by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XIII.
Full in the midst the polish'd table shines, And the bright goblets, rich with generous wines; Now each partakes the feast, the wine prepares, Portions the food, and each the portion shares; Nor till the rage of thirst and hunger ceased, To the high host approach'd the sagacious guest.
_Odyssey._
The hospitable profusion of Magnus Troil's board, the number of guestswho feasted in the hall, the much greater number of retainers,attendants, humble friends, and domestics of every possible description,who revelled without, with the multitude of the still poorer, and lesshonoured assistants, who came from every hamlet or township withintwenty miles round, to share the bounty of the munificent Udaller, weresuch as altogether astonished Triptolemus Yellowley, and made himinternally doubt whether it would be prudent in him at this time, andamid the full glow of his hospitality, to propose to the host whopresided over such a splendid banquet, a radical change in the wholecustoms and usages of his country.
True, the sagacious Triptolemus felt conscious that he possessed in hisown person wisdom far superior to that of all the assembled feasters, tosay nothing of the landlord, against whose prudence the very extent ofhis hospitality formed, in Yellowley's opinion, sufficient evidence. Butyet the Amphitryon with whom one dines, holds, for the time at least,an influence over the minds of his most distinguished guests; and if thedinner be in good style and the wines of the right quality, it ishumbling to see that neither art nor wisdom, scarce external rankitself, can assume their natural and wonted superiority over thedistributor of these good things, until coffee has been brought in.Triptolemus felt the full weight of this temporary superiority, yet hewas desirous to do something that might vindicate the vaunts he had madeto his sister and his fellow-traveller, and he stole a look at them fromtime to time, to mark whether he was not sinking in their esteem frompostponing his promised lecture on the enormities of Zetland.
But Mrs. Barbara was busily engaged in noting and registering the wasteincurred in such an entertainment as she had probably never beforelooked upon, and in admiring the host's indifference to, and the guests'absolute negligence of, those rules of civility in which her youth hadbeen brought up. The feasters desired to be helped from a dish which wasunbroken, and might have figured at supper, with as much freedom as ifit had undergone the ravages of half-a-dozen guests; and no one seemedto care--the landlord himself least of all--whether those dishes onlywere consumed, which, from their nature, were incapable ofre-appearance, or whether the assault was extended to the substantialrounds of beef, pasties, and so forth, which, by the rules of goodhousewifery, were destined to stand two attacks, and which, therefore,according to Mrs. Barbara's ideas of politeness, ought not to have beenannihilated by the guests upon the first onset, but spared, like Outisin the cave of Polyphemus, to be devoured the last. Lost in themeditations to which these breaches of convivial discipline gave rise,and in the contemplation of an ideal larder of cold meat which she couldhave saved out of the wreck of roast, boiled, and baked, sufficient tohave supplied her cupboard for at least a twelvemonth, Mrs. Barbaracared very little whether or not her brother supported in its extent thecharacter which he had calculated upon assuming.
Mordaunt Mertoun also was conversant with far other thoughts, than thosewhich regarded the proposed reformer of Zetland enormities. His seat wasbetwixt two blithe maidens of Thule, who, not taking scorn that he hadupon other occasions given preference to the daughters of the Udaller,were glad of the chance which assigned to them the attentions of sodistinguished a gallant, who, as being their squire at the feast, mightin all probability become their partner in the subsequent dance. But,whilst rendering to his fair neighbours all the usual attentions whichsociety required, Mordaunt kept up a covert, but accurate and closeobservation, upon his estranged friends, Minna and Brenda. The Udallerhimself had a share of his attention but in him he could remarknothing, except the usual tone of hearty and somewhat boisteroushospitality, with which he was accustomed to animate the banquet uponall such occasions of general festivity. But in the differing mien ofthe two maidens there was much more room for painful remark.
Captain Cleveland sat betwixt the sisters, was sedulous in hisattentions to both, and Mordaunt was so placed, that he could observeall, and hear a great deal, of what passed between them. But Cleveland'speculiar regard seemed devoted to the elder sister. Of this the youngerwas perhaps conscious, for more than once her eye glanced towardsMordaunt, and, as he thought, with something in it which resembledregret for the interruption of their intercourse, and a sad remembranceof former and more friendly times; while Minna was exclusively engrossedby the attentions of her neighbour; and that it should be so, filledMordaunt with surprise and resentment.
