Paul and Julia: Or, The Political Mysteries, Hypocrisy and Cruelty of the Leaders of the Church ...

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Contents

I. Valley m the CaT&casms, . . ... . . 7

II. Enemies coming, 9

III. Tbe Ossetes prepare tkemselTVS for Battle. ~ EjcpU-

Chapter I. Valley In The Caucasus

N the western side of the Caucasus a lofty peak arises, and, like a spear, shoots towards heaven.

Lower down, a high mountain unrolls itself, and, like a monstrous serpent, winds towards the horizon.

When, through the snows, the mountaineer has climhed their sides, wearied he sits on the summit, and contemplates the immensity which surrounds him. What strikes him in this picture, where the colors are so rich, the landscapes so varied, and the objects delineated in such gigantic proportions, is a deep valley.

which resembles a vast sheet spread by the hand of nature. At his feet gush forth the sources of manj small torrents, which, confined in their pebbly beds, murmur, fall, roll, and fall again in foam from rock to rock, until they reach the base ; then glide gently along, and water the meadows in their«*ourse.

Dark forests blacken the sides of the mountain, and beyond are planted large vineyards.* Fields, divided into innumerable portions, display their green, pale, and darker hues, and are ornamented by blooming fruit trees. Numerous flocks are grazing silently. The shepherds, grouped around large fires, join in merry sports. The woodman, felling the trees to enlarge his domain, makes the forest resound with the stroke of his axe. In every direction, the laborers are heard repeating some joyous songs of the Caucasus.

Scattered here and there are humble cottages and modest habitations, surrounded by orchards. In the centre of the hamlets is neither mosque nor minaret, but only a rude wooden tower, with sides and angles, roughly squared. This valley, which forms so luxuriant a carpet, where all objects are so pleasing to the eye, is inhabited by a colony of the Ossetes.

* The religion of the Ossetes is an imperfect mixture of Mahometanism and Christianity. They raise grapes, as well as the Abases and other tribes of the Caucastts.

PAUL AND JULIA.

Chapter II. Enemies Coming

T was on the evening of one of those beautiful days, when Nature, having cast off her winding-sheet of death, celebrated her new birth, and, to the delight of mortals, robed herself in her tunic of green and flovV^ers. The domes in the valley cast their dark and lengthened shadows far in the distance. The sun, having reached the top of the peak, gilded its crest, and his bloody disk seemed *n eye of fire on the brow of this giant of the mountains. Along the western side streamed floods of light, which were reflected near the summit by its snowy or frozen plains and rugged surfaces. Lower down, the beams were caught by the ridges, points, and cornices of the rocks, and multiplied into myriads of golden rays, which, losing their brightness as they descended, made darker the valley below.

The departing sun soon gilded vhe outline of the eternal snows. The children sported before their fathers as they returned from labor. The women, joyful at the return of those they loved, prepaiid the evening meal. The vinedresser laid aside his pruning knife, and came merrily singing. The ploughman urged his weary team, as it slowly brought back the plough. In a short time, all the laborers had reached their homes, and by their cheerful firesides refreshed themselves, after the fatigues of the day, in the bosoms of their families.

After the evening meal, the daughters of the valley were seen directing their steps to a solitary grove, where they knelt, joined their hands, lifted their eyes towards heaven, and fervently recited an evening prayer : —

" Prophet of the Almighty, draw thy lips for a moment from the voluptuous cup ; suspend thy everlasting drunkenness, and from thy heaven let fall on our valley a smiling look.

" Divine Mahomet, listen to the prayer of the young Ossetinc.

" The daughter of the mountains, living far from the cities, does not hear from the top of the minarets the signal of the holy hour.* She has never seen thy grand pontiff. No man teaches her thy sublime oracles. She has no mosque in which she burns incense to thee. From the garden of the flagrant flowers of the valley she lifts her eyes towards thee : accept at least the incense which she bums to thee, that of her heart.

" Divine Mahomet, listen to the prayer of the young Ossetine.

