Melmoth the Wanderer

by Charles Maturin

  “Were this a life of calm privation, and pulseless apathy, her efforts would scarce have merit, and her sufferings hardly demand compassion; but it is one of pain incessant and immitigable. The first-born of her heart lies dead within it; but that heart is still alive with all its keenest sensibilities, its most vivid hopes, and its most exquisite sense of grief.

  *

  ‘She sits beside him all day – she watches that eye whose light was life, and sees it fixed on her in glassy and unmeaning complacency – she dreams of that smile which burst on her soul like the morning sun over a landscape in spring, and sees that smile of vacancy which tries to convey satisfaction, but cannot give it the language of expression. Averting her head, she thinks of other days. A vision passes before her. – Lovely and glorious things, the hues of whose colouring are not of this world, and whose web is too fine to be woven in the loom of life, – rise to her eye like the illusions of enchantment. A strain of rich remembered music floats in her hearing – she dreams of the hero, the lover, the beloved, – him in whom were united all that could dazzle the eye, inebriate the imagination, and melt the heart. She sees him as he first appeared to her, – and the mirage of the desert presents not a vision more delicious and deceptive – she bends to drink of that false fountain, and the stream disappears – she starts from her reverie, and hears the weak laugh of the sufferer, as he moves a little water in a shell, and imagines he sees the ocean in a storm!

  *

  ‘She has one consolation. When a short interval of recollection returns, – when his speech becomes articulate, – he utters her name, not that of Margaret, and a beam of early hope dances on her heart as she hears it, but fades away as fast as the rare and wandering ray of intellect from the lost mind of the sufferer!

  *

  ‘Unceasingly attentive to his health and his comforts, she walked out with him every evening, but led him through the most sequestered paths, to avoid those whose mockful persecution, or whose vacant pity, might be equally torturing to her feelings, or harassing to her still gentle and smiling companion.

  ‘It was at this period,’ said the stranger to Aliaga, ‘I first became acquainted with – I mean – at this time a stranger, who had taken up his abode near the hamlet where Elinor resided, was seen to watch the two figures as they passed slowly on their retired walk. Evening after evening he watched them. He knew the history of these two unhappy beings, and prepared himself to take advantage of it. It was impossible, considering their secluded mode of existence, to obtain an introduction. He tried to recommend himself by his occasional attentions to the invalid – he sometimes picked up the flowers that an unconscious hand flung into the stream, and listened, with a gracious smile, to the indistinct sounds in which the sufferer, who still retained all the graciousness of his perished mind, attempted to thank him.

  ‘Elinor felt grateful for these occasional attentions; but she was somewhat alarmed at the assiduity with which the stranger attended their melancholy walk every evening, – and, whether encouraged, neglected, or even repelled, still found the means of insinuating himself into companionship. Even the mournful dignity of Elinor’s demeanour, – her deep dejection, – her bows or brief replies, – were unavailing against the gentle but indefatigable importunity of the intruder.

  ‘By degrees he ventured to speak to her of her misfortunes, – and that topic is a sure key to the confidence of the unhappy. Elinor began to listen to him; – and, though somewhat amazed at the knowledge he displayed of every circumstance of her life, she could not but feel soothed by the tone of sympathy in which he spoke, and excited by the mysterious hints of hope which he sometimes suffered to escape him as if involuntarily. It was observed soon by the inmates of the hamlet, whom idleness and the want of any object of excitement had made curious, that Elinor and the stranger were inseparable in their evening walks.

  *

  ‘It was about a fortnight after this observation was first made, that Elinor, unattended, drenched with rain, and her head uncovered, loudly and eagerly demanded admittance, at a late hour, at the house of a neighbouring clergyman. She was admitted, – and the surprise of her reverend host at this visit, equally unseasonable and unexpected, was exchanged for a deeper feeling of wonder and terror as she related the cause of it. He at first imagined (knowing her unhappy situation) that the constant presence of an insane person might have a contagious effect on the intellects of one so perseveringly exposed to that presence.

