by Walter Scott
CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
The storm increases--'tis no sunny shower, Foster'd in the moist breast of March or April, Or such as parched Summer cools his lip with: Heaven's windows are flung wide; the inmost deeps 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_.
The distinguished individual who entered was a noble Grecian, ofstately presence, whose habit was adorned with every mark of dignity,saving those which Alexius had declared sacred to the Emperor's ownperson and that of the Sebastocrator, whom he had established as nextin rank to the head of the empire. Nicephorus Briennius, who was in thebloom of youth, retained all the marks of that manly beauty which hadmade the match acceptable to Anna Comnena; while politicalconsiderations, and the desire of attaching a powerful house asfriendly adherents of the throne, recommended the union to the Emperor.
We have already hinted that the royal bride had, though in no greatdegree, the very doubtful advantage of years. Of her literary talentswe have seen tokens. Yet it was not believed by those who best knew,that, with the aid of those claims to respect, Anna Comnena wassuccessful in possessing the unlimited attachment of her handsomehusband. To treat her with apparent neglect, her connexion with thecrown rendered impossible; while, on the other hand, the power ofNicephorus's family was too great to permit his being dictated to evenby the Emperor himself. He was possessed of talents, as it wasbelieved, calculated both for war and peace. His advice was, therefore,listened to, and his assistance required, so that he claimed completeliberty with respect to his own time, which he sometimes used with lessregular attendance upon the Temple of the Muses, than the goddess ofthe place thought herself entitled to, or than the Empress Irene wasdisposed to exact on the part of her daughter. The good-humouredAlexius observed a sort of neutrality in this matter, and kept it asmuch as possible from becoming visible to the public, conscious that itrequired the whole united strength of his family to maintain his placein so agitated an empire.
He pressed his son-in-law's hand, as Nicephorus, passing hisfather-in-law's seat, bent his knee in token of homage. The constrainedmanner of the Empress indicated a more cold reception of herson-in-law, while the fair muse herself scarcely deigned to signify herattention to his arrival, when her handsome mate assumed the vacantseat 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 enterinto some light conversation with the fair slave Astarte, who kneltbehind her mistress. This was interrupted by the Princess commandingher attendant to enclose the manuscript within its appropriate casket,and convey it with her own hands to the cabinet of Apollo, the usualscene of the Princess's studies, as the Temple of the Muses was thatcommonly dedicated to her recitations.
The Emperor himself was the first to break an unpleasant silence. "Fairson-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 thatvolume, with which this company have been so delectably entertainedthat they may well say, that the desert hath produced roses, and thebarren rocks have poured forth milk and honey, so agreeable is thenarrative of a toilsome and dangerous campaign, in the language of ourdaughter."
"The Caesar," said the Empress, "seems to have little taste for suchdainties as this family can produce. He hath of late repeatedlyabsented himself from this Temple of the Muses, and found doubtlessmore agreeable conversation and amusement elsewhere."
"I trust, madam," said Nicephorus, "that my taste may vindicate me fromthe charge implied. But it is natural that our sacred father should bemost delighted with the milk and honey which is produced for his ownspecial use."
The Princess spoke in the tone of a handsome woman offended by herlover, and feeling the offence, yet not indisposed to a reconciliation.
"If," she said, "the deeds of Nicephorus Briennius are less frequentlycelebrated in that poor roll of parchment than those of my illustriousfather, he must do me the justice to remember that such was his ownspecial request; either proceeding from that modesty which is justlyascribed to him as serving to soften and adorn his other attributes, orbecause he with justice distrusts his wife's power to compose theireulogium."
"We will then summon back Astarte," said the Empress, "who cannot yethave carried her offering to the cabinet of Apollo."
"With your imperial pleasure," said Nicephorus, "it might incense thePythian god were a deposit to be recalled of which he alone can fitlyestimate the value. I came hither to speak with the Emperor uponpressing affairs of state, and not to hold a literary conversation witha company which I must needs say is something of a miscellaneousdescription, since I behold an ordinary life-guardsman in the imperialcircle."
