'.■' -'l'.- ■ ■' l' •' * ■ .\ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^^^ ^ m ^ SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE LATE E. B. WATERMEYER A (BCRIEF SKETCH OF HI8 LIFE. CAPE TOWN: 1877. VAN DE SAKDT DE VILLIERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ST. george's-street, cape town. W3lt PREFACE. The object of this volume, the Reader will at once perceive, is not to add another to the multitudinous class of memoirs, nor would it have been within the power of the Editor to collect and publish all that might have been worth recording of what the Author in the course of his life, so prematurely cut short, had written or spoken. The work must be judged of as an attempt to place within the reach of his numerous friends and his fellow-countrymen a consecutive collection of his chief published writings on Colonial History, researches upon which his heart had been set, which it had been his purpose to extend, and which, it is believed, there exists a general desire to have preserved. Only such selections could be made as appeared most interesting to the general reader, in order to make room for the poems which follow, since the volum had to be limited to such a size as alone made the publication practicable. Apart from the impracticability of reproducing all the Author's historical writings, literary reviews, forensic speeches and cor- respondence, within the circumscribed limits of such a volume as this, there would have been a further difficulty insuperable from the fact of the materials for it being wholly wanting. He was too real, too earnest a worker to have given himself to the task of preserving — to have taken up his time with keeping copies of — his manifold public writings, much less of his corre- spondence. While the former could have been extracted from the periodicals in which they appeared, the latter are not to be so traced. He was emphatically an extemporaneous speaker. The newspapers of the day reproduced in a more or less perfect form his speeches at the Bar and in Parliament, and subsequently his charges and judgments delivered from the Bench, but neither of these nor of his private correspondence had he preserved any copies or memoranda. Only a few of the poems have already been published ; these being chiefly translations from the Ger- man, and also more or less free trauslat ous from Latin authors- JLJL/COXO/^ IV The readers of the Cape Monthly Magazine will readily recognize such as have appeared in that periodical. Those which appeared in the Observer, a quarter of a centui-y ago, will be new to a partially new generation. The critical reader will be at no loss to distinguish which poems have had the advantage of the Author's own corrections at the time of their being published, and which of them must be taken as the unamended work of a student satisfied to confine his verses to the private circulation of the family album. If to this be added that the major part of the original poems and several of the translations are the productions of the Author's younger days, any want of elaboration will be sufficiently accounted for. The editor believes he is riglit in thinking that no memorial of the late Judge would have been complete without including in it these poems, which breathe the true spirit of the man. It will seem strange that, beyond three short articles on Colo- nial Law, the book contains no reproductions of, or even extracts from, his speeches at the Bar or his utterances from the Bench. This would have been wholly beyond the scope of the present work. The articles on Colonial (Roman-Dutch) Law, on Community of Property, and on the Law of Inheritance, appeared in the Cape Monthly Magazine in the year 1858, and were intended as the commencement of a series of papers on the Law of the Colony which, however, the Author lacked the time and oppor- tunity of pursuing. The Law of Inheritance therein referred to, has since (in the Parliamentary Session of 1874) been abrogated. The subject has thus become matter of history. The essay remains of value as an expression of the decided convictions of a sound legal authority on a most important matter. G. A. W. INDEX. The Geographical Discoveries of the 15th Century in their Relation to General History. — -Address delivered in the Ghair at the Anniversary Meeting of the South Jfrican Public Library on the \Otli May, 1856 ... ... ... 1 The Capo of Good Hope prior to its first settlement ... 18 Three Lectures on the Cape of Good Hope under the Government of the Dutch East India Company. — Delivered at the Cape Toion Mechanics' Institute: — 1st Lecture ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 26 2nd Do. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 49 3rd Do. ... 74 European Affairs. — {From the Cape Records of 1088) ... 96 \ The Cape a Century ago ... ... ... ... ,. 120 The First Capitulation to the British ... ... ... ... 132 Notes on the Roman Law in this Colony ... ... ... ] 50 Community of Property at the Cape of Good Hope 158 The Law of Inheritance at the Cape of Good Hope... ... 169 Poems : — To my Mother ... ... ... ... ,. ... 133 Joanna of Orleans — {Soliloquy from the German of Schiller) 186 The Three Songs. — {From the German of TJhland) ... 187 Lines to an Infant Weeping... ... ... ... jgg Consolation. — {From the French of Be Lamar tine.) ... 190 Sympathy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 192 Rome. — {A Fragment.) ... ... ... ... .. 192 ToA.B 195 The Violet. — (Lnitated from, the German of Goethe.) 196 To Ida 19; VI Poems : — The Lay of the Bc\\.—(Fnm the German of ScJnlhr.) ... 100 The Mother and her, Child 211 UoWnnd.— (An Ejyistlc to o Frirnd.) 212 Memory ... ,.. ... ... ... ... ... 215 Elegy on 217 The Young King and the Shepherdess. — {Jfter Uhland)... 219 Extracts from an Unfinished Poem... ... ... ... 225 Reverie ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 234 The Blind King, — {After the German of Uhland.) ... 236 OdiQ.— {From Horace.— Lib. 11 Od.\^.) 238 Procrastination ... ... ... ... ... ... 239 The Goldsmith's Daughter. — {From the German of Uhland) 24<2 A Dream ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 244 The Statue of Bacchus.— (^f^er Uhland.) 247 Nathan der Weise. — {Criticism — and translations — written for the "Observer.) ... ... ... ... ... 248 A Norman Legend. — {From the German of Uhland.) ... 256 " Lo a Dream-shape in the Distance." ... ... ... 262 The Prophecy of Nereus.— (Fomce— Z//&. II. Od. 18. ... 268 Epigrams from Martial ... ... ... ... ... 270 B.0T3Lce.—Lib. IL Sat I. 276 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH- EaiDius Benedictus Watermeter was born in Cape Town on the 21st of August, 1824 He was the second son of the late Frederick Stephanas Watcrmoyer, and Anna Maria, the only daughter and only surviving child of the late E. B. Ziervogel. The circumstances and associations of the home into which he was born were eminently favourable to the development of a high type of character. His father, though born in the colony, had the advantage of a European education, having been sent away at the age of five years to the house of an uncle in Hamburg. On his return to the colony, he continued to cul- tivate the tastes and to carry on the education which he had gained in Europe. Without being either a scientific man or a classical scholar, he was a man of varied and extensive reading, and as well acquainted with English and French as with German and Dutch literature. His intellectual tastes, his personal predilection for study and literature, and his large and well- selected library were important factors in the intellectual eminence and literary culture of more than one of his sons. Not less important were the influences and example of his mother in forming the character of Mr. Watermeyer. " Our mother," says one of her still surviving sons, " was gifted with a most amiable disposition and benevolent nature — a Christian mother, always intelligently labouring to cultivate the hearts and deveiope the characters of her children. She truly devoted her whole life to her family." If the common theory be true, that the moral features of character are inherited from the mother, we can have no difliculty in believing that Mrs. Water- meyer was a woman of unusual excellence ; for the moral elements of her son's character were in every way as admirable and impressive as his intellectual power. She was herself the daughter of a lady who, judging from the reports of those who knew her, must have presented a rare combination of striking qualities. To quote again from the words of the Judge's VI n bi'otlicr : — " The central oi-b around which all in that house appeared to revolve was our venerable grandmother. All who knew her were constrained to acknowledge that her character was one of remarkable force and energy. Born in 1777, with no education beyond that which was imparled by a discharged soldier, she, nevertheless, by the sheer force and resoluteness of her will gained unusual facility and accuracy in writing and composition. Her house was the constant resort of men of education and intelligence, especially of foreigners : and it was a remarkable thing to see this old lady taking an intelligent part in whatever conversation might be going on, and attracting the attention of her guests not more by the interesting character of her reminiscences of days of ©Id, than by the grace and the graphic power with which she presented them." These brief notices will sufficiently show the nature of the influences under which Mr. Watermeyer's early years were passed. The complaint of many teachers, especially colonial teachers, is that the lessons of the school-room are not con- tinued, but too often counteracted, by the influences of home. The school life and the home life are entirely apart from each other, and frequently in competition with each other. From the intellectual atmosphere and the wholesome discipline of the school, the boy will often return to a home where there is no appreciation of anything beyond material and outward things. The result, in most cases, is that the teacher's efforts are a failure, as regards the highest aims of his vocation : and in the few instances where the intellectual triumphs over its rivals at home, the victory is often enough secured at the cost of those elements of character which arc produced only by wise and sympathetic homc-trainincj. The young man either casts aside the claims of the intellectual life, or he grows up apart from those with whom he should share his life. In the one case he becomes a mere reproduction of those about him ; in the other, he probably retains through life the coldness and selfishness which are so often the reproach of intellectual men. From any such conflict of claims Mr. Watermeyer's early years were entirely free. The tasks of the school-room were continued at home, with the most lively interest and friendly help on the part of his parents. And hence it was that his life was a steady growth, not only into knowledge, but also into sympathy with all knowledge ; and the richer side of his large and generous nature was cultivated as thoroughly and as care- fully as his mental power. The letters written home during his absence in Europe — the poems addressed to the several members of his family — and the joy with which on the completion of his legal studies he set his face towards the home of his childhood, are the best proof of the wisdom of his home training and of the lasting hold which that home retained upon the deepest affections of his nature. In his seventh year Mr. Watermeyer was sent, along with his elder brother, to an elementary school conducted by a Mr, Gray. Here he remained till 1833, when the closing of the school made other arrangements necessary. He remained long enough with Mr. Gray, however, to gain from him a sound training in those elementary subjects of English Grammar, parsing, spelling, and composition, which it was the fashion of those days to ignore in schools of higher pretensions. In speak- ing of his school days, Mr. Watermeyer always acknowledged his obligations to his first school-master : and the advantages gained from Mr. Gray's instruction became apparent at once when the pupil was removed to a classical school. Those who were on his own level in dealing with Latin and Greek, were far inferior to him in respect to the free and accurate use of the English language. Perhaps to this early training in speaking and writing correct English we may ascribe, to some extent* the remarkable power with which in after years he used the resources of the language, and the combined vigour and beauty of his own style. In 1833 he was sent — his elder brother still being his com- panion — to the school of the Rev. Edward Judge, then resident in Cape Town. When Mr. Judge removed to Simon's Town, in 1839, Mr. Watermeyer and his younger brother Frederick were placed with him as boarders — the eldest of the brothers having been taken from school at the close of 1838. Here ho remained till 1841, when he left the colony to prosecute the study of Law in Europe. Mr. Watermeyer always spoke of Mr. Judge as the real teacher of his youth ; and the gratitude and veneration with which hu iTsrardcd liis old master were unboanded. Mr, Judge, amidst the multifarious duties of a military chaplain and a parish priest? never suffered his classical scholarship to rust. Even to the last, be retained the keenness of his critical faculties, and the rigid exactness in all points of scholarship, of which his old pupils have so vivid a recollection. Eight years spent under the guidance of such a teacher left an abiding impression on the mind and character of the pupil He left his school for the University, carrying with him high attainments as a scholar, and — a still more valuable possession — a mind so trained in habits of accuracy and precision of thought, that he could not be satisfied with anything loose or slovenly in any department of knowledge. The accuracy with which he always expressed himself in ordinary conversation, and the directness and sim- plicity of his written sentences, testify to the clearness with which he had learned to discern the objects of his intellectual vision. If the pupil venerated the master, the master loved the pupil. In later years, when Mr. Watermeyer threw himself into the educational movements that have done so much for the colony, one of his first efforts was to secure the co-operation of Mr. Judge. In this effort he was successful. Mr. Judge was ap- pointed a member of the Board of Examiners at its institution in 1858 ; and from that time he was in frequent communication •with Mr. Watermeyer on subjects of literary interest or ques- tions of scholarship. It was a beautiful sight, to witness the perfect understanding and mutual confidence and affection of the two men. Each of them acknowledged the special merit of the other — the older man rejoicing in the rich mental endow- ment and culture of the younger, while the latter nevCi.' qualified his admiratioa of the simple character, the elastic sympathies, and the ripe scholarship of his old master. They would often banter each other with that perfect good humour which is rooted in true affection. Mr. Watermeyer once gave the writer of this notice an amusing illustration of this. He had somewhere met with an old Latin riddle — Eebar fari scio, re fabar nescio — the catch lying in the words scio and nescio, which are used as datives of adjectives. He sent the riddle to Mr. Judge, who XI returned it unsolved. "Whereupon," says Mr. Watermeyer, " I retorted upon my old schoolmaster in the following solution of the riddle : — I thought I addressed one who Latin was pat in : Now stands he confessed but a flat in his Latin ! The next post brought me a long and elaborate dissertation to prove that an adjective sciuo was unknown to the writers of the purest age of Latinity. Into this ground I did not venture to follow him, but simply said that scius was quite good enough Latin for a riddle." "When the news of Mr. Watermeyer's death reached the colony, no one felt deeper regret than his old teacher. He met the writer shortly afterwards in a street of Cape Town, and could only quote with tremulous voice the old regret — Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit, Nulli flebilior quam mihi. Of his later school days a few traits have been preserved in the recollections of his friends. Slowly but surely he rose to the position of head of his class, and there he remained securely. His powers of memory were extraordinary. Learning seemed to be no effort to him : and he appeared, says cne who knew him well, to reach by some swift intuition the results which others gained only by long and laborious effort. Gradually it came to be a regular thing that Watermeyer should " coach the rest of the class in their daily work. With this intellectual facility there were combined an almost reckless disregard of danger, and a passionate hastiness of temper. Those who knew him only in manhood would never have suspected that he had had to struggle against an infirmity of temper, while only those who knew him from childhood could appreciate the efforts which gained him the mastery over it. An incident in the school life, recalled by an actor in the scene, will illustrate some of these features in his character. After the usual demonstration on the 5th of November, there remained a considerable quantity of gunpowder unused. This was moistened next morning, and was to be ignited. But a difliculty arose as to who .should apply the spark to the mass. Without a moment's hesitation Watermeyer came up and plunged the burning stump into the powder — the Xll result being that his hand and arm were so severely scorched that he had to be taken home by his brother. When the latter entered the school-room, he found the whole class hoisted on the form for not knowing their Livy : the master drily remark- ing — masters often know more than boys give them credit for — " Ben has burnt his arm, so of course the class know nothing about their work." At tho age of seventeen Mr. Watermeyer proceeded to England : and on reaching London he entered his name as a student of the Inner Temple. In the autumn of 1841 he passed over to the Continent, for the purpose of studying the Civil Law in the most renowned of the renowned law-schools of Holland. He remained at Leyden for two years, and at the end of that time took his degree as Doctor of the Civil Law (Juris Romani Doctor). In December, 1843, he returned to England, to keep his terms for the English bar. He became the pupil of one of the most eminent of the special pleaders of the day, Mr. Samuel Warren. In Easter term, 1847, he was called to the English bar : and towards the end of the same year he returned to his native land, and was admitted as a n advocate of the Supremo Court of the Colony. Mr. Watermeyer at onco threw himself with characteristic energy into his professional life ; and from the beginning it was easy to predict his speedy attainment of such prizes and honours as the profession has to offer. " It was soon seen," says one who ■watched his whole career with generous admiration and strong personal affection, " that a man with talent enough to succeed without industry, and with industry enough to succeed without talent, had come amongst us; and his professional brethren whose esteem and affection he attracted from the first, were proud of him, and of tho position which he was, from day to day, unostentatiously attaining."* He practised at the bar from 1848 to 1855, being engaged in most of the important cases that came before the Court during those years ; and by frequently attending the Circuit Courts he gained a thorough knowledge of the whole colony and of the character of its people. On th^ establishment of the Cape Parliament, in 1854, " more electoraF^ * From a brief uotice of Mr. Watermeyer iu the Ca/pe Monthly Magazine, J;inuui-Y, 1860. Xlll divisions than one" — we quote again from the notice in the Ilagazine — "were desirous to have Mr. Watermcyer for their member. Worcester was the first to invite him, and he accepted the invitation. There was really no contest, as far as his seat was concerned, and at the close of a sharp struggle between the other candidates, he headed the poll by a great majority. In the Assembly he carried great weight. He spoke frequently in the House, but not so often as to tire, and in Committees he took his full share of important but unapplauded work. Never rude, never violent, never personal, never dogmatic, but always earnest, acute, and fully master of his subject, he spoke as a gentleman should speak to gentlemen, and he was listened to accordingly. When, in 1855, he resigned his seat and quitted Parliament, every man anxious for the character and credit of the Assembly looked upon his leaving as a loss to the House." Mr. Watermeyer's first appointment to the Bench was an acting one, on the occasion of Mr. Justice Ebden's absence on sick leave : and when the latter gentleman retired from the Bench, Mr. Watermeyer's appointment to the vacancy thus caused was a matter of course. A careful and discriminating estimate of his character as a Lawyer and a Judge, written by the senior member of the present bar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Advocate Cole, will be introduced in the course of this sketch, and will be found in substantial agreement with the following words written in 18G0 : — " Mr. Watermeyer's conduct as a Judge, from the time of his first and, as it was then considered, merely temporary appointment, down to the present moment, has sur- passed all the expectations of the profession and the public. To say that he has done so involves, we are aware, very high commendation. We bestow that commendation, because wo believe it to bo well deserved." The estimate of Mr. Watermeyer's character as a lawyer, to which reference has just been made, was written shortly after the news of his death reached the colony. Its language of eulogy might be considered by some as in part the result of that generous exaggeration of excellencies to which most men are prone in speaking of those who have recently passed from us. It is right, therefore, to state that the manuscript has, quite recently, been placed in the hands of its writer for any alterations \1V or nioditications which might be thought desirable on a calm revTew after the lapse of many yoar.s. " I have looked over the notes again," saya the writer in rctarniog the MS., ' and I see no reason to alter them." The sketch appears as it was originally written. Mr. Cole writes as follows : — •' Mr. Justice Wat rmeyer possessed in a pre-eminent degree most of the mental qualifications of a great lawyer. His power of reasoning was very strong ; nothing was too subtle, nothing too large for his intellectual grasp : he detected sophistry almost instinctively, and the clear and easy sentences in which he used to brush away its webs were the delight of those who listened to him. Perhaps the most remarkable of his natural intellectual gifts was his memory. I think his was the best and most accurate memory I ever knew, nor is it easy to conceive a more valuable po.ssession to a man of his profession, especially in this colony. In England every case of any importance which has been decided in the Superior Courts will be found properly reported by professional men. Here, on the contrary, we have no reports to refer to except those of the late Mr. Justice Menzics, which extend (as far as published) over a comparatively small space of time, and those of Mr. Advocate Buchanan, which are but just commenced. The consequence is that quoting from memory has become a common practice in our Courts, and it is obvious that he who can best recollect the names of the decided cases, the main incidents, and the exact points determined stands in reference to his less gifted brethren much in the position ■which a lawyer, with all the Repox'ts at his command at home, would occupy towards an unlucky brother who had no access to any of them. The clearness of the Judge's memory was especially remarkable on the Bench : no advocate before him could misquote without being immediately set right ; and whenever there was any doubt as to the actual facts of any case thus referred to — any question as to the correctness of Mr. Watermeyer's version and that of any other Judge or advocate — a reference to the records and other available sources invariably proved that he was correct. The distinctions between cases often appear to laymen too subtle to be comprehensible, but lawyers are aware that many such distinctions are of vital importance in principle, and therefore the recollection of some apparently trifling fact which has escaped the memory of another will often show the essential difference between the case quoted and the case under consideration. " Accuracy of thought, logical power, clear memory — these are great gifts to a Judge, and these Mr. Watcrmeyer possessed largely. Added to these was the power of expressing himself in the most tei'se and concise language. Not a word too much, and no word that did not give force to the thought it embodied. A natural impediment of utterance, which all his wonderful perseverance could not entirely cure, however much it modified it, detracted from the effect of his addresses, and gave the appearance of labour and artificiality even to his lightest sentences. To some extent it might have been said to be painful to listen to one whose intellectual gifts would seem to have destined him for an orator, but whose physical deficiency marred the effect of all his utterances. Those who, like myself, had become accustomed to hear him soon forgot, or ceased to be disturbed by, this defect, and could recognise only the admirable force and clearness of his diction. One of the best short-hand writers in the colony assured me that he had never found it necessary on writing out his ' copy ' for the Press to alter a single sentence of Judge Watermeyer's delivery — each was perfect in construction and grammar. The same authority told me that in his experience this was the rarest excellence in speakers ; nominative cases without verbs and verbs without nominatives, relatives whose antecedents were undiscovcrable and parentheses that had no particular ending being amongst the common failings of even good and practised speakers. " Patience is rather a moral than an intellectual quality, but it is invaluable to a Judge. To a man of logical mind the most difficult task is to listen unruffled to irrational talk : and yet it is the Judge's daily task. Witnesses are unreasonable from defects of mind and education ; barristers sometimes from the same causes, but often from the necessity of saying something for their clients, even when they know they " have not a log to stand on." To bear with all this gently, not to scold witnesses or snub advocates, but to give confidence to the former and courteous assistance to the latter, I take to be the pro])er task — though XVI often no light one — of a patient and good Judge. Let any who has known Judge Watermeyer on the Bench say if he did not perform this duty most admirably. And he did so, not merely in good health, but even when racked with the pain of his great enemy, the gout. I have seen him carried into the Circuit Court unable to put his foot to the ground ; I have watched the paroxysms of agony twitching all the muscles of his face and showing the torture he was enduring, but even then I have heard no word and seen no gesture of impatience ; his utterances have been as calm and his demeanour to all around him as courteous as though his body had been as sound as his mind. "I have already spoken of the clear, logical, and forcible manner in which Mr. Watermeyer always expressed himself ; to this I may add that I never heard a lawyer of his ability and learning less addicted to certain conventional phrases which the profession appears to love so dearly. One of the best Judges we have seen on our local Bench never gave a judgment, in my hearing, in which he did not several times say, " Now I apprehend," &c. : It is a vile phrase, but perfectly professional. I cannot recollect ever to have heard Mr. Watermeyer use it. Technical language ia doubtless necessary to express technical arguments and decisions ; but the bar, at home and in the colony, has a set of phrases which are conventional rather than technical, which do not express anything but what might be equally well expressed in other language, and which are nearly always antiquated and inelegant, and sometimes ungrammatical. It is an evidence of originality and strength of mind to be able to dispense with this kind of phraseology as Judge Watermeyer did so felicitously. " I should be uncandid if I pretended to think that the late Judge had no faults : but I think they arose from his having been raised to the Bench at so early an age. To be a Judge of a Supreme Court at 31 would turn most men's heads : it did not turn Mr. Watermeyer's : but I think it gave him some pecu- liarities which he would have been better without. One of these was his love of ' elaborate judgments.' Not that a judgment can, in one sense, be too elaborate ; it cannot too clearly or fully set forth its reasons and show that they are in accordance with the law of the land. But when a judgment is in some measure a mere display of learning, however extensive and XVll profound, I think a great mistake is made by the Judge vrho utters it. The temptation is great to deal with the subject in a way that shows how thoroughly you have it in hand, to give the history of the law bearing upon it from remotest periods, tracing it down to its present time, to illustrate it in its various stages by apt references and quotations, to astonish and delight your auditors. And all this in a Lecture or an Essay is admira- ble ; but I question the propriety of it in a judgment from the Bench. I see nothing of it in the utterances of the greatest lawyers England has produced, and I often found too much of it in those of Mr. Watermeyer. And this temptation to display learning led. him into what I regard as a great error — that is the giving a judgment founded upoii points never raised or argued at the Bar. A moment's consideration will show how great a mistake this is, for as every Judge is supposed to be influenced by the arguments addressed to him pro and ooib, how can it be certain that if the very points taken up for the first time in the judgment had been handled at the Bar, the result might not have been a different view on the part of the Judge P I may refer to the celebrated Clildppin.i Case (heard before Mr. Cloete and Mr. Watermeyer in November 1856) as an instance in which one of these judgments, based upon an old Placaat never alluded to in the arguments at the bar, was given to the surprise of the profession and the public. " The defects, such as they were, of the late Judge will, how- ever, detract little from his reputation as a learned, patient, upright and thoroughly conscientious judge. And I may I'emark that I do not use the word ' conscientious' in its restricted sense, indicating merely a man who would not give a judgment against what he believed in his conscience to be correct : let us hope there are few men who would not, in such sense, be conscientious Judj^es. But Mr. Watermeycr's con- scientiousness carried him much further than this — it led him to master all kinds of learning and facts that could in any way elucidate the cases before him and make him better comprehend them. I do not know that he had ever studied Mechanics deeply^ but I am quite sure that if a case had come before him in which a knowledge of any branch of Mechanics would h:ive been of service to him, he would at once have net to work to master it. The judgment which he gave in the celebrated Mahonietau Church case, illustrates what I mean. XVlll " In concluding the task which has been assigned to rae in the compilation of the present Memoir, it will, 1 trust, seem almost superfluous to add that I have known no lawyer iii this colony (and it is only as a lawyer that I am asked to speak of him) and scarcely one in England, for whose memory I entertain a more profound respect than the late Judge Waterraeyer." When Mr. Watermeycr accepted the office which he filled with such distinguished ability, he at once followed the etiquette of the profession and the wholesome precedent of other countries by retiring from such other duties as might have interfered with the impartial discharge of his judicial functions. The compara- tive leisure of his later years was not wasted. His early habits as a student had been continued through his busy life as a practising barrister ; and on his elevation to the Bench he eagerly embraced the opportunity of repairing the loss to his general scholar.ship which these years of active professional toil had entailed. Though making no claim to extensive classi- cal reading or critical scholarship, he was nevertheless a sound and good scholar, thoroughly enjoying the master-pieces of ancient literature, and shewing a keen appreciation of the higher qualities of the classical authors : while his acquaintance with modern languages and literature was both large and accurate. His interest in literature and in the advancement of learning led him to organize the most important of our public institu- tions for testing and rewarding the higher work of our schools and colleges. There had existed for some years previously a commission to examine candidates for clerkships in the Govern- ment Service ; but its functions were confined to this special duty. The Board of Public Examiners in Literature and Sciencfe was established by an Act of the Colonial Legislature in 1858 Mr. Watermeyer was mainly instrumental in its establishment and was for many years its President and Examiner in Law. During the fifteen years of its existence the Board of Examiners exercised most important and beneficial influence on the educa- tion of the colony. In 1873 the University Incorporation Act was passed ; and the Vice-Chancellor of the Univei-sity, in acknowledging the vote by which the Council elected him to that office, referred, in language which found response in many a heart, to the great loss which the Colony had sustained in the death of the eminent man upon whom, had life been spared, the su^'rages of the Council that day would certainly have fallen. XIX But this life of activity and usefulness vras not without its shadows and darkness. The death of his father, which occurred shortly before Mr. "Watcrmeyer's return from Europe, not only was a great personal sorrow to him, but devolved upon him, as one of the older members of a large family, cares and responsi- bilities which he never failed to meet in the most generous spirit. His own health too gave his friends much anxiety. Frequent attacks of gout, borne with remarkable serenity and patience, often laid him aside from work ; and those who knew him best were convinced that in all probability his life would not be a long one. As the years advanced, the shadows grew dai-ker. The death of his brother, Advocate F. Watermeyer, in 18G4> was a stroke the severity of which only those could understand who knew the deep and beautiful love which bound the brothers together. Those who stood round the grave of the amiable and gifted Frederick Watermeyer will never forget the overwhelming grief of the chief mourner, who wept like a child over the brother whom he loved so well : and in many a heart the sad foreboding arose that death would not long divide them. But the last stroke was the heaviest and most crushing. Mr. Water- meyer had married, shortly after his return from Europe, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Gysbert Reitz. What she was to her husband, no attempt must be made to tell in these pages. When she was taken from him, his intimate friends knew that his hold on life had indeed broken. " Her death," writes the judge's brothel', '' was his death knell. Never were two souls more thoroughly united ; the life of the one had become the condition of existence to the other." In his Circuits as a Judge, Mr. Watermeyer was often accompanied by his wife. She had prevailed upon him to permit her to be his companion on these long journeys, on account of his frequent attacks of gout. On the Circuit of March, 1HG5, Mrs. Watermeyer was seized at Victoria West with an attack of sore throat which, with her somewhat delicate constitution, raised serious apprehensions. The Judge was compelled to push on to Beaufort for the Circuit Court, and would not be separated from his wife. They reached Beaufort, where in spite of all that skill and care could do she sank in a few days under the attack of a malignant form of diphtheria. Shattered in health, and broken in heart, ho reached Cape Town with the loved remains. Ilcr body rests in the XX Wvnborfj fomftorv, in a vault adjoinlncr that wlioro the remains of Frodorick Watormoyer liad been laid a few months before with space for a third cofHn between the two. The rest is soon told. " To understand Mr. Watermeyor dnrin^^ the last few months of his illness," writes one who knew and loved him well, " it was always needful to remember the severe troubles in the loss of his brother, but particularly of his beloved wife, through which he had passed. It was no wonder, when the illness to which he ultimately succumbed first appeared, that the physicians were listening anxiously to the lisping pulsations of a swollen heart. He never did recover, he never could recover, from the blows he had received. His nature was too profoundly sympathetic — too highly strung. And yet there was nothing morbid in his grief. No one ever felt more keenly the claims of duty or the nerd of bracing himself for work. He was ready and willing to work and serve, and felt all the old interest in his appointed task : but old voices filled the silence, and loving hands ever beckoned from the further side of the bridgcless river. Possibly the physical condition of the patient had something to do with the intensity of these feelings. But those who met Mr. Watermeyer after his bereavement knew what hold they had upon him, and knew, too, what a subdued tenderness there was in all he said and did. He spoke to his friends as if they had some bidden trouble which the world, in its rough and busy ways, might overlook." In this enfeebled state, with the hand of death evidently upon him, he acceded to the wish of his friends, and sailed for Europe in the early part of 1867. Reaching London safely, and in somewhat better health, he crossed over to Holland. There the malady, through the earlier stages of which he had already passed, returned upon him in an aggravated .'orm. He was able to reach London, to find in the house of his old friend Van Rees Hoets whatever allevi- ation of suffering could be given by medical skill and the most loving tenderness. Two months brought his release. At times the pain was excruciating, and towards the end the clearness of his mind became clouded. Many Cape friond.«;, whose names are cherished with grateful remembrance by the surviving members of the Judge's family, gave loving service during these weeks of protrarled suffering. With the composure and resigna- tion of ;i true Christian, the dying mau dictated hi« last letters XXI and messages, gave directions about liis affairs, and exacted from Mr. Hoets a promise that his body should be sent to the Cape, to occupy the vacant space in the Wynberg cemetery between the remains of his wife and his brother Fred. The names of these loved ones were often on his lips. More than once he referred to the woi'ds which his brother had spoken on his death- bed about the near and abiding presence of God with us — manifestly sustained, as the final struggle approached, by the same Faith and the same Presence which had given his brother the victory over death. The end came on the morning of the 21st of September. Three days later the body was laid in one of the catacombs of Highgate cemetery. From thence it was subsequently removed and sent to the Celony ; and it now rests in the spot selected by himself, side by side with those whom he loved best and whose memory he cherished to the last. When the painful intelligence reached the colony, it was far from unexpected. The reports received during the few previous weeks were so gloomy, that even those who had hoped against hope were prepared for the tidings of his death. And yet they came upon us with the shock of a sudden and startling surprise. It was difficult to beliere that the man whom, as it appeared to us, the colony could least spare — the upright Judge, the deep and subtle thinker, the large-hearted Christian gentleman — had indeed gone from us. Tributes to his memory, and expressions of regret at the public loss sustained in his death, did something to alleviate the sorrow of his more immediate personal friends. Reading these memorial notices once more, after the lapse of so many years, and thinking of him with that critical calmness which is scarcely possible under the first keen sensation of loss, there does not seem a word of exaggeration in wliat was said of him. No lapse of time will disturb the place which he holds in the memory of all who knew him. The estimate given above of Mr. Watermeyer's character as a lawyer and a judge leaves little to be said on this subject. Tho following passage, taken from a memorial notice of his death, confirms Mr. Coles high estimate of the Judge's character from this point of view : — " It is not easy to fix his position amongst contemporary lawyers. That he deserved to take rank amongst the best of them few will deny. No one at all familiar with tho qualifications of European jinlges will hesitpe Oh£<:rocr. June l^*, l8r>(>. 19 Tlie later comers, who form Ji vcr}'- numerous, and in many respects the most intelligent portion of the population, naturally have less personal interest than the descendants x)f the ancient settlers in tracing the gradual progress of civilisation in their adopted country. The sympathies they held with bye-gone generations are buried in another land, in another home of their fathers. And naturally so. But, however much this may be the case with many of our readers, we cannot believe that the preservation of ancient colonial records will be deemed altogether uninterest- ing or useless by them. We have, therefore, again sought to offer to their attention some information on the early state of Southern Africa, and we may take the present opportunity of adding that, so far as a very insufficient leisure, and such evidence as may be within our reach, will enable, we shall from time to time pursue the subject, and thus — it may be — lighten the labours of any who shall hereafter endeavour to present to following generations, in a perfect and connected form, a history of the gradual rise of the "Cape of Good Hope" from its position as a dependency of a commercial establishment at Batavia, to the honourable place which it is destined to occupy amongst the nations of the earth. In saying, above, that comparatively little interest has been taken hitherto by our countrymen in the history of their fathers, and of the land in which their own fortunes are cast, we do not wish to keep out of view, that there have been records framed and circulated in various forms, whose contents prove that many colonists have been neither ignorant nor careless of the subject of which we treat : but we think that no trouble has been taken to offer to the general reader, in the present " vulgar tongue " of the colony, the English langunge, some account of what is known and may be known of South African history. In the papers on the subject, therefore, which have already appeared and may yet appear the wish will, we hope, be recognized tosiij-tply this dtliciency at least in some degree, and, at all events, to aid in saving the evidence which yet c2 20 exists of our early history, from the oblivion which appears otherwise likely to be its certain ftite. In the prosecution of this design, we claim alike the forbearance of our readers, should we appear to them to misjudge any of the circumstances which we shall detail, and their correction of any errors of fact concerning which they may possess other information than ourselves. In the latter case we shall deem it no slight favour to be permitted the perusal of any records not at present accessible ; in the former, whatever the extent of our errors, they will meet condemnation, we trust, only as errors of judgment and not of intention. The in([uirer into the gradual progress of South Africa, now become the seat of a comparatively powerful and constantly increasing European people, has many subjects in his view besides those which have here- tofore been touched upon in the sketches we have published. He has to do, not alone with the state of European society here at various times, — not alone with the political rule of the country successively by the Dutch East India Company, by the English, by the Batavian Republic, lastly again by the English Government, and henceforth by themselves. How- ever much he may find to interest him in his examination into the political oppressions exercised, at one time, upon the very men and their sons, who had tied the land of their birth to escape political oppression, — however interested he may be in viewing the contests, at other times, between the political leaders who ruled the country and the colo- nists, the labour of whose hands, and the sweat of whose brows developed the resources of the colony, — he must in(|uire into the history also of the people whom both mer- chants and farmers dispossessed, — he must ask of the mode of their dispossession, of the manner of their dispos- session, of the cause of their utter annihilation from the face of the land. It will be interesting to judge, so far as historical evidence will enable us to judge, of the state of civilisation or barbarism in which the first European set- tlers found the natives, — to judge of the relations which those natives bore to others in the further interior, or to 21 them who are at present borderers on the colony. Their language and customs may be compared with those of the natives witli whom we come into present contact : their gradual retreat before the advancing European may be watched, — their disappearance, if possible, accounted for. All these and many other subjects of inquiry present themselves to the mind, and to throw light on these is needed a variety and an extent of evidence which does surely exist in some form or another, and in the preserva- tion of which some interest should be taken. And in this extended view of South African history, we imagine that a subject is presented of sufficiently general concern to engage the attention of any colonist, whatever the amount of personal interest he may be supposed to take in past colonial history. The nature and the causes of the disappearance of one human race in the presence of another, ought to be a sub- ject of interest to any man, and thus the history of the European colonists of South Africa, taken in connection with the history of the African aborigines, certainly offers as tempt- ing a field of interesting inquiry as any other mundane occurrences extending over the last two centuries. It is trusted, only, that the bitterness which appears to have accompanied discussions of this nature in the colony not many years ago, will not, in the piesent daya of enlightened re- search and more peaceful controversy, interfere to the injury of the undertaking we wish to prosecute. The discovery of the extreme point of the African Continent by the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Diaz, took place IGG years before the Dutch first established this colony. The Portuguese had but half a centuiy before commenced to colonise, or to establish a colonial trade. They had founded Maderia in 1120, the Azores in 1-133, and shortly after the settlements on the Gold Coast of Guinea. In J48GDiaz was sent out by King John II. of Portugal, on the voyage in which he made his great discovery. The change of the name of the Cape from the stormy one of " do todos los tormcutos," whicb he gave it, 00 to tliat it now bears is known to all. The King saw in prospect the realization of his hopes of establishing a mar- itime trade between India and his own country, then, jierhaps, the best able of all the nations of Europe to undertake so splendid a project. It was not, however, until the reign of his successor, Emmanuel, that the Portuguese Government availed itself of the discovery of Diaz. Vasco de Gama was sent out by that Prince, in 1107, with lour ships, and safely reached Goa.* The Indian Peninsula soon became the seat of an extensive commercial influence on the part of the Portuguese. From this time, the Portuguese must have made constant use of the South African passage. Their Indian trade, in the prosecution of which, at least by this route, they were alone until the close of the IGth century, increased most largely and caused constant communication with Europe. In the course of this long period of nearly a century, it was impossible but that the Portuguese communicated with the nations on various parts of the coast, at various times. It seems improbable that Diaz landed anywhere ; but Kolben f states, on whatever authority, that Vasco de Gama having passed the Cape, landed at the Rio d'If/fante, and thence prosecuted his voyage to India. The Portuguese do not seem to have attempted to make any permanent settlement on any part of the coast. After some years they arc stated to have begun the practice of touching for water ; but then they anchored their ships at Eobben Island, not venturing to risk an approach to the continent, because they feared the inhabitants as cannibals. After- ♦ Note : — A somewhat different account of the voyage of Diaz, is published in Van do Sandt's Annual Directory of the Cape, in the description given of Port Elizabeth. lie is there stated to have landed on Santa Cruz, a small islet in Algoa liay, and to have sailed thence to the Eastward so far as the mouth of the Great Fish River, which he named the Rio d'Infautc. Seven years after Diaz was wrecked off the coast of Africa. t P. Kolben. Besclirijvinfj t'on do K^aji, rfc, ahodkto Vfhich on future occasions wc shall make further allusion. 23 wards some mode of communication with the inhabitants seems to have been established by the fleets which were constantly passing; for an occurrence is related of a dispute between the barbarians, and a return fleet from India, which must have occurred about the year 1525. The viceroy of India, Francis d' Almeida on his way home with the return fleet, met with his death in this dispute with the barbarians. A party had left the ships for the purpose of obtaining water and trading for live stock. Some quarrel having arisen, which was observed from the ship, this ofiicer, then an aged man, landed with a strong party to assist and encourage his people in, what was evidently thought, a most dangerous dut3^ At the time they landed, the quarrel had grown more serious, and the matter ended in the des- truction of the Viceroy and seventy-five men. This oc- currence, if true, took place about the year we have stated above, for Almeida was the first Viceroy of India, and held that office at sometime in the beginning of the IGth century. Of the nature of the Portuguese intercourse with the barbarians of this continent, some information may peihnps yet be traced. Kolben, who learned what he knew from the Dutch occupiers, whom he found at the Cape in 1706, is necessarially but slightly informed on the subject. In- deed, he appears to have told the above story respecting the death of Almeida, chiefly for the purpose of introduc- ing the anecdote, which has so often been told in different forms, of the punishment inflicted afterwards upon the Hottentots, in presenting to them a loaded brass cannon, by whose discharge many were destroyed, as they were drag- ging it off! From prior writers to Kolben* can we fllone hope for any information on the nature of the inter- course which existed previously to the, beginning of the 1 7th century when the Dutch formed their East India Com- *Among these are the Jesuit Tachard, ISL Mcrcklin, M. Arnold. &c., who mention the Cape in their accounts of theii- voyages to the East- ward, and who arc alhidcd to by Kolben and others. 