* The Mahometans use no bells in their mosques : their Imams, or priests, announce the divine senrices by str king a board on the top of th« minarets.

** Ask for her sheep a rich wool ; for her goat, a ailky gown ; for her flock, abundant pasture. Obtain for her field, an exuberant harvest ; for her tribe, happiness here below ; for those endeared to her, long daj^s and undisturbed old age.

" Divine Mahomet, listen to the prayer of the young Ossetine.

"The brooks murmuring flow along the valley ; thus flows the stream of her life. She wishes for wisdom, beauty, and virtue ; for a lover, the most valiant among young warriors, the most faithful among husbands. Through thy intercession the Great Spirit will grant aer wishes.

" Divine Mahomet, listen to the prayer of the young Ossetine."

And the young supliants hailed the Occident.

Suddenly the shepherds, who were attending to their flocks on the opposite side of the valley, ran, exclaiming, ** We have seen enemies beyond the mountain ! "

From every hamlet, from every family, the alarming cry went forth, " To arms ! to arms ! Enemies are coming ! **

The shepherds were led to the chief, who asked them, —

" Where did you see those enemies ? "

" Beyond the mountain of the prophet, near that one which is still covered with snow."

" Why suppose you they are enemies ? "

" Their costume and armor are so strange."

" Are they numerous ? "

" They are a whole tribe."

" Are there horsemen among them ? "

" Hundreds of them."

** Is their armor that of a neighboring tribe ? ''

*' We do not know."

Isram hurried among the people already assembled. " To arras ! " cried he ; " let's haste to the battle tower."

The young men immediately took down their swords, and girded on them their belts, on which two bright pistols were suspended ; mounted their warlike steeds, who, animated by the noise and spur, with fiery eyes, flaming nostrils, and foaming mouths, shook their flowing manes, champed their bits, and pawed the ground. Those warriors who had shed their blood in the battle field equipped themselves in the glorious armor taken from their enemies, and hastened to guide and encourage those valiant youths. The young, fair, and beautiful Ossetines arranged their quivers, placed their buckler to the left arm, bent their bows, brandished poisoned arrows, and flew to the battle tower. The old men, whose limbs were stifiened by toil or paralyzed by noble wounds, advanced more slowly, and with difficulty mounted the steps of this ancient tower, where were deposited the arms which they had handled in their youth, and from whence they had so often seen their enemies flying.

Isram reached the top of the tower. He raised his voice, and all became silent.

" Sons of the valley, seeing in the hands of strangers the torch of fire, and the chain of slavery, you have said, ' Let us protect our homes ! Let us repel slavery ! Let our arms rise simultaneously to strike the enemy.' This expression is nobh ; you will be victorious ; for

PAXTL AND JtTLIA. 13

union gives strength. Why are my steps tottering, and my hands feeble, that I cannot march at your head ? Alas ! I have not even a son, with the hands of whom I would fight with you. The grass is growing upon his tomb.

"Warriors, God sees the justice of your cause. He will bless your arms. But when victorious, shed no more blood. He has said by the mouth of Christ, that we must forgive our enemies."

Then the old men and mothers of the warriors, standing upon the tower, raised their feeble hands and supplicating eyes towards heaven, and with weak and trembling voices, prayed, —

** Great Spirit, Sultan of heaven and earth, curse the strangers who trouble us in the decline of life ; who bring to our sons slavery, to our daughters dishonor. Cause their arms to be broken by the first shock, and their arrogance subdued. Protect our soldiers ; give strength to their arms, and courage to their hearts. Preserve them ; if they fall, who will bury us ? Who will plant over our tombs the cypress tree of remembrance ? And thou, God of Christians, whom so many nations supplicate^ whom our chief also worships, thou who hast endowed him with such rare wisdom, such deep science, curse the strt^ngers, for thou art also the God of battles." 2

Chapter III

THE 0SSETE8 PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR BATTLE. — EXPLANATION BETWEEN THE CHtEFS OF THE TWO ARMIES.