"By the rood, son-in-law," said Alexius, "you do this gallant manwrong. He is the brother of that brave Anglo-Dane who secured thevictory at Laodicea by his valiant conduct and death; he himself isthat Edmund--or Edward---or Hereward---to whom we are ever bound forsecuring the success of that victorious day. He was called into ourpresence, son-in-law, since it imports that you should know so much, torefresh the memory of any Follower, Achilles Tatius, as well as mineown, concerning some transactions of the day of which we had become insome degree oblivious."
"Truly, imperial sir," answered Briennius, "I grieve that, by havingintruded on some such important researches, I may have, in some degree,intercepted a portion of that light which is to illuminate future ages.Methinks that in a battle-field, fought under your imperial guidance,and that of your great captains, your evidence might well supersede thetestimony of such a man as this.--Let me know," he added, turninghaughtily to the Varangian, "what particular thou canst add, that isunnoticed in the Princess's narrative?"
The Varangian replied instantly, "Only that when we made a halt at thefountain, the music that was there made by the ladies of the Emperor'shousehold, and particularly by those two whom I now behold, was themost exquisite that ever reached my ears."
"Hah! darest thou to speak so audacious an opinion?" exclaimedNicephorus; "is it for such as thou to suppose for a moment that themusic which the wife and daughter of the Emperor might condescend tomake, was intended to afford either matter of pleasure or of criticismto every plebeian barbarian who might hear them? Begone from thisplace! nor dare, on any pretext, again to appear before mineeyes--under allowance always of our imperial father's pleasure."
The Varangian bent his looks upon Achilles Tatius, as the person fromwhom he was to take his orders to stay or withdraw. But the Emperorhimself took up the subject with considerable dignity.
"Son," he said, "we cannot permit this. On account of some lovequarrel, as it would seem, betwixt you and our daughter, you allowyourself strangely to forget our imperial rank, and to order from ourpresence those whom we have pleased to call to attend us. This isneither right nor seemly, nor is it our pleasure that this sameHereward--or Edward--or whatever be his name--either leave us at thispresent moment, or do at any time hereafter regulate himself by anycommands save our own, or those of our Follower, Achilles Tatius. Andnow, allowing this foolish affair, which I think was blown among us bythe wind, to pass as it came, without farther notice, we crave to knowthe grave matters of state which brought you to our presence at so latean hour.--You look again at this Varangian.--Withhold not your words, Ipray you, on account of his presence; for he stands as high in ourtrust, and we are convinced with as good reason, as any counsellor whohas been sworn our domestic servant."
"To hear is to obey," returned the Emperor's son-in-law, who saw thatAlexius was somewhat moved, and knew that in such cases it was neithersafe nor expedient to drive him to extremity. "What I have to say,"continued he, "must so soon be public news, that it little matters whohears it; and yet the West, so full of strange changes, never sent tothe Eastern half of the globe tidings so alarming as those I now cometo tell your Imperia
l Highness. Europe, to borrow an expression fromthis lady, who honours me by calling me husband, seems loosened fromits foundations and about to precipitate itself upon Asia"----
"So I did express myself," said the Princess Anna Comnena, "and, as Itrust, not altogether unforcibly, when we first heard that the wildimpulse of those restless barbarians of Europe had driven a tempest asof a thousand nations upon our western frontier, with the extravagantpurpose, as they pretended, of possessing themselves of Syria, and theholy places there marked as the sepulchres of prophets, the martyrdomof saints, and the great events detailed in the blessed gospel. Butthat storm, by all accounts, hath burst and passed away, and we wellhoped that the danger had gone with it. Devoutly shall we sorrow tofind it otherwise."
"And otherwise we must expect to find it," said her husband. "It isvery true, as reported to us, that a huge body of men, of low rank andlittle understanding, assumed arms at the instigation of a mad hermit,and took the road from Germany to Hungary, expecting miracles to bewrought in their favour, as when Israel was guided through thewilderness by a pillar of flame and a cloud. But no showers of manna orof quails relieved their necessities, or proclaimed them the chosenpeople of God. No waters gushed from the rock for their refreshment.They were enraged at their sufferings, and endeavoured to obtainsupplies by pillaging the country. The Hungarians, and other nations onour western frontiers, Christians, like themselves, did not hesitate tofall upon this disorderly rabble; and immense piles of bones, in wildpasses and unfrequented deserts, attest the calamitous defeats whichextirpated these unholy pilgrims."
