Cilla

“ So vanishes another fair spot from earth! And what is left of the Sila, once these forests are gone? Not even the charm, such as it is, of Caithness. . . .
After Circilla comes the watershed that separates the Sila Grande from the westerly regions of Sila Piccola. Thenceforward it was downhill walking, at first through forest lands, then across verdant stretches, bereft of timber and simmering in the sunshine. The peculiar character of this country is soon revealed—ferociously cloven ravines, utterly different from the Sila Grande. ”

“ Here’s an end of every trail--they shall not follow more.
These were my companions. Pity ’twas they died!
(For Chil! Look you, for Chil!)
Now come I to comfort them that knew them in their pride.
(Chil! Vanguards of Chil!)
Tattered flank and sunken eye, open mouth and red,
Locked and lank and lone they lie, the dead upon their dead.
Here’s an end of every trail--and here my hosts are fed. ”

“ Cilia had never seen such an arrangement before, and was rather inclined to leave it out. But the dealer explained, "You place the article in the centre of the apartment, under a chandelier. A palm is set on the central pillar—and there you are!"
"Wouldn't a nice geranium do instead?" asked Cilia confidentially.
"Well—ah—oh, certainly, yes," said the man, and Cilia agreed.
"Then there are works of art," said Heidt. "No truly cultured home can be without them." And he invited Cilia to contemplate a life-size terra-cotta Cupid. ”

“ Princess Clia and Merla leading Trot and Cap'n Bill into the palace, while the other mermaids swam swiftly away to their own quarters.
"Welcome!" said Clia in her sweet voice. "Here you are surrounded only by friends and are in perfect safety. Please accept our hospitality as freely as you desire, for we consider you honored guests. I hope you will like our home," she added a little shyly. ”

“ Cilli is one of the oldest places in Styria, and was probably a Celtic settlement. It was taken possession of by the Romans in 15 B.C., and in A.D. 50 the emperor Claudius raised it to a Roman municipium and named it Claudia Celeja. It soon became one of the most flourishing Roman colonies, and possessed numerous great buildings, of which the temple of Mars was famous throughout the whole empire. ”

“ Clive had received secret intelligence of the design, had made his arrangements, and, exhausted by fatigue, had thrown himself on his bed. He was awakened by the alarm, and was instantly at his post. The enemy advanced, driving before them elephants whose foreheads were armed with iron plates. It was expected that the gates would yield to the shock of these living battering-rams. But the huge beasts no sooner felt the English musket balls than they turned round and rushed furiously away, trampling on the multitude which had urged them forward. ”

“ He also shook hands with Abrahamsen, and said:
"My dear Abrahamsen, I congratulate you—and I must say Cilia is wiser than I thought. It's not many people would have the sense and character to repair an error so resolutely as she has done."
There was general astonishment in Strandvik when Cilia's elegant new furniture was seen being loaded on board a coasting-vessel down at the quay; still further wonder when it transpired that the entire consignment was destined for Christiania, to be sold by auction there. ”

“ Had Lord Clive lived a few years longer, he would have enriched the whole neighbourhood round his native spot. His vigorous, ardently-gifted, and penetrating mind, projected plantations and other improvements, that could only have been conceived by such minds as Olivier de Serres, or by Sully, or by our own Evelyn. He was in private life beloved. He was generous, social and friendly; and if ever charity to the poor warmed the breast of any mortal, it warmed that of Lord Clive. Few men had more kind affections than Lord Clive. ”

“ On receipt of this news Clive adopted a course unusual with him. He called a Council of War, for the first and last time in his career. Desmond was in Major Killpatrick's tent when the summons to attend the Council reached that officer.
"Burke, my boy," he said, "'tis a mighty odd thing. Mr. Clive is not partial to Councils; has had enough of 'em at Madras first, and lately at Calcutta. D'you know, I don't understand Mr. Clive; I don't believe any one does. In the field he is as bold as a lion, fearless, quick to see what to do at the moment, never losing a chance. ”

