Somerled

“ Somerled gave her advice for the journey (and perhaps something more substantial) , but he must have seen that, though virtue might be its own reward, he was unlikely to get any other. Mrs. Bal had lent Barrie to us, and without a woman to aid and abet him, it seemed to me that he was powerless. Such chaperons as Mrs. James don't grow on blackberry bushes even in Scotland, where blackberries, if not gooseberries, are the best in the world. Somerled had done for himself. ”

“ Douglas and I were walking and talking together in Carlisle Castle she apologized to Mr. Somerled. And outside the entrance gates, when Mr. Douglas had shaken hands, hoping to "run across us" when he gets leave for Edinburgh, Mrs. West walked up to me. "I've begged Mr. Somerled's pardon," she said, with her pretty smile which never changes, "and he has forgiven me, so you mustn't go on thinking me an ill-natured, bad-tempered person, please; I'm not really. Only we writing people have 'temperaments,' just as artists have—Mr. Somerled himself, for instance. ”

“ We left the car as soon as possible, however, and plunged into the beauty and squalor of the High Street on foot. I annexed Barrie as a companion, and Somerled did not fight for her. Quietly he contented, or seemed to content, himself with Mrs. James, and my impression was confirmed that, whether he wanted Barrie or not, he was deliberately standing aside in my favour, giving me my "chance"—perhaps to test Barrie or me—or both. Who could tell? Not I. Somerled is hard to read, even for a professional character-vivisectionist. ”

“ The power wielded by Somerled aroused the jealousy of Malcolm IV, who demanded that Somerled should resign his possessions to him, and hold them in future as a vassal of the king of Scots. This Somerled declined to do, and, war being declared, he in 1164 sailed with 160 galleys up the Clyde and landed his forces near Renfrew. ”

“ By a former marriage he had a son Gillecolm; and, according to the ‘Chronicle of Man,’ he had a fifth son, Olave. After the death of Olave, king of Man, Thorfin, son of Ottar, one of the lords of Man, resolved to depose Godfred the Black, king of Man, as an oppressor, and offered to Somerled, if he would assist him, to make his son Dugall king in Godfred's stead. Somerled was nothing loth, and Thorfin carried Dugall through all the isles, except Man, and forced the inhabitants to acknowledge him, hostages being taken for their obedience. ”

“ One of the most 35powerful of these, Thorfinn, son of Otter, went to Somerled and asked to have his son Dubhgal, whose mother was King Olave’s daughter, that he might set him on the throne of the Isles, and taking him through the Isles he forced the chiefs to acknowledge him for their sovereign, and to give hostages for their allegiance. Another of these chiefs called Paul fled privately to Godred, who seems to have been in Man, and told him what had taken place, when he immediately collected his followers, got his ships ready, and sailed to meet the enemy. ”

“ It was Somerville's nature to sympathzie with every thing bold and fearless; and as he looked at Grace, he was delighted with the fluctuating colour that betrayed the keen interest she took in the conversation of her father and brother. Perhaps wiser men than he would have wavered in an opinion formed by accidental circumstances, and supported by pride, for the sake of a smile from lips as beautiful as the rose-bud, just bursting from its calyx. ”

“ Its power was as transitory as it was entire; and before she retired to rest she had forgotten every thing but Somerville. He had invited the ladies to an evening sail in the harbour, and promised that the plan should be carried into execution before the week had expired. To think of his looks, expressions, the very tones of his voice, furnished ample food for her imagination during the interim; for in a heart that loves as youth and genius are too apt to love, the progress of affection nearly equals the rapidity of light. ”

“ The will, my dear fellow—’
‘Now, see here,’ interrupted Somerset. ‘You are ignorant of anything but science, which I can never regard as being truly knowledge; I, sir, have studied life; and allow me to inform you that I have but to raise my hand and voice—here in this street—and the mob—’
‘Good God in heaven, Somerset,’ cried Zero, turning deadly white and stopping in his walk, ‘great God in heaven, what words are these? ”

