No More Learning

in war. "
-:
The battle I mentioned in my account of Attica, when I
described the tombs at Athens. And in the same temple at
Olympia, above the zone that runs round the pillars on the out-
side, are 21 golden shields, the offering of Mummius the Roman
general, after he had beaten the Achæans and taken Corinth,
and expelled the Dorians from Corinth. And on the gables in
bas-relief is the chariot race between Pelops and Enomaus; and
both chariots in motion. And in the middle of the gable is a
statue of Zeus; and on the right hand of Zeus is nomaus with
a helmet on his head; and beside him his wife Sterope, one of
the daughters of Atlas. And Myrtilus, who was the charioteer
of Enomaus, is seated behind the four horses. And next to
him are two men whose names are not recorded, but they are
doubtless Enomaus's grooms, whose duty was to take care of
the horses. And at the end of the gable is a delineation of the
river Cladeus, next to the Alpheus held most in honor of all
the rivers of Elis. And on the left of the statue of Zeus are
Pelops and Hippodamia, and the charioteer of Pelops, and the
horses, and two men who were Pelops's grooms. And where
the gable tapers fine there is the Alpheus delineated. And
Pelops's charioteer was, according to the tradition of the Trozen-
ians, Sphærus; but the custodian at Olympia said that his name.
was Cilla. The carvings on the gables in front are by Pæonius


## p. 11220 (#440) ##########################################

II 220
PAUSANIAS
of Mende in Thracia; those behind by Alcamenes, a contem-
porary of Phidias and second only to him as statuary. And on
the gables is a representation of the fight between the Lapithæ
and the Centaurs at the marriage of Pirithous. Pirithous is in
the centre, and on one side of him is Eurytion trying to carry
off Pirithous's wife, and Cæneus coming to the rescue, and
on the other side Theseus laying about among the Centaurs
with his battle-axe; and one Centaur is carrying off a maiden,
another a blooming boy. Alcamenes has engraved this story, I
imagine, because he learnt from the lines of Homer that Piri-
thous was the son of Zeus, and knew that Theseus was fourth in
descent from Pelops. There are also in bas-relief at Olympia
most of the Labors of Hercules. Above the doors of the temple
is the hunting of the Erymanthian boar, and Hercules taking
the mares of Diomede the Thracian, and robbing Geryon of
his oxen in the island of Erytheia, and supporting the load of
Atlas, and clearing the land of Elis of its dung. And above the
chamber behind the doors he is robbing the Amazon of her belt;
and there is the stag, and the Cretan Minotaur, and the Stym-
phalian birds, and the hydra, and the Nemean lion. And as you
enter the brazen doors on the right in front of the pillar is
Iphitus being crowned by his wife Ecechiria, as the inscription
in verse states. And there are pillars inside the temple, and
porticoes above, and an approach by them to the image of Zeus.
There is also a winding staircase to the roof.
The image of the god is in gold and ivory, seated on a
throne. And a crown is on his head imitating the foliage of the
olive-tree. In his right hand he holds a Victory in ivory and
gold, with a tiara and crown on his head; and in his left hand
a sceptre adorned with all manner of precious stones, and the
bird seated on the sceptre is an eagle. The robes and sandals
of the god are also of gold; and on his robes are imitations of
flowers, especially of lilies. And the throne is richly adorned
with gold and precious stones, and with ebony and ivory. And
there are imitations of animals painted on it, and models worked
on it.
There are four Victories like dancers, one at each foot
of the throne, and two also at the instep of each foot; and at
each of the front feet are Theban boys carried off by Sphinxes,
and below the Sphinxes, Apollo and Artemis shooting down the
children of Niobe. And between the feet of the throne are four
divisions formed by straight lines drawn from each of the four