24 pany, and began to emulate the Portuguese in the eatablifili- ment of an Eastern trade. The Dutch ships, from about this time, touched regularly for water and live stock, and they appear to have remained free from misunderstanding with the natives. A chief use, also, which the fleets made of the Cape was as a means of communication with each other. Every ship that left Holland took with her a square stone, on which was en- graved the name of the ship, the date of her departure, the date of her arrival at the Cape, the captain's and chief passengers' names, &;c. This stone was buried in a known place, and under it were placed in a tin box, des- patches, instructions for the return fleet, private letters &c., and each return fleet made regular searches in this extraor- dinary post office for the sole information of proceedings in Europe, which was accessible to them. In the year 1049, an address was made to the Dutch East India Company, by Leendert Janz, and N. Proot.t who had been wrecked in Table Bay, in the ship Haarlem, in the year previous, in which these persons earnestly recom- mend the establishment of a fort and settlement in a suita- ble spot in Table Valley. They allude to another wreck besides their own which had previously taken place, and urge the preservation of wrecked property, and the protec- tion of the crews as one of the reasons for establishing a fort. After describing the various modes in which a settle- ment would be of value, they proceed to combat the idea, then still prevalent, of the cannibal propensities of the natives, stating that they had been in constant intercourse with them while awaiting the India ships, during a space of many months. " After we had lain there five months," say they, " the natives came daily to the fort, which we had thrown up for our defence, to trade, in perfect amity, and brought cattle and sheep in quantities." They allude else- where to the friendly disposition of the natives, and state that although there have been quarrels in which Europeans t See Mr. Moodie's record, p. 1 and 2, 25 have been beaten to death, the cause, generally, had been given " by our soldiers themselves." The vision of cannibalism being bj' degrees dissipated, about this time the Dutch had begun to deal more fre- quently with the natives. Riebeek himself had been on shore for three weeks in the j^ear 1G48, when he was em- ployed in reshipping the goods wrecked in the Haarlem. He does not, however, in a statement to the Directors, made before he left Holland in 1651, agree with Janz in the immaculate character which the latter gives the natives. He believes them " a savage set," living without conscience," and says that he had frequently heard from people who had been there, that they had sometimes, without any cause, at- tacked Europeans and killed them. However, at this time, after the Cape had been known to Europeans for a century and a half, were the first preparations made in Holland for establishing a fort and planting a colony there. Van Riebeek's departure from Holland took place in June 1651. The nature and objects of his mission will properly form the subject of a future inquiry. THREE LECTURES ON THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY ; DELIVERED AT THE CAPE TOWN MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. I. In order riglitly to understand the history of the Settle- ment of the Cape of Good Hope, it will be necessary to take a brief survey of the causes which led to its occupa- tion by the Dutch East India Company. Two questions naturally arise : whether, indeed, a colony, — as the word was understood of old, when the Greeks and Phoenicians sent forth colonies which were free states, peopled with chosen sons of the metropolis, in reverent connection with the fatherland, — was intended at the first settlement ; and whether, on the basis on which the colonization was estab- lished, there could possibly be colonial prosperity in co- existence with the prosperity sought by the governors at home. The answers to these questions must be found in an examination of the motives, and the system of govern- ment following these motives, with which the wealthy traders who held Java and the Spice Islands, Coromandel, and Ceylon, in tribute, took possession of this comparatively poor land. Let us, therefore, attempt a short retrospect. It was in the year 1595, that the first ships bearing the flag of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, four in number, touched at the Cape of Good Hope, — the fore- runners of Dutch commerce to the East. For a century, the wealth ot the Indies had been the exclusive possession of the Portuguese, — the reward of that bold and enter- prising spirit, then a national characteristic, which prompted Diaz when he ventured past the Cape of Storms, and planted on the South African shore the emblem of the Christian faith, — which inspired Vasco de Gama when 27 invested by his king with the cross of the sacred Order of Christ, he swore on that cross that he would faithfully execute the mission of his sovereign at the court of Prester John, and in the city of the Samorin of Calicut. Great hopes were entertained of De Gama's voyage ; and, amid festivity and rejoicing, he and his resolute comrades 1497. doubled the Stormy Cape, — to them and to the Nov. 20. Portuguese nation, an omen of future wealth, power, and renown. A very few years sufficed to crown with success the sanguine expectations excited in the breast of the Portu- guese monarch, when he gave to the Cape of Tempests the name of Good Hope. D' Almeida, the first viceroy of the new empire (the same who, recalled home while in the full enjoyment of power and honour, was on his return inglori- ously slain in an affray with the Saldaniers), established the influence of his country in the East, by the destruction of the Egyptian fleet near Diu, which had been fitted out at the instigation and with the aid of the Venetian Re. public, and despatched to the Indian Seas, to chase the Western intruders from the wealthy coasts of Hindostan. The Mediterranean, thenceforward, no longer conveyed the treasures of Orient, and the ruin of Venice was attributable as much to the new passage by the Cape of Good Hope, as to the disastrous wars consequent on the league of Cambray, 1507. by which the Pope and the monarchs of the North were to share the rich spoils of the Queen of th**. Adriatic. The heroic Alphonso d'Albuquerque and his successors raised the glory of their national name to a proud eminence, and the entire Indian Ocean swarmed with rich caracks, laden with spices and silks, and precious stones, sailing homewards to the new emporium of Eastern com- merce at Lisbon, For upwards of ninety years, the Lusita- nian flag held undisputed possession of its Indian conquests and of the commercial advantages derived from them. From the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, the Persian shores, Arabia, Ceylon, the Spice Islands, Cochin China, and Japan, the Portuguese ships annually carried valuable ladings for the consumption of Europe. The Pope had granted them the dominion of the East, and by their energetic enterprise and the prowess of their arms, they made their title good. Their licence was required to enable a vessel of any other European State to sail with safety in the Indian waters, and without their pa.ssport it was impossible to trade with any Oriental potentate. But their rule, at the several places which they had selected for their settlements, was one of tyranny and oppression ; and when, at length, other Europeans appeared on the scene of Portuguese cruelty and rapine, — the advent of these, as soon as they proved themselves capable of coping with the oppressors, was hailed by the unfortunate natives as a dawn of a brighter future. It was shortly after the United Provinces had secured their emancipation from the Spanish Crown, but some 3^ears before the King of Spain had acknowledged their independence, that the attention of the Dutch merchants was directed Eastwards, Weary of the continued wars, and anxious for a new field of commerce, to counterbalance the loss of that which they had enjoyed with Spain, they had resolutely endeavoured to discover a North-east passage to reach the Northern parts of China and Japan. There they hoped to carry on a lucrative trade, without being forced into immediate hostile contact with the Portuguese, now the subjects of their enemy, Philip the second of Spain. These efforts, in which some of their ablest sailors were employed, were unsuccessful.* Their eyes were then turned to the route by the Cape of Good Hope, and they resolved to rival their foes in their own seas. An unimportant incident in Portugal, the imprisonment for debt, or, according to .some, for a political indiscretion, of a Dutch merchant at Lisbon, determined this course. Cornelius Houtman, a native of Gouda, a man of consider- able sagacity, had, during his rebidence in Portugal, found means to enquire diligently into the mysteries of the Indian * Istc, 2dc en 3de Scliipvacrd van Willcm Barendsz, in 1594> 1595 en 1596. — Begin eude Voortgaug der 0. IXDompagnie. Ed. 1646- 29 commerce, jealously concealed from all foreigners, and the source whence the Portuguese derived their untold wealth. He deemed, justly, that the possession of this knowledge would be highly valued by his countrymen in Holland, and offered to some traders of Amsterdam, if his release were purchased, to communicate the precious information which bis curiosity and observation had enabled him to gain, and to pilot them to the land of fortune. His proposal accepted, his debts discharged, and his liberty secured, he gladly adhered to his promise. His revelations excited to the highest pitch of enthusiasm the minds of those to whom he j^q,, owed his escape from incarceration. In the follow- ing year, a squadron of four ships left Holland, under the auspices of the " Association ol Distant Lands," for the East Indies, under the command of Jan de Molenaer, — the commercial management of the expedition being en- trusted to Houtman. These were the first Dutch ships that anchored in Table Bay ; and the fruit of the voyage was an alliance with the King of Bantam, in Java, where the Portuguese had no settlement, — the foundation of the Dutch power in the East.* The success of this expedition caused the immediate formation of several associations in the Netherlands, for the purpose of prosecuting adventures Eastwards. Little wealth had been gained, indeed, in this first voyage, which embraced a period of two years and four months. But the prospect of dazzling commercial success was most inviting to the traders of Holland. All the seaports established loOGto companies. Amsterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotter- i<5*^i- dam, Hoorn, Enkhuyzen, vied with each other in exertions ; and their enterprises were crowned with success in the rich profits with which their fleets returned home. To avoid the dangers of competition, and secure a mono- poly of the anticipated commercial prosperity, the several * Verhaal dcr O. I. C_ompagnic, vol. i., c. '2. (Ed. 1768) Du Bois' " Vies dcs Goiivcrueurs Gcncroxix :" Introduction. ■60 1C02. companies coalesced, and a charter was obtained for Mar. 20. t,he United Company from the States-General of the Netherlands. As the Cape of Good Hope became not a colony of the Republic of the United Provinces, but a dependency of the " Netherlands Chartered General East India Company," for mercantile purposes, — and as to this fact, principally, can be traced the slow progress, in all but extension of territory, of a country which was settled by Europeans within thirty years of the time when the Pilgrim Fathers, the founders of a mighty empire, landed at Plymouth to plant democratic institutions and European civilization in the West, — it is necessary, in the prosecution of our inquiry, to examine at once into the constitution and objects of the rulers to whom this land, — in which we novr have freedom, but where the •word was, at the commencement of this century, scarcely understood, — was subjected from the date of its original occupation by Europeans. Mercantile establishments with political power, agencies of proprietors at a distance, for the sole benefit of these pioprietors, have indeed, poured wealth from the rich lands with which they trafficked into the coffers of the successful speculators ; — in poor countries, however, where, from an indolent and barbarian population, no wealth could be ob- tained, and where only the free and industrious emigrant could thrive, — land may have been seized, indeed, and native tribes subdued, but no colony, truly entitled to the name, has ever been planted by monopolist corporations of the nature of the English or Dutch East India Companies. The staunch Independents who sailed in the Mayjlower, to the Western world, would have established a true colony, a free state, in proud connection with the fatherland, at the South African extremity, — self-reliant and self-govern- ing as they were, trusting in their God and in their own right arm ; but had it been their doom to pine under the curse of a domination by a monopolist company, — had they been settled, for instance, at tl)e Cape of Good Hope, merely to aid in the conservation of the mercantile mono- 31 poly of the English East India Compan)", — not even they would have saved this country from the low rank which for nigh two centuries it held, and from which within the last half-century only it has commenced to emerge. The object of the Dutch East India Company was traffic, not colonization. Holland never was a colonizing nation, sending forth a surplus population requiring relief, to cul- tivate new lands, and to extend the national name in con- nection with the parent country. Commercial depots were required, but colonization was discountenanced. Colonists, except in subserviency to the wants and interests of monopo- list mercantile associations at home, were not tolerated, whether in their Eastern or Western possessions. It is material to the true comprehension of the position of all lands under the Government of these monopolists, to draw attention to the first charter, which was granted for the period of twenty years, and afterwards from time to time prolonged, until the final extinction of the company, towards the end of the last century. The preamble was of the following tenor: — *" Whereas the welfare of the United Netherlands principally coiisists in trade and navi- gation, which, from immemorial date, have been pursued from these shores, and from time to time commerce has in a praiseworthy manner increased, not only with the neigh- bouring countries, but also with the distant nations in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and whereas, during the last ten years, some of the principal merchants of the Nether- lands, engaged in commerce and navigation within the city of Amsterdam, have, at great cost, trouble, and risk, estab- lished a Company, for the purpose of carrying on a lauda- able traffic with the East Indies, with good prospect of great profit, — and many otlier merchants in Zeeland, on the Meuse, in the North, and in West Frie.-sland, have estab- lished like Companies, for a like purpose ; — we, having considered and maturely weighed of how much importance to the State and its citizens it is, that this commerce * Groot Placact Bock : vol. i., ji. 0-!'. 32 should be placed and enabled to flourish on a good footing, under systematic regulations and governance, have thought fit to propose that the said Companies should be united in a firm and certain union, and in such manner that all sub- jects of the United Provinces may participate in the profits thereof" After this preamble, it proceeds to state that the Government proposition was accepted by several parties inte- rested. Then was formed the Chamber oi XVII, the General Council of Direction of the Company, — a magic name, feared for nearly two centuries by the Governors-General and Governors of the Dutch Indian possessions, more even than the magnates of Downing- street are a terror to British Governors in Crown Colonies. The thirty-third and thirty- fourth sections describe the powers of the Company, — powers, for some period, of more extensive influence than those of the State itself whence the charter was held. These sections were as follows : — " And that the intentions of the Company may be more readily crowned with success, to the welfare of the United Provinces, the encouragement of industry, and the greater profit of the Company,' we have granted, and by these presents we do grant, this charter : — That no one, of whatsoever quality or condition he be, save such as are of the said Company, shall venture, within the next ensuing twenty years, to sail from the United Netherlands to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, or through the Strait of Magellan. " And, further, that the members of the aforesaid Com- pany, to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, and in and beyond the Strait of Magellan, shall be empowered to enter into treaties with princes and potentates, and to contract, in the name of the United Netherlands and its Govern- ment ; and that they shall be entitled to build fortifica- tions, and to apjioint governors, and to establish garrisons, and create officers of justice, — and erect other offices needful for preservation, for the maintenance of good order and the due administration of justice, — provided, however, that these officers and those in the civil and military 33 service shall take the oath of allegiance to the States- General." The Company, for the privileges secured, were to pay 20,000 pounds Flemish to the Government ; and to this amount sliares in the venture were taken by the State. Armed with these powers, the projectors commenced their operations. An energetic trade immediately ensued, and in a few years the Netheilands East India Company had obtained extensive commercial advantages and great Edict, political power. Philip the Second fulminated, 1605. |3ut in vain. His edicts, threatening death to all inhabitants of the United Provinces who should enfjacre in the Indian traffic, did not intimidate them. The dominion of the seas, claimed by the haughty Portuguese in the East, soon became but a name. Heemskerk, — the same who had endured the severity of a Northern winter in Nova Zembla, in the attempt to discover the North-east passage, and who afterwards, dying in the arms of victory, forced the recognition of the independence of the United Provinces, by the destruction of the Spanish fleet at Gibraltar, — ren- dered the flag of the sturdy republicans respected in the Eastern seas. The arrogance of the Spanish and Portu- guese claims was displayed, indeed, in the orders and despatches of the King to the Viceroy de Castro, intercepted by the Dutch, in the beginning of the seventeenth century : in one, " I prohibit all commerce of strangers in any part of India, and among other transmarine nations ;" and in another, " I expect that the rebellious Dutch who are in the East, and the natives who receive them, will be so chastised by you, that neither the former nor the latter shall in future presume to disobey our behest." But his haughty commands could not be executed.* The Dutch were hailed throughout the Indies as the deliverers of the oppre&sed from the despotism and barbarian cruelty of the Europeans, who had so long tram])led on the fair Oriental lands. Little did the wretched Indians know tliat, driven by thirst after * Grotius : Mare Liberum. In fm, De Kebus Bolgicis. Lib. xv. D 34 gold, all the strangers, of whatever European nation, that visited them, were destined to be their oppressors, and tliat tlie hailod deliverance was but a change from one domination to another equally destructive. Nothing could exceed the success of the Dutch for the hnlf-century (hiring which they traded eastwards, without taking possession of the Cape of Good Hope. The Portu- guese had lost their nationality, and sunk rapidly. As to England, through the coml>ination of many circumstances, — ill-management of tiie Eastern mercantile adventures, but principally the impotence and irresolution of the Eng- lish Government under Jame.s, and the civil disburbauces of Charles the First's reign, — even England, during the first half of the seventeenth century, yielded to the Nether- lands the pre-eminence in the East. On behalf of the Crown of England, however, the first formal possession was taken by Europeans of the Cape of Good Hope, — though nothing followed the mere act of taking po.sses- sion. This was in 1G20. In that year, — a third of a century before Riebeek's expedition, — two commanders of fleets of the English East India Con)pany, bound for Surat and Bantam, in the name of His Majesty James the First, King of Great Biitain and Ireland, claimed dominion over the Soutli African continent. Their proclamation was to the effect that Andrew Shillinge and Humphrey Fitzherbert, chief cotiunandt-rs of the fleets, after a conaultation holden on shore, on the 3rd July, in the Bay of Saldanhia (the name by which Table Ba}^ through some error, was known to the English navigators, though never to the Dutch or Portuguese), in the name of the High and Mighty Prince Jame.s, took possession of the coast and the whole conti- nent near adjoiiiiug, "so far to be extended as that at present no Christian king or potentate have any fort or garrison within the limits aforesaid ;" — "and," they added, " our .sovereign Lord the Kinji to be thereunto intitled Lord or Prince, or by any other name or title whatsoever that sliall .seem best unto his gracious wisdom." 3o The reasons for tlie formal occupation of tliis territory, a.ssigned by these Eii^lishiuci), are contained in a document preserved in the archives of the East India Company.* Among otlier things, they set forth that on arrival in the bay, they liad found nine ships of the States, wiiose otHcers declared plainly that the States intended to make a planta- tion at the Cape of Good Hope in the next year, — purpos- itig, no doubt, to make the English pay thereafter for their water and anchorage, towards defraying the expense of their intended plantation. They proceed to say : — "This great countiy, if it were well discovered, would be kept in subjection with a few men and little charge, considering how the inhabitants are but naked men, with- out a leader or policy. We also thought to entitle the King's Majesty thereto by this weak means rather than let it fall tor want of prevention, into the hands of the States, knowing very well that His Majesty is able to maintain his title by his hand against the States, and by his power against any other prince or potentate whatsoever ; and better it is that the Dutch, or any other nation whatsoever, should be his subjects in this place, than that his subjects should be subject to them or to any other. To which may be added the practice of all men, at all tunes and iu all places, in the like cause, entitling their sovereigns to be governors where no government is already instituted Many more particulars might be alleged, as the certain refreshing of your fleets quickly acquired out of your own means by plantation, and to be hoped for from the Blacks when a Government is established to keep them in awe. The whale-fishery besides, persuades us that it would be profit- able to defray part of 3^our charge. The fruitfuiness of the soil, together with the temper of the air, assures us that the Blacks, with the time, will come in for their ease, and of necessity. Time will, no doubt, make them your ser- vants, and by serving you they will become hereafter, we hope, the servants of God." * Barrow's Travels in Southern Africa, vol. i., p. 2. d2 King James, however, and the East India Company did not see the importance of the assumption of dominion. Tiiey declined to second the views of the zealous captains, and it was not until the year 1705 that the British Govern- ment successfully carried out the suggestions made a cen- tury and three-fourths previously by Shillinge and Fitz- herbert. For thirty years more the Cape of Good Hope remained what, since its disco ver}'' by the Portuguese, and more particularly since the trade of Holland and England to the East began to fluurish, it had been, — a post-office, affording the means of communication between the out- ward and homeward bound ships of the various India Com- panies. The old Dutch writers* describe the manner in which large stones, of a peculiar shape, brought from Holland, engraven with the name of the ship and the officers, were left at particular spots, as indications that beneath them, or in a certain direction from them, were buried letters and despatches; — a rude and apparently not very efficient mode of ensuring postal communication, for we discover that be- fore the actual settlement, this practice of the Dutch voya- gers was changed into leaving these documents in the hands of such of the natives as they trusted. On the arrival of Van Riebeek, we find that he received despatches which had been confided to a Hottentot or Ottentoo (for so the Dutch originally wrote the name), who had been on a voyage Eastward in an English ship, and who spoke the Eucjlish languafje. In a similar manner, the English and other Europeans who made the Cape a place of call, communicated with their passing countrymen, and through them with their homes, or their Indian factories. The Cape of Good Hope, in fact, before its occupation by the Dutch East India Company, was the postal establishment between Europe and the East. It was not, however, only a post-office. The water of the stream afterwards called by the Dutch Amstel, or Fresh River, then ran into the sea at no great distance Yalentyn, Beschryviiig van de Kaiip, Kolbc, vol 1, pp. 09, 60. 37 from the site of the present Castle, — and the numerous herds of cattle wliich covered the hills and pastures in the vicinity of the Bay, were a constant attraction for the voyagers. In the daj^s of Diaz and De Gama, the moun- tains near the coast were described as teeming with the horned cattle and sheep of the natives ; and when the Dutch effected their settlement, the wealth of the Ottentoos in flocks was very large, and early excited admiration.* In truth, it is probable, or rather it may be taken as histori- cally certain, that for the purposes of all other traders be- sides those who sailed under the auspices of the Netherlands East India Company, the facilities for obtaining supplies of provision were greater before the settlement by Van Rie- beek than for many years after the Dutch occupation. At that time, supplies of cattle, when at least they could be obtained, were had from the natives for all Europeans equally ; whereas, after the flag of the United Provinces was planted at the Cape, the policy of the company re- quired of its officers, that they should render the sojourn of foreign ships distasteful and insupportable ; and by abridging the accommodation in obtaining provision as much as lay in their power, they succeeded, to a consider- able extent, in driving strangers from this unfriendly shore. But of this system of policy, beneficial indeed for the time, though short-sightedly, to the monopolist trading associa- tion, but most injurious to the colonists, and destructive to all prospects of progress in the country, — more will he said on a future occasion. It is time that our attention be now directed to what imniediately preceded the expedition under Van Riebeek. It is generally supposed that Riebeek was the first who, perceiving the advantages which would accrue to the Dutch commerce by a settlement here, urged the colonization of the Cape of Good Hope on the Netherlands East India Company. This is not the case. On the return voyage from India, in IGtS, a ship had been wrecked in Table * Ricbcck'd Jovu-iial, i-iud Oct., lOb-'<. Moodic, p. W. 38 Bay, — the Haarlem, — and the erew were here for five months lielbro tlic arrival of the outward-bound Miuadron enabled them to join their countrymen. Their treatment by the natives bad been most friendly. In their unfortunate position, they had met with humanity and commiseration ; nud while thus able to biHir testimony to the kintlly con- duct of the Ottentoos, they had it in their power also to observe the capabilities of the soil. On their return to Holland, accordingly, two of the shipwiecked mariners, Leendert Jansz and Nicolaas Proot, addres.sed to the Cham- ber of Directors of Amsterdam, a memorial, in which, to use their own words, they " briefly set forth and explained the service, advantaj^e, and profit which will accrue to the united chartered East India Corapan}' from making a fort ant3, aan Ilaar Wcl-Edel Uoog Acht- baarheden, de Heercu Bewindhebbers ter illustre Vergadoring van XVII. Memorial of Grievances, to the Honourable Right Worshipful the Directors forming the Illustrious Assembly of Seventeen in the year 170G. 2. KoRTE Deductie van Willem Adriaan van der Stel, gewezeno Extraordinaris Raad van India, en Gouvcrneur aan Cabo de Boa Ksperauce : tot destructie endo wcderleg;5iuge van alle do Klagten, die cenigc vry-luyden van do voorz : Cabo, aen do Edele Achtbarc Heeren Bewindhebberen van de O. I. Compagnie over hem hadden gedaan, &c., &c. Brief Deduction of W. A. van der Stel, late Councillor Extraor- dinary of India, and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, in destruc- tion and refutation of all the accusations, which certain freemen of the aforesaid Cape have made against hira to the Honourable and Worshipful Directors of the E. I. Company, &o. 3. Neutrale Gedagten over zekere Korte Deductie die den Edelen W. A. van der Stel heoft belioven in opcnbaren druk uit te geven. Neutral Reflections on a certain Brief Deduction which the Honourable W. A. van der Stcll has been pleased to put forth in print' 4. Contra Deductie ofte Grondigo Demonstratie, van de valsheit der uitgegevene Deductie, &c., door de twee gcmachtigden van ecnigo der Kaapsche inwoondcren. Jacobus van der Hciden en Adam Tas. Counter Deduction, or Perfect Demonstration of the fnlsehood of the published Deduction, by the two agents of some of the inhabitants of the Cape: Jacobus van der Hcideu cu Adam Tas ; ITIii. \ 65 the clergyman, and others who carried on farming establish- ments under favourable circumstances, and who naturally preferred themselves to supply the Comj)any'3 magazines. The Governor himself, armed with all the advantage of his uncontrolled authority, had a magnificent mansion and farm at Hottentots Holland, and amassed consideiable wealth. At length, unable to tolerate the oppression, thus occa- sioned longer, the colonists petitioned ; but this they did not venture openly. A document, signed by .sixty-one burghers, was secretly conveyed to the Supreme Government at Batavia by one of the outward bound ships. In this the accusations against Van der Stell were of the following t^nor : that in contravention of orders from the Supreme Government, the Governor had a great farming establishment at Hottentots Holland* built upon as if it were a whole town, on which fifty farmers could gain their subsistence ; which farm was most extensively cultivated for Iiis private profit; that he had planted upwards of 400,000 vines, and had a stock there of as much as 800 head of cattle, and 10,000 sheep; that he emi)loyed for his farming purposes as many as sixty tradesmen and servants in the Company's employ, and more than one hundred of the Oompany's slaves ; and that for the purposes of the farm he made constant use of the • " His Excellency has, about twelve hours from the Cape, an im. modoratoly large estate, as grandly built upon as if it were a wholo town. Besides this, he possesses huge cultirated lands, on which fifty farmora might, gain a livelihood, llo uiuiually sows great quan" titioa of whoat and has a vineyard containing -I'lCXOvKt vines. Ho has likewise HiM) head of cattle, and upwards of lit.Oui) sheep. On this ostato there are nioro than sixty of the Company's servants, — tho head gardener of the Company being the superintendent, — with sub- officors, sailors, and soldiers, all of whom draw rations and pay Among them are masons carpenters, painters, cal)im.'t-makera, carvers, wood-cutters, herdsmen, thatchers, millers, who<>lwrightH, and other*. ITo likewise employs on tho place one htiiidred of the Company's laves, male and female, besides having the services of the Company's smiths and wagoners. His wagons, ploughs, &c., are made of tho Company's iron, and the wood-work of wood cut in tho Corapany'a forests." — KL.v.\GsciiRirr. Q6 property of the Company, — such as iron from the magazine, and wood, as well imported, as from the Company's forests. That beyond the Hottentots Holland mountains he had fifteen cattle stations, which were under the charge of persons in the pay of the Company. That, at his caprice, he monopolised the pasture for his own cattle and those of his brother and father, and that the latter especially was guilty of most ruinous oppression to the other farmers."^^ That the large number of cattle which he possessed had been obtained in trade with the Hottentots, and partly seized by force from them ; and that His Excellency and his brother, and the clergyman, Petrus Kalden, thus traded with the Hottentots, secretly, and for a long period, during which the trade had been forbidden. And even afterwards, when by order of the authoi'ities in Holland this trade had been thrown open, the Governor kept back the order, while his own barter with the natives was carried on. * " In order briefly to point out by what means the Governor has, in BOBhort a time, become proprietor of so much cattle, j'^our honours are hereby informed that the Governor and his brother, Frans the yonkei*, the clergyman Petrus de Kalden, and others of the Company's ser- vants, were the first who undertook the barter of the cattle : for this was done by them in an underhand, secret manner, without the knowledge of any one else that the traflSc had been opened. In order to carry on this trade, they dispatched a large number of men, with powder and lead, who bartered indeed from some, robbed others in most scandalous wise, and foi-ced the cattle from them ; and in such manner, the barterers returned home well provided. For the rest His Excellency has, by foul means, filched cattle from several burghers^ &c. Now, when the Governor and the other gentlemen had bartered abundantly, he declared the trade open; but after a little time, this was again forbidden by placaat. Upon this, when the directors again declared the free traflic open to the inhabitants, the order was withheld by the Governor, while he was himself busied with barter in his own behalf, having, for the purpose, sent away his superintendent, who returned with 300 head. The improprieties com- mitted herein have excited the Hottentots; and those, for the injuries Buffered b}' them, wreak their vengeance on the innocent. In like manner, the ex Governor deals Avith his neighbours> injui'ing them as much as he can. — EIlaagscilritx, 67 More particularly with reference to the clergyman^' who has been mentioned, they complain that he was one of the largest farmers, and occupied himself far more with his agricultural operations than with his pulpit ; that, occa- sionally, he was for more than a fortnight at a time on his farm, and that the church having been buill at much ex- pense to the community, he often absented himself on the Sabbath, taking his pleasure in the country, even on occa- sions when the holy sacrament was to be administered. Being in high favour with the Governor, his reverence cared little for the murmurs of the people, and did not hesitate to say that when the Governor and second officer in rank were absent from town, he saw no reason why he should remain to preach to the vulgar. Returning to the complaints respecting ihe Governor they allege that he was frequently absent for several weeks on his farm, during which period the citizens often were seriously inconvenienced, as he refused to see any one ex- cept at the Castle for the transaction of business. With reference to the wines, it was complained that the Governor prevented the farmers from selling their wine to any one but himself. That while he compelled them to * " In few words wo shall add something more of our minister. Be it known to your honours, that he too is one of the largest farmers. • . . He makes no account of religion, inasmuch as he is much more interested about his cultivated lands than about his pulpit. IIo sometimes for a fortnight together enjoys himself on his farm. . . Now a great church has been built of the monies of the poor, and o£ this building the minister was the chief advocate ; but it is more than pity that this church must be so often empty, because the clorgyraau enjoys himself in the country, which is not alone a grievous injury to the poor, but a scandal to the congregation. " It hath often happened that people have come a considerable distance from the country to have their children baptized, and others to be joined in matrimony, but were compelled to return homo sore disappointed because his reverence was attending to the increase of his wordly goods at the farm . . . Of an absence for two Sundays, and tliat frequently, he thinks nothing ; and dares to say^ * If His Excellency and the second person arc not at the Capo, what shall I do there.' " — Klaagscerift. f2 68 deliver him the wines on their farms for twelve to twenty rixdollars the leaguer, he monopolized the sale to Dutch and foreign ships, supplying these at the enormous price of one hundred dukatoons per leaguer, or ten times as much as they cost him. That he compelled the farmers, who were bound to de- liver the tenth of their produce, as a tax, at the Company's stores, to load their wagons on the return with the requi- sites for his farming operations ; that he alone supplied wheat to the bakers ; and that, in the name of his brothers and other friends, he furnished large quantities of wheat, at higher prices than were paid to the farmers, to the Com- pany's magazine. He was accused further of encouraging runaway slaves to remain at his farms, and of receiving bribes for the speedy issue of titles which had been granted to lands. Persecution, even to death, of private individuals, was laid to his charge, and the "second officer," Samuel Elzevier, was join- ed, as equally concerned, in most of the causes of complaint. ,^„„ It has been said that one of the memorials embracin": the grievances had been sent to Batavia ; another was prepared, awaiting a favourable opportunity of trans- mission to Europe. In February, 1706, Van der Stell re- ceived intelligence from Java that complaints respecting him had reached the Indian authorities. As yet, however, he knew not the complainants. He was furious, and in- stantly commenced a series of proceedings against all whom he deemed disaffected. One Adam Tas, a resident at Stel- lenbosch, was suspected to be deeply concerned in the mat- ter. One morning before sunrise the Landdrost of Stellen- bosch and two members of the Political or Judicial Council, with a band of soldiers, rushed into the house of Tas, he and his family being still in bed, seized, examined and sealed all his papers, and marched him, under military escort, to prison in the fort. The burghers ot Stellenbosch presented a respectful prayer to the Governor complaining of the manner in which their fellow-citizen had been dragged from his home ; and offering, if there were any crime alleged against him, to give ample security that he would appear I i 69 to answer to the charge. To this an angry reply was given, and Tas was detained a prisoner. The Governor had been well informed by his spies re- garding Tas. He had been active in preparing the offensive documents for the authorities in India and at home. In his desk was discovered the memorial which it was intended to convey to Holland. The first signature was that of an old man of seventy, a Hollander by birth, named Jan Rotterdam. The Political and Judicial Council was imme- diately summoned, and the result is given in the following curt order with which the officers of justice appeared at Rotterdam's house : — " The freeman and old burgher councillor, Jan Eotterdam, is hereby, by virtue of a resolution of Council held in this place, ordered to betake himself on board of the ship Be Herstelch Leeiiw within twenty- four hours, therewith to proceed to Batavia to answer to the Honour- able Indian Government respecting sucti acts as he hath oftentimes committed contrary to his honour, his oath, and his duty, against the lawful authority of the place." The old man prayed to be permitted to remain on shore one day longer, as the ship was not to sail immediately, that he might attend divine service for the last time. This was refused, and he was forced on board. This aged man appears to have been peculiarly an object of Van der Stell's animosity. He had on a previous occasion given deep offence, which could not be forgotten. It was an established rule that all persons should rise in the church in order to show due respect to His Excellency on his entrance to join in the worship of God. Rotterdam, bent down with age and infirmity, and suffering under a fatal disease, endeavoured to rise to perform the customary salu- tation, but could not. He was observed, and a marked man. The order for his embarkation to Batavia, for this failure in respect, was in fact made out in the form above given, but His Excellency was induced to extend his mercy on this occa- sion, bidding the old man beware of any future disrespect. In the meantime^ the Governor's police tracked their vic- tims with the certainty and severity of familiars of the holy 70 office. He himself Claused a document highly laudatory of his charactor and administration to be prepared, and all who declined to affix their names were accounted rebels. A proclamation, characteristic of the man and of the system, was issued, Jt is worthy of being extracted. It must be remembered that the crime wa."? signing a petition. " We William Adrian van der Stell, Councillor Extra- ordinary of India, Governor on behalf of the chartered East Indian Company of the United Netherlands, as also of the Island of Mauritius, and the further dependencies, — and the Council do proclaim. " That we have heard, with sorrow and high displeasure, that as well here at the Cape as in the country, there are, within this Government, malicious and wicked inhabitants who have not alone been guilty of entering into a conspiracy against the lawful authority and Government of this settle- ment, but have also by mean.5 of libellous writings against the Government, to which they, partly by persuasion and partly by force, obtained signatures, seduced others from their virtuous courses and drawn them into their pernicious schemes ; and whereas all such proceedings cannot be deemed in any other light than as public mutiny and sedition, and disregard of the lawful authority of Government, tending to the destruction and ruin of the people and of the country. "Now, therefore, we, with the advice and concurrence of the Honourable the Commander and Council of the return fleet, now in this bay, for the good of the Government and for the preservation of the public peace, which has already been much disturbed by the said malicious and turbulent persons ; and feeling it our duty to provide against the great evils which may arise from such proceedings, using thereto the means which Heaven and our masters have placed in our hands, have forbidden and interdicted all and every inhabitant of this colony, whomsoever, by the obedience due to us and our Government, as we do by these presents inter- dict and forbid them, that no one shall enter into any com- bination, association or conspiracy, or council with the said evil-iutentioned inhabitants, who have combined against the 71 chief authority, nor shall sign any libellous or seditious papers, under penalty of punishment for sedition ; and that all who shall be discovered as inviting or persuading others to sign such papers shall be punished with death, without distinction of persons, as violators of the public peace : and we do, by these presents, authorize the Independent Fiscal and the Landdrost to inform themselves respecting all such persons, and to apprehend all such as may be under sus- picion of being engaged in the disgraceful and slanderous conspiracy, wherever they may be found. " But, inasmuch as it is possible that some may regret their part in these proceedings, having been misled by the malicious ringleaders in the matter, these are informed that they must instantly appear before the authorities to avow their repentance for tbeir misdeeds ; otherwise they shall receive the same punishment as the other seditious mutineers. "Published and passed at the Castle of Good Hope, -ith March, 1706. "W. A. VAN DER StELL." The threat of the penalty of death was not, however, carried out. But rigorous imprisonment and banishment were enforced in many instances. Jacobus van der Heiden, one of the principal among the complainants, an old Heem- raad and Burgher Lieutenant of Stellenbosch was, on account of his obstinacy in not recanting the statements of the memorial, incarcerated in the condemned cell with a slave who had been convicted of murder and arson. He and others were detained as prisoners for the period of thirteen months, when orders for their liberation were received from Holland. Several had sentence of deportation, in like manner as in the instance of Rotterdam, passed upon them, to the Mauritius, Ceylon, and Batavia. In fact, recantation or exile, preceded by imprisonment, or, in some instances, by torture, seemed to be the alternative. The men who were principally sought out as having most knowledge of political right, and jealous of their privileges as freemen were the later Dutch colonists, who imigi'atcd hither under the plan 72 (»f Coiiimis.sioner Vau Rheede, and the Fivnch lefug-'eH. With itfLience t© one of the hitter, who was also seized and imprisoned, there is an allusion made in a book, giving the history of the (juestion, published in HoUaud in 1713, ^vhieh may be here quoted : — '' This Meyer, having escaped from the French king's dragoons, and having forsaken ali the temporal advantages that God had given iiim, because he would bear no restraint on his conscience, lived for a time in Germany and elsewhere, and finally had come hither as to a secure retreat, where he hoped to spend the rest of his days in peace and in freedom. But he found himself mistaken indeed, seeing that the Governor, as well as the great king of France, had dragoons at his command, through whom he could make the place intolerable, not only for refugees, but lor his own country- men. H(i had as many means at his disposal for compelling them to recant the complaint of their memorial as the great king of France had to urge them to attendance on the mass." The Governor had, however, in the course of his arbitrary proceedings, committed a serious error. Anxious to rid the colony of all whom he deemed influential in the complaint against him, he did not sufliciently consider the dangerous position in which he placed himself by ordering some on board one of the ships of the return fleet, on its way to Hol- land, at the end of March, 1700. Husing, V'an der Heyden, and Van der Byl, who, having been thus sentenced to banishment and carried to Holland, were most active on their arrival there, gained powerful friends, and at length obtained the Governor's recal. In 1707 a despatch, commanding the immediate ' '■ return of the Governor and the principal oflicers who had aided him in his oppressions, was tr-ansruitted to the Cape. By the same despatch, the illegal sentences on the several victims of Van der Stell's tyranny were annulled. The Chamber of XVII clearly saw that the retention of the chief oflicers was incompatible with the peace of the country ; and hence v/ere they recalled. But it is remark- able, in instituting a comparison between the circumstances 73 of tlie two recjils wliicli h;iJ now taken place since the establishment of the colony, that Quaelbergen, whose crime was the possible relaxation of the Company's monopolist system, by courtesy to foreigners, was punished with far more severity than Van der Stell, against whom the charges established were the grossest "oppression and corruption. Quaelbergen was degraded from his rank, and entirely thrust out of the service. Van der Stell not merely retained his rank, but received his pay and emoluments for a coasiderable time after the date of his rccal. The most trivial relaxation of monopolist regulations was a far more serious crhue in the eyes of the Council of the Eai^t India Company, than the most violent tyi'anny exercised against the colonists.* But althou- Pletiexbebg. O. M Bergu, Secretary. This right to force into servitude those who might incur the displeasure of the Governor, or other high ofRcers, was not only exercised with reference to the individuals them- selves who had received this conditional freedom. It was claimed by the Government to be applicable likewise to the children of all suck By a bold process of reasoning the principal legal authority of the colony in 1780, justifying the deportation to Batavia of a citizen suddenly seized in the streets, declares that it being a plain principle of law that no one can transfer any greater right than he himself possesses, whereas the father had become a burgher under the condition of being forced back, into service and deported whenever the Company might deem fit, and therefore could claim no exemption from such demand, it was plain law and equity that the son should have no greater privileges than the father possessed. " I sacredly confess," ho says,* with indignant warmth, " that I cannot discern wherein the fine distinction and high preference of the rights of children above those of parents can reside." The noted fiscal, Boers, — for he is the authority quoted, — was right at least in his practice. Fiom the commencement of the colony, but e.specially from 1730 to 1780, this was held by the Government to ha consistent with the position and privileges of the unfortunates st^'led free burghers. Deportation was of too frct[Uent occurrence to be theorcticAlly * Vcrantwoordiug van Mr. W. C. Boers, Independent Fiscal aan dc Kaap do Gocdo Hoop, p.p. 44, 45, 1783. 80 doubted. By tliis construction of their rights, the murmurs of the burgliers were long silenced. ._„- In the meantime, while such was the relative po'-i- to tion of the Government and its European subiects 1780 ..... within the limits of its power, the boundary of the colony received incessant extension. Many a restless spirit could not brook the subjection in which the colonists of the immediate neif»hbourhood of the seat of the government were held. Hollanders, Dan*^s, Germans, and French, — all the turbulent, disaffected, and enterprising, — endeavour- ed to escape into a pastoral life, and took the wandering habits of the Arab. Unable to resist the severity with which the Central Government repressed aught like freedom, they sought liberty beyond the immediate gra.sp of those before whom in Table Valle}', and the neighbouring dis- tricts, the free burghers trembled. Once beyond Swelleudara or in the wastes which afterwards became Uitenharje and Graaff-Reinet, they had no fear of fiscals or placaats. If the Government lollowed into the country, where they had found water and pasturage, they accepted its sovereignty ; for thus they were united with their brethren and friends and their church. At the same time, the distance was such that their lawlessness could receive but little restraint. They could never be brought into the subjection in which the inhabitants in the divisions immediately contigu- ous to the Cape were held. They treated with con- tempt the injunctions that they should penetrate no further into the interior. Without the commands of Government and against these commands, they took signal vengeance on fiuAi of the Hottentots and Bush- men, whom they had excelled from their haunts, as ventured depredations on the spoiler. The Government never ceased to urge humanity, and to threaten high dis- pleasure on these occasions. But the passions of these pioneers — we dare not say of civilization — once aroused, threats were powerless ; for ability to enforce them did not exist. These emigrant boers, — for the emigration began not in 1837, us is idly asserted for political reason^, but before \ 81 the commencement of 1 700, — knew that they were followed by the sovereignty of the Dutch Government, only from a fear lest an independent European Power should be estab- lished in too dangerous proximity to the Company's posses- sions. Tlius the colony presented the paradoxical aspect of two widely different kinds of burghers ; the one in slavish subjection, the other in reckless freedom, under a Govern- ment ready to crumble to pieces at the first shock, — and yet overbearing as it was impotent. These changes had taken place from 1720 to 1780, in which last year Van Plettenberg proclaimed the Sneeuwbergen the boundary of the colony, expressing the anxious hope that no more extension should take place, and with heavy penalties for})iddiug the rambling peasants to wander beyond. For this long period there can scarcely be said to be any other history of the Cape of Good Hope than that just sketched, save that after the middle of the century England, for the sake of the empire in the East which the genius of Clive had acquired, determined upon adding this possession to her conciuests. France, still hoping to retrieve the disasters in India suffered by Labourdonnais and Lally, strained every nerve to prevent this addition to her rival's influence. Holland which, not many years before, had proudly and successfully withstood the combined navies of France and England, would, in 1 780, have seen her colonial and Indian possessions fall an easy prey to a small English squadron which, notwithstanding the American war and the distracted state of P^urope, had been fitted out for the purpose under Commodore Johnstone. Fifteen years more ot continuance were secured to the power of the Dutch East India Company (now in such financial prostration that their most valuable acposed possible that the language of the following extract of a laboured defence, penned by the Attorney-General of the day, could be made api)licable to our position. And yet it is language used in an official document only twelve years before the cessation of the rule of the Dutch East India Company : — " It would be indeed a serious error if a comparison were attempted to be instituted between the inhabitants of a colony situated as this irt, and the privileged free citizens of our great towns in the United Provinces. It would be mere deception to argue any equality of rights between them. Were it necessary, it would be easy to exhibit the origin of the burjjhers of our republic and their privileges in striking contrast with the origin of the inhabitants of this colony and their claims. But it would be a mere waste of words to dwell on the remarkable distinction to be drawn between burghers whose ancestors nobly fought for and concjuered their freedom from tyranny, and from whose fortitude in the cauje of liberty the very power of onr republic has sprung ; and such as are named burghers here, who have been permitted as matter of grace to have a residence in a land of which possession has been taken by the sovereign power, there to i 87 gain a livelihood as tillers of the earth, tailors, and ghoemakcrs Here comparison is impossible."