Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes Charlotte, Emily, Anne Brontë (Illustrated) (270 page)

CHAPTER THREE

About a year after the school rebellion the following wonderful thing happened in the family of the Duke of Wellington, one pleasant morning in the month of September 1828 the Marquis of Douro & Lord Charles Wellesley went out to follow the sport of shooting. they had promised to return before 8 o’clock but however 10 o’clock came & they had not returnedf: 12 & still no signs of them. Old man Cockney then ordered the servant’s to-bed & when they had retired & all was quietness he went into the great hall & sat down by the fire determined not to go to bed till they came back. he had sat about half an hour listening anxiously for their arrival when the inner door gently opened, and lady Wfellesley appeared. Old Man could see by the light of the fire for he had put out the candle that she was very pale & much agitated .

“What is the matter madamf?” said he lady wfellesley “I was sitting down working when suddenly I saw the light cast on my work by the taper turn blue & death like burning phosphorous or asphaltasf. I looked up & saw the figure’s of my sons all bloody & distorted. I gazed on them till they vanished unable to speak or stir & then I came down here”.

she had scarcely finished the recital of this strange vision when the great door was heard to open with a loud, creaking noise & the Duke of. Wellington, entredf. he stood still for a moment earnestly looking at 1 ady Wellesley & the Old man & then said in a distinctly audible but hollow tone of voice “Catherine where are my son’s, for I heard while sitting in my study their voices moaning and wailing around me & supplicating me to deliver them from the death they were about to die, even now I feel a dreadful fore-boding concerning them which I cannot shake off. Catherine were are they?”

Before lady Wellesley could answer the door again opened & we appearedf. he imediately addressed us & begged of us to tell him what had become of them. we replied that we “did not know but that if he liked we would go in search of them”. he thanked us gratefuly adding that he would go with us & then after he had taken leave of lady Wfellesley we imediately set off.

we had gone as near as we could about? 4 miles when we entred a very wild barren plain which none of us had ever seen beforef. we continued on this plain till we lost sight of every thing else & then suddenly perceived the whole aspect of the sky to be changed . it assumed the appearance of large rolling waves crested with white foam also we could hear a thundering sound like the roaring of the sea at a distance & the moon seemed a great globe of many miles in diameter, we were gazing in silent astonishment at this glorious sight which every minute was growing grander & grander & the noise of thunder was increasing when suddenly the huge waves parted asunder & a giant clothed in the sun with a crown of 12 stars on his head descended on the plainf.’6 for a moment our sight was destroyed bv the glory of his apparel & when it was restored to us we found ourselves in a world the beauty of which exceeds beyond my powers of description, there were trees & bowers of light, waters of liquid crystal flowing over sands of gold with a sound the melody of which far exceeds music of the finesft toned harps or the song of the sweet voiced nightingales . the re were palaces of emerald & of ruby of diamond of amethyst and pearl arches like the rainbow of jaspar agate & saphire spaning wide seas whose mighty voices where now hushed into a gentle murmur & sang in sweet unison with the silver streams which flowed through this radiant land while their glorious song was echoed & reechoed by high mountains which rose in the distance & which shone in the glowing light like fine opals set in gold.

we had been here for a short time when the sky blackned the winds rose the waves of the ocean began to roar. all beautiful things vanished & were suceeded by tall dark cypress & fir trees which swayed to & fro in the wind with a mournful sound like the moans of dying mortalsf. a huge black rock appeared before us & a wide & dark cavern opened in it in which we saw Afrthur & Charles Wfellesley. the Giant then came again & taking them & us in his arms flew swiftly through the air & landed us all in the great hall of Strathfeildsay.

CHAPTER FOUR

It was a beautiful evening in the month of August when the Duke of Wellington & his sons were seated in a small private parlour at the top of the great round tower at Strathfieldsay. the sun was just setting & its beams shone through the gothic window half veiled by a green velvet curtain which had fallen from the golden supports & hung in rich festoons with a glowing brilliance equal to the crimson light which streams from the oriental ruby but unlike to that beautiful gem it was every moment decreasing in splendour till at length only a faint rose tint remained on the marble pedestal which stood opposite bearing the statue of William Pitt & which but a little while ago had shone with a brightness resembling the lustre of burnished gold. Just as the last ray disappeared lord Charles Wellesley exclaimed, “Father I wish you would relate to us some of your adventures either in India or Spain.”