## p. 11221 (#441) ##########################################

PAUSANIAS
II221
-
feet.
In the division nearest the entrance there are seven mod-
els, the eighth has vanished no one knows where or how. And
they are imitations of ancient contests, for in the days of Phidias
the contests for boys were not yet established.
And the figure
Pantarces, who
This Pantarces
with its head muffled up in a scarf is, they say,
was a native of Elis and the darling of Phidias.
won the wrestling-prize for boys in the 86th Olympiad. And in
the remaining divisions is the band of Hercules fighting against
the Amazons. The number on each side is 29, and Theseus is
on the side of Hercules. And the throne is supported not only
by the four feet, but also by four pillars between the feet. But
one cannot get under the throne, as one can at Amyclæ, and pass
inside; for at Olympia there are panels like walls that keep one
off. Of these panels the one opposite the doors of the temple is
painted sky-blue only, but the others contain paintings by Panæ-
nus. Among them is Atlas bearing up Earth and Heaven, and
Hercules standing by willing to relieve him of his load; and
Theseus and Pirithous, and Greece, and Salamis with the figure-
head of a ship in her hand, and the contest of Hercules with the
Nemean lion, and Ajax's unknightly violation of Cassandra, and
Hippodamia, the daughter of Enomaus, with her mother; and
Prometheus still chained to the rock, and Hercules gazing at him.
For the tradition is that Hercules slew the eagle that was ever
tormenting Prometheus on Mount Caucasus, and released Prome-
theus from his chains. The last paintings are Penthesilea dying
and Achilles supporting her, and two Hesperides carrying the
apples of which they are fabled to have been the keepers. This
Panænus was the brother of Phidias; and at Athens in the
Painted Stoa he has painted the action at Marathon. At the top
of the throne, Phidias has represented above the head of Zeus
the three Graces and three Seasons. For these too, as we learn
from the poets, were daughters of Zeus. Homer in the Iliad has
represented the Seasons as having the care of Heaven, as a kind
of guards of a royal palace. And the base under the feet of
Zeus (what is called in Attic @pavior) has golden lions engraved
on it, and the battle between Theseus and the Amazons,-the
first famous exploit of the Athenians beyond their own borders.
And on the platform that supports the throne there are various
ornaments round Zeus, and gilt carving,- the Sun seated in his
chariot, and Zeus and Hera; and near is Grace. Hermes is
close to her, and Vesta close to Hermes. And next to Vesta is


## p. 11222 (#442) ##########################################

11222
PAUSANIAS
Eros receiving Aphrodite, who is just rising from the sea and
being crowned by Persuasion. And Apollo and Artemis, Athene
and Hercules, are standing by, and at the end of the platform
Amphitrite and Poseidon, and Selene apparently urging on her
horse. And some say it is a mule and not a horse that the god-
dess is riding upon; and there is a silly tale about this mule.
I know that the size of the Olympian Zeus both in height
and breadth has been stated; but I cannot bestow praise on the
measurers, for their recorded measurement comes far short of
what any one would infer from looking at the statue. They make
the god also to have testified to the art of Phidias. For they
say that when the statue was finished, Phidias prayed him to sig-
nify if the work was to his mind; and immediately Zeus struck
with lightning that part of the pavement where in our day there
is a brazen urn with a lid.
And all the pavement in front of the statue is not of white
but of black stone. And a border of Parian marble runs round
this black stone, as a preservative against spilled oil. For oil is
good for the statue at Olympia, as it prevents the ivory being
harmed by the dampness of the grove. But in the Acropolis at
Athens, in regard to the statue of Athene called the Maiden, it is
not oil but water that is advantageously employed to the ivory;
for as the citadel is dry by reason of its great height, the statue
being made of ivory needs to be sprinkled with water freely.
And when I was at Epidaurus, and inquired why they use neither
water nor oil to the statue of Esculapius, the sacristans of the
temple informed me that the statue of the god and its throne
are over a well.


## p. 11223 (#443) ##########################################

11223
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
(1785-1866)
HIS preface to Cole's edition of Peacock's works, Lord
Houghton describes the author of 'Headlong Hall' and
'Nightmare Abbey' as a man who belonged in all his
tastes, sentiments, and aspects of life, to the eighteenth century.
This characterization of Peacock is to a degree justifiable. In his
indifference to the mysteries of existence, in his common-sense spirit,
in his delicate epicureanism, in his love of ancient and well-established
institutions of government and society, he exhibits the temper of the
age of Pope. Yet he is thoroughly modern in his exquisite humor,
in his skill in pricking the South Sea bubbles devised by the indi-
vidual or by humanity at large, in his sense of proportion, in his fine
carelessness. He may not have belonged to the enthusiastic, tem-
pestuous, striving age which produced Byron and Shelley in the world
of letters, and led to the Oxford Revival in the domain of religion;
but he may be classed with end-of-the-century pagans as properly as
with those of the preceding century.
Ben Jonson has been spoken of as the prototype of Peacock,
because he dealt in "humors. " The points of resemblance between
the Elizabethan dramatist and the satirist of English life three hun-
dred years later, are not few. The characters of Peacock's novels,
like the persons of Jonson's dramas, are less human beings than
abstractions of certain intellectual eccentricities. Although Lady
Clarinda of Crotchet Castle' and the Rev. Dr. Opimian of 'Gryll
Grange' are warm, lifelike creations, the majority of their associates
are shadowy mouthpieces, through which Peacock directs the shafts
of his inimitable irony against the clergy, against the universities,
against the politicians, against the innovationists, against the whim-
sies of his contemporaries of every creed and party.
His satirical temper, his fashion of ridiculing everything but good
dinners and a country life, his insight into the foibles of his time,
were manifest in his first novel, 'Headlong Hall. ' Squire Headlong,
a hunter and a lover of old wines, has been seized with a violent
passion to be thought a philosopher and a man of taste: so he sets
off to Oxford to inquire for other varieties of the same genera,—
namely, men of taste and philosophy; but being assured by a learned
professor that there were no such things in the university, he pursues


