Nevilles

“ Like his father, Neville is said to have married a Margaret, daughter of John de Longvillers (d. 1255) , who brought him Hoton Longvillers and various other manors. Geoffrey, and after his death his widow, had considerable difficulty in proving their titles to some of these manors when Edward I instituted his ‘quo warranto’ inquiry (Placita de Quo Warranto, pp. 186, &c.) By Margaret, who survived him many years, Neville had one son, John, from whom were descended the Nevilles of Hornby. ”

“ A portrait of Neville is in the possession of the Earl of Yarborough.
He married Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Killigrew, and had five sons and six daughters. Of the sons, Sir Henry, the eldest, succeeded him, was father of Henry Neville (1620–1694) [q. v.] , and died in 1629; William, the second son, was fellow of Merton College, Oxford; Charles died in 1626; Richard was sub-warden of Merton, died in 1644, and was ancestor in the female line of the Nevilles, barons of Braybrooke [see Neville, Richard Aldworth Griffin] ; and Edward, a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, died in 1632. ”

“ Neville married Ida, or Isabella, widow of Roger de Bertram, baron of Mitford. By her he had two sons, Robert and John; Robert, the elder, predeceased his father in 1271, and his son, Ranulf or Ralph, third baron, was father of Ralph de Neville (1291?–1367) [q. v.] ; from him were descended the earls of Salisbury and Westmorland and barons of Abergavenny, who were thus in the male line of Anglo-Saxon descent. A charter of Neville's, with his seal, is preserved in the British Museum (MSS. Index of Seals) . ”

“ NEVILLE, Sir WILLIAM de (d. 1389?) , lollard, descended from Robert de Neville, second baron Neville of Raby (d. 1282) [q. v.] , was the sixth child and fifth son of Ralph de Neville, fourth baron Neville of Raby (1291?–1367) [q. v.] , and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Hugh Audley (Selby, Genealogist, iii. 107) ; Edmondson erroneously makes him the second son (Segar, Baron. Genealog. iv. 350) . ”

“ Neville called loudly to him, but the man did not even look up. Now he was far beyond that farm-house and above an orchard, where he saw the fruit-trees standing in straight rows; and a few seconds later the mountain range was beneath him, and Neville knew that the cloud that looked like a horse was making straight for the golden gateway, which was now glowing dully in a grey sky. He was riding into the sunset. Swiftly as the wind that drove it, the Cloud Horse drifted over the mountain range. ”

“ NEVILLE, Sir THOMAS (d. 1542) , speaker of the House of Commons, born about 1480, was fifth son of George, second baron Bergavenny, and brother of George, third baron Bergavenny [q. v.] , and of Sir Edward Neville (d. 1538) [q. v.] He early entered the royal service under Henry VII, was frequently in the commission of the peace for Kent, Middlesex, Sussex, Surrey, and Worcestershire, and in 1510 and 1515 was sheriff of Staffordshire. He was a member of Henry VIII's household, and became a privy councillor. He sat in parliament as member for the county of Kent, and in 1514 became speaker. ”

“ Neju stared across the fireplace at the forest beyond. His eyes clouded.
On his right, a young hunter who had been with him the previous night at the wall cleared his throat nervously. "They come from the sky, but they are not Gods." He wrinkled his brow as if this were difficult to understand. "It is strange," he said. "They come like Gods, but they are not. Gods are kind." He looked appealing at Neju.
Neju smiled wearily and touched the young hunter on the shoulder. "They are not Gods."
"They are servants of the demon," another hunter insisted. ”

“ At such a spot I have often fancied that the eyes of countless inhabitants of that earlier world are watching me, and that not far away the waters of Neva are gathering, gathering, gathering their mighty momentum for some instant, when, with a great heave and swell, they will toss the whole fabric of brick and mortar from their shoulders, flood the streets and squares, and then sink tranquilly back into great sheets of unruffled waters marked only with reeds and the sharp cry of some travelling bird. ”

