, I have
only stated my doubts, that I may save my own
soul alive."

" Our construction," said the Emperor, " does
your sentiments no wrong, most reverend Patri-
arch ; and you," addressing himself to the other
coimcillors, "will attend to these separate charges
given out for directing the execution of the com-
mands which have been generally intimated to
you. They are -WTitten out in the sacred ink,
and our sacred subscription is duly marked with
the fitting tinge of green and purple. Let them,
therefore, be strictly obeyed. Ourselves will
assume the command of such of the Immortal
Bands as remain in the city, and join to them

214 COUNT ROBEKT OF PARIS.

the cohorts of our faithful Varangians. At the
liead of these troops, we will await the arrival of
these strangers under the walls of the city, and,
avoiding combat while our policy can postpone
it, we will be ready, in case of the worst, to take
whatsoever chance it shall please the Almighty
to send us."

Here the council broke up, and the different
chiefs began to exert themselves in the execution
of their various ii>'>tructions, civil and military,
secret or public,^ favourable or hostile to the
crusaders. The peculiar genius of the Grecian
people was seen upon this occasion. Their loud
and boastful talking corresponded with the ideas
which the Emperor wished to enforce upon the
crusaders concerning the extent of his power
and resources. Nor is it to be disguised, that
the wily selfishness of most of those in the ser-
vice of Alexius, endeavoured to find some indi-
rect w.?y of applying the imperial instructions, so
as might v. . ^t suit their own private ends.

Meantime, uie news had gone abroad in Con-
stantinople of the arrival of the huge miscella-
neous army of the west upon the lunits of the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 215

Grecian empire, and of their purpose to pass to
Palestine. A thousand reports mag-^ified, if
that was possible, an event so wonderful. Some
said, that their ultimate view was the conquest
of Arabia, the destruction of the Prophet's tomb,
and the conversion of his green banner into a
horse-cloth for the King of France's brother.
Others supposed that the ruin and sack of Con-
stantinople was the real object of the war. A
third class thought it was in or cr to compel the
Patriarch to submit himself to the Pope, adopt
the Latin form of the cross, and put an end to
the schism.

The Varangians enjoyed an addition to this
wonderful news, seasoned as it everywhere was
with something peculiarly suited to the preju-
dices of the hearers. It was gathered originally
from Mdiat our friend Hereward, who was one of
their inferior officers, called sergeants or con-
stables, had suffered to transpire of what ^ . had
heard the preceding evening. Consirl img that
the fact must be soon matter of notoriety, he
had no hesitation to give his comrades to under-
stand that a Norman army was coming hither,

216 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

under Duke Robert, tlie son of the fur-famed
William the Conqueror, and with hostile inten-
tions, he concluded, against them in particular.
Like all other men in peculiar circumstances,
the Varangians adopted an explanation appli-
cable to their own condition. These Normans,
who hated the Saxon nation, and had done so
much to dishonour and oppress them, were now
following them, they supposed, to the foreign
capital where they had found refuge, with the
purpose of making war on the bountiful prince
who protected their sad remnant. Under this
belief, many a deep oath was sworn in Norse and
Anglo-Saxon, that their keen battle-axes should
avenge the slaughter of Hastings, and many a
pledge, both in wine and ale, w^as quaffed, who
should most deeply resent, and most effectually
revenge, the wnrongs which the Anglo-Saxons
of England had received at the hand of their
oppressors.

Hereward, the author of this intelligence,
began soon to be sorry that he had ever suffered
it to escape him, so closely was he cross-exa-
mined concerning its precise import, by the en-

8

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 217

quiries of his comrades, from whom he thought
himself obliged to keep concealed the adven-
tures of the preceding evening, and the place
in which he had gained his information.

About noon, when he was effectually tired
with returning the same answer to the same
questions, and evading similar others which were
repeatedly put to him, the sound of trumpets
announced the presence of the Acolyte Achilles
Tatius, who came immediately, it was indus-
triously whispered, from the sacred Interior, with
news of the immediate approach of Avar.

The Varangians, and the Roman bands called
Immortal, it was said, were to form a camp imder
the city, in order to be prompt to defend it at
the shortest notice. This put the whole barracks
into commotion, each man making the necessary
provision for the approaching campaign. The
noise was chiefly that of joyful bustle and accla-
mation ; and it was so general, that Hereward,
whose rank permitted him to commit, to a page
or esquire, the task of preparing his equipments,
took the opportunity to leave the barracks, in

VOL. I. K

218 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

order to seek some distant place apart from his
comrades, and enjoy his solitary reflections upon
the singular connexion into which he had been
drawn, and his direct communication with the
Imperial family.

Passing through the narrow streets, then de-
serted on account of the heat of the sim, he
reached at length one of those broad terraces,
which, descending, as it were by steps, upon
the margin of the Bosphorus, formed one of
the most splendid walks in the universe, and
still, it is believed, preserved as a public prome-
nade for the pleasure of the Turks, as formerly
for tliat of the Christians. These graduated ter-
races were planted with many trees, among which
the cypress, as usual, was most generally culti-
A^ated. Here bands of the inhabitants were to
be seen : some passing to and fro, with business
and anxiety in their faces ; some standing still in
groups, as if discussing the strange and weighty
tidings of the day, and some, with the indolent
carelessness of an eastern climate, eating their
noontide refreshment in the shade, and spending

3

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. "219

their time as if their sole object was to make
much of the day as it passed, and let the cares of
to-morrow answer for themselves.

While the Varangian, afraid of meeting some
acquaintance in this concourse, which would
have been inconsistent with the desire of seclu-
sion which had brought him thither, descended
or passed from one terrace to another, all marked
him with looks of curiosity and enquiry, consider-
ing him to be one, who, from his arms and con-
nexion mth the court, must necessarily know
more than others concerning the singular inva-
sion by numerous enemies, and from various
quarters, which was the news of the day. None,
however, had the hardihood to address the sol-
dier of the guard, though all looked at him \\'ith
uncommon interest. He walked from the lighter
to the darker alleys, from the more closed to the
more open terraces, without interruption from
any one, yet not -sdthout a feeling tliat he must
not consider himself as alone.

Tlie desire that he felt to be solitary rendered
him at last somewhat watchful, so that he be-

220 COUKT ROBERT OF PARIS.

came sensible that he was dogged by a black
slave, a personage not so unfrequent in the streets
of Constantinople as to excite any particular
notice. His attention, however, being at length
fixed on this individual, he began to be desirous
to escape his observation ; and the change of
place which he had at first adopted to avoid
society in general, he had now recourse to, in
order to rid himself of tlus distant, though ap-
parently watchful attendant. Still, however,
though he by change of place had lost sight of the
negro for a few minutes, it was not long ere he
again discovered him, at a distance too far for
a companion, but near enough to serve all the
purposes of a spy. Displeased at this, the Varan-
gian turned short in his walk, and choosing a
spot where none was in sight but the object of
his resentment, walked suddenly up to him, and
demanded wherefore, and by whose orders, he
presumed to dog his footsteps. The negro answer-
ed in a jargon as bad as that in which he was
addressed, though of a different kind, " tliat he
had orders to remark whither he went."

" Orders from M'hom?" said the Varangian.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 221

a

From my master and yours," answered the
negro, boldly.

" Thou infidel villain !" exclaimed the angry
soldier, " when was it that we became fellow-
servants, and who is it that thou darest to call my
master ?"

" One who is master of the world," said
the slave, " since he commands his own pas-

sions."

" I shall scarce command mine," said the
Varangian, " if thou repliest to my earnest ques-
tions with thine affected quirks of philosophy.
Once more, what dost thou want with me ? and
why hast thou the boldness to watch me ?"

" I have told thee already," said the slave,
" tliat I do my master's commands."

" But I must know who thy master is," said
Hereward.

" He must tell thee that himself," replied the
negro ; "he trusts not a poor slave like me with
the purpose of the errands on which he sends

me."

" He has left thee a tongue, however," said

222 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the Varangian, " wliicli some of thy countrymen
would, I think, be glad to possess. Do not pro-
voke me to abridge it by refusing me the informa-
tion which I have a right to demand."

The black meditated, as it seemed from the
grin on his face, further evasions, when Here-
ward cut them short by raising the staff of his
battle-axe. " Put me not," he said, " to disho-
nour myself by striking thee with this weapon,
calculated for a use so much more noble."

*' I may not do so, valiant sir," said the negro,
laying aside an impudent, half-gibing tone which
he had hitherto made use of, and betraying
personal fear in his manner. " If you beat the
poor slave to death, you cannot learn what his
master hath forbid him to tell. A short walk
will save your honour the stain, and yourself the
trouble, of beating what cannot resist, and me
the pain of enduring what I can neither retaliate
nor avoid."

" Lead on then," said the Varangian. " Be
assured thou shalt not fool me by thy fair words,
and I will know the person who is impudent

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 223

enough to assume tlie right of watching my
motions."

The black walked on with a species of leer
peculiar to his physiognomy, which might be
construed as expressive either of malice or of
mere humour. The Varangian followed him
with some suspicion, for it happened that he had
had little intercourse with the unhappy race of
Africa, and had not totally overcome the feel-
ing of surprise w^ith which he at first regarded
them, when he arrived a stranger from the north.
So often did this man look back upon him during
their walk, and with so penetrating and obser-
ving a cast of countenance, that Hereward felt
irresistibly renewed in his mind the English pre-
judices, which assigned to the demons the sable
colour and distorted cast of visage of his con-
ductor. The scene into which he was guided,
strengthened an association which was not of
itself milikely to occur to the ignorant and mar-
tial islander.

The negro led the way from the splendid
terraced walks which we have described, to a
path descending to the sea-shore, when a place

224 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

appeared, whicli, far from being trimmed, like
other parts of the coast, into walks or eml^ank-
ments, seemed, on the contrary, abandoned to
neglect, and was covered with the mouldering
ruins of antiquity, where these had not l)een
overgrown by the luxuriant vegetation of the
climate. These fragments of building, occu-
pying a sort of recess of the bay, were hidden
by steep banks on each side, and although in
fact they formed part of the city, yet they were
not seen from any part of it, and, embosomed in
the manner we have described, did not in turn
command any view of the churches, palaces,
towers, and fortifications, amongst which they
lay. The site of this solitary, and apparently
deserted spot, encumbered with ruins, and over-
grown with cypress and other trees, situated as
it was in the midst of a populous city, had some-
thing in it impressive and awful to the imagina-
tion. The ruins were of an ancient date, and in
the style of a foreign people. The gigantic
remains of a portico, the mutilated fragments of
statues of great size, but executed in a taste and
attitude so narrow and barbaric as to seem per-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 225

feetly the reverse of the Grecian, and the half-
defaced hieroglyphics which could be traced on
some part of the decayed sculpture, corroborated
the popular account of their origin, which we
shall briefly detail.

According to tradition, this had been a temple
dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Cybele, built
while the Roman empire was yet heathen, and
while Constantinople was still called by the name
of Byzantium. It is well known that the super-
stition of the Egyptians, — vulgarly gross in its
literal meaning as well as in its mystical inter-
pretation, and peculiarly the foundation of many
mid doctrines, — was disowned by the principles
of general toleration, and the system of poly-
theism received by Rome, and was excluded by
repeated laws from the respect paid by the em-
pire to almost every other religion, however ex-
travagant or absurd. Nevertheless, these Egyp-
tian rites had charms for the ciu-ious and the
superstitious, and had, after long opposition, ob-
tained a footing in the empire.

Still, although tolerated, the Egyptian priests
•2 K

2'26 COUNT KOBERT OF PARIS.

were rather considered as sorcerers than as pon-
tiffs, and tlieir whole ritual had a nearer relation
to magic, in popular estimation, than to any
regular system of devotion.