“ Clif imagined the dark, crouching figure. He had left the lantern behind while these deeds of darkness went on. [Pg 102]
The tomb-like cell was absolutely black, and Clif could not see one thing. But he heard the door shut, heard the key turned. He shivered as in an ague fit. ”

“ When a strong sense of imminent danger, and a fear of total ruin to the affairs of the Company and of the English nation in Bengal, excited universal attention and alarm, all eyes were naturally turned on Clive, as the only human being who could restore the reputation and interests of this nation in India. ”

“ There being abundance of unoccupied ground in the neighborhood, these strangers built huts for themselves, and were soon joined by a multitude of new settlers, who quickly formed a city. In the middle of it was seen a magnificent palace of colored marble, on the balcony of which, every noontide, appeared Cilix, in a long purple robe, and with a jeweled crown upon his head; for the inhabitants, when they found out that he was a king's son, had considered him the fittest of all men to be a king himself. ”

“ Is no nobleman so mighty our whole country o'er."
My lord Cid on the charger came then the King before,
And of his lord Alfonso there has he kissed the hand.
"To start fleet Baviéca thou gavest me command.
Today no Moor nor Christian has a horse so strong and swift.
Sire, unto thee I give him. Say thou wilt accept the gift."
Then said the King:
"No pleasure would I have therein indeed.
If I took him, then less glorious were the master of the steed.
But a horse like this befitteth too well a man like thee,
Swift to chase the Moors ye routed in the battle, when they flee. ”

“ Tu-Kila-Kila said, like a monarch giving orders to his attendant minister, “if any man touch the newcomers on the reef before I cause my sun to rise to-morrow morning, scorch up his flesh with your flame, and consume his bones to ash and cinder. If any woman go near them before Tu-Kila-Kila bids, let her be rolled in palm-leaves, and smeared with oil, and light her up for a torch on a dark night to lighten our temple.” ”

“ When we lodge within their dwellings, they shall do as we
command."
XXXII.
The Cid with all his booty lieth in Alcocér.
He let the tent be sent for, that he left behind him there.
It irked the men of Teca, wroth in Terrér were they;
Know ye on all Calatayúd sorely the thing did weigh.
To the Sovereign of Valencia they sent the news apace:
How that the King Alfonso hath banished in disgrace
One whom men call my lord the Cid, Roy Diaz of Bivár,
He came to lodge by Alcocér, and strong his lodgings are.
He drew them out to ambush; he has won the castle there. ”

“ For if by chance they take him, in the spoil we shall not share.
The tribute that he levied, double he shall restore."
Forth from the town of Alcocér in wild haste did they pour.
When the Cid saw them well without he made as if he fled;
With his whole host in confusion down the Jalón he sped.
"The prize 'scapes," cried the townsmen. Forth rushed both great
and small,
In the lust of conquest thinking of nothing else at all.
They left the gates unguarded, none watched them any more. ”

“ On the steed Baviéca sprang the lord Cid with a leap.
Fair trappings and caparisons girded that steed about.
With the standard from Valencia forthwith they sallied out.
Were with the Cid four thousand less but a score and ten,
They came gladly to a battle against fifty thousand men.
Alvar Alvarez and Minaya on the other side did smite.
It seemed good to the Creator, and they threw them into flight.
With the lance the Cid did battle, hand he set to sword as well.
So many Moors he slaughtered that their numbers none might tell. ”

“ The Cid of romance, the Cid of a thousand battles, legends and dramas, the Cid as apotheosized in literature, the Cid invoked by good Spaniards in every national crisis, whose name is a perpetual and ever-present inspiration to Spanish patriotism, is a very different character from the historical Rodrigo Diaz—the freebooter, the rebel, the consorter with the infidels and the enemies of Spain. He is the Perfect One, the Born in a Happy Hour, “My Cid,” the invincible, the magnanimous, the all-powerful. ”

“ It is an easy and popular method of interpretation to discredit evidence for which no obvious explanation is forthcoming; and following this method [Pg 247] many scholars have regarded the names under discussion as phantoms. The point against which adverse criticism has chiefly been directed is the location of the Cilices in the Gulf of Adramyttion. It is to be remembered however that we have no evidence earlier than the seventh century for the presence of a people called Cilices in the land which ultimately bore their name. ”