"All this," said the Emperor, "we knew before;--but what new evil nowthreatens, since we have already escaped so important a one?"
"Knew before?" said the Prince Nicephorus. "We knew nothing of our realdanger before, save that a wild herd of animals, as brutal and asfurious as wild bulls, threatened to bend their way to a pasture forwhich they had formed a fancy, and deluged the Grecian empire, and itsvicinity, in their passage, expecting that Palestine, with its streamsof milk and honey, once more awaited them, as God's predestined people.But so wild and disorderly an invasion had no terrors for a civilizednation like the Romans. The brute herd was terrified by our Greek fire;it was snared and shot down by the wild nations who, while they pretendto independence, cover our frontier as with a protecting fortification.The vile multitude has been consumed even by the very quality of theprovisions thrown in their way,--those wise means of resistance whichwere at once suggested by the paternal care of the Emperor, and by hisunfailing policy. Thus wisdom has played its part, and the bark overwhich the tempest had poured its thunder, has escaped, notwithstandingall its violence. But the second storm, by which the former is soclosely followed, is of a new descent of these Western nations, moreformidable than any which we or our fathers have yet seen. Thisconsists not of the ignorant or of the fanatical--not of the base, theneedy, and the improvident. Now,--all that wide Europe possesses ofwhat is wise and worthy, brave and noble, are united by the mostreligious vows, in the same purpose."
"And what is that purpose? Speak plainly," said Alexius. "Thedestruction of our whole Roman empire, and the blotting out the veryname of its chief from among the princes of the earth, among which ithas long been predominant, can alone be an adequate motive for aconfederacy such as thy speech infers."
"No such design is avowed," said Nicephorus; "and so many princes, wisemen, and statesmen of eminence, aim, it is pretended, at nothing elsethan the same extravagant purpose announced by the brute multitude whofirst appeared in these regions. Here, most gracious Emperor, is ascroll, in which you will find marked down a list of the various armieswhich, by different routes, are approaching the vicinity of the empire.Behold, Hugh of Vermandois, called from his dignity Hugh the Great, hasset sail from the shores of Italy. Twenty knights have alreadyannounced their coming, sheathed in armour of steel, inlaid with gold,bearing this proud greeting:--'Let the Emperor of Greece, and hislieutenants, understand that Hugo, Earl of Vermandois, is approachinghis territories. He is brother to the king of kings--The King ofFrance,[Footnote: Ducange pours out a whole ocean of authorities toshow that the King of France was in those days styled _Rex_, by way ofeminence. See his notes on the Alexiad. Anna Comnena in her historymakes Hugh, of Vermandois assume to himself the titles which couldonly, in the most enthusiastic Frenchman's opinion, have been claimedby his older brother, the reigning monarch.] namely--and is attended bythe flower of the French nobility. He bears the blessed banner of St.Peter, intrusted to his victorious care by the holy successor of theapostle, and warns thee of all this, that thou mayst provide areception suitable to his rank.'"
"Here are sounding words," said the Emperor; "but the wind whichwhistles loudest is not always most dangerous to the vessel. We knowsomething of this nation of France, and have heard more. They are aspetulant at least as they are valiant; we will flatter their vanitytill we get time and opportunity for more effectual defence. Tush! ifwords can pay debt, there is no fear of our exchequer becominginsolvent.--What follows here, Nicephorus? A list, I suppose, of thefollowers of this great count?"
"My liege, no!" answered Nicephorus Briennius; "so many independentchiefs, as your Imperial Highness sees in that memorial, so manyindependent European armies are advancing by different routes towardsthe East, and announce the conquest of Palestine from the infidels astheir common object."
