But the
distance
was terrific.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v16 to v20 - Phi to Qui
Of the two hundred works that Prévost left behind him, the
novelette 'Manon Lescaut' has alone survived. But it is enough to
perpetuate his name. It has taken a classical place in French liter-
ature; more than that, it has passed into the emotional literature of
the world, perhaps for as nearly all time as can be predicted for any
story. Not by virtue of great literary art in it, much less by any
ethical charm in its material, has the story lived. 'Manon Lescaut'
morally is always as repulsive a love story (though told with a grace
and skill that disguises offense) as it is pathetic. For the persons
in its drama no reader can have a sentiment of admiration. Their
history is the narrative of a young woman in whom frivolity is the
least of her shortcomings. The hero, her infatuated lover, is a young
man perverted by temperament and by a master-passion to the career
of a professional blackguard and debauchee. But through the tale
shines the light of such sincerity of feeling and of delineation, such
truth to human nature, and above all, such a glow of a love becom-
ing strangely disinterested and even purifying, that the characters
of the protagonists seem to us redeemed, and even glorified, by it.
Complete, tragic too, is their expiation. Literally a world lies be-
tween the gambling-houses in Paris, where Manon and Des Grieux
are habitués, and the sands of Louisiana, in which the transported
criminal scoops the shallow grave of her whom he has followed into
exile. The book is not a defiance to virtue. It is rather a lesson
drawn from vice and from weakness of human nature. Its force not
only lies in the simple straightforward treatment of character and
of situation in it, but in the fact that one is disposed to take it as a
confession, as something that is autobiographic; not merely a little
novel elaborated out of a man's imagination. There was a good deal
of the Chevalier des Grieux in Prévost's own self and career. In the
heroine is realized a French type such as no one else has as well
expressed; and as has been said by Saint Victor, the reader of
Manon's story is apt to make an exception of it from all works more
or less of the same complexion, inasmuch as he would not have her
other than she is. The story belongs in the class of such brief and
concentrated studies in weak and somehow pitiable human nature as
are Mérimée's 'Carmen' and 'Don José. ' It has been made the subject
of drama and opera, of statuary and of paintings innumerable; and
however we may repudiate the corruption of human nature which it
## p. 11808 (#438) ##########################################
11808
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
paints in such uncompromising color, we lay down Prévost's little
book impressed by its truth and dramatic effectiveness to a degree
such as few stories of equally small compass give us, even in French
literature, always abundant in the impressive trifle. It has a far
deeper moral than the question of Byron's couplet: -
"Why did he love her? Curious fool, be still!
Is human love the fruit of human will? »
EXILE AND DEATH
From Manon Lescaut >
Α
FTER a passage of two months we at length reached the
banks of the desired river. The country offered at first sight
nothing agreeable. We saw only sterile and uninhabited.
plains covered with rushes, and some trees rooted up by the
wind: no trace either of men or animals. However, the captain
having discharged some pieces of artillery, we presently observed
a group of the inhabitants of New Orleans, who approached us
with evident signs of joy. We had not perceived the town: it is
concealed upon the side on which we approached it by a hill.
We were received as persons dropt from the clouds.
The poor inhabitants hastened to put a thousand questions
to us upon the state of France, and of the different provinces in
which they were born. They embraced us as brothers, and as
beloved companions, who had come to share their pains and their
solitude. We turned towards the town with them; but we were
astonished to perceive, as we advanced, that what we had hitherto
heard spoken of as a respectable town was nothing more than a
collection of miserable huts. They were inhabited by five or six
hundred persons. The governor's house was a little distinguished
from the rest by its height and its position. It was surrounded
by some earthen ramparts and a deep ditch.
We were first presented to him. He continued for some time
in conversation with the captain; and then advancing towards
us, he looked attentively at the women one after another; there
were thirty of them, for another troop of convicts had joined us
at Havre. After having thus inspected them, he sent for several
young men of the colony who were desirous to marry. He
assigned the handsomest women to the principal of these, and
the remainder were disposed of by lot. He had not yet addressed
## p. 11809 (#439) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11809
Manon; but having ordered the others to depart, he made us
remain. "I learn from the captain," said he, "that you are
married; and he is convinced by your conduct on the passage
that you are both persons of merit and of education. I have
nothing to do with the cause of your misfortunes; but if it be
true that you are as conversant with the world and society as
your appearance would indicate, I shall spare no pains to soften
the severity of your lot, and you may on your part contribute
towards rendering this savage and desert abode less disagreeable
to me. "
I replied in a manner which I thought best calculated to con-
firm the opinion he had formed of us. He gave orders to have
a habitation prepared for us in the town, and detained us to
supper. I was really surprised to find so much politeness in a
governor of transported convicts. In the presence of others he
abstained from inquiring about our past adventures. The con-
versation was general; and in spite of our degradation, Manon
and I exerted ourselves to make it lively and agreeable.
