Part 15

"I would not have missed the exquisite delight I have received, on any consideration;" remarked Zabra. "Enraptured as I am with music, I have known nothing in my experience that bears a comparison with the enjoyments of this day. And what could create more pleasure? It would be sufficient, one would suppose, to be made familiar with the skill of ordinary musicians; but you could take no interest in their performances, they are drilled to do them, and they can do nothing else: but here is a multitudinous family of musicians, hastening from the loom, the study, the workshop, the laboratory and the warehouse, who each has a distinct business to which he must devote his attention, to join, from a desire to please his fellow-citizens, in the execution of the most difficult and beautiful productions of the musical art; and every one takes his part, caring not, however unimportant it may be, so that he is allowed to share in producing the general happiness. Of all the arts of civilised life there can be none so humanising in its tendency, so refreshing in its influence; so pure, exalting, and subduing in its effects as music. The man who is insensible to its charms is afflicted with a most pitiable blindness. There can be no harmony in his nature. His feelings must be in an unchangeable state of discord. But point out any human creature sensitive to all musical impressions, and I would affirm that you might mould him into any good purpose. Music, as a means of educating the feelings, can never be excelled. The experience of a hundred ages has proved its power as an instrument for creating or subduing the passions; and yet never till now have I seen any attempt made to try its beneficial effects on a large scale, and by making good musicians, to endeavour to create good men."

There was no time for a reply to be made to these observations, as the carriage stopped at the door of a handsome mansion, and the party prepared to alight.

"I must introduce you into our social circle," said Sophos, as he led the way into his dwelling; "and I hope you will be able to find in it the same happiness that I have so long enjoyed."

They followed him through several apartments furnished with superior taste, till they entered a room of more moderate proportions ornamented with a variety of elegant decorations, in which two females were reclining on an ottoman, with a handsome youth standing before them reading from an open book. The females were the wife and daughter of their host; and both possessed countenances of exceeding beauty: the maternal dignity of the one contrasting admirably with the affectionate playfulness of the other; and the youth was the betrothed of the daughter. As soon as Sophos entered they hastened to meet him, and welcomed him with their endearments. These being over he introduced his guests to their notice, who received from them such marks of kindness and attention as made them instantly at ease. After an interesting conversation, describing what had been witnessed during their morning's ride, the party were summoned to the dining-room, where they partook of wholesome food of exquisite flavour, served up without ostentation or extravagance, and partaken of without epicureanism or gluttony.

"Zoe," said Sophos to his daughter, "has nothing transpired since my absence that is worthy of recital?"

"I have something to communicate to you, my father," replied the beautiful girl, as she pushed back from her eyes the dark ringlets that seemed to have fallen from the little velvet cap embroidered with gold which was worn tight upon the upper part of her head; "but I know not whether it would interest your guests."

"I will excuse you, Zoe, if it should not," observed the father.

"I had gone to perform my customary duties, as nurse, at the Hospital of Invalids," said Zoe, "when my attentions were required by a youth who was in a state of intense delirium. He raved, he shouted and wept; he entreated with all the eloquence of frantic excitement; and then upbraided with the unsocial energy of despair: but most conspicuous in all his ravings was the name of Lusa, which appeared to belong to some maiden by whom he was enamoured, who did not return his attachment. In his delirium he mistook me for the object of his passion, and by turns praised me as the kindest of all created beings, and upbraided me as the most cruel of my sex. To such an extent did these paroxysms arrive, that, unless some plan was put into operation which would lessen the excitement under which he laboured, there appeared no hopes of saving his life. I knew nothing of him or of his history; and I knew as little of Lusa and of the cause which prevented their mutual happiness; but there was no doubt that the indifference of the maiden had created the malady which threatened the youth's life; and I felt convinced, that if I could make him imagine that a mutual sympathy existed, a healthy action would ensue, and a recovery follow. Being addressed as Lusa, I thought it would be advisable, under the character thus imposed upon me, to give the sufferer hopes of a more blissful termination to his affections; and, therefore, I cautiously and kindly made him imagine that the heart he thought so unrelenting had been subdued by a wish to alleviate his sufferings. You will pardon me this deception, dear father, as it was done to save a life which might be made valuable to the community."

"There was nothing wrong in it, Zoe; and these are deceptions that not only become necessary, but are not to be avoided without inhumanity," said the father.

