Charles Wells

“ The man answered, "I suppose you mean the lady Gertrude, who went into England, and has just returned, afflicted with lameness." Claudius shifted, as if he had been hit a blow: he saw, at once, the hitherto inexplicable cause of her silence and sorrow, and retired perplexed and full of pain.
Notwithstanding his great love for her, so repugnant was his feeling to her misfortune that he could not master it. He went up and down distracted; flying from the noise of the city to the quiet of the forest, and from the quiet of the forest back to the city. ”

“ His penetrating eye soon discovered some sorrow at her heart, which he was too delicate to ask the cause of, but did all in his power to comfort her. She, feeling this, was melted to tenderness, and said, "Christian, I have an offer to make to thee. There is nothing on earth thou desirest so much as thy liberty, and there is nothing on earth I desire so much as to be thy servant. If thou wilt take me for thy wife, thou art free; if not, thou art still free, only thou dost owe me thy love; which, if thou art long in paying, my heart will be bankrupt and broken." ”

“ Christian replied, "You have spoken the truth; but there is one thing greater than revenge, and hand-friend to our cause—it is mercy. Let him live: we can spare him and all who are traitors. His cause (which was his armour) and his power being gone, he is become weak as a naked sworder. If you will be revenged, let him be sent forth in a burnished car, decked in a purple vest and garlanded, with chains upon his wrists, to his new master the great king; and let his dishonourable wife take him to her arms, and pay him for his loss of peace and honour with a kiss: then he may work for the king. ”

“ The giant, mad at the blow, seized upon the sword and attacked Alfred desperately; but he being determined on having the life of the duke, defended himself suddenly.
When they had fought some time, Alfred struck him on the head; he reeled against a tree, and fell. And seeing Alfred standing over him, he said, "Pause." Alfred replied, "Sir, you did not pause when your dear lady's life could have been saved through it. You have felt only for yourself, and have sacrificed her. When her pale look and aching eye have begged a merciful hour at your hand, you cared not for her pain. ”

“ Her husband fell into an oblivion of despair, and was as a single weed in the garden of paradise, misery's heir. On the third day he buried her with his own hands. When the sharpness of his agony was somewhat past, he loved to linger about her favourite haunts, and bestowed all tenderness on the camel she had so dearly loved; and this patient creature, missing the gentle hand that had fostered it daily, shewed a dumb sorrow by a thousand signs, that found a way to his breaking heart. ”

“ Edward was touched to the heart, and fell on his neck in tears, saying to him, "Canst thou bid a dead rose to live?" Edmund answered, "Your question is idle." Edward replied, "Then can you not help me." And rising frantic from his seat, he said, "I am glad of it; I am a beast, and deserve no help. I must sow my seed upon a rock, and then must starve, and my dear friends must grieve. ”

“ It chanced that Zara passed a mausoleum where they were burying the dead; and as her breast was always open to powerful excitement, she delayed her suite, and went alone to the door of the sepulchre; here she sat herself on a stone, by a pillar; and sighing, she began the painful office of noticing the feelings of those who mourned. One figure, the peculiar beauty and power of which was subdued by inward sorrow to a declining tenderness, engrossed her wholly. Her interest waxed great, and her heart soft ”

“ They turned, however, as savage as wolves, and fought a bloody battle with their enemies, who were ten times their number; but the valour of Frederick was a host in itself, and he ever cheered on his men with enthusiastic shouts of liberty. Although his numbers were so great, the captain of the guard began to doubt the issue of the fight; and to put more spirit in his men, promised them each a piece of gold if they were conquerors. This did much, but Frederick and his fellows fought till every man lay stretched amongst the grass; most of them hacked to death, and but a few wounded. ”

“ Edmund, however, did not immediately give up his public employment, but carried it on like a patriot; till it ended in covering him with honour, and hearty thanks. For his poor friend he knew nothing could be done but supplying him with money: he hoped, however, that so good a heart and such great faith would not be thrown away. He also had seen this woman, who was one of those, who, with virtue, would have been most virtuous and admired by all. Humanity would have dropped a tear, seeing such noble beauty run to waste. ”

“ Gertrude, wearied with the day's sorrow, slept that night well, and her spirits were refreshed; but more by her dream than any other thing, for it was full of promise and hope. At what will not the wretched grasp! Soon she heard of Claudius's fame, of his passiveness, his furious victory, and retire; and well her heart could interpret the cause. So fond was she in her affection, that angels could not have persuaded her to stay from the court that day. She put on her most plain attire and went. When Claudius rode in, gallant in hope, and saw his lady there, he shouted ”

“ Humanity was repulsed; for Frederick won it, and condemned him to death, swearing an oath that he should die. Christian, finding nothing would prevail upon him to relinquish his design, came down, and folding his arms about Gustavus, embraced him, saying, "Care not, we are parted but for a little time. I will be always anxious to do more than I have done, as being mindful of the sorrow you feel at having left undone so much. ”

“ I have laboured thus far, only to strike your heart against your rocky ribs, and so bruise it; I have done so, and glory in it. I now look upon thee as mine enemy, who has fallen from the battlement of his strength; and cursing him, leave him to die." And he went out smiling, with affected malice. She followed him with her eye as far as she could see, and then, listening to his last footfall, gathered her hair, and holding her forehead, turned to the right and to the left; and looking mournfully round, burst into fresh tears, as a child who hath lost its way. ”

“ The remainder of the money, that Zara in her charity had sent to her husband, was now their daily life and anchor; it was soon gone, and they bethought themselves how they might live. Zara said, "Heaven did not put it into the head of my dear father to bestow on me the camel to no use; howbeit I love the animal with almost a holy love, not only that it fondles me and is so gentle to kneel when I shall mount it, but that it is allied to the best remembrance of my home; why should we not turn this gift to our use? Hew thyself a bow and arrows, and a spear; hunt thou the beasts for their skins ”