## p. 11224 (#444) ##########################################

11224
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
his search in London, where he makes the acquaintance of Mr. Fos-
ter the perfectibilian, Mr. Escot the deteriorationist, Mr. Jenkinson
the statu-quo-ite, and the Rev. Dr. Gaster, who has gained fame by
a learned dissertation on the art of stuffing a turkey. These four
worthies spend Christmas at Headlong Hall, where each discourses in
season and out of season on his particular conception of the universe.
In Dr. Gaster, Peacock satirizes the English clergy; but he makes
amends for his fun at their expense by drawing the charming Dr.
Folliott in Crotchet Castle,' and Dr. Opimian in 'Gryll Grange. '
These are clergymen of the old school, Tories, whose knowledge of
Greek is only equaled by their knowledge of fish-sauces and old
Madeira. Peacock was too much of an epicurean and Grecian him-
self not to recognize and pay tribute to such merits.
His most biting satire is directed rather against the chimeras of
contemporary poets and philosophers. Although he was a true friend
of Shelley, he caricatures him, in a kindly enough spirit, in the hero
of Nightmare Abbey,' young Sycthrop, who is in love with two
women at once. Byron is held up to ridicule as Mr. Cypress, and
Coleridge as Mr. Flosky. For the dreamy mystical poet of the
'Ancient Mariner,' Peacock could have little sympathy. He intro-
duces him into 'Crotchet Castle' as Mr. Skionar, "a great dreamer
who always dreams with his eyes open, or with one eye open at any
rate, which is an eye to gain," a palpable injustice to Coleridge,
who never knew how to take care of himself. Southey was, however,
Peacock's pet detestation. As Sackput, he makes of the poet a mon-
ument to his ironical contempt.
His own life is in part explanatory of his peculiar aversion to cer-
tain contemporary institutions and classes of people. He was born
October 1785, at Weymouth, England, the only child of Samuel Pea-
cock, a merchant of London. His mother, Sarah Love, had several
relatives in the English navy, from whom Peacock gained his knowl-
edge of shipping, which he afterwards turned to good account in the
service of the East India Company. He was sent to a private school
at eight years of age, remaining there until he was thirteen. After
that time his education was carried on by himself. A residence in
London enabled him to do an enormous amount of classical reading
in the British Museum. How wide that reading was, is shown by the
variety and number of the classical quotations sown through his nov-
els. As a self-educated man, he had an unbounded contempt for the
universities, and he lost no opportunity of expressing it.
From 1808 to 1809 he was under-secretary to Sir Home Popham,
on board H. M. S. Venerable; but the occupation was not congenial
to him, and he resigned his position. Later he took up his residence
in Wales. At Nant Gwillt, near Rhaydar, in 1812, he made the


## p. 11225 (#445) ##########################################

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11225
acquaintance of Shelley and his child-wife Harriet. By some con-
tradiction of his nature, he formed a close and lasting friendship
with the ethereal poet, of whom he has left a very just though sym-
pathetic biography. In this biography he draws what is perhaps the
most authentic portrait of the unfortunate Harriet. He does justice
to her physical charms, and to her purity of character. In 1816 he
published Headlong Hall'; in 1817 Melincourt'; in 1818 'Nightmare
Abbey'; in 1822 (Maid Marian'; in 1829 (The Misfortunes of Elplim';
and in 1831 Crotchet Castle. ' In 1819 Peacock had obtained a
clerkship in the examiner's office of the East India Company. He
continued in its employ until 1856, when he retired on a pension, and
was succeeded by John Stuart Mill. From 1831 to 1852 he published
nothing. His last novel, 'Gryll Grange,' was published when he was
an old man in the seventies. He died in 1866.
During the long period of his life he stood apart from the world
of his contemporaries. He was not in sympathy with it, although he
understood it. Peacock was in sympathy with nothing which took
itself seriously. For this reason he hated the Scotch reviewers,
especially Jeffrey and his school; he hated the universities; he hated
reformers, who are always intense and literal. Peacock's works, aside
from their literary value, are important for the light they throw upon
the intellectual peculiarities of Englishmen in the first half of this
century. The historical value of satire has been apparent since the
days of Aristophanes. As Lucian lets the reader into the highly
colored intellectual world of the second century, so Peacock reveals
the colors of nineteenth-century thought in his ironical novels.
He himself is a pagan of the decadence. He takes the world with
exquisite nonchalance, and prefers a well-ordered dinner to a dis-
sertation on the immortality of the soul. His bacchanalian songs,
interspersed through his novels, are Elizabethan in their mellowness
of fancy; they have the quality of fine wine itself. They, rather than
his occasional pieces on conventional subjects, establish his claim as
a poet. Peacock's love of the country, and of an unrestrained life,
finds its most perfect expression in Maid Marian,' an airy tale of
Robin Hood and his Merry Men. It is redolent of the greenwood,
but the odor of delicately roasted venison and the fragrance of
canary wine are always discernible through the sweet smell of the
turf.
Peacock's works are of a rare vintage, but the reader must be an
epicurean in literature to enjoy them. He must lay aside his fever-
ish nineteenth-century prejudices and opinions if he would enjoy the
whimsicalities of this writer, who takes his ease in the world's inn,
while he laughs at the perspiring crowd in the highway.


