The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West Part 27

Hic parte sua mortali quiescit, qui in coelo potiori parte vivit immortalis THOMAS ARUNDEL, Baro Arundel de Warder, sacri Romani imperii Comes, primogenitus nempe Thomae Arundel, Baronis etiam de Warder, qui, ob insignia et pietatis et fort.i.tudinis exempla in communem Christiani nominis hostem in Hungaria ad Strigonium praest.i.ta haereditarium hunc honoris t.i.tulum a Rodolpho secundo meruit ipse, et ad posteros transmissit; cujus dignitatum virtutumque hic haeres, dum vixit, sic Deo in constanti pietatis exercito militavit in terris, ut debitum sibi in coelis triumphum expectare videretur, ita se totum in Regis Caroli primi obsequium, imminente in Anglia bello civili, impendit, ut in illud opes fortunamque profuderit, ac vitam denique ipsam lubentissime contulisset, e qua excessit Oxonii die 19^o Maij, ann. aetatis 59, annoque reparatae salutis 1643.

And on the adjoining stone:--

D. O. M.

Hic conjugi conjux amantissima adjacet Domina BLANCHA SOMERSET, filia Edwardi Somerset, Wigorniae Comitis, privata sigilli custodis, magistri equitum, &c., quae marito par generis splendore, exercitio virtutum non impar, in aula regia quasi in cella privata vixit quanto dignitate terrena sublimior, tanto pietatis fulgere splendidior, quantoque regiae vicinior majestati, tanto (quod parum est inter mortales) supremo dilectior numini quo ut proprius frueretur coelo natura mortalitatem exuit Wintoniae die 28^o Octob: ann: aetat: LXVI. annoque Dom: M.DC.XLIX.

Henry, their son, spent five years in the Tower, 1673 to 1678, on the information of the infamous t.i.tus Oates, but afterward became Lord Privy Seal to James II.

"Which Henry Lord Arundell, at his own charge, raised a regiment of horse for the service of King Charles the First in the time of the usurpation, and stoutly defended his Castle of Wardour against those rebellious forces, which, under the command of Edward Hungerford, did then attempt it on behalf of the Parliament. In the year 1678, he was with William Earl Powis, William Viscount Stafford, William Lord Petre, and John Lord Bellasis, committed prisoners to the Tower, and afterwards were impeached by the House of Commons of high crimes and offences, without being brought on their trial. He continued prisoner with the other Lords, till the year 1683, when they were admitted to bail.

"On King James II. accession to the throne he was sworn of his Privy Council, and on 11 March, 1686, was const.i.tuted Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, also, when that Monarch, in 1688, began his journey towards Salisbury, he committed the administration of affairs in his absence to the Lord Chancellor, the Lords Arundell, Bellasis, Preston, and G.o.dolphin. He departed this life 28 December, 1694, having married Cecilie, daughter of Sir Henry Compton, C.B., of Brambletye, in the county of Suss.e.x."

(Collins.)

Henry, the seventh baron, by his marriage in 1739 with Mary Arundell-Bealing of Lanherne, who died in 1769, re-united the antient branch of the family from which he was descended; he died in 1756, aged 38, is interred below, and his epitaph (by translation) tells us, "_who taking to himself to wife Mary Arundell, the most n.o.ble heiress of the family of Lanherne in Cornwall, and having gotten a son of her, a most renowned race which for more than two centuries had been rent asunder, now happily united, flourishes, and may it for ever flourish by the favour of G.o.d_."

With the memory of this delightful incident, so gracious and refres.h.i.+ng after the blood-stained relation of the earlier portion of our little narrative, we take our leave of this garner of the departed Arundells, and, seeking once more the rapid convenience of the iron road, are pa.s.sing swiftly homeward. As the train glides rapidly by the little station of Sutton-Bingham, we remember that not far from this, another and almost unique trace of Arundell of Cornwall is to be found. At about a mile's distance is the village of East-c.o.ker, and in the south transept window of its church are two antient s.h.i.+elds of painted gla.s.s side by side, on one are the arms of the See of Exeter, on the other quarterly, Arundell and Carminow. These are the arms of John Arundell, Bishop of Exeter, who presided over the diocese two years, died 19 Feb., 1506, and was buried in the church of St.