“Very well I will Charles now listen attentively” replied his Grace, “would you like to hear too Arthur?”

“I should very much” answered the Marquis with a gravity & calmness which formed a striking contrast to the giddy gaiety that marred the deportment of his younger brother, his Grace began as follows:

“In the year & the day of the battle of Salamanca’7 just as the sun set & the twilight was approaching I finished my despatches & walked forth from the convent gates of the Rector of Salamanca in order to enjoy the coolness of a Spanish evening, to this purpose I proceeded through the city till I came to the outside of its walls & then strolled heedlessly along by the clear stream of the Tormes following as it led until I found my self far away from the city & on the borders of a great wood which stretched over many high hills to the verge of the horizon: there was a small pathway cut through this forest, which I entred striding over the river which had now dwindled into a diminutive rill, strictly speaking this was not a prudent step nor one which I should advise you my sons if ever you should be in the like circumstances to take, for the evening was far advanced & the bright light of the beautiful horizon cast an uncertain glowing glare on everything which made travelling through a dark wood which I knew nothing of exceeding dangerous, the country was likewise much infested with daring robbers & organized banditti who dwelt in such lonely situations, but there was a sort of charm upon me which led me on in spite of myself. After I had proceeded about a quater of a mile I heard a sound like music at a distance which in a short time dyed away, but when I had got very deep into the forest it rose again & then it sounded nearer, I sat down under a large spreading maple tree whose massive limbs & foliage where now begining to be irradiated by the moonlight wich peirced into the depths of the forest & highlly illumined with its beams the thick darkness. I had not sat here long when suddenly the music which had till then sounded soft & low like the preluding of a fine musician on a sweet instrument, broke out into a loud deep strain which resembled the pealing of a full toned organ when its rich floods of sound are rolling & swelling in the sublime Te Deum & echoing amid the lofty aisles &? high Dome of some grand Cathedral with a deep solemn noise like the loud awful rumbling & terrible thunder Or the sudden burst of that most sublime of all music martial music when the ringing trumpet & the rolling drum are sounding together with the feirce onset of a brave & noble army, then you feel the grandeur of the battle amid the lightning and roar of the canon the glancing of sword’s & lances & the thunder of the living cataract of men & horses rushing terribly to victory who stands arrayed in bloody garments with a crown of glory upon her head, but to proceed with my story, no sooner had this loud concert sounded than the dark forest vanished like mists of the morning before the suns brightness & slowly there rose up on my sight a huge mirror, in which were dimly shadowed the forms of clouds & vapours all dense & black, rolling one over the other in dark & stormy grandeur & among them in letters of lightning I saw the “Futurity”, by degrees these clouds cleared away & a fair & beautiful Island appeared in their stead rising out of the midst of a calm & peaceful Ocean & linked to it by a golden chain was another equal in beauty but smaller.’ in the middle of the largest of these 2 Islands was a tall & majestic female seated on a throne of ruby crowned with roses bearing in one hand a wreath of Oak-leaves & in the other a sword, while over her the tree of liberty flourished spreading its branches far & wide & casting the perfume of its flowers to the uttermost parts of the earth. In the midst of the other Island there was likewise a female who sat on an emerald throne, her crown was formed of shamrocks, in her right hand she held an harp & her robes were of a crimson hue as if they had been dyed in blood, she was as majestic as the other but in her countenance was some thing very sad & sorrowful, as if a terrible evil hung upon her — over her head where the boughs of a dark cypress instead of the pleasant tree which shaded the other Island, & sometimes she swept the chords of the harp causing a wild & mournful sound to issue therefrom like a death wail or dirge, while I was wond’ring at her greif, I perceived a tremendous monster rise out of the sea and land on her Island . as soon as it touched the shores a lamentable cry burst forth which shook both Islands to their centre & the Ocean all round boiled furiously as if some terrible earthquake had happened, the monster was black & hideous & the sound of his roaring was like thunderf. he was clothed in the skin of wild beasts & in his forehead was branded as with a hot iron the word bigotry, in one hand he held a scythe & as soon as he entred the land the work of desolation began : all pleasantness & beauty disapearefd from the face of the country & pestilential morasses came in their stead, he seemed to pursue with inveterate fury a horrible old man who a voice wispered in my ear was called the Romish Religion, at first he seemed weak & impotent but as he ran he gathered strength & the more he was persecuted the stronger he became till at length he began with a terrible voice to defy his persecutor & at the same time strove to break the golden chain which united the two Islandsf. & now I saw the form of a warrior approaching whose likeness I could by no means discern but over whom a mighty sheild was extended from the sky. he came near to the monster whose name was bigotry & taking a dart on which the word justice was written in golden characters he flung it at him with all his mightf. the dart had struck in the heart & he fell with a loud groan to the earth, as soon as he had fallen the warrior whose brow had already many wreaths on it was crowned by a hand which proceeded from a golden cloud with a fresh one of amaranths interwoven with laurel. at the same time the two spirits arose from their thrones & coming towards him they cast garlands & crowns of victory at his feet while they sung his praises in loud & glorious notes. meantime the desolated land was again overspread with pleasant pastures & green woods & sunny plains watered by clear rivers flowing with a gentle sound over green rocks?, while the wild harp pealed in sweetly swelling tones among the branches of the tree of liberty . the sound ceased & lo I was beneath the maple tree & a nightingale was serenading me with its beautiful song which caused me to dream of sweet music C B November 21st Ano Domini 1829

