Chapter XXII
The inhabitants of the HUT received me with a mixture of joy andsurprize. Their homely welcome, and their artless sympathy, weregrateful to my feelings. In the midst of their inquiries, as to myhealth, they avoided all allusions to the source of my malady. They werehonest creatures, and I loved them well. I participated in the tearswhich they shed when I mentioned to them my speedy departure for Europe,and promised to acquaint them with my welfare during my long absence.
They expressed great surprize when I informed them of my intention tovisit my cottage. Alarm and foreboding overspread their features, andthey attempted to dissuade me from visiting an house which they firmlybelieved to be haunted by a thousand ghastly apparitions.
These apprehensions, however, had no power over my conduct. I took anirregular path which led me to my own house. All was vacant and forlorn.A small enclosure, near which the path led, was the burying-groundbelonging to the family. This I was obliged to pass. Once I had intendedto enter it, and ponder on the emblems and inscriptions which my unclehad caused to be made on the tombs of Catharine and her children; butnow my heart faltered as I approached, and I hastened forward, thatdistance might conceal it from my view.
When I approached the recess, my heart again sunk. I averted my eyes,and left it behind me as quickly as possible. Silence reigned throughmy habitation, and a darkness which closed doors and shutters produced.Every object was connected with mine or my brother's history. I passedthe entry, mounted the stair, and unlocked the door of my chamber.It was with difficulty that I curbed my fancy and smothered my fears.Slight movements and casual sounds were transformed into beckoningshadows and calling shapes.
I proceeded to the closet. I opened and looked round it withfearfulness. All things were in their accustomed order. I sought andfound the manuscript where I was used to deposit it. This being secured,there was nothing to detain me; yet I stood and contemplated awhile thefurniture and walls of my chamber. I remembered how long this apartmenthad been a sweet and tranquil asylum; I compared its former state withits present dreariness, and reflected that I now beheld it for the lasttime.
Here it was that the incomprehensible behaviour of Carwin was witnessed:this the stage on which that enemy of man shewed himself for a momentunmasked. Here the menaces of murder were wafted to my ear; and herethese menaces were executed.
These thoughts had a tendency to take from me my self-command. My feeblelimbs refused to support me, and I sunk upon a chair. Incoherent andhalf-articulate exclamations escaped my lips. The name of Carwin wasuttered, and eternal woes, woes like that which his malice had entailedupon us, were heaped upon him. I invoked all-seeing heaven to drag tolight and to punish this betrayer, and accused its providence for havingthus long delayed the retribution that was due to so enormous a guilt.
I have said that the window shutters were closed. A feeble light,however, found entrance through the crevices. A small window illuminatedthe closet, and the door being closed, a dim ray streamed throughthe key-hole. A kind of twilight was thus created, sufficient for thepurposes of vision; but, at the same time, involving all minuter objectsin obscurity.
This darkness suited the colour of my thoughts. I sickened at theremembrance of the past. The prospect of the future excited my loathing.I muttered in a low voice, Why should I live longer? Why should I drag amiserable being? All, for whom I ought to live, have perished. Am I notmyself hunted to death?
At that moment, my despair suddenly became vigorous. My nerves were nolonger unstrung. My powers, that had long been deadened, were revived.My bosom swelled with a sudden energy, and the conviction darted throughmy mind, that to end my torments was, at once, practicable and wise.
I knew how to find way to the recesses of life. I could use a lancetwith some skill, and could distinguish between vein and artery. Bypiercing deep into the latter, I should shun the evils which the futurehad in store for me, and take refuge from my woes in quiet death.
I started on my feet, for my feebleness was gone, and hasted to thecloset. A lancet and other small instruments were preserved in acase which I had deposited here. Inattentive as I was to foreignconsiderations, my ears were still open to any sound of mysteriousimport that should occur. I thought I heard a step in the entry. Mypurpose was suspended, and I cast an eager glance at my chamber door,which was open. No one appeared, unless the shadow which I discernedupon the floor, was the outline of a man. If it were, I was authorizedto suspect that some one was posted close to the entrance, who possiblyhad overheard my exclamations.
My teeth chattered, and a wild confusion took place of my momentarycalm. Thus it was when a terrific visage had disclosed itself on aformer night. Thus it was when the evil destiny of Wieland assumed thelineaments of something human. What horrid apparition was preparing toblast my sight?