## p. 11226 (#446) ##########################################

11226
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
FROM MAID MARIAN>
MAID MARIAN
- Tuck, the merry friar, who many a sermon made
In praise of Robin Hood, his outlaws, and their trade.
- DRAYTON.
-
T
HE baron, with some of his retainers and all the foresters,
halted at daybreak in Sherwood Forest. The foresters
quickly erected tents, and prepared an abundant breakfast
of venison and ale.
"Now, Lord Fitzwater," said the chief forester, "recognize
your son-in-law that was to have been, in the outlaw Robin
Hood. "
"Ay, ay," said the baron, "I have recognized you long ago. "
"And recognize your young friend Gamwell," said the second,
"in the outlaw Scarlet. "
"And Little John, the page," said the third, "in Little John,
the outlaw. "
"And Father Michael, of Rubygill Abbey," said the friar,
"in Friar Tuck, of Sherwood Forest. Truly, I have a chapel
here hard by, in the shape of a hollow tree, where I put up
my prayers for travelers; and Little John holds the plate at the
door, for good praying deserves good paying. "
"I am in fine company," said the baron.
"In the very best of company," said the friar: "in the high
court of Nature, and in the midst of her own nobility. Is it
not so? This goodly grove is our palace; the oak and the beech
are its colonnade and its canopy; the sun and the moon and
the stars are its everlasting lamps; the grass and the daisy, and
the primrose and the violet, are its many-colored floor of green,
white, yellow, and blue; the mayflower and the woodbine, and
the eglantine and the ivy, are its decorations, its curtains, and its
tapestry; the lark, and the thrush, and the linnet, and the night-
ingale, are its unhired minstrels and musicians. Robin Hood is
king of the forest both by dignity of birth and by virtue of his
standing army; to say nothing of the free choice of his people,
which he has indeed, but I pass it by as an illegitimate basis of
power. He holds his dominion over the forest, and its horned
multitude of citizen-deer, and its swinish multitude or peasantry
of wild boars, by right of conquest and force of arms. He levies


## p. 11227 (#447) ##########################################

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11227
contributions among them by the free consent of his archers,
their virtual representatives. If they should find a voice to com-
plain that we are 'tyrants and usurpers to kill and cook them up
in their assigned and native dwelling-place,' we should most con-
vincingly admonish them, with point of arrow, that they have.
nothing to do with our laws but to obey them. Is it not written
that the fat ribs of the herd shall be fed upon by the mighty in
the land? And have not they withal my blessing? my ortho-
dox, canonical, and archiepiscopal blessing? Do I not give thanks
for them when they are well roasted and smoking under my
nose? What title had William of Normandy to England, that
Robin of Locksley has not to merry Sherwood? William fought
for his claim. So does Robin. With whom, both? With any
that would or will dispute it. William raised contributions. So
does Robin. From whom, both? From all that they could or
can make pay them. Why did any pay them to William? Why
do any pay them to Robin ? For the same reason, to both:
because they could not or cannot help it. They differ indeed in
this,- that William took from the poor and gave to the rich, and
Robin takes from the rich and gives to the poor; and therein is
Robin illegitimate, though in all else he is true prince. Scarlet
and John, are they not peers of the forest? lords temporal of
Sherwood? And am not I lord spiritual? Am I not archbishop?
Am I not pope? Do I not consecrate their banner and absolve
their sins? Are not they State, and am not I Church? Are
not they State monarchical, and am not I Church militant? Do
I not excommunicate our enemies from venison and brawn, and
by'r Lady, when need calls, beat them down under my feet?
The State levies tax, and the Church levies tithe.
Even so
do we. 'Mass, we take all at once. What then? It is tax by
redemption, and tithe by commutation. Your William and Rich-
ard can cut and come again; but our Robin deals with slippery
subjects, that come not twice to his exchequer. What need we
then to constitute a court, except a fool and a laureate? For
the fool, his only use is to make false knaves merry by art: and
we are true men and are merry by nature. For the laureate,
his only office is to find virtues in those who have none, and to
drink sack for his pains. We have quite virtue enough to need
him not, and can drink our sack for ourselves. "
"Well preached, friar," said Robin Hood; "yet there is one
thing wanting to constitute a court, and that is a queen. And
――


