Indiana Palladium, Volume 5, Number 41, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 17 October 1829 — Page 1

EQUALITY OF RIGHTS IS NATURE'S PLAN AND FOLLOWING NATURE IS THE MARCH OF MAN. Bartow. Volume V.J LAWRENCEBURGH, INDIANA ; SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1859. Number 41.

THE PORTRAIT. BY HENRY NEELE. "It is his brow, his eye, the very smile Which mantled o'er his features when he gate His liberal largeness to me even now Plays on the lip Old Pr.AT.

"'Tis wondrous like!" said Earl Mito, the constable of England, as he sat in his

private chamber in Gloucester CastleJshe had nothing to complain of; but his

and gazed intently upon a portrait which He held in his hand. "'Tis wondrous handsome!" said his lady, who had stolen unperceived behind him; "and, mcthinks, were it female instead of male, I should feel somewhat jealous at the devotion with which you appear to regard it." "If you knew whom it represents," returned the Constable, "you would not wonder that I regard it with some interest." "And what mysterious being then," inquired the lady, "has the artist immortalized on yonder tablet?1' 4'Tis Alan of Bntanny,' said EarlMilo. "Ha ! the stout Earl of Richmond ! and how comes it that a loyal subject of the Empress Matilda is thus engaged with the portrait of one who is King Stephen's right-hand counsellor, and the most renowned warrior who follows the fortunes of the usurper?" "Listen to me for one moment, girl, and thy loyal fears shall be speedily ap peaked. The Empress has received cer- . , it' iU..i T"V. t Al : lain intelligent uiai ivrtri tmn is now travelling incognito upon a secret mis sion from King Stephen to the Princes of Wales, whom he hopes to league with his master against the Empress. Our sover eign is anxious to be revenged up.on this man for all the evils which he has brought upon her, especially for the part which lie took in the elevation of King Stephen to the throne, and for the stratagem by which he possessed himself ofFqrtGalclint. She has accordingly procured portraitsof him, which she has despatched to the governors of all the fortresses on the banks of the Severn, with orders to arrest him and send him to Bristol alive or dead. The latter, I believe, would be the condition in which such a present would be most acceptable at court, and in which it would be most certainly found soon after its arrival there." "Horrible exclaimed the lady ;" "and these noble features belong to the far famed warrior whom EarlMilo means to deliver up to the knife of the assassin!" "Say not so, gentle Adelaide; for in those features I recognize a man to whom 1 am bound by every tie of gratitude." Thie Constable reminded the lady of an incident which he had often narrated to her before, and with which it is also necessary that the reader should be acquainted. Earl Milo had some years previously borne arms in Normandy, under Henry the first, against his brother Robert, and being reduced to the utmost distress by the loss of his baggage, and what money he had taken with him, he had apptied to Earl Alan, whom he happened to uieet accidentally on his return, and besought him, in atone, and with a countenance of sufficient modesty, to nseist him in his distress. Alan was totally unacquainted with him, but be was touched with pity. Whether he remarked something peculiarly engaging in the counteoance of the petitioner, or whether bis good genius prompted him to secure a friend whose gratitude and good offices became afterwards so necessary to him, he took from his purse six pieces of gold & gave them to the stranger, with a frankness which made his alms worth much more thain they were intrinsically. Milo received them, expressing an ardent wish that he might not die without an opportunity of evincing his gratitude. Now that opportunity seemed likely to arrive. He had been intrusted by the Empress, and by her brother Robert Earl of Gloucester, with the chief author 4ty on the banks of the Severn for the purpose of watching for Alan; and all the other commanders in that neighborhood were under hi orders. He had accented this appointment without bein aware that he was acting against bis ben efactor, because Alan, at the time that he bestowed hia bounty upon him, had not communicated to him his name. The instant, however, that he received the portrait, ho was struck with its resemblance to his friend, and resolved to use his best energies for his preservation "'Tis the face of an angel!" said the lady, after her husband had left the apartment. "Ill befall the man who would do him injury!" The Lady Adelaide was possessed of extraordinary beauty and accomplishment rtnd was considerably younger than her hsuband, with whom she bad

