Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Constant PrinceBy Christobel ColeridgePublished by Mozley and Smith, London.This edition dated 1879.
The Constant Prince, by Christobel Coleridge.
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________________________________________________________________________THE CONSTANT PRINCE, BY CHRISTOBEL COLERIDGE.
PREFACE.
It is commonly supposed that the writer of an historical tale idealisesthe characters therein represented, heightens the romance of thesituation, and at any rate brings the fairer tints of the scene intoundue prominence. I wish to make it clearly understood that I have notdone so in this instance. The high cultivation, the mutual affection,the deep piety, all the peculiar characteristics of the Princes of Avis,are matters of history, and I have only found it impossible to dojustice to them. The personal appearance of the three eldest, and thespecial line taken by all of them with regard to the cession of Ceuta,indeed the whole tragical story, I found ready to hand, the onlyimaginary incidents being the meeting of Enrique and Fernando atArzella, and the presence of the two boy princes at the siege of Ceuta.
There is a life of the Constant Prince which was written by the priestto whom I have given the name of Father Jose, which I regret much nothaving been able to obtain, though the outline of the story of hisimprisonment is, I believe, taken from it.
The details of the Treaty of Tangier are very obscure; but it appearsthat the Moorish king of Granada considered his African brethren asguilty of a breach of faith in detaining Fernando.
The English characters are of course wholly fictitious.
Lastly, Calderon in his play, "Il Principe Costante," and ArchbishopTrench, in his beautiful poem of the "Steadfast Prince," representFernando as refusing to be ransomed by the cession of Ceuta. Thisrefusal he had neither the power nor the right to make. His realnobleness lay in his willing acceptance of the suffering brought on himby the decision of others.
C.R. Coleridge.
Hanwell Rectory,--
December 2, 1878.
CHAPTER ONE.
FORESHADOWINGS.
"The child is father of the man."
In a small marble-paved court belonging to the newly-built palace ofKing Joao the First of Portugal, on a splendid summer day in the year1415, five youths were engaged in earnest consultation. The summer air,the luscious scent of the orange-trees beneath which they were seated,might have inclined them to mere lazy enjoyment of their youngexistence--the busy sounds from the tilt-yard near have summoned them tothe sports and exercises for which their graceful, well-grown strengthevidently fitted them, or the books, several of which were scattered onthe marble steps of the court, have employed their attention. But theywere evidently so deeply interested by the subject in hand as to have nothoughts to spare for anything else--a fact the more remarkable as theywere not engaged in a dispute, but were discussing something on whichthey were evidently all agreed, and which they regarded as of thehighest importance.
"When our great uncle, Edward the Black Prince, won his spurs," said theeldest, a tall, dark-haired young man, with a singularly considerate andintelligent countenance, "it was at Crecy by hard fighting. _He_ didsomething to deserve knighthood. His father let him win the field forhimself. `Is my son unhorsed,' he said, `or mortally wounded? Nay,then let him win his spurs.' And see how he won them!"
"And _he_ was only sixteen!" said the second brother, who resembled thefirst speaker, but had a more fiery and vivacious expression.
"Ay, Pedro, we have waited too long for our chance; it suits not withour honour."
"Oh," broke in the fourth boy vehemently, "why cannot the King find somepretext for war? If Castile or Arragon would but insult us! But myfather says he cannot engage in an unjust war merely to knight his sons.'Tis very unlucky."
"Nay," said the eldest brother, "I cannot blame him. He must considerthe country's good."
"Ah!" said Pedro, "there always _were_ wars and deeds of arms in thosegood old days. But these are dull times; it is not worth while livingin the world now. Everything is for policy and justice; no one acts forpure glory and knight-errantry."
"That is a stupid thing to say," said the third brother, who had nothitherto spoken, a youth with broad, thoughtful brows and large greyeyes. "We do not know what one half of the world is like; there isquite enough to do in finding out."