Minna, the serious, the prudent, the reserved, whose countenance andmanners indicated so much elevation of character--Minna, the lover ofsolitude, and of those paths of knowledge in which men walk best withoutcompany--the enemy of light mirth, the friend of musing melancholy, andthe frequenter of fountain-heads and pathless glens--she whose characterseemed, in short, the very reverse of that which might be captivated bythe bold, coarse, and daring gallantry of such a man as this CaptainCleveland, gave, nevertheless, her eye and ear to him, as he sat besideher at table, with an interest and a graciousness of attention, which,to Mordaunt, who well knew how to judge of her feelings by her manner,intimated a degree of the highest favour. He observed this, and hisheart rose against the favourite by whom he had been thus superseded, aswell as against Minna's indiscreet departure from her own character.
"What is there about the man," he said within himself, "more than thebold and daring assumption of importance which is derived from successin petty enterprises, and the exercise of petty despotism over a ship'screw?--His very language is more professional than is used by thesuperior officers of the British navy; and the wit which has excited somany smiles, seems to me such as Minna would not formerly have enduredfor an instant. Even Brenda seems less taken with his gallantry thanMinna, whom it should have suited so little."
Mordaunt was doubly mistaken in these his angry speculations. In thefirst place, with an eye which was, in some respects, that of a rival,he criticised far too severely the manners and behaviour of CaptainCleveland. They were unpolished, certainly; which was of the lessconsequence in a country inhabited by so plain and simple a race as theancient Zetlanders. On the other hand, there was an open, navalfrankness in Cleveland's bearing--much natural shrewdness--someappropriate humour--an undoubting confidence in himself--and thatenterprising hardihood of disposition, which, without any otherrecommendable quality, very often leads to success with the fair sex.But Mordaunt was farther mistaken, in supposing that Cleveland waslikely to be disagreeable to Minna Troil, on account of the oppositionof their characters in so many material particulars. Had his knowledgeof the world been a little more extensive, he might have observed, thatas unions are often formed betwixt couples differing in complexion andstature, they take place still more frequently betwixt persons totallydiffering in feelings, in taste, in pursuits, and in understanding; andit would not be saying, perhaps, too much, to aver, that two-thirds ofthe marriages around us have been contracted betwixt persons, who,judging _a priori_, we should have thought had scarce any charms foreach other.
A moral and primary cause might be easily assigned for these anomalies,in the wise dispensations of Providence, that the general balance ofwit, wisdom, and amiable qualities of all kinds, should be kept upthrough society at large. For, what a world were it, if the wise were tointermarry only with the wise, the learned with the learned, the amiablewith the amiable, nay, even the handsome with the handsome? and, is itnot evident, that the degraded castes of the foolish, the ignorant, thebrutal, and the deformed, (comprehending, by the way, far the greaterportion of mankind,) must, when condemned to exclusive intercourse witheach other, become gradually as much brutalized in person anddisposition as so many ourang-outangs? When, therefo
re, we see the"gentle joined to the rude," we may lament the fate of the sufferingindividual, but we must not the less admire the mysterious dispositionof that wise Providence which thus balances the moral good and evil oflife;--which secures for a family, unhappy in the dispositions of oneparent, a share of better and sweeter blood, transmitted from the other,and preserves to the offspring the affectionate care and protection ofat least one of those from whom it is naturally due. Without thefrequent occurrence of such alliances and unions--mis-sorted as theyseem at first sight--the world could not be that for which EternalWisdom has designed it--a place of mixed good and evil--a place of trialat once, and of suffering, where even the worst ills are checkered withsomething that renders them tolerable to humble and patient minds, andwhere the best blessings carry with them a necessary alloy ofembittering depreciation.
When, indeed, we look a little closer on the causes of those unexpectedand ill-suited attachments, we have occasion to acknowledge, that themeans by which they are produced do not infer that complete departurefrom, or inconsistency with, the character of the parties, which wemight expect when the result alone is contemplated. The wise purposeswhich Providence appears to have had in view, by permitting suchintermixture of dispositions, tempers, and understandings, in themarried state, are not accomplished by any mysterious impulse by which,in contradiction to the ordinary laws of nature, men or women are urgedto an union with those whom the world see to be unsuitable to them. Thefreedom of will is permitted to us in the occurrences of ordinary life,as in our moral conduct; and in the former as well as the latter case,is often the means of misguiding those who possess it. Thus it usuallyhappens, more especially to the enthusiastic and imaginative, that,having formed a picture of admiration in their own mind, they too oftendeceive themselves by some faint resemblance in some existing being,whom their fancy, as speedily as gratuitously, invests with all theattributes necessary to complete the _beau ideal_ of mental perfection.No one, perhaps, even in the happiest marriage, with an object reallybeloved, ever discovered by experience all the qualities he expected topossess; but in far too many cases, he finds he has practised a muchhigher degree of mental deception, and has erected his airy castle offelicity upon some rainbow, which owed its very existence only to thepeculiar state of the atmosphere.
