Glanville

“ He forced his way to the door of the king's bedchamber. "Who art thou?" cried the king, suddenly startled from sleep. "I am the servant of Ranulf de Glanville, and I come to bring good tidings."—"Ranulf our friend, is he well?"—"He is well, my lord, and behold he holds your enemy, the King of Scots, captive in chains at Richmond." The king was half stunned by the news, but as the messenger produced Glanville's letter, he sprang from his bed, and in a transport of emotion and tears, gave thanks to God, while the joyful ringing of bells told the good news to the London citizens. ”

“ With slow and solemn pace it entered the room; its figure and dress exactly corresponded with the miniature, and, before it spoke, Glanville knew it was the form of the late baron.
“Dismiss thy fears, brave youth,” said the spectre, in a hollow founding voice, “for innocence like thine has nought to dread. I come to confirm the suspicions that hang on thy mind; and to tell thee, that in this mangled form, thou beholdest the shadow of him who once was owner of this deserted mansion, the lord of Raymond’s wide domains. ”

“ He narrated to Lady Glanville and Ellen my adventures with the comrades of the worthy Job; from the lips of the mother, and the eyes of the dear sister, came my sweetest addition to the good fortune which had made me the instrument of Glanville’s safety, and acquittal. I was not condemned to a long protraction of that time, which, if it be justly termed the happiest of our lives, we, (viz. all true lovers) through that perversity common to human nature, most ardently wish to terminate. ”

“ It was a strange thing to see a man like Glanville, with costly tastes, luxurious habits, great talents, peculiarly calculated for display, courted by the highest members of the state, admired for his beauty and genius by half the women in London, yet living in the most ascetic seclusion from his kind, and indulging in the darkest and most morbid despondency. No female was ever seen to win even his momentary glance of admiration. ”

“ Glanville broke off aburptly: and after a short pause, said, with a quick, low, hurried tone—“The office I wish you to take upon yourself is this:—go immediately to Sir John Tyrrell, with a challenge from me. Ever since I last saw you, I have been hunting out that man, and in vain. He had then left town. He returned this evening, and quits it to-morrow: you have no time to lose.” ”

“ I should have mentioned, that the day after I sent Glanville Tyrrell's communication, I received a short and hurried note from the former, saying, that he had left London in pursuit of Tyrrell, and that he would not rest till he had brought him to account. In the hurry of the public events in which I had been of late so actively engaged, my mind had not had leisure to dwell much upon Glanville; but when I was alone in my carriage, that singular being, and the mystery which attended him, forced themselves upon my reflection, in spite of all the importance of my mission. ”

“ Glanville, who had observed the profound bow he made to Arabella, accompanied with a glance that showed an extreme admiration of her, was very little pleased at this meeting; yet he dissembled his thoughts well enough in his reception of him. But Miss Glanville was quite overjoyed, hoping she would now have her turn of gallantry and compliment: therefore, accosting him in her free manner, Dear Sir George, said she, you come in a lucky time to brighten up the conversation: relations are such dull company for one another, it is half a minute since we have exchanged a word. ”

“ Sir George, who had never missed a day, during Mr. Glanville's illness, in sending to the castle, now he was able to see company, visited him very frequently; and sometimes had the happiness to meet with Arabella in his chamber; but knowing the conditions of her father's will, and Mr. Glanville's pretensions, he was obliged to lay so much constraint upon himself, in the presence of Miss Glanville, and her brother, that he hardly durst trust his eyes, to express his admiration of her, for fear of alarming them with any suspicion of his designs. ”

“ We both turned at the same instant, and recognised Glanville. He had not gone seven yards beyond us, before we observed his steps, which were very irregular, pause suddenly; a moment afterwards he fell against the iron rails of an area; we hastened towards him, he was apparently fainting. His countenance was perfectly livid, and marked with the traces of extreme exhaustion. I sent Thornton to the nearest public-house for some water; before he returned, Glanville had recovered.
“All—all—in vain,” he said, slowly and unconsciously, “death is the only Lethe.” ”