^,HE warriois had formed tlieir lines of battle, when a young amazon, appearing at the head of the battalions, attracted all eyes.

Her hands, white and Bfjft as the feathers of the swan, sometimes let fall the re Lns of her steed, then stimulated and subdued him.

Her robe displayed her beautifiJ form, and fell in long and graceful folds.

A sword was suspended at her girdle, which was fastened with a white buckle. A necklace of pearls was twined round her neck, and fell in saltier upon a purple baldrick, to which her quiver was attached. A bow hung on her shoulder ; an aegis shielded her breast. Her long hair was negligently knotted back. Confined in front by a gold clasp was a scarf of silky tissue, the outlines of which displayed the brightness of many colors. The fire of her eyes ; the tears which sometimes moistened her eyelids at the sight of the old man ; her rosy mouth ; the expression of the smile delineated on her lips, and the celestial beauty of all her features deified her face. It was Julia, the granddaughter of the chief of the tribe.

Suddenly a heavy rolling sound was borne along the side of the mountain. It was like an avalanche falling from a precipice, bearing with it detached rocks, shattering and overthrowing immense pines in its descent, and filling the ravines, and beds of the torrents, with the fragments. In the obscurity were seen, on the brow of the mountain, cavaliers with shining armor, horses loaded with booty, and nimierous fiocks driven by slaves. The trampling of feet, the neighing of horses, the bleating of sheep, and the lowing of cattle produced noisy and confused clamors.

" To arms, noble sons of Ossetes ! " cried Isram, " Strangers bring us fetters. Let us live free, or all die rather than submit to slavery. To arms ! to arms ! Let us hasten to repulse tyrants.**

The warriors shout their songs of maledictions : — " Lift your heads, valiant Ossetes. Strangers crown our mountains. They come, torch in hand, to ravage our fields, to bum our cottages. They wish to drive away our flocks, and take away our treasures. Hear, their loud outcries of fury, their savage shouts of battle and death ! See the swords glittering in their hands.

'* They say in their barbarous drunkenness, — " ' We will take children from their mothers.* " Madmen ! do they think to see again their own ? " ' We will violate their wives bathed in tears.*

" Theirs will soon weep their widowhood.

•' ' We will defeat them ; we will take their valley.*

" We will be their tyrants, or they shall fall, and cover the rocks crimsoned with their blood.

" Let them rapidly descend from the mountain. Our steeds, with pliant limbs and nimble feet, will trample them down, and cover their bodies with foam. Let their trumpets sound for the combat.

*' Warriors, draw your swords. Women of brave hearts, bend your bows. Let your arrows darken the air, and pierce their bodies. They will fall, biting the dust. We will tear out their hearts, and give them for food to the wild beasts. God of our families, God of our firesides, march and fight with thy children ! *'

The battalions moved, and were about to rush upon the enemy, when three cavaliers presented themselves. They dismounted, and asked to speak to the chief. A murmur of surprise pervaded the ranks. The lines opened, and they bowed respectfully before Isram, who thus addressed them : —

" Strangers, who are you ? "

" Illustrious chief,*' replied the youngest, "my brothers in arms are two captains of the advancing army, and I am the young Karem, son of their commander."

" Under what sky were you born ? What country cradled you?"

" The Caucasus is the country of our birth ; the Lesguitan Mountains were our cradles."

'- What brought you to our valley ? Are you friends or enemies ? "

" We are friends, and come to ask alliance and hospitality."

A beam of pleasure overspread the countenance of Isram, and every face was radiant with confidence and joy. With one voice they all exclaimed, —

** Yes, we oflTer you hospitality, and accept your alliance. The strangers are no longer enemies ; they are our brothers."

Immediately a cavalier leaped the space, and announced to the Lesguis the happy news of friendship. Then shouts of joy were echoed in the vsdley. Soon Lesguis and Ossetes mingled together, and saluted each other with cordiality.

