Chapter VIII
As soon as evening arrived, I performed my visit. Carwin made one of thecompany, into which I was ushered. Appearances were the same as when Ibefore beheld him. His garb was equally negligent and rustic. I gazedupon his countenance with new curiosity. My situation was such as toenable me to bestow upon it a deliberate examination. Viewed at moreleisure, it lost none of its wonderful properties. I could not deny myhomage to the intelligence expressed in it, but was wholly uncertain,whether he were an object to be dreaded or adored, and whether hispowers had been exerted to evil or to good.
He was sparing in discourse; but whatever he said was pregnant withmeaning, and uttered with rectitude of articulation, and force ofemphasis, of which I had entertained no conception previously to myknowledge of him. Notwithstanding the uncouthness of his garb, hismanners were not unpolished. All topics were handled by him with skill,and without pedantry or affectation. He uttered no sentiment calculatedto produce a disadvantageous impression: on the contrary, hisobservations denoted a mind alive to every generous and heroic feeling.They were introduced without parade, and accompanied with that degree ofearnestness which indicates sincerity.
He parted from us not till late, refusing an invitation to spend thenight here, but readily consented to repeat his visit. His visitswere frequently repeated. Each day introduced us to a more intimateacquaintance with his sentiments, but left us wholly in the dark,concerning that about which we were most inquisitive. He studiouslyavoided all mention of his past or present situation. Even the place ofhis abode in the city he concealed from us.
Our sphere, in this respect, being somewhat limited, and theintellectual endowments of this man being indisputably great, hisdeportment was more diligently marked, and copiously commented on byus, than you, perhaps, will think the circumstances warranted. Not agesture, or glance, or accent, that was not, in our private assemblies,discussed, and inferences deduced from it. It may well be thought thathe modelled his behaviour by an uncommon standard, when, with all ouropportunities and accuracy of observation, we were able, for a longtime, to gather no satisfactory information. He afforded us no ground onwhich to build even a plausible conjecture.
There is a degree of familiarity which takes place between constantassociates, that justifies the negligence of many rules of which, inan earlier period of their intercourse, politeness requires the exactobservance. Inquiries into our condition are allowable when they areprompted by a disinterested concern for our welfare; and this solicitudeis not only pardonable, but may justly be demanded from those who chuseus for their companions. This state of things was more slow to arriveon this occasion than on most others, on account of the gravity andloftiness of this man's behaviour.
Pleyel, however, began, at length, to employ regular means for this end.He occasionally alluded to the circumstances in which they had formerlymet, and remarked the incongruousness between the religion and habitsof a Spaniard, with those of a native of Britain. He expressedhis astonishment at meeting our guest in this corner of the globe,especially as, when they parted in Spain, he was taught to believe thatCarwin should never leave that country. He insinuated, that a changeso great must have been prompted by motives of a singular and momentouskind.
No answer, or an answer wide of the purpose, was generally made to theseinsinuations. Britons and Spaniards, he said, are votaries of the sameDeity, and square their faith by the same precepts; their ideas aredrawn from the same fountains of literature, and they speak dialects ofthe same tongue; their government and laws have more resemblances thandifferences; they were formerly provinces of the same civil, and tilllately, of the same religious, Empire.
As to the motives which induce men to change the place of their abode,these must unavoidably be fleeting and mutable. If not bound to one spotby conjugal or parental ties, or by the nature of that employment towhich we are indebted for subsistence, the inducements to change are farmore numerous and powerful, than opposite inducements.
He spoke as if desirous of shewing that he was not aware of the tendencyof Pleyel's remarks; yet, certain tokens were apparent, that proved himby no means wanting in penetration. These tokens were to be read in hiscountenance, and not in his words. When any thing was said, indicatingcuriosity in us, the gloom of his countenance was deepened, his eyessunk to the ground, and his wonted air was not resumed without visiblestruggle. Hence, it was obvious to infer, that some incidents ofhis life were reflected on by him with regret; and that, since theseincidents were carefully concealed, and even that regret which flowedfrom them laboriously stifled, they had not been merely disastrous. Thesecrecy that was observed appeared not designed to provoke or baffle theinquisitive, but was prompted by the shame, or by the prudence of guilt.
These ideas, which were adopted by Pleyel and my brother, as well asmyself, hindered us from employing more direct means for accomplishingour wishes. Questions might have been put in such terms, that no roomshould be left for the pretence of misapprehension, and if modestymerely had been the obstacle, such questions would not have beenwanting; but we considered, that, if the disclosure were productive ofpain or disgrace, it was inhuman to extort it.
Amidst the various topics that were discussed in his presence, allusionswere, of course, made to the inexplicable events that had latelyhappened. At those times, the words and looks of this man were objectsof my particular attention. The subject was extraordinary; and anyone whose experience or reflections could throw any light upon it, wasentitled to my gratitude. As this man was enlightened by reading andtravel, I listened with eagerness to the remarks which he should make.
At first, I entertained a kind of apprehension, that the tale would beheard by him with incredulity and secret ridicule. I had formerly heardstories that resembled this in some of their mysterious circumstances,but they were, commonly, heard by me with contempt. I was doubtful,whether the same impression would not now be made on the mind of ourguest; but I was mistaken in my fears.