"Enrique is for ever wondering about countries beyond seas," said Pedro."Are Duarte and he and I to seek knighthood by sailing away to look forsavages--the saints know where?"
"We have not yet killed _nearly_ all the infidels," said the youngestbrother of all, rather dreamily.
"There are no Crusades now, Fernando," said Duarte; "and to my thinkingabsent sovereigns make ill-governed kingdoms."
"And are there no Infidels except in Palestine?" cried the littleFernando, springing to his feet. "I would sooner earn _my_ knighthoodby destroying the villains who steal children and imprison noble knightsthan by fighting with brave gentlemen like ourselves. I would sooner beGodfrey de Bouillon than our uncle Edward. Let us go and take Tangiersor Ceuta at the sword's point; then can we be knighted with honour, andthe blessed Cross--" Here the child's excitement fairly overcame him,tears filled his eyes, and he hid his face behind Enrique.
"There is much in the child's words," said Duarte. "Weep not, Fernando,if I go to fight the infidel, thou shalt be my page. Come, Pedro andEnrique, walk this way with me." And the three elders strolled awaytogether, leaving their juniors to speculate on their subject ofconversation.
These five brothers, afterwards perhaps among the most brilliant, andcertainly among the most virtuous, princes who ever adorned a royalhouse, were the sons of Joao the First of Portugal, the founder of thehouse of Avis, so called from the order of knighthood of which he wasgrand-master. He succeeded to the throne of Portugal rather by electionthan by inheritance, and after a period of disturbance and trouble; buthis great qualities raised the little kingdom to quite a new place amongnations, and in Philippa of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt byhis first wife, he met with a Queen fully worthy of him. The interestwhich John of Gaunt's second marriage gave him in the affairs of Castilemade an alliance in the Peninsula desirable to him; but Philippa wasfree from the distracting claims to the Castilian succession of heryoung half-sister Catherine, and involved her husband in no quarrels.It may well be a source of pride to the English reader to remember thather sons were of Plantagenet blood, for they inherited all the virtuesand few of the faults of that noble and generous race.
Perhaps the profound peace which made it so difficult to these youngprinces to signalise their knighthood by any deed of arms worthy oftheir name may seem more to King Joao's credit in modern eyes than inthose of his sons; but it was not strange that young men, all withtalents and aims far above the average in any age, rank, or country,should wish to make a reality of that which was perhaps on the verge ofbecoming a splendid form, and burning with the truest spirit ofchivalry, should, as many have done since, sigh for times when it waseasier to express it. They were all as highly educated as was possibleto the times in which they lived, and Edward, or Duarte, as he wascalled by the Portuguese form of his English name, was a considerablescholar; but war was still the calling of a prince and a gentleman, andthey felt hardly used in being debarred from it. King Joao, however,was of so enlightened or so degenerate a spirit that he refused toplunge his kingdom into war solely for the purpose of knighting hissons. Hence the foregoing discussion.
The three elder brothers walked up and down under the shade of theorange-trees--tall and stately youths, with serious faces, and minds seton the subject in hand. Du
arte walked in the middle, and seemed to beweighing the arguments addressed to him by Enrique; his more roundedoutlines, and a certain tender gentleness of expression in his darkeyes, gave him the air of being younger than Pedro, whose colouring wasdarker and his face sterner and more impetuous. He was sometimesarrogant and hasty; but no one ever heard a sharp word from the just andgentle Duarte, whose mental power and high scholarship seemed but to addto his unselfish consideration. The tallest of the three was Enrique,in whose great size and strength and fair skin the English mother lovedto trace the characteristics of the Plantagenets. He talked withintense eagerness, and his great dark eyes were full of ardour, but ofthe dreaminess accompanying ardour for an unseen object. The twoyounger boys had meanwhile remained sitting on the steps, ostensiblylearning their lessons from a very crabbed-looking Latin manuscriptspread