The two chiefs advanced into the midst of the battalions, placed their hands upon the blade of a lance, raised their eyes to heaven, and confirmed by an oath their contracted alliance. They had exchanged but a few words, when their voices were drowned by the acclamations of the people. The Ossetes shared their humble cottages with the Lesguis, and erected tents under the spreading branches of the trees, and drove their fiocks to the richest pastures. The women lighted large fires, and prepared for a fraternal banquet the most delicious meats, and served an abundance of the richest milk. The young girls took osier baskets, which they had woven with their own hands, lined them with green leaves, filled them with the golden fruits of autumn, gracefully arranged clusters of the finest grapes, and bore them to the place where the young men had armnged the banquet, and served the most generous wine.

Isram led the commander of the Lesguis into their midst. He was robed in a beautifully-worked tunic, whose drapery fell in graceful festoons. Around his 2* waist, he wore a large white scarf, symbol of his authority. A long, thick beard covered his chin, and whitened his breast. His forehead was furrowed with wrinkles, as the rough trunk of an old oak, and his head whitened with the winters of age, as the mountains with the snow. The mildness and firmness of his appearance, the serenity of his countenance, the majesty of his figure, and the dignity of his step commanded the respect and veneration of aXL, He seemed the personification of wisdom descended firom heaven.

Both took their places ; and Isram, at the request of Karem, presided at the festival. His table was not more sumptuously served than the others. He did not take a place of distinction ; for he felt that he was the brother, and not the lord, of the people over whom he presided ; that the first among brothers ought to be the servant of all. He knew that, accepting the election of his tribe, he had assumed a priesthood, by which he became a victim and a holocaust ; that he had engaged to govern only with love and self-denial. At his right sat Karem, and at his left, the young amazon, whose appearance was so martial, whose looks so mild. She bestowed upon him the most affectionate attentions, served him with food, filled his cup, and presented it to him. Near her. sat young Karem, who was attracted by her, and seemed absorbed in thought. The assembly already pledged each other, and drained their cups to the sweets of friendship. The Lesguis were surprised at such generosity, and were at a loss to express their gratitude. The oldest inhabitants of the valley said they had never seen so fine a feast.

PAUL 1.ND JULIA. 19

Witnessing the enjoyment of all, Isram could not refrain from expressing to Karem his delight at the happiness, order, and harmony which prevailed among them. He then addressed him thus : —

" Karem, will you relate the events which procured us the pleasure of this visit ? "

" Illustrious chief," he answered, " these are they : The last snows still whitened the earth when the trumpet of departure sounded among the Lesguis. The cowardly tribe of the Abazie attempted to beguile oui old men, our wives, and children ; but swiftly, as the deer flying before the arrow of the huntsman, we pur^ sued them. As rapidly as an eagle seizes a lamb and mounts above the clouds, we cut off their retreats, destroyed their habitations, took possession of theii wealth, fettered their hands, and are now retximing tc our own country."

" Why have you taken so long and circuitous a route ? "

" In order to avoid the perfidious attacks of their allies."

" You must have lost many of your flocks."

"A great number are scattered in the desert, and many have rolled to the bottom of the chasms which bordered the winding and slippery paths. Others, passing on the bridges which broke under them, fell into precipices."

" The tribe must have suffered much."

" Yes ; the rough roads wore out our shoes, and the bloody traces of our footsteps are left on our paths. The briers and thorns, which obstructed our way through

20 FA.UL AND JULIA.

the forests, tore oiir garments, left us only ike fur linings, and thereby exposed us to the rigorous cold. Our resting-place was the snow or ice ; we have cruelly suflTered,"

" Have you lost many of your companions ? "

** Alas ! the bodies of some were swept away by tho cold, deep waters, which we were obliged to swim; others have been buried under the falling avalanche ; many lie without sepulture in the deep pits ; and the frozen bodies of a great number still serve as food for the wild beasts which followed our steps. When wo reached the delightful climate of this valley, and placed our feet on your ground, we said, * Let us ask hospitality of this tribe. If they suffer us to erect our tents near their dwellings and rest our wearied forces, our flocks shall not browse upon the pastures ; our horses shall not trample their grain ; we will not destroy the blossoms which adorn their fruit trees ; we will respect the females, and caress the children upon their mothers* knees ; we will give them presents, and divide our spoils with them.' Illustrious chief, you have given us hospitality; then you may rely upon our lasting gratitude."

