On Objects of Terror  

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"On Objects of Terror" (1798) is an essay by Nathan Drake.

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DR DRAKE ON OBJECTS OF TERROR .

OBJECTS of terror may, with propriety , be divided in .to thote, which owe their origin to the agency of ſuper-hu man beings, and form a part of every ſyſtem of mythology, and into thoſe which depend upon natural cauſes and e vents for their production . In the eſſay on gothic ſuper ftition, the former ſpecies has been noticed, and a tale pre fented to the reader, whoſe chief circumſtances are brought about through the influence of preternatural power ; on the latter we ſhall now deliver a few obſervations, and termi . nate them with a fragment, in which terror is attempted to be excited by the interferences of fimple material c -uſation. Terror thus produced requires no ſmall degree of ſkill and arrangement, to prevent its operating more pain than pleafure. Unaccompained by thoſe myiterious incidents, which indicate the miniſtration of beings mightier far than we, and which induce that thrilling ſenſation of mingled aftoniſhment, apprehenſion and delight , ſo irrefiftibly cap tivating * Alluſions to the exile of Clarendon and the death of Lord Ruffel. + See an affecting account of the death of Charles II. in Hir. ris's Life of that prince. 1 Dr Drake On Objects of Terror. tivating to the generality of mankind, it will be apt to create rather horror and difguft, than the grateful emotion intend ed . To obviate this reſult, it is neceffary either to inter poſe pictureſque deſcription, or ſublime and pathetic fenti ment, or fo to ſtimulate curioſity by the artful texture of the fable, or by the uncertain and ſuſpended fate of an in tereſting perſonage; that the mind ſhall receive fuch a de. gree of artificial pleaſure, as may mitigate and ſubdue what, ifínaked of decoration and ſkilful accompaniement, would Mock and appal every feeling heart. A poem , a novel , or a picture may however, notwith ſtanding its accurate imitation of nature, and beauty of exe cution , unfold a ſcene fo horrid , or fo cruel, that the art of the painter or the poet, is unable to render it communica tive of the ſmalleſt pleaſurable emotion. He whocould fix , for inſtance , upon the following event as a fit ſubject for the canvas, was furely unacquainted with the chief pur port of his art. • A robber, who had broken into a repo litory of the dead, in order to plunder a corſe of fome rich ornaments, is ſaid to have been ſo affected with the hide. ous ſpectacle of mortality, which preſented it felf when he opened the coffin, that he ſunk away, trembling and weep ing, without being able to execute his purpoſe. I have met, ' ſays Dr Beattie, ' with an excellent print upon this ſubject ; but was never able to look at it for half a minute together. In a collection of Scottiſh ballads, publiſhed hy Mr Pinkerton , there is one named Edward, which dif. plays a ſcene which no poet , however great his talents , could render tolerable to any perſon of ſenſibility . A young man, his ſword ſtill reeking with blood, rutes in to the preſence of his mother , at whoſe ſuggeſtion he had - the moment before deſtroyed his father. A thort dialogue enſues, which terminates by the fon pouring upon this fe male fiend the curſes of hell. The Myſterious Mother al . fo , a tragedy by the late celebrated lord Orford, labours under an inſuperable defect of this kind. The plot turns upon a mother's premeditated inceft with her own fon, a cataſtrophe productive only of horror and averſion , and for which the many well written ſcenes introductory to this monſtrous event cannot atone. No efforts of genius on the other hand, are ſo truly great as thoſe which, approaching the brink of horror, have yet, by the art of the poet or painter, by adjun &tive and pictu reſque embelliſhment, by pathetic, or ſublime emotion, been rendered powerful in creating the moſt delightful and faſcinating ſenſating ſenſations. Shakeſpeare, if we diſmiſs E 22 what Dr Drake on Objects of Terror. what is now generally allowed not to be his, the wretched play of Titus Andronicus, has ſeldom , if ever, exceeded the bounds of falutary and grateful terror . Many ſtrong inſtances of emotion of this kind , unmingled with the wild fictions of fuperftition , yet productive of the higheſt inte reſt, might, had we room for their infertion, be quoted from his drama, but perhaps the firſt ſpecimen in the re cords of poetry is to be found in the works of an elder poet'; in the Inferno of Danté. A whole family periſhing from hunger in a gloomy dun geon, would appear to partake too much of the terrible for either poetry or painting, yet has Danté, by the introduca. tion of various pathetic touches, rendered ſuch a deſcrip .. tion the moſt ſtriking, original and affecting ſcene, perhaps, in the world ; and Sir Joſhua Reynolds, by his celebrated picture of Ugolino, has ſhown that, through the medium of exalted genius, it is equally adapted to the canvas. Mi. chael Angelo too, an enthuſiaſtic diſciple of Danté; and poffeffing ſimilar powers, has likewiſe executed a bas relief on the ſame fubject. As every lover of the fublimeItalian muſt be grateful for the inſertion, no apology can pollibly be wanting, for copying a portion of this admirable narrative, as it has been literally tranſlated by Dr Warton . Ugolino is represented by the poet as detailing his own ſufferings and thoſe of his fainily . • The hour approached ,' ſays he, when we expected to have ſomething brought us to eat. But inſtead of ſeeing a . ny food appear, I heard the doors of that horrible dungeon more cloſely barred . I beheld my little children in ſilence , and could not weep, My heart was petrified. The little wretches wept, and my dear Anfelm faid ; rather, you look on us, what ails you ? I could neither weep nor anſwers and continued ſwallowed up in filent agony, all that day, and the following night, even till the dawn of day. As foon as a glimmering ray ſtarted through the doleful priſon , that I could view again thoſe four facea in which my own image was impreſſed, I gnawed both my hands with grief and rage. My children believing I did this through eager neſs to eat , raiſing themſelves ſuddenly up , ſaid to me; My father ! our torments would be leſs, if you would allay the rage of your hunger upon us. I reſtrained myfelf, that I might not increaſe their miſery. We were muie all that day, and the following. Thefourth day being come, Gad. do, falling extended at myfeet , cried, My father, why do you not help me?' and died . The other three expired one after the other, between the fifth and fixth day, familha ede

ed, as thou ſeeft me now ! and I, being ſeized with blind neſs, began to go groping upon them with my hands and feet : and continued calling them by their names three days after they were dead ; then hunger vanquiſhed my grief ! ' In the productions ofMrs Ratcliffe, the Shakeſpeare of romance writers, and who to the wild landſcape of Salva tor Roſa has added the fofter graces of a Claude, may be found many ſcenes truly terrific in their conception, yet ſo ſoftened down , and the mind ſo much relieved, by the in termixture of beauiful deſcription, or pathetic incident, that the impreſſion of the whole never becomes too ſtrong, ne ver degenerates into borror, but pleaſurable emotion is ever the predominating reſult. In her laſt piece , termed the lo talian , the attempt of Schedoni to aſſaſſinate the amiable and innocent Elena, while confined with Banditti in a lone houſe on the ſea fhore, is wrought up in ſo maſterly a man ner , that every nerve vibrates with pity and terror, eſpeci ally at the momentwhen about to plunge a dagger into her borom he difeovers her to be his daughter : every word, every action of the ſelf-accuſing confeſſor, whoſe character is marked with traits almoſt fuper human, appal , yet de light the reader, and it is difficult to aſcertain whether ar dent curioſity, intenſe commiferation, or apprehenſion that fufpends almoſt the faculty of breathing , be, in the pro greſs of this well written ftory, moſt powerfully excited . Smollet, too, notwithftanding his peculiar propenſity for burleſque and broad humour, has, in his Ferdinand Count Fathom , painted a ſcene of natural terror with aſtoniſhing effect : with ſuch vigour of imagination indeed , and mi nuteneſs of detail, that the blood runs cold , and the hair Aands erect from the impreſſion . The whole turns upon the count, who is admitted during a tremendous ſtorm in to a ſolitary cottage in a foreft , diſcovering a body juſt murdered in the room where he is going to ſleep , andthe door of which , on endeavouring to eſcape, he finds faſten ed upon him . The ſublime Collins, likewiſe, in his lyric pieces, exhibits much admirable imagery, which forcibly calls forth the emotions of fear as ariſing from natural cau les: the concluding lines of the following deſcription of danger, make the reader abſolutely ſhudder, and preſent a picture at once true to nature and full of originality .: Danger, whoſe liinbs of giant mould What mortal eye can fix'd behold ? Who Atalks his round, on hideous form !. Howling amid the midnight form ... E 3 Or 54 Dr Drake on Obje& s of Terror.-- De Montmorencya Or throws him on the ridgy ſteep Of ſome looſe hanging rock to fleep. The exquifite Scotch ballad of Hardyknute, fo happily completed by Mr Pinkerton, may be alſo mentioned as. including ſeveral incidents which, for genuine pathos, and forthe ſpecies of terror now under confideration, cannot eaſily be ſurpaſſed. The cloſe of the firſt, and commerce ment of the ſecond part, are particularly ſtriking. In the fragment annexed tothoſe obſervations it has been . the aim of the author to combine pictureſque defcription with ſome of thoſe objects of terror , which are independent of fupernatural agency. DE MONTMORENCY, A FRAGMENT. From Dr Drake's “ Literary Hours. ” THE ſullen tolling of the Curfew was heard over the heath, and not a beamof light iſſued from the dreary vile fages, the murmuring Cotter had extinguiſhed his enlivening embers, and had ſhrunk in gloomy fadneſs to repoſe, wher, Henry de Montmorency and his two attendants ruſhed from the caſtle of Amy. The night waswild and ſtormy, and the wind howled in a fearful manner. The moon Aaſhed, as the clouds paſſed from before her, on the filver armour of Montmorency , whoſe large and fable plume of feathers ſtreamed threatening in the blaſt. They hurried rapidly on , and , arriving at the edge of a declivity, defcending into a deep glen, the dread . fuland favage appearance of which was ſufficient to ſtrike terror into the ſtouteft heart. It was narrow , and the rocks on each Gde, rifing to a prodigious height, hung bellying over their heads ; furiouſy along the bottom of the valley , turbulent and daſhing againſt huge fragments of the rock , ran a dark and ſwollen torrent , and farther up the glen , down a precipice of near ninety feet, and roaring with tree mendous ſtrength , fell, at a fingle Atroke, an awful and im . menſe caſcade. From the clefts and chafms of the crag , abrupt and ſtern, the venerable oak threw his broad breadth of måde, and bending his gigantic arms athwart the Aream, fhed, driven by the wind, a multitude of leaves, while from the ſummits of the rock washeard the clamour of the falling fragments, that, bounding from its rugged Gide, leapt with refiftleſs fury on the vale beneath . Montmorency De Montmorency . S'S Montmorency, and his attendants, intrepid as they were , felt the inquietude of apprehenfion : they. food for ſome time in filent aftoniſhment, but their ideas of danger from the conflict of the elements being at length alarming, they determined to proceedł, when all inſtantly became dark , while the ruſhing of the ſtorm , the roaring of the caſcade, the ſhivering of the branches of the trees, and the dating of the rock affailed at once their ſenſe of hearing. The moon, however, again darting from a cloud , they rode for ward, and, following the courſe of the torrent , had advan ced a conſiderable way, when the piercing hrieks of a per fon in diftrefs arreſted their ſpeed ; they kopped, and liften . ing attentively, heard fhrill melancholy cries repeated, at intervals, up the glen , which gradually becoming more dif . tant, grew faint, and died away. Montmorency, ever rea dy to relieve the oppreffèd, couched his laoce, and bidding his followers prepare, was haſtening on , but again their pro greſs was impeded by the harrowing and ſtupendous claſh, of falling armour, which, reverberating from the various cavities around, seemed here and there,and from every di rection , to be echoed with double violence, as if a hundred men in armour had, in fucceffion , fallen down, in different parts of the valley. Montmorency, having recovered from the confternation into which this fingular noiſe had thrown bim , undauntedly purſued his courſe, and preſently diſcerr ed, by the light of the moon , the gleaming, of a coat of mail. He immediately made up to the ſpot, where he found, laid along at the foot of an aged oak, whoſe branches hung darkling over the torrent, a knight wounded and bleeding ; hisarmour was of burnifhedſteel, by his fide there lay a faulchion , and a fable ſhield emboffed with ſtuds of gold, and , dipping his caſque into the ſtream , he was endeavouring to allay his thirft, but, through weakneſsfrom loſs of blood , with dificulty he got it to his mouth . Being queſtioned as to his misfortune, he took his head, and una able to ſpeak, pointed with his hand down the glen : at the ſame moment the fhrieks, which had formerly alarmed Montmorency and his attendants, were repeated , apparent ly at no great diſtance ; and now every mark of horror was depicted on the pale and gbaftly features ofthe dying knight; his black bair, dalked with gore, food erect, and, ſtretch . ing forth his hand toward the found, he ſeemed ſtruggling: for ſpeech , his agony became exceffive , and groaning, he dropped down dead upon the earth . The ſuddenveſs ofthis ſhocking event, the total ignorance of its cauſe, the upcouth ſcenery around , and the diſmal wailings s6 De Montmorency. wailings of diſtreſs, which ſtill poured upon the ear with aggravated ſtrength, left room for imagination to unfold its moſt hideous ideas : yet Montmorency, though aftoniſhed , loft not his fortitude and reſolution, but determined, fol. lowing the direction of the ſound , to ſearch for the place whence theſe terrible ſcreams feemed to iſſue, and recom. mending his men to unſheath their ſwords, and maintain a ftri&t guard , cautiouſly following the windings of the glen , until, atrupily turning the corner of an outjutting crag, perceived two corſes mangled in a frightful manner, and the glimmering of light appeared through ſometrees, that hung depending from a ſteep and dangerous part of the