"The youth listened to me as if there was the power of life and death upon my lips," continued Zoe; "every word seemed to sink into his heart: his frenzy became subdued; the feverish fire fled from his eyes--he grew calm, and blessed me with a fervour impossible to be described. After this he fell into a profound sleep. Then I found myself placed in a difficult and distressing position. I knew, that when he woke, he would discover the deception that had been practised upon him, and I feared that the result would be a relapse, from which there could be no recovery. While I was vainly endeavouring to conceive some plan by which I might escape from the embarrassing situation in which I was placed, a young and handsome female entered that portion of the hospital in which my duties were performed. She approached me, and inquired after the health of the patient committed to my charge. She did not tell me who she was, and I imagined her to be a relative. I therefore acquainted her with the exact state of the case; and related the way in which I had discovered the origin of his malady. I described to her the distressing situation in which I had placed myself by the deception I had practised, as I knew, that on his awaking, he must discover how cruelly he had been imposed upon. I had noticed during my recital that the maiden had appeared confused, had looked distressed, anxious, and full of sympathy for the sufferer; but I was not prepared for the avowal she made when I had told her all I had to communicate. She was Lusa."

"And how did you manage to arrange the matter, my Zoe?" inquired Sophos.

"I immediately made an appeal to her sympathies," replied his daughter. "I described to her the positive danger in which the youth was placed by her indifference--and endeavoured to awaken her feelings to a sense of the pleasures she would be storing for herself if she resolved upon rescuing him from the perils by which he was threatened. She replied that he was amiable and good, and had given her no cause for her apparent unkindness; but that she had not loved him in return for his affections, because he had excited in her no similar feeling; and, that hearing of his danger, her heart had been filled with tenderness, and that she had come to the hospital for the express purpose of endeavouring to tranquillise his mind with happier thoughts. This confession rejoiced me more than I can possibly express; and I bade her take my place at his bedside, while I remained at a distance to notice the effect her appearance would have upon him when he awoke. I had not waited long before I observed his head move on the pillow. His eyes looked clearer--his countenance calm and intelligent.

"'Is it a dream?' he said, as his gaze wandering round fell upon the blushing face of his Lusa. The look with which she answered the question seemed to have subdued him.

"'Lusa!' he murmured, as he gazed upon her with a kindling eye and quivering lip. 'Lusa, my beloved! My soul is on my lips--let me bless you! My hope, my guide, my consolation! the very breath of my being--the aim and glory of my dreams! in all earnestness, in all sincerity, and in all love, I bless you; and may the blessing I confer remain upon you, gladden the atmosphere you breathe, and fill with beauty every scene upon which you gaze!'

"Lusa's eyes were filled with tears; and bending her head down to his face, her lips rested upon his. She then moved away her head to conceal her tears; and, taking his hand in hers, she talked to him of hope and happiness; and assured him that she would endeavour to return the affection he had lavished on her so liberally. To this he made no reply. She looked upon his face and saw that his eyes were fixed and glassy. A scream brought me to her side; and, gazing in fear and pity, we discovered that he was dead."

"How dreadful!" exclaimed Zabra.

"He died happy," observed Sophos, "and his life had been blameless: there is nothing dreadful in such a dissolution. I should say that, under such circumstances, Death was robbed of all his terrors. The heart of the affectionate youth was too full; he died of excessive happiness; his breath passed away in a blessing, and his soul took flight in a caress. Is there any other way of passing from existence which, to a lover, could afford so much and so true an enjoyment?"

"I should think not," here remarked Zoe's betrothed. "It appeared as if all the happiness of his existence had been concentrated into one moment, and that its intensity destroyed him."

"He was young," said the matron; "and in youth, when the soul is attached to one object, though there be no return to the passion, and no hope except what the lover creates, he will love the more, the more despairing becomes his attachment. As the individual acquires experience, he loves more wisely; or, perhaps, I might say, he becomes more selfish: he thinks of himself much more than his passion; and an instance of devotion without a return is rarely, if ever, met with beyond the period of youth. Manhood is prouder--age more cautious; and as life passes on, the impulses which might have been wakened by a breath are not to be stirred even by a whirlwind."

"Whence go you when you leave our shores?" inquired Sophos of the young merchant, as if desirous of changing the conversation.

"I pass from here to Constantinople; and from there, after touching at some of the principal ports in Europe, I intend visiting the classic shores of England;" replied Oriel.

