"Some time elapsed
before I learned the history
of my friends.
It was one which could not fail
to impress itself deeply on my
mind, unfolding as it did a number
of circumstances, each interesting
and wonderful to one so utterly
inexperienced as I was.
"The name of
the old man was De Lacey. He
was descended from
a good family in France, where
he had lived for many years in
affluence, respected by his superiors
and beloved by his equals. His
son was bred in the service of
his country; and Agatha had ranked
with ladies of the highest distinction.
A few months before my arrival
they had lived in a large and
luxurious city called Paris,
surrounded by friends, and possessed
of every enjoyment which virtue,
refinement of intellect, or taste,
accompanied by a moderate fortune,
could afford.
"The father
of Safie had been the cause
of their ruin. He was
a Turkish merchant, and had inhabited
Paris for many years, when, for
some reason which I could not
learn, he became obnoxious to
the government. He was seized
and cast into prison the very
day that Safie arrived from Constantinople
to join him. He was tried and
condemned to death. The injustice
of his sentence was very flagrant;
all Paris was indignant; and
it was judged that his religion
and wealth, rather than the crime
alleged against him, had been
the cause of his condemnation.
"Felix had
accidentally been present at
the trial; his horror
and indignation were uncontrollable
when he heard the decision of
the court. He made, at that moment,
a solemn vow to deliver him,
and then looked around for the
means. After many fruitless attempts
to gain admittance to the prison,
he found a strongly grated window
in an unguarded part of the building
which lighted the dungeon of
the unfortunate Mahometan; who,
loaded with chains, waited in
despair the execution of the
barbarous sentence. Felix visited
the grate at night, and made
known to the prisoner his intentions
in his favour. The Turk, amazed
and delighted, endeavoured to
kindle the zeal of his deliverer
by promises of reward and wealth.
Felix rejected his offers with
contempt; yet when he saw the
lovely Safie, who was allowed
to visit her father, and who,
by her gestures, expressed her
lively gratitude, the youth could
not help owning to his own mind
that the captive possessed a
treasure which would fully reward
his toil and hazard.
"The Turk quickly
perceived the impression that
his daughter
had made on the heart of Felix,
and endeavoured to secure him
more entirely in his interests
by the promise of her hand in
marriage, so soon as he should
be conveyed to a place of safety.
Felix was too delicate to accept
this offer; yet he looked forward
to the probability of the event
as to the consummation of his
happiness.
"During the
ensuing days, while the preparations
were going forward
for the escape of the merchant,
the zeal of Felix was warmed
by several letters that he received
from this lovely girl, who found
means to express her thoughts
in the language of her lover
by the aid of an old man, a servant
of her father, who understood
French. She thanked him in the
most ardent terms for his intended
services towards her parent;
and at the same time she gently
deplored her own fate.
"I have copies
of these letters; for I found
means, during my
residence in the hovel, to procure
the implements of writing; and
the letters were often in the
hands of Felix or Agatha. Before
I depart, I will give them to
you, they will prove the truth
of my tale; but at present, as
the sun is already far declined,
I shall only have time to repeat
the substance of them to you.
"Safie related
that her mother was a Christian
Arab, seized
and made a slave by the Turks;
recommended by her beauty, she
had won the heart of the father
of Safie, who married her. The
young girl spoke in high and
enthusiastic terms of her mother,
who, born in freedom, spurned
the bondage to which she was
now reduced. She instructed her
daughter in the tenets of her
religion, and taught her to aspire
to higher powers of intellect,
and an independence of spirit,
forbidden to the female followers
of Mahomet. This lady died; but
her lessons were indelibly impressed
on the mind of Safie, who sickened
at the prospect of again returning
to Asia and being immured within
the walls of a harem, allowed
only to occupy herself with infantile
amusements, ill suited to the
temper of her soul, now accustomed
to grand ideas and a noble emulation
for virtue. The prospect of marrying
a Christian, and remaining in
a country where women were allowed
to take a rank in society, was
enchanting to her.
"The day for
the execution of the Turk was
fixed; but, on
the night previous to it, he
quitted his prison, and before
morning was distant many leagues
from Paris. Felix had procured
passports in the name of his
father, sister, and himself.
He had previously communicated
his plan to the former, who aided
the deceit by quitting his house,
under the pretence of a journey,
and concealed himself, with his
daughter, in an obscure part
of Paris.
"Felix conducted
the fugitives through France
to Lyons, and
across Mont Cenis to Leghorn,
where the merchant had decided
to wait a favourable opportunity
of passing into some part of
the Turkish dominions.
