Nikolaj Velimirovic - "The Agony of the Church (1917)"

Samuel Adams - "The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 1773)"

Alexandre Dumas - "La dame de Monsoreau v.2"

Lewis Madison Terman - "The Measurement of Intelligence"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Two Admirals

J >> J. Fenimore Cooper >> The Two Admirals




"'Tis a long way to know so small a craft!" observed Dutton, who also
took his look at the stranger.

"Very true, sir," answered the boy; "but one ought to tell a friend as
far as he can see him. The Active carries a longer and a lower gaff,
than any other cutter in the navy, which is the way we all tell her from
the Gnat, the cutter we have with us."

"I am glad to find your lordship is so close an observer," returned the
complaisant Dutton; "a certain sign, my lord, that your lordship will
make a good sailor, in time."

"Geoffrey is a good sailor, already," observed the admiral, who knew
that the youngster was never better pleased, than when he dropped the
distance of using his title, and spoke to, or of him, as of a
connection; which, in truth, he was. "He has now been with me four
years; having joined when he was only twelve. Two more years will make
an officer of him."

"Yes, sir," said Dutton, bowing first to one, and then to the other.
"Yes, sir; his lordship may well look forward to that, with _his_
particular merit, _your_ esteemed favour, and his _own_ great name. Ah!
sir, they've caught a sight of the stranger in the fleet, and bunting is
at work, already."

In anchoring his ships, Admiral Bluewater had kept them as close
together, as the fog rendered safe; for one of the great difficulties of
a naval commander is to retain his vessels in compact order, in thick or
heavy weather. Orders had been given, however, for a sloop and a frigate
to weigh, and stretch out into the offing a league or two, as soon as
the fog left them, the preceding day, in order to sweep as wide a reach
of the horizon as was convenient. In order to maintain their ground in a
light wind, and with a strong tide running, these two cruisers had
anchored; one, at the distance of a league from the fleet, and the
other, a mile or two farther outside, though more to the eastward. The
sloop lay nearest to the stranger, and signals were flying at her
main-royal-mast-head, which the frigate was repeating, and transmitting
to the flag-ship of the commander-in-chief. Bluewater was so familiar
with all the ordinary signals, that it was seldom he had recourse to his
book for the explanations; and, in the present instance, he saw at once
that it was the Active's number that was shown. Other signals, however,
followed, which it surpassed the rear-admiral's knowledge to read,
without assistance; from all which he was satisfied that the stranger
brought intelligence of importance, and which could only be understood
by referring to the private signal-book.

While these facts were in the course of occurrence, the coach arrived to
convey Mrs. Dutton and Mildred to the Hall. Bluewater now presented
himself to the ladies, and was received as kindly as they had separated
from him a few hours before; nor were the latter displeased at hearing
he was to be their companion back to the dwelling of Sir Wycherly.

"I fear this summons bodes evil tidings," said Mrs. Dutton; "he would
hardly think of desiring to see us, unless something quite serious were
on his mind; and the messenger said he was no better."

"We shall learn all, my dear lady, when we reach the Hall," returned
Bluewater; "and the sooner we reach it, the sooner our doubts will be
removed. Before we enter the carriage, let me make you acquainted with
my young friend, Lord Geoffrey Cleveland, whom I have presumed to invite
to be of the party."