He heard them with seriousness, and without any marks either ofsurprize or incredulity. He pursued, with visible pleasure, that kindof disquisition which was naturally suggested by them. His fancy waseminently vigorous and prolific, and if he did not persuade us, thathuman beings are, sometimes, admitted to a sensible intercourse with theauthor of nature, he, at least, won over our inclination to the cause.He merely deduced, from his own reasonings, that such intercoursewas probable; but confessed that, though he was acquainted with manyinstances somewhat similar to those which had been related by us, noneof them were perfectly exempted from the suspicion of human agency.
On being requested to relate these instances, he amused us with manycurious details. His narratives were constructed with so much skill,and rehearsed with so much energy, that all the effects of a dramaticexhibition were frequently produced by them. Those that were mostcoherent and most minute, and, of consequence, least entitled to credit,were yet rendered probable by the exquisite art of this rhetorician. Forevery difficulty that was suggested, a ready and plausible solutionwas furnished. Mysterious voices had always a share in producingthe catastrophe, but they were always to be explained on some knownprinciples, either as reflected into a focus, or communicated througha tube. I could not but remark that his narratives, however complex ormarvellous, contained no instance sufficiently parallel to those thathad befallen ourselves, and in which the solution was applicable to ourown case.
My brother was a much more sanguine reasoner than our guest. Evenin some of the facts which were related by Carwin, he maintained theprobability of celestial interference, when the latter was disposed todeny it, and had found, as he imagined, footsteps of an human agent.Pleyel was by no means equally credulous. He scrupled not to deny faithto any testimony but that of his senses, and allowed the facts which hadlately been supported by this testimony, not to mould his belief, butmerely to give birth to doubts.
It was soon observed that Carwin adopted, in some degree, a similardistinction. A tale of this kind, related by others, he
would believe,provided it was explicable upon known principles; but that such noticeswere actually communicated by beings of an higher order, he wouldbelieve only when his own ears were assailed in a manner which could notbe otherwise accounted for. Civility forbad him to contradict my brotheror myself, but his understanding refused to acquiesce in our testimony.Besides, he was disposed to question whether the voices heard in thetemple, at the foot of the hill, and in my closet, were not reallyuttered by human organs. On this supposition he was desired to explainhow the effect was produced.
He answered, that the power of mimickry was very common. Catharine'svoice might easily be imitated by one at the foot of the hill, who wouldfind no difficulty in eluding, by flight, the search of Wieland. Thetidings of the death of the Saxon lady were uttered by one near at hand,who overheard the conversation, who conjectured her death, and whoseconjecture happened to accord with the truth. That the voice appeared tocome from the cieling was to be considered as an illusion of the fancy.The cry for help, heard in the hall on the night of my adventure, was tobe ascribed to an human creature, who actually stood in the hall when heuttered it. It was of no moment, he said, that we could not explain bywhat motives he that made the signal was led hither. How imperfectlyacquainted were we with the condition and designs of the beings thatsurrounded us? The city was near at hand, and thousands might thereexist whose powers and purposes might easily explain whatever wasmysterious in this transaction. As to the closet dialogue, he wasobliged to adopt one of two suppositions, and affirm either that it wasfashioned in my own fancy, or that it actually took place between twopersons in the closet.
Such was Carwin's mode of explaining these appearances. It is such,perhaps, as would commend itself as most plausible to the most sagaciousminds, but it was insufficient to impart conviction to us. As to thetreason that was meditated against me, it was doubtless just to concludethat it was either real or imaginary; but that it was real was attestedby the mysterious warning in the summer-house, the secret of which I hadhitherto locked up in my own breast.
A month passed away in this kind of intercourse. As to Carwin, ourignorance was in no degree enlightened respecting his genuine characterand views. Appearances were uniform. No man possessed a larger store ofknowledge, or a greater degree of skill in the communication of it toothers; Hence he was regarded as an inestimable addition to our society.Considering the distance of my brother's house from the city, he wasfrequently prevailed upon to pass the night where he spent the evening.Two days seldom elapsed without a visit from him; hence he was regardedas a kind of inmate of the house. He entered and departed withoutceremony. When he arrived he received an unaffected welcome, and when hechose to retire, no importunities were used to induce him to remain.
The temple was the principal scene of our social enjoyments; yet thefelicity that we tasted when assembled in this asylum, was but thegleam of a former sun-shine. Carwin never parted with his gravity.The inscrutableness of his character, and the uncertainty whether hisfellowship tended to good or to evil, were seldom absent from our minds.This circumstance powerfully contributed to sadden us.
My heart was the seat of growing disquietudes. This change in one whohad formerly been characterized by all the exuberances of soul, couldnot fail to be remarked by my friends. My brother was always a patternof solemnity. My sister was clay, moulded by the circumstances in whichshe happened to be placed. There was but one whose deportment remainsto be described as being of importance to our happiness. Had Pleyellikewise dismissed his vivacity?
He was as whimsical and jestful as ever, but he was not happy. Thetruth, in this respect, was of too much importance to me not to make mea vigilant observer. His mirth was easily perceived to be the fruitof exertion. When his thoughts wandered from the company, an air ofdissatisfaction and impatience stole across his features. Even thepunctuality and frequency of his visits were somewhat lessened. It maybe supposed that my own uneasiness was heightened by these tokens; but,strange as it may seem, I found, in the present state of my mind, norelief but in the persuasion that Pleyel was unhappy.
That unhappiness, indeed, depended, for its value in my eyes, on thecause that produced it. It did not arise from the death of the Saxonlady: it was not a contagious emanation from the countenances of Wielandor Carwin. There was but one other source whence it could flow. Anameless ecstacy thrilled through my frame when any new proof occurredthat the ambiguousness of my behaviour was the cause.