Clement Danes, London, and, as far as we have knowledge, is the only trace of memorial existing to him.

Once more the career of the subject of our little narrative returns to us. All appears to have gone well with him, even among the perils with which he was environed during the reign of Henry VIII. It may be, the instant danger of giving offence to the wishes or inclinations of that capricious tyrant kept him in the path of caution and safety.

But when that king's baby son a.s.sumed the reins of sovereignty this terror had disappeared, and men were busily vieing with each other as to whom,--professedly under the little king,--should really rule the destinies of the nation. Sir Thomas now appears to have taken action, and identified himself with one side of the contending factions, not prominently, but sufficiently marked to make him a subject of suspicion--to say nothing beyond--with those he was presumed to differ from, and this on an adverse emergency was a position of considerable peril. So it turned out, for in the end his death appears to have been resolved on, not because his offence was easily proved, or that he deserved such punishment, but as a makeweight, to give the colour of complicity, and so justify the death of Somerset, by the execution of himself, and that of others, thereby inferring the plot was a real one, and of dangerous extent. If so,--and circ.u.mstances seem strongly to confirm this view,--his was altogether a hard fate; it is difficult indeed, to imagine a harder one.

"SICUT PULLUS HIRUNDINIS SIC CLAMABO."

Even Thine altars!--there my soul shall flee-- O Lord of Hosts! and as a swallow come On quivering wing, and chatter mournfully, And make her nest, and seek eternal home.

Even Thine altars! where in holy state Lies the Great Sacrifice of endless love, Incense adoring streams to heaven's gate, Service unceasing seeks Thy throne above.

Even Thine altars! there unharmed to stay, And when my captive pinions death shall free, Migrate to fairer regions far away, There fold my wings, and rest in peace, with Thee.

=Deo data.=

[Ill.u.s.tration: BENCH ENDS. LANDULPH CHURCH, CORNWALL.]

OF THE IMPERIAL LINE.

A leisurely sail from the beautiful, capacious, and almost land-locked harbour of Plymouth, up its main inlet--so curiously named the Hamoaze--to the picturesque precincts of the lower extremity of the Tamar, on a bright summer day with a gentle breeze, is an excursion in all respects most enjoyable.

The harbour itself is studded over with craft of every variety and size, and sails spread of almost all hues, with here and there a fussy steam-boat ploughing its smoky way between them, while just inside, and tethered as it were to the dim line of the breakwater, are two or three dark grim-looking ironclads, lying as watch-dogs at its entrance.

Sea-ward, is the broad, blue, open main; on the left, the tree-fringed heights of Mount-Edgc.u.mbe; before us, the irregular, creek-broken sh.o.r.e of the "Three-Towns" jutting angularly into the deep, clear water, with houses crowding down to its rocky edge. There, too, in its centre, is one of the most cla.s.sic spots on English soil--the Hoe--consecrated by endless historic national traditions, and made sacred beyond imagination's most inspired effort, by the tears, prayers, and hopes that have alternately taken their rise, and from its heights watched the silent sails pa.s.s on below to the distant ocean, bearing voyagers, the purpose of whose errands,--who may declare?

On its pleasant open plateau, how diverse also have been the objects of those who from time to time have there a.s.sembled. Determined spirits with hands upon their sword-hilts, waiting and watching for the first glimpse of the van of the seven miles crescent-flotilla of the dark and hostile Spaniard, sweeping onward toward the sh.o.r.e, bearing the chains of slavery, spiritual and social, within their holds. Bands of bare-headed, bent-browed men, kneeling in reverent, prayerful conclave--the last home-office of their undaunted faith--ere they stepped on board the peaceful convoy, expatriated by conscience from their native soil, in search of a larger liberty, and destined to found in another hemisphere, an even greater England than they were leaving. Invader and emigrant, each shall we say, with purpose animated by soul-constraining religious convictions, but with ultimate aspirations, how different!

Spectators,--myriad numbered, greeting with enthusiastic plaudits, the departure of stately fleets, that at intervals during successive centuries, have pa.s.sed out, destined to carry the grand conquests of the seamans.h.i.+p and valour of the English race,--triumphs martial and commercial,--to every sea; or anon, sorrowful groups with down-cast hearts, wafting sad and final farewells to those, who have here in continuous exodus set out to seek new homes on distant sh.o.r.es, and from hence cast their last "longing, lingering look," at the receding, vanis.h.i.+ng outline of their native land; or again, eager eyes anxious to descry the first rise of the sail of the home-bound s.h.i.+p on the distant horizon, bearing a freight more precious to the love-strained heart, than all the wealth of Ind.