The handsome young midshipman was well received, though Mrs. Dutton had
been too much accustomed, in early life, to see people of condition, to
betray the same deference as her husband for the boy's rank. The ladies
occupied, as usual, the hind seat of the coach, leaving that in front to
their male companions. The arrangement accidentally brought Mildred and
the midshipman opposite each other; a circumstance that soon attracted
the attention of the admiral, in a way that was a little odd; if not
remarkable. There is a charm in youth, that no other period of life
possesses; infancy, with its helpless beauty, scarcely seizing upon the
imagination and senses with an equal force. Both the young persons in
question, possessed this advantage in a high degree; and had there been
no other peculiarity, the sight might readily have proved pleasing to
one of Bluewater's benevolence and truth of feeling. The boy was turned
of sixteen; an age in England when youth does not yet put on the
appearance of manhood; and he retained all the evidences of a gay,
generous boyhood, rendered a little _piquant_, by the dash of archness,
roguery, and fun, that a man-of-war is tolerably certain to impart to a
lad of spirit. Nevertheless, his countenance retained an expression of
ingenuousness and of sensitive feeling, that was singularly striking in
one of his sex, and which, in spite of her beauty of feature, hair, and
complexion, formed the strongest attraction in the loveliness of
Mildred; that expression, which had so much struck and charmed
Bluewater--haunted him, we might add--since the previous day, by
appearing so familiar, even while so extraordinary, and for which he had
been unable to recollect a counterpart. As she now sat, face to face
with Lord Geoffrey, to his great surprise, the rear-admiral found much
of the same character of this very expression in the handsome boy, as in
the lovely girl. It is true, the look of ingenuousness and of sensitive
feeling, was far less marked in young Cleveland, than in Mildred, and
there was little general resemblance of feature or countenance between
the two; still, the first was to be found in both, and so distinctly, as
to be easily traced, when placed in so close contact. Geoffrey Cleveland
had the reputation of being like his mother; and, furnished with this
clue, the fact suddenly flashed on Bluewater's mind, that the being whom
Mildred so nearly and strikingly resembled, was a deceased sister of the
Duchess, and a beloved cousin of his own. Miss Hedworth, the young lady
in question, had long been dead; but, all who had known her, retained
the most pleasing impressions equally of her charms of person and of
mind. Between her and Bluewater there had existed a tender friendship,
in which, however, no shade of passion had mingled; a circumstance that
was in part owing to the difference in their years, Captain Bluewater
having been nearly twice his young relative's age; and in part,
probably, to the invincible manner in which the latter seemed wedded to
his profession, and his ship. Agnes Hedworth, notwithstanding, had been
very dear to our sailor, from a variety of causes,--far more so, than
her sister, the Duchess, though _she_ was a favourite--and the
rear-admiral, when his mind glanced rapidly through the chain of
association, that traced the accidental resemblance of Mildred to this
esteemed object, had a sincere delight in finding he had thus been
unconsciously attracted by one whose every look and smile now forcibly
reminded him of the countenance of a being whom, in her day, he had
thought so near perfection. This delight, however, was blended with
sadness, on various accounts; and the short excursion proved to be so
melancholy, that no one was sorry when it terminated.




CHAPTER XII.

"Nath. Truly, Master Holofernes, the epithets are sweetly varied,
like a scholar at the least. But, sir, I assure ye, it was a buck of
the first head.

_Hol._ Sir Nathaniel, _haud credo_.

_Bull. 'Twas not a _haud credo_, 'twas a pricket."

LOVER'S LABOUR LOST.


Every appearance of the jolly negligence which had been so
characteristic of life at Wychecombe-Hall, had vanished, when the old
coach drew up in the court, to permit the party it had brought from the
station to alight. As no one was expected but Mrs. Dutton and her
daughter, not even a footman appeared to open the door of the carriage;
the vulgar-minded usually revenging their own homage to the powerful, by
manifesting as many slights as possible to the weak. Galleygo let the
new-comers out, and, consequently, he was the first person of whom
inquiries were made, as to the state of things in the house.

"Well," said Admiral Bluewater, looking earnestly at the steward; "how
is Sir Wycherly, and what is the news?"

"Sir Wycherly is still on the doctor's list, your honour; and I expects
his case is set down as a hard 'un. We's as well as can be expected, and
altogether in good heart. Sir Jarvy turned out with the sun, thof he
didn't turn in 'till the middle-watch was half gone--or _two_ bells, as
they calls 'em aboard this house--_four_ bells, as we should say in the
old Planter--and chickens, I hears, has riz, a shillin' a head, since
our first boat landed."

"It's a melancholy business, Mrs. Dutton; I fear there can be little
hope."

"Yes, it's all _that_, Admiral Blue," continued Galleygo, following the
party into the house, no one but himself hearing a word he uttered; "and
'twill be worse, afore it's any better. They tells me potaties has taken
a start, too; and, as all the b'ys of all the young gentlemen in the
fleet is out, like so many wild locusts of Hegypt, I expects nothing
better than as our mess will fare as bad as sogers on a retreat."

In the hall, Tom Wychecombe, and his namesake, the lieutenant, met the
party. From the formal despondency of the first, every thing they
apprehended was confirmed. The last, however, was more cheerful, and not
altogether without hope; as he did not hesitate openly to avow.

"For myself, I confess I think Sir Wycherly much better," he said;
"although the opinion is not sanctioned by that of the medical men. His
desiring to see these ladies is favourable; and then cheering news for
him has been brought back, already, by the messenger sent, only eight
hours since, for his kinsman, Sir Reginald Wychecombe. He has sensibly
revived since that report was brought in."