* Thus much with reference to political rights. The strictures officially made on the claim for commercial ad- vantages are very significant : — " The burghers, whose number is at present far too great, and whom, on this account, it will soon be found very difficult to restrain and govern with a due regard to the preservation of the interests of the state and the Honourable Company, desire to bo allowed a right of trading beyond" the colony, in ships freighted by them, to Europe, to the African coast, to India, to barter the produce of other lands for that of this country. Now it is clear, and requires no lengthy argument, that for the purpose of enabling a subordinate colony to flourish as a colony, it is not always expedient to apply those means which, considered in the abstract, might be conducive to its prosperity. The object of paramount importance in legislation for colonies should bo the welfare of the parent state, of which such colony is but a subordinate part, and to which it owes its existence. " No great penetration is needed to see plainly the impossibility of granting such a petition. The dangerous consequences which would result to the state in general, and, in particular, to the Honourable Company, from the concession, to a colony situated midway between Europe and the Indies, of free commerce, are manifest. It would Boon bo no longer a subordinate colony, but an independent state." At the time these doctrines were enunciated, or rather were recalled, as being the fundamental principles of Dutch colonial government, the great Netherlond company of merchants was tottering to its foundation. Their energies had been soon wasted by excessive wealth acquired in their early success. The confusion which now pervaded tiioir aflairs foretold a speedy 1)ankruptey. The government of remote provinces on the principles of the counting-house had failcfl. Here, at least, at the Cape of Good Hope, it was plain that the European population had increased beyond the power of a distant association of traders to govern them according to mere calculations of profit and loss. The institutions of 1G50 did not answer * Verantwoorduig van Fiacaal 13ocrs, p- ti3. 88 the requirements of 1780. Near the seat of Government the truth was repressed, through fear of the penalties imposed on freedom of speech and of action. In the distant parts, immediately after the departure of the foreign troops at the period of the French revolution, turbulence ruled, and savage deeds on the weak betokened the absence of all control. But yet there seemed no prospect of change. After the deputation of Artoys and his companions, to which allusion has been made, and which resulted, as on former occasions, in some removal of person?!, but not in the alteration of the system, other delegates were, in ] 785, authorized to lay the complaints of the com- munity before the directors of the Company, and, failing redress, to appeal to the States-General of the Netherlands. These grievances were of thft same nature as those previously submitted. The colonial representatives, on this occasion, bore the names of Bergh, Redelinghuys, Roos, and Bresler. Unfortunately, disunion between these delegates ensued, and nothing was effected by them."* But the hope of better days began to dawn. For at length the Stadtholder of the United Provinces, — afterwards William the First of Holland, — felt the necessity for the retention of the colonial possessions of the Netherlands, of adopting stringent measures of inquiry into the position and administration of the Dutch Company's settlements. In 1791, he appointed Commissioners-General to examine into the state of their affairs. In the letter of appointment of these commissioners the condition of the Company itself, and its possessions, is represented as demanding the most minute scrutiny. They are directed, both at the Cape of Good Hope and in other colonies, to discover and expose all abuses, malversations, and other evil practices, on the part of the administrators of the Government, to effect the reforms which, on inquiry, they might deem proper, in all branches of the Company's affairs, trade, and administration ; and, *Vide "De Eerlooslieid Oatmaskcrd," &c., door J. H. Eede- linghuys, 1792. 89 finally, they are enjoined to endeavour to restore the affairs of the several Eastern possessions from their existing con- fusion, into good order and fit subordination. Accordingly, the Commissioners, Nederburgh and Frykenius, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1793.* It was anticipated by the sanguine that speedy improvement would follow this arrival. Extravagant expectations were raised that at length afiairs in the colony would be established upon a satisfactory foundation. Burgher privileges were to be defined and acknowledged. Practitioners unconnected with the Government were to be allowed in the Courts of Justice. Intelligible promulgation of the law was to be efiected. Free navigation, to some extent at least, was to be conceded. But with the exception that some trifling administrative changes were adopted, nothing resulted from the^se hopes. The Commissioners- General were received with acclamation ; but, in the words of a pamphlet on Cape affairs, by a colonist named Christian Neethling, published in Holland in 1797, or, according to the revolutionary cant of the day, in the third year of Batavian liberty, " the most important of their proceedings consisted in their proclamation, amid firing of cannon and tolling of bells, that they represented the Prince of Orange, and the rest any office clerk might have done." f They had more valuable colonies in view, upon which to exercise their projects of reform, and left the Cape in 1794! for Java, having, by virtue of the high authority reposed in them, invested with the powers of their commission, in their stead, the unfortunate Sluy.sken (then returning from the East, as an invalid, to Holland), who subsequently surrendered the colony to the English fleet. Sluysken's position was one of extreme difficulty. The expectation formed of the redress of abuses by the commission which had appointed him had fallen to the * Vide " Ecbtc Stukkon," Sec, van do Gencralc Commissic, &c., door Mr. S. C. Nederburgh, Lid van de Commissie, 1803. t Vide C. L. Neethling. " Ondcrsock van't Vcrbaal van Sluysken," 1797. 90 ground. There existed disaftection through the length and breadth of the land : and the military force at his com- mand was merely nominal. The country had, for some time, been on the eve of rebellion, and now it broke out. Early in 1796 the inhabitants of Graaff-Reinet had dis- missed their Landdrost, Maynier, and thrust him beyond the boundary of that distiict. At this remote distance from the capital, beyond all influence of the Government, no resistance could be opposed to his expulsion by the unpopular functionary. Not long afterwards, the Landdrost of Swellendam, 1795. Anthony Alexander Faure, was expelled by his burghers. In this district, indeed, the opposition to established authority was completely organized. Their own Landdrost was elected. Their own commandants were chosen. A national assembly was constituted, of which one Hermanus Steyn was the President. A free republic was declared. It was evident that the power of the Government had entirely ceased : any attempt to enforce obedience, in either Graaff'-Reinet or in Swellendam, or in any place except the immediate vicinity of Cape Town, would have met with signal defeat. Irrespectively of the events which then convulsed Europe, the fate of the Dutch East India Company's ascendancy at the Cape of Good Hope was sealed.* But the revolutions of Europe changed the future fortunes of this colony from being hurried into a premature republic. In June, 1795, Admiral Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Keith, and General Craig anchored in False Bay, with eight ships, and four thousand men. They conveyed the startling intelligence that the hereditary Stadtholder had been driven from the Netherlands ; that the French liad overrun the country, and a republican convention had been established in connection with that which swayed France. The Prince of Orange had sought refuge in England, and had implored aid from the British Government. An order from the * Vide Sluysken's Yerhaal, passim. i 91 exiled Stadtholder, addressed to the Government of the Cape, was in the possession of the Admiral. It was dated from Kew^ and was of the following tenor : — " We have deemed it necessary by these presents to command you to admit into the Castle, as also elsewhere in the colony under your Government, the troops that shall be sent thither by His Majesty . the King of Great Britian, and also to admit the ships of war, frigates, or armed vessels which shall bo sent to you on the part of Hia Majesty, into False Bay, or wherever they can safely anchor ; and you are to consider them as troops and ships of a power in friendship and alliance with their High Mightinesses, the States-General, and who come to protect the colony against an invasion of the French. " Consigning you to the protection of Providence, we are, " William, Prince of Orange." This order was conveyed to the Commissioner by the Admiral, who, at the same time, communicated the occur- rences which had caused the Stadtholder's flight. He claimed no hostile occupation of the country, but desired admission as an ally. Some short time previously, however, an instruction had been received from the Chamber of XVII, that, under the present circumstances of Europe, the Cape authorities should oppose, as far as practicable, the landing of any foreign force, as it was impossible to foresee the turn which affairs might take. Sluysken felt himself bound to the obedience of this instruction, and replied, finally, to the English commanders, that, " disavowing all sentiments of Jacobinism, he was prepared to defend the colony against any force that might be sent against him by the French Convention, equally as he was now prepared to defend it against the British fleet and army." These were bold words ; but Sluysken had not the means to give effect to them. Whether threatened by a French fleet or English, he had no choice but to succumb in a very short period. He appealed to the Swellendam burghers as sufliciently near to render valuable aid in any attempt to resist the impending danger. His garrison consisted of 500 men of a German regiment, in the Dutch pay, and some artillery ; and for the rest, his reliance was on the burgher cavalry 92 niul iufantiy. With the cordial assistance of tliese there appears to be little doubt that the position at Muizenburg might have been successfully defended against a largely superior force. But Sluysken had no confidence in the burghers, nor they in him. The Svvellendam insurgents were entreated to come to the defence of the colony, and an amnesty was guaranteed them, with a promise of immediate examination and redress of their grievances. But the diffi- culties in which the Government was placed do not 1795. seem to have inclined the disaffected to peace. They appear rather to have determined on taking advantage of its precarious position to urge demands which it was plainly impossible to grant. They reply to the proposal of an amnesty and free pardon, if they returned to their duty, with an expression of surprise " that the Honourable Com- missioner does not respect the resolution of the national convention, and still addres.ses official communications to the Landdrost whom they had deposed." They claim that future communications shall be made to the Landdrost, Steyn, whom they had appointed : object to the proposed grant of an amnesty on the ground that its acceptance would imply that they had been guilty of sedition ; and declare that they have borne the yoke of slavery for a sufficiently long time, and have now resolved to shed the la.st drop of blood for their fatherland and freedom, and to erect themselves into an independent republic. They then proceed to dictate the terms upon which they will treat at all, adding " If we receive no favourable reply, we shall be compelled to adopt other means of attaining our object, which would be of a most unpleasant nature ; but we confidently hope that we shall obtain a favourable reply, for the welfare of the entire national convention, and for the good of po.sterity," All this contention with the Government was based on the claim for liberty : — but a liberty not now intelligible to us ; — a liberty understood in the Southern States of the great American republic ; but by no other nation which claims its own emancipation from bondage. If our fathers' conception of freedom was scarcely k 93 honourable to them, they are countenanced by the example of the people calling themselves pre-eminently free : — freedom to themselves, but, at least, one chosen race doomed to servitude. It is with a deep sense of humiliation that the demands which follow the assertion of their own rights as free men, by the discontented boers, are now read by us. The extract which follows is from what was pre- 1795 . sented to Sluysken in 1795 as the general demand of all the burghers ; — " That every Bushman or Hottentot, male or female, whether made prisoner by commanders, or caught by individuals, as vrell in time past as in future, shall for life be the lawful property of such burghers as may possess them, and serve in bondage from generation to generation. And if such Hottentots should escape, the owner shall be entitled to follow them up and to punish them, according to their merits in his discretion." " And as to the ordinary Hottentots, already in service, brought up at the places of christians, the children of these shall be com- pelled to serve until their twenty-fifth year, and may not go into the service of any other savo with their master's consent ; that no Hottentot, in future, deserting his service shall be entitled to refugo or protection in any part of the colony, but that the authorities throughout the country shall immediately, whatever be the alleged cause of desertion, send back the fugitive to his master."* To these demands, and others in which exemption from taxation was claimed, on the grounds that they defended their own frontier and had no help from the state, as the basis of any assistance the insurgents might be disposed to render, it was impossible for Sluysken to assent. Although the Government had, for a long period, ceased to afford actual protection to the natives, it had resolutely refused to enslave them. Sluysken would not purchase the salvation of the Dutch power on these conditions, were such salvation certain. His situation became extremely coroplioated. At length, after a feeble resistance by the lew military and burghers whom he had been able to bring into the field, * Eisch van dc Algcmccuc Burgcry, Art. 5, C, Sluyskcn's Vcrbaal p. 129. 04 and some trifling skirmishing Jit Muizenberg, in which the military asserted that the burghers behaved ill, and the burghers that the military flt'd at the first onset, a truce was solicited ; and the raeraV)ers of Council, Van Ryneveld and Le Sueur, were empowered to treat for a capitulation. To add to the confusion, at the very time the truce was conceded, the last resolution of the " Nationals," signed by their commandant, an Italian, named Pisani, dated on the 7th August at Tulbagh, whither they had advanced, reached the Governor, who was endeavouring to obtain favourable terms, demanding a reply to their previous communications, and threatening offensive measures. Sluysken at length yielded, preferring a capitulation to the English forces to a capitulation to insubordinate subjects who required that he should at once consent to the abrogation of the principles on which the Government had, for the period of the colony's existence, been conducted ; and who could not, even had he obeyed their behests, have long preserved the country from foreign attack. The colony was thus surrendered. General Craig was installed Governor ; and the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britian was demanded of all who continued to hold office, on the ground that the Dutch National Govern- ment had ceased to exist. Sluysken met with much obloquy, when, in accordance with the terms of the surrender, he returned to Holland. But he clearly did not merit the disgrace connected with his name. He was accused of treason to the national cause, in not having made a successful defence. But it clearly appears that defence was out of the question. Janssens, a far abler man, with considerable force, — and while the country was in a state of profound quiet, in 180G, — effected no more than Sluysken in 1705. Whatever Sluysken's conduct may have been, the reign of the Dutch East India Company had ceased. The sole question, at the date of the arrival of the English fleet, was whether the colony should be yielded to the anarchy of those who had raised the standard of rebellion, or should 1 95 pass into the bands of a European power by whom, at tlis peace, it might be restored. Thus, at the end of the last century, after 143 years of existence, the domination of the East India Company fell at the Cape of Good Hope. At the commencement of the period, the energy of these traders of a small common- wealth, who founded empires, and divided the command of the seas, merits admiration. But their principles were false, and the seeds of corruption were early sown in their colonial administration. For the last fifty years, at least, of their rule here, there is little to which the examiner of our records can point with satisfaction. The effects of this pseudo colonization were that the Dutch, as a commercial nation, destroyed commerce. The most industrious race of Europe, they repressed industry. One of the freest states in the world, they encouraged a despotic misrule, in which falsely called free citizens were enslaved. These men, in their turn, became tyrants. Utter anarchy was the result. Some national feeling may have lingered ; but, substantially, every man in the country, of every hue, was benefited when the incubus of the tyranny of the Dutch East India Com- pany was removed. Since then, the advancement of the colony, both under an English and a brief Dutch adminis- tration,"'* has been as rapid as that of any in the world. So great has been the progress, — so utterly different is the condition of the inhabitants, — so much has in the inter- mediate sixty years been effected, — that it is with incredulity, and with some effort, that we aro compelled to accept the fact, that affaii-s within so short a period were in the state which our history describes. * The Govornmcnfc from 1803 to 1300, by Do Mist and Janssens, under tho " Batavian Kcpublic," was most beneficial to the colony, and furnishes a groat contrast to the misrule of tho " East India Company." 96 EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. {FROM THE CAPE RECORDS OF 1688.) When Father Tachard, wlio accompanied the embassu to Siara, iu 1U85 and 1G87, at the command of LouLs XIV, published a narrative of hi.s two voyage.s, he de.scribed the hospitable reception which had been experienced by the French at the Cape of Good Hope. Those in authority, though Dutchmen, were well-educated and polished gentle- men, — though heretics, disposed to render all the a.ssistance that lay in tlu'ir power to the Jesuit astronomers who formed part of the mission. The name of the great King was respected, his servants treated with the courtesy due to the subjects of such a monarch, the troops allowed to recruit their health on land, the sick tended iu the hospital. " Nous fftraes," says the enterprising abbd, giving an account of the first interview, in 1685, " extremement surpris de trouver tant de politesse au Cap de Bonne Esperance, et beaucoup plus encore de toutes les honnetet^s et les marques d'amitie que nous y reciimes des cette premiere entrevue." On this voyage, the outward-bound fleet was at anchor in Table Bay, under the command of Baron van Rheede tot Draken- stein, of whom, as well as of his officers and the commandant of the fortress, an excellent character is given. " Tons ces messieurs, auxquels il faut joindre Monsieur van der Stellen, Gouverneur ou, pour parler comme les Hollandais, Com- mandeur du Cap, sont d'un merite singulier et ce fut une heureuse rencontre pour nous d'avoir ^ traiter avec eux, durant le s(ijour que nous y fime.s." An equally favourable description of the reception of the second expedition is found. This was on a grand scale, and consisted of six King's ships, having on board two special envoys of high rank, to secure the alliance, and several priests, to eiiect the conversion of the Siamese. The long voyage had seriously affected the health of a large propor- tion of the men, and accommodation was provided on shore for three hundred sick. When, iu April, 1G88, Admiral I 97 de Vaudricourt arrived in Table Bay, on liis return to France, he and Tachard again enjoyed, at the hands of " Monsieur van der Stellen," " les memes honnetet^s que les voyages pr^cddens." One of the ships of the squadron, however. La Normande, was detained in the Indies. In tlie outward passage, this vessel had been, according to the good father, ]iarticularly blessed. She had had " the happy privilege of carrying three zealous missionaries," one especially, Monsieur Morlot, of superior sanctity. Her return, though not without priests, in April, 1689, was singularly unfortunate For the friendly welcome at the Cape, which was anticipated as before, an unexpected attack was substituted, and the story of the capture and plunder, extracted from Van der Stella dispatches, offers a curious picture of warfare, as conducted in those days by Europeans out of Europe. The friendly feeling displayed by the colonial authorities towards the second embassy was not satisfactory to their superiors. A deep distrust of the French King's schemes had, for some time, possessed the minds of Dutch states- men ; and Van der Stcll's want of caution, in admitting a possible enemy with the confidence of friendship to a know- ledge of his defenceless state, was severely reprehended from Batavia and from Holland. In the Indian correspondence he was informed that his visitors had observed that the castle, wholly commanded by the Devil's Hill, was situated uselessly for purposes of defence. They had discovered the garrison to be very weak, and were for that reason much astonished that they had been at perfect liberty to land as many men as they pleased, who were again allowed to wander about at will. Moreover, they had declared that if their intentions had been at all hostile, they could ea.sily have seized the castle, sword in hand, by assnult, and ex- pressed the opinion openly that if the Dutch company so little regarded the value of their Cape settlement, as to afford it no better proteetion, it would be attacked iind captured on the first rumour of hostilities Wtwecn the United Provinces and France. They had added, significantly, H 98 that it would be wiser to place reliance on a formidable and well-equipped garrLson, than on the duration of the twenty years' truce which had been concluded in 1 G85 at the Hague. Whatever may have been the changes in the world, in France especially, between 1G88 and 18G0, the French idio- syncracy which examines, in profound peace, the possessions of foreign powers, with a view to future conquest, has scarcely undergone alterations. Under Emperor or King, Bourbon or Bonaparte, the national military vanity is the same. Louis XIV repudiated intentions of aggressive war- fare as eagerly as Napoleon III in our time ; but despotisms are necessarily aggressive, and aggression was the rule of his reign. There is a curious similarity between the boast of the officers of Vaudricourt's squadron, after their visit and friendly reception by the Dutch, in 1G87, and the expression of French opinion formed during the late sojourn of the fleet at this place, and published in the colonial papers, from a Parisian semi-official journal. If the writer in the Fatrie be justified in the assertion that the modest garrison of two or three hundred British troops was wholly eclipsed by the display of the Imperial military force, and that " if France, animated by a spirit of invasion which no longer belongs to our age, should perchance entertain, with regard to this ancient Dutch possession, the ideas of con- quest which certain English alarmists ascribe to her, this would be a splendid opportunity to substitute the tricolour for the union-jack," — his assumption that the rural popula- tion is hostile to England, and would sympathize with a French attack, is amusingly absurd. If Holland were now a great power, as in the seventeenth century, capable of rivalry with England or France, such is the memory of what Dutch colonial government was, and the knowledge of what the country ha.s become under English rule, that, notwitlistaudiiig the natural and laudable aSection for the Dutch name which exists, and will continue permanently to exist, among the descendants of the old colonists, it would be a vain attempt to excite enthusiasm for the * This was written iu August l^CO. — Ed, 99 revival of Dutch authority. Even the units— for they count no more — who, because declamation is safe and harmless in a perfectly free country, declaim of independ- ence, would thrust their loyalty on Her Most Gracious Majesty, and vociferate their right to the name of British subjects, upon the first whisper that the Queen's Govern- ment was prepared to allow the validity of their demanda But the possibility of French dominion would bo a startling thought indeed to the " rural population." If the resistance which would be offered throughout the land by all the inhabitants, whether of Dutch, English, or even of French extraction, becanie powerless, the boer remedy for dissatisfaction with Government from the commencement of the colony's existence, " the trek," would be again applied, with more energy than on any former occasion : the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic would receive a large accession of burghers, and there would be but few of those "among whom the Dutch element preponderates ;" left to enjoy the blessings of subjection to the second emi)ire. Not even the approved expedient of Imperial universal suffrage would gain a single free vote for annexation to France. The heads of the Batavo-Indian administration had better knowledge of the European complications which were about to ensue than the subordinate authorities at the Cape. They were aware that the cessation of hostilities between the French King and the United Provinces could not last much longer. A war of the allied powers of England and France against Holland was anticipated by them. Instead of this formidable combination to overwhelm the only free state of Europe, the successful enterprise of the Prince of Orange, and the restoration of liberty in England, in 1GS8, produced a league between two free European states to resist "the great conspirator against the rights of men and of nations, against the security and independeno(' of all European states, against every kind and nature of civil and religious liberty, Louis XIV.'"" * Sir James Mackiutosh. h2 100 These stirring events, in which the most conspicuous part was played by the " Stadhouder," naturally excited great interest throughout the vast colonial possessions which the Dutch East India Company then governed. Accordingly, the dull details of purely mercantile matters and colonial restrictions are enlivened by references to European affaiis, in the dispatches of the period. The Home Government kept Van der Stell informed of the proceedings in Europe, and the danger to which they apprehended that the Indian settlements and factories would be exposed. Copies of important letters from England are occasionally found among the enclosurers. Some of the " Nouvelles " of the day, viz. : the Dutch Gazettes, which alone then constituted the free press of Europe, — as the English journals almost alone constitute the free press of Europe at the present day, — were likewise sent, but these appear not to have been preserved like the manuscript intelligence. The nature of the information which it was thought fit to transmit to the Colonial Governors, and the instructions issued for their guidance, may be interesting to some readers, although it is not to be expected that any new information on European afiairs of the period can be gleaned from our colonial records. The first warning note of the future war is struck in a letter of the -''en, oTtTer"'. ICSS, from Middelburg, in Zealand. The preparations of the Prince of Orange had been long in progress, but were conducted with the utmost secrecy. It is true, as stated by Lord Macaulay, that D'Avaux, the able minister of Louis XIV at the Hague, had informed his court of the probable destination of the formidable armament in course of C([uipment, but the incredulity of James II, and of his envoy, D' Abbeville, was shared by very many in Holland. War with France, possibly with England and France, was supposed imminent, but those in the confidence of the Prince alone knew with certainty that the hazardous enterprise of a descent upon England was contemplated. Even the "commissioned members" of the Council of Seven- teen, the Governors of the Dutch East India Company, well informed as we should suppose them to have been, 101 were, three weeks before William took his solemn farewell of the States-General, ignorant of the " great design." They write thus in manly style, ready, if need be, to show a bold front to James II and Louis the Great united : We send this dispatch by the frigate J)e Tuymelaer, which has been Bpccially purchased ; principally to give notice of the present per- plexed condition of time and things, and to inform you that we are, without any doubt, on the point of war with the Kings of Fi-ance and England. The King of Franco has laid an embargo on all ships, the property of Dutch citizens, in his jiorts. In a few days the Krijjsvum and the Haantje will be ready, and probably additional vessels will be dispatched, to allord timely notice of the state of affairs throughout all India, and to carry the instructions according to which the Governor-General and his council, and the subordinate officers, are to conduct themselves. To this end we intend immediately to pro- ceed to the Hague, to consult with their High Mightinesses and His Highness the Prince of Orange, and to hear their pleasure. In another letter, of the same date, the general council write : According to appearances, we shall shortly be at war with Franco and England. Both here and in those kingdoms, there is great activity in warlike preparations. . . Besides a ship of the French Company, which is lying ready at Port Louis, to proceed to the East Indies, we are informed from Cork, in Ireland, that five ships of war had arrived there, which are currently reported to be bound for the East. They were shipping as many men as they could obtain, and were, in addition, expecting three companies of Irish soldiers from Waterford. Although we do not implicitly rely on this intelligence, you should not treat it with neglect, but are directed to place yourselves in a better posture of defence, so as to resist any attempt at capture^ You are authorized, if you think fit, to take ashore loO soldiers out of the passing ships, and, in case of necessity, to add the freemen (vrye licden) of whom, as you have written, a large uumlxsr aro qualified to perform active service, and of whom you seem to have great hopes. We trust that you will thus be able to repel any foreign attack. A remark, very natural in the circumstances, is added : We are by no means pleased with the friendly rccejition which you gave to the French while in your port, or satiisticd with your having allowed them so many privileges. 102 Tlie letter containing the report of the ships in Cork harbour, from ''Consul Mill" to the Dutch Government, is considered of such importance that a copy of it is one of the enclosures to the dispatch. It was dated 1 6 September: Hioii AXD Mighty Lords ! — Since the 26th ultimo, the fivo ships of war which I mentioned in my last, have come from Baltimore to this river. It is publicly said that they are destined for the East- They arc taking in as many men as they can get, and arc expecting three companies of Irish soldiers, who are to come from Waterfordi for embarkation here. Your High Mightinesses will not bo displeased that I trouble you with my letters, and give information which I believe worthy of credit. It is well known that the English East India Company is in a bad state, and in great want of sailors and recruits ; and, therefore, as many as possible are taken. It is said that they will be, in the whole, thirty ships strong, and have thoir rendezvous at Madeira ; their object being to take their revenge for the ailair of Bantam. Others assert that the English Company is ruined, and that His Majesty the King of England has opened a free trade to India in favour of his English subjects. But it is evident that there are some designs of importance in hand, for a certain Colonel Scauwcl has arrived to take the command of the troops. I doubt not that the directors of the Company have placed things iu Buch good order at the Cape of Good Hope as not to fear an attack ; and I would humbly suggest that the fortifications be put in the best possible condition. , . . It is rumoured that there will soon bo war between France and the States. In that case, I expect instruc- tions, so as to bo able to warn ships of the States not to sail for Franco, and to give homeward-bound ludiamen early knowledge of the fact. The event showed that no attempt on tlie Cape was then intended, nor was vengeance sought for the " affair of Ban- tam," ])robably the expulsion of Engli.sh merchants from that part of Java in 1G83. In another enclosure to these despatches, the use of the overland route to India m the seventeenth century is men- tioned — " We have likewise given information of the state of affairs by letters, overland, to Persia and Surat." Hitherto, there is no suggestion of the attempt on Eng- land. War is expected ; grent armaments are prepared ; but the secret of the extraordinary activity in the Dutch 103 ports had not yet been revealed. But, on the \ October, a dispatch of the following tenor was writx/cn to Van der Stell, and received on the f' March, 1G89, at the Cape: By dispatch of the 6th instant, you have been informed how matters stand between this State and the Kings of France and England, and that open war with them is evidently impending. This State has equipped and brought into readiness a fleet of above fifty ships o^ war, and an incredible number of sloops, galliots, and smaller craft, for the transport of troops, foot as well as horse, — a whole army, in fact ; and, although the actual object has not been publicly declared* it is plain, and will in a few days be made public, that they are intended for England. The French King has already laid an arrest on all sh ps belonging to our subjects in his harbours, so that war with Ihatnatioa is considered quite certain. As regards the King of England, he would wish to escape the chance of war, as appears clearly from the note presented by his minister to their High Mightinesses, because his situation is not such in his own kingdom that he can place per- fect reliance on his people ; but all things have been brought into the state of forwardness necessary for so great a design : the fleet is ready for sea, the embarkation of the troops is hurried on, and pro- ceeded with by day and night. His Highness the Prince of Orange ia person intends to betake himself on board, and nothing else than the prosecution of the plan is expected. The actual intention is not to make war on the English nation, the enterprise being directed against the King alone, so that, by God's merciful blcpsing, it may very quickly be over; though it is impossible to determine with cer- tainty on an afTair of such magnitude, which, in this very adranced season of the year, is exposed to so many mischances. And because, aa has been said above, the English nation is not the object of attack, you are to refrain from all hostilities against them, unless thoy act on the offensive, in which case you will have to pay them in their own coin, and do them all the injury in your power, as well by taking and destroying their hhip.s as by other mcana. But aa regards the French, who have seized our ships; you shall, in like manner, take possession of their ships which may touch at the CajKs, and detain them until further orders : but, while taking care that they do not escape you, you are to treat the officers and crewa with civility. If, however, they should attempt hostilities, you will deal with them in the same manner as wo have directed in such case respecting the PiUglish As soon as war is declared by France, which it is believed will bo done in a few dfty.^, wo shall at once notify it to you, and further act aa wo have written in our acjier* to dispatch of the 6th« « * * • • 104 A postscript of the H October is subjoined, to the follow- ing effect : P.S. 18th October. Sinco the abovo was written there has been no change in the affairs of the State, except that the King of Franco has taken the oiRcers and crows out of our ships in bis harbours, and has thrown them into prison, in direct contravention of our treatieu with that crown, and on which nothing but war w»n follow. It is affirmed tluit the actual declaration is put off only until the embarka- tion of Ilia Highness on board the fleet in the Meuso. We have some galliots and a schooner in readiness to bo sent off the instant war ia declared, to notify throughout India that all possible injury ia to bo done to that nation. The next letter (tV November) bears date after William had set sail and encountered the storm which drove him back to refit, and had a second time put to sea. It is addressed to the Governor-General of India, and the other Governors of colonies. Several small vessels had been dispatched to carry the news to the different factories in India. The con- sciousness of strength to combat both France and England, if such should be the fortune of war, as well in Europe as in the Indian seas, is remarkable, in a State in extent and population not more than equal to a French province. Wo have given you information that we expect war with France. It was anticipated that that Uovernment would declare as soon as tho fleet of the States yhould have stood to sea for Kngland. Sinco then the fleet sailed with tho I'rinco of Orange, after ho had waited threo weeks for a favourable wind. But scarcely were they at sea, than it pleased God to send them contrary wind, and so violent a tempest in the niglit between tho ;}Oth and .Ust October, that the ships were dis- persed, and compelled to put back with a considerable loss of horses. After refittiug, His Highness put to sea a second tjmo, with a favour- able breeze. Wo fervently hope and pray that Uod Almighty will crown tho great work now in hand with his merciful blessing.' • • * Meanwhile. Frarco, without declaring war, has commenced hostilities by the seizure of our merchantmen, as well by Ibtters of marque as by King'.s ships. The Colonial authorities are then informed that vessels, with specie for India, had been captured in the Channel, and are directed, in return, " to treat the French every where as enemies, and, as such, to cause them all possible loss and 105 injury, keeping accurate entries and charge of all things seized, so as to be ab'e to render a true account" Ever}'^ precaution is taken that the Dutch factories in the East shall have early intelligence of the European hostilities : We have, for the purpose of transmitting onr orders without delay, specially equipped the galliot Elizabeth, to sail to Ceylon direct, with- out touching at the Cape, and thence to Bengal ; the galliot Vt-rfjuldo Vlamingh, by way of the Cape to Malacca; the Ecndrogt, by way of the Cape to Surat ; the galliot De Jonge Snoeper, without touching at the Capo, to Batavia. As regards England, the design of which mention has been made in our former missives, has been bnt lately made public, and is con- tained in the resolutions of their High Mightinoppcs of the CCth and 2Mth October, of which we enclose a few copies. You must continue to treat all of that nation as friends, unless they commit any aggres sion upon you. The letters, herein enclosed, for the Governors of Ceylon, Coromandel, and Malacca, the Directors of Surat, Bengal, and Persia, the Commanders of the coast of Malabar, and their several councils, must be forwarded to their destinations. We have sent these likewise by the overland route (over den land- wegh); but, as that passage is subject to many perils and uncertain- ties, we can place no reliance on their safe arrival- The resolutions of the 2Gth and 28th October, to which reference is made to this dispatch, are the proceedings upon the farewell taken by the Prince of the States-General, and the declaration, to Foreign Powers, of the reasons which had induced the States to countenance William's enterprise. Lord Macauhiy's graphic account of the solemn scene of the farewell is present to the minds of our readers ; and, in Burnet's tamer, tliough perhaps more literally correct, version of William's address, an abstract of the greater part of the former of the two documents will be found.* But the important State-instrument, addres,sod by the Dutch Govern- ment to the European Powers, on the ground of its interven- tion in the affairs of England, is less known. It belongs rather to the history of the Netherlands than to that of England, and has probably not formed part of any English * Macanlay, vol. ii, p. 170 (Svo cditioii) ; Burnet, vol. ii, p. 418 (8vo edition). IOC work on the great Revolution. It was adopted immediately after the Prince had joined the fleet, and probably was the composition of the Grand Pensionary Fagel, by whom William's manifesto had been drawn up. But, if the production of this great statesman, it was free from the prolixity of William's declaration, which Burnet, complaining that even liis abridgment was too long, had shortened, to suit the less diffuse tastes of Englishmen. Holland stands forth, in this address to Europe, as the champion of civil liberty and the Protestant religion, both of which were at stake if, like Louis XIV, James II became an absolute monarch. The ambassadors and envoys of the States are directed to inform the Courts at which they reside, of the resolution of the Government to aid, with ships and men, the Prince of Orange, then on his way to England. The whole world knew that the English nation had, for a long time, complained of their King, who, doubtless, by the evil counsels of his Ministers, had infringed the fundamental laws. His aim had been, by these means, and by the introduction of the Roman Catholic Religion, to oppress the national liberties, to ruin Protestantism, and to bring the country under arbitrary rule. If this unrighteous conduct were further pursued, such aversion would be aroused against the King that universal confusion only could be expected in the kingdom. His Highness the Prince, urged by the reiterated and earnest prayer of many lords and persons ot distinction, and impelled likewise by the great interest felt by the Princess and himself in the welfare of England, could not tamely stand by and see the succession of the crown imperilled by these painful differences. He was bound by his position to be vigilant on behalf of the English nation, when they had such strong grounds of disaffection with an oppres- sive Government, and was resolved to render them all the aid in his power, especially as he was convinced that it was mo.st important to the welfare of the United Provinces, which had been likewise committed to his care, that England should be at peace, and the mistrust between the King and people 107 .sliould be removed. Aware that it would be necessary to success, in so grave an enterprise, that lie should proceed to England in person, with an army sufEcient to quell the attempts of the evil-intentioned, the Prince had given the assembled States notice of his design, and besought their assistance. Their High Mightinesses had ripely weighed his proposition. They knew that the Kings of France and of Great Britain were not only on terms of friendship, but in close alliance ; and had been warned that a plan had been concerted between them to isolate Holland from its allies. The King of France had, on several occasions, exhibited his hostile feeling, and if the King of England gained his ends, and became an absolute ruler of his people, both of these Kings, for reasons of policy, and out of zeal against the Protestant Religion, would attempt to throw the United Provinces into confusion, and, if possible, utterly destroy them. For these reasons, they had determined to approve the Prince's design, and to grant him some ships and troops as an auxiliary force. The envoys were instructed to add that the Prince had assured the States that he intended no invasion of England. He had no desire to deprive the King of his crown, or himself to seize it. He neither wished to change the lawful succession nor to persecute the Roman Catholics. His sole aim was to assist the nation in obtaining the restitution intact of their violated laws and privileges, and the preserva- tion of their liberties and religion. His object would be attained if a free and lawful Parliament were Jissembled, and measures adopted which would prevent any further infraction of national and individual rights. The States concluded with an expression of their prayer that, by God's blessing, peace and unity might be re-established in the realm of England, which would then be able to co-operate with them for the restoration of tranquility throughout Europe, and the welfare of universal Christendom. From this authentic document, justifying foreign inter- vention on behalf of an "oppressed nationality," we descend again to the news furnished to Van der Stell, — sometimes 108 necessarily tlie mere rumours of the day. The first intelli- gence of William's landing on British shores is thus com- municated, — possible war with England, certain war with France, still pending : aist November • i . lat Uccember * "0 procccu to acquaiut you with the Btato of public alTiiirs. Tho fleet having put to sea with a favourable breeze, the Priuce reached Torbay with the troops, and landed without opposition. Tho people flock to him. The King, it is said, is resolved to oppose his Highness with an army. What may follow is known to God alone, on whom depends success. The King of France con- tinues to seize our ships and imprison the crews. At length war is formally declared by France : 30th NoYcmbfr loth Uccember* At last the King of France has published his declara- tion of war. * ♦ * "VVe scud you copies thereof, with the reiterated order that you cause that nation injury whenever you can, by sea or by land, as often as a convenient opportunity shall offer. * • • • In England tho affairs of the Prince of Orange, are, thank God, pro- ceeding very favom-ably. The Lord grant that it may continue. The crisis was at hand. The escape of the Queen and Prince of Wales to France is next announced. The rapid successes of William, consequent on his cordial reception in England, had greatly changed the aspect of affairs for Hol- land in the coming conflict : the tide had turned, and pro- bable war between England and France is part of the welcome news received. The King's attempted flight, his arrest at Feveisham and forced return to Loudon — the disbanding of the troops, the capture of Jeffreys, and the excesses of the " Irish night," form the subject of a letter written from England on the itth December, to a Dutch gen- tleman bearing the same name with the secretary of the Dutch East India Company, a copy of which, as containing the latest and most important news, was enclosed in a dis- patch of the Jvth and iCth December, to the Cape Gover- nor. 29th December. By our letters of the 10th December, wo gave you notice of tho declaration of war of tho King of France against this State, and likewise of the successes of our arms in England, which have further been so blessed by God ^Vlmighty, tUat the King has at 109 last been compelled to desert bis kingdom and to save bimsclf by flight — whither, is not yet certain. The Queen and Prince of Wales have arrived at Calais : these truly are matters which none can regard without the utmost wonder. According to appearance, war between England and France may soon follow, which will be a great relief to our State. — P.S. 30th December. Before closing this, we are assured by letters from London that the King of England, sitting disguised in a vessel at the mouth of the river, was arrested by fishermen and brought on shore, where he was recognised and taken into custody '• on which four lords were sent to him with two hundred guards, to inquire whether it was His Majesty's intention to return to London or to retire beyond the kingdom. In short, the confusion in that kingdom is as great as that in this counti-y was in 1672. Many papist lords and gentlemen who have been in the King's service are seized and imprisoned : and all the priests that can bo found. The allusion to the confusion in the Netherlands in 1G72, is worthy of note. Wiien Louis XIV, and his allies, in that year invaded Holland with an army of 200,000 men, the ruin of the republic, which wa.s wholly unprepared for defence, seemed certain. The English and French fleets, under the Duke of York and D'Estreds, found full occupa- tion for the Dutch naval force, though commanded by De Ruyter, the first admiral of the age. The Emperor had entered into a league with the French King to destroy the heretics from the face of the earth. The Elector of Bran- denburgh was quieted by intrigue. On behalf of all the crowned heads of Europe, the insolent republicans were to be punished. In anticipation of victor}'-, medals were .struck — representing Louis triumphant, in contemptuous pride refusing to listen to the prayers of subdued Uolland : no mercy was to be extended by the " ultor regum," the avenger of Kings, as he was styled in the inscription, to the democracy prostrate at his feet. " The King of France came down to Utrecht like a land flood," says Burnet. Fortress after fortro.s.s fell : and soon the camp-fires of the invaders could be seen from Amster- dam. For a brief season the Dutch were in despair : but they soon took heart again. The Provincial States of Zee- land set the t'xample, and jiroudly declared in solenm resolu- tions, that for freedom and religion they were prepared to 110 offer up all their worldly goocl^4, and shed their last drop of blood : they bound themselves, if they stood alone, to enter into no treaty, nor even truce, with the French tyrant. They called on the Prince of Orange to lead them in defence of hearth and home. William, then only twenty-two years of age, almost unknown, hitherto excluded by the " per- petual edict " from power and the hereditary rights of his house, suddenly called to the head of aflfairs, and entrusted with the rescue, from French thraldom, of the free common- wealth which William the Silent had called into being on the ruin of the Spanish tyranny, proved himself equal to the occasion. With him in chief command, Holland could resist foreign conquest successfully, or could perish, but could not yield. It was then, that, determined even if all seemed lost, to triumph still, he suggested (in the words of Lord Macaulay) " a scheme which has an aspect of antique heroism, and which, if it had been accomplished, would have been the noblest subject for epic song that is to be found in the compass of modern history." It is idle to speculate what might have been the influence on the world of the great empire in the Indian seas, which the two hundred thousand Dutch, for whose migration the shipping in the harbours was prepared, would have established, if the heroic resolve had been put in execution. The French armies recoiled from the certain destruction which awaited them, and it became unnecessary to resort to the desperate expedient of piercing the dykes, and restoring Holland to the ocean whence the industry of man had conquered her fertile plains.