Stained with these accusations, even among
the heathen themselves, the worship of Egypt
was held in more mortal abhorrence by the
Christians, than the other and more rational
kinds of heathen devotion ; that is, if any at all
had a right to be termed so. The brutal wor-
ship of Apis and Cybele was regarded, not only
as a pretext for obscene and })rofligate pleasures,
but as having a direct tendency to open and
encourage a dangerous commerce with evil spi-
rits, who were supposed to take upon themselves,
at these unhallowed altars, the names and cha-
racters of these foul deities. Not only, there-
fore, the temple of Cybele, with its gigantic
portico, its huge and inelegant statues, and its
fantastic hieroglyphics, was thrown down and
defaced when the empire was converted to the
Christian faith, but the very ground on which
it stood was considered as polluted and unhal-
lowed ; and no Emperor having yet occupied

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS- 227

the site with a Christian church, the place still
remained neglected and deserted, as we have
described it.

The "N'^arangian Hereward was perfectly ac-
quainted with the evil reputation of the place ;
and when the negro seemed disposed to advance
into the interior of the ruins, he hesitated, and
addressed liis guide thus : — " Hark thee, my
black friend, these huge fantastic images, some
having dog's heads, some cow's heads, and some
no heads at ail, are not held reverently in popu-
lar estimation. Your own colour, also, my com-
rade, is greatly too like that of Satan himself,
to render you an unsuspicious companion amid
ruins, in which the false spu'it, it is said, daily
walks his rounds. Midnight and Noon are the
times, it is rumoured, of his appearance. I will
go no farther with you, unless you assign me a
fit reason for so doing."

" In making so childish a proposal," said the
negro, " you take from me, in effect, all desire
to guide you to my master. I thought I spoke
to a man of invincible courage, and of that good
sense upon which courage is best founded. But

228 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

your valour only emboldens you to beat a black
slave, who has neither strength nor title to resist
you ; and your courage is not enough to enable
you to look without trembling on the dark side of
a wall, even when the sun is in the heaven."

" Thou art insolent," said Hereward, raising
his axe.

" And thou art foolish," said the negro, " to
attempt to prove thy manhood and thy wisdom
by the very mode which gives reason for calling
them both in question. I have already said there
can be little valour in beating a wretch like me ;
and no man, surely, who wishes to discover his
way, would begin by chasing away his guide."

" I follow thee, — " said Hereward, stung with

the insinuation of cowardice ; " but if thou lead-

est me into a snare, thy free talk shall not save

thy bones, if a thousand of thy complexion, from

earth or hell, were standing ready to back thee."

" Thou objectest sorely to my complexion,"

said the negro ; " how knowest thou that it is,

in fact, a thing to be counted and acted upon as

matter of reality ? Thine own eyes daily apprise

thee, that the colour of the sky nightly changes

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 229

from bright to black, yet thou knowest that this
is by no means owing to any habitual colour of
the heavens themselves. The same change that
takes place in the hue of the heavens, has ex-
istence in the tinge of the deep sea — How canst
thou tell, but what the difference of my colour
from thine own may be owing to some deceptious
change of a similar nature — not real in itself, but
only creating an apparent reality ?"

" Thou mayest have painted thyself, no doubt,"
answered the Varangian, upon reflection, " and
thy blackness, therefore, may be only apparent ;
but I think thy old friend himself could hardly
have presented these grinning lips, with the
white teeth and flattened nose, so much to the
life, unless that peculiarity of Nubian physiog-
nomy, as they call it, had accurately and really
an existence ; and, to save thee some trouble,
my dark friend, I will tell thee, that though thou
speakest to an uneducated Varangian, I am not
entirely unskilled in the Grecian art of making
subtle words pass upon the hearers instead of

reason."

Ay ?" said the negro, doubtfully, and some-

230 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

what surprised; " and may the slave Diogenes
— for so my master has christened me — enquire
into the means by which you reached knowledge
so unusual?"

" It is soon told," replied Here ward. " My
countryman, Witikind, being a constable of our
bands, retired from active service, and spent the
end of a long life in this city of Constantinople.
Being past all toils of battle, either those of
reality, as you word it, or the pomp and fatigue
of the exercising ground, the poor old man, in
despair of something to pass his time, attended
the lectures of the philosophers."

" And what did he learn there ?" said the
negro ; " for a barbarian, grown grey under the
helmet, was not, as 1 think, a very hopeful stu-
dent in our schools."

" As much though, I should think, as a menial
slave, which I understand to be thy condition,"
replied the soldier. " But I have understood from
him, that the masters of this idle science make
it their business to substitute, in their argumenta-
tions, mere words instead of ideas ; and as they
never agree upon the precise meaning of the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 231

former, their disputes can never arrive at a fair
or settled conclusion, since tliey do not agree in
tlie language in which they express them. Their
theories, as they call them, are built on the sand,
and the wind and tide shall prevail against them."
" Say so to my master," answered the black,
in a serious tone.

" I will," said the Varangian ; " and he shall
know me as an ignorant soldier, having bat few
ideas, and those only concernmg my religion and
my military duty. But out of these opinions I
will neither be beaten by a battery of sophisms,
nor cheated by the arts or the terrors of the
friends of heathenism, either in this world or the
next."

" You may speak your mind to him then your-
self." said Diogenes. He stepped to a side, as
if to make way for the Varangian, to whom he
motioned to go forward.

Here ward advanced accordingly, by a half-
worn and almost imperceptible path leading
through the long rough grass, and, turning romid
a half demolished shrine, which exhibited the

232 COUNT ROBIiKT OF PARIS.

remains of Apis, the bovine deity, he came im-
mediately in front of the philosopher, Agelastes,
who, sitting among the ruins, reposed his limbs
On the grass.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 233

CHAPTER VIII.

Through the vain webs which puzzle sophists' skill,
Plain sense and honest meaning work their way ;
So sink the varying clouds upon the hiU,
When the clear dawning brightens into day.

Dr Watts.

The old man rose from tlie ground -vvitli ala-
crity, as Hereward approached. " My bold
Varangian," lie said, " thou who vainest 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 wel-
come to a place, where it is held the best busi-
ness 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."

234 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" 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 reguhiting the
different ranks in society; while a plcdn 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 con-
sideration 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 diiferent ranks, and due
to different authorities. The man is yet to be

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 235

born who lias seen me take advantage of any more
commodious postm-e 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 pm-pose ? 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 some-
what the humour of the old scoffer, and so he may
have lied. If so, I will even forgive him tlie beat-
ing which I oAve his assurance, and make my excuse

236 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

at the same time for having broken in upon your
retirement, -svliicli I am totally unfit to share."

" Diogenes has not played you false," an-
swered Agelastes ; " he has his humours, as you
remarked, even now, and with these some quali-
ties 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 possi-
bly 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 Varan-
gian ; " 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

COUNT ROBERT OF PAIIIS. 237

WaltlieofF, I see an extraordinary man, although
he himself may be ignorant, owing to his mo-
desty, of the rarity of his own good qualities."

" The son of WaltheoflF !" answered the Va-
rangian, somewhat startled. — " Do you know
my father's name ?"

*' Be not surprised," answered the philoso-
pher, " 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 con\'ince
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 inquire, 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, " cer-
tainly 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

238 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

dogs or his hawks, and would willingly save him-
self the trouble of calling them otherwise than
by a whistle."

" I may not hear this," answered tlie Varan-
gian.

" I would not oflfend you," said the philoso-
pher, " I would not even shake your good opi-
nion 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 appear-
ance," answered the Anglo-Saxon. " I am like
the rocks of my country ; the fierce winds can-
not 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

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 239

concerning me, not unexaggerated probably,
since llie Greeks do not keep tlie privilege of
boasting so entirely to themselves but the Va-
rangians 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 ; " be-
lieve 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 tremblino- 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 althovigh I crave thy friendship,
I need 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,

240 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS

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 knew 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
St Augustin."

" True — " said Here ward ; "all this is cer-
tain— 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, decei-
ved 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 considera-
tion of such parts of the immaterial world as are

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 241

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 over-
come, 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 aspi-
ration 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 thou"

VOL. I. L

242 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

sand 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 indomi-
table 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, uncer-
tainty, and all the caitiff tribe of meaner sensa-
tions. 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, —

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 243

" Wlio tliou art, I know not — what thou
woulclst with me, I cannot tell — by what means
thou hast gathered intelligence of such conse-
quence to me, and of so little to another, I have
no conception — But this I know, that by inten-
tion 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 cer-
tain 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 position 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 th^ pliilosopher.
" But art not thou also bound to a nearer de-

244 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

peiidence upon tlio great Acolyte, Achilles
Tatius?"

" No. He is ray 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 mas-
ter'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."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 245

" Singular man !" said Agelastes ; "is there
nothinof that can move thee but thing's 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 hast 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 inte-
rest. 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, dis-
graceful to the dead perhaps as to the Kving.
Whatever has been thy purpose, old man — for,
think not thy strange words have passed unno-
ticed— 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

246 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

ruined temple, after a slight inclination of his
head to the philosopher.

Agelastes, after the departure of the soldier,
remained alone, apparently absorbed in medita-
tion, 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 philo-
sopher's features. He then said, " Thou re-
mainest, sage Agelastes, confident in the pur-
pose of which we have lately spoke together ?"

" I do," said Agelastes, with gravity and firm-
ness.

" But," replied Achilles Tatius, " thou hast
not gained to our side that proselyte, whose cool-
ness 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 phi-
losopher.

" 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

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 247

skill by words, signs, names, periapts, and spells,
to exceed the sphere to which thy faculties be-
long, hast been foiled in thy trade of persuasion,
like an infant worsted in debate with its domes-
tic 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 sug-
gested 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 ambi-
tion 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
Latin warriors, so strangely set aflowing, still

248 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

rush on to the banks of the Bosphorus ? and does
Alexius still entertain hopes to diminish and di-
vide the strength of numbers, which he could in
vain hope to defy ?"

" Something further of intelligence has been
gained, even wathin a very few hours," answered
Achilles Tatius. " Bohemond came to the city
with some six or eight light horse, and in a spe-
cies 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 Bohe-
mond was discovered to the imperial court as if
it were by mere accident, and he was welcomed
A\'ith marks of favour and splendour which had

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. *249

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 Bohemoud 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 domes-
tic 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 muni-
ficence towards the greedy barbarian, that a
chamber in the palace was, by chance as it were,
left exposed to his view, containing large quan-
tities of manufactiu-ed silks, of jewellers' work, of
gold and silver, and other articles of great value.
When the rapacious Frank could not forbear

l2

250 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

some expressions of admiration, he was assured,
that the contents of the treasure-chamber were
his OAvn, 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
eflfaced by a greater gratuity. Alexius, proud as
he naturally is of his management with this im-
portant 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 na-
ture of their warfare, the meanest gentleman
among them would not submit to, were it to be

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 251

lord of a province. Tliere, then, we rest. A
few days must determine what we have to do.
An earKer discovery would be destruction."

" We meet not then to-night ?" said the
Acolyte.

" No," replied the sage ; " unless we are sum-
moned 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 others
company, they left their solitary place of meet-
ing by different routes. The Varangian, Here-
ward, received, shortly after, a summons from
his superior, who acquainted him that he should
not, as formerly intimated, require his attend-
ance 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 Age-

252 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

la-stes, and he seems something so different from
M'hat lie 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 wis-
dom will teach you to beware of him."