At night we were conducted to the lodging prepared for us.
We found a wretched hovel composed of planks and mud, con-
taining three rooms on the ground, and a loft overhead. He had
sent there six chairs, and some few necessaries of life.
Manon appeared frightened by the first view of this melan-
choly dwelling. It was on my account, much more than upon
her own, that she distressed herself. When we were left to our-
selves, she sat down and wept bitterly. I attempted at first to
console her; but when she enabled me to understand that it was
for my sake she deplored our privations, and that in our common
afflictions she only considered me as the sufferer, I put on an air
of resolution, and even of content, sufficient to encourage her.
"What is there in my lot to lament? " said I: "I possess
all that I have ever desired. You love me, Manon, do you not?
What happiness beyond this have I ever longed for? Let us
leave to Providence the direction of our destiny; it by no means
appears to me so desperate. The governor is civil and obliging;
he has already given us marks of his consideration; he will not
allow us to want for necessaries. As to our rude hut and the
squalidness of our furniture, you might have noticed that there
are few persons in the colony better lodged or more comfortably
furnished than we are: and then you are an admirable chemist,"
added I, embracing her; "you transform everything into gold. "
XX-739
## p. 11810 (#440) ##########################################
11810
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
"In that case," she answered, "you shall be the richest man
in the universe; for as there never was love surpassing yours, so
it is impossible for man to be loved more tenderly than you are.
by me. I well know," she continued, "that I have never mer-
ited the almost incredible fidelity and attachment which you have
shown for me. I have often caused you annoyances which noth-
ing but excessive fondness could have induced you to pardon. I
have been thoughtless and volatile; and even while loving you,
as I have always done to distraction, I was never free from a
consciousness of ingratitude. But you cannot believe how much
my nature is altered; those tears which you have so frequently
seen me shed since quitting the French shore have not been
caused by my own misfortunes. Since you began to share them
with me, I have been a stranger to selfishness: I only wept from
tenderness and compassion for you. I am inconsolable at the
thought of having given you one instant's pain during my past
life. I never cease upbraiding myself with my former incon-
stancy, and wondering at the sacrifices which love has induced.
you to make for a miserable and unworthy wretch, who could
not, with the last drop of her blood, compensate for half the tor-
ments she has caused you. "
Her grief, the language and the tone in which she expressed
herself, made such an impression that I felt my heart ready to
break within me. "Take care," said I to her, "take care, dear
Manon: I have not strength to endure such exciting marks of
your affection; I am little accustomed to the rapturous sensa-
tions which you now kindle in my heart. O Heaven! ” cried
I, "I have now nothing further to ask of you. I am sure of
Manon's love. That has been alone wanting to complete my
happiness; I can now never cease to be happy: my felicity is
well secured. "
"It is indeed," she replied, "if it depends upon me; and I well
know where I can be ever certain of finding my own happiness
centred. "
With these ideas, capable of turning my hut into a palace
worthy of earth's proudest monarch, I lay down to rest. Amer-
ica appeared to my view the true land of milk and honey, the
abode of contentment and delight. "People should come to New
Orleans," I often said to Manon, "who wish to enjoy the real
rapture of love! It is here that love is divested of all selfish-
ness, all jealousy, all inconstancy.
Our countrymen come here
## p. 11811 (#441) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11811
in search of gold; they little think that we have discovered treas-
ures of inestimably greater value. "
We carefully cultivated the governor's friendship. He be-
stowed upon me, a few weeks after our arrival, a small appoint-
ment which became vacant in the fort. Although not one of
any distinction, I gratefully accepted it as a gift of Providence,
as it enabled me to live independently of others' aid. I took a
servant for myself, and a woman for Manon. Our little estab-
⚫lishment became settled: nothing could surpass the regularity of
my conduct, or that of Manon; we lost no opportunity of serv-
ing or doing an act of kindness to our neighbors. This friendly
disposition, and the mildness of our manners, secured us the
confidence and affection of the whole colony. We soon became
so respected that we ranked as the principal persons in the town
after the governor.
The simplicity of our habits and occupations, and the perfect
innocence in which we lived, revived insensibly our early feel-
ings of devotion. Manon had never been an irreligious girl,
and I was far from being one of those reckless libertines who
delight in adding impiety and sacrilege to moral depravity: all
the disorders of our lives might be fairly ascribed to the natural
influences of youth and love. Experience had now begun with
us to do the office of age; it produced the same effect upon us
as years must have done. Our conversation, which was generally
of a serious turn, by degrees engendered a longing for virtuous
love. I first proposed this change to Manon. I knew the prin-
ciples of her heart; she was frank and natural in all her senti-
ments, qualities which invariably predisposed to virtue. I said
to her that there was but one thing wanting to complete our
happiness: "It is," said I, "to invoke upon our union the bene-
diction of Heaven. We have both of us hearts too sensitive, and
minds too refined, to continue voluntarily in the willful violation
of so sacred a duty. "
I waited upon the governor, as I had settled with Manon, to
procure his consent to the ceremony of our marriage. I should
have avoided speaking to him or to any other person upon the
subject, if I had imagined that his chaplain, who was the only
minister in the town, would have performed the office for me
without his knowledge; but not daring to hope that he would do
so privately, I determined to act ingenuously in the matter.
