Sebastiano

“ In this country a fellow has no chance. What a fool one is to stay here!”
“No, no; the country is good,” said Sebastiano, shaking his head and jerking a thumb toward Armando. “But what can you expect when one keeps his Saint Peters a whole year?” ”

“ No pious wayfarer going over the Pass of Cisa into Tuscany but would turn aside to kiss the image and ask a blessing at the hands of the anchorite; and yearly in the season of the miraculous manifestation, great pilgrimages were made to the hermitage by folk from the Valleys of the Taro and Bagnanza, and even from beyond the Apennines. So that Fra Sebastiano gathered great store of alms, part of which he redistributed amongst the poor, part of which he was saving to build a bridge over the Bagnanza torrent, in crossing which so many poor folk had lost their lives. ”

“ Being reproached by certain persons, who declared it to be a shameful thing that he would no longer work, because he had sufficient to live on, Fra Sebastiano replied in this manner: “Nay, since I have enough to support me, I will not work; there are geniuses now in the world who do more in two months than I used to do in two years ”

“ He who thinks that he has robbed you of me does not benefit by his great crime because of his great fear. The fulness of pleasure, which extinguishes desire, is a less joy to lovers than misery, which is full of hope." [32]
We must try to imagine what the sack of Rome and the fall of Florence meant to the men of those days: the bankruptcy of justice—the most terrible of cataclysms. Many never recovered from it.
Men like Sebastiano del Piombo became laughingly sceptical. ”

“ These pictures being finished, were publicly displayed together in the Hall of the Consistory; they were both very highly extolled, and, although the works of Raphael had no equal for their extraordinary grace and beauty, the labours of Sebastiano, nevertheless, found honourable acknowledgment and were commended by all. One of these pictures [10] was sent by the Cardinal de’ Medici to his episcopal residence at Narbonne in France, [11] the other was placed in the Chancery, where it remained until it had received the frame prepared for it by Giovanni Barile. ”

“ They had caught a glimpse as well [Pg 243] of the grumbling mob as it retreated from the passage, and they knew their Cenacolo [A] was saved.
“But at what cost!” exclaimed Brother Sebastiano, hurrying forward with the others to the aid of Mario. “Ah, Signor Forza,” he said, taking him by the arm, “you have made all mankind your debtor to-day. But do not speak now, we beg of you. Some time you will tell us the story. Now you must rest.” ”

“ Sebastiano, Petruchio's son, in the disguise of a tailor called Giovanno. Old Tailor. Vermin, his man. Three Tailors more. Captain of the Banditti. Two Ruffians and a Bravo. Philippa, the Moor's wife. Auristella, Machiavel's wife. Evadne, Antonio's sister. Aurelia, Sebastiano's sister. Nurse, attendant on Evadne. Attendants.
Scene—Seville.
[15]
THE REBELLION. ACT I., SCENE 1. Enter severally, Alerzo, Fulgentio, and Pandolpho.
Aler. Colonel?
Ful. Signor Alerzo?
Aler. Here.
Pan. Signors, well-met:
The lazy morn has scarcely trimm'd herself
To entertain the sun ”

“ Sebastian received the boy with trembling avidity:—as he bent to kiss his infant cheek, his silver locks sweeping over the eyelids of the little Prince, awoke him, and he looked smiling up. A nobler smile (for it was radiant with the immortal spirit) lighted up the face of the aged King, he leaned back in the royal{320} chair, he looked at the son of Gaspar, then at Braganza and Luisa, cast a last glance at their child, thought of them he was hastening to rejoin, and fixing his eyes on heaven, he feebly exclaimed, “Die, die! thou hast lived long enough.” ”

“ Earnest to observe the countenance of Braganza, Sebastian inclined his venerable person, and lifted up the white locks which obscured his sight. His imagination had represented the husband of Luisa, with a mien dignified, but somewhat austere, and a brow armed with the lofty courage of his conduct. On the contrary, he beheld a man in the prime of life, whose elegantly proportioned figure moved with gentle gracefulness; whose face,{292} (seriously sweet) invited love, destroyed apprehension, and spoke a heart warmed with the most amiable affections. ”