" Thou art an honest fellow, my poor Here-
■ward," said Achilles Tatius, with an affectation
of good-natured contempt. " Such men as Age-
lastes 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 them-
selves 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 tlue rawest and

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 253

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 cere-
ments 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 ; keep-
ing out of the reach of those pretended secret

254 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

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.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 255

CHAPTER VIII.

Between tlie foaming jaws of the white torrent.
The skilful artist draws a sudden mound ;
By level long he subdivides their strength.
Stealing the waters from their rocky bed,
First to diminish what he means to conquer ;
Then, for the residue he forms a road,
Easy to keep, and painful to desert.
And guiding to the end the planner aim'd at.

The Engineer.

It would have been easy for Alexius, by a
course of avowed suspicion, or any false step in
tlie manner of receiving this tumultuary invasion
of the European nations, to have blown into a
flame the numerous, but smothered grievances,
under which they laboured ; and a similar catas-
trophe would not have been less certain, had he
at once abandoned all thoughts of resistance,
and placed his hope of safety in surrendering to
the multitudes of the west whatsoever they ac-

256 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

counted worth taking. The Emperor chose a
middle course; and, unquestionably, in the weak-
ness of the Greek empire, it was the only one
which would have given him at once safety, and
a great degree of consequence in the eyes of the
Frank invaders, and those of his own subjects.
The means with which he acted were of various
kinds, and, rather from policy than inclination,
were often stained with falsehood or meanness ;
therefore it follows, that the measures of the
Emperor resembled those of the snake, who
twines himself through the grass, with the pur-
pose of stinging insidiously those whom he fears
to approach with the step of the bold and gene-
rous lion. We are not, however, writing the
History of the Crusades, and what we have
already said of the Emperor's precautions on
the first appearance of Godfrey of Bouillon, and
his associates, may suffice for the elucidation of
our story.

About four weeks had now passed over, mark-
ed by quarrels and reconcilements between the
crusaders and the Grecians of the empire. The
former were, as Alexius's policy dictated, occa-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 257

sionally and individually received with extreme
honour, and their leaders loaded with respect and
favour ; while, from time to time, such bodies of
them as sought distant or circuitous routes to the
capital, were intercepted and cut to pieces by
light-armed troops, who easily passed upon their
ignorant opponents for Turks, Scythians, or other
infidels, and sometimes were actually such, but in
the service of the Grecian monarch. Often,
too, it happened, that while the more powerful
chiefs of the crusade were feasted by the Empe-
ror and his ministers with the richest delicacies,
and their thirst slaked with iced wines, their fol-
lowers were left at a distance, where, intentionally
supplied with adulterated flour, tainted provisions,
and bad water, they contracted diseases, and died
in great numbers, without having once seen a foot
of the Holy Land, for the recovery of which they
had abandoned their peace, their competence,
and tlieir native country. These aggressions did
not pass without complaint. Many of the cru-
sading chiefs impugned the fidelity of their allies,
exposed the losses sustained by their armies as
evils voluntarily inflicted on them by the Greeks,

258 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

and on more than one occasion, tlie two nations
stood opposed to each other on such terms that
a general war seemed to be inevitable.

Alexius, however, though obliged to have re-
course to every finesse, still kept his ground, and
made peace with the most powerful chiefs, under
one pretence or other. The actual losses of the
crusaders by the sword he imputed to their own
aggressions — their misguidance to accident and
to wilfulness — their deficiency of provisions to
the vehemence of their own appetite for raw
fruits and unripened wines. In short, there was
no disaster of any kind whatsoever which could
possibly befall the unhappy pilgrims, but the Em-
peror stood prepared to prove that it was the na-
tural consequence of their own violence, wilful-
ness of conduct, or hostile precipitancy.

The chiefs, who were not ignorant of their
strength, would not, it was likely, have tamely
suffered injuries from a power so inferior to
their own, were it not that they had formed
extravagant ideas of the wealth of the Eastern
empire, which Alexius seemed willing to share
with them with an excess of bounty as new to

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 259

the leaders as tlie rich productions of the East
were tempting to their followers.

The French nobles would perhaps have been
the most difficult to be brought into order when
differences arose, but an accident, which the
Emperor might have termed providential, re-
duced the high-spirited Count of Vermandois to
the situation of a suppliant, when he expected to
hold that of a dictator. A fierce tempest sur-
prised his fleet after he set sail from Italy, and
he was finally driven on the coast of Greece.
Many ships were destroyed, and those troops
who got ashore were so much distressed, that
they were obliged to surrender themselves to the
lieutenants of Alexius. So that the Count of
Vermandois, so haughty in his bearing when he
first embarked, was sent to the court of Con-
stantinople, not as a prince, but as a prisoner.
In this case, the Emperor instantly set the sol-
diers at liberty, and loaded them with presents.

Grateful, therefore, for attentions in which
Alexius was unremitting. Count Hugh was, by
gratitude as well as interest, inclined to join the
opinion of those who, for other reasons, desired
the subsistence of peace betwixt the crusaders

260 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

and the empire of Greece. A better principle
determined the celebrated Godfrey, Raymond of
Thoulouse, and some otliers, in whom devotion
was something more than a mere burst of fana-
ticism. These princes considered with what
scandal their whole journey must be stained if
the first of their exploits should be a war upon
the Grecian empire, which might justly be called
the barrier of Christendom. If it was weak, and
at the same time rich — if at the same time it in-
vited rapine, and was unable to protect itself
against it — it was the more their interest and
duty, as Christian soldiers, to protect a Christian
state, whose existence was of so much conse-
quence to the common cause, even when it could
not defend itself. It was the wish of these frank-
hearted men to receive the Emperor's profes-
sions of friendship with such sincere returns of
amity — to return his kindness with so much usury,
as to convince him that their purpose towards
him was in every respect fair and honourable,
and that it would be his interest to abstain from
every injurious treatment which might induce
or compel them to alter their measures towards
him.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 261

It was with tills accommodating spirit towards
Alexius, wliich, for many different and compli-
cated reasons, had now animated most of the cru-
saders, that the chiefs consented to a measure
which, in other circumstances, they would pro-
bably have refused, as undue to the Greeks, and
dishonourable to themselves. This was the
famous resolution, that, before crossing the Bos-
phorus to go in quest of that Palestine which
they had vowed to regain, each chief of crusaders
would acknowledge individually the Grecian
Emperor, originally lord paramount of all these
regions, as their liege lord and suzerain.

The Emperor Alexius, with trembling joy,
beheld the crusaders approach a conclusion to
which he had hoped to bribe them rather by in-
terested means than by reasoning, although
much might be said why provinces reconquered
from the Turks or Saracens should, if recovered
from the infidel, become again a part of the
Grecian empire, from which they had been rent
without any pretence, save that of violence.

Though fearful, and almost despairing of
being able to manage the rude and discordant

262 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

army of hauglity cliiefs, who were wholly inde-
pendent of each other, Alexius failed not, with
eagerness and dexterity, to seize upon the ad-
mission of Godfrey and his compeers, that the
Emperor was entitled to the allegiance of all who
should war on Palestine, and natural lord para-
mount of all the conquests which should be made
in the course of the expedition. Pie was resolved
to make this ceremony so public, and to interest
men's minds in it by such a display of the impe-
rial pomp and munificence, that it should not
either pass unknown, or be readily forgotten.

An extensive terrace, one of the numerous
spaces which extend along the coast of the Pro-
pontis, was chosen for the site of the magnificent
ceremony. Here was placed an elevated and
august throne, calculated for the use of the Em-
peror alone. On this occasion, by suffering no
other seats within view of the pageant, the Greeks
endeavoured to secure a point of ceremony pecu-
liarly dear to their vanity, namely, that none of
that presence, save the Emperor himself, should
be seated. Around the throne of Alexius Com-
nenus were placed in order, but standing, the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 263

various dignitaries of liis splendid court, in their
different ranks, from the Proto-sebastos and the
Caesar, to the Patriarch, splendid in his ecclesias-
tic robes, and to Agelastes, who, in his simple
habit, gave also the necessary attendance. Be-
hind and around the splendid display of the Em-
peror's court, were drawn many dark circles of
the exiled Anglo-Saxons. These, by their own
desire, were not, on that memorable day, ac-
coutered in the silver corslets which were the
fashion of an idle court, but sheathed in mail
and plate. They desired, they said, to be known
as warriors to warriors. This was the more
readily granted, as there was no knowing what
trifle might infringe a truce between parties so
inflammable as were now assembled.

Beyond the Varangians, in much greater num-
bers, were drawn up the bands of Grecians, or
Romans, then known by the title of Immortals,
which had been borrowed by the Romans ori-
ginally from the empire of Persia. The stately
forms, lofty crests, and splendid apparel of these
guards, would have given the foreign princes pre-
sent a higher idea of their military prowess, had

'2()4 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

there not occurred in their ranks a frequent in-
dication of loquacity and of motion, forming a
strong contrast to the steady composure and
death -like silence with which the well- trained
Varangians stood in the parade, like statues made
of iron.

The reader must then conceive this throne in
all the pomp of Oriental greatness, surrounded
by the foreign and Roman troops of the empire,
and closed on the rear by clouds of light-horse,
who shifted their places repeatedly, so as to con-
vey an idea of their multitude, without affording
the exact means of estimating it. Through the
dust which they raised by these evolutions, might
be seen banners and standards, among which
could be discovered, by glances, the celebrated
Labarum, the pledge of conquest to the imperial
banners, but whose sacred efficacy had somewhat
failed of late days. The rude soldiers of the
West, who viewed the Grecian army, maintain-
ed that the standards which were exhibited in
front of their line, were at least sufficient for
the array of ten times the number of soldiers.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 265

Far on the right, the appearance of a very-
large body of European cavalry drawn up on the
sea-shore, intimated the presence of the crusa-
ders. So great was the desire to follow the ex-
ample of the chief Princes, Dukes, and Coimts,
in making the proposed fealty, that the niunber
of independent knights and nobles, who were to
perform this service, seemed very great when
collected together for that purpose ; for every
crusader who possessed a tower, and led six
lances, would have thought himself abridged of
his dignity if he had not been called to acknow-
ledge the Grecian Emperor, and hold the lands
he should conquer of his throne, as well as God-
frey of Bouillon, or Hugh the Great, Count of
Vermandois. And yet, with strange inconsist-
ency, though they pressed to fulfil the homage
as that which was paid by greater persons than
themselves, they seemed, at the very same time,
desirous to find some mode of intimating that
the homage which they rendered they felt as an
idle degradation, and in fact held the whole
show as a mere piece of mockery.

The order of the procession had been thus set-

VOL. I. M

266 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

tied : — The Crusaders, or, as the Grecians called
them, the Counts, — that being the most common
title among them, — were to advance from the
left of their body, and, passing the Emperor one
by one, were apprised, that, in passing, each was
to render to him, in as few words as possible, the
homage which had been previously agreed on.
Godfrey of Bouillon, his brother Baldwin, Bohe-
mond of Antioch, and several other crusaders of
eminence, were the first to perform the cere-
mony, alighting when their own part was per-
formed, and remaining in attendance by the
Emperor's chair, to prevent, by the awe of their
presence, any of their numerous associates from
being guilty of petulance or presumption during
the solemnity. Other crusaders of less degree
retained their station near the Emperor, when
they had once gained it, out of mere curiosity, or
to show that they were as much at liberty to do
so as the greater commanders who assumed that
privilege.

