by Robert Reed
buffeted by an equinoctial north-wind . The port-holes were open,
and with every sea, which as she lurched, washed her decks, they
received whole tons of water. The difficulties were increased by a
fresh breeze which began to blow, whistling among the shrowds,
dashing the sails this way and that, and rending them with horrid
split, and such whir as may have visited the dreams of Milton, when
he imagined the winnowing of the arch-fiend’s van-like wings,
which encreased the uproar of wild chaos . These sounds were min-
gled with the roaring of the sea, the splash of the chafed billows
round the vessel’s sides, and the gurgling up of the water in the
hold . The crew, many of whom had never seen the sea before, felt
indeed as if heaven and earth came ruining together, as the vessel
dipped her bows in the waves, or rose high upon them . Their yells
were drowned in the clamour of elements, and the thunder rivings
of their unwieldy habitation—they discovered at last that the water
gained on them, and they betook themselves to their pumps; they
might as well have laboured to empty the ocean by bucketfuls . As
the sun went down, the gale encreased; the ship seemed to feel her
danger, she was now completely water-logged, and presented other
indications of settling before she went down . The bay was crowded
with vessels, whose crews, for the most part, were observing the
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1100
uncouth sportings of this huge unwieldy machine—they saw her
gradually sink; the waters now rising above her lower decks—they
could hardly wink before she had utterly disappeared, nor could the
place where the sea had closed over her be at all discerned . Some
few of her crew were saved, but the greater part clinging to her cord-
age and masts went down with her, to rise only when death loosened
their hold .
This event caused many of those who were about to sail, to put
foot again on firm land, ready to encounter any evil rather than to
rush into the yawning jaws of the pitiless ocean . But these were few,
in comparison to the numbers who actually crossed . Many went up
as high as Belfast to ensure a shorter passage, and then journeying
south through Scotland, they were joined by the poorer natives of
that country, and all poured with one consent into England .
Such incursions struck the English with affright, in all those towns
where there was still sufficient population to feel the change. There
was room enough indeed in our hapless country for twice the num-
ber of invaders; but their lawless spirit instigated them to violence;
they took a delight in thrusting the possessors from their houses;
in seizing on some mansion of luxury, where the noble dwellers
secluded themselves in fear of the plague; in forcing these of either
sex to become their servants and purveyors; till, the ruin complete
in one place, they removed their locust visitation to another . When
unopposed they spread their ravages wide; in cases of danger they
clustered, and by dint of numbers overthrew their weak and despair-
ing foes . They came from the east and the north, and directed their
course without apparent motive, but unanimously towards our un-
happy metropolis .
Communication had been to a great degree cut off through the
paralyzing effects of pestilence, so that the van of our invaders had
proceeded as far as Manchester and Derby, before we received no-
tice of their arrival . They swept the country like a conquering army,
burning—laying waste— murdering . The lower and vagabond
English joined with them . Some few of the Lords Lieutenant who
remained, endeavoured to collect the militia—but the ranks were
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vacant, panic seized on all, and the opposition that was made only
served to increase the audacity and cruelty of the enemy . They talk-
ed of taking London, conquering England—calling to mind the long
detail of injuries which had for many years been forgotten . Such
vaunts displayed their weakness, rather than their strength—yet still
they might do extreme mischief, which, ending in their destruction,
would render them at last objects of compassion and remorse .
We were now taught how, in the beginning of the world, mankind
clothed their enemies in impossible attributes—and how details
proceeding from mouth to mouth, might, like Virgil’s ever-growing
Rumour, reach the heavens with her brow, and clasp Hesperus and
Lucifer with her outstretched hands . Gorgon and Centaur, dragon
and iron-hoofed lion, vast sea-monster and gigantic hydra, were
but types of the strange and appalling accounts brought to London
concerning our invaders . Their landing was long unknown, but hav-
ing now advanced within an hundred miles of London, the country
people flying before them arrived in successive troops, each exag-
gerating the numbers, fury, and cruelty of the assailants . Tumult
filled the before quiet streets—women and children deserted their
homes, escaping they knew not whither—fathers, husbands, and
sons, stood trembling, not for themselves, but for their loved and
defenceless relations . As the country people poured into London,
the citizens fled southwards—they climbed the higher edifices of
the town, fancying that they could discern the smoke and flames
the enemy spread around them . As Windsor lay, to a great degree,
in the line of march from the west, I removed my family to London,
assigning the Tower for their sojourn, and joining Adrian, acted as
his Lieutenant in the coming struggle .