Thus, Mordaunt, if better acquainted with life, and with the course ofhuman things, would have been little surprised that such a man asCleveland, handsome, bold, and animated,--a man who had obviously livedin danger, and who spoke of it as sport, should have been invested, by agirl of Minna's fanciful disposition, with an extensive share of thosequalities, which, in her active imagination, were held to fill up theaccomplishments of a heroic character. The plain bluntness of hismanner, if remote from courtesy, appeared at least as widely differentfrom deceit; and, unfashioned as he seemed by forms, he had enough bothof natural sense, and natural good-breeding, to support the delusion hehad created, at least as far as externals were concerned. It is scarcenecessary to add, that these observations apply exclusively to what arecalled love-matches; for when either party fix their attachment upon thesubstantial comforts of a rental, or a jointure, they cannot bedisappointed in the acquisition, although they may be cruelly so intheir over-estimation of the happiness it was to afford, or in havingtoo slightly anticipated the disadvantages with which it was to beattended.
Having a certain partiality for the dark Beauty whom we have described,we have willingly dedicated this digression, in order to account for aline of conduct which we allow to seem absolutely unnatural in such anarrative as the present, though the most common event in ordinary life;namely, in Minna's appearing to have over-estimated the taste, talent,and ability of a handsome young man, who was dedicating to her his wholetime and attention, and whose homage rendered her the envy of almost allthe other young women of that numerous party. Perhaps, if our fairreaders will take the trouble to consult their own bosoms, they will bedisposed to allow, that the distinguished good taste exhibited by anyindividual, who, when his attentions would be agreeable to a wholecircle of rivals, selects _one_ as their individual object, entitleshim, on the footing of reciprocity, if on no other, to a large share ofthat individual's favourable, and even partial, esteem. At any rate, ifthe character shall, after all, be deemed inconsistent and unnatural, itconcerns not us, who record the facts as we find them, and pretend noprivilege for bringing closer to nature those incidents which may seemto diverge from it; or for reducing to consistence that mostinconsistent of all created things--the heart of a beautiful and admiredfemale.
Necessity, which teaches all the liberal arts, can render us also adeptsin dissimulation and Mordaunt, though a novice, failed not to profit inher school. It was manifest, that, in order to observe the demeanour ofthose on whom his attention was fixed, he must needs put constraint onhis own, and appear, at least, so much engaged with the damsels betwixtwhom he sat, that Minna and Brenda should suppose him indifferent towhat was passing around him. The ready cheerfulness of Maddie and ClaraGroatsettars, who were esteemed considerable fortunes in the island, andwere at this moment too happy in feeling themselves seated somewhatbeyond the sphere of vigilance influenced by their aunt, the good oldLady Glowrowrum, met and requited the attempts which Mordaunt made to belively and entertaining; and they were soon engaged in a gayconversation, to which, as usual on such occasions, the gentlemancontributed wit, or what passes for such, and the ladies their promptlaughter and liberal applause. But, amidst this seeming mirth, Mordauntfailed not, from time to time, as covertly as he might, to observe theconduct of the two daughters of Magnus; and still it appeared as if theelder, wrapt up in the conversation of Cleveland, did not cast away athought on the rest of the company; and as if Brenda, more openly as sheconceived his attention withdrawn from her, looked with an expressionboth anxious and melancholy towards the group of which he himself formeda part. He was much moved by the diffidence, as well as the trouble,which her looks seemed to convey, and tacitly formed the resolution ofseeking a more full explanation with her in the course of the evening.Norna, he remembered, had stated that these two amiable young women werein danger, the nature of which she left unexplained, but which hesuspected to arise out of their mistaking the character of this daringand all-engrossing stranger; and he secretly resolved, that, ifpossible, he would be the means of detecting Cleveland, and of savinghis early friends.
As he revolved these thoughts, his attention to the Miss Groatsettarsgradually diminished, and perhaps he might altogether have forgotten thenecessity of his appearing an uninterested spectator of what waspassing, had not the signal been given for the ladies retiring fromtable. Minna, with a native grace, and somewhat of stateliness in hermanner, bent her head to the company in general, with a kinder and moreparticular expression as her eye reached Cleveland. Brenda, with theblush which attended her slightest personal exertion when exposed to theeyes of others, hurried through the same departing salutation with anembarrassment which almost amounted to awkwardness, but which her youthand timidity rendered at once natural and interesting. Again Mordauntthought that her eye distinguished him amidst the numerous company. Forthe first time he ventured to encounter and to return the glance; andthe consciousness that he had done so doubled the glow of Brenda'scountenance, while something resembling displeasure was blended with heremotion.