Still I listened and gazed. Not long, for the shadow moved; a foot,unshapely and huge, was thrust forward; a form advanced from itsconcealment, and stalked into the room. It was Carwin! While I hadbreath I shrieked. While I had power over my muscles, I motioned withmy hand that he should vanish. My exertions could not last long; I sunkinto a fit.
O that this grateful oblivion had lasted for ever! Too quickly Irecovered my senses. The power of distinct vision was no sooner restoredto me, than this hateful form again presented itself, and I once morerelapsed.
A second time, untoward nature recalled me from the sleep of death.I found myself stretched upon the bed. When I had power to look up, Iremembered only that I had cause to fear. My distempered fancy fashionedto itself no distinguishable image. I threw a languid glance round me;once more my eyes lighted upon Carwin.
He was seated on the floor, his back rested against the wall, his kneeswere drawn up, and his face was buried in his hands. That his stationwas at some distance, that his attitude was not menacing, that hisominous visage was concealed, may account for my now escaping a shock,violent as those which were past. I withdrew my eyes, but was not againdeserted by my senses.
On perceiving that I had recovered my sensibility, he lifted his head.This motion attracted my attention. His countenance was mild, but sorrowand astonishment sat upon his features. I averted my eyes and feeblyexclaimed--"O! fly--fly far and for ever!--I cannot behold you andlive!"
He did not rise upon his feet, but clasped his hands, and said in atone of deprecation--"I will fly. I am become a fiend, the sight of whomdestroys. Yet tell me my offence! You have linked curses with my name;you ascribe to me a malice monstrous and infernal. I look around; allis loneliness and desert! This house and your brother's are solitary anddismantled! You die away at the sight of me! My fear whispers that somedeed of horror has been perpetrated; that I am the undesigning cause."
What language was this? Had he not avowed himself a ravisher? Had notthis chamber witnessed his atrocious purposes? I besought him with newvehemence to go.
He lifted his eyes--"Great heaven! what have I done? I think I knowthe extent of my offences. I have acted, but my actions have possiblyeffected more than I designed. This fear has brought me back from myretreat. I come to repair the evil of which my rashness was the cause,and to prevent more evil. I come to confess my errors."
"Wretch!" I cried when my suffocating emotions would permit me to speak,"the ghosts of my sister and her children, do they not rise to accusethee? Who was it that blasted the intellects of Wieland? Who was itthat urged him to fury, and guided him to murder? Who, but thou and thedevil, with whom thou art confederated?"
At these words a new spirit pervaded his countenance. His eyes once moreappealed to heaven. "If I have memory, if I have being, I am innocent. Iintended no ill; but my folly, indirectly and remotely, may have causedit; but what words are these! Your brother lunatic! His children dead!"
What should I infer from this deportment? Was the ignorance which thesewords implied real or pretended?--Yet how could I imagine a mere humanagency in these events? But if the influence was preternatural ormaniacal in my brother's case, they must be equally so
in my own. ThenI remembered that the voice exerted, was to save me from Carwin'sattempts. These ideas tended to abate my abhorrence of this man, and todetect the absurdity of my accusations.
"Alas!" said I, "I have no one to accuse. Leave me to my fate. Fly froma scene stained with cruelty; devoted to despair."
Carwin stood for a time musing and mournful. At length he said, "Whathas happened? I came to expiate my crimes: let me know them in theirfull extent. I have horrible forebodings! What has happened?"
I was silent; but recollecting the intimation given by this man when hewas detected in my closet, which implied some knowledge of that powerwhich interfered in my favor, I eagerly inquired, "What was that voicewhich called upon me to hold when I attempted to open the closet? Whatface was that which I saw at the bottom of the stairs? Answer me truly."
"I came to confess the truth. Your allusions are horrible and strange.Perhaps I have but faint conceptions of the evils which my infatuationhas produced; but what remains I will perform. It was my VOICE that youheard! It was my FACE that you saw!"
For a moment I doubted whether my remembrance of events were notconfused. How could he be at once stationed at my shoulder and shut upin my closet? How could he stand near me and yet be invisible? But ifCarwin's were the thrilling voice and the fiery visage which I had heardand seen, then was he the prompter of my brother, and the author ofthese dismal outrages.