But while these suggestive thoughts are haunting us, we have slowly crept up to the warlike precincts of the lower Hamoaze. We pa.s.s the huge, cavernous, pent-house-looking, but now empty 'slips,' hanging over the darkling tide, in which the 'wooden walls' of _old_ England were wont aforetime to be built, ere the steam-urged iron monsters of our present _new_ England were dreamt of. And we ruminate a moment over this change of times and things, and mentally ask the question, What is the gain to human development achieved by much of the scientific--_ergo_ mechanical--appliances of the present hour? the which, while it flatters the lord of creation with the belief he has become the autocrat of the forces and elements, in truth practically reduces that proud being to be the servant and care-taker of the machine he has constructed, for a.s.suredly to a very large extent to this menial occupation he is being rapidly reduced.

Specially with regard to s.h.i.+ps and navigation, a generation or two ago, vessels in construction and appearance were not only beautiful objects as such, but required also all the skill, foresight, courage, and dexterity which taxes the resources of manhood to the utmost, and forms the basis of true seamans.h.i.+p, for their guidance and control.

Then there was something both for the mind and bodily energy alike to exercise and develope itself on; and undoubtedly much of the secret of our victories, both in commerce and war, that we have achieved in the past, may be traced to our proficiency therein, and as a consequence, the cause of our winning the crown of success among all other competing maritime nations.

Now almost all is changed, science has invaded the citadel of living endeavour, and deposed its activity and ambition; while furnished with the results of her conquests, one man practically has become as good as another, the spur of incentive has vanished from the heel of individual aspiration to excellence, with this result, that if to man the privilege of becoming a greater, n.o.bler being, fostered by the soul's glorious activities, as having something to conquer, or win, be denied or removed from him; he can now console himself with the belief he may afford to become a much idler one,--a prime factor in the creed of the present hour.

And therefore instead of the slips and the wooden-walls, with clatter of adze, axe, and caulking hammer, and the wholesome odour of Stockholm tar,--here we are abreast of the 'steam-yard,' with its metallic clang and reek of coal-smoke, threading our way between a swarm of iron-clads of every form and shape; ugly, dark, and diabolical-looking, as the errand they are constructed for, their sullen turrets, monstrous guns, and blood-curdling names, aptly and unmistakably a.s.suring the beholder that their eventual port of destination lies on the sh.o.r.e of Hades. Steam-pinnaces and swift torpedo-boats are rus.h.i.+ng about, and large tenders surging along, among whom we carefully steer, and look across with a glance of relief on the smart, clean, handsome three-deckers moored stern to stern in mid-stream; floating Oth.e.l.los, that now with occupation gone, serve as nautical colleges for the sailor-boys, where they are instructed in such slender knowledge of seamans.h.i.+p as is at present deemed necessary.

How different was the measure of requirement in the early years of the first George, when the unfortunate Falconer wrote his poem of the _s.h.i.+pwreck_, whose seamans.h.i.+p was apparently as dear to him as the muse, and so, delighted to cunningly array her with all the terms of the mariner's vocabulary, a feat never attempted by other poet, and of course a hopeless task to any but a true sailor,--

"But now, the transient squall to leeward pa.s.sed, Again she rallies to the sudden blast.

The helm to starboard moves; each s.h.i.+vering sail Is sharply trimmed, to clasp th' augmenting gale-- The mizzen draws; she springs aloof once more, While the fore-staysail balances before.

The fore-sail braced obliquely to the wind, They near the prow th' extended tack confined: Then on the leeward sheet the seamen bend, And haul the bow-line to the bowsprit end, To topsails next they haste, the bunt-lines gone, Through rattling blocks the cluelines swiftly run; Th' extending sheets on either side are manned; Abroad they come, the fluttering sails expand; The yards again ascend each comrade mast, The leeches taught, the halyards are made fast, The bowlines hauled, and yards to starboard braced, The straggling ropes in pendent order placed."

