Tanacharison

“ We wish to conquer that world, with angels at our head, in order that we may establish the happiness of man by a divine dominion, and crushing the political atheism that is now desolating existence, utterly extinguish the grovelling tyranny of self-government.'
The Queen of the Ansarey listened with deep and agitated attention to Tancred. When he had concluded, she said, after a moment's pause, 'I believe also in the necessity of the spiritual supremacy of our Asia. And since it has ceased, it seems not to me that man and man's life have been either as great or as beautiful as heretofore. ”

“ Among all society's many traditions and prejudices, there is none more ancient, more deep-rooted, or more rigorous to-day than this one.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that Taquisara, strong, loyal, and simple as he was, should honestly believe with all his heart that he had been married to Veronica; nor that Don Teodoro himself should look upon what he had unwittingly done as being something which he alone had no power to undo, if, in all conscience and truth, it had been done at all. ”

“ Do you mean the inhabitants of Europe, which is a forest not yet cleared; or the inhabitants of Asia, which is a ruin about to tumble?'
'The railroads will clear the forest,' said Besso. 'And what is to become of the ruin?' asked Tancred.
'God will not forget His land.' 'That is the truth; the government of this globe must be divine, and the impulse can only come from Asia.'
'If your government only understood the Eastern question!' said Mr. Consul-General Laurella, pricking up his ears at some half phrase that he had caught, and addressing Tancred across the table. ”

“ What enemy among your people could the daughter of Besso have found?'
'A deadly one, who seized the occasion offered to a long cherished vengeance; one who for years has been alike the foe and the victim of her race and house. There is no hope!'
'I am indeed amazed. Who could this be?'
'Your friend; at least, your supposed friend, the Emir of the Lebanon.'
'Fakredeen?'
'You have said it.'
'The assassin and the foe of Eva!' exclaimed Tancred, with a countenance relieved yet infinitely perplexed. 'There must be some great misconception in all this. ”

“ Tell me, is it good?'
'Were I alone,' said Tancred, 'without a single guard, I must return.'
'Why?'
'Because I have pledged the word of a Christian noble.'
'To a man who does not believe in Christ. Faugh! Is it not itself a sin to keep faith with heretics?'
'But is he one?' said Tancred. 'He believes in Moses; he disbelieves in none of the seed of Abraham. He is of that seed himself! Would I were such a heretic as Sheikh Amalek!'
'If you will only pay me a visit in the Lebanon, I would introduce you to our patriarch, and he would talk as much theology with you as you like. ”

“ Throughout the year 1794 many letters full of fatherly advice were written by Schwartz from Tanjore to his young ward Serfogee at Madras. He counsels him to look to nothing less than the Almighty power of [Pg 154] God as a sufficient help in the perilous paths of his youth. “Your welfare, believe me,” he writes, “depends entirely upon God who governs all things. If He is your God and Father all will be well. But that He may be your protector and benefactor, you must honour, adore and fear Him. If you refuse to acknowledge Him, it is but just if He forsakes you. ”

“ Tancred roamed about the house, surveyed his court and garden, sighed, while Baroni rewarded and dismissed their escort. 'I know not how it is,' he at length said to his intendant, 'but I never could have supposed that I could have felt so sad and spiritless at Jerusalem.'
'It is the reaction, my lord, after a month's wandering in the desert. It is always so: the world seems tame.'
'I am disappointed that Besso is not here. I am most anxious to see him.'
'Shall I send for the Colonel, my lord?' said Baroni, shaking Tancred's Arabian cloak. ”

“ She might even turn and hate him. She would never believe that he himself had not known what he was doing. If it were possible, he would not incur such risk. Anything in reason and honour would be better than to be hated by her. He had seen her change of manner, of late, and he knew very well that she was beginning to like him much more than formerly.
In the morning, after Don Teodoro had said mass, Taquisara went to him and found him over his books. This time the priest recognized him at once and rose to greet him gravely, as though he had expected his visit. ”

