Character Sketches of Romance Volume I Part 19

ARBUTUS, st.u.r.dy yeoman usually known as "Bute," in Bayard Taylor's novel _Hannah Thurston._ Rugged and sound as the New England granite underlying the farm he tills.

ARC _(Joan of)_, or _Jeanne la Pucelle_, the "Maid of Orleans,"

daughter of a rustic of Domremy, near Vaucouleurs, in France. She was servant at an inn when she conceived the idea of liberating France from the English. Having gained admission to Charles VII., she was sent by him to raise the siege of Orleans, and actually succeeded in so doing. Schiller has a tragedy on the subject, Casimir Delavigne an elegy on her, Southey an epic poem on her life and death, and Voltaire a burlesque.

In regard to her death, M. Octave Delepiere, in his _Doute Historique_, denies the tradition of her having been burnt to death at Rouen; and Vignier discovered in a family muniment chest the "contract of marriage between" Robert des Armoise, knight, and Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed "The Maid of Orleans."

AR'CADES AMBO, both fools alike; both "sweet innocents;" both alike eccentric. There is nothing in the character of Corydon and Thyrsis (Virgil's _Eclogue_, vii. 4) to justify this disparaging application of the phrase. All Virgil says is they were both "in the flower of their youth," and both Arcadians, both equal in setting a theme for song or capping it epigrammatically; but as Arcadia was the least intellectual part of Greece, an "Arcadian" came to signify a dunce, and hence "Arcades ambo" received its present acceptation.

ARCALA'US (4 _syl_.), an enchanter who bound Am'adis de Gaul to a pillar in his courtyard, and administered to him 200 stripes with his horse's bridle.--_Amadis de Gaul_ (fifteenth century).

ARCA'NES (3 _syl_.), a n.o.ble soldier, friend of Cas'silane (3 _syl_.) general of Candy.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Laws of Candy_ (1647).

ARCHAN'GEL. Burroughs, the puritan preacher, called Cromwell "the archangel that did battle with the devil."

ARCHAS, "the loyal subject" of the great duke of Moscovia, and general of the Moscovites. His son is colonel Theodore.

_Young Archas_, son of the general. Disguised as a woman, he a.s.sumes the name of Alinda.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Loyal Subject_ (1618).

ARCHBSH'OP OF GRANA'DA told his secretary, Gil Blas, when he hired him,

"Whenever thou shalt perceive my pen smack of old age and my genius flag, don't fail to advertise me of it, for I don't trust to my own judgment, which may be seduced by self-love." After a fit of apoplexy, Gil Blas ventured in the most delicate manner to hint to his grace that "his last discourse had not altogether the energy of his former ones." To this the archbishop replied, "You are yet too raw to make proper distinctions. Know, child, that I never composed a better homily than that which you disapprove. Go, tell my treasurer to give you 100 ducats. Adieu, Mr. Gil Blas; I wish you all manner of prosperity, with a little more taste."--Le-sage, _Gil Blas_, vii. 3 (1715).

AR'CHER (_Francis_), friend of Aimwell, who joins him in fortune-hunting. These are the two "beaux." Thomas viscount Aimwell marries Dorinda, the daughter of lady Bountiful. Archer hands the deeds and property taken from the highwaymen to sir Charles Freeman, who takes his sister, Mrs. Sullen, under his charge again.--George Farquhar, _The Beaux' Stratagem_ (1707).

ARCHIBALD (_John_), attendant on the duke of Argyle.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

ARCHIMA'GO, the reverse of holiness, and therefore Satan the father of lies and all deception. a.s.suming the guise of the Red Cross Knight, he deceived Una; and under the guise of a hermit, he deceived the knight himself. Archimago is introduced in bks. i. and ii. of Spenser's _Faery Queen._ The poet says:

... he could take As many forms and shapes in seeming wise As ever Proteus to himself could make: Sometimes a fowl, sometimes a fish in lake, Now like a fox, now like a dragon fell.

Spenser, _The Faery Queen_, I. ii. 10 (1590).

