André-Marie Bessières

“ Who swore he would die for pretty Bessee.
And, if thou wilt marry with me, quoth the knight,
I'll make thee a lady with joy and delight;
My heart's so enthralled by thy beautie,
That soon I shall die for pretty Bessee.
The gentleman said, Come, marry with me,
As fine as a lady my Bessy shall be:
My life is distressed: O hear me, quoth he;
And grant me thy love, my pretty Bessee.
Let me be thy husband; the merchant did say,
Thou shalt live in London both gallant and gay;
My ships shall bring home rich jewels for thee,
And I will for ever love pretty Bessee. ”

“ His qualities developing themselves as he rose, proved him always equal to his fortune. Bessieres was always kind, humane, and generous, of antique loyalty and integrity, and, whether considered as a citizen or as a soldier, a honest worthy man. He often made use of the high favour in which he stood to do extraordinary services and acts of kindness even to people of very different ways of thinking from his. I know some who, if they have a spark of gratitude in them, will confirm my assertion, and can bear testimony to his noble elevated sentiments. ”

“ In these studies Besnard has indeed played with his conception, ringing its changes to endless and infinite variety. Death, the skeleton, pursues his prey in every imaginable state of society—in the streets, in the crowd, to the lonely individual, to the lovers’ embrace, to the man and wife before the altar, he lurks behind a pillar to seize the solitary passer-by, he appears in the ball-room, jogging elbows with the débutante, he rescues the beggar and menaces the rich man. ”

“ Bessie's lip was full and ripe when she pouted and her voice was freighted heavily with protest and appeal. How pretty her eyelids were when there was a tear quivering on the lashes like a ball of quicksilver. And how really enchanting she looked, as with hair a bit disheveled and color heightening, she went on to argue impetuously:
"What's the good of having a private car? What's the good of being a vice-president's wife and daughter, if you can't change your mind and go galloping out to California when you feel like it? Back to your own home! Back to your own people! ”

“ For Black Bess is a real country doctor's horse. She will stand at a loaning foot with the reins hitched over a post—that is, if you give her a yard or so of head liberty, so that she may solace herself with the grass and clover tufts on the bank. Even without any grass at all, she will stand by a peat-stack in as profound a meditation as if she were responsible for the diagnosis of the case within. ”

“ Besnard is a child of fortune; success came to him early, and he has no stories to relate of struggle and despair. Of the rough way to Fame he is ignorant, of the tortures which stimulated and deepened the experience of Rodin, of the long and painful route of Puvis de Chavannes to recognition Besnard knows nothing! He has no hardships to recount: one of the happy ones in the world of art, he is singularly devoid of history. He takes a calm and cheerful satisfaction in the facts of his successes, and is delighted to have no complaint to make of public or critics. ”

“ And ever an envious applauding multitude poured after their successful fellow as he went upon his glorious career.
For that, it would seem, must be the life of these bodiless things of this world that is the shadow of our world. Ever they watch, coveting a way into a mortal body, in order that they may descend, as furies and frenzies, as violent lusts and mad, strange impulses, rejoicing in the body they have won. For Mr Bessel was not the only human soul in that place. ”

“ And Bess, sly love-athlete, was suited first rate
At a flirtation-mill with this legal light-weight;
And was listening to him, as minutes spun on,
Of pleas he could make,
And of fees he would take,
And of suits that he should, in the future, have won;
When just as the cold, heartless clock counted eight,
Miss Bessie's quick ear caught a step at the gate.
"'Tis mother!" she cried: "oh, go quick, I implore!
But father'll drive 'round and come in the back-door!
You can not escape them, however you turn!
So hide for a while—let me see—in this churn!" ”

“ Presently he knew, by light of this adventure on the ice, that Bess was more than mere companion in toil and hardship, some one to shelter and protect. She was a comrade-at-arms,—such a fortress of strength as the best of women have always been to the men they loved. ”

