Willis the Pilot : A Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson

by Adrien Paul

  CHAPTER XVI.

  SEPARATION--GUELPHS AND GHIBELINES--MONTAGUES ANDCAPULETS--SADNESS--THE REUNION--JOCKO AND HIS EDUCATION--THEENTERTAINMENTS OF A KING--THE MULES OF NERO AND THE ASSES OFPOPPAEA--HERCULES AND ACHILLES--LIBERTY AND EQUALITY--SEMIRAMIS ANDELIZABETH--CHRISTIANITY AND THE RELIGION OF ZOROASTER--THE WILLISONIANMETHOD--MORAL DISCIPLINE VERSUS BIRCH.

  Winter was now drawing near, with its storms and deluges. Beckertherefore felt that it was necessary to make some alterations in theirdomestic arrangements; and he saw that, for this season at all events,the two families must be separated--this was to create a desert withina desert; but propriety and convenience demanded the sacrifice.

  It was decided that Wolston and his family should be quartered atRockhouse, whilst Becker and his family should pass the rainy seasonat Falcon's Nest, where, though these aerial dwellings were butindifferently adapted for winter habitations, they had passed thefirst year of their sojourn in the colony. The rains came andsubmerged the country between the two families, thus, for a time,cutting off all communication between them. The barriers thatseparated the Guelphs from the Ghibelines, the Montagues from theCapulets, the Burgundians from the Armagnacs, and the House of Yorkfrom that of Lancaster, could not have been more impenetrable thanthat which now existed between the Wolstons and Beckers.

  Whenever a lull occurred in the storm, or a ray of sunshine shotthrough the murky clouds, all eyes were mechanically turned to thewindow, but only to turn them away again with a sigh; so completelyhad the waters invaded the land, that nothing short of the dove fromNoah's Ark could have performed the journey between Rockhouse andFalcon's Nest.

  Dulness and dreariness reigned triumphant at both localities. The calmtranquility that Becker's family formerly enjoyed under similarcircumstances had fled. They felt that happiness was no longer to beenjoyed within the limits of their own circle. Study and conversationlost their charms; and if they laughed now, the smile never extendedbeyond the tips of their lips. The young people often wished theypossessed Fortunatus's cap, or Aladdin's wonderful lamp, to transportthem from the one dwelling to the other; but as they could obtain nosuch occult mode of conveyance, there was no remedy for their miseriesbut patience. To the Wolstons this interval of compulsory separationwas particularly irksome, as this was the first time in their livesthat they had been entirely isolated for any length of time.

  At Falcon's Nest, Ernest was the most popular member of the domesticcircle. His astronomical predilections made him the Sir Oracle of thestorm, and he was constantly being asked for information relative tothe progress and probable duration of the rains. Every morning he wascalled upon for a report as to the state of the weather; but, with allhis skill, he could afford them very little consolation.

  But all things come to an end, as well as regards our troubles as ourjoys. One morning, Ernest reported that less rain had fallen duringthe preceding than any former night of the season; the next morning astill more favorable report was presented; and on the third morningthe floods had subsided, but had left a substratum of mud thatobliterated all traces of the roads. Notwithstanding this, and a smartshower that continued to fall, Fritz and Jack determined to force apassage to Rockhouse.

  Towards evening, the two young men returned, soaking with wet andcovered with mud, but with light hearts, for they had found theircompanions in the enjoyment of perfect health and in the best spirits.They brought back with them a missive, couched in the followingterms:--

  "Mr. and Mrs. Wolston, greeting, desire the favor of Mr. and Mrs.Becker's company to dinner, together with their entire family, thisday se'nnight, weather permitting."

  Ernest was hereupon consulted, and stated that, in so far as the rainwas concerned, they should in eight days be able to undertake thejourney to Rockhouse. This assurance was not, however, entirely reliedupon, for between this and then many an anxious eye was turnedskywards, as if in search of some more conclusive evidence. Those whopossess a garden--and he who has not, were it only a box ofmignionette at the window--will often have observed, in consequence ofabsence or forgetfulness, that their flowers have begun to droop; theyhasten to sprinkle them with water, then watch anxiously for signs oftheir revival. So both families continued unceasingly during theseeight days to note the ever-varying modifications of the clouds.