We employed only two days in our preparations, and made good
use of them . Artillery and arms were collected; the remnants of such
regiments, as could be brought through many losses into any show
of muster, were put under arms, with that appearance of military
discipline which might encourage our own party, and seem most
formidable to the disorganized multitude of our enemies . Even mu-
sic was not wanting: banners floated in the air, and the shrill fife and
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1102
loud trumpet breathed forth sounds of encouragement and victory .
A practised ear might trace an undue faltering in the step of the sol-
diers; but this was not occasioned so much by fear of the adversary,
as by disease, by sorrow, and by fatal prognostications, which often
weighed most potently on the brave, and quelled the manly heart to
abject subjection .
Adrian led the troops . He was full of care . It was small relief to
him that our discipline should gain us success in such a conflict;
while plague still hovered to equalize the conqueror and the con-
quered, it was not victory that he desired, but bloodless peace . As we
advanced, we were met by bands of peasantry, whose almost naked
condition, whose despair and horror, told at once the fierce nature
of the coming enemy . The senseless spirit of conquest and thirst of
spoil blinded them, while with insane fury they deluged the country
; in ruin. The sight of the military restored hope to those who fled, and
revenge took place of fear . They inspired the soldiers with the same
sentiment . Languor was changed to ardour, the slow step converted
to a speedy pace, while the hollow murmur of the multitude, inspired
by one feeling, and that deadly, filled the air, drowning the clang of
arms and sound of music . Adrian perceived the change, and feared
that it would be difficult to prevent them from wreaking their utmost
fury on the Irish. He rode through the lines, charging the officers to
restrain the troops, exhorting the soldiers, restoring order, and quiet-
ing in some degree the violent agitation that swelled every bosom .
We first came upon a few stragglers of the Irish at St. Albans.
They retreated, and, joining others of their companions, still fell
back, till they reached the main body . Tidings of an armed and regu-
lar opposition recalled them to a sort of order . They made Buck-
ingham their head-quarters, and scouts were sent out to ascertain
our situation . We remained for the night at Luton . In the morning
a simultaneous movement caused us each to advance . It was early
dawn, and the air, impregnated with freshest odour, seemed in idle
mockery to play with our banners, and bore onwards towards the en-
emy the music of the bands, the neighings of the horses, and regular
step of the infantry. The first sound of martial instruments that came
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1103
upon our undisciplined foe, inspired surprise, not unmingled with
dread . It spoke of other days, of days of concord and order; it was
associated with times when plague was not, and man lived beyond
the shadow of imminent fate . The pause was momentary . Soon we
heard their disorderly clamour, the barbarian shouts, the untimed
step of thousands coming on in disarray . Their troops now came
pouring on us from the open country or narrow lanes; a large extent
of unenclosed fields lay between us; we advanced to the middle of
this, and then made a halt: being somewhat on superior ground, we
could discern the space they covered . When their leaders perceived
us drawn out in opposition, they also gave the word to halt, and
endeavoured to form their men into some imitation of military dis-
cipline. The first ranks had muskets; some were mounted, but their
arms were such as they had seized during their advance, their horses
those they had taken from the peasantry; there was no uniformity,
and little obedience, but their shouts and wild gestures showed the
untamed spirit that inspired them . Our soldiers received the word,
and advanced to quickest time, but in perfect order: their uniform
dresses, the gleam of their polished arms, their silence, and looks of
sullen hate, were more appalling than the savage clamour of our in-
numerous foe . Thus coming nearer and nearer each other, the howls
and shouts of the Irish increased; the English proceeded in obedi-
ence to their officers, until they came near enough to distinguish
the faces of their enemies; the sight inspired them with fury: with
one cry, that rent heaven and was re-echoed by the furthest lines,
they rushed on; they disdained the use of the bullet, but with fixed
bayonet dashed among the opposing foe, while the ranks opening at
intervals, the matchmen lighted the cannon, whose deafening roar
and blinding smoke filled up the horror of the scene. I was beside
Adrian; a moment before he had again given the word to halt, and
had remained a few yards distant from us in deep meditation: he
was forming swiftly his plan of action, to prevent the effusion of
blood; the noise of cannon, the sudden rush of the troops, and yell of
the foe, startled him: with flashing eyes he exclaimed, “Not one of
these must perish!” and plunging the rowels into his horse’s sides,
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1104
he dashed between the conflicting bands. We, his staff, followed
him to surround and protect him; obeying his signal, however, we
fell back somewhat . The soldiery perceiving him, paused in their
onset; he did not swerve from the bullets that passed near him, but
rode immediately between the opposing lines . Silence succeeded to
clamour; about fifty men lay on the ground dying or dead. Adrian
raised his sword in act to speak: “By whose command,” he cried,
addressing his own troops, “do you advance? Who ordered your at-
tack? Fall back; these misguided men shall not be slaughtered, while
I am your general . Sheath your weapons; these are your brothers,
commit not fratricide; soon the plague will not leave one for you to
glut your revenge upon: will you be more pitiless than pestilence?