“ How many poor souls live and die with most of their energies dormant.
There had never been but one dream to Dil’s life, and that was Bess. Here her imagination had some play. When they took their outings through the more respectable streets for the cleanliness and quiet, or paused awhile in the green and flowery squares, she sometimes “made believe” that Bess was the lovely child in the elegant carriage, with wraps of eider down and 121 lace, and she the nurse-maid in white apron and cap who trundled her along jauntily. ”

“ He has the same strong, vigorous physique, the same air of power, but these two great masters in temperament and in life and experience are the antipodes. Besnard is not a recluse; he is, on the contrary, a man of the world, very domestic too, and absorbed in his family and his home. ”

“ Bessie answered, firmly. "I am going to America, because there I can work and be respected, too, while here, according to your code, I cannot."
"Then, for Heaven's sake, go decently, and not herd with a lot of cattle, for emigrants are little better; and do not make yourself a spectacle for the other passengers to gaze upon and wonder about, as they will be sure to do. If you have no pride for yourself, you have no right to disgrace me. How do you think it will sound, some day, that Neil McPherson's wife went out as steerage? ”

“ He's not a bit like Mr. Duncan. And I like your Aunt Annie too. She plays so nice, just as if she were a little girl herself; and she helps everybody if they don't know how, or fall down, or anything."
"Are we not having a real nice time, Bessie?" asked Gracie Howard.
[Pg 237]
"Yes," said Bessie; "but I do wish my soldier and Mrs. Yush could come to our party."
"What makes you care so much about Colonel Rush?" asked Gracie. "He's such a big man."
"He isn't any bigger than my father," said Bessie; "and I love my father dearly, dearly. We can love people just as much if they are big." ”

“ When dinner was over, and he had finished his cigar which he smoked in the presence of Bessie, she asked him of the American, who was coming the next evening.
"Oh, yes, Grey Jerrold," Neil said, "and the finest specimen of a Yankee you ever saw."
"I don't believe I like Yankees," Bessie said curtly, and Neil replied:
"You will like this one; you cannot help it, every body likes him, from the shabbiest old woman in the railway carriage to the prettiest girl in Piccadilly. ”

“ In the early twilight of the stormy day, the room was growing dark. As Bess stooped to say good-by to the boy, she was surprised to feel the hot tears on his cheeks. Sitting down on the edge of the sofa, she drew his head over into her lap, and stroked his face in silence, for she felt no words could comfort the little lad.
“If you only needn’t go,” he said. “It all seems so much easier when you are here. Miss Bessie, I can’t stand it ! What shall I do?”
“Fred, I know it is hard, so very hard. I wish I could stay with you always, if you want me. But I will truly come again in a day or two. ”

“ A love intenser far than ever,
Yet durstna mint to seek her favour,
While mirk despair, remorse an' sorrow,
His very inmost heart did harrow,
He curst his fate —thus anguish torn
The weddin left to shun her scorn,
An' never woo'd anither lass,
For his thoughts centered a' on Bess.
⁠Auld Nanse, bout sax owks after this
Maneuvre o' her doughter Bess,
Trudg'd to the town to ca' and tell
Her famous Doctor what befel,
An' by gude luck she gat him snug
Alane by hisroom chimly lug.
⁠"Wow, Nanse," quo he, "I hope ye're weel,
How manag d Bessie wi' the Pill?
⁠"O rare! ye're an unco man! ”

“ The work, in point of view of modelling and drawing, is absolute perfection. This treatment of the nude has the strength and power of marble with the addition of colour. In none of Besnard’s paintings is the luminous quality more striking. There is in it an opalescence and vibration, it possesses the softness of old paintings, and alone in a gallery of masterpieces would give Besnard the right to first rank. ”

“ When quiet was restored, Bess went on quite seriously:—
“Now, my boys, I don’t want you to be selfish in starting this club. It is for us all to enjoy together, and I want you to help me make it a great success; but most of all it is for Fred. He tries so hard not to be shy with you, but it is hard for him when he doesn’t see you but once in a long time. He needs boys and boy fun now, more than anything else, and he is staying with me so much that there is danger of his growing girlish and—and—what is it you call it?—a mollycoddle.” ”

