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that famous No。 996; for which you have all been giving me the

credit。〃



〃The rascal foiled me at capping verses;〃 Dean Swift said; 〃and won

a tenpenny piece of me; plague take him!〃



〃He has suggested an emendation in my 'Homer;' which proves him a

delicate scholar;〃 Mr。 Pope exclaimed。



〃He knows more of the French king than any man I have met with; and

we must have an eye upon him;〃 said Lord Bolingbroke; then

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and beckoning a suspicious…

looking person who was drinking at a side…table; whispered to him

something。



Meantime who was he? where was he; this youth who had struck all

the wits of London with admiration?  His galloping charger had

returned to the City; his splendid court…suit was doffed for the

citizen's gabardine and grocer's humble apron。



George de Barnwell was in Chepein Chepe; at the feet of Martha

Millwood。





VOL III。



THE CONDEMNED CELL。





〃Quid me mollibus implicas lacertis; my Elinor?  Nay;〃 George

added; a faint smile illumining his wan but noble features; 〃why

speak to thee in the accents of the Roman poet; which thou

comprehendest not?  Bright One; there be other things in Life; in

Nature; in this Inscrutable Labyrinth; this Heart on which thou

leanest; which are equally unintelligible to thee!  Yes; my pretty

one; what is the Unintelligible but the Ideal? what is the Ideal

but the Beautiful? what the Beautiful but the Eternal?  And the

Spirit of Man that would commune with these is like Him who wanders

by the thina poluphloisboio thalasses; and shrinks awe…struck

before that Azure Mystery。〃



Emily's eyes filled with fresh…gushing dew。  〃Speak on; speak ever

thus; my George;〃 she exclaimed。  Barnwell's chains rattled as the

confiding girl clung to him。  Even Snoggin; the turnkey appointed

to sit with the Prisoner; was affected by his noble and appropriate

language; and also burst into tears。



〃You weep; my Snoggin;〃 the Boy said; 〃and why?  Hath Life been so

charming to me that I should wish to retain it? hath Pleasure no

after…Weariness?  Ambition no Deception; Wealth no Care; and Glory

no Mockery?  Psha!  I am sick of Success; palled of Pleasure; weary

of Wine and Wit; andnay; start not; my Adelaideand Woman。  I

fling away all these things as the Toys of Boyhood。  Life is the

Soul's Nursery。  I am a Man; and pine for the Illimitable!  Mark

you me!  Has the Morrow any terrors for me; think ye?  Did Socrates

falter at his poison?  Did Seneca blench in his bath?  Did Brutus

shirk the sword when his great stake was lost?  Did even weak

Cleopatra shrink from the Serpent's fatal nip?  And why should I?

My great Hazard hath been played; and I pay my forfeit。  Lie

sheathed in my heart; thou flashing Blade!  Welcome to my Bosom;

thou faithful Serpent; I hug thee; peace…bearing Image of the

Eternal!  Ha; the hemlock cup!  Fill high; boy; for my soul is

thirsty for the Infinite!  Get ready the bath; friends; prepare me

for the feast To…morrowbathe my limbs in odors; and put ointment

in my hair。〃



〃Has for a bath;〃 Snoggin interposed; 〃they're not to be 'ad in

this ward of the prison; but I dussay Hemmy will git you a little

hoil for your 'air。〃



The Prisoned One laughed loud and merrily。  〃My guardian understands

me not; pretty oneand thou? what sayest thou?  From those dear

lips methinksplura sunt oscula quam sententiaeI kiss away thy

tears; dove!they will flow apace when I am gone; then they will

dry; and presently these fair eyes will shine on another; as they

have beamed on poor George Barnwell。  Yet wilt thou not all forget

him; sweet one。  He was an honest fellow; and had a kindly heart for

all the world said〃



〃That; that he had;〃 cried the gaoler and the girl in voices

gurgling with emotion。  And you who read! you unconvicted Convict

you murderer; though haply you have slain no oneyou Felon in

posse if not in essedeal gently with one who has used the

Opportunity that has failed theeand believe that the Truthful and

the Beautiful bloom sometimes in the dock and the convict's tawny

Gabardine!



       。       。       。       。       。       。       。       。



In the matter for which he suffered; George could never be brought

to acknowledge that he was at all in the wrong。  〃It may be an

error of judgment;〃 he said to the Venerable Chaplain of the gaol;

〃but it is no crime。  Were it Crime; I should feel Remorse。  Where

there is no remorse; Crime cannot exist。  I am not sorry:

therefore; I am innocent。  Is the proposition a fair one?〃



The excellent Doctor admitted that it was not to be contested。



〃And wherefore; sir; should I have sorrow;〃 the Boy resumed; 〃for

ridding the world of a sordid worm;* of a man whose very soul was

dross; and who never had a feeling for the Truthful and the

Beautiful?  When I stood before my uncle in the moonlight; in the

gardens of the ancestral halls of the De Barnwells; I felt that it

was the Nemesis come to overthrow him。  'Dog;' I said to the

trembling slave; 'tell me where thy Gold is。  THOU hast no use for

it。  I can spend it in relieving the Poverty on which thou

tramplest; in aiding Science; which thou knowest not; in uplifting

Art; to which thou art blind。  Give Gold; and thou art free。'  But

he spake not; and I slew him。〃



〃I would not have this doctrine vulgarly promulgated;〃 said the

admirable chaplain; 〃for its general practice might chance to do

harm。  Thou; my son; the Refined; the Gentle; the Loving and

Beloved; the Poet and Sage; urged by what I cannot but think a

grievous error; hast appeared as Avenger。  Think what would be the

world's condition; were men without any Yearning after the Ideal to

attempt to reorganize Society; to redistribute Property; to avenge

Wrong。〃



〃A rabble of pigmies scaling Heaven;〃 said the noble though

misguided young Prisoner。  〃Prometheus was a Giant; and he fell。〃



〃Yes; indeed; my brave youth!〃 the benevolent Dr。 Fuzwig exclaimed;