"Ah! my dear namesake," rejoined Tom, shaking his head, mournfully; "you
cannot know my beloved uncle's constitution and feelings as well as I!
Rely on it, the medical men are right; and your hopes deceive you. The
sending for Mrs. Dutton and Miss Mildred, both of whom my honoured uncle
respects and esteems, looks more like leave-taking than any thing else;
and, as to Sir Reginald Wychecombe,--though a relative, beyond a
question,--I think there has been some mistake in sending for him; since
he is barely an acquaintance of the elder branch of the family, and he
is of the half-blood."

"_Half_ what, Mr. Thomas Wychecombe?" demanded the vice-admiral so
suddenly, behind the speaker, as to cause all to start; Sir Gervaise
having hastened to meet the ladies and his friend, as soon as he knew of
their arrival. "I ask pardon, sir, for my abrupt inquiry; but, as _I_
was the means of sending for Sir Reginald Wychecombe, I feel an interest
in knowing his exact relationship to my host?"

Tom started, and even paled, at this sudden question; then the colour
rushed into his temples; he became calmer, and replied:

"_Half-blood_, Sir Gervaise," he said, steadily. "This is an affinity
that puts a person altogether out of the line of succession; and, of
course, removes any necessity, or wish, to see Sir Reginald."

"Half-_blood_--hey! Atwood?" muttered the vice-admiral, turning away
towards his secretary, who had followed him down stairs. "This may be
the solution, after all! Do you happen to know what half-_blood_ means?
It cannot signify that Sir Reginald comes from one of those, who have no
father--all their ancestry consisting only of a mother?"

"I should think not, Sir Gervaise; in that case, Sir Reiginald would
scarcely be considered of so honourable a lineage, as he appears to be.
I have not the smallest idea, sir, what half-_blood_ means; and,
perhaps, it may not be amiss to inquire of the medical gentlemen.
Magrath is up stairs; possibly he can tell us."

"I rather think it has something to do with the law. If this
out-of-the-way place, now, could furnish even a lubberly attorney, we
might learn all about it. Harkee, Atwood; you must stand by to make Sir
Wycherly's will, if he says any thing more about it--have you got the
heading all written out, as I desired."

"It is quite ready, Sir Gervaise--beginning, as usual, 'In the name of
God, Amen.' I have even ventured so far as to describe the testator's
style and residence, &c. &c.--'I, Sir Wycherly Wychecombe, Bart., of
Wychecombe Hall, Devon, do make and declare this to be my last will and
testament, &c. &c.' Nothing is wanting but the devises, as the lawyers
call them. I can manage a will, well enough, Sir Gervaise, I believe.
One of mine has been in the courts, now, these five years, and they tell
me it sticks there, as well as if it had been drawn in the Middle
Temple."

"Ay, I know your skill. Still, there can be no harm in just asking
Magrath; though I think it must be law, after all! Run up and ask him,
Atwood, and bring me the answer in the drawing-room, where I see
Bluewater has gone with his convoy; and--harkee--tell the surgeons to
let us know the instant the patient says any thing about his temporal
affairs. The twenty thousand in the funds are his, to do what he pleases
with; let the land be tied up, as it may."

While this "aside," was going on in the hall, Bluewater and the rest of
the party had entered a small parlour, that was in constant use, still
conversing of the state of Sir Wycherly. As all of them, but the two
young men, were ignorant of the nature of the message to Sir Reginald
Wychecombe, and of the intelligence in connection with that gentleman,
which had just been received, Mrs. Dutton ventured to ask an
explanation, which was given by Wycherly, with a readiness that proved
_he_ felt no apprehensions on the subject.

"Sir Wycherly desired to see his distant relative, Sir Reginald," said
the lieutenant; "and the messenger who was sent to request his
attendance, fortunately learned from a post-boy, that the Hertfordshire
baronet, in common with many other gentlemen, is travelling in the west,
just at this moment; and that he slept last night, at a house only
twenty miles distant. The express reached him several hours since, and
an answer has been received, informing us that we may expect to see him,
in an hour or two."