"A dreadful enumeration," said the Emperor, as he perused the list;"yet so far happy, that its very length assures us of the impossibilitythat so many princes can be seriously and consistently united in sowild a project. Thus already my eyes catch the well-known name of anold friend, our enemy--for such are the alternate chances of peace andwar--Bohemond of Antioch. Is not he the son of the celebrated Robert ofApulia, so renowned among his countrymen, who raised himself to therank of grand duke from a simple cavalier, and became sovereign ofthose of his warlike nation, both in Sicily and Italy? Did not thestandards of the German Emperor, of the Roman Pontiff, nay, our ownimperial banners, give way before him; until, equally a wily statesmanand a brave warrior, he became the terror of Europe, from being aknight whose Norman castle would have been easily garrisoned by sixcross-bows, and as many lances? It is a dreadful family, a race ofcraft as well as power. But Bohemond, the son of old Robert, willfollow his father's politics. He may talk of Palestine and of theinterests of Christendom, but if I can make his interests the same withmine, he is not likely to be guided by any other object. So then, withthe knowledge I already possess of his wishes and projects, it maychance that Heaven sends us an ally in the guise of an enemy.--Whomhave we next? Godfrey [Footnote: Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of LowerLorraine--the great Captain of the first Crusade, afterwards King ofJerusalem. See Gibbon,--or Mills, _passim_.] Duke of Bouillon--leading,I see, a most formidable band from the banks of a huge river called theRhine. What is this person's character?"
"As we hear," replied Nicephorus, "this Godfrey is one of the wisest,noblest, and bravest of the leaders who have thus strangely putthemselves in motion; and among a list of independent princes, as manyin number as those who assembled for the siege of Troy, and followed,most of them, by subjects ten times more numerous, this Godfrey may beregarded as the Agamemnon. The princes and counts esteem him, becausehe is the foremost in the ranks of those whom they fantastically callKnights, and also on account of the good faith and generosity which hepractises in all his transactions. The clergy give him credit for thehighest zeal for the doctrines of religion, and a corresponding respectfor the Church and its dignitaries. Justice, liberality, and frankness,have equally attached to this Godfrey the lower class of the people.His general attention to moral obligations is a pledge to them that hisreligion is real; and, gifted with so much that is excellent, he isalready, although inferior in rank, birth, and power to many chiefs ofthe crusade, justly regarded as one of its principal leaders."
"Pity," said the Emperor, "that a character such as you describe thisPrince to be, should be under the dominion of a fanaticis
m scarceworthy of Peter the Hermit, or the clownish multitude which he led, orof the very ass which he rode upon! which I am apt to think the wisestof the first multitude whom we beheld, seeing that it ran away towardsEurope as soon as water and barley became scarce."
"Might I be permitted here to speak, and yet live," said Agelastes, "Iwould remark that the Patriarch himself made a similar retreat so soonas blows became plenty and food scarce."
"Thou hast hit it, Agelastes," said the Emperor; "but the question nowis, whether an honorable and important principality could not be formedout of part of the provinces of the Lesser Asia, now laid waste by theTurks. Such a principality, methinks, with its various advantages ofsoil, climate, industrious inhabitants, and a healthy atmosphere, werewell worth the morasses of Bouillon. It might be held as a dependenceupon the sacred Roman empire, and garrisoned, as it were, by Godfreyand his victorious Franks, would be a bulwark on that point to our justand sacred person. Ha! most holy patriarch, would not such a prospectshake the most devout Crusader's attachment to the burning sands ofPalestine?"
"Especially," answered the Patriarch, "if the prince for whom such arich _theme_ [Footnote: These provinces were called _Themes_.] waschanged into a feudal appanage, should be previously converted to theonly true faith, as your Imperial Highness undoubtedly means."
