Reminiscences, in Prose and Verse Consisting of the Epistolary Correspondence of Many Distinguished Characters. With Notes and Illustrations. By the Rev. R. Polwhele |
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 | Reminiscences, in Prose and Verse |  |
ACT I.—
SCENE I.
The Hall of Audience.The Chamberlain Calou; the British Ambassadors, Edred and Bishop Sigelin.
Cal.
Hail! legates of illustrious worth, all hail!
Ye, who, adventurous from the extremer isles—
From Albion's seat of glory, come; to greet
The Brother of the Sun. Our friendly harbours
Have hush'd their waves; our cities have flung back
Their brazen gates, that ye may enter, proud
In princely state! And lo, the lofty throne,
Emulous to which the nations of the earth
Bow down, shall to your cherish'd sight reveal
Our patriarchal monarch!
(The Ambassadors presenting their offerings in honour of the King and of St. Thomas to Calou the chamberlain; a door opens at the back of the throne, and (the King of Malayala) Beliarte comes forward.
Bel.
Peace be with you—
Honour and peace, high strangers! who have sought us
From afar off, o'er a long billowy waste!
How fares our brother of the western world?
Ed.
Our mighty Alfred, in the name of him
To thee presents his cordial salutations.
For what remains, O King! we would solicit
Thy private ear.
(The scene closes; the King intimating his assent.)
SCENE II.
A Balcony of the Palace; commanding a view of the Sea-shore, and of the British Ships.Beliarte. Edred. Sigelin.
Ed.
See those red pendants, flashing
The radiance of the closing day. They stream
O'er valiant spirits! Behold the British Merchant,
Though bosom'd in the hospitable haven,
Yet knows to poise the lance, or wield the sabre.
If then the prowess of the British seaman
Shall summon up our little troop around thee:
And they shall stand, a stubborn force—a wall
Impregnable to Brahman arts or arms—
To Brahman incantation!
Sig.
Say, O King!
Dost thou not see the interposing hand
Of Providence, that wafted at this crisis
Our vessels to thy coasts? Great Alfred, anxious
To bind the genuine children of the Cross,
Though scatter'd over distant climes, in union
With Albion's gifted race, and first of all
The followers of the martyr'd Saint—dispatch'd us,
To do right homage at thy throne and altar.
But, of the jarring interests of thy kingdom,
The temper or the bias of thy court,
Thy household, unapprized (what now thy goodness
Confides to generous bosoms) lo, we sail'd
The unconscious instruments of Heaven, to 'stablish,
Haply, thy Church upon a broader basis.
Bel.
The heavenly character of our Apostle,
His meek demeanour, yet his steadfastness
And intrepidity, inspire, confirm
Our fickle minds. With wonder we look back
Upon the crowds his preaching gather'd round him,
And fix'd, the adorers of the one true God!
What thousands he led converts to the faith;
Rearing fair structures for the worshippers
Till they, whose jealousy had ey'd askance,
His triumphs o'er their pagods, and had watch'd
The silent moments of his meditations,
Broke in upon his privacy, assail'd
With stones his sacred person, and the lance
Of Kytoo through his body thrust, remorseless
Murderers! 'Twas here, at his own Malabar,
His favourite fabric had he built: here rests
The saint in slumbers undisturb'd. His tomb,
His memory, we revere; his little flock
To save from persecution is our aim;
Though for a full profession of our faith,
The hour is not yet come.
Sig.
I see that hour!
I welcome its approach, and recognize
The mandate from the heaven of heavens, that sent us
An embassage of high desert, from darkness
That may be felt to free thy suffering people;
And in their great deliverance to exalt them
The chief among the Christian nations.
“Alfred ordered a good number of merchant ships to be built. And it is affirmed, that some of the merchants traded as far as the East Indies; whence they imported several things before unknown to the English.” —Rapin's Hist. of England, fol. p. 95.
In a note, Rapin says: “It is not likely they traded to the Indies by sea, at a time the mariner's compass was not found out.”
According to Malmesbury and Spelman: “He sent a present to the Indies, in honour of St. Thomas. Sigelin, Bishop of Sherburn, was employed to deliver it; who performed the voyage successfully, and brought back precious stones, perfumes, and other commodities which were then great curiosities in England. It was thought, Alfred caused with these diamonds a more august and imperial sort of crown than had been used before, to be composed; for, in the arched roof in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, (where the ancient regalia of the kingdom are kept,) upon a box, the cabinet of the most ancient crown, there are these words:—“Hic est principalior corona, cum quâ coronabantur reges Alfredus, Edwardus,” &c.—This crown is of a very ancient work, with flowers adorned with stones of somewhat plain setting.—See, in particular, Spelman's Life of Alfred, lib. ii. c. 28.
In the Saxon Chronicle, I find this short notice: Ann. 883. Hoc anno detulerant Sighelmus et Æthelstanus eleemosunas (quas Ælfredus rex eo se missurum voverat) in Indiam, ad Sanctum Thomam et Sanctum Bartholomeum.”
With respect to the Syrian Christians, see Buchanan and other writers.
That they are of the first antiquity and of the true Episcopalian Church, there is not the shadow of a doubt.
It is most devoutly to be wished, that Bishop Sigelin's prophecy, at the close of this dramatic sketch, may be realized.— Heber, the late Bishop of Calcutta, was not like Middleton, a frigid calculator of probabilities. I trust, he hath opened to good purpose, an intercourse with the Syrian Christians.
SCENE III.
The Queen's Cabinet.Queen Serinda. Amanda Rayer, the Brahman, her Counsellor.
Ser.
Say—
Is Saib on the march? Who warn'd the prince
Of this impending danger? Were our heralds
Charg'd with the tale of fleets from northern regions,
Fleets bearing on their wings the sons of giants?
And was he told, that girt with swords of flame,
And cased with adamant, each warrior tower'd
A champion of St. Thomas?
Aman.
If we read
The auguries of the skies aright, Prince Saib
Ser.
And hath thy secret messenger been taught
To set forth Theodora's ripening charms,
Her brilliant beauty, to reward the achievement,
When he shall rise, terrific, on the ruins
Of Syrian churches?
Aman.
Rather to our fanes,
Aye, rather, when Prince Saib shall restore
Their still mysterious gloom, their deep repose!
Ser.
Such, such is thy eternal cant. The picture
Of tranquil votaries may perhaps amuse thee,
And win thy fancy to its placid features—
But the dread Deity that hush'd our temples
Far off retires, whilst in each avenue
Those licens'd scoffers of St. Thomas, jostle
The mild Gentoo! Go—bid the Nazarite
Eschew his vanities, give up his baubles,
His precious stones and garments! Go, reduce
The Prelate to his pristine simple state,—
To saintlike self-abasement! Then observe
His flock—go number them! The Cross, perchance,
(Erected kindly, to refresh, to heal
The fainting multitudes that press around it,)
Hath virtues to evaporate all in air!
| Reminiscences, in Prose and Verse | |