When the ladies had retired, the men betook themselves to the deep andserious drinking, which, according to the fashion of the times, precededthe evening exercise of the dance. Old Magnus himself, by precept andexample, exhorted them "to make the best use of their time, since theladies would soon summon them to shake their feet." At the same timegiving the signal to a grey-headed domestic, who stood behind him in thedress of a Dantzic skipper, and who added to many other occupations thatof butler, "Eric Scambester," he said, "has the good ship the JollyMariner of Canton, got her cargo on board?"
"Chokeful loaded," answered the Ganymede of Burgh-Westra, "with goodNantz, Jamaica sugar, Portugal lemons, not to mention nu
tmeg and toast,and water taken in from the Shellicoat spring."
Loud and long laughed the guests at this stated and regular jest betwixtthe Udaller and his butler, which always served as a preface to theintroduction of a punch-bowl of enormous size, the gift of the captainof one of the Honourable East India Company's vessels, which, bound fromChina homeward, had been driven north-about by stress of weather intoLerwick-bay, and had there contrived to get rid of part of the cargo,without very scrupulously reckoning for the King's duties.
Magnus Troil, having been a large customer, besides otherwise obligingCaptain Coolie, had been remunerated, on the departure of the ship, withthis splendid vehicle of conviviality, at the very sight of which, asold Eric Scambester bent under its weight, a murmur of applause ranthrough the company. The good old toasts dedicated to the prosperity ofZetland, were then honoured with flowing bumpers. "Death to the headthat never wears hair!" was a sentiment quaffed to the success of thefishing, as proposed by the sonorous voice of the Udaller. Claud Halcroproposed with general applause, "The health of their worthy landmaster,the sweet sister meat-mistresses; health to man, death to fish, andgrowth to the produce of the ground." The same recurring sentiment wasproposed more concisely by a whiteheaded compeer of Magnus Troil, in thewords, "God open the mouth of the grey fish, and keep his hand about thecorn!"[40]
Full opportunity was afforded to all to honour these interesting toasts.Those nearest the capacious Mediterranean of punch, were accommodated bythe Udaller with their portions, dispensed in huge rummer glasses by hisown hospitable hand, whilst they who sat at a greater distancereplenished their cups by means of a rich silver flagon, facetiouslycalled the Pinnace; which, filled occasionally at the bowl, served todispense its liquid treasures to the more remote parts of the table, andoccasioned many right merry jests on its frequent voyages. The commerceof the Zetlanders with foreign vessels, and homeward-bound WestIndiamen, had early served to introduce among them the general use ofthe generous beverage, with which the Jolly Mariner of Canton wasloaded; nor was there a man in the archipelago of Thule more skilled incombining its rich ingredients, than old Eric Scambester, who indeed wasknown far and wide through the isles by the name of the Punch-maker,after the fashion of the ancient Norwegians, who conferred on Rollo theWalker, and other heroes of their strain, epithets expressive of thefeats of strength or dexterity in which they excelled all other men.
The good liquor was not slow in performing its office of exhilaration,and, as the revel advanced, some ancient Norse drinking-songs were sungwith great effect by the guests, tending to show, that if, from want ofexercise, the martial virtues of their ancestors had decayed among theZetlanders, they could still actively and intensely enjoy so much of thepleasures of Valhalla as consisted in quaffing the oceans of mead andbrown ale, which were promised by Odin to those who should share hisScandinavian paradise. At length, excited by the cup and song, thediffident grew bold, and the modest loquacious--all became desirous oftalking, and none were willing to listen--each man mounted his ownspecial hobby-horse, and began eagerly to call on his neighbours towitness his agility. Amongst others, the little bard, who had now gotnext to our friend Mordaunt Mertoun, evinced a positive determination tocommence and conclude, in all its longitude and latitude, the story ofhis introduction to glorious John Dryden; and Triptolemus Yellowley, ashis spirits arose, shaking off a feeling of involuntary awe, with whichhe was impressed by the opulence indicated in all he saw around him, aswell as by the respect paid to Magnus Troil by the assembled guests,began to broach, to the astonished and somewhat offended Udaller, someof those projects for ameliorating the islands, which he had boasted ofto his fellow-travellers upon their journey of the morning.
But the innovations which he suggested, and the reception which they metwith at the hand of Magnus Troil, must be told in the next Chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[40] See Hibbert's Description of the Zetland Islands, p. 470.