## p. 11228 (#448) ##########################################

11228
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
now, lovely Matilda, look round upon these sylvan shades where
we have so often roused the stag from his ferny covert. The
rising sun smiles upon us through the stems of that beechen
knoll.
Shall I take your hand, Matilda, in the presence of this
my court?
Shall I crown you with our wildwood coronal, and
hail you Queen of the Forest? Will you be the Queen Matilda
of your own true King Robin ? »
Matilda smiled assent.
"Not Matilda," said the friar: "the rules of our holy alliance
require new birth. We have excepted in favor of Little John,
because he is great John, and his name is a misnomer. I
sprinkle, not thy forehead with water, but thy lips with wine,
and baptize thee Marian. "
"Here is a pretty conspiracy," exclaimed the baron. "Why,
you villainous friar, think you to nickname and marry my
daughter before my face with impunity? "
"Even so, bold baron," said the friar: "we are strongest
here. Say you, might overcomes right? I say no. There is no
right but might; and to say that might overcomes right is to
say that right overcomes itself: an absurdity most palpable. Your
right was the stronger in Arlingford, and ours is the stronger in
Sherwood. Your right was right as long as you could maintain
it; so is ours. So is King Richard's, with all deference be it
spoken; and so is King Saladin's: and their two mights are
now committed in bloody fray, and that which overcomes will
be right just as long as it lasts and as far as it reaches. And
now, if any of you know any just impediment-
"Fire and fury! " said the baron.
"Fire and fury," said the friar, "are modes of that might
which constitutes right, and are just impediments to anything
against which they can be brought to bear. They are our allies
upon occasion, and would declare for us now, if you should put
them to the test. "
"Father," said Matilda, "you know the terms of our compact:
from the moment you restrained my liberty, you renounced your
claim to all but compulsory obedience. The friar argues well:
right ends with might. Thick walls, dreary galleries, and tapes-
tried chambers were indifferent to me while I could leave them
at pleasure, but have ever been hateful to me since they held
me by force. May I never again have roof but the blue sky,
nor canopy but the green leaves, nor barrier but the forest


## p. 11229 (#449) ##########################################

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11229
bounds; with the foresters to my train, Little John to my page,
Friar Tuck to my ghostly adviser, and Robin Hood to my liege
lord. I am
no longer Lady Matilda Fitzwater of Arlingford
Castle, but plain Maid Marian of Sherwood Forest. "
"Long live Maid Marian! " re-echoed the foresters.
"O false girl! " said the baron, "do you renounce your name
and parentage? "
"Not my parentage," said Marian, "but my name indeed: do
not all maids renounce it at the altar? »
"The altar! " said the baron: "grant me patience! what do
you mean by the altar? »
"Pile green turf," said the friar; "wreathe it with flowers,
and crown it with fruit, and we will show the noble baron what
we mean by the altar. "
The foresters did as the friar directed.
"Now, Little John," said the friar, "on with the cloak of
the Abbot of Doubleflask. I appoint thee my clerk: thou art
here duly elected in full mote. "
"I wish you were all in full moat together," said the baron,
"and smooth wall on both sides. "
"Punnest thou? " said the friar. "A heinous, anti-Christian
offense. Why anti-Christian? Because anti-Catholic. Why anti-
Catholic? Because anti-Roman. Why anti-Roman? Because
Carthaginian. Is not pun from Punic? punica fides: the very
quintessential quiddity of bad faith; double-visaged; double-
tongued. He that will make a pun will I say no more. Fie
on it. Stand forth, clerk. Who is the bride's father? "
"There is no bride's father," said the baron. "I am the
father of Matilda Fitzwater. "
――――
"There is none such," said the friar. "This is the fair Maid
Marian. Will you make a virtue of necessity, or will you give
laws to the flowing tide? Will you give her, or shall Robin
take her? Will you be her true natural father, or shall I com-
mute paternity? Stand forth, Scarlet. "
"Stand back, Sirrah Scarlet," said the baron. "My daughter
shall have no father but me. Needs must when the Devil drives. "
"No matter who drives," said the friar, "so that, like a well-
disposed subject, you yield cheerful obedience to those who can
enforce it. "
"Mawd, sweet Mawd," said the baron, "will you then forsake
your poor old father in his distress, with his castle in ashes and
his enemy in power? "