* * Macaulay, vol. i, p. 219 (8vo. cd ). William the Silent, when in preat straits in 107i3, had entertained tho same thought. Vide Motley's Eiso of tho Dutch Republic, vol. i, p. i'.) {>*vo. cd.) Ilooft (Nedcr- landschc Historien, Boek xi), expresses the intention well in his nervous old Dutch : " Het doclit hem zoo na omgekomcu, dat hy voor- sloeg van manncn, wyvcn, kindcrcn, die de vryheid eenighlyk lief hadden, met al 't best der tilbacre have, in schepen te laden : alle dyken en dammen dcur, molcns aan brand, to steken ; en 't gansche land met water te verwocsten : om, gclyk by vcrscheidc volkcn ouwlin.x gepleegd is, crgens ccncn andercn hock werelds in to nemeu, dacr meu, buitcu slavcrnyc vau lichacm cu gemocd, zag to Icvcu." Ill Such was the confusion in 1G72, from which the Prince had saved his countrymen ; and although the material ruin of England was not, in 1G88, threatened as that of Holland had been in 1G72, the religion of the land and its liberties were equally at stake, and the comparison was not inapt. In more recent days the identity of William's position in Holland in the year of the confusion, and in England in the year of the revolution, gave occasion to a noble passage descriptive of his character in probably the finest speech ever spoken to an English jury.* No surprise will be felt that the following letter was con- sidered worthy of transcript, and the exciting news trans- mitted to the antipodes in the very words in which it had been received in Holland. With the exception of the rumours of Tyrconuel's apprehension, and the rest of the Irish intelligence, it is a particularly truthful account of this chapter of the great events which were enacted. There is something in the simplicity and freshness of the contem- porary relation of these im})ortant occurrences which admits of its perusal, even beside the eloquent pages of the great historian. t The conclusion, stating the market value of Indian shares, amid the excitement of the revolution, is very characteristic of the writer's nationality : London, iJ-th December, 1G88. Mynheer Pieter van DA>r, &c., &c., Amsterdam. Sir, — I wroto to you, by last messenger, on the 12th, and informed you that the King, Queen, and Prince of Wales had left Whitehall * I^rackiutosh'a Defence of Jean Peltier. "Thiswar (the invasion of Holland) had the effect of raising np from obscurity the great Princo of Orange, afterwards King William III, tlic deliverer of Holland, the deliverer of England, the deliverer of Europe, the only hero who was distinguished by such a happy union of fortune and virtue that the objects of his ambition wrrc always the same with the interests of humanity, perhaps the only Tnan who devoted the whole of his life exclusively to the service of mankind. This most illu.strioua benefactor of p]urope, the ' hero without vanity or passion,' as he had been called by a venerable prelate, who never mauo a step towards greatness without securing or advancing libertj- ; who liad been made t^tadholder of Ilolland for the salvation of his own country, was Eoon after made King o( England for the deliverance of ours." t Macaulay, vol. ii, p. o tl', so./. 112 secretly. Yesterday morning, intelligence arrived here, by express that the King had run into Fovcrsham with a small ketch (kits), with the intention of taking in some ballast there, as the ketch was so slightly ballasted that he could not venture to go to sea in it. When they were at Feversham, the Chevalier Hales, late Governor of the Tower, went ashore. As ho was known there, and a great papist, ho was at once seized, and some of the people wont on board the ship , immediately, to see who was on board, when they found the King and one other person. They brought them to land to the house of tlie Mayor of Feversham, where the King was questioned. On hia being examined, they found on him two gold watches, but little or no money. He was meanly clad. When this had been done, the King made him- self known, and immediately thereupon the nobility in the neighbour" hood came to Feversham, and decided at once to give notice of the fact to the peers and bishops who were in London. On this they met and resolved, without delay, to send to his Majesty the Earls Fever- sham, Jermyn, Aylesbury, and my Lord Middleton, with instructions that they should request the King to return hither. Whereupon the beforomentioned lords went from here last night to Feversham, and took with them two companies of cavalry of the King's Guards. As I hear, they have orders not to do any the least violence to his Majesty, !Many people are of opinion that it will be better that the King returns, in order the better to regulate everything, according to the 'aws of the realm, with the Parliament. Some say that the King had been about Margate, and had expected to find there the ship in which the Queen has embarked with the Prince of Wales ; but it appears that that ship had sailed, and then he did not yenture to proceed in the little vessel. The Earl of Salisbury, and other nobles, and many priests, have been apprehended, while attempting to escape from the country ; and> two days ago, the Lord Chancellor of England, Lord Jeffreys, was taken prisoner below the Tower of London. He was dressed as a sailor. A certain master of a vessel was to have i!l,000 to carry him over to Dunkirk. The Lords have provisionally committed him to the Tower, where he is well guarded. He was brought to the Tower in a coach, otherwise the soldiers would have had enough to do to keep the mob from murdering him. The mob has pulled down the chapel of the Foreign Ministers residing in the city, and plundered the house of the Spanish Ambassador. Order has now been restored, and means taken to prevent further excesses of this nature. The Prince of Orange will be at Windsor this evening, and is next Monday expected at Whitehall. To-morrow, the Prince and Princess of Denmark are likewise expected here. The King's army is wholly disbanded, but it is said that the Prirce of Orange has expressed hi^ I 113 wish to keep some of them in serrice. This evening, the Duke of Grafton goes with some troops to Gravesend, to garrison Tilbury Fort with English troops, in place of the Irish who have gone out of it. At noon to-day, tidings were received from Ireland that the King's Governor, Earl Tyrconnel, had been apprehended, and that the populace have made themselves masters of Dublin, and other towns, so that all, if God will, will be further completed without bloodshed. I could write you more, but shall not detain you longer. Indian shares are at £145. The King left in such confusion, that few, if any gentlemen, knew anything about it. Wherewith, with respect, I remain, sir, your most obedient servant, The next important coipmunication (Tstb March, lG89)is that of the declson of the Convention that the throne was vacant in consequence of the escape of the King to France, and that, " since our last session, and our report of the ■wonderful revolutions and changes which were taking place in England, His Highness the Prince of Orange and Her Highness the Princess have been raised to the Royal dignity, and have been declared King and Queen of that Kingdom, without any blood.shed ; the late King having previou.sly retired to France. Ireland alone, or the greater part of it, still adheres to the late King." * * A printed translation into Dutch, of the proclamation of "William and Mary, enclosed in this dispatch, is preserved: PROCLAMATIE VAN 't PABXEMENT VAN ENGELANDT. Aengczien het God Almachtig door zync grootc genade belieft heefl acn dit Kouinckrj'k te vorgunncn cen niiraculcu.so verlossinge van Papery en Arbitrairo Macht, en dat onse bchoudcnis (nacst God) moet toegcschrevcn wcrden do Kcsolutie en bclcit van Zyno Hooglicit den Prins van Orangien, wicu Godt voor ons en onse Nacrkomelingcn vcrkoren hceft te wczcn h?t glorieux Instrument van sooonwa'trdocr- lyke gcluksaligheyt; en zyndo ten hoogste govoclig en vorsekert vnn de grooto en uitmuntendo dcugdeu van Haer Hoogheyt do I'liiires van Orangie, wicns yvcr voor de I'rotcstantso Kelicgie buiton twyfcl een segen over dit \ oik met haer sal brcngen, on nadcmaal do Lords en Commons jegenwoordig tot Wcstmun-stcr vcrgadcrt. cone dcclaratie hebben opgestelt, en deselvo geproscntecrt acn gcmeltcn Prins en Princcsse van Orangie, en haer daarby versocht dc Kroon to aanvacr- den, die vervolgons dpselvc hebben geaccepU^ert , derhalrcn pnblicooren en proclaraeeren wy Goestclykc en Wccreltlyke llecren en C'ommuus I 114 In postscripts to a dispatch of the rsth May, the alliance' of Holland and England is announced. P. S. We cannot allow the ship Svhoondyk, by which this ia dis- patched, to depart without advising you that wo are in daily expecta- tion that the present King of England will declare war against Franco. Great preparations arc in progress in that Kingdom for war, both by sea and land ; and a powerful English fleet will, in conjunction with our own, take the ofiensive. The Lord be prayed to bless our united arms. You will see, from the enclosed " nouvclles," how the affairs of the late King stand at present in Ireland, and that Scotland has declared King William as its King. Further P.S. On the '.iOth of this month the King of Franco declared war against England, and on the 25th England against France. In later letters, the progres.s of the war is enthusiastically ^%cribed. " This State is still at war with France. The "victories which, by God's gracious mercy, the allies have obtained are famous throughout the world, and it is needless to repeat them here." As regards the Cape, a French attack is no longer feared ; European affairs sufficiently occupied the French arras, and the Settlement had been placed in a better state of defence : ^th September, 1G89. According to your statement^ the freemen near the fort and in the countrj', with their servants and sons, amount to about 350 men capable of bearing arms, which really forms no van dit Koninckrjk mot volkomen consent en gevolgo van gemelto Declaratie William en Mary, I'rins en Princosse van Orangie, te syn Koninck en Koninginno van Engelandt, Vrankryk, en Yerland, bencvens alle d'llecrschappien en Landschappcn dacraen behoorende; die volgens by hct gantsche volk van de voorsz. Rycken en Heerschappien daervoor sullen wcrden gehouden, aangenomen en erkcnt, on van nu voortaan verbonden blyA-on acn haer to bewyzen en voldoen alle trouwo en ware gehoorsaemheit, biddendc Godt (door wien Koningen regcrcn) Koniiig William on Koniuginnc Mary to segcncu, met vele en gcluckige jaren over ens te regeron. Onderstondt, GOD BEWAERT KONIXG WILLIAM EN KONlXGUf MABT. Was gctckent, J. Brown, Cleric. Parliamentorum. (Jopnblicccrt binncn Londcn, den Olsten Febi-uary, 1080. Gctranalateert na dc Copio van Londcn, — by Johannes Mebrtens, gcdrukt. 115 Blight addition to our force ; and thoao will, by this time, have been considerably increased by the arrival of the French refugoea. And as the reasonable fears which we entertained last autumn on tho subject of the safety of the Settlement led us to authorize the deten- tion of loO soldiers, you are now directed, in conseqnencc of the secure position in which we have since that time been placed, to send these troops, by the first opportunity, to Batavia and Ceylon, whoro they are much required. Wo are glad to learn, at the same time, that you place entire reliance on the Uottentots, and are quite at rest as far as they arc concerned. After this the references to European politics are of less interest. When William had become — as the Republican })arty in Holland satirically expressed it, referring to the gi'eat power which he was able from his popularity to exercise in his own country, and to the liinitatioii of the Sovereign's authority in England — " King of Holland and Stadholder of England," there was less of startling novelty to communicate to the distant colonies. The dispatches soon take their old tone, and European revolutions give place to the ordinary details of commercial profit and loss. But although a very large space has been occupied with these extracts, they would be very defective if Van der Stell's dispatches, detailing the part which be took in the great war, were wholly omitted. Very shortly after he had received orders, in consecjuence of the seizure of Dutch ships in the channel, to " treat the French everywhere as enemies, and cause them all the injury possible," the ill-fated Norrmtndc, Tachard's peculiarly privileged ship of the Siamcso expedition, arrived, on her homeward voyage. The stratagem by which she was taken, the piratical mode in which the unfortunate prisoners were treated, and the absence of discipline on the part of the aiptors, are fitly detailed in the Governor's own words : On the 'JGth April. 1(589, in the afternoon, about one o'clock, there arrived hero, for the purpose of refreshment, the King of France's ship en jlulo La Nonnand'', from Pondicherry tho 1 7th February, with a cargo wortfi 160,015 rupees, principally jiiece-goods, having left that place in company with tho French Company's ship L«' Cocht. The Chevalier do la Machcfoliere, ensign of the NonnaniU, who had come ashore in tho cutter to bring the respects of his Cap^tain I 2 116 and tlic fni-tlior ofTircrs to tlio Honourable Company, was disarmed on entering the Castle, and, together with his boat's crew, placed under arrest. In the meanwhile, the Captains of the ships Saamslagh and Neder- land, which were in the Imy, hud orders from the Commander to pre- pare for battle, and to get near the Frenchman, the one at his stern, and the other alongside ; and, if he refused to surrender at once, the first nud second mates oi the ^aamslajh the former with the long boat, and the second with the cutter, both manned with armed men, were to start from their ship, and board the Frenchman. The galliot De Noord, well manned with armed soldiers and sailors, had orders to take her position a short distance astern of the Frenchman, in order, if our boarding people met with too severe a resistance, to support them as a reserve. Our shore-boat, likewise full manned, was ordered, as well as the boat of the Nederland, under the command of the first and second officers of that ship, to proceed on board of the Frenchman as soon as the}" saw that the boats of the Saa^nslajh were alongside. But Govert Boos, Captain of the Saamslagh, having received these orders from the Commander, regarding the employment of our shore boat and the boats of the Nederland, at once went on board, and, finding our boat alongside the Nederland, ordered her to remain there until he should strike his flag on board of the Saamslagh, as a sign that they should start from the Nederland to the Normande, which was in opposition to the orders given him by the Commander. In the meantime, the Commander caused the French boat to put off from our wharf, well manned, and under the French flag, with the order to be cautious not to approach the Frenchman so near that he could recognize the Company's people, and not to go alongside until the fight had begun. Monsieur de Courcclles, Captain of the Normande, seeing the boat come ofl' witli the French flag, and suspecting no evil, ordered a salute of nine guns to the Castle, under the smoke of which the cutter and boat of the Saamslagh came alongside without being dis- covered ; and, as he would not hear of surrendering, they at once fell to, and after eight of their men, and two of ours, had been wounded^ they cried for (juarter, which was granted. The ship had forty-nine men and sixteen guns — twelve and eight pounders. Our people having, in the afternoon, about three" o'clock, taken to plundering, nothing was known on board of the Saamslagh of the signal which they were to give to the boat and cutter of the Neder- land ; and Captain Roos omitted to give the slightest notice of what had taken place to the Commander, having, according to all appear- ance, determined ou having the plunder of the French to himself. 117 His Honor was therefore necessitated, about ten o'clock at night, to soud off tho " dispensier " Freser (as we feared that, if our people got intoxicated, they would give the French an opportunity of which they might take advantage), with orders thai Captain Rocs should send ashore tho French prisoners whom he had taken on board of his ship, and who, including the officers, were stripped to the skin (naakt uyt geschud), and to take care that tho orders were obeyed » in contravention of which the orlop, tho gun-room, forecastle, and cabin, and the whole ship with tho exception of the hold, was plun- dered ; and hero there would have been trouble enough besides, but for the good watch and care of the Fiscal and commissioners, Captain Roos being of opinion that whatever was found out of the hold was his prize and booty, in consequence of which the diamonds, jcwelsf and other articles shipped are missing, and we have been compelled, on tho part of the Company, to protest against him for all present and future damage. A fortnight after, arrived the Norinandee consort, Le Cochc : The before-mentioned French Company's ship Le Cochc, having parted from her consort, tho Normande, by chance or on purpose, in tho latitude of False Bay, about sixty miles from Table Bay, arrived hero on the 5th May, opportunely, for the purjioso of obtaining re- freshments; laden with piece-goods to the value of rupees 2'Jl,8Sl 2 1, manned with ninety-six men and armed with twenty-four iron pieces, — eight and six pounders, ^uud six stone pieces. Having come to an anchor towards evening, about half a musket shot above the Company's ships, she saluted tho Castle with nine guns, which were returned ; and, after she had first saluted tho French King's flag, which was flying from the Normande for tho purpose of deception, and had received the ordinary return salute, those on board were (juite at case, and suspected nothing less than the impending evil. As it was near evening, and a swell was on, they sent off no boat ; but when, at midnight, tho weather was somewhat more moderate, they dispatched a ijoat to the Xonnando, which waa detained by our people. When they saw that the boat stayed away too long, and that three of our ships wero nearing thorn, — the one for tho starboard, another for tlio stern, and tho third for tho larlwjard, — they became suspicious, and began to shelter tliom.solvc.s with blankets and mattresses ; to open the ports and point tho guns, and to bring up those that wore in the hold, and make every preparation for a gallant defence. Upon this, ilarcus Kok, tho captain of tho Ncdcrhind, who had a])proachcd within pistol-shot of the Frenchman thought it best, iu order to prevent bluoddhcd, to b« bcforchaud with 118 him, and, about an hour after midnight, commenced firing with cannon and musketry. Upon this, the EngUsh ship Nathanael, having received a shot in the hull from the Frenchman, did not remain in hia debt, but returned three balls. At length, finding the fire too hot, after the second broadside, their Captain, Monsieur d'Armagnan, and two common soldiers having been killed, and eight men wounded, they begged for quarter, the Jesuits and priests the loudest among them ; and thus this richly-laden ship fell into the hands of the company without the loss of a drop of blood. They were again plundered, as shamefully as the Normamle, and everything would have been carried oil", but for the firm opposition of the Fiscal and commissioners, who shut the hold where the sailors had already penetrated ; the violence having been great, the disci- pline small, and the boats and cutters of the ships in the bay along- side, against the orders given to the officers in full coancil, and the resolution had thereon. The prisoners, in number about 140, have been well secured, and forty of them have been sent to Batavia ; the half by the Nederland^ and the other half by the Slon. The rest will follow to Ceylon. The officers, priests, and Jesuits will be sent to Europe by the Batavian and Ceylon return ships, and the prizes La Nonnandc and Lc Coche^ the former, now called the Good IIop'\ being consigned, with its lading, to the Pra3sidial Chamber of Zeeland, and the latter, now named the Africa, to the Chamber of Amsterdam. Tho most important prisoners are : Monsieur de Courcelles, captain of the Normaiule ; Monsieur du Tertre, his lieutenant ; Chevalier do la Machefoliere, his ensign; De Beauchamp, major of the Siam regiment ; Dc Sainte Marie, captain of tho same regiment, who has been allowed, at his own request, to proceed to Batavia, there to await the expedited pardon of his King for homicide committed by him in France ; Volant, captain and engineer ; Charlatte, lieutenant of Le Cache ; Besnard, second lieutenant ; M&niqualt, bookkeeper . Du Val, bookkeeper; two Jesuits and two priests, «&c., &c. We intend to keep the French flag flying on the Normaride as long as she lies at anchor here, in the hope thereby to mislead tho French ship Le President, which is expected from Surat, and entice her to tho anchorage, where she will be received with the same civility as tho ;| others have enjo3ed. Having given this account of the triumphant naval achieve- ments in Table Bay, we hasten to a conclusion. For some time ft-ars existed that the place would be attacked. In Augu.st of the same year, the proximity of a fleet, sup- 119 posed to be hostile, having been reported, Van der Stell issued an order to the landdrost and heemraden of Stellen- bosch and Drakenstein to hasten to the capital : 28th Augnst, 1689. Good FnncyDs,— As we are threatened with an attack by the enemy, and it is our duty to be prepared for it in time, you are ordered, on sight of these presents, and without delay, to collect your men, horso and foot, and to come hither with the landdrost, fully armed and equipped, well provided with powder and lead, leaving only ten or twelve men to protect your wives and children and property against the Hottentots, or other need. On which relying, we are Simon van der Stell, P.S. Three ships are already in sight, and, besides, three signal guns have been Gred at Robben Island. The landdrost will therefore cause all the men to be taken from the Company's postSi leaving one man only to guard the cattle, until further orders. But on the same day the order was withdrawn, as the approaching fleet proved to be not French, but Dutch, At the end of the year the Council of Seventeen wrote further instructions that the Cape should be placed in a state of security. Van der Stell is warned that the King of France would endeavour to overpower the fortres.s, " the deficien- cies of which His Majesty knows as well as we do," or at lea.st to surprise and capture the shipping ; " this King being very bold and enterprising, and very likely to form and carry out such a project, — in revenge for the disgrace which he considers he has suffered in the loss of La Nor- mande and Le Coche." The Governor is authorized to re- tain some of the eastward-bound ship.s, and to keep them in fighting order, and, " if the French should arrive, not only to beat them off, but, if possible, to caj^ture them." But the pinnacle of Louis XIV's fortunes had been reached, and he could scarcely hold his own against Eng- land and her Continental allie.s. No attempt was made by him against the Cape or the Dutch-Indian posst-ssions. The next French «(iuadron of importance which, during a period of European war, reached Table Bay, was that of SufiVen, which, after a well-fought but indecisive action with 120 an equal force under Commodore Johnstone, near St. Jago, in 1781, arrived in time to save tlie Settlement from English conquest. At that date the power of Holland wa-s fast failing in Europe ; the financial embarassments of the Dutch Eiist India Company had become very serious : French regiments garrisoned Cape Town, THE CAPE A CENTURY AGO. Various works, accessible in the English language, enable the colonist to understand the facts connected with the original occupation of the Cape of Good Hope, with its condition for about fifty years after the settlement, and with its state towards the end of the last century, when the first surrender to British power took place. Riebeek's journal has been, in part at least, published and re-published. Traduced, on the one hand, as a ruthless and inhuman destroyer of the wretches who owned the land ; by the opposite party, with equally mistaken feeling, extolled as an apostle of Christianity and civilization to the benighted heathen ; he is now acknowledged to have been merely a ftiithful and intelligent factor for his commercial principals, who, by inclination as well as policy, was humane, though his acts led, necessarily, to the ruin and destruction of the native tribes. Of the progress of the colony in the period immediately after its infancy, the arrival of the French Protestant refugees, during the government of the elder Van der Stell, and the establishment of Petite Rochelle, now called French Hoek, and other places, some general knowledge likewise exists] The political troubles in the reign of the younger Van der Stell, as related in the ponderous pamphlets known to the student of Cape history as the "Deductie," the " Contra- deductie," and the " Neutrale Gedachten," have received their due share of notice, and have been fully detailed in an earlier number of this Magazine* But, from this date, a * The Cape Montlihj Magazine. 121 sudden leap is generally taken. Persons well informed on this period are again, probably, acquainted with the dis- turbances of Van Plettenberg's government, and are cer- tainly not ignorant of Sluysken's brave words and poor deeds, in 1795, and the fruitless resistance to the English force at Muizenburg, while Swellendam was in a state of rebellion, and Graaff-Reinet at least disaffected to Dutch authority. After this, commencing with Barrow and Lichtenstein, authentic information abounds. But the intermediate period from 1710 to 1780 is, even to those who otherwise claim some knowledge of Cape history, a blank ; and a brief notice of the condition of the country, and the relative position of the governors and governed a hundred years ago, when Ryk Tulbagh was at the head of afiliirs, may not be unwelcome. Tulbagh was one of the very few of the representatives of the majesty of the Chartered Netherlands East India Company, who left in this colony a name respected by the people over whom he had exercised authority. The author of " LA.'frique Hollandaise," who, in liis philippic against the misdeeds of Baron van Plettenberg, has scarcely a word of praise for any one connected with the Dutch government, speaks thus of the estimation in which Tulbagh was held : II avait un ccjour droit, com patissant et g Ix^n employed for the funeral ceromoiiies of any beneath tho rank of members of the Court of Policy. 128 But there mny have l)een happiness in the land notwith- standing what we should now deem preposterous inter- ference with private right, and slavish submission. Although the recognised institution of the gallows, as exhibited in all the ancient prints of the place, was the first object that greeted the gaze of the passenger who ueared our shores, on the hill in the vicinity of the present Scottish Church, and within the military lines near the Castle, — yet these signs of civilization were rarely, in the days of Tulbagh and his immediate predecessors, burdened with the skeletons in chains, which formed the especial delight of Governor Noodt. Contented and happy, without political rights and scarcely desiring them, the entire population was said, in the late Dutch period and the early English period, to have been then at least prosperous. This prosperity should be examined by the members of Legislative Council and House of Assembly especiall}', who sighing for some fancied days that are past, and predicting ruin as imminent, are apparently not aware that at no time since the commence- ment of the century have the ravens ceased to croak that bankruptcy was at hand, and that Tulbagh's was throughout the regretted age. The entire direct expenditure of the colony was certainly small With days when the Governor received only about 4,200 guilders, or £350 per annum, probably the imita- tors of Joseph Hume in our colonial Parliament would declare that they would have been satisfied. An expendi- ture amounting in the whole to 144,000 florins, or £12,000 per annum, would gratify the unfortunate gentlemen who groan because, their lands having risen to ten times the value which in their wildest dreams they could have imagined, they have to pay an actually far larger, though proportionately far lower, sum in taxation than did their predecessors. The revenue was larger than the expenditure in the days of which we .speak, — an example, no doubt, to our present financial department ; but was obtained by means of facilities which Mr. Rawson i 129 — charmed he never so wisely — could scarcely persuade the representatives of the people to re-introduce. From the manner in which the revenue was gathered, a statement of it includes necessarily a detailed account of the actual agricultural produce of the colony. A tithe of crops was at once the property of the Government. Of 25,000 muids of wheat annually required by the Company — 5,000 of which were consumed here and 20,000 sent to Batavia — 1G,000 were delivered in kind as the Government tithe, which at 8 fls. Cape currency, equal to GA fls. Dutch, amounted to 102,000 guilders, or £8,533 Cs. 8d., the most important item in the collection of the revenue. In addition to this, about 15,104 Dutch guilders, or £ 1,2 5 3, was levied in money a.s wheat tithe. Tiie entire annual production of wheat in the colony was 175,000 muids. Of barley, the tithes received in kind and in money amounted to £312 13s 4d. — the tenth of the value of 0,700 muids produced. On 1,250 muids of peas and beans, about £100 was collected as the Government tithe. Oats were not grown in the last century. The entire revenue obtained from agricultural produce of this kind was therefore some- what more than £ 10,000, and the value of the crops of the colony, £100.000. With the exception of 20,000 muids sent to Batavia by the Government, no portion of this value of £100,000 was exported. The whole was consumed within the colony. Wine further formed a source of revenue. But here the tithe was not exacted. The public sale annually of the right to retail wines and spirits wa.s thtJ method liy which the Treasury was benefitted in respect of the article of production. An auction wa.s yearly held by tiie Governnent of the four " pachts." The pachter or farmer of Cape wine, to whom at the fixed price of twenty-seven rixdoliars per leaguer the wine-grower wa.s bound to deliver the quantity desired by him, paid for his privilege about 50,000 Dutch guilders, or £4,250. The other "pachts" were .small in comparison. The Stellenbosch " paoht," that of foreign wines and that of beer together, did not brinLj into the chest K 130 inoic tlinn Xj.'SO. Tlnis €5, 000 in the wliole waH the revenue received from wine — to wliich should, however, be added nhout £r)00 luoit', being a tax of one guilder annually for every leaguer actually used. Stamps produced about X3.')0 ; transfer dues, two and a half per cent, at this date, and more lately four per cent, provided somewhat less than that sum ; and land-rents, £750. One other source of revenue, which, from its trifling amount, shows liow rarely foreign ships resorted to the Cape about the year 1750, was the anchorage due.s, which at the rate of 200 fls , or £1G l.*3s. 4d. per ship, yielded annually for an average number of twelve ships per annum, the sum of £200. 'J'he total revenue of the colony was therefore in the middle of the last centmy, a hundred years after Riebeek had i)lanted the .settlement, £17,150. There were no cus- tom.s' dues, for nothing might be imported in foreign ships ; and, as regards Dutch vessels, the sole importing and ex- porting merchants were the Dutch Company, who were the owners of all the imports and exports. The entire trade was in the hands of the Company. Private adventure could not exist. Their sale of articles of European manufacture and production reached generally the sum of 100,000 florins per annum, and of Indian imports about the same amount. The imports to the Colony were therefore in value about 200,000 florins, or £1G,GGG 13s. kl. The exports, in addition to the wlieat sent to Batavia, con.sisted of wine to the amount of 1,500 leaguers, .sold to the ships, and 1 20 leaguers of Constantia sent to Holland by the Conij)any. Rather more than 0,000 leaguers of wine were made annually. With no trade what'Cver, — no market except such us the Company chose to afford, — no right profitably to exercise any branch of industry, how grievous must have been the position of the colonists during Plet- tenberg's Goveiument, if they pointed to this period as that of their great prosperity. 131 No roads whatever existed. Bridges were wholly un- known, with the exception of a bridge over the Laurens River, in Stellenbosch, built by a patriotic individual, named Grimpen, who, and whose descendants, were by the Dutch Government exempted from the performance of burgher service ; and one which had been erected by Governor van derStell over the same river, for the purposes of his farms at Hottentots' Holland, but which w;us suffered to fall into decay when he was removed. In the farms of the interior, or Overberg, bread was a luxury for months in the year scarcely attainable. The dried flesh of gaine, or of oxen, often peiforint'd the ofRce of wheat and flour. Tliere was no education ; three ministers of the Gospel for the entire population ; no printing-press ; no post-ofTice ; no books except those in the posse.ssion of men holding oflicial rank, and the Bibles and Prayer-books imported by the Company. But the attachment of the scattered peojile to their religious observances, was then, and is now, a remarkable feature in their character. The beneficial influence of the simple teachings of their church has prevented the pioneers to the interior from lapsing into utter barbarism. Even now among those who lead a nomadic life, the religious spirit is most observable. Tiie trekboer.s, rough and uncouth, salute their Maker at dawn of day with prayer and praise ; and every morning and evening the patriarch of the family reads the accustomed chapter from the cherished family Bible. This is a legacy from the ancient days which is not referred to when men deplore the good old times ; though socially, even apart from religious considerations, it is the most valuable posse.s.sion which the present colony owes to the past. K 2 132 THE FIRST CAPITULATION TO THE BRITISH. Governor Sluysken, whose rule of this colony closed with its capitulation to the British forces on the IGth September, 1795, published on his arrival in Holland a Narrative of the principal circumstances attending this important event in our Colonial History. This book and some other pub- lications which have appeared at various times since the foundation of the colony, and which contain not merely the most important public documents of the time, but also the opinions and the sentiments of some of the chief persons concerned in the political events which are described, are far more valuable for the puipose of forming some idea of the state of the Colony at the period of which they treat, than the description of the people, and of the country, which we find in the works of travellers. It is impossible to estimate fairly the influences which may affect the judgment of a mere tourist in any country, but •we generally know what allowances should be made, and ■what degree of personal feeling must be taken into account when political movements are described by a writer who has been himself concerned in the proceedings which he narrates. Indeed, we learn usually from such a writer himself, on what points we must receive his opinion or give his statements with caution, and which cases those are in which we may take his assertions for granted, or accept his judgments as those of a reasonable and impartial liistorian. When the Governor, therefore, deals with the conduct of the colonists, or settlers, he must be understood to write as an officer of the Dutch East India Company, placed by that Company in charge of a settlement whose chief importance to them lay in its use to their East India possessions ; and when he condemns the unruly and revolutionary proceedings of the burghers of Swellendam and Graall-Reinet in 1795, his condemnation of them must be received as from the 133 mouth of one who could have but little sympathy with them, and whose interests were in many ref.pects utterly adverse to their own. The East India Company kept the Cape for their own purposes, and only tolerated colonisa- tion, in so far as they could find an immediate benefit from it, to tlu^ir Eastern trade. The Cape was a dependency not of HoHand, but of Netherland-India, and was governed by the chamber of xvil in Holland, — the Council of the East India Company, — and under that Chamber by the Government of Batavia. The rights of the free burghers, that is, of the settlers who had been permitted from time to time to choose South Africa as their home, thus became very early a cause of contention between them and the civilians and military who represented the East India Company in this colony. We find much earlier instances of this contention between former Governors and the burghers, in the history of the colony ; but under Sluysken's government the claim on the part of many of the burghers, appears to have resolved itself into a demand for self- government and for perfect independence of the rule of the East India Company, and, in jiarticular, of the Company's trading regulations. We shall find the slave question introduced into their demands, however, in a manner scarcely honourable to our forefathers' conception of freedom ; but to this odd mixture of liberty and tyranny, our American brethren over the water have long since introduced us. The rights of the free white men appear to have been warmly present to the minds of our ancestors ; while the difticulty of reconciling with these the slavery of another race seems to have caused them but little anxiety. Their descendants also claim freedom for themselves : but it is fervently trusted, a frectlom unstained by the bondage of others. Whether it was mfrt'ly in op- position to the burghers of his day, that Sluyski-n pleads so earnestly and generously as he does in the volume bo- fore us, for the natives whom tlu-y wished to enslave; — or whether these were the true sentiments of his breast, there are perhaps other moans of judging than from the Nwra- 134 live ; but, assuming these feelings to have been genuine, the reader will see much reason also to give honor to those representatives of t)ie Company, who incurred the risk of an insurrection, in urging the protection of the natives as one, at least, of their reasons for not yielding to the de- mands of the burghers. With this brief introductory allusion to what will pres- ently be stated respecting Governor Sluysken's dealings with the free setters of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet, at the very time that an English Fleet and Army was in possession of Simon's Bay ; we now come to a sketch of one of the most important events of our Colonial History, — the first capitulation of the Cape. Fourteen years previously the Cape had been menaced by an English S(juadron, sent out for the purpose of inflict- ing injury on the East India trade of Holland, which then was at war with the British. At that time, the colony was in a great ferment, respecting the threatened invasion : — it was comparatively defenceless, and the anxiety of the inhabitants was only quieted by the arrival of a French Fleet which came hither for the protection of the colony. The English finding the colony thus prepared, or more probably having really had but little intention of possess- ing themselves of the Cape territory, did nothing more than take a prize in Saldanha Bay : — but so shortly after sucli an event it is natural that Admiral Elphinstone's visit in 1795 should have been received with considerable suspicion, even had the officers of the Dutch East India Company seen no reason of jealousy in resj^ect of the English rivalry bidden to their trade, — or even hail there not been considerable sympathy among them with the French against whom the English Fleet now came to ofler them protection. It will be remembered that the Stadholder, the Prince of Orange, had been compelled in the beginning of 1795 to take refuge in Englaiiti, — and that there existed, at the time, in Holland, a strong republican party having far greater sympathy with the views of the French republi- 135 cans, tlian with the existing institutions of their country. — Tliat there should have been at the Cape much of a siuiihir feeling among the officers of the Government, and that neither the Governor nor his Council deemed the orders conveyed to them by Admiral Elphinstone, from the refu- gee Prince then in England, sufficient to invalid 'te their duty to the country whence the Stadholder had fled is readily conceivable ; and will account for the opposite views of the duty of the local Government taken by the English officers and those whom in tlieir proclamations, &C., they addressed. The Governor and his Council were evidently in the hope that the Government which should succeed that of the StaJliolder, even were that Govern- ment in fact a French one, would send succour, — so that at all events the English might be kept out of the colony. To the French Batavian republic thoy would probably have been more ready to offer obedience than to an English pro- tectorate, even though sanctioned bv the Stadholder, It is with reference, probably, to this feeling that, in lady Anne Barnard's journal, the term Jacobin is applied to some individuals to whom she alludes. In like manner. General Craig, in one of his addresses to the colonists, while offer- ing them the British Protectorate, warns them against preferring the rule of the French, with all the attendant evils of Jacobinism. The force of Admiral Elphingstone anchored in Simon's Bay on the 10th June, 1705. It consisted then of two 7 t gun ships, three of Gi guns, and three sloops. On his arrival the Admiral re([uested the resident at the Bay to communicate his arrival to the Governor, and his wish to see either himself or Colonel Gordcn, the Commander of the local forces, in order to convey to them some very important information. A letter from the secret committee of the English East India Conipai.y, acknowledging the general attention of the Cape Government to their sliips touching at the Cape, and to their estaldishment at St. Helena, and introducing the English Admiral to the Governor's personal good offices, wa.s sent with this me.s.sage. 136 The Government were, not unreasonably, very suspicious respecting the real object of the English, and, so far from accepting the invitation of the Admiral, immediately put arrangements into train for preventing, if necessary, any attempted landing, and any passage of the English troops through the Muizenburg Pass. Instructions on this subject were sent to the Resident at Simon's Town, Mr. Brand, at the same time that the Admiral was informed that it was impossible for either the Governor or Colonel Gordon to leave the Capital, but they would receive his information through any trustworthy officers he might send. Three officers were accordingly sent to Cape Town, who delivered to the Governor a letter from the Prince of Orange, dated at Kew in England, 7th February, 1795, to the following purport : — " Wo have deemed it needful by these presents to command you to admit into the castle, as also elsewhere in the colony under your command, the troops that shall be sent thither, by his Majesty the King of Great Britain, and also to permit the ships of war, frigates, or armed vessels which shall be sent to you on the part of his said Majesty, into False Bay, or wherever else they can safely anchor, and you are to consider them as troops and ships of a power in friendship and alliance with their Mightinesses (the States General) and who come to protect the colony against an invasion of the French. "Consigning you, truly sirs, &c., to the protection of Providence we are WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE." To this letter was added another addressed by Admiral Elphinstone and General Craig to the Governor and his Councillors, dated on board H.M.S. Monarch, in Simon's Bay, 13th June, 1795, and written for the purpose of conveying to the local authorities the latest information respecting the position of affiiirs in the United Provinces. This information was to the following purport : — " That in the month of January, the French having entered Utrecht and Gelderland, v.-ith a much stronger power than could be successfully resisted by the United English and Dutch Army, the troops of His British Majesty had been forced to 137 retire over the Rhine into Germany, and those of the United Provinces had been compelled to surrender to the invaders. That in a few days the whole of the seven provinces had fallen into the hands of the enemy, without any treaty, capitulation, or agreement of any kind, while the Prince of Orange and his family had been compelled to take refuge in England. That the French having thus become masters of the country, — they had, even in the short time which elapsed previously to the departure of the fleet from England, com- menced to levy numberless contributions on the inhabitants ; — the chief officers of the late Government were imprisoned and the command of the fleet given to a French officer while the Dutch Admiral Kinsbergen was also placed in' prison. Revolutionary committees had also been formed in the chief towns, and in a short time the chief principles of French republicanism were established in the whole country, —protected as they were by an all-powerful military force. The States General continued their sittings, but they were controlled wholly by the army, and only carried out the orders of the convention, while their representations as to the inability of the inhabitants to meet the demands made upon them, were answered by the threat of their exaction by military force. Under these circumstances, and lest the enemy should, before the allied powers had had time to prepare the overwhelming force with which they hoped ultimately to master them, endeavour to make the most of their short-lived occupation of Holland, and to deprive His Majesty's ancient allies and friends of their important possessions in India, the Prince of Orange and His Britannic Majesty had agreed to act in the terms of the letter from His Serene Highness which they had the honour to forward to the Governor, and which, they did not doubt, would receive the attention it demanded, as well in regard of the authority due to tlie writer, as of the interests of the Company whom the Governor represented, and of the welfare of the people under his rule. Finally, that tlie squadron now in Simon's Bay was what could be instantly collected for the purpose of the expedition ; but that a 138 larger force, sufficient for the full protection of the possessions of the Company was on its way, and might be daily expected." The answer to this communication is but slightly indi- cative either of confidence in the English officers, or of respect for the authority of the Stadholder. It is issued by the Government and Council, and bears — like all the similar documents subsequently issued — the signatures of all the members who were present : A. J. Sluyshen, J. J, Rhenium R. J. Gordon, J. J. Le Sueur, W. J. van Rheede van adtshoorn, and W. S. van Rhyneveld. The Council would " give the necessary orders that the fleet commanded by their Excellencies should receive the need- ful provisions and supplies, — but inasmuch as the circum- stances of the colony render it inexpedient that armed troops should be allowed to land, they request their Excel- lencies to allow none but unarmed men to land for pro- visions, and that only in the most limited numbers possible. They assure their Excellencies of their gratitude for the anxiety shown by His Britannic Majesty for the preserva- tion of the colony, by authorising his troops to assist in its defence, and they will take the freedom of availing them- selves of the offer of assistance made to them, should any foreign invasion of the colony be made. In the meanwhile they feel that it will relieve the minds of their Excellencies to learn, that the local Government is in the happy position of being able to offer resistance to any foreign attack. They conclude their letter, by asking what amount of military aid, the British ships would in case of need, be able to give them."* * The " Eaad Politicq " of the colony was formed of the principal civilians and military officers of the colony. All the members were appointed by the East India Company. This bodj' was under the Council XVII in Holland, the sole executive and legislative authority of the colony. Of the nature of the control exercised by the council over the Governor's authority we are unaware, but Sluysken appears to have done nothing without them. If we have not been misin- formed, the predecessor of Sluysken, Governor van de Graaff, was recalled chiefly through the interference of his council. Doubtless the Govei'uor and council, thus appointed, formed in fact a very In the narrative the Governor gives the reasons of the council for not receiving the communications of the English very favourably. They wished to gain time, so as to hear directly from Holland, — for their last official accounts had been to the 10th October, 1794<, and their last private intelligence to the following December. In the meanwhile their arrangements for defence were carried on. They ordered the officer commanding at Hout Bay to prevent, by force, the entrance of any ships, firing red hot balls at them, if needful ; and they strengthened their Muizenburg pest, and formed some other outposts between Muizenburg and the capital. Subsequently General Craig personally had an audience of the council, and there stated " that he had been sent hither, with Admiral Elphinstone, to propose to the Government of the Cape of Good Hope, that it should place itself under the protection of Great Britain, until such time as a general peace should be made in Europe, and the old and lawful constitution of the Netherlands should be restored ; when His Majesty would be able to give back the Colony to its lawful owner ; — this proposal being made under the assurance that no change should be made in the laws and customs of the inhabitants, and that no new taxes should be laid upon them ; — but that they should bear the expenses of their own Government, and all trade with Holland and the Dutch establishments having neces- sarily ceased, the trade of the inhabitants would have to confine itself to the establishments of the English com- pany, — that the troops should take a temporary oath of tyrannical sort of oligarchy. But the British Government did not mend matters, for from 1705 to 1825, (with the exception of a few intervening years of the Batavian-Republic Government, 1S02 to 1800) the Governor personally was the sole legislative and executive power of the colony, and even until a later date the judicial authority also, in appeal ! In 1825, an English council of civiHaus was estab- lished, and some years after the legislative body which concluded its functions in July, 1819. The senior member of council appears also to have been a responsible joint-administrator of the Government, with the Governor himself. Such must have been at the time, and previously, the office ol' Mr. Ehenius. 140 nller^iance to His Britannic Majesty, and the civil servants sliould continue in their offices until His Majesty's pleasure should be known." The General received a very short answer from the Council, in writing, — to the effect that "in duty and honour, they found themselves compelled to decline his proposal entirely, and that they had resolved, with all their power, to defend themselves against any who should attempt to assail this colony, and the lawful constitution of their country." Much subsequent correspondence took place. General Craig and Admiral Elphinstone were either averse to vio- lent measures, or — what is very probable — the obstinate refusal of the authorities to accept their protection, was opposed to all their anticipations. The above answer was received on June 19 th. They afterwards permitted a Dutch frigate, which had some India ships under her con- voy, to leave Simon's Bay for Batavia, without any moles- tation, receiving only the word of the captain that he would touch at no port of the French colonies ; — so that the French might not become warned of his presence in the Southern Hemisphere : which was readily given. This frigate Sluysken tried hard to detain, but without success. The captain appears to have taken a different view of the position of the English from the authorities, and treated with absolute disrespect their orders to him, which were to the effect that he and the ships under his convoy, should remain in Simon's Bay. and that they should, in case of an attack against which it might be difficult to defend them- selves, destroy their vessels by fire. Proclamations and addresses to the people continued to be issued by the English, explaining their real objects, and warning the inhabitants against the consequences of their intended opposition. Various reports of which the General and the Admiral heard from time to time respecting the public feeling towards them, were contradicted ; some of the.se affording much evidence of the jealousy and the fear with which the English uame was at that time received amonfr all classes. Statements that the inhabitants would be pressed for the naval service, that some ef them would be sent to Botany Bay, that the slaves and people of coltjur would not continue, under the English, in their former state of subordination, are severally contradicted. After this, an ineffectual attempt was again made by the British officers, to persuade the governor, that his oath to his country was not binding in the altered circumstances of Holland ; — that Holland being now but a province of France, under the rule of the French Convention, it was not to be imagined that his oath bound him to a govern- ment which had been overthrown by military force, or rather to the powers which had so overthrown that govern- ment. The Council declared, however, in an answer dated June 27, that they could not break their obedience to the republic, even though it had been partly overmastered by an enemy, a circum.stance of which they had information neither from the Stadholder nor from their government, but only from those who now claimed possession ; — and that disavowing all sentiments of Jacobini.sm, they would defend the colony equally against any force of the French Convention, as against any others. In the course of the further proceedings of the govern- ment, the Resident of the Bay was ordered to cause all means of supply to be removed from Simon's Bay, or destroyed, together with his ammunition, &c, ; he was to spike a Battery on the other side of Simon's Town, which it might be inconvenient to man, and was to remain with a few men at Simon's Town to watch proceedings, placing a small guard on one of the Batteries on the beach, and removing all the rest of the force to the post at Muizenburg, wheie they seemed inclined to contest the passage of the English. The Admiral received notice on June 25, that the day alter would be the last on which he could get any s\ipply of fre.sh jirovisions. The English officers naturally placed themselves also in a position of greater hostility. They ordered the ships lying in Simon's Bay, containing property belonging to the Dutch 142 Ecost India Company, to continue at anchor, — declaring that as it appeared doubtful whether the local authorities were not desirous of suriend(',ring the colony and the property of the company to the French republic, they seized the ships on behalf of the Stadholder. Subsequentl}', on the arrival of an American vessel with dispatches from Holland to the local authorities here, they seized her letters and papers, and sent them, after examination, to the Governor with a letter, explaining that "a ship having arrived from Amsterdam, a port in the possession of His Majesty's enemies, they had seized her papers, and read the desi)atches and letters now forwarded : that they had felt the less delicacy in acquainting themselves with the contents of these, as they had been previously inspected in Holland on the part of the convention :" and that they keep back all the newspapers, knowing that the truth at present may not be published in Holland. The same remarks might be applied to the letters, " Many of them inform you of the planting of the tree of freedom, but none make any mention of the building of the guillotine ; many enlarge on the blessings of their new freedom, but none tell you of the imprisonment of all the public servants and the best men of the country, or of the tremendous contributions which are levied bj the French." They doubted not that their cor- respondents fully felt the miseries of the country, but all their letters were subject to an inspection before leaving Holland, and hence their silence on such matters. The particulars of the defensive arrangements made, are scarcely interesting at present. The orders were at first given in case of active hostilities to fire red hot balls from the battery on the beach among the ship])ing. The English having, however, anchored a line of battle ship opposite to this battery, and as it appeared impossible to anticipate anything else than its utter demolition, the guns were spiked, and Muizenburg became the chief outpost of the local troops. In the meanwhile, entire possession of Simon's Town had been taken by the Admiral. 143 At this part of his narrative the CJovernor first iutro- duces the proceedings of the burghers of Swellendam and Graaff-Rfinet. It had become necessary to afply to them for aid in the defence of the colony, but only seventy men from Swellendam, and none from Graatf-Reinet made their appearance. The narrative states that from the beginning of the year, the burghers of Graaff-Reinet had shown a very turbulent disposition, and had even compelled the departure of the landdrost Maynier and of some of the heemraden and officers of the burgher force : — further, that the Cape Town authorities had sent one of the members of Council, Mr. De Wet, accompanied by a military ofticer named Von Hugel, and a civilian named Truter, to remonstrate with them, but that tho.se gentlemen had on the 1-ith June been compelled by force to return to town, where thoy arrived on the 5th July, without having accomplished anything. In like manner the landdrost of Swellendam, Mr. Faure, with some of his officers, had been dispossessed of their oflices, and a burgher named Hermnnus Steyn, not at all in the service of the company, had been appointed by the people as landdrost. while one Petrus Delport, who had assumed the title of National Commandant, and another named Louis Almeiro du Pi.sanie seemed to exerci.se the chief authority there. The news of all these proceedings had reached town just as the English fleet arrived in Simon's Bay: whereupon the Burgher Senate of Cape Town addressed the Council entreating them to invite the Swel- lendam burghers to come to the defence of the colon}-, under promise of an amnesty for their ofTence.s, and of an inquiry into iheir grievances. To this an answer was received on the 1 Oth July, signed by Steyn and others, on behalf of the " National Assembly" : — forwarding a letter which a large number of burghers of Swellendam had caused to be addressed to the A.sscmbly, and which had been laid on the table at their meeting on the Kith July, 170'). To this was added a list of the demands of the general body of burghers. The following is the purport of the letter : — To the National Landdrost and Heemraden of Swellendam :— " We, the undersigned, National Burghers have the honor to forward to you a letter from which you may see what our wishes arc, with the request that you will forward the same to the Honorable Commissary (the Governor.) In the first place, — "We are extremely surprised that the Honourable Commissary does not respect the resolution of the National Convention, as he is •well aware who acts here as Landdrost of the colony of Swellendam, — yet the letters are still addressed to the titulary merchant (koop- man titulair) Anthony Alexander Faure. They proceed in the 2nd place to declare, that they are resolved never to tolerate that the said Monsieur Faure, and. some others of tho government officers at Swe'.lendam whom they name, ' who have been removed by us,' shall hold any office at all in this country, as they were aware of their faults, and had proved them, article by article, in the presence of a Wge number of officers and burghers : — in the 3rd place, ' that all letters be henceforth addressed to the Landdrost Steyn, in token that their appointment has been confirmed.' With reference to the offer made at the desire of the Burgher Senate, they hesitate to accept the amnesty in the manner it is ofTured lest it should involve an acknow- ledgment of sedition on their part. In the fifth article they desire that if the officero whom they have appointed bo found unfit for their duties, others of their own choice shall be appointed ; as they had too long borne tho yoke of slavery, and they had resolved to give their last drop of blood for their country and their liberties, and to form themselves under a free republic. They aver that they are not un- •wiUing, but perfectly ready to come to town, so soon as they learn the governor's sentiments respecting these demands, and thoy ask him for a standard with the words ' vivat de vrylieid.' " The document concludes with a declaration that if no favorable answer is received, they will be obliged to adopt means to gain their objects, alike unsatisfactory to them- selves and to the governor. Some of the articles which the general body of burghers attached to their claims, strike at the root of the system of the East India Company. They claim freedom from all toll and custom, and that they should have a perfect right to sell their produce to 145 whomever they choose. " That commerce shall be perfectly free ; — that all that commerce introduces into the country shall be freely landed, and all that the country produces shall be freely exported." Another article urges that as they must themselves protect their farms from the natives, they should not be ro([uired to pay any acknowledgment for their tenure to their Government, — and they decline there- fore to pay any arrear of quitrent. They demand also that the pa^er money be abolished, as through the ignorance of many people who can neither write nor read, it is the cause of much mischief: and they take the opportunity of blaming the Government for having sent no schoolmasters among them, to provide against such an evil. With some minor articles affecting chiefly the power of landdrosts in levying the taxes, fcc, follow those respecting slavery, to which we have elsewhere alluded. They claim, " that any Bushman or Hottentot, whether taken in commando or by private individuals, whether heretofore or hereafter, shall remain for his lifetime the lawful property of the burgher with whom he is resident, and shall serve him from genera- tion to generation, and in case of his desertion that the owner shall be entitled to retake him, and punish him after his deserts." And, further, " that the Hottentots brought up, and now serving with the Christians, shall remain in their service until their 25th year, and shall serve no other, without the consent of their master." These demands Sluysken naturally conceived to be beyond his authority. He sent therefore a member of the liurgher Senate, with tv/o Burgher officers, to induce them to leave their complaints alone for the prest^nt, and to let everything remain until the departure of the English. Meanwhile, all his exertions were devoted to cutting ofT supplies from Simon's Town, and to watching the movements of his opponents, strengthening his defences at Muizonburg. SiC The English officers, whether because they were unwilling to incur the responsibility of any otrensive proceedings, without further intelli^rencc from home, or whether waiting for reinforcements, remained at anchor in False Bay, and L 14G in possession of Simon's Town, and the batteries on the beaches. On the 7th August, however, some active operations appear to have taken place, as the Enghsh drove away the small detachment stationed at Kalk Bay, who, fired some red hot balls at the ships and then fled. A couple of the ships were there anchored in what must have been a very dangerous position, so as to command the Muizenburg encampment. An attack on the encampment under cover of their fire, ended in the flight of the garrison under Colonel de Lille ; the English pursuing them until repulsed by a party of Hottentots under a Capt. Cloete. In this afiair «ome loss was sustained on both sides. After this, the local troops took up their position at Wynberg, and a post under the Steenberg. But the loss of Muizenburg proved a tremendous discouragement to all parties, and in particular to the troops. Insubordination among the mixed troops which formed the small array was rapidly spreading. The Governor found, on his arrival in the Camp, that Colonel de Lille had been placed under arrest by the Burgher officers under his command, who insisted that his precipitancy, or his cowardice, or treachery, had been the cause of the Muizenburg flight ; and such was the feeling, as well in Cape Town as in Camp, that the Governor was obliged to cause De Lille to be conveyed to the Castle. As if to add to the confusion and difficulty of the time, there arrived also " the Last Resolution of the Nationals," signed by Pisanie, the Commandant, and issued at RoodeSand (now Tulbagh), 10th Aug., 1795, containing a demand of an answer to their former despatches within twenty-four hours. The governor can scarcely fail to have felt much dis- couragement, but we find him oftoiiug areward of 1 000 Rds. for Pisanie, dead or alive, and on the evening of the 11th August, he addresses the Council of War, in the Town House, entreating that there might be union among them, and encouraging them to hope for success to their common opposition to the invaders of their country. I 147 On the 1 2th August, a letter from General Craig informs the Governor of the arrival of a part of his expected supplies and provisions, and that an additional number of 3000 men, would soon arrive. The governor is warned that the consequences of further obstinacy might be the utter destruction of the country, and he is assured of the un- willingness of the English to do more injury than was strictly needful in the execution of the duty before them. On the receipt of this, the Governor and Council con- sulted with the Burgher Senate and the citizens, from whom they received the expression of the public wish, that the defence should proceed, even under the present disadvan- tageous circumstances. This answer is communicated to the English officers by a letter from the Council The Sth of September following. General Clarke arrived in Simon's Bay, with a further body of troops, and on the day after an opportunity of capitulation was again offered to the authorities. They are assured again of the unwillingness of the representatives of His Britannic Majesty, to under- take any offensive operations against them, and of the satisfaction these officers would feel in reporting to their government, that the Cape had peacefully accepted the protection offered to it, and lastly are informed that the present force of the English is such as to render all opposi- tion utterly vain. Hoping against hope, Sluysken still determined on resistance* ; or perhaps on the chance that the English would really not take actual possession of the colony. The enemy had reached Newlands on the way to Cape Town, with a force of some iOOO men, before the governor gave way ; and then at a meeting of the Council, it was resolved, with but one dissentient voice, that Mr. le Sueur and Mr. van Ryneveld should be sent to ask a truce of is hours. One of 21- hours was granted, and on * The whole of the local forces at any time of the defence, appears to have been about ooO of the line, UMi artillery, l-tS Hottentots, and at the most about lOt'O burghers of all arms, of wh(im. owing to in- subordination, and probably tiieir diasatisfactiou with the goveruuiout scarcely half were latterly iu active service. l2 148 thfi 15th September, 1795, the first capitulation to the Briti.sli was made. By the terms of this capitulation the English forces were admitted into the forts, &c., and the officers of the Dutch East India Company were permitted to leave the Cape with their personal property : — All the property of the East India Company was given over to the English, and all existing rights and privileges, political or religious, were assured to the burghers : — the captors engaged to impose no new taxes, but to modify the existing burdens of the country as much as possible : and that none of the Company's servants or the citizens should be pressed into the English service. With respect to the paper money then in existence it was further agreed, that all the property of the Company taken over by the British should be considered as bound in security for the paper money in circulation, and that the important interests involved in the state of the currency here should be represented to His Britanic Majesty's Government. Before the capitulation, however, some of Admiral Elphinstone's ships had been sent round to Table Bay, and having been fired upon from Camp's Bay, returned a shot which killed an artilleyman there. We have again to allude to the situation of the country burghers before we close. It is scarcely possible that we can take Sluysken's statement as correct, in which he says that those who assumed the title of the national burghers were but few in number. Their claims were certainly not of a merely personal nature, but of a kind in which it can readily be imagined that the whole class of country pro- ducers would join. It was an opposition to the compara- tively foreign rule of the East India Company, and a claim for self-government. Pisanie, who shortly before the capi- tulation had been captured and imprisoned, he describes as a turbulent Italian, disturbing the peaceable burghers, and wishing to make slaves forever of the free Bushmen Hottentots, and for twenty -five years of the children of the Hottentots serving them. He attributes the insubordina- I 149 tion of the Hottentot force also to their fear lest Pisauie and his followers should iu their absence ill use their wives and children ; — and he says that Pisanie's turbulent schemes were feared even by his colleagues, who accordingly aided in his capture. Then, at all events, there were amongst his colleagues those who without acting turbulently, thought their claims just, as some of these claims doubtless were. It would appear that the Government had caused a disarmament of the burghers, lest these arms should be used in rebellion. Of course, this act rendered them powerless against the natives, — the Kafirs. This appears from some demands of the Graaff-Reinet burghers, containing also a few general charges of tyranny against their Landdrost. One of these demands shows the contrariety of interest between the Com- pany and the inhabitants to have been the chief cause of dis- satisfaction. They saj'', that the member of Council, Do Wet, who had been sent to them by the Governor, cannot have their confidence as a supporter of the freedom of the country, inasmuch as always being a petitioner to the Con)pany for higher promotion, he has helped to add to the burdens of the country ; and even when here, on the late commission, he did not choose to visit their poverty-stricken domiciles, their wasted lands, and their burned houses, but that he took more trouble to shew all kindnpss to Hottentots, Caffers, and the like, than to raise up the fallen and injured citizens, t Further, that "they will not render obedience to any more orders of the Honourable Company, much less pay any customs, stamps, -iOth {)enuy, or recognition money (quit-rent) to the Honourable Company : for this reason, that the country has been defended for 20 to 28 years solely at burgher cost, during a state of constant war, and they cannot imagine it just that they should render tribute t Of course, snch cliargcs will excite varied emotions in tlio dilYcrontly coustituted niiudy, aud iu j)crKons dilTcrcntl}- prejudiced. It would appear evident, that the disarming of the burgucrd had a double origin : — in the humanity of the Company's ofliccra towards the natives, and in their anxiety respecting their own rule. 150 for the occupation of lands, which tliey have themselves during that time to protect from the enemy. The other grounds of the intended separation were, what the Swellendam men also complained of — the paper money and the restrictions on commerce. At the same time came a letter from the deposed Land- drost Faure, written at Rotterdam, near Swellendam, 1 7th September, from which it was evident that matters were there in no better position. With such a state of the colony ended the regime of the Netherland East India Company, — their last Governor leaving our shores on the 12th November, 1795. We have but one extract more to make from the Governor's Journal. An object in which he congratulates himself on having been successful, was that by detaining the British here during so many months, he saved Java from a similar offer of their protection. His delay, he says, for nearly -i months, had put off the possibility of their reaching Batavia otherwise than in the time of the adverse monsoon, at the same time that they would not under present circumstances feel justified in taking away many troops from the Cape; — a matter respecting which, liad he yielded at once, they would have been comparatively careless. NOTES ON THE ROMAN LAW IN THIS COLONY. Ignorance of the law excuses none. A citizen or subject is guilty of an unpardonable offence, if, not knowing, he disregards a duly promulgated enactment. The imperial constitution which Caligula exalted to such a lieight that Lord Ro.sse's telescope would have been required to decipher its contents, is indeed stated by legal sages to have been disentitled to this obedience ; but the camels' loads of senahts consulta and edicts, decrees and rescripts, praetorian regulations and responses of jurisconsults, which Justinian entrusted to Tiibonian and Dorotheus for filtration and 151 reproduction, were equally the portion of the Clvia Romanus as his immunity from stripes. The thousand and one volumes of reports in the English courts, in which diametrically opposite rules of law are laid down as the result of the wisdom of different tribunals, — combined with the statutes from Magna Charta (that bulwark of English liberty, read by one Englishman in a thousand^ to the late Divorce Act, — are presumed to be familiar as household words to Lord Palmerston's modern Civcs Roinani. The " Code Napoleon," with its multitudinous commentaries — which compelled those who admired codification, when the great work was completed, to despair of the attainment of legal simplicity, seeing that conflicting volumes have been written on section after section intended to be plain — is the birthright of, and must be taken to be thoroughly under- stood by, every Frenchman as soon as he has emerged from infancy. The theory is undoubtedly correct. Our ancestoi-s in this colony, during its happy subjection to the Netherlands East India Company, were bound to conform to all that Van der Stell published, by affixture to the doors of the Court of Policy, or of the Landdrost's oftice, though they were hundreds of miles distant, and the printing press was yet unknown. At present the vagrant Hottentot and the equally vagrant Karoo boer ; the Settler of 1820, who, far away from Englaml, clamours for P]nglish law, little aware of the confusion into which the intricacies of the surviving remnants of feudal tenures would plunge the titles of his newly-acquired lands; and the staid farmer of (Iraaff-Rci net or the Nieuwe\-eld, who believes that community of property, filial and legitimate portions, and interest at six per cent., are to be discovered somewhere — the exact place not indicated — in an unknown book of Moses, as precepts inviolate for the governance of the cho.sen people, are held as well acquainted with the law of the colony as the jmlgcs of the Supreme Court. Better indeed : for it is at their peril that they take a wrong view of the law, and thereby injure their neighbours, while the judges arc privileged to 152 err, and to have their error rectified by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at no peril, and at no cost, — or rather at the cost of the unhappy suitor, who had enjoyed a short-lived triumph on the strength of their opinion. The following pages, therefore, will disclose nothing new. In accordance with the principle of the English courts of equity, whatever ought to have been done is held to have been done, — whatever ought in theory to be known to all, is the intellectual property of every individual. It is for the benefit of the few, who, forming the exception, prove the universal rule, that a sketch of the nature of the laws which we are bound to obey in this colony is offered. In some shape, every corner of the civilized globe feels the enduring influence of the Eternal City. Ages have, indeed, passed away since the vast empire of the Roman arms was laid low in the dust ; it may be that from the date of the rude shock of the Reformation, the Roman Church has ceased forever to hold despotic sway over the faith and reason of mankind, though the resumption of much lost dominion has marked the present era. But the Roman law, which existed in its most valuable portions before the glories of the empire, or the pretensions of the church, still survives with undiminished authorit}^ — the foundation of the jurisprudence of all the nations of the earth which are not sunk in barbarism. The jurists of the states of Continental Europe have ever acknowledged their obligations to this inexhaustible mass of legal principle and precept ; but the truth was abhorrent to the narrow spirit of English lawyers, who rejecting with scorn the authority of foreign churchmen, forgot that what Lanfranc taught in Gaul in the eleventh, and Vacarius, at Oxford, in the twelfth century, was but an expansion cf the principles that governed the judgment- seat when Britain was a Roman colony ; and with con- sislent prejudice, until our own day, have they refused to confess the merits of a system, whose maxims and rules had been for centuiies grafted upon the private law of the ll 153 land. For years upon years the compilations of Justinian, ■which contained time-honored precepts in the very words of Papinian, Paulus, and Ulpian, whose presence among the great men who adorned the Roman courts of justice in Britain, for the three hundred yeais which elapsed between Claudius and Honorius, gave existence to much of the most valuable portions of the common law, — were cited in Westminster Hall, without a reference to their origin, as part of a law of the land, which was imagined to flourish by heavenly dispensation, unplanted and unwatered, within the four seas, the exclusive property of Englishmen. Of late, however, the reproach has in some degree ceased, A praisworthy candor has marked the course of English lawyers on this subject. The essential importance of the study of the civil law, in order to comprehend much of the English law, which could otherwise not be traced to its sources, is admitted, and it no longer needs unwonted courage, as in the days of Sir William Jones, to make the acknowledgment of the debt due by English jurisprudence to the intellect of Rome. The true distinction is that, in England, palpable as is the influence which the civil law has had, its authority is not direct, as in other European states. " What is good sense in one age must be good sense, all circumstances remaining, in another ; and pure, unsophisticated reason is the same in Italy and in England, in the mind of a Papinian and of a Blackstone ;" — and therefore, says the eminent orientalist and jurist who has just been cited as one of the most strenuous battlers against the strong pre- judice of his day, " in questions of rational law we should shorten our own labor, by reference to the wisdom of ancient jurists, many of whom were the most ingenious and sagacious of men." A late very learned Chief Justice, one of the most profound lawyers who ever adorned the English bench, in delivering an elaborate judgment on an intricate question, for which no precedent could be found in the English books, rested the decision of the court entirely on the response of one of the jurists of the third century, 151- preserved in the Pandects, with these remarks on the respect due to them, although he could not admit their authority in a legal sense : — The Roman law forms no rule binding in itself on the subjects of these realms ; but, in deciding a case upon principle, where no direct authority can be cited from our books, it affords no small evidence of the soundness of the conclusion at which wo have ari-ivcd, if it prove to be supi)ortcd by that law, — the fruit of the researches of the most learned men, the collective wisdom of ages, and the groundwork of the municipal laws of most of the countries of Europe. The authority of one, at least, of the learned Roman lawyers, appears decisive on the point, in favor of the defendants : of some others, the opinion is expressed with more obscurity. And, in accordance with this opinion, a question of grave importance and novelty in English law was decided regarding the draining away of water flowing in a sub- terraneous course by mining operations. But the process which gave the " written law," as it was exclusively termed, direct influence in some countries, and indirect, though almost equally powerful influence in others, was nearly the same in all. When it is asserted that this law is the groundwork of the laws of civilized Europe, it is not thereby understood that in modern Germany, in the Netherlands, in France, where, since the revival of letters, the study was diligently prosecuted for the purpose of practical ajiplication in the administration of justice, — legis- lative enactment had constituted the civil law to be the law of the land, and thus ensured its supremacy. Its triumph was secured by its excellence. In the continental lands, which had been subject to the imperial dominion, as in England, its principles and rules had never been entirely lost, amid the barbarism and confusion which followed the fall of the Western Empire. Its doctrines continued to afford light on the questions between man and man, in the new societies which emerged from the ruins of the Roman government, and which at length shaped themselves into the national communities of modern Europe. When these communities, advancing in civilization, 155 advanced also in respect for property, and for law, by which property is secured, those to whom the administrn- tion oi justice was confided, found in the Pandects a ready solution of difRcult questions (as did Sir N. Tindal, in the case to which reference has been made), new indeed to them, but settled in an earlier state of conipliciited society by the expounders of Roman judicial science. At length, wherever the ancient usages of the particular nation did not establish a clear lule of decision, and special laws applicable to the subject of inquiry did not exist, the authority of the Roman law, as a complete system, sup- plying the deficiency of the national law, was admitted, in siihsidium, by the judicial tribunals. The frequency of these appeals to the Corpus Juris, rendered unavoidable by the varied transactions of reviving commerce and social advancement, soon caused the subsi- diary system to occupy a prominent place ; and thus, in most of the countries of Euroi)e, the unrivalled reasoning and philosophical exposition of the imperial juris consults became, in truth, the foundation whereon the structure of modern jurisprudence is erected. In some countrie.'^, indeed, the doctrines of the Roman lawyers have left a deeper impress than in others. The effects are more directly traceable in France and the Netherlands than in England ; but no state attained any national development, after the middle ages, in the municipal law of which these doctrines did not become inwoven. But more particular notice is required of the position of the Roman law in the Dutch courts, from which we have received it into this colony. In the olden time, the legislative and judicial functions were not so completely distinct as at the present day. The judge.s according to Grotius (writing in 1020), were enjoined, by their oaths, to act according to the dictates of their own con.sciences and judgment, when the customs of the land or special ordi- nances failed. Anil, to use the words of the illustrious author, "As the Roman laws, those especially which were collected in the reign of the Emperor Justinian, were 156 found by the learned to be replete with wisdom and justice, they were received at first as models of wisdom and justice ; and in process of time, through custom, were accepted as laws." This recognition of their value in the courts, took place at as remote a period as the thirteenth century, shortly after the modern civilization of Holland began. Afterwards, under the Burgundian princes, the imperial compilations were, by tiie sanction of the sovereigns, adopted as the common law, save only when they were in opposition to the constitution of the state, and the ancient customs. When the criminal ordinances of Philip II were promulgated in 1570, the judges were bidden to proceed, according to their own views of equity, only on failure of the edicts of the sovereign, the statutes, placaats, and ordinances, and of "the civil law," On the cessation of the dominion of the Counts — for the Emperor Charles V and King Philip II possessed no higher title in the Netherlands, a fact not sufficiently borne in mind when the sturdy Dutchmen of the sixteenth century, who in truth expelled a foreign soldiery from their country, are charged with " rebellion " against Spanish " sovereignty " — after the triumphant establishment of the Republic of the United Provinces, the like authority of the Roman juris- prudence was retained. And finally in 1735, a clear ex- pression of the actual position of the civil law, in relation to the national laws and customs, was given in the reso- lution of the States, "That the (Supreme) Court of Holland, and all other tribunals in Holland and West Friesland must " do right " according to the laws and placaats of the land, and likewise according to the charters and well-established customs and usages ; and, on failure of these, according to the written (i.e-, Roman) law." The laborious erudition for which the Dutch are noted enables us to understand, with reasonable exactness, the proportions borne in the sj^stem of jurisprudence in force in Holland until 1809 (when the French code was first intro- duced), by their own national laws and customs, and by the doctrines adopted from the collection of Justinian. It 157 is .sufficient to observe here that questions of constitutional right and liberty, of community of property as an effect of marriage, of intestate succession, succession by anti-nuptial contract and others, are generally referable to the ancient Batavian customs ; while rights of dominion, servitude and pledge, contracts, testaments, fidei-commissary succession, and the like, are usually to be explained by the Roman law, whence the rules on these subjects have been derived. Naturally, in very many matters, the Roman laws and the laws specially applicable to Holland became intermixed. The general combination is known by the name of the Roman-Dutch law. When, in 1652, this colony became a colonial possession of the Dutch East India Company, the law of Holland became the colonial law, except where modified by local ordinances; and by the "Statutes of India," which, in as far as they were applicable, were of force in the subordinate government. As thc-e were framed, however, for purely local purposes, general legal principle was sought only where, for centuries, Europe had found it, in the Roman law, — this being modified only by the special enactment of the mother country. Such was the state of the law on the cession of the colony to England in 1815, and it is the state of the law now. Vast improvements have taken place, especially in the mode of trial, both in criminal and civil courts, — great reforms have been effected by imperial and local legislation ; but the common law of the country remains, as before, that of Rome, as adopted in the Netherlands. For this no statesman or lawyer, who has given serious thought to the sul)ject, would substitute what is vaguely called English law for an English colony — although special legal reforms, introduced in England, have been, and will continue to be, profitably incorporated with the law as here administered. A discus- sion on this topic is scarcely within the scope of the present article, which was intended merely to show those who have struggled through its dry details, how even in this remote nook of earth, we have come to bend before the majesty 158 of imperial Rome. Chancellor Kent observes that "the Roman law is now taught and observed not only in France, Spain, Germany, Holland, and Scotland, but on the banks of the Mississipi, and has been carried by the Dutch into their Asiatic possessions." It is indeed a most marvelous example of the power of well-trained intellect, that the precepts framed for the concerns of a state which was in its decay fifteen hundred years ago, should so strongly in- fluence, by virtue of their mere excellence, the civilization of the present day. But it is a still more wonderful result that social order and justice between man and man are maintained in unknown countries under govern- ments whose names are strange to civilized ears, in Orange River Free States and South Afiican Republics, by obedience to decisions by Paulus, before the Saxons set foot in Britain, and to responses of Mucius Scsevola or Sulpicius to a Roman Msevius or Titius, when Christ was yet un- born. COMMUNITY OF PROPERTY AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Probably the words addressed by the intended husband to his bride in the marriage service of the Church of Eng- land, and which in one view is the law of England, — " with all my wordly goods I thee endow," — originally had a meaning, which may be traceable to some long-forgotten custom, though now no tradition of such a custom exists. At present, however, in England, in all cases where the wife's property is not protected from the grasp of her lord, by the cumbrous machinery of a settlement cautiously pre- pared to defeat the injustice of the actual law, she indeed endows him with all her " worldly goods," with all her personal property absolutely, with her real estate* during the subsistence of the marriage ; he seizes all her wealth, in virtue of the rapacious rights with which, as hu.sband, 159 he is clothed, endows her with nothing whatever, and dying without a testamentary devise, by the operation of the law, where her property has been personal, leaves her penniless. Her all has passed away, legally and irrevocably, possibly, to some stranger, the representative of him who, at the altar, had repeated after the prie-t, " with all my wordly goods I thee endow." Whether or not this solemn asseveration, as some learned writers have assumed, affords evidence of the influence of Teutonic customs, and of the prevalence at some remote period of the German principle of community of property, need not be here discussed. But while we know that by the law of England, as ex- plained by its acknowledged sages, " marriage is an absolute gift to the husband of the goods, personal chattels, and effects, of which the wife was actually and beneficially possessed at the time of marriage in her own right, and of such other goods and chattels as come to her during the marriage," the retention of the words in question appears to be not a mockery, only because habit has blunted their meaning, and no man uttering, or woman hearing, them attaches the slightest credence to the assertion. If the phrase is still supposed to have any signification, it would be difficult to find a more complete ill ustrdtion of the saying generally attributed to Tiiileyrand, but used by very many before him, and thus versified by Young — " Here nature's end of language is declined, And men talk only to conceal their mind ;" nothing being further from the bridegroom's intention, under the English law, than the p.-rformance of this portion of the sacred compact. Of late years, great efforts have been made to extend protection over the property of nuvrried women, as well as to improve their position in other respects. The earnest * The fact that the real cslato does not become tho husband's absolutely, is duo not to any rcfjard for the wife's protoctit^n, but to the respect bhowu to that species of property by the feudal principles of the law. 160 attention of some of the most eminent of living statesmen and lawyers has oeen directed to the attainment of this object. Endeavours have been in progress to mitigate the glaring injustice of legal rules to a greater extent than has been possible by the growth of the system of equity, which, diametrically opposed to the law, has indeed, by ingeniously defeating its severity through many devices, placed the wealthy in a comparatively favourable position, but has done little for the poor. Although some justice was efiected by its means, while, to the discredit of jurisprudence in a civilized country, the anomaly of two sets of courts, guided by totally different principles, was created, — the large mass of the people, unable to pay for the security which courts of equity afford, has continued in most respects subject to the law in all its hardship. And if the efforts of the reformers have been to some degree successful, — for among other alterations in the course of the last year (1857), the law was amended, to the effect that a wife deserted by her husband is now allowed to retain her own earnings, instead of being, in accordance with law, liable to be plundered of them by the profligate owner of her industry, — the general position of husband and wife, as to property, has not yet been changed. An utter destruction of the most indefensible system, if it has existed for many years, is necessarily accompanied by much difficulty. In the opinion, however, of men most competent to give an opinion on such subjects, a change is imperatively needed, and community or complete separation must supersede the present assignment of all property to the husband in Eng- land. Thb Law Amendment Society, of which Lord Brougham was president, in 1 8 5 G published a report, written by Sir Erskine Perry, in which, after the gross hardships of the present state of the law are exposed, the question is discussed, to which of the two reforms just named the pre- sent system ought to give place. The conclusion is in favour of the separation of the property of the spouses, according to the pure Roman law, in preference to the Teutonic community. This preference is not so much on account of 161 the greater wisdom or justice of the former principle, but because it was doubtful whether it would be practicable to introduce the system of community into England. It is remarked with truth in the report, that in the countries where community prevails, much greater equality of fortune exists between men and women than in England ; and the writer adds, that a bill which should propose to an English House of Commons to give to a wife a half share in her husband's personal property would probably have very little chance of becoming an act of Parliament. Some other inconveniences specially applicable to England are noticed, but the superiority in principle, and preference wherever applicable, of the doctrine of community, appears to be admitted. In Sir E. Perry's words, "The community of goods between man and wife, the administration being left in the hands of the husband, with equal rights of succession to the survivor, is deemed by many to agree more with the ideal of a happy marriage than any other that can be devised. We may probably assume that, in the greater number of marriages, there is only one interest in common, and that law would appear to be the wisest which should be in accordance with such a state of things." " In France, where the two principles come into competition, the tendency of society is unquestionably in favour of the community of goods." From these remarks it is plain that only the practicability of the introduction of community into England is doubted ; the wisdom of the principle is conceded. The result of the in([uiry is, as has been above stated, that separation of property is recommended in the report, as being free from some of the practical objections which would attach in England to the application of the doctrine of community, and as having the advantage of being already recognized by the English courts of equity, "so that if it were laid down by the legislature, as the law of the land, that a married woman who had married witliout a sottle- ment, should retain and possess property as if she were a single woman, on every difficulty or disputed point that might arise, a satisfactory solution will be found in the M 102 cour.se adopted by c([uity." Both community and separation of goods are in any case preferred to the English doctrine of marital a{)])ropriatioii. While the tendency of the law reformers in England is decidedly to repudiate the common law doctrine regarding the property of husband and wife, and refuge is sought in the more equitable principles adopted by other nations, some men here are earnest to secure what is, in England, felt as a serious grievance. It is admitted nlmost universally to be most just that when man and woman become united by marriage, the interest of each merging into a common interest, — each aiding the other in a manner not to be arithmetically calculated in the acquisition of the property which shall conduce to the comfort of their age, and after- wards devolve on the offspring of the union, — the doctrine of community should be adopted as that of the law, wherever practicable ; and yet this same doctrine, which is engrafted in our colonial society and cherished by the large mass of the inhabitants at once as a right and a blessing, is decried by persons who have seen that it occasionally works hard- ships, as a grave evil requiring instant remedy, — a doctrine legalising the plunder of the industrious in their old age, redolent of barbarism, and wholly unsuited to the require- ments of civilized society. Hopes are from time to time expressed by a section of the people, and the legislature is occasionally invoked to bring us to that delectable state from which the law reformers in England are struggling to be freed. This is not done in precise terms. The claim is in the form of a revision of the law of inheritance, but the change to be effected is the destruction of the partition which in general results on the dissolution of marriage by death. Women never complain of the operation of the law. Do men complain because, while the colonial law, by virtue of the marital rights, allows enormous power to husbands, women possess some protection by means of the community ? Is the law reprehended because, more just than individuals, it does not in all cases permit the male sex, when desirous of possessing property, to retain that which is not their It.