“ They threaded their way toward what was left of their village. Near the edge of the natural clearing, the hunter hissed and began to advance cautiously.
When they both stood looking out from behind a clump of clato, Neju saw a group of the god-men in the middle of the wrecked village; the god-men were poking around idly, kicking rubble, fingering this and that. They talked. Their voices were, to Neju, slow, low pitched, lazy. Neju held his breath, watching.
Finally one of the god-men, seemingly the leader, started toward the very spot where they were standing. ”

“ But at last Miss Trevor turned to her again.
"Neville, you said, my dear Mrs. Rush,—your niece—yes, Neville, indeed, Neville. Such a favorite with me—me, indeed, yes, favorite. I know a boy, yes, boy—indeed, youth—such a fine youth—such a hero—ro, indeed, ro—does not fear geese—hissing creatures, my dears—yes, creatures, indeed creatures, my dears, yes, creatures, indeed. Neville he is, yes, Neville—chevalier sans peur et sans reproche, 'proche, indeed, 'proche."
Now, as may be supposed, Lena was far from regarding her brother Percy as a "chevalier sans peur et sans reproche." ”

“ You don’t know how hard it is to me to feel that every hand is turned against Neville, every heart hardened toward him. You see, all of us love Neville better, I think, than anything in the world; he was Aunt Sophia’s and Uncle Tremaine’s favorite son, though they always denied they had a favorite, but Richard and Archie knew it and all of us, and there never was any jealousy of Neville. ”

“ The nobility have then returned from their summer homes. The czar is at his palace. The Nevsky Prospect is gay with equipages of every description, from the common sledge to the carriages of the aristocracy, while the Neva, frozen to the thickness of three or four feet, rivals the Nevsky, with its crowds of sledges and skates and lookers-on, its colored lights, its bazaars and booths filled with a laughing crowd till long after the coachmen and horses, who have stood for hours in the cold before the Winter Palace, where a ball was in progress, have gone home. ”

“ The exceeding grace of the long sweeping curves was enhanced by silvery groves of lime trees and fields of yellow cane. Green as spring earlier in the winter, at this season of harvest Nevis looked like a gold mine turned wrong side out. The “Great Houses,” set in groves of palm and cocoanut, and approached by avenues of tropical trees mixed with red and white cedars, the spires of churches rising from romantic nooks, their heavy tombs lost in a tangle of low feathery palms, gave the human note without which the [Pg 34] most resplendent verdure must pall in time ”

“ As an antidote to the attractions of Neville's tract it was powerless, and to-day it remains as much of a curiosity as it was in 1668, when it was written. Indeed, a question might be raised as to which tract was less intentionally a joke—Neville's "Isle of Pines," or our German's ponderous essay upon it? At least the scientific ignorance of the Englishman, perfectly evident from the start, is more entertaining than the pseudo-science of the German critic, who boldly asserts as impossible what has come to be a commonplace.{1}
1 Das verdachtige Pineser-Eylandd, No. 29 in the Bibliography. ”

“ Hey!" the other sentry called, suddenly, from out of the darkness along the wall. "Hey, Ed!" Receiving no answer, he fumbled his weapon into his hand. "Hey! Ed! Answer me!"
"Too late," the leader of the natives hissed. "He will wake the demon. Run!"
They vaulted the wall, striking the ground and scattered toward the tall grasses and the forest beyond. One dragged a broken leg painfully.
The body of Ed, the limp sentry, teetered for a moment on the walk and then slipped awkwardly over the side. It struck a wall buttress and bent over it like a horseshoe. ”

“ I can’t believe that any one can make a cut in the hills like this one an approach even to a Highland stronghold. No wind can strike our sails, or so little, at any rate, that we could easily walk faster than we sail, if only we had a level road to walk on. And if we are upon the wrong tack, what will become of Neva, my poor wronged little Neva? ”

“ And, without another glance at Neville, the man with the large ears strode off to arrange for the sunset on the next range, miles and miles away. Neville gazed at the wee yellow man hopelessly, and the wee yellow man gazed at Neville, and neither spoke a word until the man with the large ears was well out of the way. Then the Last Sunbeam grew quite cheerful again. "Well," said he, "you heard what the head scene-shifter said. You certainly can't go home by the way you came. The only thing for you to do is to go round. You'll just about have time to do it, if you hurry." ”

