The Prime Minister
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the Court, when she wasto be introduced to the royal family, so that there was little timeafforded her for thought or meditation; indeed, very little would haveturned the scale, and made her accept the count at once; but she soughtto put off the day, which she knew must seal her misery, till the end ofthe period allowed her.
The only person who appeared to be an indifferent spectator of what wastaking place, was the father confessor, Padre Alfonzo: he merely kepthis gaze fixed on her, with an ominous frown on his brow, whenever thecount was engaged in conversation with her; and his was, perhaps, theonly eye beneath which the glance of the young noble cowered.
A few days before the end of the month, the confessor encountered thefidalgo alone: it was towards the close of the evening, as he was pacinga long gallery of the palace, hung with the grim portraits of some ofhis ancestors, who were those likewise of the marchioness.
"Your daughter appears inclined to obey your wishes," said the Priest."But if not, you remember your vow to our holy Church; and let yourheart be steeled, and your honour unsullied, as was that of your noblepredecessors. Let me feel confident that your wife's dying request maybe fulfilled, and again swear, that as long as the count urges his suitto your daughter, she shall accept him, or become the bride of Heaven."
"Father, I have already said so, and I again swear, that she shall marrythe man I choose, or assume the veil," exclaimed the Fidalgo.
"I am satisfied," said the Priest.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
Volume 2, Chapter I.
In painting a true picture of times and events, we must introduce amongour figures the wealthy and great, the wicked, the wretched, and theindigent, or we should present no true likeness of the world as itexists; but we must also beg leave to bring forward a personage who wascertainly not wealthy or great; who vowed that he was not wicked, for heperformed his duty to God and man; who was not wretched, for he wassinging all day long; while he declared that he could not be indigent,for he possessed abundance to supply all his wants, though, fortunatelyfor himself, they were very few.
This personage was a cobbler. Now, it is a curious fact, which no onewill venture to dispute, that, from the time of the cobbler who tackedthe bits of Ali Baba's brother together, as mentioned in the authentichistory of the Forty Thieves--with which we trust all our readers areacquainted--to the days of the celebrated cobbler who lived in a stall,"which served him for parlour, and kitchen, and hall," cobblers haveborne a strong similarity to each other, with distinctive qualitiesseparating them from other men, as can be proved by the above andnumerous other instances, both in all countries and all ages.
In England, a tailor is looked upon, not only as inferior to other men,but actually to be of no more consideration than the ninth part of aman: now, in Portugal, the same unjust sort of prejudice exists againstshoemakers; consequently, cobblers are considered utterly below allnotice.
Our cobbler, however, did not care one iota for the opinions of people,whom, in his sleeve, he despised and ridiculed: "For," said he, when hehad collected a small knot of attentive listeners, "if, in England, as Ihear, they laugh at a tailor, and esteem a cobbler, and here they honoura tailor and despise a cobbler; while in France, for what I know to thecontrary, they may admire both, and not think much of a hat-maker; andif, in this country, no man will carry a load, while our next doorneighbours come on purpose so to do, I should very much like to know whois in the right, and who in the wrong, and which trade is reallyderogatory to the dignity of man? Mark another absurdity--how differentnations and people despise each other, when one may not be at allsuperior to the other. When Jerusalem was a city of the Jews, I shouldlike to know who would have dared walk into it and scoff at a manbecause he was a Jew? Here every one reviles that people. If a Turkcomes here, he is stared at as a savage and a heathen; and if aChristian goes to Turkey, he is called an unbeliever and a barbarian--now which is right, and which is wrong? Why should I, therefore, putmyself out of my way to follow any other trade than the one I like? Ichoose to be a cobbler: it suits my taste. I can talk, sing, ormeditate at pleasure, while I mend shoes. What fools men are! Thestatesman thinks no one so wise as himself; the lawyer considers thesoldier only fit food for powder; while the latter despises thepeaceable merchant; the merchant looks upon all in trade as beneath him;and he who deals in silks thinks himself infinitely superior to thevendor of leather; while they all join in despising the cobbler. Whatfools, what fools men are! Why, I laugh at them," he would say, as hewound up his discourse, at the same time indulging in a low, quietchuckle. These observations very much edified and pleased his auditors,who, being of about the same rank in society as he appeared, felt thatsuch sentiments were their own; adding, on their parts, that alldistinction of classes was a most unjust arrangement. They would thenbegin to discuss among themselves, whether they were not as well able togovern the state as those who actually held the reins. When they got tothis point the cobbler laughed at them. He was fond of laughing atpeople who talked nonsense. He thus laughed, in turn, at the greaterpart of the world.