I eloped from a nunnery, where her pa

rents had intended her to remain unti such a time as they should think that she ought to many. I he novelty of this ro mantic adventure having worn off. she began to find neither the temper nor nanits ol her husband were more sulfa ble to her than his age. As far as cold courtesy and respectful attention went days had been passed in camps and for tresses, and the enthusiasm and ardent feelings of Adelaide were things which he either did not understand, or w hich he looked upon as puerilities and weak nesses. Shut up in the frontier city of Gloucester, she saw none but rough grim warriors cased in iron, compared with whom even Earl Milo appeared a model ol grace and elegance. She could not help contrasting the sparkling eye, me vivacious expression ot ieature, and the polished manner which pervaded the portrait of the Earl of Richmond, with the cold repulsive air of all about her. Imminent as was the danger to which Alan would be exposed, should he ven ture within the city, still she wished for his arrival; but day followed day and week followed week, without his making his appearance. Earl Milo began to hope that he had crossed the Severn higher up the river, ard had arrived safely in the territory of Wales. One evening, as the Constable was walking in the streets of Gloucester, a man passed him closely muffled in his cloak, whose figure reminded him strongly of the person whom he was in search of. He went up and saluted him. The stranger returned his compliment, and removing his cloak displayed features in which Milo could not be mistaken. "May I pray you, Sir," said the Constable, "to accompany me into yon mansion, as I wish to speak a few words with you." "Nay," said Alan, "I do not know that that would be altogether wise; my hearing is sufficiently acute here to listen to your few words, therefore say on." " I he intelligence which I have to communicate to you," said Milo, "is of importance; and I do not wish every eaves-dropper in Gloucester to be privy to it." "You look like an honest person," said Alan, taking his hand from his sword, which he had instinctively grasped: "therefore, I will e'en be rash enough to follow you." The Constable then led the way into his house, and he and his guest had no sooner seated themselves, than turning round to the latter quickly, he said, "My Lord of Richmond, you are my prisoneri" "Say you so?" said Alan, unsheathing his weapon, then it would not be fair that you should exercise the honorable office of jaolcr gratuitously; but eh! who's this?" said he pausing: "surely, 1 have seen these features before?" "Even so," said Milo; "surely you recollect the poor soldier of King Henry's army, whom you relieved at the little village of iMarigny, and who parted from you expressing a hope that he might some day have an opportunity of evincing his gratitude." Ahn instantly' recognized Milo; ar.d the latter informed him of the vigilance and inveteracy of the Empress towards him, and showed him the portrait. He then urged him to abandon his perilous enterprise, endeavoring to convince him of the impossibility of his pursuing his route without being either slain or made prisoner. The gallant Alan, however. was deaf to all his remonstrances, saying, "that having undertaken to perform the task with which his sovereign had in trusted him, he was determined to per severe in it, whatever dangers or difli culties might attend it. Milo, however. sufficiently proved to him, that it would be madness for him to attempt to prose cute his io'urney for some days to come, as soldiers were scouring the country far and wide in search of him. He oflered him an asylum in his house until the heat of the pursuit should be over, and then( promised to despatch a trusty page with him, who would conduct him by the shortest and safest route into the Welsh territories. Alan, having accepted the Constable's offer, was introduced into his family as an old but long estranged friend, who had just returned from the Holy Land. He managed his disguise so adroitly, that, notwithstanding the extensive cir culation of the portrait, it was scarce ly possible to recognize him. 1 he wilyEarl had performed many feats so much more consummate than the disguise ot his own person, that the present crisis appeared to him in the ligjii of a mere

pastime. He talked and laughed, and entered so completely into the peculiar humors of all about him, that at last, had he been really discovered to be the Earl of Richmond, it is doubtful w hether the most devoted partisans of the Empress in