We pa.s.s a magnificent white-clad troop-s.h.i.+p, with a beading of red-coats leisurably looking over the forecastle, and glide under the lee of one of those steam-winged brigands of the deep, a steel-built cruiser, whose towering trim spars, and beautiful lines, excite admiration, but chastened with the reflection of the capabilities for destruction she carries in her enormous propelling power and far-reaching guns. Woe, think we, to the peaceful merchantman who may venture to disregard, or seek to flee from the summons of her eagle eye!

And now we are sailing easily amid an a.s.semblage of objects, whose presence makes the heart sink, and the cheek burn as we contemplate the rotting millions they represent,--the fleet of huge discarded hulks, whose now comparatively untrustworthy fighting and defensive capabilities, represent the modern advance in the art of destruction in maritime warfare. Here and there a solitary figure peers over the rusty bulwarks, but with regard to the majority, not a living creature paces their deserted decks. Gay, golden, and bright-coloured figure heads,--nymph, triton, or naval hero,--still decorate their prows, but these to our fancy's eye, resolve themselves into gilded skeletons with eyes of flame, and grasping the lightning darts of destruction in their grisly clutches,--the ghastly phantasmagoria of Death! And then comes the mournful reflection, that the original cost of each of these now comparatively valueless hulls,--being for all other purposes mere useless accretions of old iron and wood,--and designed for the destruction of the human race, would have more than sufficed to have built and endowed a hospital or college, whose beneficent errand should have been for all time (and while our present inst.i.tutions are also starving for want of funds), and that the aggregation of hulks floating lazily around us, and of their predecessors, would represent an amount of wealth sufficiently large to have dotted the empire all over with such excellent inst.i.tutions.

Last thought of all, as we look back and watch the bright red cross slowly unfold itself on the summer breeze over the taffrail of one of the largest of them,--the hallowed symbol of peace and good will hoisted over these engines of bloodshed,--we muse at the strange ant.i.thesis suggested by its display, as if designed in bitterest satire, to justify, or as it were, consecrate their direful mission. A curious example of what we presume would be termed national religious ethics, as at present professed in this Christian land of ours. But then we recollect that favourite patriot, the courageous (at home) and braggart, fire-eating Jingo, with his eight hundred millions of debt on his back, has to be duly considered in the motley compact. "Peace and good will" at present looks like a hopeless dream, to be further off than ever, and its development in the boasted civilization of the last quarter of the nineteenth century exhibits, instead, the strange spectacle of more fighting men on land, and s.h.i.+ps of war at sea, furnished with the most tremendous appliances for the destruction of human life than could be found, perhaps, at any previous era of the world's history. Europe appears a vast armed camp, filled with millions of soldiers, apparently only waiting in feverish suspense some chance incident, to march on each other, and deluge the continent with carnage.

And yet amid all this there are not wanting hopeful signs, that below these dread preparations, a wiser and healthier undercurrent is slowly, but surely moving, that will eventually, we trust, sap the foundations of this military incubus, and free the long-suffering peoples from its deadly glamour. The consequences of the wickedness and folly of that game "which kings delight to play at" will be clearly seen, and a larger and more comprehensive system of government take the control into its own hands, and put a veto on the players.

Industry, guided by intellectual resource, is busily organizing its battalions, with a power, destined, we ween, at no distant date to be mightier than armies or navies. Intelligence, combined with a knowledge of social and commercial needs, will become the great factors of national influence and wealth in the future, and, unless we greatly mistake, the basis of a kingdom's prosperity in the coming time will be fought out on these battle-fields, and on them win its silent and bloodless victories.

But a much greater and consolatory thought possesses us as we take a final glance at the grim citadels of destruction lazily floating on the now smiling strength of the watery expanse,--but compared with which in its tempestuous wrath, they are as the bubble that vanishes on its surface,--even the controlling power of that Mighty Ruler of both, of which the Royal Minstrel has with prophetic grandeur sung; strikingly paraphrased by His humbler disciple and lyrist, the gifted Apostle of Cornish revival, here aptly recalled,--

"The Lord is King: ye saints rejoice And ceaseless alleluias sing; The angry floods lift up their voice In vain,--for lo, the Lord is King!

All ocean's waves may swell and roar, They cannot break their sandy chain; Supreme in majesty and power, The Lord shall o'er them rule and reign.