“ Shortly afterwards the army moved to invade Tanjore and the place was captured with hardly any resistance or loss, the poor affrighted King and his family were made prisoners, the Nabob took the kingdom and its treasure, and Schwartz found himself and his work under new masters and at a disadvantage. He appealed for more considerate treatment but was refused, and he reported the state of affairs to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, pointing out “that many of the best families would not hesitate to become Christians, could it be shown how they could maintain themselves. ”

“ I shudder at the sight of it.'
'Heigho!' said Tancred, stretching his arm, and half-speaking to himself, 'I wish the battle of Gindarics had never ceased, but that, like some hero of enchantment, I had gone on for ever fighting.'
'Ah! there is nothing like action,' said Baroni, unscrewing his pistols.
'But what action is there in this world?' said Tancred. 'The most energetic men in Europe are mere busybodies. Empires are now governed like parishes, and a great statesman is only a select vestryman. ”

“ In some cases, especially where no outside influences had perverted their judgment, Schwartz found these Rajahs and native chiefs were quite open to receive the truth. A leading Hindu, the minister of state of the Rajah of Tanjore, was ready and willing to acknowledge that there is but one true God and that the images and idols they ignorantly worship were only worthy of being thrown into the sea. ”

“ We are a link in the chain, as inferior animals were that preceded us: we in turn shall be inferior; all that will remain of us will be some relics in a new red sandstone. This is development. We had fins; we may have wings.'
Tancred grew silent and thoughtful; Lady Bran-cepeth moved, and he rose at the same time. Lady Charmouth looked as if it were by no means necessary for him to depart, but he bowed very low, and then bade farewell to Lady Constance, who said, 'We shall meet to-night.'
'I was a fish, and I shall be a crow,' said Tancred to himself, when the hall door closed on him. ”

“ Gradually, as Taquisara looked, his eyes became accustomed to the light, and he gazed earnestly at his sleeping friend. He saw the dark rings come out beneath the drooping lids, and the paleness of the parted lips, and the terrible emaciation of the thin hand.
But there was life still, and hope. Hope that the man might still live and stand among men, hope that he might yet marry Veronica Serra—and be happy. In the half-darkness, Taquisara set his teeth, biting hard, as though he would have bitten through iron, lest a sharp breath should escape him and disturb the sleeper's rest. ”

“ A man plainly but neatly dressed, slender and wrinkled, with a stooping gait but a glittering eye, came into the chamber, and, in a hushed voice, with many smiles, much humility, but the lurking air of a master, welcomed them to Gindarics. Then, seating himself on the divan, he clapped his hands, and an attendant brought him his nargileh.
'I presume,' said Tancred, 'that the Emir and myself have the honour of conversing with the Lord Keferinis.' Thus he addressed this celebrated eunuch, who is prime minister of the Queen of the Ansarey. ”

“ And they are right: unless we bring man nearer to heaven, unless government become again divine, the insignificance of the human scheme must paralyse all effort.'
'Hem!' said Baroni, kneeling down and opening Tancred's rifle-case. The subject was getting a little too deep for him. 'I perceive,' he said to himself, 'that my lord is very restless. There is something at the bottom of his mind which, perhaps, he does not quite comprehend himself; but it will come out.' Tancred passed the day alone in reading, or walking about his room with an agitated and moody step. ”

“ At this extraordinary view of church history Gianluca laughed.
"You may laugh," answered the Sicilian. "You will never make me believe that old Tancred sat up all night examining his conscience before he went to the Holy Land—any more than he fasted and prayed before he had his daughter's lover murdered."
"No—perhaps not!" Gianluca laughed again.
"He did what struck him as right and natural," said Taquisara, gravely. "Besides, he was sovereign prince in his own land, and it was not a murder at all, but an execution. For a princess, his daughter behaved outrageously. ”