Thus much was related by Wycherly; but, we may add that Sir Reginald
Wychecombe was a Catholic, as it was then usual to term the Romanists,
and in secret, a Jacobite; and, in common with many of that religious
persuasion, he was down in the west, to see if a rising could not be
organized in that part of the kingdom, as a diversion to any attempt to
repel the young Pretender in the north. As the utmost caution was used
by the conspirators, this fact was not even suspected by any who were
not in the secret of the whole proceeding. Understanding that his
relation was an inefficient old man, Sir Reginald, himself an active and
sagacious intriguer, had approached thus near to the old paternal
residence of his family, in order to ascertain if his own name and
descent might not aid him in obtaining levies among the ancient tenantry
of the estate. That day he had actually intended to appear at
Wychecombe, disguised, and under an assumed name. He proposed venturing
on this step, because circumstances put it in his power, to give what he
thought would be received as a sufficient excuse, should his conduct
excite comment.

Sir Reginald Wychecombe was a singular, but by no means an unnatural
compound of management and integrity. His position as a Papist had
disposed him to intrigue, while his position as one proscribed by
religious hostility, had disposed him to be a Papist. Thousands are made
men of activity, and even of importance, by persecution and
proscription, who would pass through life quietly and unnoticed, if the
meddling hand of human forethought did not force them into situations
that awaken their hostility, and quicken their powers. This gentleman
was a firm believer in all the traditions of his church, though his
learning extended little beyond his missal; and he put the most implicit
reliance on the absurd, because improbable, fiction of the Nag's Head
consecration, without having even deemed it necessary to look into a
particle of that testimony by which alone such a controversy could be
decided. In a word, he was an instance of what religious intolerance has
ever done, and will probably for ever continue to do, with so wayward a
being as man.

Apart from this weakness, Sir Reginald Wychecombe had both a shrewd and
an inquiring mind. His religion he left very much to the priests; but of
his temporal affairs he assumed a careful and prudent supervision. He
was much richer than the head of the family; but, while he had no
meannesses connected with money, he had no objection to be the possessor
of the old family estates. Of his own relation to the head of this
family, he was perfectly aware, and the circumstance of the half-blood,
with all its legal consequences, was no secret to him. Sir Reginald
Wychecombe was not a man to be so situated, without having recourse to
all proper means, in order, as it has become the fashion of the day to
express it, "to define his position." By means of a shrewd attorney, if
not of his own religious, at least of his own political opinions, he had
ascertained the fact, and this from the mouth of Martha herself, that
Baron Wychecombe had never married; and that, consequently, Tom and his
brothers were no more heirs at law to the Wychecombe estate, than he was
in his own person. He fully understood, too, that there _was_ no heir at
law; and that the lands must escheat, unless the present owner made a
will; and to this last act, his precise information told him that Sir
Wycherly had an unconquerable reluctance. Under such circumstances, it
is not at all surprising, that when the Hertfordshire baronet was thus
unexpectedly summoned to the bed-side of his distant kinsman, he
inferred that his own claims were at length to be tardily acknowledged,
and that he was about to be put in possession of the estates of his
legitimate ancestors. It is still less wonderful, that, believing this,
he promptly promised to lose no time in obeying the summons, determining
momentarily to forget his political, in order to look a little after his
personal interests.

The reader will understand, of course, that all these details were
unknown to the inmates of the Hall, beyond the fact of the expected
arrival of Sir Reginald Wychecombe, and that of the circumstance of the
half-blood; which, in its true bearing, was known alone to Tom. Their
thoughts were directed towards the situation of their host, and little
was said, or done, that had not his immediate condition for the object.
It being understood, however, that the surgeons kept the sick chamber
closed against all visiters, a silent and melancholy breakfast was taken
by the whole party, in waiting for the moment when they might be
admitted. When this cheerless meal was ended, Sir Gervaise desired
Bluewater to follow him to his room, whither he led the way in person.

"It is possible, certainly, that Vervillin is out," commenced the
vice-admiral, when they were alone; "but we shall know more about it,
when the cutter gets in, and reports. You saw nothing but her number, I
think you told me?"

"She was at work with private signals, when I left the head-land; of
course I was unable to read them without the book."

"That Vervillin is a good fellow," returned Sir Gervaise, rubbing his
hands; a way he had when much pleased; "and has stuff in him. He has
thirteen two-decked ships, Dick, and that will be one apiece for our
captains, and a spare one for each of our flags. I believe there is no
three-decker in that squadron?"

"There you've made a small mistake, Sir Gervaise, as the Comte de
Vervillin had his flag in the largest three-decker of France; _le
Bourbon_ 120. The rest of his ships are like our own, though much fuller
manned."

"Never mind, Blue--never mind:--we'll put two on the Bourbon, and try to
make our frigates of use. Besides, you have a knack at keeping the fleet
so compact, that it is nearly a single battery."

