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burlesques-第3章

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when History fortifies endurance: and past study renders present

deprivation more bearable。  If our pecuniary resources be exiguous;

let our resolution; Dick; supply the deficiencies of Fortune。  The

muffin we desire to…day would little benefit us to…morrow。  Poor

and hungry as we are; are we less happy; Dick; than yon listless

voluptuary who banquets on the food which you covet?〃



And the two lads turned away up Waterloo Place; and past the

〃Parthenon〃 Club…house; and disappeared to take a meal of cow…heel

at a neighboring cook's shop。  Their names were Samuel Johnson and

Richard Savage。



Meanwhile the conversation at Button's was fast and brilliant。  〃By

Wood's thirteens; and the divvle go wid 'em;〃 cried the Church

dignitary in the cassock; 〃is it in blue and goold ye are this

morning; Sir Richard; when you ought to be in seebles?〃



〃Who's dead; Dean?〃 said the nobleman; the dean's companion。



〃Faix; mee Lard Bolingbroke; as sure as mee name's Jonathan Swift

and I'm not so sure of that neither; for who knows his father's

name?there's been a mighty cruel murther committed entirely。  A

child of Dick Steele's has been barbarously slain; dthrawn; and

quarthered; and it's Joe Addison yondther has done it。  Ye should

have killed one of your own; Joe; ye thief of the world。〃



〃I!〃 said the amazed and Right Honorable Joseph Addison; 〃I kill

Dick's child!  I was godfather to the last。〃



〃And promised a cup and never sent it;〃 Dick ejaculated。  Joseph

looked grave。



〃The child I mean is Sir Roger de Coverley; Knight and Baronet。

What made ye kill him; ye savage Mohock?  The whole town is in

tears about the good knight; all the ladies at Church this

afternoon were in mourning; all the booksellers are wild; and

Lintot says not a third of the copies of the Spectator are sold

since the death of the brave old gentleman。〃  And the Dean of St。

Patrick's pulled out the Spectator newspaper; containing the well…

known passage regarding Sir Roger's death。  〃I bought it but now in

'Wellington Street;'〃 he said; 〃the newsboys were howling all down

the Strand。〃



〃What a miracle is GeniusGenius; the Divine and Beautiful;〃 said

a gentleman leaning against the same fireplace with the deformed

cavalier in iron…gray; and addressing that individual; who was in

fact Mr。 Alexander Pope。  〃What a marvellous gift is this; and

royal privilege of Art!  To make the Ideal more credible than the

Actual: to enchain our hearts; to command our hopes; our regrets;

our tears; for a mere brain…born Emanation: to invest with life the

Incorporeal; and to glamour the cloudy into substance;these are

the lofty privileges of the Poet; if I have read poesy aright; and

I am as familiar with the sounds that rang from Homer's lyre; as

with the strains which celebrate the loss of Belinda's lovely

locks〃(Mr。 Pope blushed and bowed; highly delighted)〃these; I

say; sir; are the privileges of the Poetthe Poietesthe Maker

he moves the world; and asks no lever; if he cannot charm death

into life; as Orpheus feigned to do; he can create Beauty out of

Nought; and defy Death by rendering Thought Eternal。  Ho! Jemmy;