Thus two great bodies of troops, Grecian and
European, paused at some distance from each
other on the banks of the Bosphorus canal, dif-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 267

fering iii language, arms, and appearance. The
small troops of liorse which from time to time
issued forth from these bodies, resembled the
flashes of lightning passing from one thunder-
cloud to another, which communicate to each
other by such emissaries their overcharged con-
tents. After some halt on the margin of the
Bosphorus, the Franks who had performed ho-
mage, straggled irregularly forward to a quay on
the shore, where innumerable galleys and smaller
vessels, provided for the purpose, lay with sails
and oars prepared to waft the warlike pilgrims
across the passage, and place them on that Asia
which they longed so passionately to visit, and
from which but few of them were likely to re-
turn. The gay appearance of the vessels which
were to receive them, the readiness with which
they were supplied with refreshments, the nar-
ro-wmess of the strait they had to cross, the near
approach of that active service which they had
vowed and longed to discharge, put the warriors
into gay spirits, and songs and music bore chorus
to the departing oars.

While such was the temper of the crusaders,

268 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

the Grecian Emperor did his best through the
whole ceremonial to impress on the armed mul-
titude the highest ideas of his own grandeur,
and the importance of the occasion which had
brought them together. This was readily admit-
ted by the higher chiefs ; some because their
vanity had been propitiated, — some because their
avarice had been gratified, — some because their
ambition had been inflamed, — and a few, a very
few, because to remain friends with Alexius was
the most probable means of advancing the pur-
poses of their expedition. Accordingly, the great
lords, from these various motives, practised a
humility which perhaps they were far from feel-
ing, and carefully abstained from all which might
seem like irreverence at the solemn festival of
the Grecians. But there were very many of a
different temper.

Of the great number of counts, lords, and
knights, under whose variety of banners the
crusaders were led to the walls of Constanti-
nople, many were too insignificant to be bribed
to this distasteful measure of homage ; and these,
though they felt it dangerous to oppose resist-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 269

ance, yet mixed their submission with taimts,
ridicule, and such contraventions of decorum, as
plainly intimated that they entertained resent-
ment and scorn at the step they were about to
take, and esteemed it as proclaiming themselves
vassals to a prince, heretic in his faith, limited in
the exercise of his boasted power, their enemy
when he dared show himself such, and the friend
of those only among their number who were able
to compel him to be so; and who, though to
them an obsequious ally, was to the others, when
occasion offered, an insidious and murderous
enemy.

Tlie nobles of Frankish origin and descent
were chiefly remarkable for their presumptuous
contempt of every other nation engaged in the
crusade, as well as for their dauntless bravery,
and for the scorn with which they regarded the
power and authority of the Greek empire. It
was a common saying among them, that if the
skies should fall, the French crusaders alone were
able to hold them up with their lances. The
same bold and arrogant disposition showed itself
in occasional quarrels with their unwilling hosts.

270 COUNT robeut of parts

in which the Greeks, notwithstanding all their
art, were often worsted ; so that Alexius was de-
termined, at all events, to get rid of these intract-
able and fiery allies, by ferrying them over the
Bosphorus with all manner of diligence. To do
this with safety, he availed himself of the pre-
sence of the Count of Vermandois, Godfrey of
Bouillon, and other chiefs of great influence, to
keep in order the lesser Frankish knights, who
were so numerous and unruly.

Struggling with his feelings of oifended pride,
tempered by a prudent degree of apprehension,
the Emperor endeavoured to receive with com-
placence a homage tendered in mockery. An
incident shortly took place of a character highly
descriptive of the nations brought together in
so extraordinary a manner, and with such diffe-
rent feelings and sentiments. Several bands
of French had passed, in a sort of procession,
the throne of the Emperor, and rendered, with
some appearance of gravity, the usual homage.
On this occasion they bent their knees to Alexius,
placed their hands within his, and in that posture
paid the ceremonies of feudal fealty. But when

COUNT ROBEKT OF PARIS. 271

it came to the turn of Boliemond of Antioch,
already mentioned, to render tliis fealty, the
Emperor, desirous to show every species of ho-
nour to this wily person, his former enemy, and
now apparently his ally, advanced two or three
paces towards the sea-side, where the boats lay
as if in readiness for his use.

The distance to which the Emperor moved
was very small, and it was assumed as a piece of
deference to Bohemond ; but it became the means
of exposing Alexius himself to a cutting affront,
which his guards and subjects felt deeply, as an
intentional humiliation. A half-score of horse-
men, attendants of the Frankish Coimt who was
next to perform the homage, with their lord at
their head, set off at full gallop from the right
flank of the French squadrons, and arriving
before the throne, which was yet empty, they
at once halted. The rider at the head of the
band was a strong herculean figure, with a de-
cided and stern countenance, though extremely
handsome, looking out from thick black curls.
His head was surmounted with a barret cap,
while his hands, limbs, and feet were covered

272 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

with garments of cliamois leather, over which he
in general wore the ponderous and complete
armour of his country. This, however, he had
laid aside for personal convenience, though in
doing so he evinced a total neglect of the cere-
monial which marked so important a meeting.
He waited not a moment for the Emperor's re-
turn, nor regarded the impropriety of obliging
Alexius to hurry his steps back to his throne, but
sprung from his gigantic horse, and threw the
reins loose, which were instantly seized by one
of the attendant pages. Without a moment's
hesitation the Frank seated himself in the vacant
throne of the Emperor, and extending his lialf-
armed and robust figure on the golden cushions
which were destined for Alexius, he indolently
began to caress a large wolf-hound which had
followed him, and which, feeling itself as much
at ease as its master, reposed its grim form on
the carpets of silk and gold damask, which tapes-
tried the imperial footstool. The very hound
stretched itself with a bold, ferocious insolence,
and seemed to regard no one with respect, save
the stern knight whom it called master.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 273

The Emperor, turning back from tlie short
space which, as a special mark of favour, he had
accompanied Bohemond, beheld with astonish-
ment his seat occupied by this insolent Frank.
The bands of the half savage Varangians who
were stationed around, would not have hesitated
an instant in avenging the insult, by prostrating
the violator of their master's throne even in this
act of his contempt, had they not been restrained
by Achilles Tatius and other officers, who were
uncertain what the Emperor would do, and some-
what timorous of taking a resolution for them-
selves.

Meanwhile, the unceremonious knight spoke
aloud, in a speech which, though provincial,
might be understood by all to whom the French
language was known, while even those who un-
derstood it not, gathered its interpretation from
his tone and manner. " What churl is this,"
he said, "who has remained sitting stationary
like a block of wood, or the fragment of a rock,
when so many noble knights, the flower of chi-
valry and muster of gallantry, stand uncovered

m2

^.

274 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

around, among the tin-ice conquered Varan-
gians ;

A deep, clear accent replied, as if from the
bottom of the earth, so like it was to the accents
of some being fi'om the other world, — " If the
Normans desire battle of the Varangians, they
will meet them in the lists man to man, without
tlie poor boast of insulting the Emperor of Greece,
who is well known to fight only by the battle-
axes of his guard."

The astonishment was so great when this
answer was heard, as to affect even the knight,
whose insult upon the Emperor had occasioned
it ; and amid the efforts of Achilles to retain his
soldiers within the bounds of subordination and
silence, a loud murmur seemed to intimate that
they would not long remain so. Bohemond re-
turned through the press mtli a celerity which
did not so well suit the dignity of Alexius, and
.catching the crusader by the arm, he, something
between fair means and a gentle degree of force,
obliged him to leave the chair of the Emperor
in which he had placed himself so boldly.

" How is it," said Bohemond, " noble Count

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 275

of Paris ? Is there one in tliis great assembly who
can see with patience, that your name, so widely
renowned for valour, is now to be quoted in an
idle brawl with hirelings, whose utmost boast it
is to bear a mercenary battle-axe in the ranks of
the Emperor's guards ? For shame — for shame
— do not, for the discredit of Norman chivalry,
let it be so !"

" I know not," said the Crusader, rising reluc-
tantly— " I am not nice of choosing the degree
of my adversary, when he bears himself like one
who is willing and forward in battle. I am good-
natured, I tell thee, Count Bohemond ; and Turk
or Tartar, or wandering Anglo-Saxon, who only
escapes from the chain of the Normans to be-
come the slave of the Greek, is equally welcome
to whet his blade clean against my armour, if he
desires to achieve such an honourable office."

The Emperor had heard what passed — had
heard it with indignation, mixed with fear ; for
he imagined the whole scheme of his policy was
about to be overturned at once by a premedita-
ted scheme of personal aifront, and probably an
assault upon his person. He was about to call

276 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

to arms, when, casting his eyes on the right flank
of the crusaders, he saw that all remained quiet
after the Frank Baron had transferred himself
from tiience. He therefore instantly resolved to
let the insult pass, as one of the rough pleasant-
ries of the Franks, since the advance of more
troops did not give any symptom of an actual
onset.

Resolving on his line of conduct wdth the quick-
ness of thought, he glided back to his canopy,
and stood beside his throne, of which, however,
he chose not instantly to take possession, lest he
should give the insolent stranger some ground
for renewing and persisting in a competition for
it.

" What bold Vavasour is this," said he to
Count Baldwin, " whom, as is apparent from his
dignity, I ought to have received seated upon
my throne, and who thinks proper thus to vin-
dicate his rank ?"

" He is reckoned one of the bravest men in
our host," answered Baldwin, " though the brave
are as numerous there as the sands of the sea.
He will himself tell you his name and rank."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 277

Alexius looked at the Vavasour. He saw
nothing in his large, well-formed features, light-
ed by a wild touch of enthusiasm which spoke
in his quick eye, that intimated premeditated
insult, and was induced to suppose that what
had occurred, so contrary to the form and cere-
monial of the Grecian court, was neither an
intentional affront, nor designed as the means of
introducing a quarrel. He therefore spoke with
comparative ease, when he addressed the stranger
thus : — " We know not by what dignified name
to salute you; but we are aware, from Count
Baldwin's information, that we are honoured in
having in our presence one of the bravest knights
whom a sense of the wrongs done to the Holy
Land has brought thus far on his way to Pales-
tine, to free it from its bondage."

" If you mean to ask my name," answered
the European knight, " any one of these pil-
grims can readily satisfy you, and more grace-
fully than I can myself; since we use to say in
our country that many a fierce quarrel is pre-
vented from being fought out by an untimely
disclosure of names, when men, who might have
fought with the fear of God before their eyes,

278 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

must, when their names are manifested, recognise
each other as spiritual allies, by baptism, gossip-
red, or some such irresistible bond of friendship ;
whereas, had they fought first, and told their
names afterwards, they could have had some
assurance of each other's valour, and have been
able to view their relationship as an honour to
both."

" Still," said the Emperor, " methinks I would
know if you, who, in this extraordinary press of
knights, seem to assert a precedence to yourself,
claim the dignity due to a king or prince ?"

" How speak you that ?" said the Frank, with
a brow somewhat overclouded ; " do you feel that
I have not left you unjostled by my advance to
these squadrons of yours ?"

Alexius hastened to answer, that he felt no
particular desire to coiniect the Count with an
affront or offence ; observing, that in the extreme
necessity of the Empire, it was no time for him,
who was at the helm, to engage in idle or un-
necessary quarrels.

The Frankish knight heard him, and answered
drily — " Since such are your sentiments, I won-
der that you have ever resided long enough within

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 279

tlie hearing of the French language to learn to
speak it as you do. I would have thought some
of the sentiments of the chivalry of the nation,
since you are neither a monk nor a woman, would,
at the same time with the words of the dialect,
have found their way into your heart."

" Hush, Sir Count," said Bohemond, who re-
mained by the Emperor to avert the threatening
quarrel. "It is surely requisite to answer the
Emperor with civility ; and those who are impa-
tient for warfare, will have infidels enough to
wage it with. He only demanded your name
and lineage, which you of all men can have least
objection to disclose."