ARCHIMEDES, Syracusan philosopher, who discovered, among other great scientific facts, the functions of the lever. The solution of an abstruse problem having occurred to him while in the bath, he leaped out of the water, and ran naked through the city, shouting, "_Eureka!_"

AR'CHY M'SAR'CASM _(Sir)_, "a proud Caledonian knight, whose tongue, like the dart of death, spares neither s.e.x nor age ... His insolence of family and licentiousness of wit gained him the contempt of every one" (i. 1). Sir Archy tells Charlotte, "In the house of M'Sarcasm are two barons, three viscounts, six earls, one marquisate, and two dukes, besides baronets and lairds oot o' a' reckoning" (i. 1). He makes love to Charlotte Goodchild, but supposing it to be true that she has lost her fortune, declares to her that he has just received letters "frae the dukes, the marquis, and a' the dignitaries of the family ...

expressly prohibiting his contaminating the blood of M'Sarcasm wi'

onything sprung from a hogshead or a c.o.o.nting-house" (ii. 1).

The man has something droll, something ridiculous in him. His abominable Scotch accent, his grotesque visage almost buried in snuff, the roll of his eyes and twist of his mouth, his strange inhuman laugh, his tremendous periwig, and his manners altogether--why, one might take him for a mountebank doctor at a Dutch fair.--C. Macklin, _Love a-la-mode_, i. 1 (1779).

_Sir Archy's Great-grandmother._ Sir Archy M'Sarcasm insisted on fighting Sir Callaghan O'Brallaghan on a point of ancestry. The Scotchman said that the Irish are a colony from Scotland, "an ootcast, a mere ootcast." The Irishman retorted by saying that "one Mac Fergus...o...b..allaghan went from Carrickfergus, and peopled all Scotland with his own hands." Charlotte [Goodchild] interposed, and asked the cause of the contention, whereupon Sir Callaghan replied, "Madam, it is about sir Archy's great-grandmother."--C. Macklin, _Love a-la-mode_, i. I (1779).

We shall not now stay to quarrel about sir Archy's great-grandmother.--Maepherson, _Dissertation upon Ossian_.

ARCHY'TAS of Tarentum made a wooden pigeon that could fly; and Regiomonta'nus, a German, made a wooden eagle that flew from Koenigsberg to meet the emperor, and, having saluted him, returned whence it set out (1436-1476).

This engine may be contrived from the same principles by which Archytas made a wooden dove, and Regiomonta.n.u.s a wooden eagle.--Dr.

John Wilkins (1614-1672).

AR'CITE (2 _syl_.) AND PAL'AMON, two Theban knights, captives of duke Theseus, who used to see from their dungeon window the duke's sister-in-law, Emily, taking her airing in the palace garden, and fell in love with her. Both captives having gained their liberty, contended for the lady by single combat. Arcite was victor, but being thrown from his horse was killed, and Emily became the bride of Palamon.--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ ("The Knight's Tale," 1388).

Richard Edwards in 1566 produced a drama ent.i.tled _Palamon and Arcite_.

AR'DEN _(Enoch)_, the hero of a poetic tale by Tennyson. He is a seaman wrecked on a desert island, who returns home after the absence of several years, and finds his wife married to another. Seeing her both happy and prosperous, Enoch resolves not to mar her domestic peace, so leaves her undisturbed, and dies of a broken heart.

AR'DEN OF FEV'ERSLIAM, a n.o.ble character, honorable, forgiving, affectionate, and modest. His wife Alicia in her sleep reveals to him her guilty love for Mosby, but he pardons her on condition that she will never see the seducer again. Scarcely has she made the promise when she plots with Mosby her husband's murder. In a planned street-scuffle, Mosby pretends to take Arden's part, and thus throws him off his guard. Arden thinks he has wronged him, and invites him to his house, but Mosby conspires with two hired ruffians to fall on his host during a game of draughts, the right moment being signified by Mosby's saying, "Now I take you." Arden is murdered; but the whole gang is apprehended and brought to justice.

(This drama is based on a murder which took place in 1551. Ludwig Tieck has translated the play into German, as a genuine production of Shakespeare. Some ascribe the play to George Lillo, but Charles Lamb gives 1592 as the date of its production, and says the author is unknown.)

AREOUS'KI, the Indian war-G.o.d, war, tumult.

A cry of Areouski broke our sleep. Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_, i, 16 (1809).