## p. 11230 (#450) ##########################################

11230
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
"Not so, father," said Marian: "I will always be your true
daughter; I will always love and serve and watch and defend
you: but neither will I forsake my plighted love, and my own
liege lord, who was your choice before he was mine, for you
made him my associate in infancy; and that he continued to be
mine when he ceased to be yours, does not in any way show
remissness in my duties, or falling off in my affections. And
though I here plight my troth at the altar to Robin, in the
presence of this holy priest and pious clerk, yet- Father, when
Richard returns from Palestine, he will restore you to your
barony, and perhaps, for your sake, your daughter's husband
to the earldom of Huntingdon: should that never be, should it
be the will of fate that we must live and die in the greenwood,
I will live and die MAID MARIAN. "
"A pretty resolution," said the baron, "if Robin will let you
keep it. »
"I have sworn it," said Robin. "Should I expose her tender-
ness to the perils of maternity, when life and death may hang
on shifting at a moment's notice from Sherwood to Barnsdale,
and from Barnsdale to the sea-shore? And why should I ban-
quet when my merry-men starve? Chastity is our forest law,
and even the friar has kept it since he has been here. "
"Truly so," said the friar; "for temptation dwells with ease
and luxury: but the hunter is Hippolytus, and the huntress is
Dian. And now, dearly beloved -»
The friar went through the ceremony with great unction, and
Little John was most clerical in the intonation of his responses.
After which, the friar sang, and Little John fiddled, and the
foresters danced, Robin with Marian, and Scarlet with the baron:
and the venison smoked, and the ale frothed, and the wine.
sparkled, and the sun went down on their unwearied festivity;
which they wound up with the following song, the friar leading,
and the foresters joining chorus:-
―
Oh! bold Robin Hood is a forester good,
As ever drew bow in the merry greenwood:
At his bugle's shrill singing the echoes are ringing,
The wild deer are springing for many a rood;
Its summons we follow, through brake, over hollow,
The thrice-blown shrill summons of bold Robin Hood.
And what eye hath ere seen such a sweet Maiden Queen
As Marian, the pride of the forester's green?


## p. 11231 (#451) ##########################################

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11231
A sweet garden flower, she blooms in the bower,
Where alone to this hour the wild rose has been;
We hail her in duty the queen of all beauty:
We will live, we will die, by our sweet Maiden Queen.
And here's a gray friar, good as heart can desire,
To absolve all our sins as the case may require;
Who with courage so stout lays his oak-plant about,
And puts to the rout all the foes of his choir;
For we are his choristers, we merry foresters,
Chorusing thus with our militant friar.
And Scarlet doth bring his good yew-bough and string,
Prime minister is he of Robin our king;
No mark is too narrow for Little John's arrow,
That hits a cock-sparrow a mile on the wing;
Robin and Mariòn, Scarlet and Little John,
Long with their glory old Sherwood shall ring.
Each a good liver, for well-feathered quiver
Doth furnish brawn, venison, and fowl of the river:
But the best game we dish up, it is a fat bishop;
When his angels we fish up, he proves a free giver,—
For a prelate so lowly has angels more holy,
And should this world's false angels to sinners deliver.
Robin and Mariòn, Scarlet and Little John,
Drink to them one by one, drink as ye sing:
Robin and Mariòn, Scarlet and Little John,
Echo to echo through Sherwood shall fling:
Robin and Mariòn, Scarlet and Little John,
Long with their glory old Sherwood shall ring.
A FOREST CODE
A single volume paramount; a code:
A master spirit; a determined road. -WORDSWORTH.
THE next morning Robin Hood convened his foresters, and
desired Little John, for the baron's edification, to read over the
laws of their forest society. Little John read aloud with a sten-
torophonic voice:-
AT A high court of foresters, held under the greenwood tree
an hour after sunrise, Robin Hood president, William Scarlet


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11232
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
vice-president, Little John secretary: the following articles, moved
by Friar Tuck in his capacity of Peer Spiritual, and seconded by
Much the Miller, were unanimously agreed to.
The principles of our society are six: Legitimacy, Equity,
Hospitality, Chivalry, Chastity, and Courtesy.
The articles of Legitimacy are four:-
I. Our government is legitimate, and our society is founded
on the one golden rule of right, consecrated by the universal
consent of mankind, and by the practice of all ages, individuals,
and nations; namely, To keep what we have, and to catch what
we can.
II. Our government being legitimate, all our proceedings
shall be legitimate: wherefore we declare war against the whole
world, and every forester is by this legitimate declaration legiti-
mately invested with a roving commission to make lawful prize of
everything that comes in his way.
III. All forest laws but our own we declare to be null and
void.
IV. All such of the old laws of England as do not in any
way interfere with, or militate against, the views of this honor-
able assembly, we will loyally adhere to and maintain. The rest
we declare null and void as far as relates to ourselves, in all
cases wherein a vigor beyond the law may be conducive to our
own interest and preservation.
The articles of Equity are three:-
I. The balance of power among the people being very
much deranged by one having too much and another nothing,
we hereby resolve ourselves into a congress or court of equity, to
restore as far as in us lies the said natural balance of power,
by taking from all who have too much as much of the said too
much as we can lay our hands on; and giving to those who have
nothing such a portion thereof as it may seem to us expedient to
part with.
II. In all cases a quorum of foresters shall constitute a court
of equity, and as many as may be strong enough to manage the
matter in hand shall constitute a quorum.
III. All usurers, monks, courtiers, and other drones of the
great hive of society, who shall be found laden with any por-
tion of the honey whereof they have wrongfully despoiled the
industrious bee, shall be rightfully despoiled thereof in turn; and
all bishops and abbots shall be bound and beaten, especially the