  ‘As Elinor, however, proceeded to disclose the awful proposal, and the scarcely less awful name of the unholy intruder, the clergyman betrayed considerable emotion; and, after a long pause, desired permission to accompany her on their next meeting. This was to be the following evening, for the stranger was unremitting in his attendance on her lonely walks.

  ‘It is necessary to mention, that this clergyman had been for some years abroad – that events had occurred to him in foreign countries, of which strange reports were spread, but on the subject of which he had been always profoundly silent – and that having but lately fixed his residence in the neighbourhood, he was equally a stranger to Elinor, and to the circumstances of her past life, and of her present situation.

  *

  ‘It was now autumn, – the evenings were growing short, – and the brief twilight was rapidly succeeded by night. On the dubious verge of both, the clergyman quitted his house, and went in the direction where Elinor told him she was accustomed to meet the stranger.

  ‘They were there before him; and in the shuddering and averted form of Elinor, and the stern but calm importunity of her companion, he read the terrible secret of their conference. Suddenly he advanced and stood before the stranger. They immediately recognized each other. An expression that was never before beheld there – an expression of fear8 – wandered over the features of the stranger! He paused for a moment, and then departed without uttering a word – nor was Elinor ever again molested by his presence.

  *

  ‘It was some days before the clergyman recovered from the shock of this singular encounter sufficiently to see Elinor, and explain to her the cause of his deep and painful agitation.

  ‘He sent to announce to her when he was able to receive her, and appointed the night for the time of meeting, for he knew that during the day she never forsook the helpless object of her unalienated heart. The night arrived – imagine them seated in the antique study of the clergyman, whose shelves were filled with the ponderous volumes of ancient learning – the embers of a peat fire shed a dim and fitful light through the room, and the single candle that burned in a distant oaken stand, seemed to shed its light on that alone – not a ray fell on the figures of Elinor and her companion, as they sat in their massive chairs of carved-like figures in the richly-wrought nitches of some Catholic place of worship –’

  ‘That is a most profane and abominable comparison,’ said Aliaga, starting from the doze in which he had frequently indulged during this long narrative.9

  ‘But hear the result,’ said the pertinacious narrator. ‘The clergyman confessed to Elinor that he had been acquainted with an Irishman of the name of Melmoth, whose various erudition, profound intellect, and intense appetency for information, had interested him so deeply as to lead to a perfect intimacy between them. At the breaking out of the troubles in England, the clergyman had been compelled, with his father’s family, to seek refuge in Holland. There again he met Melmoth, who proposed to him a journey to Poland – the offer was accepted, and to Poland they went. The clergyman here told many extraordinary tales of Dr Dee,10 and of Albert Alasco, the Polish adventurer, who were their companions both in England and Poland – and he added, that he felt his companion Melmoth was irrevocably attached to the study of that art which is held in just abomination by all ‘who name the name of Christ.’11 The power of the intellectual vessel was too great for the narrow seas where it was coasting – it longed to set out on a voyage of discovery – in other words, Melmoth attached himself to those impostors, or w
orse, who promised him the knowledge and the power of the future world – on conditions that are unutterable’. A strange expression crossed his face as he spoke. He recovered himself, and added, ‘From that hour our intercourse ceased. I conceived of him as of one given up to diabolical delusions – to the power of the enemy.

  ‘I had not seen Melmoth for some years. I was preparing to quit Germany, when, on the eve of my departure, I received a message from a person who announced himself as my friend, and who, believing himself dying, wished for the attendance of a Protestant minister. We were then in the territories of a Catholic electoral bishop. I lost no time in attending the sick person. As I entered his room, conducted by a servant, who immediately closed the door and retired, I was astonished to see the room filled with an astrological apparatus, books and implements of a science I did not understand; in a corner there was a bed, near which there was neither priest or physician, relative or friend – on it lay extended the form of Melmoth. I approached, and attempted to address to him some words of consolation. He waved his hand to me to be silent – and I was so. The recollection of his former habits and pursuits, and the view of his present situation, had an effect that appalled more than it amazed me. ‘Come near,’ said Melmoth, speaking very faintly – ‘nearer. I am dying – how my life has been passed you know but too well. Mine was the great angelic sin – pride and intellectual glorying! It was the first mortal sin – a boundless aspiration after forbidden knowledge! I am now dying. I ask for no forms of religion – I wish not to hear words that have to me no meaning, or that I wish had none! Spare your look of horror. I sent for you to exact your solemn promise that you will conceal from every human being the fact of my death – let no man know that I died, or when, or where.’

