Quentin Durward

Walter Scott

Description

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The scene of this romance is laid in the fifteenth century, when the feudal system, which had been the sinews and nerves of national defence, and the spirit of chivalry, by which, as by a vivifying soul, that system was animated, began to be innovated upon and abandoned by those grosser characters, who centred their sum of happiness in procuring the personal objects on which they had fixed their own exclusive attachment. The same egotism had indeed displayed itself even in more primitive ages but it was now for the first time openly avowed as a professed principle of action. The spirit of chivalry had in it this point of excellence, that however overstrained and fantastic many of its doctrines may appear to us, they were all founded on generosity and self-denial, of which if the earth were, deprived, it would be difficult to conceive the existence of virtue among the human race.

Sujets

• Adventure (Guyana)
• Adventure

Informations

• Publié par: Forgotten Books
• Date de parution: 27 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780243619467
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

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scene of this romanc e is laid in the fteenth century when the feud l system which had been the sinews and nerves of national defence and the spirit of chi alry by which as by a vivifying soul that system was animated began to be innovated upon and abandone d by those grosser characters who centred their sum of happiness in procuring the personal obj ects on which they hadfixed their own exclusive attachment same egotism had indeed displayed itself even i n more primitive ages but it for the rst time openly avowed as a professed principle of action spirit of chivalry had in it this point of excellence that however overstrained and fantastic many of its doctrin es may appear to us they were all founded on generosity and self den al of hich if the earth were deprived it would be difficult to conceive the existence of virtue among the human race Among those who were the rst to ridicule and abandon the self denying principles in which the young knight was instructed and to which he was c refu ly trained up Lo is the of France the chief at Sovereign was of a character so purely so guiltless of entertaining any purpose unconnected with his ambi tion covetousness and desire of sel sh enj oyment that he almost seems an incarnation of the devil himself permitted to do his utmost to corrupt our ideas of honour in its very source is it to be forgotten that Louis pos sessed to a great extent that caustic wit which can turn into r dicule all that a man do s for any other person s advantage but his own and was therefore peculiarly quali ed to play the part of a cold hearted and sneering end I n this point of view Goethe s conception of the character and easoning of the tempting spirit in the singula play of Faust appears to me mor happy than that which has been formed by Byron and even than the Satan of ilton hese last great authors have given to the vil Principle something which

I R U I elevates and his wickedness a sustained and un onquer able resista ce against Omnipotence itself lofty scorn of suf er ing compared with submission and all those poin s of attraction i n the Author of vil which have induced Burns and others to c on sider him as the H ero of the Paradise Lost great German poet has on the contrary rendered se ucing spirit a being who otherwise totally unimpa si n ed seems only to have existed for the purpose of increas ng by his persuasions and temptations the mass of moral evil and who calls forth by his seductions those slumber ing pass ons hich otherw se might have allowed the human being was the obj ect of the vil Sp rit s operat ons to pass the tenor of his life in tran uillity For this purpose is like uis X I endowed with an acute and epreciating spirit of caustic wit which is employed ncessantly in undervaluing and vilifying all act ons the c onse uences of which do not lead cert inly and directly to self ven an author of works of mere amusement may be permitted to be serious for a moment in order to reprobate all policy whether of a pu lic or private character hich rests its basis upon the principles of achiavel or the practi e of Lou is XI cruelties the perjuries the suspicions of this prince were rendered more detestable rather than amended by the gross and debasing superstition which he con stantly practised devotion to the heavenly saints of which he made such a parade was upon the miserable princ iple of some petty deputy who to hide or atone for the malversations of which he i s co scious by liberal gifts to those whose duty it is to observe his c onduct and endeavours to support a syste of fraud by an attempt to cor upt the incorruptible I n no other light can we regard his creating the irgin M ary a countess and colonel of his guards or the cunning that admitted to one or two pecu iar forms of oath the force of obligation which he denie to all others strictly preser ng the secret which mode of swearing he really accounted obligatory as one of th e most valuable of state mysteries a total want of scruple or it would appear of any sense whatever of moral obligation Louis X I added great natural ness and sagacity of cha acter with a system of policy so highly re ned considering the times he lived in that he sometimes over reached himself by givi g way to its dictates robably there i s no portrait so dark as to be without its softer shades H e understood the interests of France and faithfully pursu d them so long as he could identify them with his own H e carried the country safe throug the dangerous crisis of the war termed for the public good in t us disuniting and dispersing