Once more I averted my eyes and struggled for speech. "Begone! thou manof mischief! Remorseless and implacable miscreant! begone!"
"I will obey," said he in a disconsolate voice; "yet, wretch as I am,am I unworthy to repair the evils that I have committed? I came as arepentant criminal. It is you whom I have injured, and at your bar amI willing to appear, and confess and expiate my crimes. I have deceivedyou: I have sported with your terrors: I have plotted to destroy yourreputation. I come now to remove your errors; to set you beyond thereach of similar fears; to rebuild your fame as far as I am able.
"This is the amount of my guilt, and this the fruit of my remorse. Willyou not hear me? Listen to my confession, and then denounce punishment.All I ask is a patient audience."
"What!" I replied, "was not thine the voice that commanded my brother toimbrue his hands in the blood of his children--to strangle that angel ofsweetness his wife? Has he not vowed my death, and the death of Pleyel,at thy bidding? Hast thou not made him the butcher of his family;changed him who was the glory of his species into worse than brute;robbed him of reason, and consigned the rest of his days to fetters andstripes?"
Carwin's eyes glared, and his limbs were petrified at this intelligence.No words were requisite to prove him guiltless of these enormities: atthe time, however, I was nearly insensible to these exculpatory tokens.He walked to the farther end of the room, and having recovered somedegree of composure, he spoke--
"I am not this villain; I have slain no one; I have prompted none toslay; I have handled a tool of wonderful efficacy without malignantintentions, but without caution; ample will be the punishment of mytemerity, if my conduct has contributed to this evil." He paused.--
I likewise was silent. I struggled to command myself so far as to listento the tale which he should tell. Observing this, he continued--
"You are not apprized of the existence of a power which I possess. Iknow not by what name to call it. [*] It enables me to mimic exactly thevoice of another, and to modify the sound so that it shall appear tocome from what quarter, and be uttered at what distance I please.
"I know not that every one possesses this power. Perhaps, though acasual position of my organs in my youth shewed me that I possessedit, it is an art which may be taught to all. Would to God I had diedunknowing of the secret! It has produced nothing but degradation andcalamity.
"For a time the possession of so potent and stupendous an endowmentelated me with pride. Unfortified by principle, subjected to poverty,stimulated by headlong passions, I made this powerful engine subservientto the supply of my wants, and the gratification of my vanity. I shallnot mention how diligently I cultivated this gift, which seemed capableof unlimited improvement; nor detail the various occasions on whichit was successfully exerted to lead superstition, conquer avarice, orexcite awe.
"I left America, which is my native soil, in my youth. I have beenengaged in various scenes of life, in which my peculiar talent has beenexercised with more or less success. I was finally betrayed by one whocalled himself my friend, into acts which cannot be justified, thoughthey are susceptible of apology.
"The perfidy of this man compelled me to withdraw from Europe. Ireturned to my native country, uncertain whether silence and obscuritywould save me from his malice. I resided in the purlieus of the city. Iput on the garb and assumed the manners of a clown.
"My chief recreation was walking. My principal haunts were the lawnsand gardens of Mettingen. In this delightful region the luxuriancesof nature had been chastened by judicious art, and each successivecontemplation unfolded new enchantments.
"I was studious of seclusion: I was satiated with the intercourse ofmankind, and discretion required me to shun their intercourse. Forthese reasons I long avoided the observation of your family, and chieflyvisited these precincts at night.
"I was never weary of admiring the position and ornaments of THETEMPLE. Many a night have I passed under its roof, revolving no pleasingmeditations. When, in my frequent rambles, I perceived this apartmentwas occupied, I gave a different direction to my steps. One evening,when a shower had just passed, judging by the silence that no onewas within, I ascended to this building. Glancing carelessly round, Iperceived an open letter on the pedestal. To read it was doubtless anoffence against politeness. Of this offence, however, I was guilty.
