Part 33 (1/2)

C.

THE WEDDING OF THE LADY THERESA.

From Lockhart's Spanish ballads.

'Twas when the fifth Alphonso in Leon held his sway, King Abdulla of Toledo an emba.s.sy did send; He asked his sister for a wife, and in an evil day Alphonso sent her, for he feared Abdalla to offend; He feared to move his anger, for many times before He had received in danger much succor from the Moor.

Sad heart had fair Theresa, when she their paction knew; With streaming tears she heard them tell she 'mong the Moors must go; That she, a Christian damsel, a Christian firm and true, Must wed a Moorish husband, it well might cause her woe; But all her tears and all her prayers they are of small avail; At length she for her fate prepares, a victim sad and pale.

The king hath sent his sister to fair Toledo town, Where then the Moor Abdalla his royal state did keep; When she drew near, the Moslem from his golden throne came down, And courteously received her, and bade her cease to weep; With loving words he pressed her to come his bower within; With kisses he caressed her, but still she feared the sin.

”Sir King, Sir King, I pray thee,”--'twas thus Theresa spake,-- ”I pray thee, have compa.s.sion, and do to me no wrong; For sleep with thee I may not, unless the vows I break, Whereby I to the holy church of Christ my lord belong; For thou hast sworn to serve Mahoun, and if this thing should be, The curse of G.o.d it must bring down upon thy realm and thee.

”The angel of Christ Jesu, to whom my heavenly Lord Hath given my soul in keeping, is ever by my side; If thou dost me dishonor, he will unsheathe his sword, And smite thy body fiercely, at the crying of thy bride; Invisible he standeth; his sword like fiery flame Will penetrate thy bosom the hour that sees my shame.”

The Moslem heard her with a smile; the earnest words she said He took for bashful maiden's wile, and drew her to his bower: In vain Theresa prayed and strove,--she pressed Abdalla's bed, Perforce received his kiss of love, and lost her maiden flower.

A woeful woman there she lay, a loving lord beside, And earnestly to G.o.d did pray her succor to provide.

The angel of Christ Jesu her sore complaint did hear, And plucked his heavenly weapon from out his sheath unseen: He waved the brand in his right hand, and to the King came near, And drew the point o'er limb and joint, beside the weeping Queen: A mortal weakness from the stroke upon the King did fall; He could not stand when daylight broke, but on his knees must crawl.

Abdalla shuddered inly, when he this sickness felt, And called upon his barons, his pillow to come nigh; ”Rise up,” he said, ”my liegemen,” as round his bed they knelt, ”And take this Christian lady, else certainly I die; Let gold be in your girdles, and precious stones beside, And swiftly ride to Leon, and render up my bride.”

When they were come to Leon Theresa would not go Into her brother's dwelling, where her maiden years were spent; But o'er her downcast visage a white veil she did throw, And to the ancient nunnery of Las Huelgas went.

There, long, from worldly eyes retired, a holy life she led; There she, an aged saint, expired; there sleeps she with the dead.

D.

The following extract from Spinoza is worthy of attention, as expressing the view which a man of the largest intellectual scope may take of Woman, if that part of his life to which her influence appeals has been left unawakened. He was a man of the largest intellect, of unsurpa.s.sed reasoning powers; yet he makes a statement false to history, for we well know how often men and women have ruled together without difficulty, and one in which very few men even at the present day--I mean men who are thinkers, like him--would acquiesce.

I have put in contrast with it three expressions of the latest literature.

First, from the poems of W. E. Channing, a poem called ”Reverence,”

equally remarkable for the deep wisdom of its thought and the beauty of its utterance, and containing as fine a description of one cla.s.s of women as exists in literature.

In contrast with this picture of Woman, the happy G.o.ddess of Beauty, the wife, the friend, ”the summer queen,” I add one by the author of ”Festus,” of a woman of the muse, the sybil kind, which seems painted from living experience.

And, thirdly, I subjoin Eugene Sue's description of a wicked but able woman of the practical sort, and appeal to all readers whether a species that admits of three such varieties is so easily to be cla.s.sed away, or kept within prescribed limits, as Spinoza, and those who think like him, believe.

SPINOZA. TRACTATUS POLITICI DE DEMOCRATIA.

CAPUT XI.

Perhaps some one will here ask, whether the supremacy of Man over Woman is attributable to nature or custom? Since, if It be human inst.i.tutions alone to which this fact is owing, there is no reason why we should exclude women from a share in government. Experience most plainly teaches that it is Woman's weakness which places her under the authority of Man. It has nowhere happened that men and women ruled together; but wherever men and women are found, the world over, there we see the men ruling and the women ruled, and in this order of things men and women live together in peace and harmony. The Amazons, it is true, are reputed formerly to have held the reins of government, but they drove men from their dominions; the male of their offspring they invariably destroyed, permitting their daughters alone to live. Now, if women were by nature upon an equality with men, if they equalled men in fort.i.tude, in genius (qualities which give to men might, and consequently right), it surely would be the case, that, among the numerous and diverse nations of the earth, some would be found where both s.e.xes ruled conjointly, and others where the men were ruled by the women, and so educated as to be mentally inferior; and since this state of things nowhere exists, it is perfectly fair to infer that the rights of women are not equal to those of men; but that women must be subordinate, and therefore cannot have an equal, far less a superior place in the government. If, too, we consider the pa.s.sions of men--how the love men feel towards women is seldom anything but l.u.s.t and impulse, and much less a reverence for qualities of soul than an admiration of physical beauty; observing, too, the jealousy of lovers, and other things of the same character--we shall see at a glance that it would be, in the highest degree, detrimental to peace and harmony, for men and women to possess on equal share in government.

REVERENCE.

As an ancestral heritage revere All learning, and all thought. The painter's fame Is thine, whate'er thy lot, who honorest grace.

And need enough in this low time, when they, Who seek to captivate the fleeting notes Of heaven's sweet beauty, must despair almost, So heavy and obdurate show the hearts Of their companions. Honor kindly then Those who bear up in their so generous arms The beautiful ideas of matchless forms; For were these not portrayed, our human fate,-- Which is to be all high, majestical, To grow to goodness with each coming age, Till virtue leap and sing for joy to see So n.o.ble, virtuous men,--would brief decay; And the green, festering slime, oblivious, haunt About our common fate. O, honor them!

But what to all true eyes has chiefest charm, And what to every breast where beats a heart Framed to one beautiful emotion,--to One sweet and natural feeling, lends a grace To all the tedious walks of common life, This is fair Woman,--Woman, whose applause Each poet sings,--Woman the beautiful.