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this grand and dangerou s alliance of the reat crown vassals of France against the S overeign a King of a less cautious and tem character and of a more bold and less crafty disposition t an Louis XL would in all probability have failed Louis had a so some personal accomplishments not inc onsistent wit his publi c character H e was cheerful and witty in society caresse d victim like the cat which c an faw when about to deal the ost bitter wound and none was better to sustai and extol superiority of th e coarse and selfish reasons by w ich he to supply those n obler otives for exertion w ic predecessors d rived rom the high spirit of chiva ry I n act that system was becoming ancient and had eve hile in its per ection so ething so overstrained and fantas i c in principles as rendered it peculiarly the object of rid cule whe ever like ot er old fash ons it began to fall out repute and the we pons of raillery could b e empl oyed against it without exciting the disgust and hor or with which they would have been rej ected at an early period as a species of blasphemy ourteenth c entury a t ribe of s co fers had arisen who pretended to supply what was naturally useful in chiva ry by other resources and thre ridicule upon the extravagant and exclusive principles of honour and virtue which were openly treated as absurd beca se in fact they were cast in a mould of perfection too lofty for the pract ice of allible beings I f an ingenuous and high spirited youth proposed to frame himself on his father s principles of honour vulgarly derided as if he had brought to thefioldeld the good night s or two handed sword ridiculous from its anti ue make and ashion although its b ade might bro tempe and its or aments of pure gold I n like manne the principles of v lry we e ca t side and their suppli d by baser stimulants I nstead of high spi it which pressed e ery fo ward in the de ence of his c ountry Loui s X I substituted the exertions of th e eve ady ercena y soldi r p rsuaded his subjec s among whom the mercantil class began to make afibetter to leave to mergure that it was the ri sks and labours of war and to supply Cro n with the me n s of paying them than to peril themselves in efence their own substance merchants were e asily persuad this reasoning hour did not rriv in the ays Loui s XL hen landed gentry and nobles c ould be like anne excluded from the ranks of but the wily monarch commenced at system which acted upon by his successors at length thre the whole military defen ce of state i to and Crown

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H e was equally or ard in altering the princ iples which were wont to regulate the interco rse of the sexes doctrines chivalry had established in theory at least a system i n w ic B auty was the governing and remune ating divinity alour slave who caught his cou age from her eye and gave his li e slightest serv ce rue the system here as in other br nches was stretched to fantasti c extravagance and case s of scandal not unfrequently rose Stil they were generally such as those mentioned by Burke where frailty was deprived of half its guilt by being purified from its g ossness I n Louis practice it was far otherwise H e was a low voluptuary see ing pleasure without sentiment and despising the sex from whom he des red obtai it his mistresses were of inferior rank as ittle to be com pared with the elevated though faulty character A gnes S orel as Louis was to his heroic father who freed France from the threatened yoke of ngland I n like manner by selecting his favourites an d ministers from among dregs of the people Loui showed the slight regard which he paid to eminent station and high birth and although this might be not only excusable but meritorious where the monarch sfiat promoted obscure talent alled forth or c modest worth it was very di ferent when the King made his favourite associates such men as ristan the Chief of hi s Marshalsea or police and it was evident that such a prince could no longer be as his descendant Francis elegantly design ed imsel thefirst gentleman in his dominions were Louis s sayings and actions in private or public of a kind which could redeem such gros s o enc es against the character of a man of honour H is word genera ly accounted the most sacred test of a man s ch racter the least impeach ent of which is a capital o ence by the code of honour was for e ted without scruple on the slightest occasion and often accompanie by perpetration of the most enormous crimes I f he broke his own personal and plighted faith he did not treat that of the public wi t more ceremony H is sending an inferior person disguised as a herald to dward was in those d ys when heralds ere esteemed the sacred deposit ries of publi c and national faith a daring imposition of wh ch few save thi s unscrup lous princ would ha e been guilty I n short the manne s sentime s actions of Louis XI were such as were inconsistent with the principles of chivalry and his austic wit was sficiently disposed ridicule a system adopted what he considered as the most absurd of all bases since it was founded on the principle of devoting toil talents and time to the accomplishment of bjects from which no per onal advantage ould in ature things be obtain d

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I t is more than probable that in thus renouncing almost openly the ties of relig on hon our and morality by which mankind at large feel themselves influenced Loui s sought to obtain great advantages in his negotiations w th parties who might esteem the selves b ound while he himself enj oyed liberty H e started fro the goal might suppose like the rac r who has got rid of the weights with which hi s c ompetitors are still encumbered and expects to succeed of c ourse B ut Providenc e seems always to unite the existence of peculiar danger with some circumstance hich may put those exposed to the peril upon their guard c onstant suspici on attached to any public person who become s badly eminent for breach of faith is to him what the rattle is to the poison ous serpent and men c ome at last to calculate not s o much on what their antagoni st says as upon that which he is likely to do a degree of mistrust wh ch tends t o counteract the intrig es of such a faithless characte more than his freedom f o the scruples of conscientious men can a ord him advantage example of Louis XI raised disg st and suspicion rather than a desire imitation mong other nation s in urope and the c i cumstance his outw tting more than one of c ontempor es operated to put others on their guard ven the system of chivalry hough much less generally extended than heretofore survived this monarc s reign who did so much to sully its lustre and long after the death of Louis X I it inspired the Knight without Fear and eproach and the g lla t Francis I ndeed al hough the reign of Louis had been as successful in a political point of view as he imself could have desired the pectacle of his deathbed might of itself be a warning piece against the seduction of his e ample Jea ous of every one chiefly his own son he immured himself in his Cast e of Plessis intrusting his person exclusively to the doubtful ait of Scottish mer He never stirred from his chamber he admitted n o one into i t and wearied H eaven and every saint with p ayers n ot for the forgiveness of his sins but for the prolongation of his life ith a poverty of spirit tot ly incon sistent with his shrewd worldly sagac ity he importuned his physicians until they insulted as w ll as plundered him I n his extreme desire of life he sent to I taly for supposed re ics and the yet more extr ordin ry im ortati on of an gnorant cra k brained peasant who from aziness probably had shut himself up in a cave and renouncedfleshfish eggs or the produc e of the dairy his man who did not possess the slightest tincture of let ers Louis reverenced as if he had been the Pope himself and to g in hi s good will founded two cloisters I t was not the least si gul r circums nc of his c ours e of