"Scarcely had I gone half through when I was alarmed by the approachof your brother. To scramble down the cliff on the opposite sidewas impracticable. I was unprepared to meet a stranger. Besidesthe aukwardness attending such an interview in these circumstances,concealment was necessary to my safety. A thousand times had I vowednever again to employ the dangerous talent which I possessed; but suchwas the force of habit and the influence of present convenience, that Iused this method of arresting his progress and leading him back to thehouse, with his errand, whatever it was, unperformed. I had often caughtparts, from my station below, of your conversation in this place, andwas well acquainted with the voice of your sister.
"Some weeks after this I was again quietly seated in this recess. Thelateness of the hour secured me, as I thought, from all interruption.In this, however, I was mistaken, for Wieland and Pleyel, as I judged bytheir voices, earnest in dispute, ascended the hill.
"I was not sensible that any inconvenience could possibly have flowedfrom my former exertion; yet it was followed with compunction, becauseit was a deviation from a path which I had assigned to myself. Nowmy aversion to this means of escape was enforced by an unauthorizedcuriosity, and by the knowledge of a bushy hollow on the edge of thehill, where I should be safe from discovery. Into this hollow I thrustmyself.
"The propriety of removal to Europe was the question eagerly discussed.Pleyel intimated that his anxiety to go was augmented by the silenceof Theresa de Stolberg. The temptation to interfere in this dispute wasirresistible. In vain I contended with inveterate habits. I disguised tomyself the impropriety of my conduct, by recollecting the benefits whichit might produce. Pleyel's proposal was unwise, yet it was enforcedwith plausible arguments and indefatigable zeal. Your brother might bepuzzled and wearied, but could not be convinced. I conceived thatto terminate the controversy in favor of the latter was conferring abenefit on all parties. For this end I profited by an opening in theconversation, and assured them of Catharine's irreconcilable aversion tothe scheme, and of the death of the Saxon baroness. The latter eventwas merely a conjecture, but rendered extremely probable by Pleyel'srepresentations. My purpose, you need not be told, was effected.
"My passion for mystery, and a species of imposture, which I deemedharmless, was thus awaken
ed afresh. This second lapse into error made myrecovery more difficult. I cannot convey to you an adequate idea ofthe kind of gratification which I derived from these exploits; yet Imeditated nothing. My views were bounded to the passing moment, andcommonly suggested by the momentary exigence.
"I must not conceal any thing. Your principles teach you to abhor avoluptuous temper; but, with whatever reluctance, I acknowledge thistemper to be mine. You imagine your servant Judith to be innocent aswell as beautiful; but you took her from a family where hypocrisy, aswell as licentiousness, was wrought into a system. My attention wascaptivated by her charms, and her principles were easily seen to beflexible.
"Deem me not capable of the iniquity of seduction. Your servant is notdestitute of feminine and virtuous qualities; but she was taught thatthe best use of her charms consists in the sale of them. My nocturnalvisits to Mettingen were now prompted by a double view, and mycorrespondence with your servant gave me, at all times, access to yourhouse.
"The second night after our interview, so brief and so little foreseenby either of us, some daemon of mischief seized me. According to mycompanion's report, your perfections were little less than divine. Heruncouth but copious narratives converted you into an object of worship.She chiefly dwelt upon your courage, because she herself was deficientin that quality. You held apparitions and goblins in contempt. You tookno precautions against robbers. You were just as tranquil and secure inthis lonely dwelling, as if you were in the midst of a crowd. Hence avague project occurred to me, to put this courage to the test. A womancapable of recollection in danger, of warding off groundless panics,of discerning the true mode of proceeding, and profiting by her bestresources, is a prodigy. I was desirous of ascertaining whether you weresuch an one.
"My expedient was obvious and simple: I was to counterfeit a murderousdialogue; but this was to be so conducted that another, and notyourself, should appear to be the object. I was not aware of thepossibility that you should appropriate these menaces to yourself. Hadyou been still and listened, you would have heard the struggles andprayers of the victim, who would likewise have appeared to be shut up inthe closet, and whose voice would have been Judith's. This scene wouldhave been an appeal to your compassion; and the proof of cowardiceor courage which I expected from you, would have been your remaininginactive in your bed, or your entering the closet with a view to assistthe sufferer. Some instances which Judith related of your fearlessnessand promptitude made me adopt the latter supposition with some degree ofconfidence.
"By the girl's direction I found a ladder, and mounted to your closetwindow. This is scarcely large enough to admit the head, but it answeredmy purpose too well.