The governor had a nephew named Synnelet, of whom he
was particularly fond. He was about thirty; brave, but of a
## p. 11812 (#442) ##########################################
11812
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
headstrong and violent disposition. He was not married. Manon's
beauty had struck him on the first day of our arrival; and the
numberless opportunities he had of seeing her during the last
nine or ten months had so inflamed his passion that he was abso-
lutely pining for her in secret. However, as he was convinced,
in common with his uncle and the whole colony, that I was mar-
ried, he put such a restraint upon his feelings that they remained
generally unnoticed; and he lost no opportunity of showing the
most disinterested friendship for me.
He happened to be with his uncle when I arrived at the
government house. I had no reason for keeping my intention a
secret from him, so that I explained myself without hesitation in
his presence.
The governor heard me with his usual kindness.
I related to him a part of my history, to which he listened with
evident interest; and when I requested his presence at the in-
tended ceremony, he was so generous as to say that he must
be permitted to defray the expenses of the succeeding entertain-
ment. I retired perfectly satisfied.
In an hour after, the chaplain paid me a visit. I thought he
was come to prepare me by religious instruction for the sacred
ceremony; but after a cold salutation, he announced to me in two
words that the governor desired I would relinquish all thoughts
of such a thing, for that he had other views for Manon.
"Other views for Manon! " said I, as I felt my heart sink
within me: "what views then can they be, chaplain? "
He replied that I must be of course aware that the governor
was absolute master here; that Manon, having been transported
from France to the colony, was entirely at his disposal; that
hitherto he had not exercised his right, believing that she was a
married woman; but that now, having learned from my own lips
that it was not so, he had resolved to assign her to M. Synnelet,
who was passionately in love with her.
My indignation overcame my prudence. I was so irritated.
that I ordered the chaplain instantly to quit my house, swearing
at the same time that neither governor, Synnelet, nor the whole
colony together, should lay hands upon my wife- or mistress if
they chose so to call her.
I immediately told Manon of the distressing message I had
just received. We conjectured that Synnelet had warped his
uncle's mind after my departure, and that it was all the effect
of a premeditated design. They were unquestionably the stronger
party. We found ourselves in New Orleans, as in the midst of
## p. 11813 (#443) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11813
the ocean, separated from the rest of the world by an immense
interval of space.
In a country perfectly unknown, a desert,—
or inhabited, if not by brutes, at least by savages quite as fero-
cious, to what corner could we fly? I was respected in the
town, but I could not hope to excite the people in my favor to
such a degree as to derive assistance from them proportioned to
the impending danger: money was requisite for that purpose,
and I was poor. Besides, the success of a popular commotion
was uncertain; and if we failed in the attempt, our doom would
be inevitably sealed.
I revolved these thoughts in my mind; I mentioned them
in part to Manon; I found new ones, without waiting for her
replies; I determined upon one course, and then abandoned that
to adopt another; I talked to myself, and answered my own
thoughts aloud: at length I sunk into a kind of hysterical stupor
that I can compare to nothing, because nothing ever equaled it.
Manon observed my emotion, and from its violence judged how
imminent was our danger; and apprehensive more on my account
than on her own, the dear girl could not even venture to give
expression to her fears.
――――――
«<
After a multitude of reflections, I resolved to call upon the
governor, and appeal to his feelings of honor, to the recollection
of my unvarying respect for him, and the marks he had given
of his own affection for us both. Manon endeavored to dissuade
me from this attempt: she said, with tears in her eyes, You
are rushing into the jaws of death; they will murder you - I
shall never again see you-I am determined to die before you. "
I had great difficulty in persuading her that it was absolutely
necessary that I should go, and that she should remain at home.
I promised that she should see me again in a few moments.
She did not foresee, nor did I, that it was against herself that
the whole anger of Heaven, and the rabid fury of our enemies,
was about to be concentrated.
I went to the fort; the governor was there with his chap-
lain. I supplicated him in a tone of humble submission that I
could have ill brooked under other circumstances. I invoked his
clemency by every argument calculated to soften any heart less
ferocious and cruel than a tiger's.
The barbarian made to all my prayers but two short answers,
which he repeated over and over again. Manon, he said, was at
his disposal, and he had given a promise to his nephew. I was
## p. 11814 (#444) ##########################################
11814
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
resolved to command my feelings to the last: I merely replied
that I had imagined he was too sincerely my friend to desire my
death, to which I would infinitely rather consent than to the loss
of my mistress.
I felt persuaded, on quitting him, that it was folly to expect
anything from the obstinate tyrant, who would have damned
himself a hundred times over to please his nephew. However, I
persevered in restraining my temper to the end; deeply resolved,
if they persisted in such flagrant injustice, to make America the
scene of one of the most horrible and bloody murders that even
love had ever led to.
I was meditating upon this design on my return home, when
Fate, as if impatient to expedite my ruin, threw Synnelet in my
way. He read in my countenance a portion of my thoughts. I
before said he was brave. He approached me.
"Are you not seeking me? " he inquired. "I know that my
intentions have given you mortal offense, and that the death of
one of us is indispensable: let us see who is to be the happy
man. "
I replied that such was unquestionably the fact; and that noth-
ing but death could end the difference between us.
We retired about one hundred paces out of the town. We
drew: I wounded and disarmed him at the first onset.
He was
so enraged that he peremptorily refused either to ask his life or
renounce his claims to Manon. I might have been perhaps justi-
fied in ending both by a single blow; but noble blood ever vindi-
cates its origin. I threw him back his sword. "Let us renew
the struggle," said I to him, "and remember that there shall be
now no quarter. " He attacked me with redoubled fury. I must
confess that I was not an accomplished 'swordsman, having had
but three months' tuition at Paris. Love, however, guided my
weapon. Synnelet pierced me through and through the left arm;
but I caught him whilst thus engaged, and made so vigorous a
thrust that I stretched him senseless at my feet.
In spite of the triumphant feeling that victory, after a mortal
conflict, inspires, I was immediately horrified by the certain con-
sequences of this death. There could not be the slightest hope
of either pardon or respite from the vengeance I had thus in-
curred. I was so well aware of the affection of the governor
for his nephew that I felt perfectly sure my death would not be
delayed a single hour after his should become known. Urgent
## p. 11815 (#445) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11815
as this apprehension was, it still was by no means the principal
source of my uneasiness. Manon, the welfare of Manon, the peril
that impended over her, and the certainty of my being now at
length separated from her, afflicted me to such a degree that I
was incapable of recognizing the place in which I stood. I re-
gretted Synnelet's death; instant suicide seemed the only remedy
for my woes.
However, it was this very thought that quickly restored me
to my reason, and enabled me to form a resolution. "What! "
said I to myself: "die, in order to end my pain? Then there is
something I dread more than the loss of all I love! No, let me
suffer the cruelest extremities in order to aid her; and when
these prove of no avail, fly to death as a last resource! "
I returned towards the town; on my arrival at home I found
Manon half dead with fright and anxiety; my presence restored
her. I could not conceal from her the terrible accident that had
happened. On my mentioning the death of Synnelet and my
own wound, she fell in a state of insensibility into my arms. It
was a quarter of an hour before I could bring her again to her
senses.
I was myself in a most deplorable state of mind; I could not
discern the slightest prospect of safety for either of us. "Manon,"
said I to her, when she had recovered a little, "what shall we
do? Alas, what hope remains to us? I must necessarily fly.
Will you remain in the town? Yes, dearest Manon, do remain;
you may possibly still be happy here: while I, far away from
you, may seek death and find it amongst the savages or the wild
beasts. "
>>
She raised herself in spite of her weakness, and taking hold
of my hand to lead me towards the door,-"Let us," said she,
"fly together: we have not a moment to lose; Synnelet's body may
be found by chance, and we shall then have no time to escape. '
"But, dear Manon," replied I, "to what place can we fly?
Do you perceive any resource? Would it not be better that you
should endeavor to live on without me, and that I should go
and voluntarily place my life in the governor's hands? "
This proposal had only the effect of making her more impa-
tient for our departure. I had presence of mind enough, on
going out, to take with me some strong liquors which I had in
my chamber, and as much food as I could carry in my pockets.
We told our servants, who were in the adjoining room, that we
## p. 11816 (#446) ##########################################
11816
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
were going to take our evening walk, as was our invariable
habit; and we left the town behind us more rapidly than I had
thought possible from Manon's delicate state of health.
Although I had not formed any resolve as to our future
destination, I still cherished a hope, without which I should have
infinitely preferred death to my suspense about Manon's safety.
I had acquired a sufficient knowledge of the country, during
nearly ten months which I had now passed in America, to know
in what manner the natives should be approached. Death was
not the necessary consequence of falling into their hands. I had
learned a few words of their language, and some of their cus-
toms, having had many opportunities of seeing them.
Besides this sad resource, I derived some hopes from the fact
that the English had, like ourselves, established colonies in this
part of the New World.
But the distance was terrific. In order
to reach them we should have to traverse deserts of many days'
journey, and more than one range of mountains so steep and
vast as to seem almost impassable to the strongest man. I
nevertheless flattered myself that we might derive partial relief
from one or other of these sources: the savages might serve us
as guides, and the English receive us in their settlements.
We journeyed on as long as Manon's strength would permit,
-that is to say, about six miles; for this incomparable creature,
with her usual absence of selfishness, refused my repeated en-
treaties to stop. Overpowered at length by fatigue, she acknowl-
edged the utter impossibility of proceeding further.
It was
already night; we sat down in the midst of an extensive plain,
where we could not even find a tree to shelter us. Her first
care was to dress my wound, which she had bandaged before our
departure. I in vain entreated her to desist from exertion; it
would have only added to her distress if I had refused her the
satisfaction of seeing me at ease and out of danger before her
own wants were attended to. I allowed her therefore to gratify
herself, and in shame and silence submitted to her delicate atten-
tions.
But when she had completed her tender task, with what ardor
did I not enter upon mine! I took off my clothes and stretched
them under her, to render more endurable the hard and rugged
ground on which she lay. I protected her delicate hands from
the cold by my burning kisses and the warmth of my sighs.
I passed the livelong night in watching over her as she slept,
## p. 11817 (#447) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11817
and praying Heaven to refresh her with soft and undisturbed
repose. Thou canst bear witness, just and all-seeing God! to the
fervor and sincerity of those prayers, and thou alone knowest
with what awful rigor they were rejected!
You will excuse me, if I now cut short a story which it
distresses me beyond endurance to relate. It is, I believe, a
calamity without parallel. I can never cease to deplore it. But
although it continues, of course, deeply and indelibly impressed
on my memory, yet my heart seems to shrink within me each
time that I attempt the recital.
We had thus tranquilly passed the night. I had fondly im-
agined that my beloved mistress was in a profound sleep, and I
hardly dared to breathe lest I should disturb her. As day broke,
I observed that her hands were cold and trembling; I pressed
them to my bosom in the hope of restoring animation. This
movement roused her attention; and making an effort to grasp
my hand, she said in a feeble voice that she thought her last
moments had arrived.
I at first took this for a passing weakness, or the ordinary
language of distress; and I answered with the usual consolations
that love prompted. But her incessant sighs, her silence and
inattention to my inquiries, the convulsive grasp of her hands in
which she retained mine, soon convinced me that the crowning
end of all my miseries was approaching.
Do not now expect me to attempt a description of my feel-
ings, or to repeat her dying expressions. I lost her. I received
the purest assurances of her love even at the very instant that
her spirit fled. I have not nerve to say more upon this fatal and
disastrous event.
My spirit was not destined to accompany Manon's. Doubt-
less Heaven did not as yet consider me sufficiently punished, and
therefore ordained that I should continue to drag on a languid
and joyless existence. I willingly renounced every hope of lead-
ing a happy one.
I remained for twenty-four hours without taking my lips from
the still beauteous countenance and hands of my adored Manon.
My intention was to await my own death in that position; but
at the beginning of the second day I reflected that after I was
gone, she must of necessity become the prey of wild beasts.
then determined to bury her, and wait my own doom upon her
grave. I was already, indeed, so near my end from the combined
I
## p. 11818 (#448) ##########################################
11818
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
effect of long fasting and grief, that it was with the greatest
difficulty I could support myself standing. I was obliged to Have
recourse to the liquors which I had brought with me, and these
restored sufficient strength to enable me to set about my last sad
office. From the sandy nature of the soil there was little trouble
in opening the ground. I broke my sword and used it for the
purpose; but my bare hands were of greater service. I dug a
deep grave, and there deposited the idol of my heart, after hav-
ing wrapped around her my clothes to prevent the sand from
touching her. I kissed her ten thousand times with all the ardor
of the most glowing love, before I laid her in this melancholy
bed. I sat for some time upon the bank intently gazing on her,
and could not command fortitude enough to close the grave over
her. At length, feeling that my strength was giving way, and
apprehensive of its being entirely exhausted before the completion.
of my task, I committed to the earth all that it had ever con-
tained most perfect and peerless. I then laid myself with my
face down upon the grave; and closing my eyes with the deter-
mination never again to open them, I invoked the mercy of
Heaven, and ardently prayed for death.
You will find it difficult to believe that during the whole time
of this protracted and distressing ceremony, not a tear or a sigh
escaped to relieve my agony. The state of profound affliction in
which I was, and the deep settled resolution I had taken to die,
had silenced the sighs of despair, and effectually dried up the
ordinary channels of grief. It was thus impossible for me, in this
posture upon the grave, to continue for any time in possession of
my faculties.
After what you have listened to, the remainder of my own
history would ill repay the attention you seem inclined to bestow
upon it.
Synnelet having been carried into the town and skill-
fully examined, it was found that so far from being dead, he
was not even dangerously wounded. He informed his uncle of
the manner in which the affray had occurred between us, and he
generously did justice to my conduct on the occasion. I was sent
for; and as neither of us could be found, our flight was imme-
diately suspected. It was then too late to attempt to trace me,
but the next day and the following one were employed in the
pursuit.
I was found, without any appearance of life, upon the grave
of Manon; and the persons who discovered me in this situation,
## p. 11819 (#449) ##########################################
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST D'EXILES
11819
seeing that I was almost naked, and bleeding from my wounds,
naturally supposed that I had been robbed and assassinated.
They carried me into the town. The motion restored me to my
senses. The sighs I heaved on opening my eyes and finding
myself still amongst the living, showed that I was not beyond
the reach of art: they were but too successful in its application.
I was immediately confined as a close prisoner. My trial was
ordered; and as Manon was not forthcoming, I was accused of
having murdered her from rage and jealousy. I naturally related
all that had occurred. Synnelet, though bitterly grieved and dis-
appointed by what he heard, had the generosity to solicit my
pardon: he obtained it.
I was so reduced that they were obliged to carry me from
the prison to my bed, and there I suffered for three long months
under severe illness. My aversion from life knew no diminution.
I continually prayed for death, and obstinately for some time
refused every remedy. But Providence, after having punished me
with atoning rigor, saw fit to turn to my own use its chastise-
ments and the memory of my multiplied sorrows.
## p. 11820 (#450) ##########################################
11820
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
(1825-)
HE PRIME family in this country have always been promi-
nent in scholarship and patriotism, distinguished in several
professions for great intellectual virility and high character.
William Cowper Prime was born in Cambridge, New York, October
31st, 1825. His father, Benjamin Young, was a physician in Hunting-
ton, Long Island, who had graduated at Princeton and finished his
medical training at Leyden; was an unusual linguist, a finished clas-
sical scholar, and master of several modern languages which he spoke
fluently. During the Revolutionary War
he was distinguished by his patriotic zeal;
and aided the cause by vigorous songs and
ballads, which were widely circulated. His
grandfather, Ebenezer, a Presbyterian cler-
gyman at Huntington, Long Island,-a man
of powerful mind and a preacher of renown,
-suffered greatly during the early years
of the war for his principles; at the age
of seventy-eight he was driven from his
home by British troops and Tories, who
burned his church, occupied his house, and
destroyed his library. He was pursued
with hatred for his attachment to the cause
of liberty even after his death: toward
the close of the war a band of British under command of Colonel
William Thompson (afterwards Count Rumford) heaped insults upon
the grave of the "old rebel. »
Mr. Prime inherited the aptness for scholarship and the linguistic
ability of his ancestors. He was graduated at Princeton in 1843;
studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession in
New York City with success and distinction, until he became one of
the owners and the editor of the Journal of Commerce in 1861. His
active editorship of the Journal continued till 1869, and his proprietor-
ship till 1893. But even while he was a law student, and in active
practice of his profession, he had obeyed the instincts of his family
for literature. A series of country letters written to the Journal
were afterwards collected in volumes, The Owl Creek Letters'
WILLIAM C. PRIME
## p. 11821 (#451) ##########################################
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
11821
(1848), The Old House by the River' (1853), and 'Later Years'
(1854). These papers are among the first of American essays which
mingled the zest of the true sportsman with love of nature and
human sympathy with her moods. They had a wide popularity, and
were the forerunner of those charming books which so truly inter-
pret New England,-'I Go A-Fishing' (1893), 'Along New England
Roads (1892), and 'Among the North Hills' (1895). In these books
are the refined sentiment and keen observation of a lifetime.
>
In 1855-56 Mr. Prime made an extended tour in Europe, Egypt, and
the Holy Land, and another in 1869-70. The fruits of the first visit
were 'Boat Life in Egypt and Nubia,' and 'Tent Life in the Holy
Land' (1857); volumes which had great popularity, and were distin-
guished by fine descriptive quality, a philosophic temper, and profound
sentiment. But foreign travel opened the door to still wider activi-
ties; namely, in the fields of art and archæology, both classic and
mediæval. Mr. Prime's career is typically American in the variety of
its interests, though it is rare in the virility and success with which
he has pursued so many branches of literature and art. Blessed
with an exceptional memory to utilize his quick acquisitions, he
speedily became an authority in several specialties. His library of
wood engraving and illustration is, historically, the most valuable in
the country. His interest in this began with the study of Albrecht
Dürer, and his monograph on the Little Passion' (1868) is the ear-
liest in English on this subject. Among the monographs showing his
wide and exact scholarship are 'O Mother Dear, Jerusalem' (1865),
and Holy Cross; a Study' (1877).