  At length the much wished-for day arrived; the morning broke with ablaze of sunshine, and though hidden with a dense mist, the ground wassufficiently hardened to bear their weight. Wolston awaited his guestsat a bridge of planks that had been thrown across the Jackal River,where he and Willis had erected a sort of triumphal arch of mangoeleaves and palm branches. Here Becker and his family were welcomed, asif the one party had just arrived from Tobolsk, and the other fromChandernagor, after an absence of ten years.

  Another warm reception awaited them at Rockhouse, where an abundantrepast was already spread in the gallery. Mrs. Becker had oftenintended to work herself a pair of gloves, but the increasing demandfor stockings had hitherto prevented her. She was pleased, therefore,on sitting down to dinner, to discover a couple of pairs under herplate, with her own initials embroidered upon them.

  "Ah," said she, "I was almost afraid I had lost my daughters, but Ihave found them again."

  After dinner the girls showed her a quantity of cotton they had spun,which proved that, though they might have been dull, they had, atleast, been industrious.

  "Mary span the most of it," said Sophia; "but you know, Mrs. Becker,she is the biggest."

  "Oh, then," said Jack, "the power of spinning depends upon the bulkof the spinner?"

  "Oh, Master Jack, I thought you had been ill, that you had notcommenced quizzing us before."

  "Never mind him, Soffy," said her father; "to quote Hudibras,

  "There's nothing on earth hath so perfect a phiz, As not to give birth to a passable quiz."

  Here Willis led in the chimpanzee, who made a grimace to the assembledcompany.

  "Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Willis, "Jocko is about to show youthe progress he has made in splicing and bracing."

  "Good!" said Becker, "you have been able to make something of him,then?"

  "You will see presently. Jocko, bring me a plate."

  Hereupon the chimpanzee seized a bottle of Rockhouse malaga, andfilled a glass.

  "He has erred on the safe side there," said Jack, drily.

  "Well," added Willis, laughing, "we must let that pass. Jocko," saidhe, assuming a sententious tone, "I asked you for a plate."

  The chimpanzee looked at him, hesitated a moment, then seized theglass, and drank the contents off at a single draught. A box on theears then sent him gibbering into a corner.

  "Your servant," remarked Mrs. Wolston, "has been taking lessons fromDean Swift as well as yourself, Willis."

  "I will serve him out for that, the swab; he does not play any ofthose tricks when we are alone. I must admit, however, that I amgenerally in the habit of helping myself."

  Here attention was called to the parrot, who was screaming outlustily, "I love Mary, I love Sophia."

  "Holloa," exclaimed Fritz, "Polly loves everybody now, does she?"

  "Well, you see," replied Sophia, "I grew tired of hearing him screamalways that he loved my sister, so by means of a little coaxing, and agood deal of sugar, I got him to love me too."

  The poultry were next mustered for the inspection of their oldmasters. These did not consist of the ordinary domestic fowls alone;amongst them were a beautiful flamingo, some cranes, bustards, and avariety of tame tropical birds. With the fowls came the pigeons, whichwere perching about them in all directions.

  "We are now something like the court of France in the fourteenthcentury," said Wolston.

  "How so?" inquired Becker.

  "In the reign of Charles V., they were obliged to place a trellis atthe windows of the Palace of St. Paul to prevent the poultry frominvading the dining room."

  "Rural anyhow," observed Jack.

  "Of course, most other features of the palace
were in unison with thisprimitive state of matters. The courtiers sat on stools. There wasonly one chair in the palace, that was the arm-chair of the king,which was covered with red leather, and ornamented with silk fringes."

  "So that we may console ourselves with the reflection, that we are ascomfortable here as kings were at that epoch in Europe," remarkedErnest.