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supers t on that bodily he th and terrestrial feli city seemed to be hi s only objects Making any mention of his sins whe talki g on the st te of his he th was trictly prohibited an d when at his c om and a priest recited a prayer to S aint in which recommended the King s welfare both in body and soul Louis cau sed the two last words to be omitted saying it was not prudent to importune the blessed saint by too many requests at onc e Perhaps he thought by being s lent on hi s crimes he might su er them to pass out of the rec ol ect n of the c lestial patrons w ose aid he nvoked for his bo y So great were the well me ited tortures t is yra t s dea bed that Philip des Comines enters into a regular comparison bet een them and the numerou s cruelties others by his order and considering both comes to xpress an opinion that the orldly pangs and agony su ered by Louis were such as might c ompensate the crimes he had c ommitted and that a ter a reason able quarantine purgatory he mig in mercy b e fo nd duly qualified for the superi or re ions F nelon also has left his testimony g inst this pr nce whose mode of living and governing he has described in following remarkable passa e Pygmalion tourment par une soif insatiable des richesses se rend de plus en plus mi s rable odieux ses sujets C est c rime yr qu e de grands biens rend dfint cruel ic es cr t pauvres C est c rime encore plu gra d de vertu c ar Pygmalion suppose que les bons peuvent ses tices infamies la vertu condam e contre elle out ronge a peur de son ombre dort nuit j our les ieux pour con ondre de t ésors dont n ose j ouir Ce qu il cherche pour heureux est précisément qui de regrette t out qu il donne craint touj ou s de perdre s e pour gagner On voit presque jamas est seul tr ste fond de son pal is ses amis m me de peur de lui de venir suspects garde terrible tient touj ours des épées nues des piques autour de maison rente chambres qui c ommuniquent les unes aux autres dont chacun e a un e porte de fer avec gros verro x sont lieu s e renferme on sait jamai s dan s l quelle de c es ch mbres cou che on assure qu il couche jamais deux nuits de suite dans la m me de peu r tre égorg les do x lai sirs l amiti encore

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plus douce S i on lui par e de chercher la joie sent qu elle fuit loin de lui qu elle refuse dans son Ses yeux creux sont pleins d un feu pre farouche ils sont sans cesse de tous c tés pr te moindre bruit se sent tout ému est p le défait les noirs souc is sont peints sur son visage toujours ridé I l se tait soupire tire de son de profonds peut cacher les remords qui déchirent ses entrailles Les mets les plus exquis S es loin d tre son espérance sont sujet terreur en a fait ses plu s dangereux ennemis n a eu toute vie aucun moment se conserve force de répandre sang de tous ceux u il craint I nsensé qu i voit pas cruauté la uelle se fera périr de ses domest ues aussi lui se h tera de délivrer monde de monstre instructive but appallin scene of th s tyrant s su erings was at length closed by death oth August selection of this remarkable person as the principal charac ter in the romance for it will be easily comprehended that the little love intrigue of Quentin is only employed as the means of bringing out the story af orded c onsiderable facilities to the author whole of urope was during thefifteenth century convulsed with dissensions from such various causes that it would have re uired a di ssertation to have brought the nglish reader w th a mind perfectly al ve and prepared to admit the possi of the strange scenes to which he was introduced I n Louis time extraordinary c ommotions existed through out all urope ngland s civil wars were ended rather in appear ance than reality by the short lived ascendency of the H ouse York Swit erland was asserting that freedom hich was afterwards so bravely defended I n the mpire and in France the great vas sals of the crown were endeavouring to emancipate themselve s from its control while Charles of Burgundy by main force and Louis more artfully by indirect means laboured to subject them to sub to their respective sovereignties Louis while with one hand he circumvented and subdued his own rebellious assals laboured secretly with the other to aid encourage the large trading towns of Fl nders to rebel against the uke of Burgundy to which their wealth and irritability naturally isposed them I n the more woodland districts of Flanders the uke of and illiam de la Marck called from his ferocity the ld oar of Ardennes were throwing the habits of knights and gen to practise the and brutalities of common bandits hundred secret combinations ex st d m the d f erent pro