Isram pressed the hand of Karem, and the whole issembly joined in loud shouts of pleasure and friendship.

When the guests were satisfied, overcome by fatigue, md sleep overpowering them, they prostrated themselves; both those who worship God by the intercession of Christ and those who invoke him by the <nediation of the Great Prophet turning themselves to-

PAUL AXD JrLTA. 21

wards the east. They with one accord addressed the Eternal a prayer of thanksgiving ; for they believed to offer him by the diversity of their prayers an incense of sweet odor, as agreeable to him as it is to us to inhale the perfume of a parterre filled with a variety of fragrant flowers.

PAUL AXD JULIAi

Chapter IV

vHILE the others were rejoicing, Julia was sad ; her eyes were swimming in tears ; her gaze was fixed on a multitude cast down by suffering, led in captivity, and separated from the crowd as leprous. They were, it is true, sheltered under tents, but not at liberty; they were present at the banquet, but in quality of slaves ; their hands were loaded with chains, and their heads turned from their oppressors.

Those men were silent ; their heads bowed down ; their visages meagre ; their countenances inanimate ; their eyes fixed upon the earth. Their vestments hung in rags; their feet were bruised, and the blood was running from their wounds ; their wearied bodies sought support. Who would have recognized in them the impetuous Abazes, free in their own country as the eagle in the heavens ?

At the thought of their homes, they were withering ad tlie branches severed from their trunk. A file corrodes iron ; so captivity was corroding the manliness of their souls.

Isram comprehended the sadness of Julia, and suffered in silence ; but the young Karem remarked it to his father, who said to her, —

" Daughter of Isram, will you allow me to make a request of you ? '*

" O chief of the Lesquis, it is sufficient to let me know your wishes."

" Reveal to us the cause of the deep sadness which your gracious smile veils."

" Alas ! how can I be gay ? "

" Why not, when the joy of the tribes is so great ? "

** I could wish to participate in their joy, but "

" Finish, Julia, and speak your thoughts."

" It is that, near us, I see a whole multitude that are unhappy."

'* Too generous girl, why are you affected by the fate of those men, who are our enemies? The same evils with which they wished to oppress us have fallen upon themselves."

" Ah, Karem, happy are those who have never known slavery ; who have always lived in the land of their nativity, and never been thrown among strangers. The maternal caress, early love, the tenderness of a wife, the sweet effusions of friendship, the smiles of the new bom, make life flow so sweetly ! But, alas ! those sweets will be to these unfortunates but bitter recollections. They are in chains. Their sufferings will not have an echo in any heart. Beloved lips will never again imprint a kiss upon their foreheads. They will live without hope, and die alone, far from their friends and home. O, how much happier are their brothers in exile, whose bodies are scattered on the jBx)zen mountains ! "

" Still, Julia, I cannot set them at liberty." " Noble chief, you can at least ameliorate their condition, and that will relieve my heart of the weight which oppresses it.'*

" Speak, and your wishes to me shall be commands." "Let me offer consolation to your prisoners, and relieve them of those heavy chains."

" Go, Julia ; it is worthy of you to give happiness. I invest you with my authority."

" Your words restore me to happiness." She arose, and flew like an arrow, followed by a crowd of young girls, who were influenced by her example, and participated in her noble sentiments. She organized succors, and soon after the fetters fell from the arms of the captives, and they were comfortably clothed. The sick, who had been extended on the grass, were placed in warm beds ; their wounds were no longer covered with blood, but washed and dressed. Smiles, to which they had long been strangers, again appeared on the lips of the Abazes.

PAUL AND JULIA.

