The Works of Aphra Behn Volume V Part 6

Mother Somelie is, of course, the notorious Mother Mosely.

Henry Payne wrote several loyal pamphlets, and after the Revolution he became, according to Burnet, 'the most active and determined of all King James' agents.' He is said to have been the chief instigator of the Montgomery plot in 1690, and whilst in Scotland was arrested. 10 and 11 December of that year he was severely tortured under a special order of William III, but nothing could be extracted from him. This is the last occasion on which torture was applied in Scotland. After being treated with harshest cruelty by William III, Payne was finally released from prison in December, 1700, or January, 1701, as the Duke of Queensbury, recognizing the serious illegalities of the whole business, urgently advised his liberation. Payne died in 1710. As Macaulay consistently confounds him with a certain Edward Neville, S.J., the statements of this historian with reference to Henry Neville Payne must be entirely disregarded.

p. 72 _The Fair Jilt._ Editio princeps, 'London. Printed by _R. Holt_ for _Will. Canning_, at his Shop in the _Temple-Cloysters_' (1688), 'Licensed 17 April, 1688. _Ric. Poc.o.c.k_', has as t.i.tle: _The Fair Jilt; or, The History of Prince Tarquin and Miranda_. As half-t.i.tle it prints: _The Fair Hypocrite; or, The Amours of Prince Tarquin and Miranda_. All subsequent editions, however, give: _The Fair Jilt; or, The Amours of Prince Tarquin and Miranda_. The Dedication only occurs in the first edition.

p. 73 _Scrutore._ Escritoire, cf. Sir T. Herbert, _Trav._ (1677): 'There they sell . . . Scrutores or Cabinets of Mother of Pearl.'

p. 75 _Canonesses, Begines, Quests, Swart-Sisters and Jesuitesses._ _Canonesses_ are very ancient in history. The most important Congregations are the Sepulchrines or Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Lateran Canonesses. There was an old community of French Hospitaller Canonesses of Saint-Esprit. Thoma.s.sin tells us that the Beguines were canonesses, and that their name is derived from S. Begghe (_ob._ 689), who founded the Canonesses of Andenne. There are also Chapters of secular canonesses, nearly all Benedictine in origin. Many of these only admitted ladies of the highest rank. The French Revolution swept away a great number of these inst.i.tutions, and some were suppressed by Joseph II of Austria. Premonstratensian (white) Canonesses were common in Belgium.

_Begines._ Either founded by S. Begghe, or their name is derived from Lambert de Begue, a priest of Liege, in 1177. Some place their foundation at the beginning of the eleventh century in the Netherlands or Germany. After three years women who are enrolled are ent.i.tled to a little house. No vows are taken, but they a.s.sist in choir thrice daily.

There are several hundreds at Ghent, and the Beguinage (ten Wijngaarde) of Bruges is famous.

_Quests._ Queteuses. Extern Sisters, Poor Clares and Colettines; Lay Sisters, Dominicanesses, who go out and beg for the community. 'To quest' is to go alms-begging. The Sisters of Charity are of later foundation. cf. Translation, D'Emilliane's _Frauds of Romish Monks_ (1691): 'The Farmer [of Purgatory Money] sends some of his Emissaries into the Fields to carry on the Quest there for the said Souls'; and _Earthquake . . . Peru_, iii, 303 (1748): 'If the Friars go into the Country a questing for their Monastery.'

_Swart-Sisters._ Black Nuns. Dominicanesses, a feature of whose dresses is the cappa, a large black cloak and hood, worn from All Saints' Day till the 'Gloria' on Easter Eve, and on all great solemnities.

_Jesuitesses._ A common misnomer for the original Congregation founded by Mary Ward (_ob._ 1645), and named by her 'The Inst.i.tute of Mary'. It was not until 1703 that they were fully approved by Clement XI.

p. 78 _Cordeliers._ Observant Franciscans, who follow the strict Rule of Poverty and observe all the fasts and austerities of the Order. This name was first given them in France, where later they were known as Recollects.

OROONOKO; OR THE ROYAL SLAVE.

INTRODUCTION.

The tale of _Oroonoko, the Royal Slave_ is indisputedly Mrs. Behn's masterpiece in prose. Its originality and power have singled it out for a permanence and popularity none of her other works attained. It is vivid, realistic, pregnant with pathos, beauty, and truth, and not only has it so impressed itself upon the readers of more than two centuries, but further, it surely struck a new note in English literature and one which was re-echoed far and wide. It has been said that '_Oroonoko_ is the first emanc.i.p.ation novel', and there is no little ac.u.men in this remark. Certainly we may absolve Mrs. Behn from having directly written with a purpose such as animated Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's _Uncle Tom's Cabin_; but none the less her sympathy with the oppressed blacks, her deep emotions of pity for outraged humanity, her anger at the cruelties of the slave-driver aye ready with knout or knife, are manifest in every line. Beyond the intense interest of the pure narrative we have pa.s.sages of a rhythm that is lyric, exquisitely descriptive of the picturesque tropical scenery and exotic vegetations, fragrant and luxuriant; there are intimate accounts of adventuring and primitive life; there are personal touches which lend a colour only personal touches can, as Aphara tells her prose-epic of her Superman, Caesar the slave, Oroonoko the prince.

It is not difficult to trace the influence of _Oroonoko_. We can see it in many an English author; in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, in Chateaubriand. Her idyllic romance has inspired writers who perhaps but dimly remember even her name and her genius.

It was often reprinted separately from the rest. There is a little 12mo _Oroonoko_, 'the ninth edition corrected', published at Doncaster, 1759, 'for C. Plummer', which is rarely seen save in a torn and well-thumbed state.[1]

In 1777 the sentimental and highly proper Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith included _Oroonoko_ in her three volume _Collection of Novels selected and revised._ _Oroonoko_, 'written originally by Mrs. Behn and revised by Mrs. Griffith'[2], was also issued separately, 'price sixpence'[3], in 1800, frontispieced by a very crude picture of a black-a-moor about to attack a tiger.

As early as 1709 we find _Lebens und Liebes-Geschichte des Koniglichen Sclaven Oroonoko in West-Indien_, a German translation published at Hamburg, with a portrait of 'Die Sinnreiche Engellanderin Mrs. Afra Behn.'

In 1745 _Oroonoko_ was 'traduit de l'Anglois de Madame Behn,' with the motto from Lucan 'Quo fata trahunt virtus secura sequetur.' There is a rhymed dedication 'A Madame La M. P. D'l . . .' (35 lines), signed D. L.****, i.e., Pierre-Antoine de la Place, a fecund but mediocre writer of the eighteenth century (1707-93), who also translated, _Venice Preserv'd_, _The Fatal Marriage_, _Tom Jones_, and other English masterpieces. There is another edition of de la Place's version with fine plates engraved by C. Baron after Marillier, Londres, 1769.

In 1696 Southerne's great tragedy, founded upon Mrs. Behn's novel, was produced at Drury Lane. Oroonoko was created by Verbruggen, Powell acted Aboan, and the beautiful Mrs. Rogers Imoinda. The play has some magnificent pa.s.sages, and long kept the stage. Southerne had further added an excellent comic underplot, full of humour and the truest _vis comica_. It is perhaps worth noting that the intrigues of Lucy and Charlotte and the Lackitt _menage_ were dished up as a short slap-bang farce by themselves with, curiously enough, two or three scenes _in extenso_ from Fletcher's _Monsieur Thomas_ (III, iii, and V, ii). This hotch potch ent.i.tled _The s.e.xes Mis-match'd; or, A New Way to get a Husband_ is printed in _The Strollers' Pacquet open'd_. (12mo, 1741.) On 1 December, 1759, there was brought out at Drury Lane a most insipid alteration of _Oroonoko_ by Dr. Hawkesworth, who omitted all Southerne's lighter fare and inserted serious nonsense of his own. Garrick was the Oroonoko and Mrs. Cibber Imoinda. Although Hawkesworth's version was not tolerated, the underplot was none the less pruned in later productions to such an extent that it perforce lost nearly all its pristine wit and fun. There is another adaption of Southerne: '_Oroonoko_ altered from the original play . . . to which the editor has added near six hundred lines in place of the comic scenes, together with an addition of two new characters, intended for one of the theatres.' (8vo, 1760.) The two new characters are Maria, sister to the Lieutenant-Governor and contracted to Blandford, and one Heartwell; both thoroughly tiresome individuals.

In the same year Frank Gentleman, a provincial actor, produced his idea of _Oroonoko_ 'as it was acted at Edinburgh.' (12mo, 1760.) There is yet a fourth b.a.s.t.a.r.d: _The Prince of Angola_, by one J. Ferriar, 'a tragedy altered from the play of _Oroonoko_ and adapted to the circ.u.mstances of the present times.'[4] (Manchester, 1788.) It must be confessed that all this tinkering with an original, which does not require from any point of view the slightest alteration or omission, is most uncalled for, crude, and unsuccessful.

In 1698 William Walker, a lad nineteen years old, the son of a wealthy Barbadoes planter, wrote in three weeks a tragedy ent.i.tled _Victorious Love_ (4to, 1698), which is confessedly a close imitation of Southerne's theme. It was produced at Drury Lane in June, 1698, with the author himself as Dafila, a youth, and young Mrs. Cross as the heroine Zaraida, 'an European s.h.i.+pwrack'd an Infant at Gualata'. Possibly Verbruggen acted Barnaga.s.so, the captive king who corresponds to Oroonoko. The scene is laid in the Banze, or Palace of Tombut, whose Emperor, Jamoan, is Barnaga.s.so's rival in Zaraida's love. There is a villain, Zanhaga, who after various more or less successful iniquities, poisons the Emperor; whereon hero and heroine are happily united. _Victorious Love_ is far from being entirely a bad play; it is, however, very reminiscent of the heroic tragedies of two decades before.

Southerne's _Oroonoko_ was (with some alterations) translated into German. This version is prose and probably either the work of W. H. von Dalberg or von Eisenthal. It has little merit, but proved popular and was printed in 1789 with a somewhat grotesque frontispiece of Oroonoko and Imoinda, both of whom are black 'as pitch or as the cole'.

[Footnote 1: There were also many chap-books on similar themes which enjoyed no small popularity, e.g., _The Royal African; or, The Memoirs of the Young Prince of Annamaboe_ (circa 1750), the romantic narrative of a negro prince, who became a slave in Barbadoes, from whence he was redeemed and brought to England.]

[Footnote 2: Mis-spelt 'Griffiths' in the 1800 edition.]

[Footnote 3: There was 'a superior edition on a fine wove paper, Hot-pressed, with Proof Impressions of the Plates. Price only Nine-pence.']

[Footnote 4: The Agitation for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.]

Epistle Dedicatory.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD MAITLAND.

[Transcriber's Note: The Epistle Dedicatory was printed as an Appendix; see Note.]

My Lord,

Since the World is grown so Nice and Critical upon Dedications, and will Needs be Judging the Book by the Wit of the Patron; we ought, with a great deal of Circ.u.mspection to chuse a Person against whom there can be no Exception; and whose Wit and Worth truly Merits all that one is capable of saying upon that Occasion.

The most part of Dedications are charg'd with Flattery; and if the World knows a Man has some Vices, they will not allow one to speak of his Virtues. This, My Lord, is for want of thinking Rightly; if Men wou'd consider with Reason, they wou'd have another sort of Opinion, and Esteem of Dedications; and wou'd believe almost every Great Man has enough to make him Worthy of all that can be said of him there. My Lord, a Picture-drawer, when he intends to make a good Picture, essays the Face many Ways, and in many Lights, before he begins; that he may chuse from the several turns of it, which is most Agreeable and gives it the best Grace; and if there be a Scar, an ungrateful Mole, or any little Defect, they leave it out; and yet make the Picture extreamly like: But he who has the good Fortune to draw a Face that is exactly Charming in all its Parts and Features, what Colours or Agreements can be added to make it Finer? All that he can give is but its due; and Glories in a Piece whose Original alone gives it its Perfection. An ill Hand may diminish, but a good Hand cannot augment its Beauty. A Poet is a Painter in his way; he draws to the Life, but in another kind; we draw the n.o.bler part, the Soul and Mind; the Pictures of the Pen shall out-last those of the Pencil, and even Worlds themselves. 'Tis a short Chronicle of those Lives that possibly wou'd be forgotten by other Historians, or lye neglected there, however deserving an immortal Fame; for Men of eminent Parts are as Exemplary as even Monarchs themselves; and Virtue is a n.o.ble Lesson to be learn'd, and 'tis by Comparison we can Judge and Chuse. 'Tis by such ill.u.s.trious Presidents as your Lords.h.i.+p the World can be Better'd and Refin'd; when a great part of the lazy n.o.bility shall, with Shame, behold the admirable Accomplishments of a Man so Great, and so Young.

Your Lords.h.i.+p has Read innumerable Volumes of Men and Books, not Vainly for the gust of Novelty, but Knowledge, excellent Knowledge: Like the industrious Bee, from every Flower you return Laden with the precious Dew, which you are sure to turn to the Publick Good. You h.o.a.rd no one Reflection, but lay it all out in the Glorious Service of your Religion and Country; to both which you are a useful and necessary Honour: They both want such Supporters; and 'tis only Men of so elevated Parts, and fine Knowledge; such n.o.ble Principles of Loyalty and Religion this Nation Sighs for. Where shall we find a Man so Young, like St.

Augustine, in the midst of all his Youth and Gaiety, Teaching the World Divine Precepts, true Notions of Faith, and Excellent Morality, and, at the same time be also a perfect Pattern of all that accomplish a Great Man? You have, My Lord, all that refin'd Wit that Charms, and the Affability that Obliges; a Generosity that gives a l.u.s.tre to your n.o.bility; that Hospitality, and Greatness of Mind that ingages the World; and that admirable Conduct, that so well Instructs it. Our Nation ought to regret and bemoan their Misfortunes, for not being able to claim the Honour of the Birth of a Man who is so fit to serve his Majesty, and his Kingdoms in all Great and Publick Affairs; And to the Glory of your Nation, be it spoken, it produces more considerable Men, for all fine Sence, Wit, Wisdom, Breeding and Generosity (for the generality of the n.o.bility) than all other Nations can Boast; and the Fruitfulness of your Virtues sufficiently make amends for the Barrenness of your Soil: Which however cannot be incommode to your Lords.h.i.+p; since your Quality and the Veneration that the Commonalty naturally pay their Lords creates a flowing Plenty there . . . that makes you Happy. And to compleat your Happiness, my Lord, Heaven has blest you with a Lady, to whom it has given all the Graces, Beauties, and Virtues of her s.e.x; all the Youth, Sweetness of Nature, of a most ill.u.s.trious Family; and who is a most rare Example to all Wives of Quality, for her eminent Piety, Easiness, and Condescention; and as absolutely merits Respect from all the World as she does that Pa.s.sion and Resignation she receives from your Lords.h.i.+p; and which is, on her part, with so much Tenderness return'd. Methinks your tranquil Lives are an Image of the new Made and Beautiful Pair in Paradise: And 'tis the Prayers and Wishes of all, who have the Honour to know you, that it may Eternally so continue with Additions of all the Blessings this World can give you.

My Lord, the Obligations I have to some of the Great Men of your Nation, particularly to your Lords.h.i.+p, gives me an Ambition of making my Acknowledgements by all the Opportunities I can; and such humble Fruits as my Industry produces I lay at your Lords.h.i.+p's Feet. This is a true Story, of a Man Gallant enough to merit your Protection, and, had he always been so Fortunate, he had not made so Inglorious an end: The Royal Slave I had the Honour to know in my Travels to the other World; and though I had none above me in that Country yet I wanted power to preserve this Great Man. If there be anything that seems Romantick I beseech your Lords.h.i.+p to consider these Countries do, in all things, so far differ from ours that they produce unconceivable Wonders, at least, so they appear to us, because New and Strange. What I have mentioned I have taken care shou'd be Truth, let the Critical Reader judge as he pleases. 'Twill be no Commendation to the Book to a.s.sure your Lords.h.i.+p I writ it in a few Hours, though it may serve to Excuse some of its Faults of Connexion, for I never rested my Pen a Moment for Thought: 'Tis purely the Merit of my Slave that must render it worthy of the Honour it begs; and the Author of that of Subscribing herself,

My Lord Your Lords.h.i.+p's most oblig'd and obedient Servant A. Behn.

THE HISTORY OF THE _ROYAL SLAVE_.

I do not pretend, in giving you the History of this _ROYAL SLAVE_, to entertain my Reader with the Adventures of a feign'd _Hero_, whose Life and Fortunes Fancy may manage at the Poet's Pleasure; nor in relating the Truth, design to adorn it with any Accidents, but such as arrived in earnest to him: And it shall come simply into the World, recommended by its own proper Merits, and natural Intrigues; there being enough of Reality to support it, and to render it diverting, without the Addition of Invention.

I was myself an Eye-witness to a great Part of what you will find here set down; and what I could not be Witness of, I receiv'd from the Mouth of the chief Actor in this History, the _Hero_ himself, who gave us the whole Transactions of his Youth: And I shall omit, for Brevity's Sake, a thousand little Accidents of his Life, which, however pleasant to us, where History was scarce, and Adventures very rare, yet might prove tedious and heavy to my Reader, in a World where he finds Diversions for every Minute, new and strange. But we who were perfectly charm'd with the Character of this great Man, were curious to gather every Circ.u.mstance of his Life.

The Scene of the last Part of his Adventures lies in a Colony in _America_, called _Surinam_, in the _West-Indies_.

But before I give you the Story of this _Gallant Slave_, 'tis fit I tell you the Manner of bringing them to these new _Colonies_; those they make Use of there, not being _Natives_ of the Place: for those we live with in perfect Amity, without daring to command 'em; but, on the contrary, caress 'em with all the brotherly and friendly Affection in the World; trading with them for their Fish, Venison, Buffaloes Skins, and little Rarities; as _Marmosets_, a sort of Monkey, as big as a Rat or Weasel, but of a marvellous and delicate Shape, having Face and Hands like a Human Creature; and _Cousheries_, a little Beast in the Form and Fas.h.i.+on of a Lion, as big as a Kitten, but so exactly made in all Parts like that n.o.ble Beast, that it is it in _Miniature_: Then for little _Paraketoes_, great _Parrots_, _Muckaws_, and a thousand other Birds and Beasts of wonderful and surprizing Forms, Shapes, and Colours: For Skins of prodigious Snakes, of which there are some three-score Yards in Length; as is the Skin of one that may be seen at his Majesty's _Antiquary's_; where are also some rare Flies, of amazing Forms and Colours, presented to 'em by myself; some as big as my Fist, some less; and all of various Excellencies, such as Art cannot imitate. Then we trade for Feathers, which they order into all Shapes, make themselves little short Habits of 'em, and glorious Wreaths for their Heads, Necks, Arms and Legs, whose Tinctures are unconceivable. I had a Set of these presented to me, and I gave 'em to the _King's Theatre_; it was the Dress of the _Indian Queen_, infinitely admir'd by Persons of Quality; and was inimitable. Besides these, a thousand little Knacks, and Rarities in Nature; and some of Art, as their Baskets, Weapons, Ap.r.o.ns, &c. We dealt with 'em with Beads of all Colours, Knives, Axes, Pins and Needles, which they us'd only as Tools to drill Holes with in their Ears, Noses and Lips, where they hang a great many little Things; as long Beads, Bits of Tin, Bra.s.s or Silver beat thin, and any s.h.i.+ning Trinket. The Beads they weave into Ap.r.o.ns about a Quarter of an Ell long, and of the same Breadth; working them very prettily in Flowers of several Colours; which Ap.r.o.n they wear just before 'em, as _Adam_ and _Eve_ did the Fig-leaves; the Men wearing a long Stripe of Linen, which they deal with us for. They thread these Beads also on long Cotton-threads, and make Girdles to tie their Ap.r.o.ns to, which come twenty times, or more, about the Waste, and then cross, like a Shoulder-belt, both Ways, and round their Necks, Arms and Legs. This Adornment, with their long black Hair, and the Face painted in little Specks or Flowers here and there, makes 'em a wonderful Figure to behold. Some of the Beauties, which indeed are finely shap'd, as almost all are, and who have pretty Features, are charming and novel; for they have all that is called Beauty, except the Colour, which is a reddish Yellow; or after a new Oiling, which they often use to themselves, they are of the Colour of a new Brick, but smooth, soft and sleek. They are extreme modest and bashful, very shy, and nice of being touch'd. And tho' they are all thus naked, if one lives for ever among 'em, there is not to be seen an indecent Action, or Glance: and being continually us'd to see one another so unadorn'd, so like our first Parents before the Fall, it seems as if they had no Wishes, there being nothing to heighten Curiosity: but all you can see, you see at once, and every Moment see; and where there is no Novelty, there can be no Curiosity. Not but I have seen a handsome young _Indian_, dying for Love of a very beautiful young _Indian_ Maid; but all his Courts.h.i.+p was, to fold his Arms, pursue her with his Eyes, and Sighs were all his Language: While she, as if no such Lover were present, or rather as if she desired none such, carefully guarded her Eyes from beholding him; and never approach'd him, but she looked down with all the blus.h.i.+ng Modesty I have seen in the most Severe and Cautious of our World. And these People represented to me an absolute _Idea_ of the first State of Innocence, before Man knew how to sin: And 'tis most evident and plain, that simple Nature is the most harmless, inoffensive and virtuous Mistress. 'Tis she alone, if she were permitted, that better instructs the World, than all the Inventions of Man: Religion would here but destroy that Tranquillity they possess by Ignorance; and Laws would but teach 'em to know Offences, of which now they have no Notion. They once made Mourning and Fasting for the Death of the _English_ Governor, who had given his Hand to come on such a Day to 'em, and neither came nor sent; believing, when a Man's Word was past, nothing but Death could or should prevent his keeping it: And when they saw he was not dead, they ask'd him what Name they had for a Man who promis'd a Thing he did not do? The Governor told them, Such a Man was a _Lyar_, which was a Word of Infamy to a Gentleman. Then one of 'em reply'd, _Governor, you are a Lyar, and guilty of that Infamy_. They have a native Justice, which knows no Fraud; and they understand no Vice, or Cunning, but when they are taught by the _White_ Men. They have Plurality of Wives; which, when they grow old, serve those that succeed 'em, who are young, but with a Servitude easy and respected; and unless they take Slaves in War, they have no other Attendants.

Those on that _Continent_ where I was, had no King; but the oldest War-Captain was obey'd with great Resignation.