"Certainly--most unquestionably," answered the Emperor, with a dueaffectation of gravity, notwithstanding he was internally conscious howoften he had been compelled, by state necessities, to admit, not onlyLatin Christians, but Manicheans, and other heretics, nay, Mahomedanbarbarians, into the number of his subjects, and that withoutexperiencing opposition from the scruples of the Patriarch. "Here Ifind," continued the Emperor, "such a numerous list of princes andprincipalities in the act of approaching our boundaries, as might wellrival the armies of old, who were said to have drunk up rivers,exhausted realms, and trode down forests, in their wasteful advance."As he pronounced these words, a shade of paleness came over theImperial brow, similar to that which had already clothed in sadnessmost of his counsellors.
"This war of nations," said Nicephorus, "has also circumstancesdistinguishing it from every other, save that which his ImperialHighness hath waged in former times against those whom we areaccustomed to call Franks. We must go forth against a people to whomthe strife of combat is as the breath of their nostrils; who, ratherthan not be engaged in war, will do battle with their nearestneighbours, and challenge each other to mortal fight, as much in sportas we would defy a comrade to a chariot-race. They are covered with animpenetrable armour of steel, defending them from blows of the lanceand sword, and which the uncommon strength of their horses renders themable to support, though one of ours could as well bear Mount Olympusupon 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,like the bow of other nations, but by placing the feet upon the weaponitself, and pulling with the whole force of the body; and it despatchesarrows called bolts, of hard wood pointed with iron, which the strengthof the bow can send through the strongest breastplates, and eventhrough stone walls, where not of uncommon thickness."
"Enough," said the Emperor; "we have seen with our own eyes the lancesof Frankish knights, and the cross-bows of their infantry. If Heavenhas allotted them a degree of bravery, which to other nations seemswellnigh preternatural, the Divine will has given to the Greek councilsthat wisdom which it hath refused to barbarians; the art of achievingconquest by wisdom rather than brute force--obtaining by our skill intreaty advantages which victory itself could not have procured. If wehave not the use of that dreadful weapon, which our son-in-law termsthe cross-bow, Heaven, in its favour, has concealed from these westernbarbarians the composition and use of the Greek fire--well so called,since by Grecian hands alone it is prepared, and by such only can itslightnings be darted upon the astonished foe." The Emperor paused, andlooked around him; and although the faces of his counsellors stilllooked blank, he boldly proceeded:--"But to return yet again to thisblack scroll, containing the names of those nations who approach ourfrontier, here occur more than one with which, methinks, old memoryshould make us familiar, though our recollections are distant andconfused. It becomes us to know who these men are, that we may availourselves of those feuds and quarrels among them, which, being blowninto life, may happily divert them from the prosecution of thisextraordinary attempt in which they are now united. Here is, forexample, one Robert, styled Duke of Normandy, who commands a goodlyband of counts, with which title we are but too well acquainted; of_earls_, a word totally strange to us, but apparently some barbarictitle of honour; and of knights whose names are compounded, as wethink, chiefly of the French language, but also of another jargon,which we are not ourselves competent to understand. To you, mostreverend and most learned Patriarch, we may fittest apply forinformation on this subject."
"The duties of my station," replied the patriarch Zosimus, "havewithheld my riper years from studying the history of distant realms;but the wise Agelastes, who hath read as many volumes as would fill theshelves of the famous Alexandrian library, can no doubt satisfy yourImperial Majesty's enquiries."