" I know not if it will interest this Prince, or
Emperor as you term him," answered the Frank
Count ; " but all the account I can give of my-
self is this : In the midst of one of the vast
forests which occupy the centre of France, my
native country, there stands a chapel, sunk so
low into the ground, that it seems as if it were
become decrepid by its own great age. The image
of the Holy Alrgin who presides over its altar,
is called by all men our Lady of the Broken

280 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Lances, and is accounted through the whole
kingdom tlie most celebrated for military adven-
tures. Four beaten roads, each leading from an
opposite point in the compass, meet before the
principal door of the chapel ; and ever and anon,
as a good knight arrives at this place, he passes
in to the performance of his devotions in the
chapel, having first sounded his horn three times,
till ash and oak-tree quiver and ring. Having
then kneeled down to his devotions, he seldom
arises from the mass of Her of the Broken
Lances, but there is attending on his leisure some
adventurous knight ready to satisfy the new
comer's desire of battle. This station have I held
for a month and more against all comers, and all
gave me fair thanks for the knightly manner of
quitting myself towards them, except one, who
had the evil hap to fall from his horse, and did break
his neck ; and another, who was struck through
the body, so that the lance came out behind his
back about a cloth-yard, all dripping with blood.
Allowing for such accidents, which cannot be
easily avoided, my opponents parted with me
with fair acknowledgment of the grace I had
done them."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 281

" I conceive, Sir Knight," said the Emperor,
" that a form like yours, animated by the cou-
rage you display, is likely to find few equals even
among your adventurous coimtrymen; far less
among men who are taught that to cast away
their lives in a senseless quarrel among them-
selves, is to throw away, like a boy, the gift of
Providence."

" You are welcome to your opinion," said the
Frank, somewhat contemptuously ; " yet I assure
you, if you doubt that our gallant strife was un-
mixed with sullenness and anger, and that we
hunt not the hart or the boar with merrier hearts
in the evening, than we discharge our task of
chivalry by the morn had arisen, before the portal
of the old chapel, you do us foul injustice."

" With the Turks you will not enjoy this ami-
able exchange of courtesies," answered Alexius.
" Wherefore I would advise you neither to stray
far into the van or into the rear, but to abide by
the standard where the best infidels make their
efforts, and the best loiights are required to
repel them."

" By our Lady of the Broken Lances," said the

282 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

Crusader, " I would uot that the Turlts were
more courteous than they are Christian, and am
well pleased that unbeliever and heathen hound
are a proper description for the best of them, as
being traitor alike to their God and to the laws
of chivalry ; and devoutly do I trust that I shall
meet with them in the front rank of our army,
beside our standard, or elsewhere, and have an
open field to do my devoir against them, both
as the enemies of Our Lady and the holy saints,
and as, by their evil customs, more expressl)'^
my own. Meanwhile you have time to seat
yourself and receive my homage, and I will be
bound to you for dispatching this foolish jcere-
mony with as little waste and delay of time as the
occasion >\dll permit."

The Emperor hastily seated himself, and re-
ceived into his the sinewy hands of the cru-
sader, who made the acknowledgment of his
homage, and was then guided off by Count Bald-
win, who \\^alked with the stranger to the ships,
and then, apparently well pleased at seeing him
in the course of going on Ijoard, returned back to
the side of the Emperor.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 283

" What is the name," said the Emperor, " of
that singular and assuming man ?"

" It is Robert, Count of Paris," answered
Baldwin, " accounted one of the bravest peers
who stands around the throne of France."

After a moment's recollection, Alexius Com-
nenus issued orders, that the ceremonial of the
day should be discontinued, afraid, perhaps, lest
the rough and careless humour of the strangers
should produce some new quarrel. The crusa-
ders were led, nothing loath, back to palaces in
which they had already been hospitably received,
and readily resumed the interrupted feast, from
which they had been called to pay their homage.
The trumpets of the various leaders blew the
recall of the few troops of an ordinary character
who were attendant, together with the host of
knights and leaders, who, pleased with the indul-
gences provided for them, and obscurely foresee-
ing that the passage of the Bosphorus would
be the commencement of their actual sujQfering,
rejoiced in being called to the hither side.

It was not probably intended ; but the hero,
as he might be styled, of the tumidtuous day.

284 COUNT ROBEllT OF PARIS.

Count Robert of Paris, who was already on his
road to embarkation on the strait, was disturbed
in his purpose by the sound of recall which was
echoed around ; nor could Bohemond, Godfrey,
or any who took upon him to explain the signal,
alter his resolution of returning to Constanti-
nople. He laughed to scorn the threatened dis-
pleasure of the Emperor, and seemed to think
there would be a peculiar pleasure in braving
Alexius at his own board, or, at least, that no-
thing could be more indifferent than whether he
gave offence or not.

To Godfrey of Bouillon, to whom he showed
some respect, he was still far from paying defe-
rence ; and that sagacious prince, having used
every argument which might shake his purpose
of returning to the imperial city, to the very
point of making it a quarrel with him in person,
at length abandoned him to his own discretion,
and pointed him out to the Count of Tholouse,
as he passed, as a wild knight-errant, incapable
of being influenced by any thing save his own
wayward fancy. " He brings not five hundred
men to the crusade," said Godfrey ; " and I dare

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 285

be sworn, that even in this, the very outset of
the undertaking, he knows not where these five
hundred men are, and how their wants are pro-
vided for. There is an eternal trumpet in his
ear sounding to assault, nor has he room or time
to hear a milder or more rational signal. See
how he strolls along yonder, the very emblem of
an idle schoolboy, broke out of the school-bounds
upon a holyday, half animated by cm-iosity and
half by love of mischief."

" And," said Raymond, Count of Tliolouse,
" with resolution sufficient to support the despe-
rate purpose of the whole army of devoted cru-
saders. And yet so passionate a Rodomont is
Count Robert, that he would rather risk the
success of the whole expedition, than omit an
opportunity of meeting a worthy antagonist en
champ clos, or lose, as he terms it, a chance of
worshipping our Lady of the Broken Lances.
Who are yon with whom he has now met, and
who are apparently walking, or rather strolling,
in the same way with him, back to Constanti-
nople ?"

" An armed knight, brilliantly equipped —
yet of something less than knightly stature,"

286 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

answered Godfrey. " It is, I suppose, the cele-
brated lady who won Robert's heart in the lists
of battle, by bravery and valour equal to his
own ; and the pilgrim form in the long vestments
may be their daughter or niece."

" A singular spectacle, worthy Knight," said
the Count of Tholouse, " does our days present
to us, to which we have had nothing similar,
since Gaita, wife of Robert Guiscard, first took
upon her to distinguish herself by manly deeds of
emprise, and rival her husband, as well in the
front of battle as at the dancing-room or banquet."

" Such is the custom of this pair, most noble
knight," answered another Crusader, who had
joined them, " and Heaven pity the poor man
who has no power to keep domestic peace by an
appeal to the stronger hand !"

" Well," replied Raymond, " if it be rather
a mortifying reflection, that the lady of our love
is far past the bloom of youth, it is a consolation
that she is too old-fashioned to beat us, when we
return back with no more of youth or manhood
than a long crusade has left. But come, follow
on the road to Constantinople, and in the rear
of this most doughty knight."

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 287

CHAPTER X.

These were wild times — the antipodes of ours :
Ladies there were, who oftener saw themselves
In the broad lustre of a foemau's shield
Than in a mirror, and who rather sought
To match themselves in battle, than in dalliance

To meet a lover's onset But though Nature

Was outraged thus, she was not overcome.

Feudal Times.

Brenhilda, Countess of Paris, was one of
those stalwart dames who willingly hazarded
themselves in the front of battle, which, during
the first crusade, was as common as it was pos-
sible for a very unnatural custom to be, and, in
fact, gave the real instances of the Marphisas and
Bradamantes, whom the writers of romance de-
lighted to paint, assigning them sometimes tlie
advantage of invulnerable armour, or a spear
whose thrust did not admit of being resisted, in
order to soften the improbability of the weaker

288 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

sex being frequently victorious over tlie male
part of the creation.

But the spell of Brenhilda was of a more sim-
ple nature, and rested chiefly in her great beauty.

From a girl, she despised the pursuits of her
sex ; and they who ventured to become suitors
for the hand of the young Lady of Aspramonte, to
which warlike fief she had succeeded, and which
perhaps encouraged her in her fancy, received
for answer, that they must first merit it by their
good behaviour in the lists. The fatlier of Bren-
hilda was dead ; her mother was of a gentle tem-
per, and easily kept under management by the
young lady herself.

Brenhilda's numerous suitors readily agreed
to terms which were too much according to the
manners of the age to be disputed. A tournament
was held at the Castle of Aspramonte, in which
one half of the gallant assembly rolled headlong
before their successful rivals, and withdrew from
the lists mortified and disappointed. The suc-
cessful party among the suitors were expected to
be summoned to joust among themselves. But
they were surprised at being made acquainted

7

COUNT ROBER'if^OF PARIS. 289

with tlie lady's further will. She aspired to wear
armour herself, to wield a lance, and back a steed,
and prayed the knights that they would permit
a lady, whom they professed to honour so highly,
to mingle in their games of chivalry. The young
knights courteously received their young mis-
tress in the lists, and smiled at the idea of her
holding them triumphantly against so many gal-
lant champions of the other sex. But the vassals
and old servants of the Count, her father, smiled
to each other, and intimated a different result
than the gallants anticipated. The knights who
encountered the fair Brenhilda M^ere one by one
stretched on the sand ; nor was it to be denied,
that the situation of tiltinof with one of the hand-
somest women of the time, was an extremely em-
barrassing one. Each youth was bent to with-
hold his charge in full volley, to cause his steed
to swerve at the full shock, or in some other way
to flinch from doing the utmost which was neces-
sary to gain the victory, lest, in so gaining it, he
might cause irreparable injury to the beautiful
opponent he tilted with. But the Lady of Aspra-
monte was not one who could be conquered by

VOL. I. N

290 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

less tlian tlie exertion of the whole strength and
talents of the victor. The defeated suitors de-
parted from the lists the more mortified at their
discomfiture, because Robert of Paris arrived at
sunset, and, understanding what was going for-
ward, sent his name to the barriers, as that of a
knight who would willingly forego the reward of
the tournament, in case he had the fortune to
gain it, declaring, that neither lands nor ladies'
charms were what he came thither to seek. Bren-
hilda, piqued and mortified, chose a new lance,
mounted her best steed, and advanced into the
lists as one detcrmiiied to avenge upon the new
assailant's brow the slight of her charms which
he seemed to express. But whether her displea-
sure had somewhat interfered with her usual sldll,
or whether she had, like others of her sex, felt a
partiality towards one whose heart was not par-
ticularly set upon gaining hers — or whether, as
is often said on such occasions, her fated hour was
come, so it was that Count Robert tilted with his
usual address and good fortune. Brenhilda of
Aspramonte was unhorsed and unhelmed, and
stretched on the earth, and the beautiful face,
which faded from very red to deadly pale before

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 291

the eyes of tlie victor, produced its natural effect
in raising tke A'alue of liis conquest. He would,
in conformity v/ith his resolution, have left the
castle, after having mortified the vanity of the
lady; but her mother opportunely interposed;
and when she had satisfied herself that no serious
injury had been sustained by the young heiress,
she returned her thanks to the stranger knight
who had taught her daughter a lesson, which,
she trusted, she would not easily forget. Thus
tempted to do what he secretly %\'ished, Covmt
Robert gave ear to those sentiments, which na-
turally whispered to him to be in no hurry to
withdraw.