Though war's devouring surges rise, Beyond their bounds they cannot go; The Lord is King above the skies, And rules the embattled host below.

'Tis G.o.d the Lord, whose mighty will Makes angry war's contentions cease, And bids the maddened world be still, And brings the joyous gift of peace."

Withdraw thine eyes aft, friend of mine, banish all further contemplation of the decaying sea-dragons, and look a-head where a very different spectacle awaits thee. Immediately to the left is the little, quiet, steep-streeted Cornish borough of Saltash, but now made notable by the presence of Brunel's stupendous iron railway-bridge, spanning the river before us, and thrusting itself into the bosom of the old town; one of the largest mechanical works of this, or any age, and exhibiting the strange engineering inversion of suspending the load beneath the arch, as the road-way is slung or supported below, instead of traversing above it. Its great height from the water, to a considerable extent, contracts to the eye its huge proportions, which may however in a measure be estimated, by observation of the railway-train slowly threading its way across, being scarcely seen, and but little heard from below, or recognized merely by a thin white line streaming back above the parapet, and a subdued rumble; and by noting also the Liliputian dimensions of some artizans, that look like a bevy of insects perched on one of the great tubes. The extraordinary construction it displays seems to suggest that here for once, Science with syren persuasion must have charmed the ear of Wealth to accede to her request--"provide me with the means required, and in return you shall be shewn what can be accomplished"--so lavish is the strength, and fantastic the form of the vast structure. On the river below this immense creation, the floating steam-bridge crawls across at short intervals, for pa.s.sengers and vehicles. As we look at the two extraordinary methods of transit, the reflection arises that at only a few miles up the stream, an inexhaustible supply of granite may have been obtained and easily floated. With this enduring material a handsome bridge might have been erected, with arches sufficiently high for all useful purposes of navigation, and the roadway on it made wide enough for railway and ordinary purposes, and, what is so dear to the calculating proclivities of our race, it would undoubtedly have paid well also, in addition to its enormous convenience. But then the wisdom of our senators would not have been exemplified, nor the constructive ingenuity of the engineer glorified.

We emerge from the shadow of the great bridge, and pa.s.s another smart training-s.h.i.+p. Moored there we presume to justify the outrageous and apparently prohibitive stipulation of Parliament,--which required that a railway train should be carried through the air above the masthead of a fully rigged old-fas.h.i.+oned man-of-war,--for we never heard of another performing such a feat. Nor did our sagacious and far-seeing legislators probably dream of the advent of the squat iron-clads, with neither mast or sail, and hulls more under the water than above it, that now form the fleet of the present.

Leaving this the last trace of grisly war behind, we enter on a glorious stretch of the uncontaminated Tamar, and admire two or three barges with their grand, looming, picturesque sails,--like great-winged sea-birds,--slowly traversing the bright expanse. Here a prophetic echo from the lyre of the poet who dwelled at its source, crosses the mental ear, and finds fulfilment,--

"Fount of a rus.h.i.+ng river! wild flowers wreathe The home where thy first waters sunlight claim; The lark sits hushed beside thee, while I breathe, Sweet Tamar spring! the music of thy name.

Fair is the future scenery of thy days, Thy course domestic and thy paths of pride; Depths that give back the soft-eyed violet's gaze, Sh.o.r.es where tall navies march to meet the tide."

Delightfully we career along, and our thoughts suggest what a spirit-cheering, buoyant--heart as well as boat--feeling of freedom fills the mind, when afloat in a trim craft with a full sail, and a fair wind. Pre-eminently so on the boundless sea, and in lesser degree, but most enjoyable also, on this broad reach of inland water.

The busy succession of waves rising up and greeting with flickering salute the prow of our little vessel, as with easy rocking motion she speeds over their undulating succession. And the contented satisfaction, also, that we have the pleasant breeze, with its varying force for our untiring steed; no haunting thought disturbs, that some n.o.ble animal in slavery is running the sands of his life out the faster for our gratification,--nor the dread possibility of instant annihilation, that hovers continuously over the rus.h.i.+ng transit of the iron trackway. Verily of all modes of movement, none equals for pleasantness the sailor's, nor does the phantom of a wild pitiless sky, lee sh.o.r.e, and foam-mantled rocks greatly alloy it.