"'Tis an interesting voyage," observed his host; "especially your intended visit to the English shores: it is an ancient country, and to the philanthropist is connected with many associations that make it regarded with peculiar interest. The brightest page in her book of honour records the efforts she made to extinguish the slave trade throughout the world. It was a great boast of the Englishmen of those days, that a slave, as soon as he set his foot upon the honoured land of England, became a free man."

"And look at the efforts it made for the regeneration of every other country;" added Fortyfolios. "For how long a period did it take the lead in civilisation! Its learning enriched the whole world; its manufactures produced clothing for almost every people by whom clothing was required; and its mechanical improvements conferred wealth and power on every nation that adopted them."

"But the picture to be true to nature requires a little shadow, don't you see;" observed the doctor. "There are some accounts of cruelty, and oppression, and bigotry, which ought to find a place in their history. We must not forget the manner in which they acquired their possessions in India; the tyranny and slaughter they introduced among the natives of Southern Africa; the infamous system of slavery they encouraged in the West Indies; and the destructive and unjust warfare they waged with their colonists in America."

"Although I cannot defend the manner in which the English acquired new territory abroad," said the professor; "when I compare it with the more savage policy of the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and other nations who endeavoured to add to their possessions by conquering distant lands and massacring the natives, I think England comparatively blameless. Their behaviour to the Africans in the interior of the Cape of Good Hope was produced by the colonists they found there, not by the colonists they introduced there; the evils of West Indian slavery ought to be forgotten in consideration of their constant efforts to ameliorate the conditions of their own slaves, and the great sacrifices they made to put down slavery in every part of the world; and their treatment of their colonists in America should only be remembered as the cause--the glorious cause--which created one of the most important empires that ever existed upon the face of the globe."

"There are certainly a few blots upon the fame of this great people," remarked Sophos; "but the good they effected--a good which is enjoyed by every portion of the civilised world at this moment--was attempted on so grand a scale, and produced such magnificent results, that, in justice, we ought not to look too narrowly upon their errors. And now, Zoe, as the strangers are about to visit the shores of England, endeavour to delight them, as you have done me, with that ancient song which appears to be so great a favourite of yours."

"I will, O my father, if you will ask Alcibiades to join me; for it is more fit for his voice than for mine;" replied Zoe.

"Alcibiades does not require an invitation, dear Zoe, for so delightful a purpose;" said the youth, looking all that his words expressed.

With rich harmonious voices that blended together with exquisite effect, and with a manner so expressive that it stirred the hearts of those around them to feelings of the most intense gratification, the two commenced the following song:--

"Hurra for merry England, the island of the blest, Where gen'rous thoughts, and loving hopes, are nursed in ev'ry breast; Where valleys green, and mountains high, and rivers strong and deep, Are fill'd with blissful memories Time cannot set to sleep. Hurra for merry England! Confusion on her foe! And gladness shine upon her homes--for merry England ho!

"Hurra for mighty England! the island of the brave! Whose conquering flag hath waved its pride o'er ev'ry shore and wave; From eastern hills arose the sun, he kiss'd the western streams, And still he found that English swords were flashing in his beams. Hurra for mighty England! Destruction on her foe! And triumph dwell within her hearts--for mighty England ho!

"Hurra for noble England! the island of the free! Where coward souls and slavish minds were never known to be; Who, proudly as they look'd upon their own unfetter'd gains, Gave other lands their bravery, and dash'd away their chains. Hurra for noble England! Dishonour on her foe! And glory rest upon her lands--for noble England ho!"

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

LONDON: Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE, New-Street-Square.

Transcriber's Note

A table of Contents has been added.

Text in italics has been placed between _underscores_ and text in small capitals has been changed to all capitals.

Some punctuation errors have been corrected silently. Inconsistent use of quotation marks in some parts of the book has not been changed.

The following corrections have been made, on page

31 "immemediately" changed to "immediately" (the stranger, immediately stopping in his career)

55 "exexception" changed to "exception" (with the exception of the one you have)

118 "hyprocrisy" changed to "hypocrisy" ('Tis all hypocrisy!)

197 "incompent" changed to "incompetent" (utterly incompetent to appreciate their merits)

207 "wetches" changed to "wretches" (if I have killed these poor wretches).

Otherwise the original was preserved, including archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation.