An Exile of Old Times

Southland Times, Issue 4497, 8 December 1882, Page 3

An Exile of Old Times

.". ; : — "♦ — : There was money to be had out of it, certainly — both money and security : but at what a sacrifice 1 Though things had been going badly of late in Rome,and Publius had found it difficult to gather enough sesterces out of his estates to satisfy both bis tastes and his creditors— not to speak of the demands of his handsome wife Virginia — yet the alterna» tiveof exile to a small island belonging to that bleak, far-distant, and savage country called Anglia, •'vas heart-breaking — no less. But what.ean a man do whan the gods have spoken and the Fates are his fees? He had been warned often enough, that the present " pace" could not last, and that he must reform if he wished to continue. He would not do the one, so he had to give up the other. He tried to excuse himself by saying that as he had inherited so must he maintain, and that the honor of the family compelled him to courses which must needs end in destruction . It might be so. But if he thought that honor of the family was implicated in importing fine things from across the seas ; if he would have stufis from Alexandria and carpets from Persia, marbles from Egypt, gems of art treasures from ; if he would give banquets to friends who sponged on him for entertainmeals, and repaid in flattery what they received in doles — banquets where the wines were costly, the garlands of the choices o flowers to be had from the iose-gardens of Jfsestum and the flower-fields of Baias — where the viands were of expensive material and more expensive preparation, and the dancing girls of the finest quality ; if he would spend his money on shows and his substance on pleasures, he must be prepared for the result of ruin as a foregone conclusion. The days of divine intervention were over. Jupiter might once have transformed himself into a shower of gold ; but it was not to be expected that he would do so again, let him be entreated with ever so muah fervor by a handsome spendthrift, with more house- slaves than farmlaborers, more creditors than rent-payers, and more parasites than patrons. It had not been for nothing that the evil omens had been turned like storm- signals against him. He had set his right foot foremost, which we all know to be a presage of bad luck; an accident had happened to the waxen image which represented his father, and the garland round it had fallen to the ground ; a laven had croaked as he prepared to discuss the state of his affairs with his faithful f . cdmao, who knew better than himself the.; . < perate condition ; and his dreams had been i-... of painful foreshadowing. So that when his creditors clamored against him in the market place, and he was threatened