Chapter V- Conyebsation Of Julia With A Prisoneb

T a short distance, a prisoner, covered with rags, and his face hid in his hands, was seated immovable on a stone. No one sympathized in his sorrows ; even his fellow prisoners did not regard him as a companion in exile, for he was cast outside of their ranks. The daughter of Isram observed and hurriedly approached him.

His destitution touched her, and his forsaken condition interested her. She softly lifted his head, but •taited back in surprise. The power of his look and the nobleness of his traits revealed a distinguished birth. The furrows on his brow, the pallor of his cheeks, and the cold but energetic expression of his features, told that he was a great victim of adversity. She could but admire his large black eyes, his teeth white as ivory, and his long beard, black as ebony, which fell upon his breast. 3

26 PAVI. JlND jvlia.

" Noble captive," said she, ** let me relieve you of these chains."

At these words, large tears rolled from his eyes ; he addressed to Heaven one of those mute but burning apostrophes, one of those expressions which the Di-' vinity loves — " Messenger of the Eternal, in whose cause I labor, tell me the name of this angel, who comes to liberate me."

" I am not an angel," replied Julia ; " I am the granddaughter of Isram, the chief of the Ossetes."

" If you are not an angel of heaven, you are one of those whom God sometimes grants to the earth ; for who but an angel would visit a prisoner whom even the Helots repulse as a Pariah 1 "

*' God did not create you for slavery. Tell me the country of your birth, the name of your father, and that by which you were called in infancy."

" My country is too far distant for you to know it ; the name of my father would also be imknown to you ; but I remember, when playing upon his knees, he called me the young Paul."

** What unlucky fate has thrown you with this barbarous people, so far from your kindred ? What evil genius has heaped upon you such severity ? "

" A good God ; " and, heaving a deep sigh, he said in a low voice, " He gives to the lily its whiteness, to the lamb its nourishment, and to me, who love him—

I stop and adore ." Then, glancing at Julia, he

added, " Yes, a good God."

" Ah, if you were a Christian ! "

•* I am a Christian."

TJLVL AXD JVLUL. 27

A mysterious expression suffused his countenance ; he fell into a deep revery; his limbs trembled; his respiration became deep and labored ; and his bosom heaved under the weight which oppressed it,

Julia, unable longer to restrain her emotions, stooped to disengage his chains, washed them with her tears, and in a celestial voice addressed him in these words : •—

" Interesting captive, how unhappy am I to have created in your soul such painful sensations, or, rather, to have revived such vivid regrets ! Ah, if you wish a heart in which to pour the fulness of yours, mine i% open to you. Courage, then ! "

" Dost thou speak of courage, daughter of Isram ? I have already a superabundance. I am still young ; but already a wanderer disgusted with the voyage of life. Yet I die not. I feel that I love God and mankind. But at the word Christian, all my past life, with its bitterness, crowds my memory, and my frame trembles. You wish me to relate my sorrows ; but I could scarcely commence the recital before the Lesguis woidd roll again their tents, and drive me before them as a slaift. Then I should leave you ; and, in having disengaged my hands for a few hours, sympathized in my grief, you will have bound my soul in a heavy and hard chain — that of remembrance."

** Yoimg captive, I can liberate you. On these mountains you will find a second home; in Julia a sister, in Isram a father."

*' Ah ! compassionate girl, your words have filled my soul with both sadness and joy."

" Why does such an offer sadden you? "

S8 PA.VL AVO JULIA. *

'* O God, why cannot I receive my liberty u^n inch sweet conditions? Why does a faciBd barrier forbid it?"

" A sacred barrier forbid it ! Reyeal this mystery .to her who woxdd be your liberator." , Paul was about to speak, when Julia observed that the- young Karem, who had been surveying the tents of the Lesguis, approached her. ''Dear captive," said ■he, ''have confidence." She then left him.

PAUL AND JTTLTA,

Chapter VI. Wakefulness Of A Pbisoneb

\TIE moon was silently sinking in the west ; her pale ^ys* gUding through the fb>^ ' lifLge, rested upon the greensward. £7 her clear light / A I were seen, in the distance,