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THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11233
Abbot of Doncaster; as shall also all sheriffs, especially the
Sheriff of Nottingham.
The articles of Hospitality are two:-
I. Postmen, carriers, and market-folk, peasants and mechan-
ics, farmers and millers, shall pass through our forest dominions
without let or molestation.
II. All other travelers through the forest shall be graciously
invited to partake of Robin's hospitality; and if they come not
willingly they shall be compelled: and the rich man shall pay
well for his fare; and the poor man shall feast scot free, and
peradventure receive bounty in proportion to his desert and
necessity.
The article of Chivalry is one: -
I. Every forester shall, to the extent of his power, aid and
protect maids, widows, and orphans, and all weak and distressed
persons whomsoever; and no woman shall be impeded or molested
in any way; nor shall any company receive harm which any
woman is in.
The article of Chastity is one:-
I. Every forester, being Diana's forester and minion of the
moon, shall commend himself to the grace of the Virgin, and
shall have the gift of continency on pain of expulsion; that the
article of chivalry may be secure from infringement, and maids,
wives, and widows pass without fear through the forest.
The article of Courtesy is one:
-
I. No one shall miscall a forester. He who calls Robin,
Robert of Huntingdon, or salutes him by any other title or
designation whatsoever except plain Robin Hood; or who calls
Marian, Matilda Fitzwater, or salutes her by any other title or
designation whatsoever except plain Maid Marian, and so of all
others, shall for every such offense forfeit a mark, to be paid to
the friar.
And these articles we swear to keep as we are good men
and true.
Carried by acclamation. God save King Richard.
LITTLE JOHN, Secretary.
"Excellent laws," said the baron; "excellent, by the holy
rood. William of Normandy, with my great-great-grandfather
Fierabras at his elbow, could not have made better. And now,
sweet Mawd · >>
―
XIX-703


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11234
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
«<
"A fine, a fine," cried the friar, a fine, by the article of
courtesy. "
"'Od's life," said the baron, "shall I not call my own daugh-
ter Mawd? Methinks there should be a special exception in my
favor. "
«་
"It must not be," said Robin Hood: our constitution admits
no privilege. "
"But I will commute," said the friar: "for twenty marks a
year duly paid into my ghostly pocket you shall call your daugh-
ter Mawd two hundred times a day. ”
"Gramercy," said the baron, "and I agree, honest friar, when
I can get twenty marks to pay; for till Prince John be beaten
from Nottingham, my rents are like to prove but scanty. "
"I will trust," said the friar, "and thus let us ratify the stip-
ulation; so shall our laws and your infringement run together in
an amicable parallel. "
"But," said Little John, "this is a bad precedent, master
friar. It is turning discipline into profit, penalty into perquisite,
public justice into private revenue. It is rank corruption, master
friar. "
"Why are laws made? " said the friar. "For the profit of
somebody. Of whom? Of him who makes them first, and of
others as it may happen. Was not I legislator in the last article,
and shall I not thrive by my own law? »
"Well then, sweet Mawd," said the baron, "I must leave you,
Mawd: your life is very well for the young and the hearty, but
it squares not with my age or my humor. I must house, Mawd;
I must find refuge: but where? That is the question. "
"Where Sir Guy of Gamwell has found it," said Robin Hood,
«< near the borders of Barnsdale. There you may dwell in safety
with him and fair Alice, till King Richard return; and Little
John shall give you safe-conduct. You will have need to travel
with caution, in disguise and without attendants; for Prince John
commands all this vicinity, and will doubtless lay the country
for you and Marian. Now it is first expedient to dismiss your
retainers. If there be any among them who like our life, they
may stay with us in the greenwood; the rest may return to their
homes. "
Some of the baron's men resolved to remain with Robin and
Marian; and were furnished accordingly with suits of green, of
which Robin always kept good store.