“ At the last words, Sebastian’s eyes sparkled with fury, “Mark me, Moor!” he cried in a dreadful voice, “I am a man that will not survive disgrace: by the immortal heavens! if but the shadow of one of your whips ever falls upon this body, I will wash out the stain in blood! Beware then!”
The Africans looked on each other with astonishment: the Almoçadem smiled. “We shall see! we shall see!” he repeated carelessly, “if you do your duty I give orders that you shall not be beaten; but I must have all my slaves do their duty ”

“ There was just light enough for these men to see in the hand of Sebastian, a heap of sequins, with which he tempted them to put off immediately for any port on the opposite coast: they hesitated only a short time; his ardent intreaties and persuasive manner, but above all, his gold, decided them [Pg 122] to incur any risks, they once more hoisted their sail, he leaped into the bark, and in a few minutes they were far out at sea.
Is there a heart to which liberty is sacred, to which a country and a home are dear, that does not throb with anxiety for Sebastian? ”

“ Nature had endowed him with an animating cheerfulness of disposition, to which every one resorted for pleasure: he{21} was liberal of his purse, liberal even to carelessness in his judgments; naturally indolent and indifferent in matters of importance; but capable of catching the fever of enthusiasm from another. This last quality gave him his influence over Sebastian.
The king was flattered by the appearance of having roused Antonio from a degrading apathy: for, indeed, except in the prior’s attachment to him, he seemed devoid of any serious feeling. ”

“ I was one in the fatally-memorable expedition of Don Sebastian!—After many hardships, and more sorrows, I am come hither to offer my services to the Sophi; a Christian knight may war by the side of infidels when their cause is just, for then, he sees in them only men and brethren.—Have you confidence enough in this countenance to believe me what I profess myself? dare you pledge your faith for my integrity while presenting me to the Persian? ”

“ Sebastian, after his defeat and escape, had made a vow upon the Holy Sepulchre to lay aside the royal dignity of which he deemed that he had proved himself unworthy, and to do penance for the pride that had brought him down, by roaming the world in humble guise, earning his bread by the labour of his hands and the sweat of his brow like any common hind, until he should have purged his offense and rendered himself worthy once more to resume the estate to which he had been born. ”

“ Sebastian briefly stated these circumstances, adding, “of his evidence I am deprived by the most cruel misfortune; my faithful follower is no more; but his dying words attest my truth, and the noble Braganza is prepared to repeat them. Let this woman you speak of, be brought hither; she will quickly acknowledge that I am not her husband. If I am a Calabrian, bring forward those who know my birth and lineage.—You have state papers signed by Don Sebastian’s name, compare these signatures with my hand writing now. ”

“ To pass their lives in the castle Del Ovo, was therefore the last prospect that remained to Sebastian and to his blameless wife. When our fate appears inevitable, who is it that weakly continues to contend against it? Confiding their daughter’s future happiness to Heaven, and to the Duchess Medina Sidonia, they dried their tears, as they sometimes flowed, when{208} thinking of their eternal separation, and taught themselves to rejoice in her liberty. ”

“ It was the weakness of Sebastian to wish for the love of his fellow creatures: time, only, could teach him to be contented with their esteem.
Having conducted his melancholy companion through the obscurest parts of the Cassavee, Ephra brought him into a large square of ground surrounded by mean buildings, where a number of Christians were at work: this place contained the slaves’ habitations, and was under the direction of a governor, whose office it was to see the several tasks fulfilled, and at night to lock up all the captives in their miserable lodgings. ”

“ With Medina Sidonia he conversed aloud on various subjects, calculated to place his integrity under a yet broader light; the gratitude he felt for the protection afforded to his daughter, gave warmth to his manner, and attracted the heart of Don Hyppolito.
Upon that young man Sebastian cast many approving looks, for there was a careless intrepidity in the young Spaniard’s manner, and an ardent precipitation in his speech, which announced a generous and a brave character. ”