the castle would have had the heart to lay a hand upon him. He had not, how ever, been in his retreat two days, before he could not help remarking the verypeculiar carriage of the Ladv Adelaide towards him. Habitually melancholy especially in the presence of her lord, he observed that she became vivacious and gay when accident left her alone with him, and that when they parted, her eyes were frequently suffused with tears. At ttmes she seemed on the point of communicating something of importance, when timidity or bashtulness would close her hps. I hese appearan ces continued for a fortnight, when the truth flashed on his mind, that he had become an object of attachment to this misguided lady. His resolve was in stantly made to quit the castle immediately, and at all hazards. The peace and honor of his friend, who had ventured so much for his preservation, were now become dearer to him than his own : and the attractions of the Lady Adelaide were such, as to make him apprehensive that he could not remain long within their sphere with safety to himself and to her. "I must go, my friend," said he to the Constable ; 4-I dare not linger here, while 1 have King Stephen's mission to per form, were all the Empress's legions drawn up on my road to intercept mc." "JNot so soon, my good lord," returned! Earl Milo, "the dangers which environ ed you are already considerably diminished; ai d I have no doubt, that in a fow dayrs the Empress will begin to doubt the accuracy of her information as to your route, and to draw oil her troop to sta tions where they are much more want ed." The lady reinforced her husband's arguments, and added the usual common place persuasions to delay the departure of her guest, but her eyes pleaded still more eloquently and beseechingly, alhough with no better effect. "Thanks, worthy host; thanks, fair hostess, said Alan; "hut I must be stirring this very evening." "Nay," fraid the Constable, "if you are determined upin a speedy departure, let it be at least deferred until the morning. Daybreak will be the most favorable season for you to effect your escape, Sz I will by that time furnish you with a fleet steed, and place a trusty page upon another, who is intimately acquainted both with the routes which you ought to take, and with those w hich you ought to avoid, and who will, I trust, conductyou safely to your destination. If is a slender smooth-chinned fellow, but his fidelity and experience may be relied on." The reasonableness of this proposition was such as Alan could not object to; he therefore consented to rest another night in the castle. Having despatched his evening meal hastily, he excused himself to his entertainers on account of the arduous journey which he had to undertake in the morning, and retired to his couch. That couch was one of perturbation and restlessness. His feelings weie agitated, both on account of his hurried journey, and of the causes which led to it. He was also conscious of the feeling of restraint with which he took leave of his host, and that it must have . been apparent in his manner. Still to have entered into any explanation with him would have been to inflict a much deeper wound than that which he should heal by accounting for his own behaviour. These reflections agitated his mind during the greater part of the night, and he had not long sunk into a really sound sleep, when he was awakened by the voice of the page, and saw the grey light ot dawn streaming through the lattice. He, however, speedily equipped him self for his journey, and joined the page in the hall, whose flight and boyish person fully answered the description of his master. "Are our steeds readv, my pretty boy?" said Alan ; "we have many a weary mile to traverse to-day. 1 am not riding out on a day's hawking with a fair lady. where my hardest task would be to litt her to her stirrup, or smooth the jet tres ses ot ner falcon when they are runiea. "All is ready," said the boy, "and half a day's hard riding will bring us to a place of safety." They were speedily in their saddles. At a sign from the page, the drawbridge was let down, and pacing on it over the yawning gulf beneath, they soon found

themselves out of the citadel. The page shortly after produced his master's seal to the sentinel at the city gates, who recognized his authority, and placed them at liberty among the green fields on the banks of the rapid Severn. Alan took a parting glance at the citadel, which he

saw towering proudly above the other buildings of the city He distinguished the turret in which his host and hostess slppt, and kept gazing on it so long and so abstractedly that he did not perceive the keen eye of the page fixed intently on hi face. 4i'Tis the Constable's apartment," said the boy. Alan started at the sound of his voice. "True," answered he; "and long may he possess the authority in that castle which he so honorably maintains now, and long may he and his fair lady enjoy those bles sings of love and domestic peace which no one merits more richly than they do. !" pTis a bitter cold morning, Sir,"' said the page! "let us hasten on!" The page's advice was seasonable, for Alan seemed inclined to linger near the town, and now that he had made the desperate effort which placed him beyond her attraction, he could not help thinking how lovely and accomplished the Lady Adelaide was. As the walls and turrets of Gloucester faded from his view, he felt as if he had snapped the last link which connected him with the lovely Adelaide. "How long In vour lord been marri ed?M said he to the page. "Seven weary years, answered the stripling. "U herctore jayest thouso? said Aian. "Is she not as fair a dame as ever graced a court, and her lord as gallant and noble a knight as ever bore arms under any banner?" "Even so, sir; but a sword as bright as adamant, and a brow as hard, and a heart as cold, may sufiice well enough to win the laurel from a foe, but not the heart of a fair lady." "Boy, your lip trembles as you speak, and your color changes. What means this emotion? Surely you have not been mad enough to nurse a hope that you have an i merest in the heart of the Lady Adelaide" "She thinks my cheek," answered the page, "as f.ir as her own; but it is you, and you only, whom he loves." Alan started at this extraordinary declaration, ar.d was about to address the page in no very gentle tone, when he obseived his colour change, and his sight tail him, ar.d had he not immediately caught him in his arms he would have fallen from his he. Alan having lifted him off, and dismounted himself, laid him on the ground in a state of perfect insensibility. The amazed Eail lost no time in procuring water from the river; aud opening his vest, and disencumbering him from his fciester's cap, he prepared to sprinkle him with the refreshing element, when what was his aston ishment at eecing the beautiful bosom of a female, and beholding her dark auburn locks flowing in rich ringlets down to her neck: he also observed that the cheeks and eye-brows had been stained to assist the disguise, and indeed he had no diffi culty iu recognising the lad' Adelaide. It was some time t.vi'ore he succeeded in restoring animation: at lnr-th Kr.r KJ w.w bright black eyes again unclosed but a sigh was the only thanks she breathed lor her preserver. i he perplexity of Alan increased every moment the interruption to his journey in the most per ilous part of his road was the least embarrassing part of his dilemma. He could not reconcile himself even to the appearance of clandestinely carrying away the wile of his friend ; neither could he leave her unprotected and alone, and exposed to the resentment of her hus band. Whatever plan he could suggest, honor seemed compromised in one case, gratitude and gallantry in another, and safety in all. "1 perceive," said the lady, observing his irresolution, "thnt you despise mc: well there are peace & slumber in the bed ofyonder Severn, if there be not mercy and compassion on it? banks." As she spake these word?, she made n frantic movement toward tlve river, but Alan detained her "for Heaven's sake. Madam," said he, "judge me not so harshly. But wherefore to take so rash a step as this, or trust taone who is him self a wanderer and a fugitive) to afford protection to so much beauty as thi6? While he was speakings the sound of horses' hoofs were distinctly heard at no great ditance behind them. "Ah!" shiieked the lady, "'tis Earl Milo, save me, save me'. Lrt m mount and away.