“ I admire an harmonious, well-adjusted character, be it formed as it may. He who gives himself up to the absorbing power of any one single passion, may draw the eyes of all mankind toward him; but qualities of a milder and more consistent cast constitute the chief charm of domestic life."
"I repeat that I dislike every thing like made-up goodness," said Somerville. "It is apt to be like brass plated with silver---in the long run it will show its materials."
"You are very right, Captain Somerville," answered Miss Sandford. ”

“ You pain, you wound me, Somerset.’
‘Give me a match!’ cried Somerset wildly. ‘Let me set fire to this incomparable monster! Let me perish with him in his fall!’
‘For God’s sake,’ cried Zero, clutching hold of the young man, ‘for God’s sake command yourself! We stand upon the brink; death yawns around us; a man—a stranger in this foreign land—one whom you have called your friend—’
‘Silence!’ cried Somerset, ‘you are no friend, no friend of mine. I look on you with loathing, like a toad: my flesh creeps with physical repulsion; my soul revolts against the sight of you.’
Zero burst into tears. ”

“ Somers, although I do not know what it all means—and that he does not care a curse when this happens. Still, he says that whereas he is growing old and has known many sorrows—he alludes here, I gather, to some nigger wives of his whom another savage knocked on the head; also to a child to whom he appears to have been attached—you are young with all your days and, he hopes, joys, before you. Therefore he would gladly do anything in his power to save your life, because although you are white and he is black he has conceived an affection for you and looks on you as his child. ”

“ Conscious of the murder of his friend, Somerset received small consolation from the enjoyments of love, or the utmost kindness and indulgence of his sovereign. The graces of his youth gradually disappeared, the gayety of his manners was obscured, his politeness and obliging behavior were changed into sullenness and silence. And the king, whose affections had been engaged by these superficial accomplishments, began to estrange himself from a man who no longer contributed to his amusement. ”

“ Unlike the austere parent, whose brows are ever contracted with a frown, and whose step, when heard, is sufficient to strike terror into the minds of his children, if their faults required correction, Mr. Somers possessed the happy art of reproving with such gentle arguments as proved [Pg 28] superior judgment without wounding affection, and entered with spirit into all their trifling pastimes.
“As the birthday of Fanny drew near, the indulgent Somers promised them a rural jubilee, and the farm soon became a scene of pleasing bustle. ”

“ If Somerset was so great a novice in this detestable art, that, during the course of five months, a man who was his prisoner and attended by none but his emissaries, could not be despatched but in so bungling a manner, how could it be imagined, that a young prince, living in his own court, surrounded by his own friends and domestics, could be exposed to Somerset’s attempts, and be taken off by so subtile a poison, if such a one exist, as could elude the skill of the most experienced physicians? ”

“ But Somerset had fallen below the reach of this material comfort.
‘Let me be,’ he said. ‘I am lost; you have caught me in the toils. Up to this moment, I have lived all my life in the most reckless manner, and done exactly what I pleased, with the most perfect innocence. And now—what am I? Are you so blind and wooden that you do not see the loathing you inspire me with? Is it possible you can suppose me willing to continue to exist upon such terms? ”

“ The English public, often wildly wrong on general questions, are good judges, for the most part, of personal character; and so passionately was Somerset loved, that those who were nearest the scaffold started forward to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood. His errors were forgotten in the tragedy of his end; and the historian who in his life sees much to censure, who, had he recovered his Protectorate, would, perhaps, have been obliged to repeat the same story of authority unwisely caught at and unwisely used, can find but good words only for the victim of the treachery of Northumberland. ”

“ With cringing and noiseless steps, those men whom Somerset had deemed his true and tried friends, those that would cling to him through good and through evil report—had glided from his presence and stood in the corridor, consulting together in whispers and waiting anxiously for Warwick to come forth, that they might offer him their support unchecked by the presence of the fallen noble to whom, in his prosperity, they had cringed with servile spirits, ready to kneel at any shrine which possessed stepping stones for their own ambition. ”

“ Somers, as worthy a man as ever lived, his wife, Francis and Fanny, their children, Miss Fitzallan and her brother, who were visitors, and who I found were shortly to be more closely connected by the union of Eliza with Francis Somers. Never was there presented a more perfect picture of domestic felicity than afforded by this amiable family. The [Pg 21] father was a man of good understanding and agreeable manners, industrious, sober, and assiduous in implanting principles of rectitude in the minds of his children, whose dispositions were truly amiable. ”