As you honour me—as you worship God, in whose image those also
are created—as your children and friends are dear to you,—shed not
a drop of precious human blood .”
He spoke with outstretched hand and winning voice, and then
turning to our invaders, with a severe brow, he commanded them
to lay down their arms: “Do you think,” he said, “that because
we are wasted by plague, you can overcome us; the plague is also
among you, and when ye are vanquished by famine and disease, the
ghosts of those you have murdered will arise to bid you not hope in
death . Lay down your arms, barbarous and cruel men—men whose
hands are stained with the blood of the innocent, whose souls are
weighed down by the orphan’s cry! We shall conquer, for the right
is on our side; already your cheeks are pale—the weapons fall from
your nerveless grasp . Lay down your arms, fellow men! brethren!
Pardon, succour, and brotherly love await your repentance . You are
dear to us, because you wear the frail shape of humanity; each one
among you will find a friend and host among these forces. Shall man
be the enemy of man, while plague, the foe to all, even now is above
us, triumphing in our butchery, more cruel than her own?”
Each army paused . On our side the soldiers grasped their arms
firmly, and looked with stern glances on the foe. These had not thrown
down their weapons, more from fear than the spirit of contest; they
looked at each other, each wishing to follow some example given
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1105
him,—but they had no leader . Adrian threw himself from his horse,
and approaching one of those just slain: “He was a man,” he cried,
“and he is dead . O quickly bind up the wounds of the fallen—let not
one die; let not one more soul escape through your merciless gashes,
to relate before the throne of God the tale of fratricide; bind up their
wounds—restore them to their friends . Cast away the hearts of ti-
gers that burn in your breasts; throw down those tools of cruelty and
hate; in this pause of exterminating destiny, let each man be brother,
guardian, and stay to the other . Away with those blood-stained arms,
and hasten some of you to bind up these wounds .”
As he spoke, he knelt on the ground, and raised in his arms a
man from whose side the warm tide of life gushed—the poor wr
etch
gasped—so still had either host become, that his moans were dis-
tinctly heard, and every heart, late fiercely bent on universal massa-
cre, now beat anxiously in hope and fear for the fate of this one man .
Adrian tore off his military scarf and bound it round the sufferer—it
was too late—the man heaved a deep sigh, his head fell back, his
limbs lost their sustaining power .— “He is dead!” said Adrian, as the
corpse fell from his arms on the ground, and he bowed his head in
sorrow and awe . The fate of the world seemed bound up in the death
of this single man . On either side the bands threw down their arms,
even the veterans wept, and our party held out their hands to their
foes, while a gush of love and deepest amity filled every heart. The
two forces mingling, unarmed and hand in hand, talking only how
each might assist the other, the adversaries conjoined; each repent-
ing, the one side their former cruelties, the other their late violence,
they obeyed the orders of the General to proceed towards London .
Adrian was obliged to exert his utmost prudence, first to allay the
discord, and then to provide for the multitude of the invaders . They
were marched to various parts of the southern counties, quartered in
deserted villages,—a part were sent back to their own island, while
the season of winter so far revived our energy, that the passes of the
country were defended, and any increase of numbers prohibited .
On this occasion Adrian and Idris met after a separation of nearly
a year. Adrian had been occupied in fulfilling a laborious and painful
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 1106
task . He had been familiar with every species of human misery, and
had for ever found his powers inadequate, his aid of small avail . Yet
the purpose of his soul, his energy and ardent resolution, prevented
any re-action of sorrow . He seemed born anew, and virtue, more
potent than Medean alchemy, endued him with health and strength .
Idris hardly recognized the fragile being, whose form had seemed to
bend even to the summer breeze, in the energetic man, whose very
excess of sensibility rendered him more capable of fulfilling his sta-
tion of pilot in storm-tossed England .
It was not thus with Idris . She was uncomplaining; but the very
soul of fear had taken its seat in her heart . She had grown thin and