CHAPTER XXIV.
NEWS FROM ITALY.
The Count's difficulties did not seem to diminish as the year advanced.Money grew scarcer and scarcer, till it was only by pledging his personalcredit to the merchants of Londinium and other towns in Britain that hewas able to find the pay for the crews of his little squadron. His credithappily was still good, a character of twenty years without a singlesuspicion on his integrity standing him in good stead. Then a disasterhappened to one of the few ships that he had retained. After a fierceencounter with a Saxon galley, in which its crew had been much weakened,it had been caught in a storm and driven on the deadly western shore ofthe island, still dreaded under the name of the Needles by those whonavigate the Channel. The ship became a complete wreck and only a smallportion of the crew escaped with their lives, all the disabled men beinglost.
But the Count's chief perplexities were within rather than without. Formore than twenty years he had yielded an unquestioning obedience to theauthorities at home. It is true that very little had been demanded of him.He had been given a free hand, and left to do his duty with very littleinterference, if with very little help. But now in the news of Stilicho'sdeath his loyalty had received a tremendous shock. How was he to bearhimself to a ruler who was capable of committing so great a crime? True,he knew enough of the Emperor to be sure that he was only a tool in thehands of others, but this did not make the matter one whit better. Suchtools are often more mischievous than men who are actively wicked. Whatthen was he to do? Should he join the usurper Constantine, of whoseastonishing success in Gaul and Spain he had heard the most glowingreports? His pride forbad it--an AElius doing homage to a man who but twelvemonths before had been a private soldier! The thought was impossible.Should he retire into private life? But would not that be to shirk hisduty, not to mention the fact that to retire is the one thing which introubled times a man in a conspicuous position cannot do. One thing,indeed, was evident--that a decision would have to be made speedily. Hisposition was rapidly becoming untenable, and he would have to make up hismind, without much delay, as to the best way of getting out of it. In theend it happened to him as it happens to so many of us, that his mind wasmade up for him.
One day, towards the end of August, he was about to seek in a day's sporta little relief from his many cares. It was still about four hours tonoon, and he was sitting under a cherry tree (one of his own planting) inthe villa garden, and sharing a slight meal of milk and wheaten cakes withhis daughter and Carna, both of whom he had persuaded to accompany him. Ayoung Briton stood by holding in a leash a couple of dogs very much likethe greyhounds of our own times; another carried a bow and a quiver; athird had a game bag of leather, with a netted front, slung across hisshoulders.
The sailing-master of one of the galleys approached and saluted.
"There is a galley," he said, "coming up the Haven, and I thought that youshould know at once, since it seems to have something of importance onboard."
"What makes you think so?" said the Count.
"I have been watching it for the last hour," said the man. "At first Ithought it was a little trading vessel; but I noticed that as soon as itentered the Haven it hoisted the Labarum."(53)
"The Labarum!" exclaimed the Count; "I have not seen that flying from anymast but my own for a year past. Well, that ought to mean something."
It was the etiquette to go as far as was possible to meet an Imperialmessenger, just as a host receives a very distinguished guest on hisdoor-step, and the Count, after hastily exchanging his hunting-dress for atoga, went to the little pier at which the galley would land itspassenger. He had not to wait many minutes before it arrived, and ahandsome young man, with a short military cloak over his traveller'sdress, leapt lightly ashore. The Count saluted. The stranger, who was fora time the representative of the Emperor, received the greeting with thedignified gesture of a superior.
"Do I address Lucius AElius, Count of the Saxon Shore?" he asked.
"I am he," the Count briefly replied.
"I bring the commands of Augustus," said the messenger, producing from apocket in his tunic a vellum roll, bound with a broad purple cord, andbearing the Imperial seal.
The Count received the missive with a profound inclination, and put it tohis lips. At the same time the messenger uncovered, and changed hishaughty demeanour for the behaviour usual to a young officer in thepresence of his superior.
"It will be more respectful and more convenient to read his Majesty'sgracious communication in private. Will you please come with me to myhouse?"
He led the way to the villa, and introduced the visitor into the littleroom which he used for the transaction of business. He then cut with hisdagger the purple cord which fastened the package containing the despatch,and, after again putting the document to his lips, proceeded to read it.Its contents were seemingly not agreeable, for his face darkened as hewent on. He made no remark, however, beyond simply asking the messenger--
"May I presume that you have a general acquaintance with the contents ofthis document?"
"I have," replied the young man.
"Then you will know that the answer is not one which can be given in amoment. But," and he went on with a rapid change of voice and manner,"_cras seria_.(54) I was just on the point of going out for a few hours'hunting when your arrival was announced. Will you come with me? I havenothing very great to show you, though we have some big game here too, ifwe had time to look for it, but if you will condescend to anything sosmall as hare-hunting, I can show you some sport."
The Imperial messenger was an Italian of the north of the Peninsula, whohad been fond of following the chase on the slopes of the Apennines beforechance had made him a courtier. He accepted the invitation with pleasure,and the party made the best of their way to the high ground now known asArreton Downs.
"Ah!" said the Count, as he pointed northward to where the great AnderidaForest(55) might be seen stretching far beyond the range of sight, "thereis the place for sport; a wilder country I have never seen, no, nor finergame. There are wild boars of which I have never seen the like in Italy,no, nor in the Hercynian Wood(56) itself, where I used to hunt years ago.Last year I killed one which measured six feet from snout to tail. Thereare wolves, too, and bears, and wild oxen; splendid fellows these last, asfierce as lions, and almost as big as elephants. But to-day we must becontent with humbler sport."