“ She seemed surprised, and somewhat offended, at the alarm Mr Somerive expressed; and hinted, in no very equivocal terms, that this timidity was the effect of that mixture of plebeian blood, from that alloy of which only Orlando, of all the family, seemed exempt: while Mr Somerive, in his turn, beheld, with a degree of horror and disgust, a woman who, to gratify her pride, or revenge her quarrel, on so trifling a subject, was ready to promote perhaps the death of one for whom she had appeared to feel some degree of affection. ”

“ That one from among the men of Somerset should speak ill of Ethelwulf the King, and plot against him, is not to be borne. But that all men may know and fear the doom that shall be to such an one, he has been brought for trial by the Moot, with full proof of his guilt in this matter, that Somerset itself, as it were, should pronounce his sentence. ”

“ Godall solemnly, “the best paper in the world, the Standard.”
“Good,” resumed Somerset. “I now hold it in my hand, the voice of the world, a telephone repeating all men’s wants. I open it, and where my eye first falls—well, no, not Morrison’s Pills—but here, sure enough, and but a little above, I find the joint that I was seeking; here is the weak spot in the armour of society. ”

“ Plan. Now, Somerset, where is your argument?
Som. Here, in my scabbard; meditating that ⁠60
Shall dye your white rose in a bloody red.
Plan. Meantime, your cheeks do counterfeit our roses;
For pale they look with fear, as witnessing
The truth on our side.
Som.⁠No, Plantagenet, ⁠64
'Tis not for fear but anger that thy cheeks
Blush for pure shame to counterfeit our roses,
And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error.
Plan. Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset? ”

“ Still the men remained obstinate, not only refusing to open the door, but guarding it with a close row of levelled pikes. The sound of fierce strife, which now arose with appalling violence, within a few roods of the church, seemed to fill them with cold and stubborn bitterness. At last, when a loud and terrible cry swept over them—a cry of triumph from the Somerset men, mingled with a yell of defiance from the mob, in which Somerset, the Lord Protector’s name, was winged by shouts and curses through the dense air, the man who had spoken before turned almost menacingly on the young nobleman. ”

“ With precarious authority and noble intentions, with moderate ability and immoderate ambition to do good, ready to think those only wise who flattered his hopes, and in his eagerness to accomplish great things, neglecting the immediate duties of the day and hour, Somerset was better qualified than most men to wreck his own fortunes and the cause which he attempted to guide. ”

“ To think,’ he cried, ‘that a young man, guilty of no fault on earth but amiability, should find himself involved in such a damned imbroglio!’ And placing his knuckles in his eyes, Somerset rolled upon the sofa.
‘My God,’ said Zero, ‘is this possible? And I so filled with tenderness and interest! Can it be, dear Somerset, that you are under the empire of these out-worn scruples? or that you judge a patriot by the morality of the religious tract? I thought you were a good agnostic.’
‘Mr. Jones,’ said Somerset, ‘it is in vain to argue. ”

“ That is arranged; and in the meanwhile, I observe my breakfast growing cold. Do, dear Mr. Somerset, since you find yourself condemned, for a week at least, to the society of a very interesting character, display some of that open favour, some of that interest in life’s obscurer sides, which stamp the character of the true artist. Hang me, if you will, to-morrow; but to-day show yourself divested of the scruples of the burgess, and sit down pleasantly to share my meal.’
‘Man!’ cried Somerset, ‘do you understand my sentiments?’
‘Certainly,’ replied Zero; ‘and I respect them! ”

“ And then the soft glow filling the room and working some magic with John Somers's sleep, he opened his mouth and began to sing—to sing as a sleepy child sings to itself—hardly more than a tuneful murmur, a measured breath—an old hymn they had learned at singing-school together. "Land o' Dreams!" sighed Mrs. Somers. "He's in it, awake or asleep. The reel thin's can't hurt him much. It's me that senses 'em. To have him carin' fer that gel for her mother's sake—that's w'at 'twill come to. ”