Becoming interested in ceramics through the enthusiasm of his
wife for this study, he laid aside his own specialty after her death,
and devoted himself to the completion of her collection. It is de-
posited at Princeton in a museum erected for the purpose. It was
by his influence that a department of Art History was established
at this college, which had given him the degree of LL. D. in 1875,
and now made him the first professor and lecturer in the new study.
One of the most useful and successful books in any language on
this topic was his 'Pottery and Porcelain of all Times and Nations'
(1878).
This sketch does not at all give the measure of Mr. Prime's fertile
literary activity during his professional life. No man has been more
ready with his vigorous and lucid pen, and more adequate to all the
demands on it. Besides his editorial work and his published volumes,
there have been hundreds of sketches, essays, and short stories from
time to time; and for years he was the legal and literary adviser of
a great publishing house. In 1886, as literary executor of General
George B. McClellan, he edited 'McClellan's Own Story. '
## p. 11822 (#452) ##########################################
11822
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
Perhaps Mr. Prime's greatest service to the public has been in
connection with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a director,
vice-president, and for many years acting president, he brought to
the building-up of this institution, qualities indispensable to such an
enterprise, wide classic, art, and archæological knowledge, enthusi
asm, the perfection of organizing and business methods, and sound
common-sense. He gave to the work time without stint, and the
experience of the scholar and the man of affairs. It is not too much
to say that the great success of this splendid enterprise is largely
due to the wise guidance of Dr. Prime.
As a writer Mr. Prime is always interesting, vigorous, lucid, con-
vincing, equally facile in condensation and amplification, with a style
that is marked by simplicity, and often rises to the charm of melo-
dious periods. His versatility is shown in the rare combination of
sentiment with the most practical and clear view of affairs.
―
THE OLD MAN AT THE WATER-WHEEL
From 'Boat Life in Egypt and Nubia. ' Copyright 1857, by Harper &
Brothers
L
IFE in such a country has no great amount of variety, as one
might well imagine.
There was an old man that I found one day on shore as
I walked by the boat, whose history was strange and worth the
hearing.
He was a puny, dried-up old fellow, whose weight, I think,
might come within seventy pounds. He sat on the end of the
pole of the water-wheel, immediately behind the tails of the bul-
locks, and followed them around the little circle which they
walked, his knees up to his chin, which was buried between them,
and his blear eyes gazing listlessly on the cattle and the outer
wall of the sakea,- for it was inclosed in a stone-and-mud wall.
The everlasting creaking of the wheels-that strange sound that
no other machinery on earth emits seemed, and was to him,
the familiar music of his life.
I questioned him, and his story was simply this: He was born
just there. It was long before the days of Mohammed Ali, when
Hassan Kasheef was king, that he was a boy, sitting on the pole
of the sakea and following the bullocks around. He sat there
more years than he knew anything about, and grew to be a man.
Life was to him still the same round. His view was bounded by
## p. 11823 (#453) ##########################################
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
11823
the mountains around him, and he never went beyond them.
He rode the sakea, and at every circle he caught through the
open doorway a vision of one mighty hill, with a grove of palms
at its foot. In the night he saw it still and solemn among the
stars, and sometimes he had seen tempests gathered around it.
It was the one idea of his life; and it was something to find
in such a brain one idea, though it was but a rock. He looked
out at it as he told me of it, with a sort of affection that I well
understood, but which surprised me none the less. But so he
had lived. He grew heavier as he grew older, and then he could
ot ride the pole, but sat down in the doorway and watched his
bullocks, looking behind him often at the hill; and so the years
slipped along, and age came and he wasted away; and when his
second childhood was on him, he mounted the pole again, and
was riding to his grave.
He had been a great traveler. I know not how many thou-
sand miles he had been carried around that centre-pin. Had he
never been away from the valley? Yes once: he climbed the
hill yonder, and from its summit saw the dreary wastes of sand
that stretched far away in all directions, and he came back con-
tented. Did nothing occur in his lifetime that he now remem-
bered as marking some one day more than another? Nothing.
Yes! one day the wheel broke, and he was startled and fright-
ened; but they came and mended it, and all went on as before.
I left him there to follow his weary round till death overtake
him; and if I find life oppressive at any time hereafter, I shall
know where to seek a hermitage and undisturbed calm.