  "Yes; historians report, that when Alphonso V. of Portugal went toParis to solicit the aid of Louis XI. against the King of Arragon, whohad taken Castile from him, the French monarch received him with greathonor, and endeavored to make his stay as agreeable as possible."

  "Reviews, I suppose, feasts, tournaments, spectacles, and so forth."

  "A residence was assigned him in the Rue de Prouvaires, at the houseof one Laurent Herbelot, a grocer."

  "What! amongst dried peas and preserved plums?"

  "Precisely; but the house of Herbelot might then have been one of themost commodious buildings in all Paris. Alphonso was afterwardsconducted to the palace, where he pleaded his cause before the king.Next day he was entertained at the archiepiscopal residence, where hewitnessed the induction of a doctor in theology. The day after that aprocession to the university was organized, which passed under thegrocer's windows."

  "These were singular marvels to entertain a king withal," said Jack.

  "Such were the amusements peculiar to the epoch. It must be observedthat the Louis in question was somewhat close-fisted, and rarely drewhis purse-strings unless he was certain of a good interest for hismoney. But courts in those days were very simple and frugal. Thesumptuary laws of Philip le Bel (1285) had fixed supper at threedishes and a lard soup. The king's own dinner was likewise limited tothree dishes."

  "These three dishes might, however, have yielded a better repast thanthe fifty-two saucers of the Chinese," remarked Jack.

  "No one could obtain permission to give his wife four dresses a year,unless he had an income of six thousand francs."

  "What business had the laws to interfere with these things, I shouldlike to know?" inquired Mrs. Wolston.

  "Those who possessed two thousand francs income were only allowed towear one dress a year, the cloth for which was not permitted to exceedtenpence a yard; but ladies of rank could go as high as fifteenpence."

  "Philip le Bel must have been an old woman," insisted Mrs. Wolston.

  "No private citizen was permitted to use a carriage, and such personswere likewise interdicted the use of flambeaux."

  "They were permitted to break their necks at all events, that issomething."

  "In England, the same primitive simplicity prevailed; Queen Elizabethis said to have breakfasted on a gallon of ale, her dining-room floorwas strewn every day with fresh straw or rushes, and she had only onepair of silk stockings in her entire wardrobe."

  "At the same time," observed Ernest, "these usages stand in singularcontradiction to those that prevailed at an earlier age. The supper ofLucullus rarely cost him less than thirty thousand francs, and hecould entertain five and twenty thousand guests. Six citizens of Romepossessed a great part of Africa. Domitius had an estate in France ofeighty thousand acres."

  "Poor fellow!"

  "When Nero went to Baize he was accompanied by a thousand chariots andtwo thousand mules caparisoned with silver. Poppaea followed him withfive hundred she asses to furnish milk for her bath. Cicero purchaseda dining-room table that cost him a million sesterces, or about twohundred thousand francs. I can understand the progress ofcivilization, and I can also understand civilization remainingstationary for a given period; but I cannot understand why a citizenof ancient Rome should be able to lodge twenty-five thousand men,whilst a king of France could scarcely keep the ducks from waddlingabout his apartments, and a queen of England could fare no better thana ploughman."

  "If," replied Frank, "there were no other criterion of civilizationthan luxury and riches, you would have good grounds for surprise; butsuch is not the case. Between ancient and modern times, Christianityarose, and that has tended in some degree to keep down the ostentationof the rich, and to augment, at the same time, the comforts of thepoor. In place of the heroes, Hercules and Achilles, we have had theapostles Peter and Paul; so Luther and Calvin have been substitutedfor Semiramis and Nero. Pride has given place to charity, andcorruption to virtue."

  "Would that it were so, Frank," continued Ernest. "Christianity has,doubtless, effected many beneficial changes, and produced many ablemen; but in this last respect antiquity has not been behind. It hasalso its sages: Thales, Socrates, and Pythagoras, for example."

  "True," replied Frank, "antiquity has produced some virtuous men, buttheir virtue was ideal, and their creed a dream."

  "And the Stoics?"