Agelastes erected himself on those enduring legs which had procured himthe surname of Elephant, and began a reply to the enquiries of theEmperor, rather remarkable for readiness than accuracy. "I have read,"said he, "in that brilliant mirror which reflects the time of ourfathers, the volumes of the learned Procopius, that the peopleseparately called Normans and Angles are in truth the same race, andthat Normandy, sometimes so called, is in fact a part of a district ofGaul. Beyond, and nearly opposite to it, but separated by an arm of thesea, lies a ghastly region, on which clouds and tempests for ever rest,and which is well known to its continental neighbours as the abode towhich departed spirits are sent after this life. On one side of thestrait dwell a few fishermen, men possessed of a strange charter, andenjoying singular privileges, in consideration of their being theliving ferrymen who, performing the office of the heathen Charon, carrythe spirits of the departed to the island which is their residenceafter death. At the dead of night, these fishermen are, in rotation,summoned to perform the duty by which they seem to hold the permissionto reside on this strange coast. A knock is heard at the door of hiscottage who holds the turn of this singular service, sounded by nomortal hand. A whispering, as of a decaying breeze, summons theferryman to his duty. He hastens to his bark on the sea-shore, and hasno sooner launched it than he perceives its hull sink sensibly in thewater, 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 areundistinguishable, as of one who speaks in his sleep. Thus he traversesthe strait between the continent and the island, impressed with themysterious awe which affects the living when they are conscious of thepresence of the dead. They arrive upon the opposite coast, where thecliffs of white chalk form a strange contrast with the eternal darknessof the atmosphere. They stop at a landing-place appointed, butdisembark not, for the land is never trodden by earthly feet. Here thepassage-boat is gradually lightened of its unearthly inmates, whowander forth in the way appointed to them, while the mariners slowlyreturn to their own side of the strait, having performed for the timethis singular service, by which they hold their fishing-huts and theirpossessions on that strange coast." Here he ceased, and the Emperorreplied,--
"If this legend be actually told us by Procopius, most learnedAgelastes, it shows that that celebrated historian came more near theheathen than the Christian belief respecting the future state. Intruth, this is little more than the old fable of the infernal Styx.Procopius, we believe, lived before the decay of heathenism, and, as wewould gladly disbelieve much which he hath told us respecting ourancestor and predecessor Justinian, so we will not pay him much creditin future in point of geographical knowledge.--Meanwhile, what ailsthee, Achilles Tatius, and why 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 askof this Hereward here what he knew of this matter; for I have heard myVarangians repeatedly call themselves Anglo-Danes, Normans, Britons, orsome other barbaric epithet, and I am sure that one or other, or it maybe all, of these barbarous sounds, at different times serve todesignate the birth-place of these exiles, too happy in being banishedfrom the darkness of barbarism, to the luminous vicinity of yourimperial presence."
"Speak, then, Varangian, in the name of Heaven," said the Emperor, "andlet us know whether we are to look for friends or enemies in those menof Normandy who are now approaching our frontier. Speak with courage,man; and if thou apprehendest danger, remember thou servest a princewell qualified to protect thee."
"Since I am at liberty to speak," answered the life-guardian, "althoughmy knowledge of the Greek language, which you term the Roman, is butslight, I trust it is enough to demand of his Imperial Highness, inplace of all pay, donative, or gift whatsoever, since he has beenpleased to talk of designing such for me, that he would place me in thefirst line of battle which shall be formed against these same Normans,and their Duke Robert; and if he pleases to allow me the aid of suchVarangians as, for love of me, or hatred of their ancient tyrants, maybe disposed to join their arms to mine, I have little doubt so tosettle our long accounts with these men, that the Grecian eagles andwolves shall do them the last office, by tearing the flesh from theirbones."
"What dreadful feud is this, my soldier," said the Emperor, "that afterso many years still drives thee to such extremities when the very nameof Normandy is mentioned?"
"Your Imperial Highness shall be judge!" said the Varangian. "Myfathers, and those of most, though not all of the corps to whom Ibelong, are descended from a valiant race who dwelt in the North ofGermany, called Anglo-Saxons. Nobody, save a priest possessed of theart of consulting ancient chronicles, can even guess how long it issince they came to the island of Britain, then distracted with civilwar. They came, however, on the petition of the 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 liberallyafforded, and the greater proportion of the island became, by degrees,the property of the Anglo-Saxons, who occupied it at first as severalprincipalities, and latterly as one kingdom, speaking the language, andobserving the laws, of most of those who now form your imperialbody-guard of Varangians, or exiles. In process of time, the Northmenbecame known to the people of the more southern climates. They were socalled from their coming from the distant regions of the Baltic Sea--animmense ocean, sometimes frozen with ice as hard as the cliffs of MountCaucasus. They came seeking milder regions than nature had assignedthem at home; and the climate of France being delightful, and itspeople slow in battle, they extorted from them the grant of a largeprovince which was, from the name of the new settlers, called Normandy,though I have heard my father say that was not its proper appellation.They settled there under a Duke, who acknowledged the superiorauthority of the King of France, that is to say, obeying him when itsuited his convenience so to do.