“ Glanville paused here for a few moments. In spite of the sententious coolness with which he pretended to speak, I saw that he was powerfully and painfully affected.
"Well," he continued, "to resume the thread of my narrative; after I had stayed some weeks with my mother and sister, I took advantage of their departure for the continent, and resolved to make a tour through England. Rich people, and I have always been very rich, get exceedingly tired of the embarrassment of their riches. ”

“ Glandfield (Glanville) , a man of good wealth and account as any occupier in that cuntrie," whose daughter Eulalia was; and she set her affections on George Strangwich, who was in her father's employ. Mr. Glanville, of Tavistock, almost certainly was a near relative of the judge. The Glanvilles were tanners of Whitchurch, in trade, but the family was respectable. They have been given a fanciful pedigree from a Norman Lord of [276] Glanville near Caen, but it is deficient in proof. What is clear is that the family occupied a respectable position near Tavistock in the reign of Elizabeth ”

“ Should it in the present day be laid down, that a Testator’s will was free, and that he was not bound to give any thing to any particular individual, would it be a fair inference, that a man could devise his entailed Lands? It we apply this to Glanville, he is consistent, and will be understood to speak, with reference to persons, what he has been considered to speak, with respect to things. That the division of the property, mentioned in the text, did not long survive the time of Glanville, is most probable. (See Somner on Gavelk. p. 98.) ”

“ Passages of particular importance or of especial interest to Glanville would be composed by-xii- him with care; the actual form of the remainder might safely be left to his competent secretary, subject only to revision by himself. In 1186 the Dean of York died, and the succession was given to Hubert; and Glanville soon set out on his embassy to the King of France. In spite of this, however, time still remained for the completion of the work in the rather less polished form of the later books. In February, 1187, Glanville and Hubert were sitting together in the Court at Westminster ”

“ One crew, of which Ann Glanville was stroke, and which I have seen row, would beat a crew of men of the same number, and would not, I believe, have thought it anything very wonderful to beat a crew of men with a couple of men extra. I read in the Times that Ann Glanville, then an old woman, upwards of eighty, was introduced to the Duke of Cornwall when he was down West, and I have often heard that she used to row round the captain's man-of-war gigs in the Hamoaze and chaff the bluejackets. ”

“ Glanville was extremely uneasy: for though Sir George's stratagem took, and he believed he was only indulging the gaiety of his humour by carrying on this farce, yet he could not endure he should divert himself at Arabella's expense. The solemn speech he had made him, did indeed force him to smile; but he soon assumed a graver look, and told Sir George, in a low voice, that when he had finished his visit, he should be glad to take a turn with him in the garden. ”

“ The village soon was left behind, and the little band went slowly over the ridge and down the long slope, into a narrow valley, and at dusk reached the broken veld that stretches up to the frowning height of Hlobane. It was very silent. The burghers smoked, but talked not; and very plain, and seeming very near, came the dismal baying of a Zulu dog from a lofty kraal on Zunguin Nek, where a fire gleamed red through the dark.
“There are men there,” said the Commandant in a guttural whisper. “We must ride hard in the morning when we return.” ”

“ May ceaseless poverty be my lot!–disgrace and infamy my portion!”
Eager to pursue the advice which he had received, he hastened from the cattle, and sought the shepherd’s hovel, where the sleepless Jolet impatiently waited his return.
The footsteps of Glanville, as he approached the hovel, were heard by the watchful Jolet, who immediately opened the door, and in a whisper asked if he was well. Glanville answered his paternal inquiry, and informed him of the necessity of his immediately joining the English forces. Jolet requested to accompany him ”

“ Webster laid his hand on the chief’s blanket, and slowly drew it from his face.
He saw the gleam of the fierce eyes as the cold night air at once awakened the sleeper; then there was a deep-drawn sniff, and without a sound, the Zulu was sitting up.
Hume still kept his eyes fixed on the reeds, but noting no further movement, he rose gently to his feet, and slipping over the bundle of reeds, sank to the ground, and with his rifle held before him, with one hand crawled slowly to the edge without hint to anyone. ”

“ This time Miss Anstrade remained by the fire, her rifle across her knees, and her eyes following the Will-o’-the-Wisp-like flashings of the lantern, while out of the blackness there rang the voice of Webster calling for his friend, a mournful cry that drew no response but the murmur of the river, and the still more plaintive call of a plover overhead. And sitting by the fire, with the light shining in her eyes, and her face resting on her hands, she still heard the voice calling out that Hume was dead, and she was sitting so when, after a long search, Webster came wearily and hopelessly back. ”