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THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11235
Marian now declared that as there was danger in the way to
Barnsdale, she would accompany Little John and the baron, as
she would not be happy unless she herself saw her father placed
in security. Robin was very unwilling to consent to this, and
assured her that there was more danger for her than the baron;
but Marian was absolute.
"If so, then," said Robin, "I shall be your guide instead of
Little John; and I shall leave him and Scarlet joint regents of
Sherwood during my absence, and the voice of Friar Tuck shall
be decisive between them if they differ in nice questions of State
policy. "
Marian objected to this, that there was more danger for
Robin than either herself or the baron; but Robin was absolute
in his turn.
"Talk not of my voice," said the friar; "for if Marian be a
damsel errant, I will be her ghostly esquire. ”
Robin insisted that this should not be, for number would only
expose them to greater risk of detection. The friar, after some
debate, reluctantly acquiesced.
While they were discussing these matters, they heard the dis-
tant sound of horses' feet.
"Go," said Robin to Little John, "and invite yonder horseman
to dinner. "
Little John bounded away, and soon came before a young
man, who was riding in a melancholy manner, with the bridle
hanging loose on the horse's neck, and his eyes drooping towards
the ground.
"Whither go you? " said Little John.
"Whithersoever my horse pleases," said the young man.
"And that shall be," said Little John, "whither I please to
lead him. I am commissioned to invite you to dine with my
master. "
"Who is your master? " said the young man.
"Robin Hood," said Little John.
"The bold outlaw? " said the stranger.
"Neither he nor you
should have made me turn an inch aside yesterday; but to-day I
care not. "
"Then it is better for you," said Little John, "that you came
to-day than yesterday, if you love dining in a whole skin: for my
master is the pink of courtesy; but if his guests prove stubborn,
he bastes them and his venison together, while the friar says
mass before meat. "


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11236
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
The young man made no answer, and scarcely seemed to
hear what Little John was saying, who therefore took the horse's
bridle and led him to where Robin and his foresters were setting
forth their dinner. Robin seated the young man next to Marian.
Recovering a little from his stupor, he looked with much amaze-
ment at her, and the baron, and Robin, and the friar; listened to
their conversation, and seemed much astonished to find himself
in such holy and courtly company. Robin helped him largely
to numble-pie and cygnet and pheasant, and the other dainties
of his table; and the friar pledged him in ale and wine, and
exhorted him to make good cheer. But the young man drank
little, ate less, spake nothing, and every now and then sighed
heavily.
When the repast was ended, "Now," said Robin, “you are at
liberty to pursue your journey; but first be pleased to pay for
your dinner. "
"That would I gladly do, Robin," said the young man, "but
all I have about me are five shillings and a ring. To the five
shillings you shall be welcome, but for the ring I will fight while
there is a drop of blood in my veins. "
"Gallantly spoken," said Robin Hood. "A love-token, without
doubt; but you must submit to our forest laws.
Little John
must search: and if he find no more than you say, not a penny
will I touch; but if you have spoken false, the whole is forfeit
to our fraternity. "
"And with reason," said the friar; "for thereby is the truth
maintained. The Abbot of Doubleflask swore there was no
money in his valise, and Little John forthwith emptied it of four
hundred pounds. Thus was the abbot's perjury but of one min-
ute's duration: for though his speech was false in the utterance,
yet was it no sooner uttered than it became true, and we should
have been participes criminis to have suffered the holy abbot to
depart in falsehood; whereas he came to us a false priest, and
we sent him away a true man. Marry, we turned his cloak to
further account, and thereby hangs a tale that may be either
said or sung: for in truth I am minstrel here as well as chap-
lain; I pray for good success to our just and necessary warfare,
and sing thanksgiving odes when our foresters bring in booty:
"Bold Robin has robed him in ghostly attire,
And forth he is gone like a holy friar,
Singing hey down, ho down, down, derry down!


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THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
11237
And of two gray friars he soon was aware,
Regaling themselves with dainty fare,
All on the fallen leaves so brown.
"Good-morrow, good brothers,' said bold Robin Hood:
'And what make you in the good greenwood,
Singing hey down, ho down, down, derry down! '
Now give me, I pray you, wine and food;
For none can I find in the good greenwood,
All on the fallen leaves so brown. '
"Good brother,' they said, 'we would give you full fain,
But we have no more than enough for twain,
Singing hey down, ho down, down, derry down! '
'Then give me some money,' said bold Robin Hood;
'For none can I find in the good greenwood,
All on the fallen leaves so brown. '
"No money have we, good brother,' said they;
'Then,' said he, we three for money will pray,
Singing hey down, ho down, down, derry down!
And whatever shall come at the end of our prayer,
We three holy friars will piously share,
All on the fallen leaves so brown. '
"We will not pray with thee, good brother, God wot;
For truly, good brother, thou pleasest us not,
Singing hey down, ho down, down, derry down! '
Then up they both started from Robin to run,
But down on their knees Robin pulled them each one,
All on the fallen leaves so brown.