"Safie resolved
to remain with her father until
the moment of
his departure, before which time
the Turk renewed his promise
that she should be united to
his deliverer; and Felix remained
with them in expectation of that
event; and in the meantime he
enjoyed the society of the Arabian,
who exhibited towards him the
simplest and tenderest affection.
They conversed with one another
through the means of an interpreter,
and sometimes with the interpretation
of looks; and Safie sang to him
the divine airs of her native
country.
"The Turk allowed
this intimacy to take place,
and encouraged
the hopes of the youthful lovers,
while in his heart he had formed
far other plans. He loathed the
idea that his daughter should
be united to a Christian; but
he feared the resentment of Felix,
if he should appear lukewarm;
for he knew that he was still
in the power of his deliverer,
if he should choose to betray
him to the italian state which
they inhabited. He revolved a
thousand plans by which he should
be enabled to prolong the deceit
until it might be no longer necessary,
and secretly to take his daughter
with him when he departed. His
plans were facilitated by the
news which arrived from Paris.
"The government
of France were greatly enraged
at the escape
of their victim, and spared no
pains to detect and punish his
deliverer. The plot of Felix
was quickly discovered, and De
Lacey and Agatha were thrown
into prison. The news reached
Felix, and roused him from his
dream of pleasure. His blind
and aged father, and his gentle
sister, lay in a noisome dungeon,
while he enjoyed the free air
and the society of her whom he
loved. This idea was torture
to him. He quickly arranged with
the Turks that if the latter
should find a favourable opportunity
for escape before Felix could
return to Italy, Safie should
remain as a boarder at a convent
at Leghorn; and then, quitting
the lovely Arabian, he hastened
to Paris, and delivered himself
up to the vengeance of the law,
hoping to free De Lacey and Agatha
by this proceeding.
"He did not
succeed. They remained confined
for five months before
the trial took place; the result
of which deprived them of their
fortune, and condemned them to
a perpetual exile from their
native country.
"They found
a miserable asylum in the cottage
in Germany where
I discovered them. Felix soon
learned that the treacherous
Turk, for whom he and his family
endured such unheard-of oppression,
on discovering that his deliverer
was thus reduced to poverty and
ruin, became a traitor to good
feeling and honour, and had quitted
Italy with his daughter, insultingly
sending Felix a pittance of money,
to aid him, as he said, in some
plan of future maintenance.
"Such were
the events that preyed on the
heart of Felix,
and rendered him, when I first
saw him, the most miserable of
his family. He could have endured
poverty; and while this distress
had been the meed of his virtue,
he gloried in it: but the ingratitude
of the Turk, and the loss of
his beloved Safie, were misfortunes
more bitter and irreparable.
The arrival of the Arabian now
infused new life into his soul.
"When the news
reached Leghorn that Felix
was deprived of his
wealth and rank, the merchant
commanded his daughter to think
no more of her lover, but to
prepare to return to her native
country. The generous nature
of Safie was outraged by this
command; she attempted to expostulate
with her father, but he left
her angrily, reiterating his
tyrannical mandate.
"A few days
after, the Turk entered his
daughter's apartment,
and told her hastily that he
had reason to believe that his
residence at Leghorn had been
divulged, and that he should
speedily be delivered up to the
French government; he had, consequently,
hired a vessel to convey him
to Constantinople, for which
city he should sail in a few
hours. He intended to leave his
daughter under the care of a
confidential servant, to follow
at her leisure with the greater
part of his property, which had
not yet arrived at Leghorn.
"When alone,
Safie resolved in her own mind
the plan of conduct
that it would become her to pursue
in this emergency. A residence
in Turkey was abhorrent to her;
her religion and her feelings
were alike adverse to it. By
some papers of her father, which
fell into her hands, she heard
of the exile of her lover, and
learnt the name of the spot where
he then resided. She hesitated
some time, but at length she
formed her determination. Taking
with her some jewels that belonged
to her, and a sum of money, she
quitted Italy with an attendant,
a native of Leghorn, but who
understood the common language
of Turkey, and departed for Germany.
"She arrived
in safety at a town about twenty
leagues from
the cottage of De Lacey, when
her attendant fell dangerously
ill. Safie nursed her with the
most devoted affection; but the
poor girl died, and the Arabian
was left alone, unacquainted
with the language of the country,
and utterly ignorant of the customs
of the world. She fell, however,
into good hands. The Italian
had mentioned the name of the
spot for which they were bound;
and, after her death, the woman
of the house in which they had
lived took care that Safie should
arrive in safety at the cottage
of her lover. |