ARETHU'SA, daughter of the king Messi'na, in the drama called _Philaster_ or _Love Lies a-bleeding_, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1638).

_Arethusa_, a nymph pursued by Alpheos the river-G.o.d, and changed into a fountain in the island of Ortygia; but the river-G.o.d still pursued her, and mingled his stream with the fountain, and now, "like friends once parted grown single-hearted," they leap and flow and slumber together, "like spirits that love but live no more."

[Ill.u.s.tration] This fable has been exquisitely turned into poetry by Percy B. Sh.e.l.ley (_Arethusa_, 1820).

ARGALI'A, brother of Angel'ica, in Ariosto's _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

AR'GAN, the _malade imaginaire_ and father of Angelique. He is introduced taxing his apothecary's bills, under the conviction that he cannot afford to be sick at the prices charged, but then he notices that he has already reduced his bills during the current month, and is not so well. He first hits upon the plan of marrying Angelique to a young doctor, but to this the lady objects. His brother suggests that Argan himself should be his own doctor, and when the invalid replies he has not studied either diseases, drugs, or Latin, the objection is overruled by investing the "malade" in a doctor's cap and robe. The piece concludes with the ceremonial in macaronic Latin.

[Ill.u.s.tration] When Argan asks his doctor how many grains of salt he ought to eat with an egg, the doctor answers, "Six, huit, dix, etc., par les nombres pairs, comme dans les medicaments par les nombres impairs."--Moliere, _Le Malade Imaginaire_, ii. 9 (1673).

ARGAN'TE (3 _syl_.), a giantess called "the very monster and miracle of l.u.s.t." She and her twin-brother Ollyphant or Oliphant were the children of Typhoe'us and Earth. Argante used to carry off young men as her captives, and seized "the Squire of Dames" as one of her victims. The squire, who was in fact Britomart (the heroine of chast.i.ty), was delivered by sir Sat'yrane (3 _syl_.).--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, iii. 7 (1590).

_Argante_' (2 _syl_.), father of Octave (2 _syl_.) and Zerbinette (3 _syl_.). He promises to give his daughter Zerbinette to Leandre (2 _syl_.), the son of his friend Geronte (2 _syl_.); but during his absence abroad the young people fall in love unknown to their respective fathers. Both fathers storm, and threaten to break off the engagement, but are delighted beyond measure when they discover that the choice of the young people has unknowingly coincided with their own.--Moliere, _Les Fourteries de Scapin_ (1671).

(Thomas Otway has adapted this play to the English stage, and called it _The Cheats of Scapin_. "Argante" he calls _Thrifty_; "Geronte" is _Gripe_; "Zerbinette" he calls _Lucia_; and "Leandre" he Anglicizes into _Leander_.)

ARGAN'TES (3 _syl_.), a Circa.s.sian of high rank and undoubted courage, but fierce and a great detester of the Nazarenes. Argantes and Solyman were undoubtedly the bravest heroes of the infidel host. Argantes was slain by Rinaldo, and Solyman by Tancred.--Ta.s.so, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).

Bonaparte stood before the deputies like the Argantes of Italy's heroic poet.--Sir Walter Scott.

AR'GENIS, a political romance by Barclay (1621).

AR'GENTILE (3 _syl_.), daughter of king Adelbright, and ward of Edel.

Curan, a Danish prince, in order to woo her, became a drudge in her house, but being obliged to quit her service, became a shepherd. Edel, the guardian, forcing his suit on Argentile, compelled her to flight, and she became a neatherd's maid. In this capacity Curan wooed and won her. Edel was forced to restore the possessions of his ward, and Curan became king of Northumberland. As for Edel, he was put to death.--William Warner, _Albion's England_ (1586).

AR'GENTIN _(Le sieur d_'), one of the officers of the duke of Burgundy.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geiersiein_ (time, Edward IV.).

ARGE'O, baron of Servia and husband of Gabrina. (See _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.)--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

ARGES'TES (3 _syl_.), the west wind.

Winged Argestes, faire Aurora's sonne, Licensed that day to leave his dungeon, Meekly attended.

Wm. Browne, _Britannia's Pastorals_, ii. 5 (1613).