“ The Crymes family had been connected with the Glanvilles by marriage, and now old Anthony schemed on the acquisition of another portion of the Glanville property, through the marriage of his son and heir with Julian Crymes. The old man's success had fostered his ambition. ”

“ You will catch the cool wind in your mouths. Your nostrils will sniff the air of the hills; your feet will tread the open way; your eyes will see the white clouds afar. Awake, my children, we are at the gates."
They lifted their heads, throbbing with the touch of fever, and before them they saw a sheet of clear water; beyond that a glistening wall of rock, and following up higher and higher, they saw the deep blue of the sky.
"We are out at last," said the hunter, in his deep tones. "Off with the awning, Muata; let us breathe again." ”

“ The air grew closer, their lips were parched, and the sweet odour in the heavy air oppressed their breathing.
“Speak,” whispered Laura, moistening her lips.
“Yes, for God’s sake break this silence! It is worse than death;” and Hume rolled impatiently from side to side.
“Yes,” muttered Webster; “it is terrible, this waiting. Shall we talk of the Golden Rock?” ”

“ The old fire-eater were determined to get inter the trap after all, and when I reached him he were half-way by the kloof. ‘For God’s sake,’ I said, putting my hand on the bridle, ‘stop the waggons, and get your men outer this. Turn back!’ I said. He were jest going to rap me over the head for mutinous conduct, or some sich nonsense, when the Kaffir yell rang out. They couldn’t wait any longer. Whew! My gum, sonny! talk o’ yellin’ an’ cussin’ an’ gruntin’. ”

“ Glanville, resumed she, is not so easily gained: time, and your repentance, may, indeed, do much towards obtaining it.
Saying this, she made a sign to him to retire, for he had walked up with her to her chamber: but, finding he did not obey her, for really he was quite unacquainted with these sorts of dumb commands, she hastily retired to her closet, lest he should attempt to move her pity by any expressions of despair for the cruel banishment she had doomed him to. ”

“ LL. p. 9. The Reader, if desirous of extending his enquiries on Reliefs in general, may consult Bracton 84. et seq. Fleta L. 3. c. 17. Co. Litt. 76. a. 83. a. Black. Com. Sullivan, Craig, Spelman &c. &c. &c.
[326] “Glanville,” observes Lord Coke, “saith, that Women shall not do Homage: but Littleton saith, that a Woman shall do Homage, but she shall not say, Jeo devigne votre feme, but Jeo face à vous homage; and so is Glanville to be understood, that she shall not do complete Homage.” (Co. Litt. 65. b.) ”

“ Glanville was in a terrible confusion, and silently cursed his ill fate, to make him in love with a woman so ridiculous. ”

“ Lord Littleton gives the passage thus. “We are told by Glanville, that in his time, if a freeman married a woman born in Villenage and who actually lived in that state, he lost thereby the benefit of the Law (that is all the legal rights of a freeman,) and was considered as a Villein by birth, during the lifetime of his wife, on account of her Villenage.” This, however, is at best but a loose paraphrase of Glanville. His Lordship was aware of it, and to confirm his representation of what is said, as he terms it, so indistinctly by Glanville, he refers to Bracton, fol. 5. Mr. ”

“ Ralph de Glanville, jnsticiary of the realm of England and the king's eye, a man not inferior to Stephen, except in manners and riches, being deprived of authority and given into custody, redeemed merely his liberty to go and come for fifteen thousand pounds of silver. ”

“ Oh, Heer!” he groaned. “My son, why are you here?”
“Oom Jan will come,” muttered the boy, huskily.
“Anything but this,” cried the big man. Then he said sternly, “Give me your rifle, Piet, and run—run for your mother’s sake. Run, you are untired and the Kaffirs have come miles. Your rifle—quick!”
Young Piet shook his head. “Oom Jan will come,” he whispered.
The Zulus, silent with quivering nostrils and gleaming eyes, drew in closer.
The veld echoed the sound of rapid hoof-beats.
Old Piet Uys raised himself on his arm and looked over the veld. He saw his burghers coming ”