  "The Stoics despised suffering, and Christians resign themselves toits chastisements; this constitutes one of the lines of demarcationbetween ancient and modern theology."

  "But there were many signal instances of virtue manifested in ancienttimes."

  "Yes; but for the most part, it was either exaggerated or false;unyielding pride, obstinate courage, implacable resentment ofinjuries. Errors promenaded in robes under the porticos. Ambition washonored in Alexander, suicide in Cato, and assassination in Brutus."

  "But what say you to Plato?"

  "The immolation of ill-formed children, and of those born without thepermission of the laws, prosecution of strangers and slavery; suchwere the basis of his boasted republic, and the gospel of hisphilosophy."

  "Why, then, are these men held up as models for our imitation?"

  "Because they are distant and dead; likewise, because they were, inmany respects, great and wise, considering the paganism and darknesswith which they were surrounded. Life was then only sacred to the few;the many were treated as beasts of burden. The Emperor Claudian evenfelt bound to issue an edict prohibiting slaves from being slain _whenthey were old and feeble_."

  "Which leaves a margin for us to suppose that they might be slain whenthey were young and strong," observed Jack.

  "By the constitution of Constantine certain cases were defined, wherea master might suspend his slave by the feet, have him torn by wildbeasts, or tortured by slow fire."

  "Does slavery and its horrors not still exist, for example, in Russiaand the United States of America?"

  "Slavery does exist, to the great disgrace of modern civilization, inthe countries you mention; but, so far as I am aware, its horrors arenot recognized by the laws."

  "There, Mr. Frank," said Wolston, "I am very sorry to be under thenecessity of contradicting you. I have visited the slave states ofNorth America, and have witnessed atrocities perhaps less brutal, butnot less heart-rending, than those you mention."

  "But do the laws recognize them?"

  "Yes, tacitly; the testimony of the slaves themselves is not receivedas evidence."

  "Why do a people that call their county a refuge for the down-troddennations of Europe suffer such abominations?"

  "Well, according to themselves, it is entirely a question of the_almighty dollar_. If there were no slaves, the swamps and morasses ofthe south could not be cultivated. It has been found that the negrowill dance, and sing, and starve, but he will not work in the fieldswhen free. Besides, they assert, that the slaves are generally wellcared for, and that it is only a few detestable masters that beat themcruelly."

  "Then, at all events, dollars are preferred to humanity by the UnitedStates men, in spite of their vaunted emblems--liberty and equality."

  "Quite so. In all matters of internal policy, the dollar reignssupreme."

  "Admitting," continued Frank, "that the evils of slavery may exist ina section of the American Union, and amongst the barbarous hordes ofRussia, these evils are trifling in comparison with others that stainthe annals of antiquity. We are told that a hundred and twenty personsapplied to Otho to be rewarded for killing Galba. That so many menshould contend for the honor of premeditated murder, is sufficientlycharacteristic of the epoch. There was then no corruption, no brutalpassion, that
had not its temple and its high priest. In the midst ofall this wickedness and vice there appeared a man, poor and humble,who accomplished what no man ever did before, and what no man willever do again--he founded a moral and eternal civilization. Judaismand the religion of Zoroaster were overthrown. The gods of Tyre andCarthage were destroyed. The beliefs of Miltiades and of Pericles, ofScipio and Seneca, were disavowed. The thousands that flocked annuallyto worship the Eleusinian Ceres ceased their pilgrimage. Odin and hisdisciples have all perished. The very language of Osiris, which wasafterwards spoken by the Ptolemies, is no longer known to hisdescendants. The paganisms which still exist in the East are rapidlyyielding to the march of western intelligence. Christianity alone,amidst all these ring and fallen fabrics, retains its originalvitality, for, like its author, it is imperishable."