  ‘He spoke with a distinctness of tone, and energy of manner, that convinced me he could not be in the state he described himself to be, and I said, ‘But I cannot believe you are dying – your intellects are clear, your voice is strong, your language is coherent, and but for the paleness of your face, and your lying extended on that bed, I could not even imagine you were ill.’ He answered, ‘Have you patience and courage to abide by the proof that what I say is true?’ I replied, that I doubtless had patience, and for the courage, I looked to that Being for whose name I had too much reverence to utter in his hearing. He acknowledged my forbearance by a ghastly smile which I understood too well, and pointed to a clock that stood at the foot of his bed. ‘Observe,’ said he, ‘the hour-hand is on eleven, and I am now sane, clear of speech, and apparently healthful – tarry but an hour, and you yourself will behold me dead!’12

  ‘I remained by his bed-side – the eyes of both were fixed intently on the slow motion of the clock. From time to time he spoke, but his strength now appeared obviously declining. He repeatedly urged on me the necessity of profound secresy, its importance to myself, and yet he hinted at the possibility of our future meeting. I asked why he thought proper to confide to me a secret whose divulgement was so perilous, and which might have been so easily concealed? Unknowing whether he existed, or where, I must have been equally ignorant of the mode and place of his death. To this he returned no answer. As the hand of the clock approached the hour of twelve, his countenance changed – his eyes became dim – his speech inarticulate – his jaw dropped – his respiration ceased. I applied a glass to his lips – but there was not a breath to stain it. I felt his wrist – but there was no pulse. I placed my hand on his heart – there was not the slightest vibration. In a few minutes the body was perfectly cold. I did not quit the room till nearly an hour after – the body gave no signs of returning animation.

  ‘Unhappy circumstances detained me long abroad. I was in various parts of the Continent, and every where I was haunted with the report of Melmoth being still alive. To these reports I gave no credit, and returned to England in the full conviction of his being dead. Yet it was Melmoth who walked and spoke with you the last night of our meeting. My eyes never more faithfully attested the presence of living being. It was Melmoth himself, such as I beheld him many years ago, when my hairs were dark and my steps were firm. I am changed, but he is the same – time seems to have forborne to touch him from terror. By what means or power he is thus enabled to continue his posthumous and preternatural existence, it is impossible to conceive, unless the fearful report that every where followed his steps on the Continent, be indeed true.’

  ‘Elinor, impelled by terror and wild curiosity, inquired into that report which dreadful experience had anticipated the meaning of. ‘Seek no farther’ said the minister, ‘you know already more than should ever have reached the human ear, or entered into the conception of the human mind. Enough that you have been enabled by Divine Power to repel the assaults of the evil one – the trial was terrible, but the result will be glorious. Should the foe persevere in his attempts, remember that he has been already repelled amid the horrors of the dungeon and of the scaffold, the screams of Bedlam and the flames of the Inquisition – he is yet to be subdued by a foe that he deemed of all others the least invincible – the withered energies of a broken heart. He has traversed the earth in search of victims, ‘Seeking whom be might devour,’13 and has found no prey, even where he might seek for it with all the cupidity of infernal expectation. Let it be your glory and crown of rejoicing, that even the feeblest of his adversaries has repulsed him with a power that will always annihilate his.’