another flask of Nantz。〃



And the boyfor he who addressed the most brilliant company of

wits in Europe was little moreemptied the contents of the brandy…

flask into a silver flagon; and quaffed it gayly to the health of

the company assembled。  'Twas the third he had taken during the

sitting。  Presently; and with a graceful salute to the Society; he

quitted the coffee…house; and was seen cantering on a magnificent

Arab past the National Gallery。



〃Who is yon spark in blue and silver?  He beats Joe Addison

himself; in drinking;; and pious Joe is the greatest toper in the

three kingdoms;〃 Dick Steele said; good…naturedly。



〃His paper in the Spectator beats thy best; Dick; thou sluggard;〃

the Right Honorable Mr。 Addison exclaimed。  〃He is the author of

that famous No。 996; for which you have all been giving me the

credit。〃



〃The rascal foiled me at capping verses;〃 Dean Swift said; 〃and won

a tenpenny piece of me; plague take him!〃



〃He has suggested an emendation in my 'Homer;' which proves him a

delicate scholar;〃 Mr。 Pope exclaimed。



〃He knows more of the French king than any man I have met with; and

we must have an eye upon him;〃 said Lord Bolingbroke; then

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and beckoning a suspicious…

looking person who was drinking at a side…table; whispered to him

something。



Meantime who was he? where was he; this youth who had struck all

the wits of London with admiration?  His galloping charger had

returned to the City; his splendid court…suit was doffed for the

citizen's gabardine and grocer's humble apron。



George de Barnwell was in Chepein Chepe; at the feet of Martha

Millwood。





VOL III。



THE CONDEMNED CELL。





〃Quid me mollibus implicas lacertis; my Elinor?  Nay;〃 George

added; a faint smile illumining his wan but noble features; 〃why

speak to thee in the accents of the Roman poet; which thou

comprehendest not?  Bright One; there be other things in Life; in

Nature; in this Inscrutable Labyrinth; this Heart on which thou

leanest; which are equally unintelligible to thee!  Yes; my pretty

one; what is the Unintelligible but the Ideal? what is the Ideal

but the Beautiful? what the Beautiful but the Eternal?  And the

Spirit of Man that would commune with these is like Him who wanders

by the thina poluphloisboio thalasses; and shrinks awe…struck

before that Azure Mystery。〃



Emily's eyes filled with fresh…gushing dew。  〃Speak on; speak ever

thus; my George;〃 she exclaimed。  Barnwell's chains rattled as the

confiding girl clung to him。  Even Snoggin; the turnkey appointed

to sit with the Prisoner; was affected by his noble and appropriate

language; and also burst into tears。



〃You weep; my Snoggin;〃 the Boy said; 〃and why?  Hath Life been so

charming to me that I should wish to retain it? hath Pleasure no

after…Weariness?  Ambition no Deception; Wealth no Care; and Glory

no Mockery?  Psha!  I am sick of Success; palled of Pleasure; weary

of Wine and Wit; andnay; start not; my Adelaideand Woman。  I

fling away all these things as the Toys of Boyhood。  Life is the

Soul's Nursery。  I am a Man; and pine for the Illimitable!  Mark

you me!  Has the Morrow any terrors for me; think ye?  Did Socrates

falter at his poison?  Did Seneca blench in his bath?  Did Brutus

shirk the sword when his great stake was lost?  Did even weak

Cleopatra shrink from the Serpent's fatal nip?  And why should I?

My great Hazard hath been played; and I pay my forfeit。  Lie

sheathed in my heart; thou flashing Blade!  Welcome to my Bosom;

thou faithful Serpent; I hug thee; peace…bearing Image of the

Eternal!  Ha; the hemlock cup!  Fill high; boy; for my soul is

thirsty for the Infinite!  Get ready the bath; friends; prepare me

for the feast To…morrowbathe my limbs in odors; and put ointment

in my hair。〃



〃Has for a bath;〃 Snoggin interposed; 〃they're not to be 'ad in

this ward of the prison; but I dussay Hemmy will git you a little

hoil for your 'air。〃



The Prisoned One laughed loud and merrily。  〃My guardian understands

me not; pretty oneand thou? what sayest thou?  From those dear

lips methinksplura sunt oscula quam sententiaeI kiss away thy

tears; dove!they will flow apace when I am gone; then they will

dry; and presently these fair eyes will shine on another; as they

have beamed on poor George Barnwell。  Yet wilt thou not all forget

him; sweet one。  He was an honest fellow; and had a kindly heart for

all the world said〃



〃That; that he had;〃 cried the gaoler and the girl in voices

gurgling with emotion。  And you who read! you unconvicted Convict

you murderer; though haply you have slain no oneyou Felon in

posse if not in essedeal gently with one who has used the

Opportunity that has failed theeand believe that the Truthful and

the Beautiful bloom sometimes in the dock and the convict's tawny

Gabardine!



       。       。       。       。       。       。       。       。



In the matter for which he suffered; George could never be brought

to acknowledge that he was at all in the wrong。  〃It may be an

error of judgment;〃 he said to the Venerable Chaplain of the gaol;

〃but it is no crime。  Were it Crime; I should feel Remorse。  Where

there is no remorse; Crime cannot exist。  I am not sorry:

therefore; I am innocent。  Is the proposition a fair one?〃



The excellent Doctor admitted that it was not to be contested。



〃And wherefore; sir; should I have sorrow;〃 the Boy resumed; 〃for

ridding the world of a sordid worm;* of a man whose very soul was

dross; and who never had a feeling for the Truthful and the

Beautiful?  When I stood before my uncle in the moonlight; in the

gardens of the ancestral halls of the De Barnwells; I felt that it

was the Nemesis come to overthrow him。  'Dog
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