The Monastery | Page 5

his fancy, as only approaching so near
to humanity as to know the nature of that sympathy which the creatures
of clay felt for each other, as we learn from the expression--"Mine
would, if I were human." The inferences from this are singular, but
seem capable of regular deduction. A being, however superior to man
in length of life--in power over the elements--in certain perceptions
respecting the present, the past, and the future, yet still incapable of
human passions, of sentiments of moral good and evil, of meriting
future rewards or punishments, belongs rather to the class of animals,
than of human creatures, and must therefore be presumed to act more
from temporary benevolence or caprice, than from anything
approaching to feeling or reasoning. Such a being's superiority in
power can only be compared to that of the elephant or lion, who are
greater in strength than man, though inferior in the scale of creation.
The partialities which we suppose such spirits to entertain must be like
those of the dog; their sudden starts of passion, or the indulgence of a
frolic, or mischief, may be compared to those of the numerous varieties
of the cat. All these propensities are, however, controlled by the laws
which render the elementary race subordinate to the command of

man--liable to be subjected by his science, (so the sect of Gnostics
believed, and on this turned the Rosicrucian philosophy,) or to be
overpowered by his superior courage and daring, when it set their
illusions at defiance.
It is with reference to this idea of the supposed spirits of the elements,
that the White Lady of Avenel is represented as acting a varying,
capricious, and inconsistent part in the pages assigned to her in the
narrative; manifesting interest and attachment to the family with whom
her destinies are associated, but evincing whim, and even a species of
malevolence, towards other mortals, as the Sacristan, and the Border
robber, whose incorrect life subjected them to receive petty
mortifications at her hand. The White Lady is scarcely supposed,
however, to have possessed either the power or the inclination to do
more than inflict terror or create embarrassment, and is also subjected
by those mortals, who, by virtuous resolution, and mental energy, could
assert superiority over her. In these particulars she seems to constitute a
being of a middle class, between the esprit follet who places its
pleasure in misleading and tormenting mortals, and the benevolent
Fairy of the East, who uniformly guides, aids, and supports them.
Either, however, the author executed his purpose indifferently, or the
public did not approve of it; for the White Lady of Avenel was far from
being popular. He does not now make the present statement, in the
view of arguing readers into a more favourable opinion on the subject,
but merely with the purpose of exculpating himself from the charge of
having wantonly intruded into the narrative a being of inconsistent
powers and propensities.
In the delineation of another character, the author of the Monastery
failed, where he hoped for some success. As nothing is so successful a
subject for ridicule as the fashionable follies of the time, it occurred to
him that the more serious scenes of his narrative might be relieved by
the humour of a cavaliero of the age of Queen Elizabeth. In every
period, the attempt to gain and maintain the highest rank of society, has
depended on the power of assuming and supporting a certain
fashionable kind of affectation, usually connected with some vivacity
of talent and energy of character, but distinguished at the same time by
a transcendent flight, beyond sound reason and common sense; both
faculties too vulgar to be admitted into the estimate of one who claims

to be esteemed "a choice spirit of the age." These, in their different
phases, constitute the gallants of the day, whose boast it is to drive the
whims of fashion to extremity.
On all occasions, the manners of the sovereign, the court, and the time,
must give the tone to the peculiar description of qualities by which
those who would attain the height of fashion must seek to distinguish
themselves. The reign of Elizabeth, being that of a maiden queen, was
distinguished by the decorum of the courtiers, and especially the
affectation of the deepest deference to the sovereign. After the
acknowledgment of the Queen's matchless perfections, the same
devotion was extended to beauty as it existed among the lesser stars in
her court, who sparkled, as it was the mode to say, by her reflected
lustre. It is true, that gallant knights no longer vowed to Heaven, the
peacock, and the ladies, to perform some feat of extravagant chivalry,
in which they endangered the lives of others as well as their own; but
although their chivalrous displays