He was of the blood of Charlemagne, and,
what was still of more consequence in the young
lady's eyes, one of the most renowned of Nor-
man knights in that jousting day. After a resi-
dence of ten days in the castle of Aspramonte,
the bride and bridegroom set out, for such was
Count Robert's will, with a competent train,
to Our Lady of the Broken Lances, where it
pleased him to be wedded. Two knights, who
were waiting to do battle, as was the custom of

292 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

tlie place, were rather disappointed at the nature
of the cavalcade, which seemed to interrupt their
purpose. But greatly were they surprised when
they received a cartel from the betrothed couple,
offering to substitute their own persons in the
room of other antagonists, and congratulating
themselves in commencing their marrie<l life in
a manner so consistent with that which they had
hitherto led. They were victorious as usual ; and
the only persons having occasion to rue the com-
plaisance of the Count and his bride, were the
two strangers, one of whom broke an arm in the
rencontre, and the other dislocated a collar-bone.

Count Robert's course of knight-errantry did
not seem to be in the least intermitted by his
marriage ; on the contrary, when he was called
upon to support his renoAMi, his wife Avas often
known also in military exploits, nor was she in-
ferior to him in thirst after fame. They both
assumed the cross at the same time, that being
then the predominating folly in Europe.

The Countess Brenhilda was now above six-
and-twenty years old, with as much beauty as
can well fall to the share of an Amazon. A

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 293

figure, of the largest feminine size, was sur-
mounted by a noble countenance, to which even
repeated warlike toils had not given more than
a sunny hue, relieved by the dazzling whiteness
of such parts of her face as were not usually
displayed.

As Alexius gave orders that his retinue should
return^to Constantinople, he spoke in private to
the Follower, Achilles Tatius. The Satrap an-
swered with a submissive bend of the head, and
separated with a few attendants from the main
body of the Emperor's retinue. The principal
road to the city was, of course, filled with the
troops, and with the numerous crowds of spec-
tators, all of whom were inconvenienced in some
degree by the dust and heat of the weather.

Count Robert of Paris had embarked his
horses on board of ship, and all his retinue, ex-
cept an old squire or valet of his own, and an
attendant of his wife. He felt himself more in-
commoded in this crowd than he desired, espe-
cially as his wdfe shared it with him, and began
to look among the scattered trees which fringed
the shores down almost to the tide -mark, to see

294 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

if he could discern any bypath which might carry
them more circviitously, but more pleasantly, to
the city, and aft'ord them at the same time, what
was their principal object in the East, strange
sights, or adventures of chivalry. A broad and
beaten path seemed to promise them all the en-
joyment Mdiich shade could give in a warm cli-
mate. The ground through which it wound its
way was beautifully broken by the appearance
of temples, churches, and kiosks, and here and
there a fountain distributed its silver produce,
like a benevolent individual, who, self-denying
to himself, is liberal to all others who are in ne-
cessity. The distant sound of the martial music
still regaled their way ; and, at the same time,
as it detained the populace on the high road,
prevented the strangers from becoming incom-
moded with fellow-travellers.

Rejoicing in the abated heat of the day — won-
dering, at the same time, at the various kinds of
architecture, the strange features of the land-
scape, or accidental touches of manners exhibited
by those who met or past them upon their jour-
ney, they strolled easily onwards. One figure

COUNT UOBERT OF PARIS. 295

particularly caught tlie attention of tlie Countess
Brenliilda. This was an old man of great stature,
engaged, apparently, so deeply with the roll of
parchment which he held in his hand, that he
paid no attention to the objects which were
passing around him. Deep thought appeared
to reiirn on his brow, and his eye was of that
piercing kind which seems designed to search
and winnow the frivolous from the edifying part
of human discussion, and limit its enquiry to the
last. Raising his eyes slowly from the parch-
ment on which he had been gazing, the look of
Agelastes — for it was the sage himself — encoun-
tered those of Count Robert and his lady, and,
addressing them with the kindly epithet of " my
children," he asked if they had missed their road,-
or whether there was any thing else in which
he could do them any pleasure.

" We are strangers, father," was the answer,
« from a distant country, and belonging to the
army which has passed hither upon pilgrimage ;
one object brings us here in common, we hope,
with all that host. We desire to pay our devo-
tions where the great ransom was paid for us, and

296 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

to free, by our good swords, enslaved Palestine,

from the usurpation and tyranny of the infidel.

Wlien we have said this, we have announced our

highest human motive. Yet Robert of Paris

and his Countess would not willingly set their

foot on a land, save what should resound its echo.

They have not been accustomed to move in

silence upon the face of the earth, and they would

purchase an eternal life of fame, though it were

at the price of mortal existence."

»
" You seek then to barter safety for fame,'

said Agelastes, " though you may, perchance,

throw death into the scale by which you hope

to gain it ?"

" Assuredly," said Count Robert ; " nor is
there one wearing such a belt as this, to whom
such a thought is stranger."

" And as I understand," said Agelastes, " your
lady shares with your honourable self in these
valorous resolutions ? — Can this be ?"

" You may undervalue my female courage,
father, if such is your will," said the Countess ;
" but I speak in presence of a witness who can
attest the truth, when I say, that a man of half

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 297

your years had not doubted the truth with impu-
nity."

" Nay, Heaven protect me from the lightning
of your eyes," said Agelastes, " whether in
anger or in scorn. I bear an aegis about myself
against what I should else have feared. But age,
with its incapacities, brings also its apologies.
Perhaps, indeed, it is one like me whom you
seek to find, and in that case I should be happy
to render to you such services as it is my duty
to offer to all worthy knights."

" I have already said," replied Count Robert,
" that after the accomplishment of my vow," — he
looked upwards and crossed himself, — " there is
nothing on earth to which I am more bound, than
to celebrate my name in arms as becomes a va-
liant cavalier. When men die obscurely, they
die for ever. Had my ancestor Charles never
left the paltry banks of the Saale, he had not
now been much better known than any vine-
dresser who wielded his pruning-hook in the same
territories. But he bore him like a brave man,
and his name is deathless in the memory of the
worthy."

N 2

298 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

"Young man," said the old Grecian, "altliougli
it is but seldom that such as you, whom I was
made to serve and to value, visit this country, it
is not the less true that I am well qualified to
serve you in the matter which you have so much
at heart. My acquaintance with nature has been
so perfect and so long, that, during its conti-
nuance, she has disappeared, and another world
has been spread before me, in which she has but
little to do. Thus the curious stores which I
have assembled, are beyond the researches of
other men, and not to be laid before those whose
deeds of valour are to be bounded by the ordi-
nary probabilities of every-day nature. No ro-
mancer of your romantic country, ever devised
such extraordinary adventures out of his own
imagination, and to feed the idle wonder of those
who sat listening around, as those which 1 laiow,
not of idle invention, but of real positive exist-
ence, with the means of achieving and accom-
plishing the conditions of each adventure."

" If such be your real profession," said the
French Count, " you have met one of those
whom you cJiiefly search for ; nor will my

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 299

Countess and I stir fartlier upon our road until
you Lave pointed out to us some one of tliose
adventures wliich it is the business of errant-
kniglits to be industrious in seeking out."

So saying, he sat down by the side of the old
man ; and his lady, with a degree of reverence
which had something in it almost diverting, fol-
lowed his example.

" We have fallen right, Brenhilda," said Count
Robert ; " our guardian angel has watched his
charge carefully. Here have we come among
an ignorant set of pedants, chattering their ab-
surd language, and holding more important the
least look that a cowardly Emperor can give,
than the best blow that a good knight can deal.
Believe me, I was wellnigh thinking that we
had done ill to take the cross — God forgive suc^
an impious doubt ! Yet here, when we were even
despairing to find the road to fame, we have met
wdth one of those excellent men whom the
knights of yore were wont to find sitting by
springs, by crosses, and by altars, ready to di-
rect the wandering^ knigflit where fame was to
be found. Disturb him not, my Brenhilda," said

1

300 COUNT nOlJERT OF PARIS.

the Count, " but let liim recall to himself his
stories of the ancient time, and thou shalt see
he will enrich us with the treasures of his infor-
mation."

" If," replied Agelastes, after some pause,
" I have waited for a longer term than human
life is granted to most men, I shall still be over-
paid by dedicating what remains of existence to
the service of a pair so devoted to chivalry.
What first occurs to me is a story of our Greek
country, so famous in adventures, and which
I shall briefly detail to you : —

" Afar hence, in our renowned Grecian Ar-
chipelago, amid storms and whirlpools, rocks
which, changing their character, appear to pre-
cipitate themselves against each other, and bil-
lows that are never in a pacific state, lies the rich
island of Zulichium, inhabited, notwithstanding
its wealth, by a very few natives, who live only
upon the sea coast. The inland part of the island
is one immense mountain, or pile of mountains,
amongst which, those who dare approach near
enough, may, we are assured, discern the moss-
grown and antiquated towers and pinnacles

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 301

of a stately, but ruinous castle, tlie Imbltation of
the sovereign of the island, in which she has been
enchanted for a great many years.

" A bold knight, who came upon a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, made a vow to deliver this unhappy
victim of pain and sorcery; feeling, with justice,
vehemently otFended, that the fiends of darkness
should exercise any authority near the Holy
Land, which might be termed the very fountain
of light. Two of the oldest inhabitants of the
island imdertook to guide him as near to the main
gate as they durst, nor did they approach it more
closely than the length of a bow-shot. Here,
then, abandoned to himself, the brave Frank set
forth upon his enterprise, with a stout heart, and
Heaven alone to friend. The fabric which he
approached showed, by its gigantic size, and
splendour of outline, the power and wealth of
the potentate who had erected it. The brazen
gates unfolded themselves as if Math hope and
pleasure ; and aerial voices swept around the
spires and turrets, congratulating the genius of
the place, it might be, upon the expected ap-
proach of its deliverer.

302 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

" Tlie knight passed on, not unmoved with
wonder, though untainted by fear; and the Gothic
splendours which he saw were of a kind highly
to exalt his idea of the beauty of the mistress for
whom a prison-house had been so richly deco-
rated. Guards there were in Eastern dress and
arms, upon bulwark and buttress, in readiness,
it appeared, to bend their bows ; but the war-
riors were motionless and silent, and took no
more notice of the armed step of the knight than
if a monk or hermit had approached their guard-
ed post. They were living, and yet, as to all
power and sense, they might be considered
among the dead. If there was truth in the old
tradition, the sun had shone and the rain had
fallen upon them for more than four hundred
changing seasons, without their being sensible
of the genial warmth of the one or the coldness
of the other. Like the Israelites in the desert,
their shoes had not decayed, nor their vestments
waxed old. As Time left them, so and without
alteration was he again to find them." The
philosopher began now to recall what he had
heard of the cause of their enchantment.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 803

" Tlie sage, to whom this potent charm is im-
puted, was one of the Magi who followed the
tenets of Zoroaster. He had come to the court
of this youthful Princess, who received him with
every attention which gratified vanity could dic-
tate, so that in a short time her awe of this grave
personage was lost in the sense of ascendency
which her beauty gave her over him. It was no
difficult matter — in fact it happens every day —
for the beautiful woman to lull the \vise man into
what is not unaptly called a fool's paradise. The
sage was induced to attempt feats of youth which
his years rendered ridiculous ; he could command
the elements, but the common course of nature
was beyond his power. When, therefore, he
exerted his magic strength, the mountains bent
and the seas receded ; but when the philosopher
attempted to lead forth the Princes of Zulichium
in the youthful dance, youths and maidens turn-
ed their heads aside lest they should make too
manifest the ludicrous ideas with which they were
impressed.