if you would preserve my life and your

own. The suddenness of this surprise, and the eagerness of his companion, left Alan no time for deliberation. They mounted their steeds with what celerity they could, and used their utmost efforts to distance their pursuers. It was evident however, from the more audible sound of the hoofs, that the latter were gaining rapidly upon them. A sudden turn of the road enabled tbem, on looking back, to see within a bow's shot of tbem, five men well mounted and armed, at the head of whom rode Milo. "Stop, traitor, coward; robber!" shouted the Governor; pointing a bow and ar row at them; "or you and your paramour have not an instant to live." Alan, seeing that escape washopelessj reined in his steed, aud calmly waited the advance of hi3 pursuer. "My Lord," said he,"I can pardon the epithets which you have just applied to me." "Pardon!" yelled the other, interrupting him and drawing his sword: "have at thy life's blood, dastard;" and throwing away his bow, added: "this good steel and this right arm will suffice." Alan, as he received bis assault, stood only on the defensive, but did it so coolly and steadily; that no sooner had his adversary's weapon clashed with his own than it flew out of his hand to the dis tance of fifty paces. "Villain!" said the Constable to his attendants, who at that moment came up with him, "surround him, seize him, 'lis Alan of Brittany!'1 The name was echoed by every voice in a tone of exultation and surprise, and in an instant Alan was surrounded and disarmed. He now beheld the crisis of his fate. Even could he succeed in con vincing Milo of the injustice of his suspicions, (which seemed scarcely possible,) still the latter had now gone so far that it was even out of his power, if ho wished it, to save him, as the news of his arrest would be immediately communicated to the Empress. "The dudgeons of Gloucester," said he mentally; as he rode between two of Milo's retainers, "will furnish me a dull sort of lodging for a few days; ard then the steel, or the cord, or the bowl, will opco a passage to the other world for all of Alan of Brittany that can disturb the high-minded and generous Empress in this." Strictly guarded, the captives, botri male and female, rode on towards Gloucester, while the Constable came sadly and moodily behind i The friend for whom, on the preceding evening, he had felt so much veneration and esteemand the wife, to whom, notwithstanding his cold and reserved manners, he had been tenderly attached; he was now driving before him as criminals and prisoners : and one of tbem, at least, was devoted to the slaughter. Sometimes the incident at the village of Marigny, and the outstretched hand of Alanf and the open generous expression of his face would be painted in most vivid distinctness on his memory; and at others he fancied that he saw that hand cold and motionless, and that fnce'ewollen and discoloured, after a violent and treacherous death. But the destroyer of his domestic pence; the wretch whom he had sheltered at Ins own hearth; and who had rewarded him By stealirg from that hearth its greatest pride and ornament, was a being for whom no torture or igno miny too great could be devised. He could now account for the suddenness of his departure, and the embarrassment with which he took his leave of him; and every feeling of difficulty and distress with which Alan was overwhelmed by his delicacy for the situation of both par ties, we3 attributed to the fears and the remorse of the seducer and the traitor Pale and silent, and almost lifeles?, v.ith drooping head and dishevelled tresses, Adelaide rode between two persons to whom her slightest word had usually been a command, and her faintest smile a beam of joy. The dull monotonous sound of their horses' hoofs was unbroken, except sometimes by a heart-drawn sigh frcm her and occasionally by a light Provencal air whistled by Alan; who except when he casta look of commisfeera lion on Adelaide, from whom he was too far apart to communicate by words,Eeemed to take the whole affair as carelessly as if it had been a party of pleasure. As neither the journey to Gloucester, nor the arrivat there, produced any incident which is worthy of record; it will be sufficient to inform the reader simply, that Alan wa3 again furnished with lodgings in the castle; but it was in a dungeon n hundred feet below the level of the Severn and secured by bars and