  *

  ‘Who is that faded form that supports with difficulty an emaciated invalid, and seems at every step to need the support she gives? – It is still Elinor tending John. Their path is the same, but the season is changed – and that change seems to her to have passed alike on the mental and physical world. It is a dreary evening in Autumn – the stream flows dark and turbid beside their path – the blast is groaning among the trees, and the dry discoloured leaves are sounding under their feet – their walk is uncheered by human converse, for one of them no longer thinks, and seldom speaks!

  ‘Suddenly he gives a sign that he wishes to be seated – it is complied with, and she sits beside him on the felled trunk of a tree. He declines his head on her bosom, and she feels with delighted amazement, a few tears streaming on it for the first time for years – a soft but conscious pressure of her hand, seems to her like the signal of reviving intelligence – with breathless hope she watches him as he slowly raises his head, and fixes his eyes – God of all consolation, there is intelligence in his glance! He thanks her with an unutterable look for all her care, her long and painful labour of love! His lips are open, but long unaccustomed to utter human sounds, the effort is made with difficulty – again that effort is repeated and fails – his strength is exhausted – his eyes close – his last gentle sigh is breathed on the bosom of faith and love – and Elinor soon after said to those who surrounded her bed, that she died happy, since he knew her once more! She gave one parting awful sign to the minister, which was understood and answered!

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  Cum mihi non tantum furesque feræque, suëtæ,

  Hunc vexare locum, curæ sunt atque labori;

  Quantum carminibus quæ versant atque venenis,

  Humanos animos.1

  HORACE

  ‘It is inconceivable to me,’ said Don Aliaga to himself, as he pursued his journey the next day – ‘it is inconceivable to me how this person forces himself on my company, harasses me with tales that have no more application to me than the legend of the Cid, and may be as apocryphal as the ballad of Roncesvalles2 – and now he has ridden by my side all day, and, as if to make amends for his former uninvited and unwelcome communicativeness, he has never once opened his lips.’

  ‘Senhor,’ said the stranger, then speaking for the first time, as if he read Aliaga’s thoughts – ‘I acknowledge myself in error for relating to you a narrative in which you must have felt there was little to interest you. Permit me to atone for it, by recounting to you a very brief one, in which I flatter myself you will be disposed to feel a very peculiar
interest.’ – ‘You assure me it will be brief,’ said Aliaga. ‘Not only so, but the last I shall obtrude on your patience,’ replied the stranger. ‘On that condition,’ said Aliaga, ‘in God’s name, brother, proceed. And look you handle the matter discreetly, as you have said.’

  ‘There was,’ said the stranger, ‘a certain Spanish merchant, who set out prosperously in business; but, after a few years, finding his affairs assume an unfavourable aspect, and being tempted by an offer of partnership with a relative who was settled in the East Indies, had embarked for those countries with his wife and son, leaving behind him an infant daughter in Spain.’ – ‘That was exactly my case,’ said Aliaga, wholly unsuspicious of the tendency of this tale.

  ‘Two years of successful occupation restored him to opulence, and to the hope of vast and future accumulation. Thus encouraged, our Spanish merchant entertained ideas of settling in the East Indies, and sent over for his young daughter with her nurse, who embarked for the East Indies with the first opportunity, which was then very rare.’ – ‘This reminds me exactly of what occurred to myself,’ said Aliaga, whose faculties were somewhat obtuse.

  ‘The nurse and infant were supposed to have perished in a storm which wrecked the vessel on an isle near the mouth of a river, and in which the crew and passengers perished. It was said that the nurse and child alone escaped; that by some extraordinary chance they arrived at this isle, where the nurse died from fatigue and want of nourishment, and the child survived, and grew up a wild and beautiful daughter of nature, feeding on fruits, – and sleeping amid roses, – and drinking the pure element, – and inhaling the harmonies of heaven, – and repeating to herself the few Christian words her nurse had taught her, in answer to the melody of the birds that sung to her, and of the stream whose waves murmured in accordance to the pure and holy music of her unearthly heart.’ – ‘I never heard a word of this before,’ muttered Aliaga to himself. The stranger went on.