“ To Ram Narrain Clive reiterated his assurances of aid and protection. "It was," he states, in a letter [253] to that ruler, "on account of your strictness for justice, your courage, and your fidelity, that I got the Nabob to confirm you in the Subahship of Patna. It surprises me much to hear that you suffer yourself to be under such apprehensions of the King's son, who has not more than two thousand men. I would have you march out of the city with your forces, and encamp at a distance. ”

“ The lives all make Cilian the son of a king of Ireland, but the local tradition does not, and as there are no signs of a dun or rath on the site of his father’s dwelling, it is probable that his father was not a great man, though of course related to the nearest king, as every tribesman was. ”

“ Some miles farther down is the field of Plassey, then an extensive grove of mango trees, of which enough yet remains, in spite of the changing course of the stream, to enable the visitor to realize the scene. On the 21st of June Clive arrived on the bank opposite Plassey, in the midst of that outburst of rain which ushers in the south-west monsoon of India. His whole army amounted to 1100 Europeans and 2100 native troops, with 9 field-pieces. The nawab had drawn up 18,000 horse, 50,000 foot and 53 pieces of heavy ordnance, served by French artillerymen. ”

“ He sought rather to increase the shares of the fleet and the troops at his own expense, as he had done at Gheria, and did more than once afterwards, with prize of war. What he did take from the grateful nawab for himself was less than the circumstances justified from an Oriental point of view, was far less than was pressed upon him, not only by Jafar Ali, but by the hundreds of native nobles whose gifts Clive steadily refused, and was openly acknowledged from the first. ”

“ The Cid was warned upon his guard to be,
For the King said, if thereafter he should find him in the land,
Then neither gold nor silver should redeem him from his hand.
And now the day was over and night began to fall
His cavaliers unto him he summoned one and all:
"Hearken, my noble gentlemen. And grieve not in your care.
Few goods are mine, yet I desire that each should have his share.
As good men ought, be prudent. When the cocks crow at day,
See that the steeds are saddled, nor tarry nor delay.
In San Pedro to say matins the Abbot good will be ”

“ Cilly, whom we left bashfully contemplating her shoe-buckles under an oak-tree, was conscious of a new, sudden, and disturbing thrill. Young girls are said seldom to reflect and never to reason. They have no need. They have methods of their own of arriving at the root of the matter. Cilly realised in a flash that if a proper man was the object of her proposed journey through the great and enticing world before her, she need never set out at all. ”

“ In the accompanying agreement, offensive and defensive, Clive appears under the name by which he was always known to the natives of India, Sabut Jung, or “the daring in war.” The hero of Arcot had, at Angria’s stronghold, and now again under the walls of Calcutta, established his reputation as the first captain of the time. With 600 British soldiers, 800 sepoys, 7 field-pieces and 500 sailors to draw them, he had routed a force of 34,000 men with 40 pieces of heavy cannon, 50 elephants, and a camp that extended upwards of four miles in length. ”

“ All this while the company of the Cid were preparing all things to go into Castille, as he had commanded before his death; and his trusty Gil Diaz did nothing else but labour at this. And the body of the Cid was prepared and the virtue of the balsam and myrrh was such that the flesh remained firm and fair, having its natural colour and his countenance as it was wont to be, and the eyes open, and his long beard in order, so that there was not a man who would have thought him dead if he had seen him. And on the second day after he had departed, Gil Diaz placed the body upon a right noble saddle. ”

“ There are not many countries where two such gallants dwell.
From my lord King Alfonso what tidings are to tell?
Is he content? Did he vouchsafe to take the gift from me?"
Said Minaya, "In his soul and heart right well content is he,
And his good will he sendeth unto thee furthermore."
Said the Cid: "To the Creator now mighty thanks therefor."
The Leonese Alfonso his pleasure they made known
That the Cid should give his daughters to the Heirs of Carrión.
He deemed it would make him glorious and cause his fame to grow.
And in all truth and honor would advise him even so. ”