While we have been giving this long account of the character and sayingsof the cobbler, we entirely overlooked the main points to be described;namely, his outward appearance, and when and where he lived. Ourreaders, we dare say, expect to hear that he was an odd, little, crookedold fellow, with a dirty face and unshorn locks; but we can assure themhistory informs us, on the contrary, that he was once young--nor was henow old; that he was well-made, and when he drew himself up, his heightwas respectable; that when his work was done, and he had shaved andwashed, his face was as clean as that of any of his very numerousacquaintance. From this description, it may be deduced, that hisappearance was in his favour; his colour was dark, his eyes werepiercing and jetty black, as was his hair, and that he had fine teeth,and a long nose, rather hooked. Some, indeed, hinted that he was a Jew;but, being a strong athletic fellow, with his long sharp leather-knifeby his side, none dared call him so to his face; besides, he wasconstant at his devotions, and a regular attendant at all religiousceremonies; none more devoutly kneeling and crossing themselves when themysterious and sublime Host passed by, borne under a rich canopy, in thehands of a venerable priest, accompanied by monks and choristerschanting forth hymns of praise, and preceded by some pious persontinkling a bell, to give notice of its approach, that all, uncovered,might bend in adoration.
No one knew exactly whence he came; but, a short time previous to theevents we have related in the former part of this history, he made hisappearance one morning with his stock in trade on his back, andestablished himself in a deep recess in the wall of a large house,directly facing the entrance to the palace of the Duke of Aveiro. Heset down his stool, threw a bundle of leather on one side, theimplements of his craft on the other, with a few old shoes, put hislapstone on his knees, and began working away as if he had lived thereall his life.
He soon made friends with the servants of the palace: he mended thefootmen's shoes, charging them less, and doing the work better, than anyone else could have done; and next, one by one, the women brought outtheir slippers or sandals; and for each he had a smile and a compliment,or a piece of wit, in readiness: sometimes a moral reflection, if thebeauties of the dame he addressed had become faded by years, and if hehad observed her kissing with greater fervour the little images ofsaints brought round from the churches, or more constant in herattendance at mass than others. If the lady was young, with sparklingblack eyes, he knew exactly how to bestow his praise, and, at allevents, their feet were a sure subject for compliment. Considering thesmall sums he charged, they could not but wait to pay him with a littlechat, while he was putting the last stitch or so into his work; for,come when they would, so it was that a few minutes' work always remainedto be completed; and, as they did not complain, he did not correct hisfault, being thus enabled, in a quiet, confidential way, to learn allthat was going forward in the establishment. What he learned will bedetailed in the course of this history.
We h
ave said that he had taken up his abode in a recess in the wall of ahouse opposite the palace; but we do not wish to describe the house asfacing the palace, for it looked into a street running at right anglesto it; the recess being part of a doorway in the garden-wall, nowstopped up. This house was inhabited by a very rich merchant and hisfamily, most exemplary Catholics, who set a lesson of piety to thecommunity by their regular observance of all the ordinances of theChurch, and by their fastings and alms: yet, notwithstanding this,people dared to point the finger of scorn at them, stigmatising them asJews and heretics, and longing to show their zeal for religion byoffering them up in that grateful sacrifice to the benign power, themost holy Auto da Fe--thus to become sharers in their hoarded riches.Whatever were their own private notions regarding the established faith,they certainly suffered under the inabilities of the New Christians, asthose were called who had Jewish or even