Adieu Adios?

CHAPTER FIVE

In the year 1722 In the pleasant month of June, four’9 Inhabitants of fairy-land took it into their heads for a treat to pay a visit to the inhabitants of the earth. In order to accomplish this end they took the form of mortals, but first it was necessary to obtain leave of Oberon & Titania, their King & Queen. accordingly they demanded an audience of their majesties & where admitted. They stated their wish & petition which was imediately granted & they prepared to depart.

Having descended to the earth in a cloud they alighted in a part of England which was very mountainous & quite uninhabited. they proceeded along for some time till they came to the verge of a rock that looked down into a beautiful vale below, through it ran a clear & pleasant stream which followed the vale in all its narrow windings among the high dark mountains which bordered it & the massive branching trees which grew in thick clumps casting a cool & agreeable shade over all the valley, through these it meandred with a rippling sound until when the glen broke from its confinement among them & spread into a wide green plain all dotted with great white poplars & stately oaks & spangle d with pearly daisies & golden buttercups among which likewise ocasionally peeped out the pale primrose or the purple violet, it also expanded into a broader & deeper current rolling or rather gliding on with a still murmur that resembled the voice of some water spirit heard from the depths of its coral palaces when it sings in lonely silence after the sea has ceased to heave & toss in terrible black beauty & night walks in awful majesty on the face of the earth all clothed in stars while Luna sheds pale light from her silver lamp to illumine the pathway of the dark & stately queen. In the midst of this valley there was a small thatched cottage which had once been the pleasant abode of a flourishing husbandman who was now dead & his children had one by one forsaken it & the sweet spot where it stood each to pursue his own fortune till it was now entirely deserted & had fallen into a state of ruin & decay. The fairies proceeded down the vale towards the cottage & when they arrived there began to examine it. the walls where all grey & moss grown; vine tendrils where still visible among the wreaths of ivy which clasped around the door-way & one silver star of a jesamine peeped out from among the dark leaves, the little garden was all grown over with nettles & rank weed & no trace remained of its former beauty except a single rose bush on which still bloomed a few half wild roses & beside it grew a small strawberry plant with two or three scarlet strawberrys upon it forming a fine contrast to the desolation which surrounded them.

In this place the fairies determined to take up their abode, which they accordingly did & they had not been long their when the following occurence happened, they where sitting one evening round the fire of their hut (for being now in the form of mortals they acted like them) listening to the wind which moaned in hollow cadences as it swept along the valley & its voice was sometimefs mingled with strange sounds which they well knew were the voices of spirits rising in the air invisible to the dull eyes of mortals. They were sitting as I said before around the fire of their hut when suddenly they heard a low knocking at the door, one of them imediately rose to open it & a man appeared clothed in a travellers cloak. they enquired what he wanted, he replied that he had lost his way in the glen & that seeing the light stream across his path from their cottage he had stopped there & now requested shelter till the morning when he might be able to pursue his journey with the advantage of daylight, his request was imediately granted & as soon as he was seated they asked what the cause of his travelling was? he replied that if they chose he would relate to them his whole history as he could perceive that they where persons of no ordinary description & might perhaps be able to assist him in his distressf. they consented & he began as follows.