THE DEFEAT OF THE CHRISTIAN HOST AT GALILEE, A. D. 1187
From Tent Life in the Holy Land. ' Copyright 1857, by Harper & Brothers
R
EGINALD OF CHATILLON, a Knight of the Cross, had come to
Palestine with Louis le Jeune, and joined the forces of
Raymond of Poictiers, Prince of Antioch. Keen as a hawk
and brave as a lion, the young soldier, nameless and of low ori-
gin, not only won a name, but on the death of Raymond won
his widow Constance and his throne. The stories of his bravery
and beauty, sung by the troubadours of those days, were count-
less; nor was any one more often mentioned, as stout knight and
## p. 11824 (#454) ##########################################
11824
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
valiant soldier, than Reginald of Chatillon. His career is the
theme for a history. His arm never grew weary of battle, nor
did his sword rust until he was taken prisoner by the Moslems,
and kept in chains for years at Aleppo. Released at last, he
found his wife dead and his son on his throne. He himself
gathered around him the most daring and reckless of the Tem-
plars, and having by a second marriage obtained other castles
and possessions, he made it the business of his life to harass and
annoy the Saracens wherever he could find them; and at length,
emboldened by his success, conceived the idea of marching to
Medinah and Mecca, and plundering the holy Kaaba itself. With
his hitherto invincible band of warriors he set out on this peril-
ous enterprise. They surprised and captured the Egyptian cara-
van crossing the desert from India, and advanced in triumph to
the valley of Rabid, scarcely thirty miles from Medinah, where
they were met by an overwhelming force and routed with ter-
rible slaughter.
Reginald escaped even here; but Salah-e'deen was aroused by
this sacrilegious undertaking. He swore by an oath that could
not be violated that the knight should die and Jerusalem should
fall.
It was the morning of July 4th, 1187, that the Christians
advanced over the plain. Annoyed by the shafts of the Sara-
cens and their constant sallies on both flanks, they yet advanced
steadily to the middle of the plain, intending to cut their way
through the ranks of the enemy and gain the shore of the sea.
It was here that Salah-e'deen came down on them like a
thunderbolt, at the head of twenty thousand horsemen. It was
one of the most terrible charges on record. But the Christians,
closing up their ranks, received it as the rock receives the sea,
and it went back like the foam.
Now high up among the Christian host, the Holy Cross itself
was elevated, and men knew for what they were to fight and
die. Around it, to use the words of Salah-e'deen himself, they
gathered with the utmost bravery and devotion, as if they be-
lieved it their greatest blessing, strongest bond of union, and
sure defense. The battle became general. On all sides the foe
pressed the brave knights and their followers. The latter fell by
hundreds, from exhaustion and thirst; for they had been short
of bread and water for a week.
## p. 11825 (#455) ##########################################
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
11825
Twice did Salah-e'deen repeat that tremendous charge, pen-
etrating into the ranks of his enemies, and fighting his way out
again without breaking their array
Night came down on the battle-field while its fate was yet
undetermined, and they rested for the morrow.
What wild, despairing prayers went up to God before the
Cross of Christ that night, we may not know until those vials
of the elders shall be opened.
Long before day, by the admirable disposition of his army,
Salah-e'deen had decided the battle even before it was fought.
But he had not decided how many of his host were to be
slain on the soil of Galilee by the swords of the Christians.
As the day advanced, the two armies beheld each other.
Salah-e'deen waited till the sun was up, and then "the sons of
heaven and the children of fire fought their great battle. "
The Christians fought as they were accustomed. Their heat
and thirst were terrible, and increased by the enemy setting fire
to the dry brush and grass, from which the strong wind blew a
dense smoke toward them, nearly suffocating them.
The scene was like a very hell; knights and devils contending
among flames. Again and again the bands of Templars threw
themselves on the Saracen front, and endeavored to pierce their
way through its steel wall to reach the citadel of Tiberias, but
in vain. The cry of the battle-field went up, among smoke and
flame, before God, and he permitted the end to come. "Holy
Cross! " shouted the grand-master of the Templars, as he fought
his way toward the banner of the Kalif, followed by his brave
knights. "Raymond for the Sepulchre! " rang over the clash of
steel in the front of the battle. "Ha! Ha! Renaud - Renaud —
Chatillon-Carrac - No rescue! Strike, strike! " shouted the
proud retainers of the old knight, who were reveling in the blood
of the conflict.
By this time, in the centre of the field, the fight had grown
thickest and most fierce around the True Cross, which was up-
held on a slight eminence by the bishop of Ptolemais. Around
it the bravest knights were collected. There Geoffrey of Lusig-
nan, brother to the King, performed miracles of valor; and the
Knights of the Temple and the Knights of St. John vied with
each other in bravery. As the fray grew darker, and shafts flew
swifter around them, and one by one they fell down before the
holy wood, the stern, calm voice of the bishop was heard, chanting,
XX-740
## p. 11826 (#456) ##########################################
11826
WILLIAM COWPER PRIME
"De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine; Domine, exaudi vocem
meam! ” in tones that overpowered the din of battle, and reached
the ears of the dying even as they departed. Nearest of all to
the Cross was a man wielding a sword which had already done
fearful work on the Saracens. The sign on his back was not
sufficient to distinguish him from other soldiers; but they who
fought by his side well knew the brave precentor of the Sepul-
chre, bishop of Lydda, the city of St. George.