> 100 own? Complaint is never heard when the liusban'l lias acquired wealth through his wife ; the injustice is intolera- hle when the wife has acquired anything by law through her husband. Community, it must be borne in mind, when unsuited to the circumstances of those about to be married, is not obligatory. Individuals may create such division of property as they prefer, for themselves. Only when the future spouses have not determined for themselves a rule difft-ring from that which ordinarily prevails, a ])rinciple which will in general operate justly in favour of husband and wife, and which is not for the benefit of one of these persons only, should be fixed by the law and govern their property. Such a principle exists in the commimity of the Dutch and con- tinental jurisprudence, but would be in vain sought in the approjniation system of Enj^land. The accepted definition of marriage, in its effect od prop- erty by Enclish law, has been above given. A brief otate- ment of the effect of marriage on property in this colony may be welcome to those as well who approve as to those who condemn the present provisions. Marriage at the Cape of Good Hope, wher-e the future spouses have not declared otherwise by antenuptial contract, efTects a joint ownership of all ])roperty moveable and immoveable of the husband and of the wife, whether in possession at the time of the marriage or sub.scipiently ac([uii"ed during its continuance. The j)ropeity thus owned by the common estate is liable to the debts of the parties existing at the time of the marriage, — to the debts con- tracted by the husband during the community, or by the wife during the community, with the husband's con.sent,— — and to debts contracted for the necessary charges of the marriage. The husband alone has the administration of the property in community, — he has the right of alienation, and of mortgage even of the immoveable property brought into the estate V»y the wife, without her constant. The dissolution of the community takes place by diatli, divoice a vificalo, or separation « mcnaa ci Vioro. In M 2 1G4 certain cases of divorce, the courts possess power to decree forfeiture of the share possessed by the guilty spouse, eitlier fully or partially. In decrees of separation d viensa et thoro, a clause respecting the mode of partition of the property of the joint estate is usually inserted. At the ordinary dissolution of this " nuptial partner- ship," as Story fitly calls it, by death of either of tiie part- ners, the necessary effect of a dissolution of partnership takes place ; the property belongs ec^ually to the survivor and to the heins of the deceased, in equal moieties, after a due adjustment of all debts, and the payment of all charges fitly borne by the community. It may be added that the wife can do nothing in law without the authority of her husband ; he is the sole person legally representing the estate. She has power to do, how- ever, what married women cannot do in England, — she may make a will without her husband's consent, and possesses the same power of disposing of her half of the estate enjoyed by both which he possesses ; this power of disposi- tion being limited, as regards both husband and wife, in favour of children, and, in default of children, of surviving parents, though not nearly to the extent generally sup- posed. In a word, the colonial doctrine of community is perfect equality between the spouses, with full right of adminis- tration by the husband. From this administration the wife's interests can be secure only in the very rare cases in which courts could be called on to interfere for her protection on account of reckless prodigality, endangering the dissipation of the entire estate. The marital authority is such, that oulv the grossest instances of its abuse can meet with a remedy. The question may be fairly put, whether husbands should have so much power ; but far form this, husbands complain that the operation of the law is, that they are injured, brought into difficulty, ruined, because wives are allowed by law to possess any rights at all. It must not for a moment be forgotten, in considering the question, that in this colony, whenever professedly, the 165 law of inheritance is attacked, the law of community is really aimed at. The doctrine of legitimate portions, or the compulsory necessity of providing to a limited extent for children, has its objectors ; but the cordial detestation of surviving husbands, who alone are the supposed sufferers, is reserved for the law of community. It follows hence, that all the instances which have been offered from time to time as illustrations of the hardships of the law of inherit- ance, are, in truth, objections to the partition resulting in the dissolution of the community ; and would exist, whatever were the law relating to the disposition of property by will. This was fully shown in the unanswerable speech of the Attorney-General (Mr. Porter), on the motion of Mr. Harries, for the revision of the law of inheritance, in 1848. Every instance adduced as an example of the evils of the law of inheritance in truth displayed certain inconveniences to a surviving husband, caused by the death of his partner, and the conse- quent dissolution of the partnership. If A, the husband, and B, the wife, married in community, posse.ss £ 1,000, then, on the death of B, the half of the joint estate, £500, coming to B's representatives or heirs, is equally withdrawn from A, whether B was bound to leave a portion of the £500 to certain persons indicated by the law, or left the whole of the £500 to persons freely selected by herself. Not the law of inheritance, but that of partnership has effl-cted the ])artitiou. And such, in principle, though ditlering in detail, have been all the ca.ses which have been paraded a.s exemplifying the hardships of the law restraining the free- dom of disposition. The fact that testators have far greater power of di.sposition than is generally a.ssumed in di.scus- sions on this subject will be shown in a future paper. Here we contine ourselves as much as po.ssible tw the legal etTects on property of marriage without an ant^^nuptial contrnot. The case of greatest hardship that can twke place under the law of community would be of the following nature. Of course husbands always provide against the chance of its occurrence, by the marriage settlement ; but it may hajipeu 166 A, with €50,000, marries B, a penniless girl, who dies within a tew months, and has bequeathed by will, or dying without a will, has left £25,000, her half of the common estate, to her own relatives. Certainly, this is a most severe infliction on the husband, though if the lady had had the wealth, and the husband had died immediately after the marriage, few voices would be raised to exclaim on the hardship of the diminution of her estate, compared to the many that would expatiate on the extreme injustice, when the husband's property was so diminished. According to English law, it will be remembered that, in the latter case, the lady's £50,000 would wholly have become the husband's, and so utterly withdrawn from the control of the original owner, that on her husband's death, she would be entitled to nothing at all. The Dutch law occasionally works injustice ; the English law is always, and in principle, unjust. A careful study of the Attorney-General's speech, to which reference has already been made, is recommended to all who are anxious really to understand this important subject. This very able and eloquent composition ought to be republished. Its arguments were not answered at the date of its delivery, and cannot be answered now. The equity of the principle of the " communio bonorum," especially in cases — the majority of cases in this colony — where husband and wife, at the date of their marriage, possessed nothing beyond industry and economy, is pointed out with great force. As the speech is out of print, we extract this portion : — " When both parties possess property (I do not pause to compai'e amounts), the natural equity of community is tolerably apparent. Why should the law give all absolutely to the husband ? Suppose a law which would give all absolutely to the wife, what would you say to it ? You would call it monstrous. When we speak of giving all absolutely to the husband, we are by no means so strongly affected — * indeed,' says the lawyer, ' that alters the case.' But had I the honour now of addressing an assembly of ladies, they would perhaps view the case very differently. The case in which one party possesses property is open to more doubt. When the property is the man's — the colonial law seems bountiful — perhaps too bountiful — to the 107 woman, by communicating to licr a half of the husband's property. When the property belongs to the woman, the law of England, viewed as carrying all property over to the husband, seems terribly unjust to the original owner, and, in my opinion, the principle of community between two spouses, no matter which of them brings in the property, is a fairer principle than the principle of keeping everything to the husband, where everything was the wife's. What, then, shall we say to the case in which neither man nor woman possesses property ? Out of this sort of case have all our difficulties arisen. Settlers come here without anything, save a desire to marry — they marry and make no ante-nuptial contract. An ante-nnptial contract, to be of much use, must be notarially executed; and as it costs some shillings, and shillings are scarce, the parties marry without it, little dreaming, perhaps, that they are ever to have as much wealth as will make the matter one of much consequence. But time wears on, and they find that they have accumulated property : then comes the tug of war* The wife chances to die, — the children step in as claimants of their maternal inheritance, and the widower feels aggrieved that his children should curtail his means of usefulness, that is, his means of continuing his business or pursuits. It cannot be denied that this sort of case is the real one with which we have to grapple ; and to lay down just principles for regulating it, is by no means easy. Shall we at once pro^ilaim that, in such a case, the wife shall have no interest what- ever in the property accumulated P There are, I think, considera- tions which will require to be weighed before we legislate to this effect. True it is that, in general, the husband is the more active agent in earning their money. But I have heard a very rich man say that every married man who wishes to be rich must ask his wife's permission, and it is in cases where a couple begin the world with nothing that the wife commonly contributes most to the common stock. And when wc reflect how much the wife has probably co-operated — how, by early rising and lying down late, and eating the bread of carefulness, she has added to the joint store-house by housewifery and thrift, she has enabled the husband to acquire moans which, be his genius in speculation what it may, he could not other- wise have collected,— I must be allowed to doubt whether that law is founded upon right reason or right feeling, which would make her a mere servant without wages, — which would leaTO her without any claim upon the property she had contributed to earn, — which would enable the husband, dying before her, to bequeath, perhaps to strangers, all she had helped to make, and leave her in her old age destitute, I am not insensible to tlio difficulties which attend the principle of commuuity as applied to these cases. I am not ignorant 1G8 of tlic cfTcct of natural affection and public opinion in protecting the nterest of -wives who have no other protection. But I desire for them, if possible, some further protection. I desire that a husband, ■whoso dinner is not cooked to his liking, shall not be at liberty, leaving a large fortune, to leave hia wife nothing. It were to shut our eyes upon the truth, to deceive ourselves, and to give human nature troro credit than it deserves, were wo to say that the interests of married women may bo wholly and unhesitatingly committed to their husbands." The justice of the closing remark of the extract is strongly exemplified in the second of the two cases which are sub- joined, and which are copied here, because it is better to state actual cases which have occurred than to reiterate possible instances of hardship under any law. The colonists here are urged to introduce English law generally, as to the effects of marriage on property. What do our readers think of the following well-authenticated examples of its operation : — "Mrs. inherited from her father a comfortable property before she was married, and had never known any necessity to economize. She married, and having great confidence in her husband, and having never been used to think about money matters, omitted to have her property settled upon herself. The husband died very suddenly shortly after their marriage, without having made a will» and all her property is gone to a nephew of her husband, a man almost a stranger to her. She is now very much reduced in circumstances and living for the first time in her life, under the pressure of narrow means." "A gentleman in one of the northern counties failed in business; his wife, with praiseworthy spirit, turned her talents to account by setting up a fashionable millinery establishment, with the assistance of her friends, which proved so successful that she not only maintained herself and husband, but realized a considerable fortune, sufficient to enable her to leave business and live comfortably on the proceeds of her savings. The husband during all this time did nothing to bring in any income, and was supported by his wife. After a time ho died and left a will, by which he bequeathed his wife's property to his own illegitimate children. She was left in poverty, and is now a milliner again." WIuIp under the colonial law such injustice is impossible, and linder tiie English law, unhappily, too frecpient, it is well 1 it;o to pause, ere rash and ill-considered clinnges are made, — even if it were possible, which it is not, to apply the Eriglish law as to the effect of marriage on property in this colony, without a complete change of other portions of the law, especially that relating to immoveable property. THE LAW OF INHERITANCE AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. It is not the pui-pose of the writer to treat of succession in intestacy. What the law does with regard to the estates of those who neglect, or do not desiretoexerci.se the power of disposing of their property, is perhaps of equal interest with, but has not been .so prominently discus.sed as, the limitation imj)0sed on testamentary disposition. While, however, few subjects of colonial importance have been more treated of and written about for the last thirty years than the power of testation by our law, it would be difficult to point out one respecting which more misapprehension exists among that poition of our community which is of English descent. There may exist community of proj)erty in the fullest sense, and yet, together with it, the freest possible right of disposal by will. The law of legitimate portions in favor of children had its origin in the Roman law at a time when there was a complete separation of the estates of the parents. By the " Code Napoleon," a child of a marriage under the regime dotal, where there is an entire se[)aratiou of estates has as certain a claim to the kyitime from the property of his parents as a child of a marriage contracted under the regime de c(/nimunaxi.i<^. It seems superfluous, but the frequent misapprehension on the subject renders it necessary, to jioint out that there is no connection whatever between the jirineiple of the law which regulates the shares of A and B in the property possessed jointly by A and P., and that of the law which enait^ that the child of A shall obtain something from the estate of A, and that the child of B .'shall obtain something from the 17U estate of B. The error is one into which unprofessional men not unnaturally fall. The death of A is the time at which the separation of the propert}' of A and B, married in community, takes place ; it is likev/ise the time at which the question arises as to tlie amount of the portion wliich, out of his share, A was bound by law to leave to his heir ; and the neglect of sufficiently accurate consideration has confounded two very distinct, though concurrent, conse- quences of his death. It might be as well concluded, where completely separate estates have been created by ante-nuptial contract, that because at the death of one of the spouses, it may become necessary that distinct accounts of the separate estates should be taken to prevent any possible confusion, and at the death, likewise, a legitimate portion is claimable, that, therefore, there is an inseparable connection between the doctrine of separate estates in marriage and that of legitimate portions. It was remarked on a former occasion, that while the outcry here has been for the blessings of the English law of the effects of marriage on property, the English law reformers, headed by Lord Brougham, have, of late years, been anxiously endeavoring to save England from the disgrace of this law, and Englishwomen from its curse. In like manner, while the voices of some are raised here against the cruelty to parents of the law which does not sufficiently, in all cases, trust natural affection in the disposal of pro- perty, English law reformers mourn that they have not the law of this colony, which is, in principle, the old common law of England, and that of every countiy of Europe, with the exception of England and Ireland. In a late number of the Law Magazine (the organ of the Law Amendment Society), towards the conclusion of a paper on the dis- tribution of intestates' estates, there are the following observations : — We have said enough, we think, to show the shortcoming of our scheme of distribution on one point, and that it needs such an altera- tion as shall bring us within the European family in respect of private law. But there is another and a graver point upon which we have 171 even less hesitation in avowing our distaste of f^ngliah law. It is ono in respect of which England stands alone in Europe ; wo mean the law which allows every testator, under all circumstances, without regard to nature or justice, to alienate the whole of his personal estate, to the disherison of his wife and children. By virtue of that conflict of principles which dogs English law everywhere, a man must support these persons as long as ho lives, but at his death, though possessed of ample means, ho may leave them penniless, or a burden upon strangers or the parish. Caprice or cruelty may impel him to do so, and the law requires no better justification of an act, which it affects to consider to be a legitimate consequence of constitutional liberty. In this, as in many other points, the law is not in rqnih'hrio with the intellect or feelings of the community. Our state of society demands a better law than the unnatural formula dicat testator et erit lex. It requires that the children, at least, should derive such a benefit from their father's estate by law at his death as shall relievo the public from their being a burden upon it, however light. The poor law docs much, but here it is, of course, inoperative. The restoration of the old common law of England — the jmrtis rafinnahiles — would effect this justice and remove the painful inconsistency which we have referred to. — Law Magazine, May, 1857: p. 88. It may be as well to explain what these partes ration- ahiles were, inasmuch as we are constantly assured here that any interference with the power of free alienation by will is utterly at variance with the genius of English law. By the common law of England, a man might dispose of only one third of his goods ; one third went as the " reasonable portion " (we should say "legitimate") to his children, and one third to his wife. If his wife had pro- deceased him, his liberty of disposition extended to one half, the other moiety being the property of his children. In the case only of his death without wife or children surviving him was he entitled to dispose of the whole of his personal property. " Magna Charta" expressly reserves this right to widows and children. By the 20th chapter of John's Charter, and the KSth of that of Henry HI, it is provided that after the payment of the debt which the " dead man " might owe to tlie King, " the rest shall be left to the executors to fulfd the testament of the dead, and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chatties shall go to 172 the use of the dead, saving to his ivi/e and children their reasonable shares." This, which was, until the time of Charles I, the general law of the land, was imperceptibly altered in the greater part of the kingdom — though it was retained in certain portions ; and was only abolished, as to London, by statute in the beginning of the last century. "Thus," says Blackstone, (vol. Ii, p. 493), "is the old common law now utterly abolished throughout the kingdom of England, and a man may devise the whole of his chattels as freely as he could formerly his third part or moiety." While, as has been shown, the tendency in England appears to incline to a resumption of the ancient law, which is, in principle, not different from our own, it is not too much to expect that sounder arguments than the mere fact that the present English law differs from that which pre- vails in this colony should be offered, before our legislature can be called on for a change from the law which we possess, and which is desired in England, to that which is deprecated in England. There is more sounding rhetoric than logical truth in the assertion that the freedom of an Englishman requires freedom of disposition by last will. If Dr. Johnson, when a friend recommended the line — ** Who rules o'er freemen must himself be free," replied, " To be sure, — " Who drives fat oxen must himself be fat," what would have been his commentary on the supposed necessary connection between constitutional right and the right to beggar a child ? These prefatory remarks appear necessary, in order to show the want of true foundation for the prejudices which prevail on this subject in the minds of many who have constantly heard repeated, and thus have begun to believe that the law of inheritance in this colony is obsolete, inapplicable to the present state of civilisation, and the relic of a barbarous age ; whereas, in truth, it is in principle identical with the law on the subject contained in the great product of the civilisation of the nineteenth century, the 173 "Code Napoleon "; it was the law of the Roman Empire at a period whence all the nations of modem Europe and of America derive what is most valuable in their several municipal codes ; it is that to which thinking men in England, competent to judge in matters of this nature, turn with hope for the amendment of their own privately unjust and socially injurious doctrines. It should, at least, be examined with respect and understood before it is con- demned. We have said that great ra'sapprehension prevails as to the law of inheritance. We believe the general opinion of its operation to be, that th^re exists no power of testameatary disposition whatever, — that on death the law seizes and distributes the property as in intestate succession. The industrious tradesman, who has accumulated some means, is harassed by the constantly-recurring assertion: — "You toil for property and deem it your own — in vain ; at your death the law takes it — your wife, surviving you, receives the half, the rest is distributed among your children in equal propor- tions, whatever may have been your desire on the subject ; it is a waste of labour to commit your bidding to paper according to the formalities required for a will ; the law is paramount, and will lay aside your wishes, the anticipated fulfilment of which might comfort you on your death-bed, unheeded !" This, absurd as it may appear, has frequently been stated in the writer's presence, even by persons who have become possessed of considerable property and who have acquired some position, as the law of inheritance, expounded to them by others whom they deemed wiser than themselves. When it was explained that by the law the wife really took nothing from the husband's estate, but merely on his death retained her own — whether community or separation of property had governed the marriage — and that the statement further, that the law, notwithstanding any will, divided the testator's property eijually among his children, was an exaggerated fiction based on very little truth — surprise was expressed by the individuals themselves that they should have been in such utter ignorance of what they had been 174 taught to detest, and the assurance was given that this errone- ous conception of the law was the one ver}^ generally preva- lent. The large majority of objectors to legitimate portions would possibly still object if they did know, but certainly do not know, to what they object. No doubt the ordinary will in this colony has led to the belief of the necessity of an equal division among the children of the testator's property. The favourite testament among the inhabitants of Dutch descent is what is generally termed a mutual will — which is, in fact, a will of two persons on one paper. This mutual testament might be made as well by persons who stand in no relation to each other as by those who stand in the intimate connection of husband and wife. Its provisions are, in general, simply that the testator and testatrix constitute the survivor of them and the children of the predeceasor heirs in equal shares of the predeceasor's estate. What the survivor thus inherits equally with the children is populai'ly called a child's portion. For example; A and B married in community have jointly £2,000, or married out of community possess each £1,000 ; then, on the dissolution of the marriage in either case by death of A, £1,000, being As property, is to be divided according to the directions of the will, which provides that B, surviving A, shall, together with their four children, inherit A.'s estate. Each of them receives £200. But this sum of £200, though a child's portion, is not the legitimate to which the child was by law entitled. A parent is bound to leave among his children, if they be five or more, the half ; if they be four or less one third of his estate : of the rest he may freely dispose. In the supposed instance, therefore, the combined f legitimate portions of the children would be £333 6s. 8d., and the portion of each child £83 6s. 8d. The law compels the disposal of £333 6s. 8d. in a certain manner, but leaves the testator free to dispose as he pleases of the £666 13s. 4d., which he may direct to be paid to any one of his children whom he prefers above the rest, or to his widow, or to a perfect stranger. The testator might, if he had so willed it, have given £750 of his £1,000 to that 175 one of his children whom he thought most wortliy, while the rest received merely the pittance of £83 'Js, Sd. each. The law does not say, each of your children shall have an equal share in the estate you leave at death, but you shall not give way to unnatural feelings, and without reason, throw any one of your children penniless on the world : some moderate portion shall, therefore, go to each child. In reply to this it will be urged that it is a slander on human nature to believe that men will not provide for their children, if it be in their power ; the law written in the bretist of man is sufficient to ensure the fulfilment of this duty ; no positive law is required. But surely, if the law is merely in accordance with the impulses of natural affection, and only carries out what the dictates of parental love would, without law, perform in at least an equal degree, those who repose this entire confidence in the power of natural affection in all cases, can entertain no real objection to its operation. As an almost universal rule in this colony and in all countries where legitimate portions are known, far more than the share ordered by the law, is bequeathed by parents to their children. But the law is not for the righteous, but for sinners ; it does not fear that the just will fail to perform their natural obligations, but it is active to prevent the unjust from despoiling children who, if they have not through their own misconduct forfeited that right, possess a clear right, naturally and socially, to claim that when those who have brought them into the world have possessed wealth, and have educated them in the expectation of a portion of this wealth, they shall not, from mere caprice or sudden antiiiathy, be left in utter destitution. If but one such case was likely to occur in a century, the law would be imperfect that did not provide against the evil and render the injustice impossible. But while the Roman law (for this part of our law of inheritance is, unlike our law of comnuinity, puroly Roman), thus protects the child against the unjust parent — for such there are, though they may be rare — it gives power to the parent to disinherit a child who has merited exheredation. 17G Several just causes of exheredation exist, which need not be here enumerated, but which are all founded on misconduct of a serious nature or gross ingratitude to the parent. The reasons which the parent has for disinheriting the child must be expressed in the will, and if they be sufficient and suffi- ciently established, the legal heir, complaining of his exhere- dation, will be declared by the court to have forfeited all claim for any share in the parent's estate on the ground of unworthiness. In addition to the reasons for exheredation founded on misconduct, the parent may withhold, burden with Jidei commissum, or postpone the legitimate of a child who is in such a state insolvency that he could not be benefitted personally were immediate payment made to him. We have thus far, in as simple language as possible and avoiding technical expressions, explained what legitimate portions are. The law does not insist on the distribution of the parent's estate in a particular manner, — it does not abrogate the liberty of making testamentary dispositions ; it merely lays down in accordance with natural justice that a parent shall not, without sufficient reason, fairly ascertained, pauperise his ofispring. It has fixed a very moderate amount as that which shall be thus appropriated from the deceased parents's means. Difference of opinion may exist as to that amount — which is far less in our law than the proportion fixed b}' the Code Napoleon and the present Code of Holland ; * but our legislature will be right in hesitating to consent to a change in the principle which is well expressed by Mr. Solomon's address to the electors of Cape Town : — The colonial law of inheritance goes upon the principle that men and women are not to bo at liberty to bring children into the world at pleasure, and in case of death to be at liberty to leave them penniless and destitute, a burden on tlie public, when they possess the means of providing for the necessary support of their children. Whilst, therefore, the law does not prevent the parent who may possess property from bequeathing in any way he pleases a large portion of * By these codes, the legitimate is one-half if there be one child, two-thirds if there be two, and three-fourths if throe or more. m 177 his estate, it requires that a portion of his property shall go towards his children, who hare a natural claim upon his affection and sup- port. As the legitimate is emphatically the child's "right," it must be left as a direct, immediate, and unencumbered possession. It is due equally whether the child is the off- spring of a marriage in community or out of comuiunity. It is not claimable by any collateral heirs, the opinion being utterly erroneous, though prevalent in this colony, that where the testator has no children nor parents sur- viving him, brothers and sisters bay^ a right, against the provisions of his will, to demand some share of his estate. Where a testator has no children, his parents, if they survive him, may, indeed, claim a legitimate, but cases of this kind are naturally so rare that in this respect the law, just or unjust, expedient or inexpedient, is practically a dead letter. A few words more, on the extent of the power possessed by parents to require that children shall not make a claim for inheritance from the estate of the first dying of the testators, must conclude our remarks. Where there is a marriage in community, can the division of the estate be postponed until the survivor's death ? This is sometimes done in this colony in the following manner : Here, as in all countries where the tendency is not to have the extremes of wealth and pauperism in the same family, where there exists no great desiie " to propagate an aristocracy " (to use an expression in a i)etition to the late Legislative Council, which caused some amusement a few years ago), parents, unless grave cause exists to the con- trary, generally distribute their property equally among their children. No one is usually much benefited beyond the others. Ordinarily, if we suppose a joint e-state of the parents of £l 2,000, and three children of the marriage, on the father's death each of the children would, by will, be entitled to £2,000, payable on majority, or, as the survivor is frequently a joint heir receiving a child's portion, to £1,500. 178 But a will might be thus expressed and would be valid : " A and B, married in community, institute as their heirs their children, C, D, and E, but the said C, D, and E shall not be entitled to claim from the estate of the first dying any portion of their inheritance^ legitimate or otherwise, until alter the death of the survivor ; and any one of the heirs claiming the legitimate during the survivor's life shall forfeit any further interest in the estate of the first dying, and shall receive only the legitimate out of the survivor's estate." The effect of this will would be, that if C claimed the legitimate on A's death, he would receive only £G6G 13s. 4d., and on the death of B he would only receive £606 13s. 4d, more, while his brothers, D and E, would on the survivor's death, receive each £5,333 6s. 8d., sup- posing the estate to have remained of the same value. If a direction were inserted in the will, ordering that in the event of the legitimate being at once claimed, sums spent in education, donations in advancement of trade, &c., should be brought into collation, i.e., should be added to the assets of the estate, for the purpose of ascertaining the portions, and treated as payments already made to the objecting heir, further very considerable reductions may be made from the legitimate, and the certainty of acquiescence in the will secured. It is plain, then, that where parents, married in community, desire to act fairly towards their children, and to give them ultimately more than the pittance which the law compels, th'-y have it in their j)0wer so to dispose, that no dissohition of the joint estate shall take place during the lifetime of either of them. When a child is cut off with that only which the law orders, there can be no postpone- ment, or rather, the legitimate would be due immediately on the predeceasor's death, but payable on the child's majority, in the same manner as the child's portion under the ordinary mutual will would be due and payable. For one requirement of the law there seems scarcely sufficient reason. On the dissolution of the community Viy the death of one parent, in all cases of intestacy, and generally, on re-marriage, where there are wills, the sur- 179 vivor is bound to find security for the amount, filial or legitimate, or otherwise, which is to be paid to eacli child of the marriage on majority. It is fitting that the parent should have the administration of the child's property, and it is his own interest, as well as that of his children, that it should be well administered. He must be utterly ruined before they can suffer loss. This distrust of the parent's administration during the child's minority, in the intimate relation of parent and child, is somewhat at variance with the confidence in the husband's administration during the wife's continued minority in the marriage. This demand of security, for a period of five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years, is felt as a hardship by many who a])prove of the equity of community of property, and who desire no change in the law of inheritance. It is not needed, and could, without inconvenience or injustice, be at once abolishecL It is in)possible, even in this very incomplete sketch of the coloniid law, to omit all mention of Lord Charles Somerset's proclamation of 1822. Notwithstanding the importance of the law, it would be difficult to find among the placaats of Charles V, or any of the musty tomes of Dutch jurisprudence, any edict or cominentaiy so wretchedly unintelligible as this emanation from Dv)wning-street, which has puzzled every lawyer in the colony from the days of the non-professional judges, who principally composed the court between thirty and forty years ago, to those of the present Chief Justice, who expressed his opinion from the bench that the authoiship could be attrilmted only to the Horse Guards or some t(|ually competent legislative authority. The object of the proclamation was to enable natural-born subjects of the Uniteil Kingdon to devise their property according to the law of England under certain circumstances. The Su[)reme Court have decided two important cases under this proclamation. The first which occuried in ISl-T, setth'd the (piestion — whether it was necessary in the will of a person entitleil to devise according to the laws of Enghmd under the j>ioclamation to refer specially to the procl.imation — in the negative. N 2 180 The parents, natural-born subjects, were married in Dublin, and having emigrated to this colony were domiciled at Clanwilliam, where the husband died, devising all his property to his wife, with the exception of some land left to one of his children. The claim of certain of the children for the legitimate portion was rejected. The second was a case of greater difficulty, in which judgment was given not more than two months ago. The parents were both natu- ral-born subjects of the United Kingdom, but the marriage took place in this colony in community of property. They made a joint will, in which each constituted the other heir, nothing being bequeathed to the children. The wife having died, the court held that the children were entitled to the legitimate, because the marriage was in community accord- ing to the general law of the colony ; an ante-nuptial con- tract, under the proclamation, would be necessary in this colony to dissolve the community, and equally necessary to give the right of devise according to the law of England. Until this decision, it had been the opinion of some members of the profession that while, in the circumstances above detailed, community of property had been clearly created between the spouses, the proclamation gave them the right each to dispose of his share in the community according to the law of England. But the question is now happily settled, and a fixed determination given to this por- tion of the law. Unfortunately, however, such is the con- fusion of its language that we can scarcely hope that the difficulties are at an end and that new questions will not arise on its construction. One kind of marriage contract requires some notice here^ as it materially affects — indeed, utterly abolishes — the right of bequest by women. Parents and guardians of young women, ignorant of the consequences of such a con- tract, permit notaries (of whom there are many in the country districts equally ignorant) to draw an instrument in which it is simply recited that A and B, about to be married, have agreed that the effects of the marriage shall be the same as would have followed in England, The ■fj 181 probable legal construction of this instrument would be, that the wife is deprived of all property in, and power of disposal over, any amount which may have been hers at the date of the marriage, and even of any inheritance which may have devolved on her during its continuance. We know the impression to be that such contract creates sepa- rate estates — but those who have entered into marriage on the strength of this faith are wofully mistaken. It is clear that as far as the wife's rights are concerned, we need not here trouble ourselves about the law of inheritance, for she can possess nothing capable of being inherited. The important questions which have been touched upon in this paper and in that on community of property will probably be fully discussed in the new Parliament. If fair discussion, on sufficient knowledge, shall show that the principle of our law of inh eritance is unsound — by all means let the law be amended. The conclusion of some of our fellow-colonists on the subject, from the mere fact that a certain law is the law of England, which naturally they respect without clearly knowing what it is, or what it Ls to replace, would furnish Sir Cornewall Lewis with an addition- al illustration of the " Influence of authority in matters of opinion." But we trust, confidently, that the change, if sought, will be sought for reasons more likely to convince, if true — and more capable of refutation, because really bearing on the matter at issue, if untrue. POEMS. TO MY MOTHER. From climes where winter bath its rugged sway, And cloudy skies obscure the smiling morn, From regions where the sun his golden ray But dimly shews, and oft with looks forlorn Appears to weep that the returning day Without his cheering warmth will reach its bourn, From here, whene'er my thoughts recur to thee, My Mother — all around is nought to me. Between us frowneth many a mountain peak, Whose hoary summits seem to dare the heaven, But yet I hear thy tender accents speak ; To mild affection's tones no bounds are given : Between us many a thunder-peal doth break, With winds and roaring storms the seas are riven. But yet, through raging winds and tempests' roar, The voice of tenderness can reach the distant shore. Tho' fiery be my mood — nor would I care To bow my knee before a monarch's throne ; — Tho' free my mind, and my proud eye would dare To meet the gaze of any 'neath the sun, Yet when I think of thee I humbly bear Mine eyes upon the ground, and thus alouo Silent I muse upon my nothingness And all my pride is changed to lowliness. I then bethink me of those bygone days When in my ago of helpless infancy Thou kindly watched.st o'er my childish ways And gently carcdst for my evwry cry. 184 And when I drooped with illness, thy mild gaze Of love is present to my memory Ev'n now, — while near the couch with anxious care Thou sat'st by him who could not slumber there. From these to other scenes of early date I turn, — when wild I rov'd ; a careless boy, Of temper rash, — with loudest sport elate. For then my happiness feared no alloy, And often, to deserve thy smile sedate I hurried to display my boisterous joy. And then, whatever fancy gladdened me, Was bliss and pleasure and delight to thee. But when to my pleased memory appear These welcome smiles, — that joyous brow — Thy gentle eyes which now my thoughts revere, Then sterner conscience warns that this sweet glow Of pleasure oft was sullied with a tear, "Which slowly down thy saddened cheek did flow. Compelled by me unwilling into light, And breaking mildly from the orb of sight. A tear, — not joyous as the Orient dew With which Aurora vests the blushing rose. But downcast, struggling mournfully to view As softly chiding him who did unclose Its tranquil fountain, — for it seemed to rue Th' untoward fate that shortened its repose, — As gliding down thy brow with sombre pace It showed the sorrow reigning in thy face. And I have caused that sorrow, — I have made Thy tears to flow, — and I have given thee pain, Alas ! how oft ? — 't were bootless now to wade Through this huge sea of troubles, and 't wore vain 185 To urgo regret, — the racraory will not fade That bears these hapless records in her train, — Oblivion will not bury with her veil The faults that in youth's thoughtless years prevail. Perhaps ev'n now, — while each recurring thought Here swells the load that weigheth down my heart, Perchance ev'n now, — kind memory's voice unsought In thy mind too assumes its reign, — apart From joys which present scones have wrought In others' breasts, — while thou in silence art Engaged in cares for bira who far away Relieves his spirit with his homely lay. Perhaps in thoughts of deep anxiety Thy heart is whelmed, — and in muto solitudo Thou musest on the hopes once formed of mo, With prayers trusting that no tempest rudo May shake from high tliy glad expectancy. And plunge in sorrow thy once happy mood. — Fear not, thy wonted confidence retain, Nor stir thy anxious breast with needless pain. For it shall come, — that wished-for joyous timo When I shall greet again my cheerful homo, Far from this boisterous yet friendly clime, And no more wander o'er tho stormy foam ; And thou shalt then believe ray lowly rhyme, And my loved father too, when once I roam Near to my childhood's haunts : — then shall yo soo That 't was not wronf; thus to confide in me. And then perchance a tear will dim thino cyo Again, — but gladness dwelleth in that tear, — And Ihou wilt then receive contentedly Him who hath cuuacd at onco sweet hope and fear 186 Aud proud shall be my feelings then, — when I Embrace anew those whom I so revere And see, — more with myself content than now — The flash of cloudless joy upon thy brow. JOANNA OF ORLEANS. {Soliloquy from the Gorman of Schiller.) Farewell ! ye hills, ye pastures which I love, Ye gentle silent vales ! fare ye well ! By you no longer may Joanna rove, For aye Joanna bids you all farewell ! Ye meadows dear to me — thou beauteous grove That I have planted ! Fare ye well ! Farewell ! ye grots, — ye fountains of my choice,— Thou echo, this sweet valley's lovely voice Who oft hast answered to my cheerful strain, I leave you all — ne'er to return again ! Ye spots, endeared by happiness and peace, I must desert you now for evermore ! My lambs ! stray o'er the fields in wild caprice. No guardian misti-ess have ye as before - Another flock I tend who know not peace, Whose pasture is the bloodstained plain of war Thus doth the spirit's call my heart inspire, — My soul knows not an earthly vain desire. For He who in the bush on llorcb's height In flame appeared to Moses from His throne And bade him fearless stand in Pharaoh's sight. He vcho once cliosc old Jesse's pious son As foremost champion in the noble fight, Whose favor ever on the Shepherd shone, He spake to me from out this hoary tree, " Go forth ! on earth to testify of mc." II 187 "Thou sbalt with armour thy soft limbs eudao And clothe thy breast in mailed robe of steel, No face of man may e'er enchant thy view, Love's earthly glow thy heart may never fwl, — No bridal crown with flowers of brilliant hue, May deck thy brow, — nor thine a mother's woul ; But I shall raise aloft thy warlike worth, Exalted far above all maids of earth . "For when in battle's rage the mightiest fly. When the sad fall of France seems hastening near. Then shalt thou bear my oriflamme on high, And hew the victors down in their career (As reapers in the field their sickles ply) ; Thou shalt overwhelm them with confusion drear, To Gallia's sobs sweet safety .shalt tliou bring, And Rheims regain and crown thy rightful king." And God from high hath given a faithful sign, For He hath sent this helm, — it comes from Him, The metal's touch is rife with pow'r divine, — Within me flames the zeal of Cherubim ; Away — to hurry to the held bo mine, — The voice resounds as tones of tempests grim, I hear the war shout echoing from afar ; The coursers prance and trumpets call to war. THE THREE SONGS. {From the Gcrnura of Uhland) " King Sifrid sate in his royal hall ; " Yo Bards ! who knows the best song of you all " ? And a youth stepped forward from the band With sword by his side and harp in his hand ! " Three songs I know — this first is my song Which thou perchance hast forgotten long — Thou hast slain my brother traitorouHly, And again thou hast blaiu him traitorously : — 18S " This second song I mused in my mind When tho night was black and loud howled the wind Thou must fi^ht with me for life or for death ; And again thou must light for lifo or for death." And ho laid his harp beside the board And quickly each drew forth his sword And fiercely echoed tho blades around, And tho King sank lifeless on the ground. "Now sing I the third, the sweetest of all Which for aye I shall sing — which never can pall King Sifrid lies bathed in his own red gox'C, And again he lies bathed in his own red gore." LINES TO AN INFANT WEEPING. Let those streamlets cease to flow, Hoard those pearly teardrops rather ! Child ! about thy gentle brow Clouds thus early should not gather j Gladly, gaily shonld'st thou smile, Tended by thy loving mother, 'Tis too early yet awhile Gladness and bright hope to smother. In thy later cares and grief Teai's perchanco thou fain would'st borrow When the heart shall need relief : — Waste them not in childish sorrow. Wantonly those fountains flow, For some trifling folly thwarted. Surely soon, alas ! thou'lt know Tears by real woe extorted : — 189 Soon tliou'lt enter in the world : Beantcons seems thy path before thee ; Swift from high thy hopes are hurled, And misfortune's storm bursts o'er thee. Yet ! would'st thou be firm and brave, Proudly stem life's torrent ever ; But, if other's lot should crave Pity's tears, — refuse them never. Should it bo thy neighbour's doom Hopelessly in pain to languish, Sympathy may soothe his gloom And a tear may calm his anguish. Stand not coldly by, but hear Sorrow's tale with kindly feeling ; Swift should stream the balmy tear. Gentle warmth of soul revealing. Ho — thy dearest friend — hath wept Who hath loved all children dearly ; Know these words — ev'n " Jesus wept," Grave them in thy heart sincerely. Ever calm thy brother's woe : Where thy aid cannot relieve him, With the crystal tear will flow Solace to the wounds that grieve him. Then in silver days of age, Should thy tears l)c all expended, — Ere thou turn the daihcr page And the dreams of life bo ended : Holy shall the feeling bo, Blcbt as angcl-thonghts in Heaven : " None was wasted sclti.shly, All to othcre have been given." 190 And when 'tis thy lot to dio, Let all earthly tears have vanislied ; Grief, my child, in Heaven on High Is and shall for aye bo banished. If CONSOLATION. {Fro77i the French of De Lamartine.) Coldly fall, thou silent tear On the stony earth unbleat ; Not where kindness hovers near. Nor on gentle friendship's breast ! Fall as arid rain is driven On some rock most bleak and bare, QuafE'd by no kind beam from Heaven, Dried by no sweet breath of air. Oh ! what care my fellow men For a wretch's broken heart ; Grief like mine 's beyond their ken, And our fates arc far apart. Never, doubtless, will a tear In their heav'n of pleasure fall ; Their bright future hath no fear. And tlieir cup 's unmixed with gall. Never will this frivolous crowd, With gay smiles now passing me. Need a word on them, bestowed Sounding thus — " I weep with thee." Yet ! why seek without relief Human solace — uselss now ; Let me feed upon my grief. In my hands conceal my brow ! 101 At that hour when the soul Wearied of all earthly scope CIodiL'H hursolf ill rubes of dulo WidowL'd of her latest hope, — When forgetful love is seen Turning from the path away, When the staff on which we lean Breaketh in misfortune's day, — When weak man — all selfish grown Fears the vilo contagion's blast — Leaving us in grief alouo Face to face with woe at last. When the future's charms are dead, And we hope not for the morrow, And the solo taste of oar bread Is the bitterness of sorrow — Then, God, Thy voice doth brighten The dark silence of my fate, And Thy generous hand doth ligliten My misfortune's frozen weight — Then I feel. Thy holy word Cannot mix with man's cold strain, And Thy solace conioth, Lord, Where man's solace had been vain — Then Thy aid exaltcth us O'er the Spirit's deep distress, And the world which sees us thus Asketh, " Whence their happiness?" Thus the soul is poured in prayer Communing with il(>aven ou high: From the lid the gentle tear Driclh back into the eye, 192 As on rock or wintry branch The last raindrop of the shower Which no gloomy shade could blanch — Drieth 'ncath the sunbeam's power. SYMPATHY. A Flower bloomed upon the heath All lonely, A butterfly, in joyous play, Was flitting o'er whate'er kind May Had ope'd with warmth and dewy shower, Kissing each leaf and beauteous flower ; But the sad blossom on the heath Remained neglected in that hour All lonely. A Poet wandered o'er the heath All lonely, He saw the fields with verdure gay And richly garbed in glad array, And th' insect high with pleasure tower And now descend with joyous power; He hurried by, — but on the heath Spell-bound he stood beside that flower All lonely. ROME. (^1 Fragmcni.) Is this the Eternal City ? This great Rome ? Eternal called as if she still had life ! Wiiatc'cr of grandeur decks the Crcsars' homo Is but a monument with glories rife Of bygone age, drowned in Time's sweeping foam When heroes dwelt in her, — and noble strife Waked in her sons high Emulation's fires To rival the bright deeds of worthy sires — I 193 The ruins of the great arc great, — we gazo In marvel on tlio mighty city's fall — The giant-staturo strikes us with amaze But gone are the proud Roman spirits all, — We look as on a mouldering corpse, whoso days Lie criimhlod with tlie past in IMcmory's thrall : Wo wonder that it e'er hath breathed before, For 'tis but dust, and dead for evermore. Yes ! Rome is dead. Her mighty fame hatli been, And praised be Heaven which hath ordained it so ; The Enslaver of the Earth, the tyrant Queen Of nations hath been laid more vilely low Than they who felt her rod. The wrath unseen Of vengeful Time hath struck the awful blow — And men her victim-slaves in ancient war Have ploughed her streets in Victory's glad car. Thus be't with all who would enslave by might, Gained by fierce carnage of their fellow-men ! Heroes are they forsooth who in mad fight But emulate the awful crime of Cain — Who own no law of justice, — know no right But that of power, red with blood's deep stain ? Blest earth ! when heroes shall exist no more To deluge thy sweet face with human gore ! Oh War ! man's direst curse ! Consuming flamo Of all that is most pure on this glad earth ! Thou sworn ally of vice and guilt and shame, Destroyer of all love and peace and worth — When rise for the base meed of bloodstained fame Ev'n sons against the authors of their birth, And former patriots bare the felon-brand To ravage ev'n their own dear fatherland. Can men love thee ? 0, whence that morbid aim To wallow in the mire of human slaughter 'i O 19-i Greedy of blood, the warrior hears his name Gasped faintly with a dying shriek for water From his best friend, — yot he pursues his game — With every blow a wife or orphan daughter l^Iay mourn a loving lord or sire, — the while The man can view his havoc with a smile ! If this be fame that men should speak of thee As of the victor Corsican who slew His millions — who scattered misery Throughout the nations whom his might o'erthrew, Who meanly died the death of slavery Paying the debt of tyranny overdue — Oblivion ! shroud me round with thy dim veil Unknowu, uucursed by Misery's mad wail ! Angelic peace ! sweet peace beloved of Heaven, All blest and blessing all who love thy sway, To us of future bliss a foretaste given. Bright arch of promise in life's stormy day, Terror and woe, to utter darkness driven, Have fled the brightness of thy balmy ray, — A With them fell famine — murder — and distress, With thee sweet hope, and joy, and loveliness. In all creation there is harmony And loveliness in all created things ; ■3* Their beauty is ineffable : yet we. — In hate of all, as armed with scorpiort stings Of malice, poison with vile misery And horror all to which fair virtue clings, And with most base perversity of will Defile the good that thence may issue ill ! O strife may come ! (which gentle Heaven forfend) ! As stormy clouds will hide the placid sky — When awful tempests ravage lands, and rend Fair homes, all heedless of the inmates' cry ;' 1 195 But swiftly all is past, — mild ili'ws dt-sccMid And calmness reigneth iu the realms on high — For what is yonder heaven's native hue ? 'Tis that of peace — the soft, ctherial blue ! Thus be it ours — though strife unhoped may come, In strife itself to seek the joys of peace — For 'tis our natural state, — not the loud hum Of angry quarrels built on mere caprice And pride, — not cannons' roar nor sounding drums Can conquer grief, and bid man's wailing cease — But with fair peace all hope and pleasures stream Of joy to come — a true and blissful dream. TO A. B Fair daughter of the north ! how radiant and how bright Are those blue eyes whose fascinating light Compels my youthful heart to worship at thy shrine ; How beauteous those flowing locks whose lovely hue Ts golden as a cloud to our admiring view, Through whose transparency the moon doth softly shine. How faithfully my soul pursues each soft-breathed sigh Escaping from thy breast, — perchance when thoughtfully Thou musest on the doubts, the blessed hopes of love ; How sweet upon thy diiuplcd check that placid smile When thy enchanting tones my j'^yous heart beguile. And thy glad song i.s heard as music from above. O! fairy-like thy form and light thy slender feet, As gently treadin;^ o'er the fields with measure fU-et They scarce displace the blooming l)ud they rest upon — And oh ! where thou hast been, most beauteous to my sight la nature's face, as the horizon shineth bright Ev'n when the waves have closed upon tho setting sun. 2 lOG Bat loveliest far art thon, when in the holy fane Thon bow'st thy comely head in calm religion's sway, And thy pure prayer united with the saintly train, Is borne aloft to Heaven on Seraphs' wings away. How brilliant then thou bcamst with adoration's glow, And from that radiant eye there starts a pearly iear I gaze entranced with rapture on thy heavenly brow, I see no maiden more, — an angel I revere. THE VIOLET. (Imitated from the German of Ooethe.) Lowly — unseen — unheeded stood A modest violet in a wood : — That violet felt with human feeling : — With gentle step, in cheerful mood A shepherdess was softly stealing Along, along, Beguiling time with tuneful song. Ah ! — thought the violet, — that I were But for a little while most fair Of all the gay — the gayest flower, That maid would cull me then and boar Me in her bosom one short hour : — "Ij Ah me ! ah me ! .^ How proud bow happy should I be. She came, she came, that maiden fair Nor saw the hapless violet there '^ And crushed her victim as she passed : — * Dying it whispered to the air, Ev'n tho' I die — with joy at last I yield my breath, i'or she, for «hu hulh caused my death. 197 TO IDA. Come maiden with me o'er the silvery foam, Seek maiden with me my far soathern liomo ; The fleet winds will bear us o'er t?io wide wave, And our tall noble ship — how gallant and bravo Will she dash thro' the surge of the brilliant main And cleave the vast billows which oppose her in vain, While stately and proud the sails swell on high, As towers the eagle aloft in the sky. How grand, yet terrific, doth seem the wild ocean In the pride of the storm — in the tempest's commotion— As tyrants gigantic arise the huge waves To engulf their bold darcrs in deep dreary graves — Yet fear not — for One there is mighty above Who will curb their mad rage with the strength of ills love, And the billows exhaust their ire in vain — And calmness and peace renew their mild reign. And gentle and lovely appearcth the sea In the beauty of softness — when its surface is free From the pitiless storm and the howl of the wind, When the frown of its anger it leaveth behind, — And smooth as a glass are those waters of blue ; Scarce a ripple obtrudes to our wandering view. As listlessly rolling from side to side The bark lies becalmed on the broad Ocean tide. And beneath the calm waves how the dolphins play, All joyous and blythe that the storm is away, Adorned with the sheen of each brilliant hue As they dive to the depths and arise to the view : — 'Tis the hour of sunset — and up swift and behold How glitters th' horizon with purple and gold ; But ah ! weak arc my tones and ne'er may I daro The grandeur of sunset at sea to declare. 