“ Her tears and touching feebleness at length melted El Hader, and he consented to limit the punishment of Sebastian to a month of the hardest labour in his quarries: “as the fellow is so strong and ingenious,” he concluded, “I would not part with him, but his countryman, your other favorite, shall be sold immediately; he is a sickly, stupid, good-for-nothing dog, and the sooner he is got rid of the better.—see that you make no attempt to bring these Christian fools to a leave-taking—if you do, I swear by the beard of the Prophet, that the slave Fabian shall pay the price of your fault.” ”

“ The women called him Sebastian for his beauty. A Sebastian he was, per Dio! stuck all over with Amor's fiery darts. Like Sebastian, by his persecutors he would be stripped bare; like that martyr's enemies, they would wound his tender flesh; like Sebastian he would endure, casting his eyes upwards; and like Sebastian he would infallibly be wept by the women. ”

“ Sebastian’s character was one of ex{253}tremes; he was alternately the fiercest and the gentlest of mankind; where he saw the trace of humanity he could quell every movement of passion, and enter into the calmest and most considerate explanations: he now let the wrath of Hafiz take its course, waiting till it was spent, before he expatiated upon the natural love we bear our countrymen; and the impossibility of refraining from some shew of violence when any object whom we sincerely love is threatened with danger. ”

“ Their very horses, proudly pranced under housings of cloth of gold and precious stones.
As the long procession passed from the palace to the cathedral, crouds of spectators lining the streets and windows, easily distinguished their prince by the superior nobleness of his air. In the very flower of his youth Sebastian appeared mounted on a white Arabian, the trappings of which were studded with rubies: his own ornaments were few: the order of Christus, alone sparkled in brilliants upon his majestic chest ”

“ Sebastian observed it in silence; then fearing to awake him, rose to seek some other slave who might assist in conveying him to his chamber.
For this purpose he quitted the labyrinth: the pale evening star twinkling through innumerous boughs, alone lighted him on his way. Glowing with bene [Pg 4] volent and friendly joy, he trod with a lighter step, and looked even in the gardens of El Hader as he had done in the magnificent precincts of Xabregas: though wrapt in a homely dress, the kingly air was still visible. There is a gracefulness of mind which ennobles the meanest habit ”

“ CHAP. VII. In this state of abstraction, the King was perceived by a groupe of natives, who had come to the strand, in hope of plundering such vessels as they might find wrecked there; it cost them no trouble to make him their prisoner; the formidable Sebastian had not then any care for himself.—having explained to them as well as the difference of their provincial Moresco would permit, that he had been cast on their shore by the late storm, and was consequently too much enfeebled for great exertion, they were induced to let him walk slowly. ”

“ How do our desires grow with our hopes! how does the possession of one blessing, quicken and inflame our thirst after others!—but a little while before, and Sebastian was indifferent to every thing; now, the smallest of his expectations was considered with lively interest: [Pg 218] he contemplated his reception at Brazil, and his restoration to Portugal, with the anxiety of a spirit newly roused to action; and secure of domestic felicity, felt that no other station than that to which he was born, could fill the expansion of his large soul. ”

“ Tefza’s intreating eyes spoke only too audibly, as they perpetually turned and fixed themselves upon the face of Sebastian.
The regards of the King were cast down; his head was inclined, his step slow; but this downcast look, this regulated pace, the burning glow that increased every moment upon his cheek, plainly developed the struggles of a man, the expression of whose gladness, decency and gratitude united to control. ”

“ How does the outward lustre of a crown dazzle all eyes, and blind them to its thorny lining! ambition, more potent even than love, sees no defect in its object, but{137} grasps at it with the avidity of a soul certain of seizing beautitude!—The nobles round King Sebastian looked at each other for awhile without speaking; then actuated by the same spirit, cast themselves at his feet in a transport of gratitude ”