This humbler game, however, afforded plenty of amusement, and theyreturned with a bag of eight fine hares--a very fair burden for the carrierof the game-bag--and an excellent appetite for dinner.
The meal, to which the Count had invited the captains of his galleys andthe principal persons in the little colony which was now gathered aboutthe villa, passed off very well. The young Italian was loud in his praisesof everything. "Your oysters," he said, "all the world knows, but some ofyour other dishes are a surprise. The turbot, for instance, howincomparably superior to the flabby and tasteless things which they bringus from our own coasts. The colder water of the seas is, I suppose, thecause. The hares, too, how fine and fleshy! You seem to be amazingly welloff in the way of food in this corner of the world."
"Ah!" said the Count, with a sigh, "we should do very well, if the rest ofthe world would only leave us alone. But our neighbours cannot be contentwithout a share of some of our good things, and they have a very rough anddisagreeable way of asking for it."
The speaker went on to draw for the benefit of his guest a vivid pictureof the trouble which the Saxons were giving by sea and the Picts by land,till the Italian exclaimed--
"Ah! I see that you too have your disagreeables. I began to think thatthis was a land of peace and plenty, where one might find a pleasantrefuge. But these barbarians, in one shape or another, are everywhere. Weare fallen upon evil times indeed."
"Yes," said the Count, "evil times, and no one knows how to deal withthem; and if God does send us a capable man, we treat him as if he were anenemy."
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br /> When the tables had been cleared, the Count rose and proposed the toast ofthe Emperor's health; but he did this without a single word of compliment,a significant omission that did not fail to attract the attention of allwho were present. He then proceeded, and again without any preface, toread to the company the despatch which had been put into his hands the daybefore. It ran thus:
"_Flavius Honorius Augustus to the faithful and valiant Lucius AElius,Count of the Saxon Shore, greeting._
"_Our Imperial care for the dominions, which by Divine Providence havebeen committed to our trust, bids us combine the safety of the seat of ourgovernment with the welfare of the provinces. For, seeing that these aremutually related, as are the head and the limbs in the body of man, it ismanifest that neither can prosper without the other. Our well-beloved andfaithful province of Britain has now for many generations been protectedby our invincible legions and fleets. But even as there comes a time whenthe most careful fathers judge it to be not only needless but even harmfulto keep their children in dependence upon themselves, so do we now judgethat our province may now with great advantage, not only to us--for of thiswe think little--but also to itself, defend itself __with its ownresources. We charge you, therefore, our well-beloved and faithful AElius,as having supreme command of the fleets of the said province of Britain,to withdraw them as soon as you conveniently may, but not without leavingour loyal subjects the assurance of our fatherly love and of the unfailingprotection of our majesty. The Ever-Blessed Trinity keep and prosper bothyou and all that are committed to your charge. Given at Ravenna, thetwelfth day before the Kalends of August,_(_57_)_ in the year of our Lord408, and the fifteenth year of our reign._"
The Count receiving the letter of Honorius.]
The reading of the despatch was followed by a dead silence. Every one hadfelt for some time that the present state of affairs could not last. Onlya man of the vigorous character of the Count, and having long years ofexcellent service to fall back upon, could have maintained it so long, butit was impossible not to see that it must soon end. A solitary commander,without resources or support, could not maintain himself on the remotestborders of the Empire. Yet to know that the moment for the change had comewas disturbing. The fleet, reduced as it had been to a petty squadron, wasstill, while it remained, the symbol of Imperial power, and seemed to beworth more in the way of protection than it really was. When this waswithdrawn, Britain would be really left to itself; and this prospect,however it might be regarded elsewhere, was not agreeable to any one ofthe Count's guests.
The Count was the first to break the silence. "This," he said, "ismanifestly a matter that calls for serious thought. Let us postpone ittill to-morrow, and for the present turn ourselves to matters moresuitable for a festive occasion. Perhaps my friend Claudian will give usthe recitation of something with which he has already charmed the ears ofour fellow-countrymen elsewhere."
The poet, not more reluctant than his brother-countryman to exhibit hisgenius, at once signified his willingness to comply with this request, andgave a recitation from an unfinished poem which he had then in hand. Wemay give a specimen, put into the best English that we can command--
"The elemental order there she drew, And Jove's high dwellings; there you saw The needle tell how ancient Chaos grew To harmony and law;
"How Nature set in order due and rank Her atoms, raised the light on high, And to the middle place the weightier sank; There lustrous shone the sky,
"The heavens were pink with flame, the ocean rolled, The great world hung in mid suspense. Each was of diverse hue; she worked in gold The starry fires intense,
"Bade ocean flow in purple, and the shore With gems upraised. Divinely wrought, The threads embossed to swelling billows bore Strange likeness; you had thought
"They dashed the seaweed on the rocks, or crept Hoarse murmuring thro' the thirsty sands. Five zones, she added. In mid place she kept With red distinct the lands
"Leaguered with burnings; all the region showed Scorched into blackness, and the thread Dry as with sunshine that eternal glowed; On either hand were spread
"The realms of life, lapt in a milder breath Kindly to men; and next appear, On this extreme and that, dull lands of death: She made them dark and drear
"With year-long frost, and saddened all the hue With endless winter; last she showed What seats her sire's grim brother holds; nor knew The fated dark abode."(58)
The Count of the Saxon Shore; or The Villa in Vectis. Page 26