  "It is a curious thing what we call conversation," observed Mrs.Wolston. "No sooner is one subject broached than another isintroduced; and we go on from one thing to another until the originalidea is lost sight of. Leaving the palace of Charles V., to go withthe King of Portugal to a grocer's shop in some street or other ofParis, we cross the Alps, the Himalaya, and the Atlantic. Lucullus,Nero, Achilles, Peter, Paul, Tyre and Sidon, Semiramis andElizabeth--queens, saints, and philosophers, are all passed in review,and why? Because the pigeons put my husband in mind of the Palace ofSt. Paul!"

  "No wonder," observed Jack; "these pigeons are carriers, and naturallysuggest wandering."

  Once more seated round the table, Fritz, observing that themisunderstanding between Willis and the chimpanzee still continued,thrust a plate into the hand of the latter, and pointed with hisfinger to Willis. This time Jocko obeyed, for the language wasintelligible, and he went and placed the plate before his master.

  "Ho, ho!" cried Willis, "so you have come to your senses at last, haveyou? Well, that saves you an extra lesson to-morrow, you lubber you."

  "He takes rather long to obey your orders, though, Willis; it israther awkward to wait an hour for anything you ask for. What systemdo you pursue in educating him--the Pestalozzian or the parochial?"

  "We follow the system in fashion aboard ship," replied Willis.

  "And what does that consist of?"

  "A rope's end."

  "Oh, then, you are an advocate for the birch, are you?" said Wolston;"it is, doubtless, a very good thing when moderately and judiciouslyadministered. That puts me in mind of the missionary and the king ofthe Kuruman negroes."

  "A tribe of Southern Africa, is it not?"

  "Yes, the missionary and the king were great friends. The king notonly permitted him to baptize his subjects, but offered to whip themall into Christianity in a week. This summary mode of proselytism didnot, however, coincide with the Englishman's ideas, and he refused theoffer, although the king insisted that it was the only kind ofargument that could ever reach their understandings."

  The day at length drew to a close, and, though no one asked the timeyet all felt that the moment of departure was approaching; whetherthey were willing to go was doubtful, but at they were loth to departwas certain.

  "It is time to return now," said Becker, rising.

  "Already!"

  "There are some clouds in the distance that bode no good."

  "Nothing more than a little rain at worst," said Jack.

  "And your mother?" inquired Decker.

  "Oh! we can make a palanquin for her."

  "Your plan, Jack, is not particularly bright; it puts me in mind ofsome genius or other that took shelter in the water to keep out of thewet."

  "Very odd," said Jack, "we are always wishing for rain, and when itcomes, we do all we can to keep out of its way."

  "That is, because we are neither green pease nor gooseberries," saidErnest, drily.

  "True, brother; and as the rain is your affair, perhaps you will begood enough to delay it for an hour or so."

  "I am sorry on my own account, as well as yours, that I have not yetdiscovered the art of controlling the skies."

  Here Fritz whispered a few words in his mother's ear, that called upone of those ineffable smiles that the maternal heart alone canproduce.

  "Well," said Mrs. Becker, "if you think so, deliver the messageyourself."

  "Mrs. Wolston," said Fritz, "I am charged to invite you and yourfamily to Falcon's Nest this day week."

  "The invitation is accepted, unless my daughters have any objectionsto urge."

  "How can you fancy such a thing, mamma?" said both girls.

  "The fact is, that my daughters have got such a dread of cold water,that they dread to wet the soles of their shoes, unless one or otherof you gentlemen is within hail."

  "Mamma does so love to tease us," said Mary; "we are afraid of nothingbut putting you to inconvenience."

  "Well, in that case, we shall be at Falcon's Nest on the appointedday, unless the roads are positively submerged."

  "In that case," said Jack, "a line of canoes will be placed upon thehighway, between the two localities."

  As the prospect of a prize incites the young scholar to increasedexertion--as the prospect of worldly honors urges the ambitious man onin his career--as the oasis cheers the weary traveller on his journeythrough the desert, and makes him forget hunger and thirst--as thedreams of comfort and home warm the blood of a wayfarer amongst snowand ice--as hope smooths the ruggedness of poverty and softens thecalamities of adversity, so the prospect of meeting again mitigatesthe regrets of parting.