“ But Don Teodoro sighed softly when he had spoken, for he thought of Taquisara and of what that brave and silent man would suffer when he was forced to stand by Gianluca's side and see the rings exchanged and the hands joined, and hear the words spoken which must cut him off forever from all hope. But Taquisara, at least, in his suffering, would have the consolation of having been honest and true and loyal from first to last. He would never have to bear the consequences of having been a coward at a great moment. ”

“ Fresh exemplification of what all of us so frequently experience, that the most sagacious and matured arrangements are of little avail; that no one is present when he is wanted, and that nothing occurs as it was foreseen. Nor should we forget that the principal cause of all these mischances might perhaps be recognised in the inefficiency of the third person whom the parents of Tancred had, with so much solicitude and at so great an expense, secured to him as a companion and counsellor in his travels. ”

“ Freedom
THREE or four days had elapsed since the departure of Fakredeen, and during each of them Tancred saw Eva; indeed, his hours were much passed in the pavilion of the great Sheikh, and, though he was never alone with the daughter of Besso, the language which they spoke, unknown to those about them, permitted them to confer without restraint on those subjects in which they were interested. Tancred opened his mind without reserve to Eva, for he liked to test the soundness of his conclusions by her clear intelligence. Her lofty spirit harmonised with his own high-toned soul. ”

“ His tumultuous reverie was broken by the sobs of Lady Bertie.
'By heaven, I cannot endure this!' said Tancred, advancing. 'Death seems to me preferable to her un-happiness. Dearest of women!'
'Do not call me that,' she murmured. 'I can bear anything from your lips but words of fondness. And pardon all this; I am not myself to-day. I had thought that I had steeled myself to all, to our inevitable separation; but I have mistaken myself, at least miscalculated my strength. It is weak; it is very weak and very foolish, but you must pardon it. ”

“ Tannoos declares that he would be very glad to get him away from Cannobeen, if he could be safe, but that in any other place in the dominions of the emir Beshir, he would be killed. He might be safe at the consul's, but with me, he would not be. "There are men in these mountains," said he, "that can kill and have killed patriarchs and emirs, and that in their own houses; and why could they not kill Asaad with you, if they chose? Is your house more secure than the convent of the patriarch, or the palace of the emir? ”

“ In the midst of all this, bursts of plaintive melancholy; sometimes the anguish of a sensibility too exquisite, alternating with a devilish mockery and a fatal absence of all self-respect.
'It appears to me,' said Tancred, when the young Emir had declared his star accursed, since, after the ceaseless exertions of years, he was still as distant as ever from the accomplishment of his purpose, 'it appears to me that your system is essentially erroneous. I do not believe that anything great is ever effected by management. ”

“ There was a reluctance in his voice which surprised Taquisara.
"You do not seem convinced," said the latter.
"I wish there were another priest here," replied Don Teodoro, thoughtfully, and his clear eyes looked away, avoiding the other's direct glance.
"Why?" inquired the Sicilian, with increasing astonishment.
"It is a painful office to perform for a friend." The curate looked down now, and fingered the corner of his old book, in evident hesitation. "It is quite another thing to assist the poor."
"I do not understand you," said Taquisara. ”

“ In that mystic golden rain of harmony and discord the wizard has shown us the bleeding, palpitating hearts of Galahad and Messalina, he has strung them together on his golden thread, and then the artist’s work being over he tosses them to us and says, “Choose.” He has given us all the factors which make up choice, he has shown us the living essence of the two warring principles swiftly and unerringly; and as Tannhäuser chose of old, so “chance” has ordained that each of us shall choose, and “chance” ordained that Reggie should choose that night. ”

“ Tancred looked round and caught the glance of the Queen of the Ansarey, mortified, yet full of affection.
'It seems to me,' he said, 'that it is time for me to terminate a visit that has already occasioned you, royal lady, too much vexation.'
Astarte burst into tears.
'Let me go,' she said, 'you want a throne; this is a rude one, yet accept it. You require warriors, the Ansarey are invincible. ”