“I am the son of a gentleman of great fortune & estate who resided in one of the southermost counties of Ireland. My father & mother were both Roman catholics & I was brought up in that faith & continued in it until I became convinced of the error of the creed I professed. My father’s confessor was a man of strange and unsociable habits and was thought by those among whom he dwelt to have converse with the inhabitants of another worldf. he had received his education in Spain & it was suposed that in the country he had learnt the science of necromancy.” the manner in which I became converted to the protestant religion was as follows, There lived in our family an old servant who unknown to my father was a seceder from the Roman catholic church & a member of the church of England. One day I unexpectedly entred the room & surprised him reading his bible. I imediately remonstrated with him on the impropriety of what he was about & desired him to leave of telling him that it was against the laws of the true church and contrary to the admonitions of our preist.2’ he replied mildly but firmly quoting many passages of scripture in defence of what he did & arguing in such a manner as to convince me that I was in the wrong. Next day I paid him a visit at the same hour & found him simmiliarly employedf. I had a long conversation with him, the effect of which was to induce me to search the bible for myself : I did so and there discovered that the doctrines of the church of England where those which most closely assimilated with the word of God, those doctrines I accordingly determined to embrace. As soon as my conversion became known my father strove to dissuade me from it, but I remained steadfast & resolute? In a short time he ceased to trouble me. But Not so with the confessor: he was constantly advancing arguments to induce me to recant but failing he made use of the following expedient, As a last resource. I was standing one evening in the court of my fathers house, when suddenly I heard a voice whisper in my ear “come this night to the great moor at 12 o’clock”. I turned round but could see no body. I then debated with myself what it could be & wether I should go or not. I at length determined to go & when the clock struck eleven I set off. the moor alluded to lay about four miles off, It was a wide barren heath stretching 3 leagues to the northward. In a short time I reached it. The night was very dark no moon was visible & the stars where only dimly seen through the thin cloudy vapours that sailed over the sky veiling the dark azure with a sombre robe & casting a melancholy gloom on the path beneath . all around me was silent except a little stream flowing unseen among the heather with a sound resembling the hoarse incessant murmur which the sea shell retains of its native caverns where the green billows of the deep are roaring & rageing with an eternal thun- der. I had not waited long when slowly I saw rising around me the dim form of a sacred abbey, the stately pillars, the long drawn sweeping aisles, the echoing dome, & the holy altar all arose in gradual & mysterious order while a solemn & supernatural light stole through the high arched windows & beamed full upon a tomb which stood in the centre & which I knew to be my grandfathers. I was gazing at these things in wrapt & silent astonishment when suddenly I saw a tall white robed figure standing upon the monumenjt. it beckoned to me with its hand: I approached & It then addressed me in the following words “Son why have you deserted the Ancient & holy Religion of your ancestors to embrace a strange one which you know not of” I was going to reply when at that moment I perceived the confessor standing near. I instantly comprehended the whole scheme & exclaimed in a loud voice “your wiles are discovered. the faith I profess is true and I well know that this is all necromancy” when the preist heard this he flew into a terrible rage & stamping with his foot a fire sprung out of the groundf. he then threw some perfumes on it & said in a voice made tremulous by ungovernable fury “depart hence Vile heretic” & imediately I found myself in this valley. You know the rest.”

here the traveller stopped & little more is known of the story except that the fairies restored him to his family who became devout members of the Church of England . the preist afterwards disappeared in a very unacountable way & the fairies no longer dwell in that little hut of which only a mossy remnant now remains but the tradition still lives in many a peasants fireside tale when gloomy winter has apparelled the earth in frost & radiant snow.

This Tale was related to little king & queens Seringapatan old man cockney Gamekeeper Jack of all trades & orderly man by the Marquis of Duro & lord C. Wellesley as they sat by the fire at the Great hall of Strathfeildsay C. Bronte December 2 1829