" Unhappily, as the aged, even the wisest of
them, will forget themselves, so the young natu-

304 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

rally enter into an alliance to spy out, ridicule,
and enjoy their foibles. Many were the glances
which the Princess sent among her retinue,
intimating the nature of the amusement which
she received from the attentions of her formid-
able lover. In process of time, she lost her
caution, and a glance was detected, expressing to
the old man the ridicule and contempt in which
he had been all along held by the object of his
affections. Earth has no passion so bitter as love
converted to hatred ; and while the sage bitterly
regretted what he had done, he did not the less
resent the light-hearted folly of the Princess by
which he had been duped.

" If, however, he was angry, he possessed the
art to conceal it. Not a word, not a look express-
ed the bitter disappointment which he had recei-
ved. A shade of melancholy, or rather gloom,
upon his brow, alone intimated the coming storm.
The Princess became somewhat alarmed ; she
was besides extremely good-natured, nor had her
intentions of leading the old man into what \vould
render him ridiculous, been so accurately plan-
ned with malice prepense, as they were the effect

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 305

of accident and chance. She saw the pain which
he suffered, and thought to end it by going up
to him, when about to retire, and kindly wishing
him good-night.

" ' You say well, daughter,' said the sage,
' good-night — but who, of the numbers who hear
me, shall say good-morning ?'

" The speech drew little attention, although
two or three persons to whom the character of
the sage was known, fled from the island that
very night, and by their report made known the
circumstances attending the first infliction of this
extraordinary spell on those who remained within
the castle. A sleep like that of death fell upon
them, and was not removed. Most of the in-
habitants left the island ; the few who remained
were cautious how they approached the castle,
and watched until some bold adventurer should
bring that happy awakening which the speech of
the sorcerer seemed in some degree to intimate.

" Never seemed there a fairer opportunity for
that awakening to take place than when the
proud step of Artavan de Hautlieu was placed
upon those enchanted courts. On the left, lay

306 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

tlie palace and donjon-keep ; but the right, more
attractive, seemed to invite to the apartment of
the women. At a side door, reclined on a couch,
two guards of the haram, with their naked
swords grasped in their hands, and features, fiend-
ishly contorted between sleep and dissolution,
seemed to menace death to any who should
venture to approach. This threat deterred not
Artavan de Hautlieu. He approached the en-
trance, when the doors, like those of the great
entrance to the Castle, made themselves instant-
ly accessible to him. A guard-room of the same
effeminate soldiers received him, nor could the
strictest examination have discovered to him
whether it was sleep or death which arrested
the eyes that seemed to look upon and prohibit
his advance. Unheeding the presence of these
ghastly sentinels, Artavan pressed forward into
an inner apartment, where female slaves of the
most distinguished beauty were visible in the
attitude of those who had already assumed their
dress for the night. There w^as much in this
scene which might have arrested so young a
pilgrim as Artavan of Hautlieu ; but his heart

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 307

was fixed upon acliieving the freedom of tlie
beautiful Princess, nor did he suffer himself to
be withdrawn from that object by any inferior
consideration. He past on, therefore, to a little
ivory door, which, after a moment's pause, as if
in maidenly hesitation, gave way like the rest,
and yielded access to the sleeping apartment of
the Princess herself. A soft light, resembling
that of evening, penetrated into a chamber
where everything seemed contrived to exalt the
luxury of slumber. The heaps of cushions, which
formed a stately bed, seemed rather to be touched
than impressed by the form of a nymph of fifteen,
the renowned Princess of Zulichium."

" Without interrupting you, good father,"
said the Countess Brenhilda, " it seems to me
that we can comprehend the picture of a woman
asleep without much dilating upon it, and that
such a subject is little recommended either by
our age or by yours."

" Pardon me, noble lady," answered Agelastes,
" the most approved part of my story has ever
been this passage, and while I now suppress it in
obedience to your command, bear notice, I pray

308 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

you, tliat I sacrifice the most beautiful part of
the tale."

" Brenhilda," added the Count, " I am sur-
prised you think of interrupting a story which
has hitherto proceeded with so much fire ; the
telling of a few words more or less will surely
have a much greater influence upon the sense of
the narrative, than such an addition can pos-
sibly possess over our sentiments of action."

" As you will," said his lady, throwing herself
carelessly back upon the seat ; " but methinks
the worthy father protracts this discourse, till it
becomes of a nature more trifling than interest-
mg.

" Brenhilda," said the Count, " this is the first
time I have remarked in you a woman's weak-

ness."

" I may as well say. Count Robert, that it is
the first time," answered Brenhilda, " that you
have shewn to me the inconstancy of your sex."

*' Gods and goddesses," said the philosopher,
" was ever known a quarrel more absurdly found-
ed ! The Countess is jealous of one whom her
husband probably never will see, nor is there

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 309

any prospect that tlie Princess of Zulicliium will
be hereafter better known to the modern world,
than if the curtain hung before her tomb."

" Proceed," said Count Robert of Paris ; " if
Sir Artavan of Hautlieu has not accomplished
the enfranchisement of the Princess of Zuli-
chiimi, I make a vow to our Lady of the Broken
Lances"

" Remember," said his lady, interfering, " that
you are already under a vow to free the Se-
pulchre of God ; and to that, methinks, all
lighter engagements might give place."

" Well, lady— well," said Count Robert, but
half satisfied with this interference, " I will not
engage myself, you may be assured, on any ad-
venture which may claim precedence of the en-
terprise of the Holy Sepulchre, to which we are
all bound."

" Alas !" said Agelastes, " the distance of
Zulichium from the speediest route to the Se-
pulchre is so small, that"

" Worthy father," said the Countess, " we
will, if it pleases you, hear your tale to an end,
and then determine what we will do. We Nor-

310 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

man ladies, descendants of the old Germans,
claim a voice with our lords in the council which
precedes the battle ; nor has our assistance in
tlie conflict been deemed altogether useless."

Tlie tone in which this was spoken conveyed
an awkward innuendo to the philosopher, who
began to foresee that the guidance of the Nor-
man knight would be more, difficult than he had
foreseen, while his consort remained by his side.
He took up, therefore, his oratory on somewhat a
lower key than before, and avoided those warm
descriptions which had given some offence to
the Countess Brenhilda.

" Sir Artavan de Hautlieu," says the story,
" considered in what way he should accost the
sleeping damsel, when it occurred to him in
what manner the charm would be most likely to
be reversed. I am in your judgment, fair lady, if
he judged wrong in resolving that the method
of his address should be a kiss upon the lips."
The colour of Brenhilda was somewhat height-
ened, but she did not deem the observation M'or-
thy of notice.

" Never had so innocent an action," continued

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 31 1

ike pliilosoplier, " an effect more horrible. The
delightful light of a summer evening was instant-
ly changed into a strange lurid hue, which, infect-
ed with sulphur, seemed to breathe suffocation
through the apartment. The rich hangings,
and splendid furniture of the chamber, the very-
walls themselves, were changed into huge stones
tossed together at random, like the inside of a
wild beast's den ; nor was the den without an
inhabitant. The beautiful and innocent lips to
which Artavan de Hautlieu had approached his
own, were now changed into the hideous and
bizarre form, and bestial aspect of a fiery dragon.
A moment she hovered upon the wing, and it is
said, had Sir Artavan found courage to repeat
his salute three times, he would then have re-
mained master of all the wealth, and of the dis-
enchanted princess. But the opportunity was
lost, and the dragon, or the creature who seemed
such, sailed out at a side window upon its broad
pennons, uttering loud wails of disappointment."
Here ended the story of Agelastes. " The
Princess," he said, " is still supposed to abide
her doom in the Island of Zulichiiun, and several

312 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

knights have undertaken the adventure ; but I
know not whether it was the fear of saluting the
sleeping maiden, or that of approaching the dra-
gon into which she was transformed, but so it
is, the spell remains unachieved. I know the
way, and if you say the word, you may be to-mor-
row on the road to the castle of enchantment."

Tlie Countess heard this proposal with the
deepest anxiety, for she knew that she might,
l)y opposition, determine her husband irrevocably
upon following out the enterprise. She stood
therefore with a timid and bashful look, strange
in a person whose bearing was generally so
dauntless, and prudently left it to the uninfluen-
ced mind of Count Robert to form the resolu-
tion which should best please him.

" Brenhilda," he said, taking her hand, " fame
and honour are dear to thy husband as ever they
were to knight who buckled a brand upon his
side. Thou hast done, perhaps, I may say, for
me, what I might in vain have looked for from
ladies of thy condition ; and therefore thou may-
est well expect a casting voice in such points
of deliberation. — Why dost thou wander by the

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 313

side of a foreign and unliealtliy shore, instead
of the banks of the lovely Seine? — Why dost
thou wear a dress unusual to thy sex ? — Why
dost thou seek death, and think it little, in com-
parison of shame ? — Why ? but that the Count
of Paris may have a bride worthy of him. — Dost
thou think that this aifection is thrown away ?
No, by the saints ! Thy knight repays it as he
best ought, and sacrifices to thee every thought
which thy affection may less than entirely ap-
prove !"

Poor Brenhilda, confused as she was by the
various emotions with which she was agitated,
now in vain endeavoured to maintain the heroic
deportment which her character as an Amazon
required from her. She attempted to assume
the proud and lofty look which was properly
her own, but failing in the effort, she threw
herself into the Count's arms, hung round his
neck, and wept like a village maiden, whose
true love is pressed for the wars. Her husband,
a little ashamed, while he was much moved by
this burst of aff"ection in one to whose character
it seemed an unusual attribute, was, at the same

VOL. I. o

314 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

time, jileased and proud that he could have
awakened an aflfection so genuine and so gentle
in a soul so high-spirited and so unbending.

" Not thus," he said, " my Brenhilda ! I would
not have it thus, either for thine own sake or for
mine. Do not let this wise old man suppose
that thy heart is made of the malleable stuff
which forms that of other maidens ; and apolo-
gize to him, as may well become thee, for having
prevented my undertaking the adventure of Zu-
lichium, which he recommends."

It was not easy for Brenhilda to recover her-
self, after having afforded so notable an instance
how nature can vindicate her rights, with what-
ever rigour she may have been disciplined and
tyrannized over. With a look of ineffable affec-
tion, she disjoined herself from her husband, still
keeping hold of his hand, and turning to the old
man with a countenance in which the half-effa-
ced tears were succeeded by smiles of pleasure
and of modesty, she spoke to Agelastes as she
would to a person whom she respected, and to-
wards whom she had some offence to atone.
" Father," she said, respectfully, "be not angry

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 315

with me that I should have been an obstacle to
one of the best knights that ever spurred steed,
undertaking the enterprise of thine enchanted
Princess ; but the truth is, that in our land, where
knighthood and religion agree in permitting only
one lady love, and one lady wife, we do not
quite so willingly see our husbands run into dan-
ger— especially of that kind where lonely ladies
are the parties relieved — and — and kisses are the
ransom paid. I have as much confidence in my
Robert's fidelity, as a lady can have in a loving
knight, but still "

" Lovely lady," said Agelastes, who, notwith-
standing his highly artificial character, could not
help being moved by the simple and sincere
affection of the handsome young pair, " you
have done no evil. The state of the Princess is
no worse than it was, and there cannot be a doubt
that the knight fated to relieve her, will appear
at the destined period."

The Countess smiled sadly, and shook her
head. " You do not know," she said, " how
powerful is the aid of which I have unhappily
deprived this unfortunate lady, by a jealousy

,316 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

wliicli I now feel to have been alike paltry and
unworthy ; and, such is my regret, that I could
find in my heart to retract my opposition to
Count Robert undertaking this adventure." She
looked at her husband with some anxiety, as one
that had made an offer she M'ould not \villingly
see accepted, and did not recover her courage
until he said, decidedly, " Brenhilda, that may
not be."