Witk the ptniltta «ttaobad to debt and imMcaniotitT. be wm obUg«d to accept the comJ^3S«l bi« by tU Empmr, and to leatv Vbt lurarioot pleuoiet of Borne for the ~*»im Diivmtions of exili. And exile above SlteJtiEt SSafol pl«oe whtte the Phwnid^ar lid feind titt and they, the Romany loeMft #«th# 6i their iteel^-albeit thew tom***^******* ***** <*"* the ett»n>y toe"wfioed aad courtly dwelled by the Tiber «• we, their descendants in oar There wU no help for if, iheendol thefetst hAd«o*e. So Fabliuijold all his magnifiCenejgirti O*y» cope'sod engraven gems, his OQttty haDginn»°his luxurioua carpets, his WTWgttloM&ff ihiiuiig wlw, his pictures and MtUrte^Me-ifory oonoheß, hM-tabl«^ of oortly citrus wood, his mirrors and his candelabra, his alabastef ,ahd his marbles— and fetoot with Sis wifeVnd a handful of personal retainers &> take command of that small island, set like a bud-against a fullblown flower— had the: been asked he would have said a poison bud— that small island which wtftiilf the We of Wight, where he had to taste the bitter -after the sweet, and drai£tbel)ifeg«bt theluscibus cup .which- he bad filed tod full and druntttoo greedily. What a dreadful place it was 1 Those who had been far, far away, through the heart of that-hig&erisiand, down to the distant north, \ where the treee grew so thick in the valleys'. tbatjri^ squirrel might go for two hundred ftadto and, never, touch the ground ; .where the , mountains lost themselves in the clouds, and were-,aSf*iantß compared to pigmies when conbMbS^wiih'tha Alban hills, with even Vesnvini and the Apennines ; where the Ficts fought like lions at bay, and were as übiquitons'ai^saamer flier and as unconquerable as soma¥yiw«rmingZarr<»; where the son shone only^oy fttd and never long, and where the summer was 'to be counted by days, not even by weeks-^there adventurous travellers assurel^ni that his lines had >- fallen iri pleasant place, and that he had cause to be thankful to the. Goddess of Fortune," to whom, in-deed,-he'bught'to make a libation, for the comparative mercy of his eiile. But these woraf^of cotriforf fell on unreceptive ears. A climate which gave 'no fruit to be called pomegranite^and no oranges^ fit or unfit, no grapw by^a^ife^ffiQd'eirenihosi^r.wtiW bis - cOHBOyca«B ba<J plani«<J,- s»ia PuWins, wbat Bonanjgejntlematt could, bear to eat ? small^ pobrVf&vorless^asftiey were i ; a climate'where* no olives grew fori -nse or] beauty; no myrtles scentedj the summer'air,;. where the roses were wild, wan^erin^and'uncultiva^ cherries 3f ere, fitt.pn^"' ; for. th~e bir<i^ ,where there were no lefctuces, no cucumbers,' nothing but trees and 'gra^- Jaad weeds':'-^--Iyho could find pleasure therein?— who could compass ought 6nt tHe} Stoic's-stately patience with misfortnne when" his evil genius had located him here in, this island of deadly dulness and pbytioal priVa'tion ? A lt' was a misfortune ; and Publins could see it as nothing else. As for Virginia, she wept night and day, for all that self-respect in self-control which wai^part of l lfcne moral -furniture i of a Roman lady.^ fih'e was muerable in her exile, and she said sb';"and made poor Pablius more wretched than "Be would else have been by the passion of her endless lamentatiohsV She-had brought with s n'or'^aU hei'-fihest dressef; her manycolored, embroidered gtoldi, and 1 her soft silken palUf,^hef n - flabeUai, or: fan of ■" peacock's feathers, ibr"" the flies, and -her nvibeUm,- or parasol for the sun. But the climate was too cold for siik; there were neither flies nor was thereWh toward off in this Pboßbu9>deserted place f Bhe 1 had to clothe herself roughly in woollen ; the moths consumed both her best garments and her prettiest fans ; so that Virginia found herself after' a time destitute of braveryj p sh6uld there be even an occasion for wearing' itF And, so far as- things looked now, that occasion was more than problematical 1 Her orniments she laid asid« in their proper "boxea— necklaces, chairs, earrings, armletS and rings ; and the damp settled on them and tarnished the gold and silver, while it discolored the 'pearls and seemed even to rob' something from the brightness of the rnbtes and v emeralds. It was all dreadful 1 andilnore than ever Virginia said that she would rather be a poor and subordinate creature in Borne or Bai* than reign here in this horrible plaice as local queen and sovereign lady. One thing, however, was absolutely necessary, and {hat was a house wherein to live. If the island had to be governed the Governor must live among his forces ; and Publius was not content with the meagre shelter of a captain's tent. He must have .a house which shduld rival •^■though at what a distance J — thatrpleasant place of his on the banks of the Tiber, or that still more delightful retreat on the snore of the blue sea lapping the foot or Misennm. Accordingly, he got him workmen who had followed the array, or rather the colonists from Rome, and set them to build a house whereof 'the remains are to be found to this day. It was nphill work, the materials were ns inferior as the artists and the workmen ; and PubliuSjWhOjhad taste, and Virginia, who had desire's,' 'scarce, knew whi -h were the more painful of the ! two conditions — bouselessness in toto, or a dwelling growing up under their eyes in such comparative meagreness and poverty as brought their changed circumstances more forcibly tbaa ever before them. It; was more a make shift than a creation. The tessellated floors were ruder than tbpse to -which the luxurious Roman had been acoußtoined, but the freedman, who had fol-L lowed the fortunes of his master, assured him that it was the finest thing in all this sunless Britannia. The word of welcome, " Salve," done in mosaic on the thresholl, was correct and straight ;. and if the door-posts were of plain native oak, with only a rough kind of carving on tliem instead of the costly inlaid affairs in Rome, the door hung well, and the hfn?e9 or wedge-shaped pins in which they worked were stronp. To be sure there were n& costly marble pillars for the peristyle, but the airlvm was roomy, and Virginia could sit there' with her. maids to wile away her lime in fair needlework or fine spin- ing; and they had saved some of their most serviceable hangings 5 for the vela, which here had to keep out wind and rain and hail and snow, and nob the fervid sun, as in the south. There were, bat few dependent chambers. What need VM they 'of guest rooms here, where no gaea'ts £dnid ooine ? Neither had tb^y need of. more I'dining-rooms1 'dining-rooms or triclinia than one. At Baiae.pr Bomp. they, were forced to turn to thenortnor sooth, according to the season ; here they might look due south in tummer as in winter,,. and so far. economise space and labor. 'But; of all things in this house the most needful was the bath. No Reman could live without this as his.dni'jr. luxury of clc«j.nliiie'»'#ji'and'neceHtity of- health. And Publius bnill his in bis villa, and decorated it. Next to the bath he had bis *. 7wcr?gterwni, where he wa'rmeki : Mmself by playing ball, is well as by other pymnaatic exercises; and on- the whblfrF* did pretty well,'»ll things considered; and bis^fdrtune might have been worse. But never tcr ; the end of time did Publtas learh that iirid' of submission to the inevitable, which means positive content, He was resigned but he was not happy. Ho made offerings to th* gods, ever, accompanied with the praye-s for speedy restoration to his old home, his beloved haunts.. He never, forgot the gardens and the gamcß.the banquets and the public disquisitions of Rome';, nor the sunsets aud the sunrises' out thereby Ba:ae and Mi«enurn. Irinis'dreams be wandered joyously through the Elyteian fields where the asphodels grew and the .birds sang of love the whole spring through :— though sometimes he felt hi^ steps drawn 7 pi)', In" spite of himself, there wherp Averntis gloomed dark and sullen, shut out from' the 'Subliffht;' and given over only to death; Rnd J horror. He dreamed of Ihose itrange hot' springs where men went in old and came'dut yoong again. He sighed for the Blue* 'wateri-of the Mediterranean -how unlike the cold and dirty river which bathed his^iiftie* Wand; He ;r yearned for; the dear past, and he dreaded the continuance of the present in the future/ 7 But he had planted his i 'own v.ines,,arid he, must "drictk such wine' M'they'inaaii'^lf hVhad'.not been extravA/ gant, he would not have been now an exile j andlftiehouse'whichhe brfilt at Brading would notbe a point for modem sightscers'to visit. and a- $üb|ect for them to 'discu^s^as they wander. tb"r6u>ih the garden like land of the Isle'tof- Wighf,- fiodingjfebarm and:' del : ght where Publius. and Virginia ;met r ouly lpnlU. neM'Mddflsdlatioii^TheQueenv vij .