"May I venture to ask, then, if it's your intention to go out, should
the news by the Active prove to be what you anticipate?"

Sir Gervaise cast a quick, distrustful glance at the other, anxious to
read the motive for the question, at the same time that he did not wish
to betray his own feelings; then he appeared to meditate on the answer.

"It is not quite agreeable to lie here, chafing our cables, with a
French squadron roving the channel," he said; "but I rather think it's
my duty to wait for orders from the Admiralty, under present
circumstances."

"Do you expect my lords will send you through the Straits of Dover, to
blockade the Frith?"

"If they do, Bluewater, I shall hope for your company. I trust, a
night's rest has given you different views of what ought to be a
seaman's duty, when his country is at open war with her ancient and most
powerful enemies."

"It is the prerogative of the _crown_ to declare war, Oakes. No one but
a _lawful_ sovereign can make a _lawful_ war."

"Ay, here come your cursed distinctions about _de jure_ and _de facto_,
again. By the way, Dick, you are something of a scholar--can you tell me
what is understood by calling a man a _nullus_?"

Admiral Bluewater, who had taken his usual lolling attitude in the most
comfortable chair he could find, while his more mercurial friend kept
pacing the room, now raised his head in surprise, following the quick
motions of the other, with his eyes, as if he doubted whether he had
rightly heard the question.

"It's plain English, is it not?--or plain _Latin_, if you will--what is
meant by calling a man a _nullus_?" repeated Sir Gervaise, observing the
other's manner.

"The Latin is _plain_ enough, certainly," returned Bluewater, smiling;
"you surely do not mean _nullus, nulla, nullum_?"

"Exactly that--you've hit it to a gender.--_Nullus_, nulla, nullum_.
No _man_, no _woman_, no _thing_. Masculine, feminine, neuter."

"I never heard the saying. If ever used, it must be some silly play on
sounds, and mean a numskull--or, perhaps, a fling at a fellow's
position, by saying he is a 'nobody.' Who the deuce has been calling
another a _nullus_, in the presence of the commander-in-chief of the
southern squadron?"

"Sir Wycherly Wychecombe--our unfortunate host, here: the poor man who
is on his death-bed, on this very floor."

Again Bluewater raised his head, and once more his eye sought the face
of his friend. Sir Gervaise had now stopped short, with his hands
crossed behind his back, looking intently at the other, in expectation
of the answer.

"I thought it might be some difficulty from the fleet--some silly fellow
complaining of another still more silly for using such a word. Sir
Wycherly!--the poor man's mind must have failed him."

"I rather think not; if it has, there is 'method in his madness,' for he
persevered most surprisingly, in the use of the term. His nephew, Tom
Wychecombe, the presumptive heir, he insists on it, is a _nullus_; while
this Sir Reginald, who is expected to arrive every instant, he says is
only _half_--or half-_blood_, as it has since been explained to us."

"I am afraid this nephew will prove to be any thing but _nullus_, when
he succeeds to the estate and title," answered Bluewater, gravely. "A
more sinister-looking scoundrel, I never laid eyes on."

"That is just my way of thinking; and not in the least like the family."

"This matter of likenesses is not easily explained, Oakes. We see
parents and children without any visible resemblance to each other; and
then we find startling likenesses between utter strangers."

"_Bachelor's children_ may be in that predicament, certainly; but I
should think few others. I never yet studied a child, that I did not
find some resemblance to both parents; covert and only transitory,
perhaps; but a likeness so distinct as to establish the relationship.
What an accursed chance it is, that our noble young lieutenant should
have no claim on this old baronet; while this d----d _nullus_ is both
heir at law, and heir of entail! I never took half as much interest in
any other man's estate, as I take in the succession to this of our poor
host!"

"There you are mistaken, Oakes; you took more in _mine_; for, when I
made a will in your own favour, and gave it to you to read, you tore it
in two, and threw it overboard, with your own hand."

"Ay, that was an act of lawful authority. As your superior, I
countermanded that will! I hope you've made another, and given your
money, as I told you, to your cousin, the Viscount."

"I did, but _that_ will has shared the fate of the first. It appearing
to me, that we are touching on serious times, and Bluewater being rich
already, I destroyed the devise in his favour, and made a new one, this
very morning. As you are my executor, as usual, it may be well to let
you know it."

"Dick, you have not been mad enough to cut off the head of your own
family--your own flesh and blood, as it might be--to leave the few
thousands you own, to this mad adventurer in Scotland!"

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