" And why, then, may not Brenhilda herself
talce the adventure," continued the Countess,
" since she can neither fear the charms of the
Princess, nor the terrors of the dragon ?"

*' Lady," said Agelastes, " the Princess must
be awakened by the kiss of love, and not by that
of friendship."

" A sufficient reason," said the Countess,
smiling, " why a lady may not wish her lord to
go forth upon an adventure of which the condi-
tions are so regidated."

" Noble minstrel, or herald, or by whatever
name this country calls you," said Count Robert,
" accept a small remuneration for an hour plea-
santly spent, though spent unhappily in vain. 1

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 317

should make some apology for tlie meanness of
my offering, but French knights, you may have
occasion to know, are more full of fame than of
wealth."

" Not for that, noble sir," replied Agelastes,
" would I refuse your munificence ; a besant from
your worthy hand, or that of your noble-minded
lady, were centupled in its value, by the emi-
nence of the persons from whom it came. I
would hang it round my neck by a string of pearls,
and when I came into the presence of knights and
of ladies, I would proclaim that this addition to
my achievement of armorial distinction, was be-
stowed by the renowned Count Robert of Paris,
and his unequalled lady." The Knight and the
Countess looked on each other, and the lady,
taking from her finger a ring of pure gold, pray-
ed the old man to accept of it, as a mark of her
esteem and her husband's. " With one other
condition," said the philosopher, " which I trust
you will not find altogether unsatisfactory. I
have, on the way to the city by the most pleasant
road, a small kiosk, or hermitage, where I some-
times receive my friends, who, I venture to say,

o 2

318 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

are among the most respectable personages of
this empire. Two or three of these will pro-
bably honour my residence to-day, and partake
of the provision it affords. Could I add to these
the company of the noble Count and Countess
of Paris, I should deem my poor habitation ho-
noured for ever."

" How say you, my noble wife ?" said the
Count. " The company of a minstrel befits the
highest birth, honours the highest rank, and adds
to the greatest achievements ; and the invitation
does us too much credit to be rejected."

" It grows somewhat late," said the Coun-
tess ; " but we came not here to shun a sinking
sun or a darkening sky, and I feel it my duty, as
well as my satisfaction, to place at the command
of the good father every pleasure which it is in
my power to offer to him, for having been the
means of your neglecting his advice."

" The path is so short," said Agelastes, " that
we had better keep our present mode of travel-
ling, if the lady should not want the assistance
of horses."

" No horses on my account," said the Lady

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 319

Brenliilda. " My waiting-woman, Agatlia, has
what necessaries I may require; and, for the
rest, no knight ever travelled so little embarrass-
ed with baggage as my husband."

Agelastes, therefore, led the way through the
deepening wood, which was freshened by the
cooler breath of evening, and his guests accom-
panied him.

320 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

CHAPTER XI.

Without, a ruin, broken, tangled, cumbrous,
Within, it was a little jjaradise.
Where Taste had made her dwelling. Statuary,
First-born of human art, moulded her images,
And bade men mark and worship.

Anonymous.

The Count of Paris and his lady attended the
old man, whose advanced age, his excellence in
the use of the French language, which he spoke
to admiration, — above all, his skill in applying it
to poetical and romantic subjects, which was
essential to what was then termed history and
belles lettres, — drew from the noble hearers' a
degree of applause, which, as Agelastes had sel-
dom been vain enough to consider as his due, so,
on the part of the Knight of Paris and his lady,
had it been but rarely conferred.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 321

Tliey had walked for some time by a path
which sometimes seemed to hide itself among
the woods that came down to the shore of the
Propontis, sometimes emerged from conceal-
ment, and skirted the open margin of the strait,
while, at every turn, it seemed guided by the
desire to select a choice and contrast of beauty.
Variety of scenes and manners enlivened, from
their novelty, the landscape to the pilgrims. By
the sea-shore, nymphs were seen dancing, and
shepherds piping, or beating the tambourine to
their steps, as represented in some groups of
ancient statuary. The very faces had a singular
resemblance to the antique. If old, their long
robes, their attitudes, and magnificent heads,
presented the ideas which distinguish prophets
and saints ; while, on the other hand, the features
of the young recalled the expressive counte-
nances of the heroes of antiquity, and the charms
of those lovely females by whom their deeds were
inspired.

But the race of the Greeks was no longer to
be seen, even in its native country, unmixed, or
in absolute purity; on the contrary, they saw

32-2 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

groups of persons with features wlilcli argued a
different descent.

In a retiring bosom of the shore, which was
traversed by the path, the rocks, receding from
the beach, rounded off a spacious portion of level
sand, and, in some degree, enclosed it. A party
of heathen Scythians whom they beheld, pre-
sented the deformed features of the demons they
were said to worship — flat noses with expanded
nostrils, which seemed to admit the sight to
their very brain; faces which extended rather
in breadth than length, with strange unintellec-
tual eyes placed in the extremity ; figures short
and dwarfish, yet garnished with legs and arms
of astonishing sinewy strength, disprojDortioued
to their bodies. As the travellers passed, the
savages held a species of tournament, as the
Count termed it. In this they exercised them-
selves by darting at each other long reeds, or
canes, balanced for the purpose, which, in this
rude sport, they threw with such force, as not
iinfrequently to strike each other from their
steeds, and otherwise to cause serious damage.
Some of the combatants being, for the time, out

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 323

of the play, devoured with greedy looks the
beauty of the Countess, and eyed her in such a
manner, that she said to Count Robert, — " I have
never known fear, my husband, nor is it for me
to acknowledge it now ; but if disgust be an
ingredient of it, these misformed brutes are qua-
lified to inspire it."

"^Vhat, ho. Sir Knight !" exclaimed one of the
infidels, " your wife, or your lady love, has com-
mitted a fault against the privileges of the Impe-
rial Scythians, and not small will be the penalty
she has incurred. You ma)'' go your way as fast
as you will out of this place, which is, for the
present, our hippodrome, or atmeidan, call it
which you will, as you prize the Roman or the
Saracen language ; but for your wife, if the sa-
crament has united you, believe my word, that
she parts not so soon nor so easy."

*' Scoundrel heathen," said the Christian
Knight, " dost thou hold that language to a Peer
of France ?"

Agelastes here interposed, and using the sound-
ing language of a Grecian courtier, reminded
the Scythians, (mercenary soldiers, as they seem-

3

.324 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

ed, of the empire,) that all violence against the
European pilgrims was, by the Imperial orders,
strictly prohibited vmder pain of death.

" I know better," said the exulting savage,
sliaking one or two javelins with broad steel
heads, and wings of the eagle's feather, Mhich
last were dabbled in blood. " Ask the wings of
my javelin," he said, " in whose heart's blood
these feathers have been died. They shall reply
to you, that if Alexius Comnenus be the friend
of the European pilgrims, it is only while he looks
upon them ; and we are too exemplary soldiers
to serve our Emperor otherwise than he wishes
to be served."

"Peace, Toxartis," said the philosopher, "thou
beliest thine Emperor."

" Peace thou !" said Toxartis, " or I will do a
deed that misbecomes a soldier, and rid the world
of a prating old man."

So saying, he put forth his hand to take hold
of the Countess's veil. With the readiness which
frequent use had given to the warlike lady, she
withdrew herself from the heathen's grasp, and
with her trenchant sword dealt him so suffi-

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 325

cient a blow, tliat Toxartis lay lifeless on the
plain. The Count leapt on the fallen leader's
steed, and crying his war-cry, " Son of Charle-
magne, to the rescue !" he rode amid the rout of
heathen cavaliers with a battle-axe, which he
found at the saddle-bow of the deceased chief-
tain, and wielding it with remorseless dexterity,
he soon slew or wounded, or compelled to
flight, the objects of his resentment; nor was
there any of them who abode an instant to sup-
port the boast which they had made.

" The despicable churls !" said the Countess
to Agelastes ; "it irks me that a drop of such
coward blood should stain the hands of a noble
knight. They call their exercise a tournament,
although in their whole exertions every blow is
aimed behind the back, and not one has the cou-
rage to throw his windlestraw while he perceives
that of another pointed against himself."

" Such is their custom," said Agelastes ; " not
perhaps so much from cowardice as from habit,
in exercising before his Imperial Majesty. I
have seen that Toxartis literally turn his back

VOL. I. p

326 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

upon the mark when he bent his bow in full
career, and when in the act of galloping the far-
thest from his object, he pierced it through the
very centre with a broad arrow."

" A force of such soldiers," said Couut Robert,
who had now rejoined his friends, " could not,
methinks, be very formidable, where there was
but an ounce of genuine courage in the assail-
ants."

" Meantime, let us pass on to my kiosk," said
Agelastes, " lest the fugitives find friends to
encourage them in thoughts of revenge."

" Such friends," said Count Robert, " me-
thinlis, the insolent heathens ought not to find
in any land which calls itself Christian ; and if I
survive the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre, I
shall make it my first business to enquire by what
right your Emperor retains in his service a band
of Paynim and unmannerly cut-throats, who dare
offer injury upon the highway, which ought to
be sacred to the peace of God and the king, and
to noble ladies and inoffensive pilgrims. It is
one of a list of many questions which, my vow
accomplished, I will not fail to put to him ; ay.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 327

and expecting an answer, as tliey say, prompt
nnd categoricaL"

" You shall gain no answer from me though,"
said Agelastes to himself. " Your demands, Sir
Knight, are over peremptory, and imposed under
too rigid conditions, to be replied to by those
who can evade them."

He changed the conversation, accordingly,
<vith easy dexterity ; and they had not proceed-
1 much farther, before they reached a spot, the
jratural beauties of which called forth the admira-
tion of his foreign companions. A copious brook,
gushing out of the woodland, descended to the
sea with no small noise and tumult ; and as if
disdaining a quieter course, which it might have
gained by a little circuit to the right, it took the
readiest road to the oc^an, plunging over the face
of a lofty and barren precipice which overhung
the sea-shore, and from thence led its little tri-
bute, with as much noise as if it had the stream
of a full river to boast of, to the waters of the
Hellespont.

The rock, we have said, was bare, unless in
so £ar as it was clothed with the foaming waters

328 COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

of the cataract ; but the banks on each side were
covered witli plane-trees, walnut-trees, cypresses^
and other kinds of large timber proper to the
East. The fall of water, always agreeable in a
warm climate, and generally produced by arti-
ficial means, was here natural, and had been
chosen, something like the Sibyl's temple at
Tivoli, for the seat of a goddess to whom the
invention of Polytheism had assigned a sove-
reignty over the department around. The shrine
was small and circular, like many of the lesser
temples of the rustic deities, and enclosed by
the wall of an outer court. After its desecra-
tion, it had probably been converted into a
luxurious summer retreat by Agelastes, or some
Epicurean philosopher. As the building, itself
of a light, airy, and fantastic character, was dim-
ly seen through the branches and foliage on the
edge of the rock, so the mode by which it was
accessible was not at first apparent amongst the
mist of the cascade. A pathway, a good deal
hidden by vegetation, ascended by a gentle ac-
clivity, and, prolonged by the architect by means
of a few broad and easy marble steps, making

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. 329

part of tlie original approach, conducted the
passenger to a small, but exquisitely lovely vel-
vet lawn, in front of the turret or temple we
have described, the back part of which building
overhung the cataract.

END OF VOLUME FIRST.

EDINBURGH :

PRINTED BV BALLANTVNE AND COMPANY,

PAUL'S WORK, CANONGATE.

ERRATA.

VOL. I.

Page 200, fourth line of motto, /or Gallaplune read Gallaphrcn.
— — 243, seventh line from foot,ybr position read precision.

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