198 Hark again !' — 't is a liroozo — 'fc is a favouring breozo ; 'Twill wait lis along, if Heaven so please And away, afar at the birth of the Morn With the fleetness of air our ship shall be borne. See her silvery track which in brightness may vie With the stars that adorn yon gorgeous sky, As hurrying along thro' the salt sea foam More near yet and nearer we are brought to our home. And at length wc shall I'each that southern strand — And thou wilt not regret thine own fatherland, For thou lovest the spots which nature hath crowned, Where her gifts and hor blessings in gladness abound ; Thou wilt love our fair clime and the genial ray Of the sun which warmeth each lovely day, But though kind and tho' warm bo that bright beaming sun, Yet more warm are the hearts which he shineth upon. I shall lead thee to where the tall mountain's height With the pride of a monarch doth dazzle the sight, And beneath in the hollow a sweet quiet dale And a rivulet gliding in peace thro' the vale. And the meads clad with flowers of varied hue Just oped with the balm of Auroral dew ; Oh, with rapture thou'lt gaze on the soul-stirring scene, In its softness so grand, in its grandeur serene. 'Twas there that the free-hearted children of Gaul Sought refuge and rest from bigotry's thrall, Where freedom of mind was a crime, and the sword The portion of those who dared worship the Lord As faith and as conscience had tutored their breast, (But these days are now past — in their grave let them rest) And there they dwelt free from the pursuit of men 'Mid mountains and forest in their own chosen glen. I shall lead thee to where on the sunny hill side The vines are luxuriant in richness and pride, 199 The delicate plnintain in plenty thou'lt sec, Thou may'st gather the guava from the wide-branching tree The golden-hued loqaat, too, thou wilt approve, And admiring wilt taste of the sipplc of love, While the apricots add their freshest perfume And the flowrets around dcliciously bloom. I shall lead thee to view the deep orange grove, Through whose fragrant shades with ardour thou'lt rove ; Thou'lt behold the tall trees o'erladen with spoil All bending incline their boughs to the soil, The bright gold of the fruit, the fair white of the flowc, The dark green of the leaf contrasting their ])Ower, — While the richest of odours are scented around. And the birds' softest echoes in music resound. Then come, maiden, leave this northern land And set sail with me to the far southern strand. Far away from this clime of mist and of cloud, Where no winter doth rage and no snowstorms are loud ; Come with mo to the clime where the sun shincth bright And brilliant stars illume the glad night, And thou wilt not regret thine own fatherland When once thou hast trodden that southern strand. THE LAY OF THE BELL. (From tin' GniiKin of Schiller. ) Firmly masoned in the earth Ready stands the mould of clay, — This morn the Bell must have its birth, Swift, my comr.ades, speed away ! Down from your brow The moisture must tlow That to the skill of the master due pniise may be given, But the blessing on all desccndcth from Heaven ! 200 When men in earnest toil cngaf^o 'Tis fit an earnest word be spoken, The labour hastes with cheer unbroken By wisdom's aid and converse sage; — Whatever thro' our hands can rise Should fill our minds with precious lore, That worthless man we should despise Who works — but hath not thought before : — 'Tis this the pride, the boast of man And therefore hath he reasons aid, That in his bosom he may scan The wonders which his hand hath made. Take ye wood of forest pine : Sapless lot it be and dry That the pinowood flamo may shine Blazing through the smnke on high I Doth the hissing copper boil ? Swiftly add the tin, That the fusion flow within In right manner for our toil ! What in this coll by aid of flamo Our hands shall fashion in this hour, High on the belfry of yon tower, Hereafter shall exalt our fame : — It shall endure to future days, Of many men shall rouse the ear. And mournful knells with mourners raise, And call the pious unto prayer : — Whatever changeful destiny May as the lot of man decree. Against this metal darts its sound Re-echoing to the world around. — Brilliant bubbles there I see, Well — the liquid masses flow Swift, — let soda added be, 'Twill aid the fusion now. 201 From scum and hindrance free Let the mixture bo, That from pure metal may rebound Full and pure its voioe around. That voice with festal notes of gladness Shall welcome the beloved child Which entereth in slumber mild Upon this earth of joy and sadness. — Its future lot lies unrevealed In the dark mist of time concealed — Maternal love with tender care Now watcheth o'er her offspring fair While shaftlike flies each passiog year. — — Now weary of girl's play the boy Storms proudly into life with joy, — A wanderer thro' tho world doth roam And stranger-like returneth home. — — And beauteous, in the pride of youth, All heavenly fair and heavenly bright. With modest brow and eye of truth, The maiden standeth in his sight : — A nameless dark anxiety O'erwhelms his breast : — be errs alone, Unwonted tears start from his eye. Too wild his comrades' sports arc grown, — Blushing, he ever seeks a meeting, Is blest, enraptured with her greeting, And on his love, delighted showers From richest meads the fairest flowers ; — O sweet desire, gentle hope ! Thou golden time of lirst affection, When to our eyes the lieavens ope, Our hearts enjoy the glad infection ! O that for over without gloom The first-love of our youth might bloom ! Browning are the pipes with heat ! With this wand let us CKpluro 202 If its surface bo glazed o'er For use tlio metal will be meet ! See, bath the fusion well succeoded Lest our labour be impeded ! Each coarser and each soft ingredient Do they unite as is expedient? For where they flow in sweet comraanion And strong and weak have formed an union There will the tone be good and pure : — Thus he, who binds himself for aye The heart's full value let him weigh ! Illasion 's short — repentance tarries long and sure Lovely in the fair bride's hair Blooms the virgin coronal While pealing gaily thro' the air The Bells chime notes of festival ! But yet Life's merriest happiest day Doth close at once life's jocund May ! With cares and troubles wedlock teems — In twain are rent illusion's dreamF. Passion shall fly And love must endure. The blossom shall wither and die, But the fruit must mature. — Into life's turmoil The husband must hasten, He must struggle and toil And plant and obtain. With skill and craft must seek and gain, And stake and wager his all, And follow at fortune's call — And wealth and possessions stream onward still And precious stores the granaries fill, The space is extended, — more ample the dwelling, The modest housewife in duty excelling — 20'3 The choerful mother ruleth within And doth wisely ordain The laws of her household reign. And her dau^jhtcrs' minds rejoiceth to train, And checks the noise Of the boisterous boys, And never lingers. But plies |her work with unwearied fingers. And adds to their comforts fair, With order and care — And heaps the well- scented wardrobes with more, While the spindle whirls round With buzzing sound. And in her neat presses doth hoard and store The wool shining bright, And the linen snow-white And blends the good and beauteous ever And rcsteth never. — — Now from the roof with well pleased eyes The father his fair fortune spies Blooming and gay before him rise — Behold the far-projecting beams Where the rich barn in plenty teems, And wealthy garners blest with grain, And swelling as a wave of ocean The golden cornfield.s' gentle motion. And vaunting cries in boastful vein, — " Firm as the very earth's foundation *• Free from Misfortune's domination, " My home stands in its pride." — But with the mighty powers of fato No truce is closed, no bonds have weight — Swift is Misfortune's stride. — Now the casting may begin The breach is well indented now, — Yet ere the fluid be poured in, In prayer let us humbly bow : — 204 Press out the bung with speed ! Heaven aid us in our need ! See ! bursting from their dungeon cell Flame and smoke contending swell ! A blessing is the might of fire When man can watch and curb its ire, All he hath formed, all he hath made, He owes unto its heavenly aid — But fearful is that power from Heaven When its own fetters it hath riven, And storms around, in fury wild. Nature's angry free-born child ! — Woe ! when the flame madly flows. Waxing strong while nought can oppose, And whirling angrily fleets Through the populous streets, For the elements hate What the Hand of Man may create. Out of the cloud The blessing pours — The rain streams down in refreshing showers, — Out of the cloud Darts the lightning fierce and proud ! Heard ye that toll of fear from the spire ? 'Tis the voice of the tempest's ire — Red as blood Is the sky ! Such is not the daylight's flood ! What tumult — what riot — Where all late was quiet — Black vapour on high ! Blazing ascendeth the column of firo Through the rows of the streets, all higher and higher AVith the speed of the storm and the tempest's ire ! Steaming, as from a furnace dashing 205 Glows the air — rnfts arc crashing — Beams are crackling — windows clashing — Mothers flying — Children crying — And brntcs are yelling 'Neath the fall of the dwelling — All hurrying, and hasting, and fleeting away, For the night is lit up with the splendour of day.- Frora hand to hand see the buckets ply As thro' links of a chain — and streaming on high Arches of water from the engines fly ! But howling, bursting thro' the sky Hath come the wind, the flame's ally, The crackling fire devours the corn, Madly rushing through the barn, O'crwhelms the rafters with its flood, And as in ruthless rage it would Tear up the roots of mighty earth At once from its foundations forth, Blazeth in the heavens bright In giant height : — Despairingly At length man yields to Fate's decree. He sees his whole life's labour rent asunder With idle look and gaze of vacant wonder. Desolate the place, and bare, The raging tempest's bed ! In blanks now pervious to the air Where once the casements were Hath Horror raised its head 1 Clouds flitting in the sky AVithin the roofless ruins pry ! One glance at his fair fortune's grave One glance to bid farewell ! One last adieu the wanderer's lips Tuaj' tell — His staff ho grasps in cheerful mood and bnivo 206 Wliatc'cr the ravage of that dreadful fire One sweetest blessing iiath escaped its ire ; He tells the heads of those he loves — and, lo ! He misseth none — none hath the storm laid low. Thus far success — for in the clay The fluid hath been duly poured — But will it cause for joy afford When open to the face of day ? For should the casting fail, Or should the mould be frail ? Ah ! while 'twixt doubt and hope our bosoms glow, Misfortune may have struck the awful blow ! To holy Earth's uncertain tomb We, what our hands have made, confide, — As in the same dark dreary gloom Their seeds the careful sowers hide 'Till beauteous from its depths they glide By heaven blest in fairest bloom : — Seeds yet more precious and more dear We mournfully entrust to Earth, In hope that once they may appear Resplendent at their second birth ! — From the tower Tolls the Bell- Low and heavy The death knell ! These sounds of mourning from the dome Guide mortal pilgrims to their dark cold home. Ah ! 'tis the wife — the well beloved ! Alas ! it is the faithful mother Whom the Prince of Death and Fears From her frantic consort tears : — Slio ne'er shall see her children more Whom blooming to her lord she bore, — 207 Whom with mother lovo she tended Mildly ruled, from ill defended, — Now these tender bonds must sever, Loosed the joys of home for ever : — She dwells in the shadowy land, She who was that sweet home's mother, — Gone her voice — her glad comm:ind Orders in her stead another ! Void of love, a strangcx'-faco Rulcth from the widovved place 1 While Ihe Bell is cooling — ye Resting gaily from your ti)il May sport, and laugh, and joy awhile. As free as lairds upon the tree. — As soon as twinkle the stars in the heaven Sounds the Vesper, and rest to the workman is given : But the master must toil in the cheerful dn^'light, And must watch and must ponder in the darkness of night. Now through the woods with joyous lay. The wanderer wends his hapjjy way To his own dear cottage home, — The sheep in bleating chorus homeward roam, — Anon appears, The ample fronted host of steers, Cheerily lowing, duly fed Marching to their wonted shed ; With grain o'crhlled, and heavily Tottering on its cx'caking wliccls Onward the wagon reels : — Glistens on the sheaves to view The garland gay of varied hue, — For harvest 's o'er — and merrily Village maids and youtli advance Light-hearted in the jocund dance ! — ...Street and mart are still. — Tis lute. — By taper-light, in social mirth. 208 The loved ones circle round the hearth, — Loud creaks the closing city gate ! — Obscurity upreareth Her mantle o'er the earth — But the honest freeman feareth Not the hour of night Which whelms the villain in affright, For all may rest and all may sleep, Still shall the Law its vigil keep ! Holy order ! Heaven descended Blest and blessing ! Who hast blended Like and like in joy serene, — Of Cities thou the Foundress Queen : — Man, who wont in fields to roam. Thou gif tedst with a happy home, — His heart to softness to incline, And social thoughts of love, was thine ! And thine — thine own — that impulse grand,— — The true warm love of Fatherland ! — Thousand busy hands united. Each with mutual aid delighted, Cheerful labour in communion. Prospering in the happy union : — With freedom's pride and emulation. Men and master are allied, — Each worthy in his proper station May steorn the scorners who deride. — In labour is the freeman's fame, Toil entaileth sure a blessing, — Let kings be proud, their crowns possessing. Our glory of our hands we claim. O Gentle Concord ! — Lovely Peace, O hear us ! — Never, never cease To guard from ill our home and land. Never dawn that day of wail — 209 "Wben ruffian war's rapacious baud Shall ravage this sweet silent vale : Wben the soft blushing hues of even, Which now shine roseate in the Heaven, Must flee before the savage glare Of flames ascending to the air From hamlet-homes and cities fair. Break we now the clay-built mould — Its task is done, — no more 't is needed : — Now with heart and eye behold If the Bell have well succeeded. Raise the hammer on high : Into fragments the cover must fly : The mould must be broken and shattered the clay, That the Bell may be seen in the brightness of day. To break the mould the proper hour Duly the skilful master knows : But woe ! when with its fiery power, Self-freed the metal torrent flows, Blind raging, as with crash of thunder, It bursts the broken bonds asunder. With hell-like fury it hath risen. Destruction darting from its prison. Nought brute monster strength availoth When the aid of reason failcth : Woe unto the hapless nation Blindly whelmed in fi*antic passion, — Woe when the gathered flame ignited Blazeth in the city's heart, And the people, mad excited. Themselves would rend their chains apart. Toll of tumult, rage and fear. Furious howl upon the ear, And vowed before to peace, the Bell Now echoes war and murder's yell ! r 210 " Freedom — Equality !" they shout, And men wax frantic at the sound, — Streets, halls are filled with fury's rout. And bands of robbers rush around ! Women, as hysenas savage, Jest at the terrific ravage, And panther-like amid the plunder, Tear their foemen's hearts asunder. Nought more is holy, — every tie Of sacred reverence rent and gone, The wicked rule and good men fly, For vice is lord — and vice alone ! The famished lion's rage is dire, Deadly the tiger's frantic ire, But what more dread, what deadlier than Infuriated, frenzied man ? Woe ! when the torch, though heavenly, flashes. In the blind madman's reckless hand, It lights him not, but whelms the land, Fair villages, and towns in ashes. Grateful be our souls to Heaven ! Splendid as a star of gold, Shining from its husk and even The metal kernel bursts ! Behold • Bright it gleams — above — below — As a sunbeam's radiant glow — E'en the 'scutcheon, neatly graved and clear, Reveals the able master's skill and care. Come in, my men, and aid Tlie christening of the Bell we've made — And " Concord " bo her name. Long, long may her sweet voice proclaim The call to love and harmony, Glad pealing through the jocund sky ! For this the Bell hath been created. 211 The purpose from this day be dated : O'er humble earth exalted far In Heaven's cerulean canopy, The thunder's neighbour she on high Shall dwell, the borderer of the Star ! Her voice be as those orbs above Whose light at eve illumes the sphere, Who praise their Maker as they move, And glide along the wreathed year. To serious and eternal things Be her sonorous tongue devote, While hourly with her echoing note She calls to mind time's fleeting wings ; Herself without compassion's feeling, Yet shall she lend her voice to fate. And of Time's changes onward stealing Be she for aye the faithful mate ! And as her rich tones die away, Which now resounded loud and high, Thus may she teach this world's decay, That thus e'en all on earth must die. Now with cords upraise the Boll, Lifted from her darksome cell. That to the music realm she ri.sc Proudly beaming in the skies. Heave — pull — away — She moves — she hovers — hurrah ! — Joy to our city and wealth and increase, The first sound of our Hell be the sweet tone of peace. THE MOTHER AND HER CHILD. The Mother and her Child Sank down to sleep ; On hill and heath, with fury wild. The winds are raging loud ami do»'p, p 2 212 Their cot's frail walla all trembling shake, But neither Mother nor her Child Doth yet awake. But they were friendless and were poor : Life had not smiled Upon that Mother and her Child, And they were fed from misery's store. No angel guardian was their guide, But sleep, when all was gone beside, Sole comfort to the wretched poor, Deserted not their humble door. Yet louder and more wild The tempest howls around, The but falls to the ground On Mother and her Child, 'Tis lonely on the heath : The Mother and her Child Still rest in slumber mild Their fallen hut beneath. HOLLAND. {An Epistle to a Friend.) Fair arc the climes of Eastern lands And soft and sweet their summer's glow, And on those far and wealthy strands The sounds of pleasure ever flow ; And near the ocean's hollow roar The maidens sport upon the shore, And nought appeal's but pleasure's sway To wile the night and pass the day, And in voluptuous excess, In luxury and idleness, The choicest hours of life are spent. Yet mixed with pain and discontent. For 'neath a surface bland and fair Deceit and falsehood harbour there. 213 Id those cliracs the spirit of man hath been crushed, And the soul is o'erpowercd witli luxury's weight, In their hearts the still voice of honour is hushed And ignoble and base and vile is their fate ; And tyranny smiles with a smile of disdain And doubles their fetters and tightens their chain ! And slavery, grim in glad triumph apart. Frowns on the bondsman and tramps on his heart ! But on a cold and dreary shore Less gifted with mild nature's store, There dwelt a nobler, manlier race. — Well worthy they a foremost place Amid the countless nations' throng, Well worthy they the poets' song, And well their noble actions claim The dowry of eternal fame, — There streamed the flag of liberty. And freedom's shouts were heard on high ; There, from their lofty iron throne. Tyrannic rulers wore hurled down. And the proud braggart chiefs of Spain Slunk meanly to their homes again. Or stained the earth with princely blood, O'erwhelming rivers with its flood, And, dying on their gory bed, With shame bowed down the haughty head. — And Learning raised her ample lore Upon the ruined wastes of war ; And Piety, with precept mild, Curbed the proud heart and fancy wild, And in the land there dwelt content. Where'er the careful stranger went The joys of peace but met his eye ; Ho saw the sweets of liberty, And in this new and altered guiso Holland appeared a paradise. 214 And her heroes arose, and aronnd the earth Were heard the sounds of their matchless worth ; • And her power was mighty, and her fleets were bravo, And her children were styled the lords of the wave, For De Ruyter's broad banner was raised on high. And the streamers of Heemskerk were seen in the sky. Where is this land ? this Holland now ? And is her glory sunk so low, And is that mighty nation's name Forgotten now in deeds of fame ? And is he set — that glorious sun The patriot's fervour — is it gone ? Whose rays were brightest once on high Shedding their beams in every sky : And is that flag now doomed to fall That floated proudest once 'mid all ? No, ne'er ! Ev'n now upon this strand Where once was crushed oppression's band, The memory of each noble sire Still burneth with unqaenched fire, And emulation's lofty pride Gleams in some bosoms yet untried, And often, too, unknown to guile, Is heard the patriot's heartfelt strain : Ambition may have slept awhile, But soon at length must rise again ! And thou, my friend, thy spirit swells With memory of former days ; Thou lov'st the tales tradition tells Of Holland's ancient heroes' praise, And mournest o'er that glorious age So noted in historic page, And gazest then in mute despair Upon the aspect now less fair ; For dark and drear the future seems And scarce a gleam of brightness beams. 2V 'Whelm not thy mind in dark despair, But let gay hope re-enter there, From darkness oft bright light appears, As splendour oft a shadow wears. The sun hath set— and jealous night Boasts of her conquest o'er the light, And black and gloom o'orspread. the sky, Sad token of her victory. But morn appears — and from afar Young Phoobus shincth in his car, And clad with many a dazzling ray, Dispels the mists and welcomes back the day. MEMORY. Thou kind and truthful memory, I thank thee for thy favoring power, That thou hast granted unto me Bewitching views again to see Which joyed some bygone happy hour ; Thy mirror's wondrous light Unfoldeth every pleasure, And gladness without measure, To my admiring sight. Nought sad or mournful doth appear To grieve my pleased gazing eye. Or cause a sigh or sorrowing tear; And joyous sounds do greet mine oar. Glad songs re-echoing mirthfully; Each voice breathoa tones of joy,- Too careless that this gladness So soon must change to sadness, And mirth ilsolf must cloy. 216 But lo ! amid the happy throng Is she — that lovely form of beauty The fairest those fair maids among, — The proudest theme for poet's song, To whom each damsel bows in duty ; Awed by her heavenly air, As softly, mildly smiling, Each present heart beguiling, She reigneth peerless there ! Behold those orbs' resplendent ray Shining beneath an angel brow, Well knowing that their magic play Enchanteth every soul away, That each is struck with rapture's glow ; But that bright-beaming eye No pitying ruth expresses. And her dark silken tresses Are dangling carelessly ! And did she haply think of me, Far borne upon the stormy ocean ? While loudly raved the boisterous sea, I mused on her unceasingly In tempests' rage and waves' commotion ; Bat ne'er she cared for me — Some rival's flattering lore Hath pleased her bosom more — She never cared for me ! Then vanish with thy saddening dream, O hated memory, from my heart ! With grief thy recollections teem. Recurring to this mournful theme : — No more to me thy aid impart : — On each revolving day My soul is fraught with sorrow. Thy aid I need not borrow To feel its painful sway. 217 ELEGY ON Oh ! wherefore with those drooping eyes of woe Gaze ye so steadfast on his lowly tomb, While from your lips complaining murmurs flow, And every thought is wedded unto gloom ? True, he has parted from us in the prime Of years illumed with brilliant gleams of hope, When he with honour might have sought to climb The steeps of fame and learning's rugged slope ! 'Tis true ! his was a nobly-gifted mind And lofty and melodious was his strain, And one so rich in virtue, one so kind We ne'er perchance may meet on earth again. And (ye would add) had Heaven been pleased above His day of sojourn to extend awhile, Some longer time to spare him to our love And from the grave withhold its youthful spoil, Then soon with glad triumphant notes of pride Had happy Science hailed her genial son, And then with learned sages by his side In honour's paths with glory he had run Unscathed the race of merited renown, And we, elate with joy at his success, As if to each himself were given the crown, Had hurried to partake his happiness. But what cared he for such a transient name, And honour which pcrtaincth to the earth ! His was a nobler and a prouder aim Thau glory's vaunted wreaths and worldly worth. 218 But be is gone, ! Restrain those sol lish tears Which pour profusely from each mournful eye, For he hath left this world of hopes and fears, And his abode is 'mid the blest on high : — There will his spirit find a better home Than fame or fortune could attain below. There first (his utmost wish) shall Nature's tome Be seen revealed in light and heavenly glow : His was no mean and selfish grovelling soul Bound to the earth by vile corruption's chain, Nor could mere mundane thoughts and hopes control His victor spirit in this abject train. His book was Nature ; and his study — God — In admiration rapt he gazed on leaf or tree, On mountain cliff or on the lowly sod, On ocean or on rill with equal ecstasy : At ev'n with thoughts sublime he fixed his sight On those bright orbs that crowd the jocund sky ; But did he e'er despise the glow-worm's light, Or gaze on her with dull contemptuous eye ? In all the greatness of his God he saw. In all discerned the mighty Maker's hand. In all His works he read the heavenly law, And every act with adoration scanned. And must we weep that he hath parted hence To realms where dwelleth everlasting joy ? Must wo thus loudly mourn with grief intense, While his is happiness without alloy ? "When sunken, wan and pallid he reclined Upon his couch on that eventful day, 219 We wept — but he with accents heavenly kind Thus spako, our sorrow seeking to allay : '* My friends ! weep not — our partinj^ is not long And we shall meet in happier climes again : Visions of beauty and of glory throng Before my view — and yet will ye complain ? " Doubt hath been conquered and my happy soul With gratitude awaits its future weal, Dark sophistry hath lost her fierce control, Nor longer shall my mind her sceptre feel. " Misnamed philosophy had spread the net To seize me in some weak, unguarded hour ; In vain the toils with deepest cunning set, For Heaven hath torn them with almighty power : " And to my ears the voice of Mercy came, Which cheers the tortured heart and anxious soul And to my eye appeared the heavenly flame Which lighteth to that high, celestial goal : " Then weep ye not." He ceased ; a colder hue Suffused the pallor of his languid brow, And weakness conquered ; — pale exhaustion flew To seize her prey ; — while fled life's warmer glow. Then shone a nobler brightness in his eye, All heavenly calm and how sublimely mild ! But for an instant ; — then how beauteously Ev'n in the grasp of death he dying smiled ! THE YOUNG KING AND THE SHEniERDESS. (After TThland.) On the grassy mead reclining, 'mid the lovely joys of May, Hero beneath the golden sunshine, how shall I begin my lay ? 220 Lo ! the blue streams glide on softly, gold clouds in the heavens sail, Gallantly a troop of horsemen ride along the meadow vale ; — On the trees the leaves wave lightly, all around sweet flowers are seen, And fair shepherd maidens wander, scattered o'er the village green. Proudly rode the gallant warriors by the princely Goldmar led, Brightly gleamed his scarlet mantle, bright the crown upon his head. With a sudden glance of wonder sprang the chieftain from his horse, And unto a linden bound him, while the rest pursue their course. Yonder in the bushes welling sti-eam'd a fountain fresh and clear, There the flowers glowed with beauty, joyously the birds sang near. Wherefore sang the birds thus gladly ? wherefore seemed the flow'rs elate ? Lo ! the loveliest of maidens by the cooling streamlet sate. O'er the hedges madly leaping, rushes Goldmar through the green, That the lambs affrighted hasten to the maiden fair of mien. " Greeting to thee, God's good greeting ! wondrous lovely shep- herd maid, I would grieve and sorrow greatly, if I thought thee too afraid." " Nay, in sacred sooth believe mo that I felt no thought of fear, For I deemed some lad it might be, playing in the greensward near." I 221 " But for pardon yet refresh mo with a cool draught from thy cup, In my grateful heart for ever will I hoard the kindness up." " Take the cup, I'll fill it gladly with fresh -water from the spring, For from none would I withhold it. even though he be a king." Speaking thus and bending gently gave she him a crystal draught ; Gazing lovingly upon her, the refreshing drink ho quaffed. Then he spake of love o'er-mastered, — " Whence that air of gentle worth, Sweet as if 'mid yonder flowrets thine had been a fairy birth? And thou art begirt with honor, and with grandeur beams thine eye, Stately as some royal lady's of a lineage proud and high." " Seek my shepherd father, ask him, if he e'er a king hath been ?'' Spake she, — " Ask my shepherd mother when she was enthroned a queen ?" Then he threw his mantle round her, o'er her shoulders white and bare. And he placed his golden crownlet shining on her nut-brown hair. Laughingly she looks and proiidly, loud she spake with joyous tone, — ** Kneel, ye lambs, and render homage ! Trees and flowers, yc are my own.'' Laughingly she then restored him mantle rich and golden crown, But into the crystal streamlet doth he cast the crownlet down. " Holy pledge of pure affection, this my crown I leave with thco^ Fought and won must be thu battle ere again thou wilt sec me. 222 " There hath lain a kinj^ in prison, many a lonpf and weary year Fierce and mighty are his foemen, and his land is waste and bare. " With my warriors true and valiant, I will go to loose that king; 'Twill be mine to break his fetters that he may enjoy the spring. " Glowing for my maiden battle, longer I may not delay, From the victoiy returning, wilt thou greet me as to-day ? " " From this streamlet will I give thee draught on draught with glad delight, And thy .crown I will restore thee clear as now it is and bright." PART II. Now of swords and echoing trumpets should I sing and should I tell, But I hoar the hautboy's music, and the skylark'o tuneful swell. Now my tale should be of corpses, and my song of blood and gloom, But I see the budding flowei-s, and the trees are gay with bloom- Only shall T sing of Goldmar, — Goldmar's praise let me declare, He alone was first in glory, first in war as with the fair. Gallantly he stormed the castle, purple was his glaive with blood; From damp cells that coldly closed him, in the light the old king stood : " Hail thou sun— that fadest never ; Hail, hills, fields, and bright green wold. Ever young and ever cheerful : — I, alas, am grown so old !" Then in royal wealth and splendour there began the victor feast : — Would ye have a true description ? — That would need some present guest. 223 And had I been at the rerel, had such glorious chance been mino^ All the rest I had forgotten, save alone the royal wine. Thus to Goldmar spake the monarch, graciously in courteous wise, " All are glowing for the tourney, tell me what shall be the prize ? " " Mighty king of noble lineage ! Not for spurs or helmet bright Be this day the knightly contest, but a crook and lamb snow- white." On their steeds in brilliant armour belted knights their. lances wield, For the meed of simple shepherds racing on the grass green field. In the ring rode Goldmar boldly, and o'erthrew them knight by 4 knight, And was graced, 'mid sound of trumpets, with a crook and lamb snow-white. Once again then spake the monarch, graciously in courteous wise, '* Let there be another tilting, higher far shall be the prize. *' For no trifle be this contest, — never such a prize was seen, My own crown shall be the victor's. Beauty's Queen shall be his Queen ! " Hopeful glowed each mighty bosom, — anxious for the trumpet's call. Each would be the glorious victor : — mighty Goldmar threw them all. In his hall, 'mid lords and ladies, sate the king in stato and power. To the hall is Goldmar summoned, of all knights the star and flower. 224 Then he came, the noble Goldmar, with the crook in his right hand, And his white lamb was beside him fastened with a rose-red band. Spake the monarch, " For no trifle hath the knightly contest been, My own crown is thine, thou, victor, thine this lady for thy Queen." Thus he spake, and from the lady hath he moved the veil aside. But Sir Goldmar on the instant turned away his glance with pride : " Queens and ladies cannot gain me, — nothing can a crown avail, Mine the shepherd-maid that dwelleth yonder in the shady vale. *' With this crook and lamb I'll greet her, tokens of my change- less love : Fare ye well, ye high born ladies, down unto the vale I rove." Lo ! a voice spake sweet and clearly, — and he felt as in that hour When the birds were singing gladly, when with radiance glowed each flower. Raising up his eyes unto her, his own shepherdess he scanned Clad in royal robes of honour, — with his bright crown in her hand : •* To my father's kingly palace, Goldmar, here I bid thee hail ! Say, is 't still thy wish to wander to thy maiden in the vale ? " Take thy crown then ere thou goest, which was 'trusted to my hands. See ! with interest I return it, now for one it sways two lands." Not much longer stood they parted, princely knight and lovely queen ; — But I see your anxious faces, ye would know what next hath been ? Quickly could I tell a maiden of their rapture and their bliss, Durst I clasp her, durst I give her, on her red lips kiss for kiss. I 225 EXTRACTS FROM AN UNFINISHED POEM. {The Poem Jiere represents Men climbing the hifl of Life in their attempt to attain to tlie portals of wisdom.) I. — THE GUIDES. — SAGES AND PROPHETS. Ah ! many have essayed to climb in vain ! Though strong their minds within, — tho' firm their soul, Yet have they failed the blissful height to gain : And why ? with vaunting boasts beyond control And self-relying pride they sought the goal, They laughed to scorn the proffered guides who knew Where the dim pathway 'neath the shadows stole, Too late alas ! their haughty vein to rue, When in the labyrinth lost they sought yet found no clue. Kind are the guides unto tho ways of truth And always ready with their favoring aid To fainting age, to boldly earnest youth Not for a moment is their help delayed — Their happy knowledge teacheth man to wade Through blackest doubt and danger's depths. — Away Fly mist and cloud, and darkness' power is stayed : — The haze which o'er the eye had held its sway Hath fled before the brilliant light of sunny day. ^He whom the blindness of his country slew, Athena! many were thy sins, what timo Vile luxuiy held her court in thee and threw Around thee all her baneful folds of crime. Most deep tho' sunken in the miry slime Of guilt, yet 'twas thy vilest deed of all, When he, thy worthiest — of soul sublime By the base hemlock-bowl was doomed to fall. Vice smiled and firmly bound thee in her iron thrall. ' Socrates. 226 He and his son' in soul — whose cnrneet tone ^feloclioiis filled the grove of Academe With thoughts celestial as might have flown From angels' lips — breathing some heav nly theme Unto the patriarchs, — of the Light Supreme Conversing sweet — for in the olden day Not all unworthy did the fathers seem Of such high favor — the glad hours away They whiled, ere yet men's hearts sank deeper to decay These twain, the mightiest of them that know Amid the " uninspired " well will guide The panting spirit from the vale below Along the hoary mountain's craggy side ; " Amid the uninspired " ? — nay — allied In bonds of closest unity to those Whom God had chosen from the circles wide Of Israel, — alike their souls arose, Alike the tombs their ashes, not their thoughts enclose. Is't sinful thus to class — (0 say it not) The Heathen sages with the Holy seers ? Some from the desert, — some from lonely grot Came forth with exhortations and with tears To preach the ways of virtue to their peers, And suffered persecutions and were slain Or mocked and taunted with unseemly jeers ; And wherefore did they suffer scorn and pain ? They strove to conquer vice and hallow virtue's reign. Is not vice earthly ? Virtue from above ? If, as 'tis said, the human heart be dark, With evil fraught, — unskilled in thoughts of love, And wrecked on rocks of sin our mortal ark — Whence sprang that light, — whence that brilliant spark Which waked the holy flame in Plato's soul That it blazed forth on high — a beacon-mark Of Heavenly splendour — mighty to control The powers of night which o'er the human senses stole ? > riato. 227 Nay — all that is of good hath been inspired Ry Him — the only source of every good, The soul of Socrates C) by Him was fired From grossness cleared and worldly essence rude, If in its native state of gloom had stood The spring, — could waters pure have issued tlionoe ? Unless the seed is sown, — will earth yield food ? Whence then hath come that nobler influence ? If not from Heaven on high inspired — whence — whence ? Pause yet a while — yet pause ere ye condemn Ev'n holiest thoughts when they seem not your own- More priceless far than India's richest gem, The truths which once with deeply sacred tone The Indian sage unto the world made known — " With patience suffer ill — but do thou good, — (-) " Relieve the poor who 'neath their burdens groan " Be gentle — kind, — thy passions be subdued, " The wicked flee — thus wilt thou gain beatitude." Brpathe not these words a holiness divine Such as our Sacred Scriptures may reveal ? Yet further dive we in the wealthy mine And of long hidden treasures break the seal ! The Serian prophet(*) — Oh — did he not feel A godlike impulse when he spake with fire — " If ye be earnest for your better woal " In duty's paths to wander never tire, — " To others do as ye from otlicrs would desire !" (') Poor Socrates (who next more momorahl*- ?) By what ho tau.qht, and tiufferM for so doing For TKUTii's 8AKK Suffering death unjust, liven now Eqaal in fame to proudost conqaerora. Miltoi^, Par. Ri-.j. li. III. (2) Words to this effect are found in tlie Ilindo Scriptures of Menu. (*) Confaciiis— who flourished B.C. 2000. '^ 2 228 Can this be all imposture and deceit, The sickly hankering after worldly power To satiate, — and gain the lofty seat Of pride and pomp in some successful hour, That 'neath their feet their fellow men should cower Down trodden by superior cunning, — chained By falsehood's might in superstitions tower, While through mere lying skill and artifice deep feigned Over men's slavish minds the proud impostors reigned ? May it not be that in the gloomy night Of Ignorance sole-ruling nigh and far, Ere yet arose with deep effulgence bright That glorious Sun whose awful ray should mar All gloom — that each of these — a lesser star — By Heaven's high ordinance shed a partial gleam Through mists of error and confusion's jar — ;^| Some with more splendor, — some with dimmer beam Of radiance — to prepare the earth for Light Supreme ? say not this is all a baseless dream ! Unto my heart these joyous thoughts will cling And with their truth will all my fancy teem : O that but worthily my voice could sing ! With rapture I would strike the charmed string And prove that these my bodings are not vain ; — My lyre responds not to th' awakening Of themes, but grateful to high Milton's strain : He sole hath struck these chords which none dare touch again Yet harshly judge not, — for on us doth shine The brilliance of revealed holiness, — Th' unfettered will of Providence divine Hath deigned with heavenly truths our sight to bless, And gratefully wo own the rich largess. But these high bounties do wo understand ? Of sects and creeds do we dispute the less ? Religious hatred stalks in every land, And love lies prostrate 'neath conteatlon's blood-stain'd hand. 229 And if, 'mid all this rovelatioD, we Are shrouded yet awhile in partial gloom, Hearing we do not hear — nor seeing see, — And ere the resurrection from the tomb "We cannot view in all their clearest bloom The solemn mysteries of celestial truth Which we from childhood learn — dare wo assume (We ignorant of what we know in sootb) That all besides is poisoned by imposture's tooth ? O thus it should not be ! these systems all, <• Perchance, are fitting portions of one whole. Say, have ye watch'd when heavenly fountains full How the sun's brightness through the showers stole As shines the light of Heaven upon the soul, How various were the liues each raindrop bore When dazzled by the brilliant beam's control — Various they gleamed, yet sweetly blended o'er In harmony, until the showers ceased to pour ? Thus revelation hath to us been given, To each, to all, in strict equality ; The kindly power bursting from high heaven Hath pierced the terrors dark of mystery, — Yet its impression 's not alike to me As unto thee, — who also feel'st its might With equal force, — 'tis inconsistency, We think, — yet may some future purer light Our thoughts reveal in sweetest concord blended quite. Then, certes, these my fancies are not vain Nor hateful they to charitable cyue, Return we to the mountain path again These thoughts to othuer heads and liearts resign, Now to their timely aid whoe'er may piuo Surely to gain the rou^jh and steep ascent We haste, — and safely as on foaming brine Near rocky ledge the pilot's help is lent, Thus may we guide them where their perilous steps are bent. 230 II — THE CHIEF GUIDE. — CURIST. Of sagos have I spoken and of seers United in celestial bonds of love (For thus wo hope) as brothers and compeers Alike elected by their God above — And now of Him who Lord of all doth move Of seers the first, of sages the most sage Of spirit mild and gentle as the dove, Alone the mightiest of all clime and age (Urania, — warm my feeble song with holy rage ) Of Him to sing I tune my humble lyre Of Him chief guide — whose ready aid will bless The steps of all who anxiously aspire To reach to wisdom's deepest dark recess, Of him who knew not rest or weariness, The teacher most divine, — yet human woe He suffered, — paying scorn with gentleness, And died the death of shame, ev'n He whose brow Claimed homage from all sovereign kings below. But wherefore weakly celebrate his praise ? Him wouldst thou view in godliness arrayed And on divinity revealed gaze By sacred art to human eye displayed, Go thou, — behold that heavenly brow pourtraycd(') Beyond mere mortal ken, — gaze and adore ; And never can from dullest memory fade The meek expression those mild features bore, Ev'n absent wilt thou gaze and worship more and more. Correggio ! truly, calm religion swayed Thy noble genius witli hor saintly power : High rose thy soul with adoration's aid, — Around thee flitted a celestial shower (') The " Ecce Homo " of Corregyio— iu the National Gallery. 231 Of pure ideas in that blessed hour When first thy pencil touched the task divine Which thou hast left to us — a priceless dower ; — We thank thee for that hallowed gift of thine Before whose aspect meek all humbly we incline. Not to the dull I speak who cannot feel In their deep thought a reverential awe. Whose frozen bosoms do not uncongeal And own the warmth of love's reviving law, Not to the witless fool who haply saw Unmoved that holy toil of inspiration's fire (Soulless as rocks when snows around them thaw), Whose grovelling earthliness cannot aspire Beyond the joys of sense or lucre's endless mire. On such I would not waste my words, — but ye Whose bosoms glow with gratitude sincere For gracious gifts, — without idolatry, Who dare the semblance of the Lord revere, That brow where might and charity appear Sublimely blended, — the vile crown of thorns Upon his head, — no angry threat or sneer Within those pitying eyes which seem to mourn The foolish ire of them who His high wisdom scorn Ye will with me admire the painter's skill, — With me the marvel of his art revere,— Your souls with mine will feel a solemn thrill Vibrating through the heart : — A holy prayer Not mounting to the lips, — which he may hoar Alone, — for ear of mortal man unmeet Will fill each nerve, each vein with joy sincere, 'Till witleps of its act in concord sweet The body's sign the spirit's thankfulness repeat. III. — AMBITION. Ambition ! without thee what wore man In grovelling meanness creeping forth his life, — 232 In worthlessness thus eking out his Bpa,n Of time ? The early dawn of all is rife With noble thonghts and aspiration's strife To act some brave exploit, some worthy deed Ere our defeat by death's relentless knife : Sweet infancy doth sow the generous seed, And youth matures, and manhood gains the glorioas meed. But if this seed should die, — a breathing thing Of earth, — a moving mass of paltry clay The man becomes — a brutish hankering For vilest joys to waste the fleeting day, And drive ev'n gems of honest thought away, Lords o'er the spirit with fiei'ce energy : We must or rise or fall, — but cannot stay Content with nature's gifts, — we soar on high Or batlike to black depths and gloomy darkness fly. Then let us soar, — nor may wo soar with pride, The lordly eagle in his airy height In conscious strength, and all beneath defied, With haughty power takes his lofty flight, In heaven's arch unviewed by mortal sight Proud monarch of the skies, — fit emblem he Of self-exalting pride, — when men in might With thankless arrogance and tyranny Burn but for selfish lust and nought beside on earth can see. The gentle lark in yon cerulean cope Hath left the earth to sing a gladsome strain Of love and gratitude and joy and hope. As if on hif^h to seek a purer fame, And bring the olToring of her tuneful vein Ev'n to Heaven's threshold, — as in communing With spirits of the bright celestial train, Chirping her fond delight in the reviving spring And singing sympathy with each created thing. 233 Ev'n so let us aspiring to a goal Beyond this mortal state — this earthly mould Not mount in self-exalting pride of soul With high disdain and vauntings overbold, But may our every thought and wish enfold Meek charity for all, and kindly love And gratitude heartfelt and uncontrolled To Him, whose mighty influence from above Hath caused our hearts with nobler throbs to move. lY. — FUTURITY. Futurity ! dark daughter of Old Time ! Who surely knoweth what thou art ? Hath eye Beheld thee ? and can human thought sublime Declare thy wondrous page of mystery ? We rush to seize thee, — thinking thou art nigh, But ever thou escapest from our view, Deceiving our attempt incessantly : — Thy gifts thou leavest as thou passest through Of mingled good and ill, — to thee we find no clue, " I see her paths, ' — the wise man saith in pride, And vaunteth that his weak imperfect sight Can penetrate the mists that round thee glide : — The mighty victor in some valiant fight Doth hurry to o'ertako thee in thy flight. And boasts, — " The future is my slave — and I Shall lead her chained obedient to my might," But thou o'erwhelmst with film the wise man's eye. And smilest at the mighty's threat derisively. But One is greater yet than thou : and Ho Still more incomprehensible to man. At His high beck in deep humility Thou bowest down, nor canst His precepts scan ; Ho spcakcth, — and His wise unerring; plan Thou dost obey and troadeston the lino By Him from lofty throne cerulean Ordained, and all those couutk'ss giftvs of thine Are but behests of His omnipotence divine. 234 To us thou seemest as the ocean waves Whose endless depths conceal in darkest night Ti-easures untold and monsters in their caves : — To us thou art some lofty mountain's height Whose peaks restrain our vainly gazing sight, Nor can we tell what countries sad or gay Beyond those cloud- capt steeps enjoy the light ; But the dark wave is bright with Faith's mild ray, And yon huge rocks the lovely tint of Hope display. REVERIE. Sweet Poesy sighed thro' the valley fair, And autumn breezes sang in the air, And my soul was attuned to their mournful tone As in the shade I reclined alone. For I thoujiht of two whom I there had seen In days when pleasure and joy have been ; I dreamt of their joys — their pleasures fled — And weeping hid in my palms my head. Then I sought the spots that told of their flame When of sorrow they scarce could name the name ; My blank gaze of pain was fixed on the ea'th, And a teardrop stained the scene of their mirth. Then — Hope clung around them brilliant and clear As Saturn's ring in the starry sphere, But that circlet, though nigh, never reaches the star, And Hope seeming near — is ever afar. And I thought of the feelings that guided his hand As ho traced her name upon the sand, The name in his soul indelibly fixed, By love ever true and warm and unmixed. I 235 And musing I sought upon the ground The cherished trace of his love profound,- In vain, — for the world had passed in wrath And had left no sign of love in its path. Perchance other names have come and have fled, And the writers may dwell in realms of the dead Yet in vain on the earth for aid do we call, The mark it retains is — " Oblivion of all." 'Neath these sombre thoughts my spirit quailed And I sought to behold the future unveiled, With the secrets of time and age to cope, And to seize on more than the weak ties of hope. After pain and grief — man's common lot, Will the bonds of affection be ever forgot ? After these moments of joy on earth's shore, Will the sweetness of bliss exist no more ? As on earth is lost love's trace and breath. Thus shall it be in the coldness of death ? They who have lived but for love before, Must they lose its delights for evermore ? Nay — said I then, — love dwelleth on high, For — to love — it is Heaven, — there love cannot die, The sweet dawn of bliss perchance may be here, But the broad day beams in the heavenly sphere. Then why of the briefness of pleasure complain ? For nothing may rend felicity's chain : Here the dawn : and on high the sun shining bright, Whence ever beams brilliance and joy and delight. 236 THE BLIND KING. f After the Qerman of Uhland.) Yon northern warriors, — why stand they On the rocks, with shields and glaives ? The blind King, with his silver hair, What doth he by the waves ? He cries in bitter anguish, As o'er his staff he bent, And the lone isle in sadness Re-echoes his lament : " Yield, Robber, from thy rocky lair My daughter to my arms : Her harp — her cheerful ditties were My waning life's sole charms, TJnto the shore thou camest Upon her as a thief, — In thee, 'twas foul dishonour, But I sink down with grief." The Robber from the rocky cleft His savage shape revealed : — He swung on high his giant blade And taunting struck his shield : *' Where were her guards ? — Durst no one To save the princess stir ? Hast thou not many warriors, — Why fight they not for her ? " But silent all the warriors stood And from the band stepped none : Then slowly turned the old blind King : •' Am I left quite alone ? " The father's right hand grasping, Thus spake his youngest son : — *' Fear not — I feel the power, By me the deed bo done ! " • 237 " My son ! he hath a giant's might Which none durst yet withstand : But that thou'st noble nei've, I feel & By the pressure of thy hand. % Then bathe my ancient falchion, * Skald-hallowed in his blood, And if in death thou fallest, My grave shall be yon flood." And lo ! the light boat o'er the wave Upon the white foam glistens : — With all around him hushed and still The blind King stands and listens : 'Till shields and falchions clashing Are heard resounding high, And battle cries and shouting, And echo's dim reply. He spake in mingled hope and fear — " What see ye of the fight ? I heard my old sword's keen clear tone, — That was a stroke of might." " Fallen is the Robber, — fallen, — He hath his doom at length ; Thy gallant son hath vanquished The giant's monster strength." Again the blind King stands and listens. And all around is dumb, — " I hear oars dashing on the wave, Tell me what sec ye come ? " " They come in joy together. Thy son with sword and shield, — And with her golden tresses. Thy lovely child Gunilde." " Now welcome ! " from the lofty rock Then cried the grey-haired chief, — 238 " I go not to my tomb in shame, My age is free from grief, — But place in peace beside me. My son, the ancient glaive, — And thou, Gunilda, sing me The death-song o'er my grave." ODE. {From Horace.