“ Neville is esteemed by all the county: you are the only gentleman in it who has ever uttered a disparaging word against him. Are you sure you are more free from passion and prejudice and wiser than all the county? Oblige me, and do what is right. Come, Griffith Gaunt, let your reason unsay the barbarous words your passion hath uttered against a worthy gentleman whom we all esteem. ”

“ Neville is very fond of shooting,—so much so that before we knew anything of him except his name we had heard that he had been on our coast after seals and sea birds. We have very high cliffs near here,—some people say the highest in the world, and there is one called the Hag's Head from which men get down and shoot sea-gulls. He has been different times in our village of Liscannor, and I think he has a boat there or at Lahinch. I believe he has already killed ever so many seals. ”

“ But Neville throws him off, and pauses for an instant, in a raging passion, with the goblet yet in his uplifted hand. Then, he dashes it down under the grate, with such force that the broken splinters fly out again in a shower; and he leaves the house.
When he first emerges into the night air, nothing around him is still or steady; nothing around him shows like what it is; he only knows that he stands with a bare head in the midst of a blood-red whirl, waiting to be struggled with, and to struggle to the death. ”

“ Neju toyed with a new grass shoot, rubbing it between his fingers. He rumbled deep in his chest to break the silence. "We must move further into the forest. Wait for the god-men and the demons to go away. We cannot fight." ”

“ Huge rocks and great mountains reared their heads on all sides of us, including Ben Nevis, which we could recognise owing to the snowy coverlet still covering his head. The country became very desolate, with nothing to be seen but huge rocks, inaccessible to all except the pedestrian. Hour after hour we toiled up mountains—sometimes we thought we reached an elevation of two thousand feet—and then we descended into a deep ravine near a small loch. ”

“ Almost immediately, there was the deadly hiss of the leader's weapon, and a projectile thudded into a tree, just to the left of Neju.
"I saw two of them! Over here!" the leader called, running heavily toward the forest. The other god-men galvanized into action.
"Let's hide," Neju's companion whimpered, terrified.
"No! They'd find us. Follow me." Neju started off, skirting the clearing, going away from the direction of the villagers' temporary camp. ”

“ Terrestrial senses can detect no changes of expression in a Nevian's "face." Such were the frightful beings at whom the three prisoners stared with sinking hearts.
But if we human beings have always considered Nevians grotesque and repulsive, the feeling has always been mutual. For those "monstrous" beings are a highly intelligent and extremely sensitive race, and our--to us--trim and graceful human forms seems to them the very quintessence of malformation and hideousness.
"Good Heavens, Conway!" Clio exclaimed, shrinking against Costigan as his left arm flashed around her. ”

“ The blow from the bowsprit or the shock of the water or both together, falling on nerves so terribly overwrought, had unseated reason and dethroned memory, at least made a gap which the wandering mind was powerless to fill.
Neville dwelt much in the world of his childhood, fancied himself riding along English lanes, and pulling briar and eglantine in the valleys of [294] Surrey and Somerset with Peggy by his side. Then his imagination led to a beautiful golden-haired girl who went robed in green holding herself like some stately palm. ”

“ Mushing, as they call traveling in the Yukon, is slow work on a broken trail, and that one from the shack to White Lake was about as bad a specimen as I ever traveled over. But Nevins didn’t seem to mind it. He was so eager to get back to civilization—as if you could call White Lake civilization—that he was always ahead of me. But I didn’t like his gait. It was awkward, zig-zaggy, not the trail of a man who is sure of himself. Nevins was living on his nerves. I caught myself praying they didn’t explode before we reached White Lake! ”

“ Meg, my uncle’s servant, and I found it on the mat at the foot of the stairs. And that is really all I have to tell, sir,” said Nell, with an air of relief at having finished the odious recital.
“Well, that is enough for our purpose, fortunately,” said Sir Neville, as he rose to ring the bell. “And now you must come into the drawing-room and let Lady Neville give you a glass of wine. You are a little bit of a heroine, although you have certainly [300] not done much to facilitate the course of justice,” he wound up, with a dignified shake of the head. ”