“ A poor beggar's daughter no lady shall be; Then take thy adieu of pretty Bessee." But soon after this, by the break of the day, The knight had from Rumford stole Bessy away. The young men of Rumford, as thick as might be, Rode after to fetch again pretty Bessee. As swift as the wind to ride they were seen, Until they came near unto Bethnal Green; And as the knight lighted most courteouslie, They all fought against him for pretty Bessee. But rescue came speedily over the plain, Or else the young knight for his love had been slain. ”

“ Frederick William Bessel, one of the most eminent astronomers of the nineteenth century, had been destined by his father to become a merchant, and the young man, who had a strong distaste for Latin and considerable fondness for mathematics, engaged in his studies with relish, but did not particularly distinguish himself in them. When fifteen years of age, on the 1st of January, 1799, he began his apprenticeship to the merchant's career in a large commercial house of Bremen, with a good-will. No one, and himself least of all, would have dreamed then of his ever becoming celebrated. ”

“ It was too much to be passed over in silence, and, to Bessie’s great relief, Frank Muir burst into a hearty laugh, as he rose to rescue the unoffending cat, who, at sight of the stranger, fled under the sofa, and was only dragged out with some difficulty. Bess and the rector joined in the laugh, and for a few moments no one of the three could speak. When she could control her voice:
“I am sorry, Mr. Muir,” Bess said, “to be forced to apologize for such mischief. The truth of the matter is, that I left two small boys alone in the library, with nothing to do. ”

“ There was reproach in Bessie's voice, as she said this, and the sick man answered her:
"There are many noble traits in Neil's character, but he is a McPherson, with all their foolish pride of birth, and blood, and ancestors. As if paupers like us have any right to such nonsense! Were I to live my life again, I would turn a hand-organ in the street to earn my bread if there were no other way. ”

“ There are not many more events to chronicle until the great event of Bessie's farewell to Beechhurst. She gave a tea-party to her friends in the Forest, a picnic tea-party at Great-Ash Ford; and on a fine morning, when the air blew fresh from the sea, she and her handsome new baggage were packed, with young Musgrave, into the back seat of the doctor's chaise, the doctor sitting in front with his man to drive. Their destination was Hampton, to take the boat for Havre. ”

“ The night after Bess’s meeting with Jeffray in the yew valley, Dan told his wife that he was going out after wild duck to the Holy Cross pools, and, shouldering his gun, left Bess alone to go to bed. The sky was clear, with a full moon swinging up in the east above the tangled boughs of the pines. Dan slipped away to old Isaac’s cottage with his black spaniel at his heels, and, keeping under the shadows of the orchard, knocked at the heavy door. A candle was burning in the lower room, the pewter and china, the brass work, and quaint furniture showing through the curtainless window. ”

“ To him, Miss Bess was the one person in the world, and well might he feel so, for she was most unselfishly kind to him. From the moment when, on leaving his room in the morning, he met her at the door, ready to guide him down the unfamiliar stairs, until, after he was all in bed, she came in to say a last good-night, she was constant in her attentions to him, and adapted herself to his every mood, bright and full of fun when he was blue, encouraging when he was despondent, and with apparently nothing to do but read to him or talk with him. ”

“ Miss Bessy, you have no right to make any one's pulse gallop so, has she, Sir Richard? Squire, your very humble servant. You have all come just in the nick of time, for I want help here. All the people are out in the field, and this poor girl is hardly able to help herself."
"Oh, dear Miss Bessy, I'se so glad to see you, and with your own people too," cried the poor man. "You'se very good to come and see poor Ercles." ”

“ Bessel had vanished, and a policeman and a number of garden porters and salesmen were rushing past towards Long Acre in hot pursuit.
With the assistance of several passers-by—for the whole street was speedily alive with running people—Mr. Vincey struggled to his feet. He at once became the centre of a crowd greedy to see his injury. A multitude of voices competed to reassure him of his safety, and then to tell him of the behaviour of the madman, as they regarded Mr. Bessel. He had suddenly appeared in the middle of the market screaming "Life! Life!" ”