— Lib. II. Od. 18.) No ivory — no golden ceiling Adorns my modest home : No marble pillars wealth revealing Proudly support the dome, No regal fortune, princely dwelling Hath fate vouchsafed to me, I am not clad, in state excelling, In robe of sovereignty : A vein of wit by nature's blessing And honest heart are mine. Yet me to honor, nought-possessing. The wealthiest incline : Why should I then the Gods importune To add unto my store. Contented with my humble fortune I could not wish for more. Day hastes to follow day and truly New moons but come to die, The tomb awaits thy ashes duly Mid all thy pageantry. Yet mindless of the fatal hour On high thou buildst the hall. Insatiate with thy wealth and power Thou fain wouldst seize on all ; Thy neighbour's farm, thy neighbour's dwelling All would'st thou have for thee, 'Gainst justice and 'gainst law rebelling With base cupidity ; 239 While from their home unjustly driven The husband and the wife (The babes exposed to winds of heaven) Must linger out their life : But one sure homestead there remaineth Than all on earth more sure, The dark abode where Orcus reigneth Alike o'er rich and poor, Just earth entombeth ev'n the poorest With sons of royalty, And Charon thou in vain allurest For gold to set thee free : Great Kings renowned in ancient story He holdeth in his might, Far famed of old for warlike glory- Now doomed to endless night : Invoked in pity he hath risen, And uninvoked, — to free The hapless poor from their earth-prison And grant them liberty. PROCRASTINATION. Thrice blest and happiest of mankind Is he who in his secret mind] In silence musing and alone May smiling hear each grateful tone Which truthful conscience whispers then- Happy above his fellow men. And light of heart and cheered in eoul, For nought can his glad joy control. Within him reigns the peace of Heaven (Of future bliss a foretaste given) — For mild and beauteous — bright and fair The sun of innocence shines there : — 240 But in the heart what torment dread When thoughts of duty once have fled — The voice of conscience stern and drear Upbraiding whelms the soul in fear. Who can deny the painful truth (And yet 'tis wondrous strange in sooth), The ways of happiness we know, Yet ever seek the paths of woe : — Duty fulfilled gives purest joy Serene and fair without alloy, Yet ever we behold mankind To all its boundless blessings blind ! Is it our fate and doom ? Are we Thus slaves of tyrant destiny ? Against the dictates of the breast And reason's law, — the heart's behest, In folly's steps to wander still Vile rebels to our proper will ? Can nought avail to burst in twain Procrastination's despot chain ? Where'er the demon hath his shrine, Thence happiness and peace have flown, — ' Though sense of right and thought of wrong Within the heart united throng, And conscience rageth, — and — away Her voice wo hasten to obey, — Again is heard the magic spell, " Will not to-morrow be as well ? " In vain stern conscience speaks — in vain, — Though endless misery rack the brain, — And self-accusing bootless ire May scourge the mind with torments dire. 241 Relentlessly from day to day The fiend yet urgeth more delay, And spite of pain, — in spite of sorrow Ev'n yet we tarry till to-morrow. To-morrow ! Is our chance of pleasure So great, — so certain beyond measure That to to-morrow we delay Ev'n bliss that might bo ours to day ? But we are mad ! — Man, boastful man, Embitters still his little span — In wisdom weak, — in folly strong, — The right he knows, — he doth the wroiiir. 'Tis done ! — but in that anxious hour The inward stoi'm begins to lour ; And what can stem the tempest's force i' And what can stay his ruthless course ? Away is hope, — and joy away, — And gloom and grief in dai'k array Have fettered with their mighty chain The heart where peace alone should reign. But even then sweet Mercy's voice May bid the mournful heart rejoice, — Etherial Pity's accents mild May lull the storm and tempest wild, — And gentle Pardon's kindly tone May soothe the sad repentant groan, — And Charity's celestial sway May drive all care and grief away. Yet suppliants oft would raise their prayer These generous In'ncfit.s to share, — They fain would hope their judgr's mind To soft and icuieut thoughts inclined, 242 But dare not pray. — For faults too grave Cannot a gleam of pity crave, — O'erwhelmed with gloom and mute despair, They must endure their weight of care. THE GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER. [From the German of Uhland.) There stood a goldsmith in his booth, 'Mid pearls and diamonds rare ; " My richest treasure in good sooth Art thou, my lovely Helen, My daughter sweet and fair." Entered a knight in proud array : " Good day — thou maiden fair, And honest goldsmith mine, good day ! Make me a bridal crownlet To deck my own love's hair." And when the crownlet rich was made And in bright splendour shone. Fair Helen's brow was tinged with shade As on its brilliance gazing She softly sighed alone ! " O blest and happy is the bride Whoso own this crown may be, Oh ! boundless were my joy and pride. If but a wreath of roses Yon knight had given me," And when the beauteous ring was made With rare and precious stone, Fair Helen's brow was tinged with shade 243 As on her slender finger She placed it when alone. " Ah ! blest and happy is the brido Whose own this ring may be, Oh ! boundless were my joy and pride If of his dark hair streaming One lock yon knight gave me !" And soon returned the noble knight, The ring with care he eyed — *' Good goldsmith ! thou hast wrought aright These beauteous wedding presents For my beloved bride. " But how would they become my bride ? Come, maiden, here to me. And let these gems on thee be tried These gifts for my beloved, As fair as thou — is she." It was upon a festal morn, In neatest garb arrayed, Well meet her beauty to adorn, The church bell's call awaiting Tarried the lovely maid. Her cheek suffused with modest glow Obeyed she his command. He set the crown upon her brow, The ring upon her finger And gently took her hand : " My Helen ! my love and pride ! This sport hath reached its end — Thou art my own, my beauteous brido For whom this ring so costly, This crownlet I intend. b2 244 'Mid pearls and diamonds and gold Hixst thou dwelt since thy birth, — Be hence thy nobler fortune told That thus with mc thou riscst To honor, rank and worth." A DREAM. I lay in silent midnight's solemn hour, Reclining on my couch in dreamful ease, My closed eyelids felt kind slumber's powei', And waking cares were gone. — And as a breeze That rustling passeth through both highest trees And weakest shrubs unseen, my fancy fled, Now resting in the pomp of palaces, Now where affection's bitter tear was shed, There blest with joy, — here lost in charnels of the dead. And to and fro, in gladness and in gloom, Thi'ough pathless wilds I did not dare to roam, And sudden, from what seemed the land of doom (The blackest shapes were there, and fiend and gnome There had the fated horrors of their home), Sudden as darts the brilliance from the cloud, I was within a bright majestic dome Amid rejoicings of a happy crowd. Delight shone on each brow, and joyous mirth was loud. It was a princely hall. — There T beheld A form of loveliness as wont to grace The fairy visions of the bards of old ; — Enrapt I gazed upon the angel face. And in those lineaments I sought to trace Her spirit's truth ; — and as she glided on, My willing view was chained unto the place Where she had stood, — as eyes are fixed upon The hoi'izon's beauty, even when the sun is gone. 245 And if it be that every gentle smile Was but the reflex of a gentle thought, And if it be that there could lurk no guile In the pure tear that started as unsought, When to her ear a tale of woe was taught, Amid this dazzling grandeur ; — if the blue Of loveliness, with which those orbs were fraught. Told but the spirit's faith with their sweet hue. And if each talo of holy sympathy were true ; Then was she blest indeed as blessing all, A mortal maid with soul of heavenly birth ; — But I was troubled, — well I knew that gall Embittered oft the seeming sweets of earth ; That face might smile mid happiness and mirth, Ev'n as the flower that driuketh with delight The sunbeam's warmth, and yet be little worth ; The flower closing fears th' embrace of night ; That brow perchance may shrink from sad misfortune's blight, I thought again and feared. The lovely blue That reigneth in the southern sky sei'enc Is false, — most false : — black clouds start up to view. And swift the lightning flash of rage is seen Withering the beauteous grace of nature's mien, And peals of thunder laugh men's woes to scorn. — My mind misgave me, for such things have been, The loveliest eyes a scowl of ire have worn. And gentle-seeming lips have scoffed at the forlorn, I grieved ; I strove to road the heart. The scene Of gladsome revelling hath passed away, (The fancy is omnipotent, I ween,) And where had shown the column's bright army, And where had echoed now the minstrel's lay Where beauty's children danced in health's sweet glow, I saw a white-robed maiden kneeling pi*ay Beside a bed of poverty and woe ; And from a sickly form I hoard kind blessings flow. 246 A dying mother lay there ; on her face A radiance shone, the death-foreboding gleam ; Her wan cold hands have clasped in cold embrace A smiling child ; — her dim eyes teem With tears o'erflowing in a bounteous stream Of gratitude ; — she spake not, but she blest ; And while her spirit passed through life's last dream, Into that maiden's arms her babe she pressed : — The babe was smiling still, and strove to be caressed. And she, the dying widow's dearest friend, The chosen mother of the motherless, She who disdained not in meek prayer to bend Before the throne of heavenly holiness Even in this cot of want and of distress ; She raised her brow ; — I gazed ; — How came she there ? And could that maid of brightest loveliness. Of all these high-born beauties the most fair, With misery thus join in sympathising prayer ? How came she there ? — I cared not, — I was glad : I had no more misgivings ; and I felt The bodings vanish that had made me sad ; My vision still upon the lady dwelt. As with that infant in her arms she knelt, But saw no more her beauty's richness : — love — Pure love, in chastest gleams upon her dealt, Enshrined her face, — as on her from above He shone, who came to earth in semblance of a dove ! All grew confused : — The palace and the cot Imminglcd strangely and as one did seem ; The gay and that poor one, whose mourning lot Had scarce felt joy in raptures of a dream. Were all irradiate with the same pure gleam ; All seemed a mass confused ; but yet I know That all was blended in a lovely scheme Of harmony : — cv'n as in heaven we view Distinct and blended yet each beauteous rainbow-hue. I p I 247 And then I heard the whisper of a voice, ('Twas all around, yet whence I could not tell^, It spake : — " Love, love unmixed bo all your choice ; '• The mighty that in pomp of grandeur dwell ** Stoop to the miseries of a wretched cell, " And then are first ennobled ; the soft breath " That wafteth music to misfortune's knell, " Comes doubly blest at your own hour of death : " Pure love is more than hope, and holier yet than faith. THE STATUE OF BACCHUS. {Afte}' Wiland.) Callisthenes, a gay Athenian youth, After a night of festive pleasures spent, A withered ivy wreath in his loose hair. Came in the early twilight reeling home — Himself like twilight — gloomy, faint, and pale. As through his gallery, with siatues grand, A slave into the chamber led the youth, In the red torch-glare suddenly there stood The marble shape of Dionusos forth — A wond'rous triumph of the sculptor's art. The god-like semblance showed a lovely boy : Through whose long, richly-waving tresses shono The shoulders, chiselled into perfect form : And underneath a garland, freshly wreathed, Of vino-leaves, jewelled with luxuriant grapes. Appeared the fulness of the blooming face. Callisthenes, awe-stricken, started back Before the brilliance of the life-like god : He felt as if with yon dread Thyrsus wand The presence in rebuke had touched his brow, — As ateriily spoke the animated lips : — 248 " Why dost thou haunt here — tottering shape of night- Gloom-visagccI shade bereft of strength and sense ? Thou hast profaned my sacred ivy crown, And, shameless, dar'st to call thyself my priest. Away from me : I know not thee or thine : Creative nature's plenitude am T, Most meetly imaged in the precious juice That flows in godlike bounty from the vine, If your licentious orgies need a god, On sunny vine-grown hill-sides seek him not ; Seek whom ye want in Hades' gloom below." The presence ceased ; the torch-light was obscured— The youth into his chamber groped ashamed ; He took the ivy garland from his head, And silently, within his secret heart, Unto his conscience swore a solemn vow. NATHAN DER WEISE. {Criticism written for the " Observer.") [It is surprising, indeed, that no English translation of this exquisite work, at once displaying the classic elegance and argumentative power of Goethe, and glowing with the warm sympathies of Schiller's genial spirit, has yet been attempted. Ear more beneficial would such a translation be than the cold renderings of the metaphysical subtleties and icy abstractions of so-called German philosophers, who scarce dare venture to assert that they understand the dogmas which they so confidently enunciate — with which the English public is at present deluged. The spirit of " Nathan der Weise " is the spirit of charity — that charity which pervades the gospel, and which is found beau- tifully expressed in what is known in St. Jerome's Works as the testament of the beloved disciple : — " S. Hieronymus in Ep. ad Galatas, c. 6. — Beatus Joannes Evangelista, cam Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senec- tutem, et vix inter discipulorum mauus ad Ecclesiam deferretur, neo posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per [ 249 singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc : Filioli diligitc altcr- utrum. Tandem discipuli et fratrcs qui aderant, taBdio afFecti, quod eadem semper audircnt, dixerunt, Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris ? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam : Quia prseceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficiat." •' The blessed Evangelist John, \vhen in extreme old age he dwelt at Ephesus, and scarcely could be borne to the church on the hands of the disciples, and could no longer give expression to connected sentences, was wont at each collect to utter these words : — ' Little children — love one another.' At length the disciples and brethren who were present, afflicted with weari- ness, because they always heard the same thing, said — ' Master, why sayest thou always this F ' And the Evangelist made a reply worthy of his name : — ' Because it is the precept of the Lord, and if this alone be done, it is enough.' " In this spirit, the spirit which should dwell in all religious spirits, of whatever sect or name, the great Lessing wrote, — and was not less a Christian because he wrote thus. This spirit, wo trust, is gaining ground among the various divisions of Chris- tians in this colony : let them vie in love, — and in humility learn that they may disdain nothing, simply because it is not " their own," — not consonant with the prejudices of their sect. Disdain thee ? — Not the worm beneath my feet ! The Fathomless has care for meaner things Than man can dream, and has made pride for those Who would he what they may not, or tvould seem That which they are not. The scene is in Jerusalem. The Sultan has commanded the Jew's presence, as the latter believes, for the purpose of replen- ishing his coffers ; but of a far different nature are the enquiries made of him. We give a portion of the scene, and the parable of the ring ; and this parable of the ring no man can read without advantage.] Saladin — Since thou art So wise, so very wise, — tell me of all That thou dost know — what laws, whot faith Hath given thee clearest light? NATHAN. Sultan, I am A Jew 250 Saladin. ^ And I — I am a Mussulman ; — The Christian is between us. — Of these three Religions only one can bo the true. A man, as thou, remains not motionless, Where the mere accident of birth has placed him ; Tf he continue there, 'tis from conviction, Grounds for his choice — election of the best. tell me this conviction — tell the reasons For which the time has failed me to search out Myself ; and let me know in confidence The choice in which these reasons fixed thee, for I'd make thy choice my own. — What ! Dost thou start ? Thou weigh'st me with thine eye ? — Well, it may be That I'm the first, the only Sultan, who Has had so strange a whim — and yet in truth It is a whim I deem not quite unworthy E'en for a Sultan. — Is't not true ? — Then speak, Speak on. — Or would'st thou have a moment To think — collect thy thoughts — I give it thee. — Consider, quick, consider; — in an instant 1 shall return. Nathan (alone). 'Tis wonderful ! What can This be ? What will the Sultan ?— What ? I come Prepared to give him gold — and he asks " Truth," Truth, truth, — and wishes it so clear and plain, As if the truth were coin ! — if 'twere but The coin of ancient ages, told by weight — This would be possible — but modern coin, Made by the stamp alone, and which alone May ring upon the counter, — truth is not,^ As gold into a sack, must truth be thrust Into the head ? Who then is here the Jew ? Am I or he ? — But how — should he require The truth but not in truth ? — Away, away. Can I suspect him that he sought the truth But as a trap — this were too mean — too little ! 251 Too littlo ? — What, for great men can there be, Too little ? Nay — I must bo watchful — how ? How that ? — To be so thoroughly a Jew In meanness, 't must not be ; to cease to bo A Jew at all, that's still less possible ; — For if no Jew, he needed bnt to ask me, — Wherefore not Mussulman ? — I have it now, Not children only do we feed on ables. He comes — now let him come- Saladin enters after a little time, and Nathan is prepared to reply to the great question asked by the Sultan, but begs per- mission to preface his answer with a fable. He then proceeds. Act 3. — Sceke 7. Nathan. In grey old years a man dwelt in the East, Who from a loving hand possessed a ring Of priceless worth : — The stone, a beauteous opal. In which a hundred lovely colours wantoned. Had this mysterious virtue, that it rendered The owner, — if in steadfast faith ho wore it. Beloved in sight of God and man. What marvel, That with this treasure blest, the Eastern man Ne'er took it from his finger, — and disposed it That it should never leave his house, but bo For aye an heirloom. In this wise he did so ; He left the ring unto the most beloved Of all his sons : further with this behest, That ho again should give it to the son Best loved of him : and that the best beloved Should aye without respect to birth or ago, By virtue of the ring alone, be chief And ruler of the house. — Thou hcar'st mo, Saltan. I hear thee. Further. — Nathan. And so this ring came down from son to son. At length unto a father of three son.s — Who all so vied in filial dutoousness, 252 That the fond father could not choose but lovo Them all with equal love. From time to time The one now seemed, and now the other, now The third, as each might be alone with him, (For then the brothers could not share the fulness Of his o'ergushing heart,) the worthiest To have the ring, which in his pious weakness He also promised each. This for a time Went well. At length it came to dying, and The kind good father was perplexed. He grieved That he was doomed to injure two dear sons Who lived in full reliance on his word. — But what to do ? — How act ? Unto an artist he in secret sends And orders two more rings ; — no cost, no pains Are to be spared to render each of these A perfect likeness to that precious one. The artist fails not. When he brings the rings, The father's self no longer can distinguish The true ; — and, in triumphant joy, he calls His sons unto his side, but each apart And unto each apart he gives his blessing And gives his ring, — and dies. Thou hearest, Sultan. Saladiii. I hear — I hear thcc. Well, on to the close And end thy talc. Proceed. Nathan. I've reached the end. — The sequel needs no telling ; thou must feel it. The father scarce was dead but all three came Each with his ring, and each one claimed his right To be the chief. And feud arose and strife ; — Vain all examination : the right ring Could not be recognized — (^After a pause in exjyedation of the Sultans answer.) — As the right faith By us can not be recognized ev'n now. — 253 Saladin What ? — this the answer to my question ? — this ? Nathau. Nay — but at least this will be my excuse If I dare no decision on the rings, While with this object that no man should tell One from its fellow, the good father caused Them to be made. Saladin. The rings ! — but fool me not ! I thought that the religions which I named Could be distinguished, easily indeed ; Ev'n to th' apparel — ev'n to meat and drink. Nathan. In these ; — but in their grounds they arc the samc- For do not all depend on history, Traditional. or written? And must not All history be taken upon faith And ci'edit ? Is't not so ? And doubt we not The faith and credit of onr oivn the least ? Of those who are our blood ? Of those who gave Ev'n from our childhood constant proofs of love ? Who ne'er deceived, save where to be deceived Was for our better weal : — how can I less Believe my fathers than thou thine ? Or how Can I demand of thee that thou shouldst make Thy fathers to be liars in the hope To contradict not mine ? And 'tis the same With christians also ; think'st thou not the same ? Saladin. By the Eternal — but the man is right ! I must be silent. Nathan. Now let us return Unto the rings. As I have said, the sons Accused the one his brothers to the judge, And each one swarc that ho received the ring 254 Directly fi'om his aged father's hands, — And this was true — and long before had had The promise that ho should enjoy alone The priv'lege of the ring — this too was true ! The father, each maintained, conld not have been Thus false to him — and ere he dar'd suspect Such treason from so kind and good a father, He must believe his brothers false — although Most willing else to deem all good of thera : — 'Twas they were guilty of the traitoroas game, — Their treason once laid bare — revenge must follow. Saladiii. And now — the judge ? What spake he ? I am cuxnous What thou wilt make the judge to say. Proceed. Nathav. Thus spake he : — If without delay ye bring not The father to the spot — I cannot listen Unto your strife. Or think ye I am here To solve your riddles ? Do you wait, perchance, Until the genuine ring shall ope its mouth ? But wait. I hear the right ring had the might The wondrous power to make its wearer loved, Pleasing to God and man. This must decide. The false rings cannot have this magic power :— Whom of the three do you love best ? Say on : — ye'i'c silent : doth the magic force Work only inwards — outwardly it hath No virtue ? — Each one loves himself the best ? Oh then deceived deceivers are yo all ! Perchance the right ring has been lost. The father To hide the loss, or lest it should bo known, Instead of one made three. Sal ad ill. 'Tis glorious ! glorious ! NatJiaii, And thus the judge spake further : — If ye will not My counsel, and instead would have my sentence ; — 255 Begone ! — But this is my advice, to leave The matter fully as it is. Hath each Received his own ring from the father, then Let each believe his ring the genuine one. Perhaps the father would eo longer have His house submit to one ring's tyranny. And he, 'tis clear, hath loved yo all, and loved Ye all with equal love, and would no more Oppress the rest to favour one. Well, then, Be ye three rivals in a fervid love That knows not prejudice, free, incorrupt : — And in his turn let each one strive to prove, In his own acts, his opal's magic power ; And with forbearing heart and deeds of good, With true devotion and tirm faith in God, Assist this power : — and when ages hence, Upon your children's children the right stono Hath proved its claim the true — then I invito Them to appear before this judgment seat After a thousand thousand years. Then will A wiser man than I be seated here And speak. Now go. Thus said the modest judge. Saladin. God— God ! Nathan. If, Saladin, thou doem'at thyself To be this wiser man, this promised judge — Saladin. I dust ! — I nothing ! OGod! Nathan. What is it. Sultan ? Saladin, Nathan, Nathan ! The thousand thousand years of thy wise judge Are not yet past. His judgment scat is not For mo. Go, go ! But bo my friend. 25G A NORMAN LEGEND. {From the German of Uhland.) Scene. — An Island on the Coast of Noemandt, Balder. This goblet to your health, my honoured host ! I'm truly grateful to the aagry storm That drove me to the shelter of your isle : For many a day I have not known such welcome As this which greets me by your cheerful hearth. Richard. Our fisher huts afford no dainty fare, And I am glad to see you pleased with mine ; — But I rejoice indeed to have a guest Who Cometh from our distant northern home From whence our fathers whilome crossed the sea, And whence we have our legends and our songs. But I must tell my custom, noble Sir ; — Who enters to this hut, however poor, Ere he repass the threshold, leaves a gift. Balder. My bark that lies at anchor in the bay Is filled with rare and precious wares, Which from the midland main I've brought with me. Gold fruits, sweet wines, and gaily plumed birds. I've armour too, the work of northern smiths, Keen two-edged swords and breastplates, spears and shield. Richard. I would not these, I meant not such-like gifts : There is a usage in our Normandy ; — Whoe'er receives a stranger at his board A legend may require of him, or lay, And then himself is bound to render one. Though old and far, I in my heart revere Our noble legends and our ancient songs. And therefore cannot free you from the task. 257 Balder. A tale is often rich as Cyprus wine, As fruit sweet-scented, many-hued as birds; And many a hero-song of olden time Echoes as clashing swords and clanging shields : My error therefore was not very great ; But though no glorious legend I can shape, I honour the old usage of our land : — Hear then the story which a short while since A ship-mate told us on a moonlit eve. Richard. Another draught, my guest, and then proceed. Balder. Two northern Earls, allied for many a year, Together 'neath one standard dared the main, Withstood together many a raging storm, And battled bravely upon sea and land, And oft in southern and in eastern climes Together rested on the blooming shore : At length within their keeps they were at home, But each in equal depth of sorrow, for Each wept a faithful wife, but lately borne In mournful pomp unto the fathers' tomb. Yet unto each from the dark woe there sprang A sweet and happiness foreboding hope. One had a son — a healthful laughiug boy ; A lovely daughter was the other's bliss. To crown with joy their ancient friendship's bond And raise it a memorial for all time, The friends resolved the union of these twain. For the betrothal two gold rings were wrought, Which, for the tender fingers yet too wide, By coloured ribands from their necks were hung. A sapphire, bright blue as the maiden's eye, Beamed clearly in the infant bridegroom's rinf^, And in the other glowed a rich red stone Bright as the young blood in the boy's fresh check. 258 RicJiard. A ring of gold set with a briglit red stone Was on the maiden's fincrer, heard I well ? Balder. Yes, but it is no matter. — To proceed : To martial sports inured from infancy The boy was growing ap in strength and health ; Already could ho r.arh a gallant steed. — 'Twould not bo his to cleave the boundless main And seek the fame of his adventurous sire : — At home he would remain, with dauntless arm To guard the broad lands and the castled hills, United heritage of both the chiefs. — Meanvvliile the proud boy-bridegroom's little bride, Most precious charge unto her duteous maids, Within her chamber's shade was cradled still, — A lovely day of spring came on the land, And in their arms the joyous babe they bare To play upon the sunny glad sea-side, And culled sweet flowers for her and gay shells. The waves, touched softly with the light wind's breath, Mirrored the brilliant image of the sun And o'er the white beach threw the tremulous gleam. It chanced a tiny skiff lay nigh at hand : — In this, with rushes and bright garlands deckt, The women place the happy smiling child, And rock it back and forwards by the shore. Loud laughs the infant, and the women laugh : But, 'mid their frolic's shrill and joyous tones, The rope that holds the little bark is loosed. They see the peril, but in vain : — no arm From shore can reach the swift receding child : And ever further floats the waning skiff Though calm the sea appears and motionless. Despairingly the wretched women gaze, And wring their hands with anxious shrieks of fear,- - Meanwhile the child's glad laugh rings clearly yet. The boy, who came to sec his tender bride 259 That day, and now was galloping along In cheerful race upon the grassy mead, Fleet as au arrow, when he heard the cries, Rushed to the spot, and spurred his little steed To swim the wave and reaxih the flowery bark. But ficarcely felt the horse the ice cold flood, But he turns round and dashes to the land, And vain the angry rider's skill to guide him on. Meantime the flower-decked skiff with the sweet child Has floated gently throu^jh the placid bay, And fresher breezes in the open sea Soon take it from the sight. lilcharJ. Poor, helpless balje ! The holy angels flit ai-ound thy head. Balder. To the father's ears the woeful tale has come : Immediately the ships are launched to save His child : — and in the swiftest he himself. But traceless is the ocean. With the eve The breezes change : — at night the storm-winds roar. After a search for many months they bring The empty frail skift' only with them back With withered garlands. liicJianl. What ails you in your story, worthy guest ? You si^^h, you seem disturbi-d. Balder. I will go on. Since that unlmppy day the boy rejoiced No more to mount the war-horse a.s before ; The waters are his home, he swims, he dives, And grasjJS the oai-, and guides the willing helm. And when he gained the years of manly strength, Ships, ships are all he asks of his old sire. The wealthy land hath nothing that he loves, s 2 260 No lady in the Castles pleaseth him ; He seems betrothed unto the broad wild sea In which the maiden and the ring were sunk : — And his own ship he decks in wondrous guise, With scarlet ensigns, golden images, As one who brinjjs his bride from o'er the seas. Richard. As yours perchance that rides in yonder bay. Is it not so, my gallant guest ? Balder. It may be With that rich gaily- fashioned bridal bark He oft hath tossed in many a fearful storm : And when to thunder peals and tempest howls The billows danced, it was his bridal dance. — In countless sea-fights hath he met the foes. And well men know him in the northern climes, And by a strange name is he greeted there : For when he leaps in wrath with unsheathed sword Upon a boarded ship, the seamen cry " Wo ! Ocean bridegroom — spare, destroy us not !" This is my tale. Richard. I give you thanks, kind sir : But yet, mcthinks, the full conclusion fails. Who knoweth if in truth the child sank down ? Perchance some stranger ships were sailing by. And one took up the helpless foundling babe, And left its frail skiff to the ocean-flood. Perhaps unto an island such as ours Safe from the waves the gentle infant came ; Was tended with kind care by pious hands, And now is grown a lovely blooming maid. Balder. You understand, it seems, to feign a tale : So let me hear your legend, if you please. 261 Jiichard. Enough conld I recount in former days Of our old dukes, and mighty hero chiefs : The feats of Richard Sans-peur I could tell, Who saw as clear at night as in broad day, And nightly rode in solitary wolds, To combat daring all the fiends of hell : But now my memory is weak with age, And all seems in confusion to my mind. Let the young maiden then supply my placo Who yonder sits so modestly and still. Plying her knitting by the pale lamp-light. Many the beauteous lays that she has learnt, And she sings sweetly as the nightingale. Thorilda — do not shun our noble guest : Sing us a song, " The maiden and the ring." The one the ancient bard once rhymed for you, A pretty thing : I know you love it well. Thorilda {sings.) There sat a lovely maiden Angling in clear sun-light, For hours and hours she angles In vain, — no fish will bite. A ring is on her finger. With rich-red ruby dight, The ring to the hook she fastens, And throws in the waters bright. And from the deep appeareth A hand of ivory white, And on the well-shaped finger The ring of gold shines bright. And from the deep arises A young and noble knight, Arrayed in golden armour That Klisteus iu the light. 262 The maiden cries affriglited — "Nay, nay, thoa gallant kniglii. My I'ing of gold restore me, 1 tremble at thy sight." " Maids angle not for fishes With gold and rubies bright, The ring I'll never yield thee, For here our troth we plight." Balder. What hear I ? Strange and wonder-boding song ! What do I see ? what heavenly countenance Beams blushingly from out those golden locks, And minds me of the distant childhood days ? Ha ! on her right hand gleams the golden ring, The bright red stone : — thou art my long lost bride ! I am whom men name Ocean bridegroom ; here, Here is my sapphire, bright blue as thy eye, And yonder is the bridal ship prepared, Richard. My honored hero-guest, — long thought I this : Yes, take her hence, ray lovely foster child. Encircle her within thy mighty arm : A faithful heart thou boldest to thy breast. Est Deux in nobis, agitanle caleacimus iVo. — OviD, Lo ! a dream shape in the distance beckoning on to nobler deeds. Up — my brethren — rise and follow where the star-wreatbqd vision leads, — Leave your toil of fruitless labour, vainly with o'erwearied hands Weaving aye your web of fortune from the dull Earth's yellow sands ; 263 Striving with your lofty talents to enslave yourselves to clay, Chaining spirits born for ages to the task-work of a clay. Toil, — but not for wasteful nothings ; toil — but not for self alone This it is "for ever rolling upwards still the rolling stone;" This it is the curse of Eden, still bequeathed from man to man. " Strive, but vainly, work but gain not," echoing aye the angel's ban, — Yet upon this curse a blessing, when the Godlike human will Moulds it unto glorious purpose — and doth hallow all the ill ! Never sainted prophet stricken prostrate on the burning sod, Trembling 'ncath the awful glory streaming from the present God, Heard in earthquake, flame and stillness, aught more holy than the truth Echoed by our Mother nature from the dawn of early youth Thro' all ages, — "Man is Godlike. — weak and erring suffering man, " Godlike in the thoughts he thinketh, godlike in the deeds ho can." Yea! and with the cui'sc ujion him more he pi'ovcs his lofty birth, Than in yon old Eden dwelling, sated with the ease of earth ; When he strives for men around him, battles for his broHicr's right, When ho spreads amid the darkness rays of never-dying light ; Rays that calmly shining from him roach the weary sufferer's breast, Warm once more the frozen feelings, bringing peace to his unrest : 264 Rays, whose -widely beaming brillianco shows all men one brotherhood : Man then only rightly human, when he yearns for human good : Mighty nations then most glorious, when their worldwide cherished name Is a succour to the helpless — unto tyrants fear and shame : When their deeds have been of justice, mercies done and wisdom spread — Waking noble aspirations where the human soul seemed dead ; Godlike then is human labour ; brethren rendering brethren blest Feel themselves divinely nurtured, know a God within their breast. Yet — for ye have erred — my brothers — ye have scorned the glorious gift. Wearying strength that is immortal in the selfish race of thrift ; Lo, your dead religion's priesthood, onward with your earth-god reels : — Earthward, sacrificial victims ! Stain with blood the chariot wheels. Perish there ; your work is ended, as your sordid work ye chose, Death, corruption, base oblivion, guerdon of your toils and throes : Worse yet than the senseless sluggard, who his talent laid in earth, Thus to lower to dishonor, all that proves man's primal worth : Veiling as a thing forgotten, hid from you in nature's tome This as the broad sunlight blazing — " Elsewhere is your spirit's home :" 265 Darkening the glorious vision which all men have felt in youtli, Of majestic human grandeur blended quite with godlike truth. — Who shall blush not, my brethren, — naming this his father- land '% Where no noble thoughts have being — where no noble deed is plann'd ? Nay, but earthworms wriggling onwards crawl unto a heap of f- gold, I And an instant altar rises and a craven prayer is told. — Lo ! three centuries have vanished, since the pennon was unfurled Wafting wisdom from the fountains welling in the ancient world ; — Since the sacred cross was planted at the baptism of our land That it might enjoy communion with the christian nations' band ; — Christians came : — and shrank the savage from his fathers' old abode. For he knew no more the tenure on which earth is held from God: Dwelling 'mid the brutes about him, scarce himself a nobler brute, All high thoughts of human greatness from his breast torn by the root : — Then camo men, our pilgrim fathers, noblest blood of sunny France, Broad-browed men of free-born spirits, lighted with the eagle glance. 266 Spoiled by bigot priest and despot of the broad lands of their line, Rich yet in the glorions freedom that dares know itself divine : Hither came they, — welcomed hither by the gallant Northern race Whom they^ well might own for brethren, breast to breast in close embrace : Those staunch darers of the waters, who first broke the giant force That would rule man's free convictions as the rider guides his horse; Struggling and despairing never, — 'till at length they gained the war ; Spain the hope of priest led tyrants, — Holland freedom's polar star. Lo ! such union of such nations ! — Gaze into the future's scope, Not in vain name these their country land of soul-exalting hope ! Knowledge see they ever widening, — man, no longer scorning man, Truth diffusing each to other, aiding the Creator's plan : — Breaking free from earthly fetters, giant souls of thoughtful mcn^ Meeting wisdom in their equals far beyond their former ken, Wisdom, which they erst deemed falsehood, hated with the hate of hell. When their minds were cramped within them, shrunk in earth pride's narrow shell. Better were it had old ocean swept the wave-toss'd ships away, Than that from such large- souled fathers sprang the pigmies of to-day ! 207 tStalkiiig lords of rill jironiid ns, bliiuU'd with our pt ttv j)riii».', Higher, ni»j be, than the savage whom we scoff at and ileride, Where the deeds tliat we can point (o, worthy uf our fathers' name ? Where the single gleam of glory in the darkness of our shame ? Where the broad and furrowed foreheads, watchers for all human kind, Radiant with the thoughtful paleness, signal of the earnest mind ? Know we not this truth of ages, — talents, strength, are held ijj trust ? Hoarded in the miser's coffers gold is nought but yellow dust; Pour it forth to craving wretches, — it is solace unto pain, Dew unto the parched-up spirit, to the dying life again. Scorpion-like in torment writhing, in its narrow flame confined. If the flame shine only inwards, perishes the human mind : What is left is mere corruption, foul and fcctid, black within ; Wormlike iheyi to earth man cliugeth, for to earth he is akin ; And for earth, his lord, he labours deeming that ho toils for self, Straggling fiend-mocked to destruction, dead among his hoards of pelf. Are ye thus ? — then to the savage yield his ancient right again, False ye arc unto your fathers ; their hope in you hath been vain Nay, not yet so deeply fallen : — in your spirit yet is life, Lo ! the distant light illumines, gird you for the noble strife : Hurl the demon whom ye worship headlong from his deadly throne. To your brethren yield the tribute which yc paid to earth alone : 268 Self -emancipated strive yo, working out tlie lofty theme, " For humanity man liveth," no more now a sickly dream, Now a truth as brilliant sunlight beaming from the glowing breast. Shining where the darkness gathers, bringing cheer to the unblest. Follow ye yon splendid vision, slaves no more to this earth-clod, Knowing man, whene'er most human, only then is likest God. Titan-spirits, aye-enlarging, earth and heaven ye can span, Then most fit compeers for angels, when most brothers unto man : Feeling 'mid the toil and tumult, worldly strife and worldly din Shading these with love that's boundless, your divinity within. THE PROPHECY OP NEREUS. Horace— Ode 15. Booh 1. "When sailing o'er great Neptune's realm With beauteous Helen at his side, The perjured prince in conscious pride, To Trojan shores had turned the helm ; Old Nereus from his Ocean cave, { Hushed each contending wind and wave ; And thus he sang the fates' decree ; " In luckless hour thou bear'st with thee Her whom each Grecian chief and knight Sworn to break thy nuptial vow, And lay old Priam's empire low. Will soon demand in dreadful fight : Alas ! how sink the steeds with toil ! How faint their Lords ! The funeral pile Thou raisest throughout all the land : 269 And Pallas leads the hostile band, Awful with her car and shield, Spreading carnage o'er the field. In vain on Venus' aid relying, Thou wilt anoint thy golden hair, In vain with Helen's wish complying With songs of love thou'lt fill the air. Within thy chamber's deep recess, In vain thou'lt hide thee from the press Of Cretan lance and Grecian spear. And Ajax swiftly hurrying near. — Though late the vengeance thou'lt repay The crime of this eventful day. Behold'st thou not Laertes' sen Destroyer of the Trojan race Proceeding as ho hath begun. And Pylian Nestor's reverend face ? Lo, Tcucer and bold Sthenelus, Both heroes skilled in wai' — nor worse To curb the steed or hold the rein And guide the car along the plain. Fearless and trusting in their migrht Defy thee now to mortal fight, And Merion thou soon shalt know A warlike and a noble foe. Tydides too, in valiant fire Exceeding e'en his wai-rior sire. Doth vow, while rushing o'er the plain, To number thee among the slain. Thou, trembling, noting him afar Dreadful in the rage of war, Wilt flee away with breathless fear : Thus stags, when basking in the vale They see the wolf approaching near, Anxious for their safety quail, And heedless of the pasture, flee To scape their fatal destiny. Not such the promise Helen heard When faithless she deceived her lord. 270 Thmiih prnnd Acliillos' hanoful ire May lengtlieu Iliou's mournful day ; Yet soon the Grecian's venging tire Shall mix its gorgeous domes with clay. EPIGRAMS FROM "MARTIAL." VIII. — 35. In pesslmos conjiigcs. Cum sitis similes pare.sque vita Uxor pessima : — pessinius maritus, Miror, non bene convenire vobis. On a very had coujyle. Since so well-matched you seem to be, You, \Yorst of wives, — worst husband he, — 'Tis very odd you don't agree. IX.— 6. hi Faullam. Nubere vis Prisco : non miroi', Paulla ; sapisti. Ducere te non vult Priscus : et ille sapit. Oti (L Lady. You'd take Sir James ? You're wise, — 'tis very true. He won't propose ? He is as wise as you. XI.— 67. Nil raihi das vivus : dicis post fata daturum. Si non es stultus scis, Maro, quid cupiam. You give me nought — " wait till T am dead," you say ; If you're no fool, you know for what I pray. I.— 11. Be Gemello et Marouilld. Petit Gemellus nuptias Maronillee, Et cupit et instat et precatur et donat — 271 Adeone pulolira ost ? immo fccdius nil est. Quid ergo in ilia pelitur et placet ? Tassit. On a)i Heiresf. John is most warmly wooirg Netty, She's very far indeed from pretty, — But has one feature most alluring, Her cough is bad, beyond all curing ! X.— 8. Nubere Paulla cupit nobis : ego ducere Paullara Nolo : anus est : vellcm si magis esset anus. Paulla would wed me : I would not, 1 told her ; She ip too old : I would if she were older. VIII. —27. Ad Gaunnn. Munera qui tibi dat locuplcti, Gaure, seniquc. Si sapis et sentis, hie tibi ait " Morere." To a rich old man. Good rich old Giles, — they send you presents — why ? Don't you perceive ? they mean — " Do, prithee, die !'* III.— 8. In Cinnam. Versiculos in mq narratur scribere Cinna : Non scribit, cujus carmina nemo legit. On Cinna. Cinna writes satires on me, it is said : Pooh ! no man writes, whose writings arc not read VIII. — 4. Ad Poniilianunt. Cur non mitto meos tibi, Pontilianc, libellos ? No mihi tu mittas, Pontiliane, tuos. To a Brother Author. Why my last poem I forgot to send ? For fear you'd send me yours, — respected friend ! 272 IX.— 103. Ad Phcehimi. Quadringentorum reddis mihi, Phcebe, tabellas : Centum da potius mutua, Phoebe, mihi. Quaere alium cui te tam vano munere jactes : Quod tibi non possum solvere, Pheebe, meum est. To a Creditor. With my bond of four hundred you grandly present me, I had rather one hundred you honestly lent me ; To fools be your empty munificence shown, — What I cannot pay, sir, I count as my own. 1.— 76. De Lino. Dimidium donare Lino quam credere totum Qui mavult, — mavult perdere dimidium. Economy. Smith asks a hundred pounds on loan ; be thrifty, — Give him the half ; and then you'll save the fifty. XII.— 10. De Africano. Habet Africanus millies, tamen captat : Fortuna multis dat nimis, satis nulli. f On an African — (^Candidate for Council). With votes full ten thousand — for more still and more doth plumper importune, How often too much, — but never enough — is granted by fortune ! xii.— 81. De Callistrato. Ne laudet dignos, laudat Callistratus omnes. Cui malus est nemo, quia bonus esse potest ? John, lest he should praise the worthy, praises every man on earth, While with him no rogue is faulty — what is John's encomium worth ? 273 VTII. — 12. Ad Priscum. Uxorem quare locuplctem dacere nolim, Qaaeritis ? uxori nubere nolo mere. Inferior matrona suo sit, Priscc, marito : Non aliter fjierint foemina virque pares. Marriage. I wed the heiress ? Don't you see How she would lord it in the sequel ? The lady must the poorer be, For wife and husband to be equal. xi— 50. Jd Fahulluvi. Ignotos mihi cum voces trecentos Quare non veniam vocatus a te Miraris, quererisque, litigasque Solus cieno, FabuUe, non libenter. Apology. You are annoyed that I decline To join the crowd you've asked to dine ? They're strangers to me, — every one — And I detest to dine alone ! XL— 76. Ad Poitum. Solvere, Pcoto, decern tibi rae sestercia cogis. Perdiderit quoniam Bucco ducenta tibi. No noceant, oro, mihi non mca crimina : tu, qui Bis centena potes perdere, perde decern. To a Creditor. You've lost a hundred pounds by Smith (fe Co., And therefore dun me for the ten I owe. Why should I pay for sins of otlier men ? You who could lose the hundred, lose the ten. T 274 11.— 13. Ad 8 ex turn. Et Judex petit, ct petit patronus : Solvas censeo, Sexte, creditori. Justice at Rome. What ? Bribes to the bench and fees to the bar ? Pay the plaintiff, my friend, — 'tis cheaper by far. I.— 48. De Diaulo Medico. Nuper erat medicus, nunc est vespillo Diaulus. Quod vespillo facit, fecerat et medicus. On a Quach turned Undertaker. When Undertaker Doctor Quack became, He did not change his business — but his name. IX —16. Be Chloe. Inscripsit tumulo Septem celebrata virorum Se fecisse Chloe : quid pote simplicius ? The Disconsolate Widoio. On the tombstones o'er seven dear lords There stands graven by Chloe, the dutiful — •' Placed here by me," affectionate words ! What could be more simple and beautiful ? VII. In Catullam. Forraosissima qua? fuere, vel sunt, Sed vilissima qure fuere, vel sunt, O quam te fieri, Catulla, vellem — Formosam minus aut magis pudicam ! . ' On a hcaufiful Lady. Things lovely, lovely to remain, May not endure the slightest stain. Do pray become, fair Harriet, Less beautiful, or no coquette. 275 VII.— 90. Ad Creticum. Jactat ingequalem Matlio me fecisse libellum : Si verum est, laudat carmina no.stra Matlio. ^quales scribit libros Calvinus et Umber. -Squalls liber est, Cretice, qui malus est. Uneqaal writing, cries the last Review, I take the blame as praise and hope it true : For battles well-sustained to Tupper go, The "equal" writer's level must be low. III. — 64. Ad Cassianum. Sirenas hilarem navigantium pa3nam, Blandosque montes gaudiumque crudele, Quas nemo quondam deserebat auditas, Fallax Ulysses dicitur reliquisse. Non miror : illud, Cassiane, mirarer, Si fabulantem Canium reliquisset. On a Quidnunc. Ulysses (ancient story saith) Fled from the siren's song of death, Safely passing rock and shore, Which none had e'er escaped before. — But could he, were he living still, And in this city risked a cruise. Escape by dint of strength or skill Paul Prosy, big with "latest news " ? IX.— 10. Ad BUhynicum. Nil tibi legavit Fabius, Bithynice, cui tu Annua, si memini, millia sena dabas. Plus nulli dedit ille : ([ueri, Bithynice, noli; Annua legavit millia sena tibi. To a di.siqipoiiited Heir. Old Gripe has left you nothing, whom you sent, If I remember, fifty pounds a year ? 276 With your cfood fortune, Tngratc, bo content — Has he not left you fifty pounds a year ? VIII. — 09. In Vacerram, Miraris veteres, Vaccrra, solos Ncc laudas nisi mortuos poctas. Ignoscas petimus, Vacerra : tanti Non est ut placoam tibi, perire. To a critic. With ancient fancies in your head, You laud no poets if not dead. Excuse me, Sir, your praise ranks high — But for it I decline to die. XII.— 47. Li habentem varios mores. DiflBcilis, facilis, jucundus, acerbus es idem. Nee tecum possum vivere, nee sine te. To a capricious friend. Wayward are you and most kindly, pain at once and pleasure giving— Live with you, I vow I cannot — but without you there's no living- I.— 17. Ad Avitum. Sunt boiiix, sunt qua^dam mediocria, sunt mala plura Quae legis hie : aliter non fit, Avite, liber. On the Epigrams. You'll find few good, sfme middling, many bad ; On other terms my verses can't be had. HORACE. Sat. 1, Book 2. To some my censures of men's deeds appear Too keen and carping, needlessly severe ; — I i 277 And many swear I'm nerveless, lengthy, jjoor, Such things each fool could write a hundred score : — What shall I do to please them ? *' Cease to scrawl. " And be no more the veering public's thrall." By Jupiter, your counsel suits me quite, — But could I sleep, if once I ceased to write ? " Thrice swim the current of the broad Gariep, And drain the bowl at night, and you will sleep ; Or if you needs must write in courtly phrase, To heaven extol the matchless hero's praise." I would — but could I ? — Where the wight who'd daro To paint those armies in the battle's glare, Th' unyielding Sikhs that yield to Aliwal, The wars of India grand, — of Boomplaats small ? " Then spread before the gaping public's gaze The civic viitues of his peaceful days." I would not if I could, for heroes spurn The nauseous incense which their flatterers burn ; The voice of fawning grates on honest ears ; My strains repulsed would meet their due in sneers. " Yet better this than lash in scornful stylo Insensate scurril fools aud panders vile. All dread the stroke, and thus, expectant, hate." What shall I do then ? In our mortal state With thousand men a thousand fancies rise ; In fiery war-dance whirls Moshpsh the wise ; — 'Twin bretlireu of the self-same faith cure ills 278 With Bibles some, and some with leaden pills. "Writing's my fancy : be my model one, Whom once I knew, when my young years begun. Free, let me cringe before no man's behest, And be my words the echo of my breast ; — (If right, I scorn the hireling critics near, If wrong, 'tis human : — I have been sincere.) Thus whatsoe'er I print in peace or strife Shall be the mirror that reflects my life. " But English are you ?— Dutch ?"— Both : neither.—" How ?" The land I dwell in Dutch and English plough : — Together have they been in weal and woe, Together have they stood to breast the foe, A name of future days in time's far scope, May tell perchance the nation of '' Good Hope." But in its sheath my sword, the pen, doth rest, To guard our own., not wound a guiltless breast : 'Tis keen when fools are rampant, knaves are loud, And jugglers foist their antics on the crowd : O that in peace it might enjoy its rust, Nor needful cause arise when out it must. But there are sins, which 'b would be sin to spare, Thei'efore ye culprit fools, beware, beware ! An angry brawler threatens legal woes, A wild old hag spits venom at her foes, But worst of ills, — a vengeance-breathing judge Who to his luckless suitor owes a grudge. — No brute there lives, but can attack, defend ; Some weapon nature gave each to that end : 'Ware a wolf's fangs; with horns a Bull will gore, By instinct taught where lies his strength in war. Trust to yon spendthrift his old mother's life — " What ! mean you he will raise 'gainst her the knife ?" No ! wolves gore not, nor bites the bull to death, 279 But hear me : whether mine be gray old nge Or death flits near to snatch me from the stage, At home, in exile, rich or starving quite. Wherever fate may toss my limbs, — I'll write. " Beware ! against the great men say nought ill, One freezing glance has ample power to kill." "What, truth be gagged ? Fierce Byron erst Defied the Scotch Review to dare its worst, And scorning at such judgment seat to kneel, Urged in the public forum his appeal. Shall none tear off the hypocrite's fair skin, And show the foulness that is rank within ? Would noble Denman fume with bootless rage, If we depict a Jeffreys in our page ? And if a brawling Wilkes were held to view. Fox would have smiled and owned the portrait true. Respect the honest only : — knave and fool Shall feel the force of ruthless ridicule : Mid cheers of scorn our grave mock senate fell. And scorn shall toll each false mock patriot's knell. Though weak my strain : — I boast not Jerrold's pen, Envy will grant I've weight with honest men ; And let them seek to crush : — the Press in sooth, Will prove no dainty to a despot's tooth. " But soft, good scribbler, soft ; beware your lays, The sacred laws might seize a luckless phrase. And fine and judgment are the libel's meed." 'Gainst libels, — right, there must be laws decreed. But truth, though damning, shall as light be clear ; Before an honest judge what need I fear ? Speak truth : — then if some knave invoke the laws, He's scouted forth with scorn, — you gain your cause. TAN DE 3ANDT DE VILLIERS AND CO., PRINTERS, CAPE TOWN. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-507n-4,'61(B899484)444 DT 83^ V AA 000 997 483 3 DT W31t m. 11