clasping the Prisoner's marble and manacled hand; 〃and the Tragedy

of To…morrow will teach the World that Homicide is not to be

permitted even to the most amiable Genius; and that the lover of

the Ideal and the Beautiful; as thou art; my son; must respect the

Real likewise。〃



〃Look! here is supper!〃 cried Barnwell gayly。  〃This is the Real;

Doctor; let us respect it and fall to。〃  He partook of the meal as

joyously as if it had been one of his early festals; but the worthy

chaplain could scarcely eat it for tears。





* This is a gross plagiarism: the above sentiment is expressed much

more eloquently in the ingenious romance of Eugene Aram:〃The

burning desires I have knownthe resplendent visions I have

nursedthe sublime aspirings that have lifted me so often from

sense and clay: these tell me; that whether for good or ill; I am

the thing of an immortality and the creature of a God。 。 。 。  I

have destroyed a man noxious to the world! with the wealth by which

he afflicted society; I have been the means of blessing many。〃







CODLINGSBY。



BY D。 SHREWSBERRY; ESQ。





I。





〃The whole world is bound by one chain。  In every city in the globe

there is one quarter that certain travellers know and recognize

from its likeness to its brother district in all other places where

are congregated the habitations of men。  In Tehran; or Pekin; or

Stamboul; or New York; or Timbuctoo; or London; there is a certain

district where a certain man is not a stranger。  Where the idols

are fed with incense by the streams of Ching…wang…foo; where the

minarets soar sparkling above the cypresses; their reflections

quivering in the lucid waters of the Golden Horn; where the yellow

Tiber flows under broken bridges and over imperial glories; where

the huts are squatted by the Niger; under the palm…trees; where the

Northern Babel lies; with its warehouses; and its bridges; its

graceful factory…chimneys; and its clumsy faneshidden in fog and

smoke by the dirtiest river in the worldin all the cities of

mankind there is One Home whither men of one family may resort。

Over the entire world spreads a vast brotherhood; suffering;

silent; scattered; sympathizing; WAITINGan immense Free…Masonry。

Once this world…spread band was an Arabian clana little nation

alone and outlying amongst the mighty monarchies of ancient time;

the Megatheria of history。  The sails of their rare ships might be

seen in the Egyptian waters; the camels of their caravans might

thread the sands of Baalbec; or wind through the date…groves of

Damascus; their flag was raised; not ingloriously; in many wars;

against mighty odds; but 'twas a small people; and on one dark

night the Lion of Judah went down before Vespasian's Eagles; and in

flame; and death; and struggle; Jerusalem agonized and died。 。 。 。

Yes; the Jewish city is lost to Jewish men; but have they not taken

the world in exchange?〃



Mused thus Godfrey de Bouillon; Marquis of Codlingsby; as he

debouched from Wych Street into the Strand。  He had been to take a

box for Armida at Madame Vestris's theatre。  That little Armida was

folle of Madame Vestris's theatre; and her little brougham; and her

little self; and her enormous eyes; and her prodigious opera…glass;

and her miraculous bouquet; which cost Lord Codlingsby twenty

guineas every evening at Nathan's in Covent Garden (the children of

the gardeners of Sharon have still no rival for flowers); might be

seen; three nights in the week at least; in the narrow; charming;

comfortable little theatre。  Godfrey had the box。  He was

strolling; listlessly; eastward; and the above thoughts passed

through the young noble's mind as he came in sight of Holywell

Street。



The occupants of the London Ghetto sat at their porches basking in

the evening sunshine。  Children were playing on the steps。  Fathers

were smoking at the lintel。  Smiling faces looked out from the

various and darkling draperies with which the warehouses were hung。

Ringlets glossy; and curly; and jettyeyes black as night

midsummer nightwhen it lightens; haughty noses bending like beaks

of eagleseager quivering nostrilslips curved like the bow of

Loveevery man or maiden; every babe or matron in that English

Jewry bore in his countenance one or more of these characteristics

of his peerless Arab race。



〃How beautiful they are!〃 mused Codlingsby; as he surveyed these

placid groups calmly taking their pleasure in the sunset。



〃D'you vant to look at a nishe coat?〃 a voice said; which made him

start; and then some one behind him began handling a masterpiece of

Stultz's with a familiarity which would have made the baron

tremble。



〃Rafael Mendoza!〃 exclaimed Godfrey。



〃The same; Lord Codlingsby;〃 the individual so apostrophized

replied。  〃I told you we should meet again where you would little

expect me。  Will it please you to enter? this is Friday; and we

clos

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