"I cannot express my confusion and surprize at your abrupt andprecipitate flight. I hastily removed the ladder; and, after some pause,curiosity and doubts of your safety induced me to follow you. I foundyou stretched on the turf before your brother's door, without sense ormotion. I felt the deepest regret at this unlooked-for consequence ofmy scheme. I knew not what to do to procure you relief. The idea ofawakening the family naturally presented itself. This emergency wascritical, and there was no time to deliberate. It was a sudden thoughtthat occurred. I put my lips to the key-hole, and sounded an alarm whicheffectually roused the sleepers. My organs were naturally forcible, andhad been improved by long and assiduous exercise.
"Long and bitterly did I repent of my scheme. I was somewhat consoled byreflecting that my purpose had not been evil, and renewed my fruitlessvows never to attempt such dangerous experiments. For some time Iadhered, with laudable forbearance, to this resolution.
"My life has been a life of hardship and exposure. In the summer Iprefer to make my bed of the smooth turf, or, at most, the shelter of asummer-house suffices. In all my rambles I never found a spot in whichso many picturesque beauties and rural delights were assembled as atMettingen. No corner of your little domain unites fragrance and secrecyin so perfect a degree as the recess in the bank. The odour of itsleaves, the coolness of its shade, and the music of its water-fall,had early attracted my attention. Here my sadness was converted intopeaceful melancholy--here my slumbers were sound, and my pleasuresenhanced.
"As most free from interruption, I chose this as the scene of mymidnight interviews with Judith. One evening, as the sun declined, I wasseated here, when I was alarmed by your approach. It was with difficultythat I effected my escape unnoticed by you.
"At the customary hour, I returned to your habitation, and was madeacquainted by Judith, with your unusual absence. I half suspected thetrue cause, and felt uneasiness at the danger there was that I should bedeprived of my retreat; or, at least, interrupted in the possessionof it. The girl, likewise, informed me, that among your othersingularities, it was not uncommon for you to leave your bed, and walkforth for the sake of night-airs and starlight contemplations.
"I desired to prevent this inconvenience. I found you easily swayedby fear. I was influenced, in my choice of means, by the facility andcertainty of that to which I had been accustomed. All that I forsaw was,that, in future, this spot would be cautiously shunned by you.
"I entered the recess with the utmost caution, and discovered, by yourbreathings, in what condition you were. The unexpected interpretationwhich you placed upon my former proceeding, suggested my conduct onthe present occasion. The mode in which heaven is said by the poet, tointerfere for the prevention of crimes, [**] was somewhat analogous to myprovince, and never failed to occur to me at seasons like this. Itwas requisite to break your slumbers, and for this end I uttered thepowerful monosyllable, "hold! hold!" My purpose was not prescribed byduty, yet surely it was far from being atrocious and inexpiable. Toeffect it, I uttered what was false, but it was well suited to mypurpose. Nothing less was intended than to injure you. Nay, the evilresulting from my former act, was partly removed by assuring you that inall places but this you were safe.
* BILOQUIUM, or ventrilocution. Sound is varied according to the variations of direction and distance. The art of the ventriloquist consists in modifying his voice according to all these variations, without changing his place. See the work of the Abbe de la Chappelle, in which are accurately recorded the performances of one of these artists, and some ingenious, though unsatisfactory speculations are given on the means by which the effects are produced. This power is, perhaps, given by nature, but is doubtless improvable, if not acquirable, by art. It may, possibly, consist in an unusual flexibility or exertion of the bottom of the tongue and the uvula. That speech is producible by these alone must be granted, since anatomists mention two instances of persons speaking without a tongue. In one case, the organ was originally wanting, but its place was supplied by a small tubercle, and the uvula was perfect. In the other, the tongue was destroyed by disease, but probably a small part of it remained.
This power is difficult to explain, but the fact is undeniable. Experience shews that the human voice can imitate the voice of all men and of all inferior animals. The sound of musical instruments, and even noises from the contact of inanimate substances, have been accurately imitated. The mimicry of animals is notorious; and Dr. Burney (Musical Travels) mentions one who imitated a flute and violin, so as to deceive even his ears.
**--Peeps through the blanket of the dark, and cries Hold! Hold!--SHAKESPEARE.