“ Where is thine hatred to a tyrant king? All turned to love—nay, worse, to callous nothing. Thyself remembering, but all else forgot that makes thee worth remembrance. I forget thee not. Poor worm, dost struggle? This for the cause of liberty: this for the nobler Gustavus; myself and heaven come last. ”

“ In the morning they assembled and sat in judgment upon their prisoner; who, by this time, had come to a full sense of his dishonour, and desired nothing so much as to die, and end at once his misery, and the mean opinion he had of himself. When he was brought before them, he stood with much humility and unaffected sorrow; never lifting his eyes from the ground, or shifting his melancholy position. ”

“ But Philippo, lingering at the gate till some hours after, when the king came out, dropped upon his knee, and said, "If I do not succeed, banish me forth of Naples. But, I pray thee, let me once more try my hitherto evil fortune." The king, from his earnestness and great desire, was once more deluded into the hope of success; ordered the money to be given him, and that he should try again. But out, alas! he failed again: and yet so reasonable and mature had his plan become, that he was within a little space of success. Now the king, cursing his own folly, banished him for nine years ”

“ Knowing that heaven doeth as it will, she made herself easy in mind; more especially as she found the affections of those friends who really loved her, grew more delicate and tender; and that she had only lost some of the empty vanity of the world.
Soon after this, the Danes returned to their country, carrying with them some of the English nobility, to whose honour all Denmark assembled. The king ordered them to be entertained with banquets, tournaments, and revels, according to the custom of that time. And now it was that this fair lady felt the sadness of her affliction. ”

“ CLAUDIUS AND GERTRUDE;
or, Love and Delicacy.
ORMERLY, in Denmark, dwelt a lady of a most noble family, both young in years and of the rarest beauty; but above all this she had a great heart, and was as noble in mind as in birth.
While she was at the court of Britain (where she had spent some seasons with others, ladies and Danish gentlemen, after the ratifying of a friendly peace between the two kingdoms) she was wooed by many a knightly tongue; and many gallant and high-born youths contended for her favour and regard. ”

“ Christian spoke, saying, "What are we to do with thee? Thou hast deserved the death for sacrificing thine honour to thine inclination; for abandoning the sacred cause of liberty and the people; and (worst of all) abetting their fast enemy. Thy fault is great; but thou hast been so long my brother and fellow counsellor in the ways of honesty, that I cannot stop thy breath. What you have done in our affairs has been done with a full heart ”

“ The king, being deeply interested in it, attended; and, like most great (that is, rich and powerful) but inconsiderate men, from habits of commanding and being obeyed, had soothed himself into certain hopes of success, which, when they were blighted, turned all to the fury of disappointment. Calling Philippo before him, he reproved him for the great loss he had put him to, and charged him with ignorance and folly. ”

“ Ope thine ears, and brace thy heart, for I will tell this tale but once, and to you only; and, sooth, none will believe it. We four, here, are the greatest sacrifice that honour and a great cause ever registered: we are not man's soldiers now, but God's; for man deserts us. I take the praise that is due to us, for it fills our hearts, without the help of the world. Captain, there is one thing called gold, and another honour: when they go together, they are Heaven's champions; when not, they are enemies, and fight. ”

“ Christian and Frederick looked on each other amazed, and Christian said sorrowfully, "We are no longer the crescent three." Frederick turned furiously round, and made an attack upon the part where Gustavus was stationed; and having left the main battle to Christian, he with an hundred chosen men chased Gustavus up and down the ranks, cleaving his way through every opposition, till he had secured him and taken him prisoner. Christian, seeing a favourable opportunity, found it prudent to sound a retreat; having sustained but little loss, and disabled the king's troops too much to follow him. ”

“ If they were to make a dying request to you, would you not fulfil it?" They looked on one another strangely, and answered, "Yes." He resumed: "I came to Italy, to your Florence here, with a sick friend, the friend of my bosom; he is dead, and gone to oblivion: but as he was humane, kind, and virtuous, his memory lives in my heart, and is freshened with my tears." Here he wept bitterly, and was so full of noble sorrow, that one of the strangers, forgetting his mean apparel, and the strangeness of the thing, feelingly took his hands in his and comforted him ”

“ When five years were expired, war was raging furiously at Naples, and the king and country were in imminent danger; the king having only a handful of troops at command, and no money to fee others to assist him. Philippo, full of his ancient courage and fortitude, buckled on a belt and thereto a sword, and covering himself with a pilgrim's habit, went, through many dangers, to Naples; and going to the king's tent, he reported himself as one who could assist him in his exigencies. Being admitted, and alone with the king, he disclosed himself and his purpose ”

“ He raised her head, and laid it on his bosom; and presently reviving, she said, "As love for you has made me thus suddenly weak, and miserable, and dying, I do think, by the new life and joy I feel within me, that to be thy wife would recover me. ”

“ They met upon a level plain, where the duke dismounted. And Alfred said to him, "Sir, I do arraign you here under heaven, of being the murderer of an innocent and beautiful lady.—Oh! how most innocent and beautiful!—I here stand the champion of your duchess, who is dead through the neglect of such a beast as you ”

“ If thou succeedest, thou shalt have thrice the reward offered to thee hitherto, considering the greatness of my need; if not, thy head shall be struck off with an axe. Decide therefore on thy fate." Philippo accepted the king's offer, went immediately, and drew up the treasure, and secured all; so that the king gathered an army thereby, and fought a great battle, and drove off the enemy. Then he called Philippo to him, paying him the great reward without grudging, and put him in trust. ”