"Now, it chanced many years since, while these two nations of Normansand Anglo-Saxons were quietly residing upon different sides of thesalt-water channel which divides France from England, that William,Duke of Normandy, suddenly levied a large army, came over to Kent,which is on the opposite side of the channel, and there defeated in agreat battle, Harold, who was at that time King of the Anglo-Saxons. Itis but grief to tell what followed. Battles have been fought in oldtime, that have had dreadful results, which years, nevertheless, couldwash away; but at Hastings--O woe's me!--the banner 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 ofEnglishmen--for such is our proper designation--no one remains inEngland save as the thrall of the invaders. Many men of Danish descent,who had found their way on different occasions to England, were blendedin the common calamity. All was laid desolate by the command of thevictors. My father's home lies now an undistinguished ruin, amid anextensive forest, composed out of what were formerly fair fields anddomestic pastures, where a manly race derived nourishment bycultivating a friendly soil. The fire has destroyed the church wheresleep the fathers of my race; and I, the last of their line, am awanderer in other climates--a fighter of the battles of others--theservant of a foreign, though a kind master; in a word, one of thebanished--a Varangian."
"Happier in that station" said Achilles Tatius, "than in all thebarbaric simplicity which your forefathers prized so highly, since youare now under the cheering influence of that smile which is the life ofthe world."
"It avails not talking of this," said the Varangian, with a coldgesture.
"These Normans" said the Emperor, "are then the people by whom thecelebrated 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" saidHereward. "Wrong have they done me, and a wrong never to be atoned; butto speak falsehood of them were but a woman's vengeance. Mortal enemiesas they are to me, and mingling with all my recollections as that whichis hateful and odious, yet were the troops of Europe mustered, as itseems they are likely to be, no nation or tribe dared in gallantryclaim the advance of the haughty Norman."
"And this Duke Robert, who is he?"
"That," answered the Varangian, "I cannot so well explain. He is theson--the eldest son, as men say, of the tyrant William, who subduedEngland when I hardly existed, or was a child in the cradle. ThatWilliam, the victor of Hastings, is now dead, we are assured byconcurring testimony; but while it seems his eldest son Duke Robert hasbecome his heir to the Duchy of Normandy, some other of his childrenhave been so fortunate as to acquire the throne of England,--unless,indeed, like the petty farm of some obscure yeoman, the fair kingdomhas been divided among the tyrant's issue."
"Concerning this," said the Emperor, "we have heard something, which weshall try to reconcile with the soldier's narrative at leisure, holdingthe words of this honest Varangian as positive proof, in whatsoever heavers from his own knowledge.--And now, my grave and worthycounsellors, we must close this evening's service in the Temple of theMuses, this distressing news, brought us by our dearest son-in-law theCaesar, having induced us to prolong our worship of these learnedgoddesses, deeper into the night than is consistent with the health ofour beloved wife and daughter; while to ourselves, this intelligencebrings subject for grave deliberation."
The courtiers exhausted their ingenuity in forming the most ingeniousprayers, that all evil consequences should be averted which couldattend this excessive vigilance.
Nicephorus and his fair bride spoke together as a pair equally desirousto close an accidental breach between them. "Some things thou hastsaid, my Caesar," observed the lady, "in detailing this dreadfulintelligence, as elegantly turned as if the nine goddesses, to whomthis temple is dedicated, had lent each her aid to the sense andexpression."
"I need none of their assistance," answered Nicephorus, "since Ipossess a muse of my own, in whose genius are included all thoseattributes which the heathens vainly ascribed to the nine deities ofParnassus!"
"It is well," said the fair historian, retiring by the assistance ofher husband's arm; "but if you will load your wife with praises farbeyond her merits, you must lend her your arm to support her under theweighty burden you have been pleased to impose." The council partedwhen the imperial persons had retired, and most of them sought toindemnify themselves in more free though less dignified circles, forthe constraint which they had practised in the Temple of the Muses.