rock. Ap. proaching a little nearer, the ſhrieks ſeemed evidently to proceed from that quarter, upon which, tying their horſes to the branches of an oak, they aſcended flowly and with out any noiſe toward the light, but what was their amaze. ment, when, by the pale glimpſes of the moon, where the eye could penetrate through the intervening foliage, in a vaft and yawning cavern , dimly lighted by a lamp ſuſpend. ed from its roof , they beheld half a dozen gigantic figures in ponderous iron armour ; their vizors were up, and the lamp, faintly gleaming on their features, diſplayed an unre lenting ſternneſs capable of the moſt rutileſs deeds. One, who had the aſpect, and the garb of their leader, and who, waving his fcymetar, ſeemed menacing the reſ, held on his - , arm a maily thield of immenſe circumference, and which , be ing ſtreaked with recent blood , preſented to the eyean object truly terrific . At the back part of the cave and fixed to a bra. zenring, ſtood a female figure, and , as far as the obſcurity of the light gave opportunity tojudge, of a beautiful and elegant form . From her the furieks proceeded ; ſhe was dreſſed in white ; and ſtruggling violently and in a convulfive manner, appeared to have been driven almoſt to madneſs from the con ſcious horror of her ſituation . Two of the banditti were in high diſpute , fire flaſhed from their eyes, and their feyme tars were half unſheathed , and Montmorency, expecting that, in the fury of their paſſion, they would cut each other to pieces, waited the event, but as the authority of their captain foon checked the tumult, he ruſhed in with his fol lowers, and , hurling his lance, Villains ! ? he exclaimed , • receive the reward of cruelty ! ' The lance bounded inno cuous from the ſhield of the leader, who turning quickly u. pon Montmorency, a ſevere engagement enſued : they imote with prodigious ſtrength , and the valley reſounded to the clangour of their ſteel. Their falchions, unable to fuſtain the ſhock , tivered into a thouſand pieces, when Monte De Montmorency. 57 Montmorency, inſtantly elevating with both hands his ſhield , dalhed it with refifleſs force againſt the head of his antago nift ; lifeleſs he dropped prone upon the ground, and the craſh of his armour bellowed through the hollow rock. In the mean time his attendants, although they had exe erted themſelves with great bravery, and had already dif patched one ofthe villains, were, by force of numbers, over powered, and being bound together, the remainder of the banditti ruſhed in upon Montmorency, juſt as he had ſtretch ed their commander upon the earth , and obliged him alſo , notwithſtanding the moft vigorous efforts of valour, to ſura render . The lady who, during the rencounter, had fainted away, waked again to freſh ſcenes of miſery at the moment when theſe monſters of barbarity were conducting the un fortunate Montmorency and his companions, to a dreadful grave. They were led, by a long and intricate paffage, mid an immenſe aſſemblage of rocks, which , riſing between ſeventy and eighty feet perpendicular, bounded on all fides in a circular plain, into which no opening was apparent but that through which they came. The moon thone bright,, and they beheld , in the midſt of this plain , a hideous chaſm ; it ſeemed near a hundred feet in diameter, and on its brink grew ſeveral trees, whoſe branches, almoſt meeting in the centre, dropped on its infernal mouth a gloom of ſettled horror. Prepare to die, ' ſaid one of the banditti, ' for ina to that charm fhall ye be thrown ; it is of unfathomable depth, and that ye may not be ignorant of the place ye are fo foon to viſit, we ſhall gratify your curioſity with a view of it .? So faying , two of them ſeized the wretched Mont morency, and dragging him to the margin of the abyſs, tied. him to the trunk of a tree , and having treated his affociate in the ſame manner, look, ' cried a banditto with a fiend . like ſmile, look , and anticipate the pleaſures of your jour ney . ' Diſmal and pale affright fhook the cold limbs of Montmorency, and as be leant over the ilianitable void, the dew fat in big drops upon his forehead. The inoon's rays , ſtreaming in between the branches, Thed a dim light, fufficient to diſcloſe a conſiderable part of the vaſt profun. dity , whoſe depth lay hid , for a ſubterranean river, burſt ing with tremendous noiſe into its womb, occafioned ſuch a mift, from the rifing ſpray, as entirely to conceal the drea ry gulph beneath. Shuddering on the edge of this accurfed pit ſtood the miſerable warrior; his eyes were ſtarting from Their fockets, and as he looked into the dark abyſs, his fen fes, blaſted by the view , ſeemed ready to forlake him , Meantime the banditti, having unbound one of the attend . & DEB 58 De Montmorency. ants , prepared to throw him in : he refifted with aftoniitt ing ſtrength, Mrieking aloud for help, and , juſt as he had reached the Nippery margin , every fibre of his body racked with agonizing terror, he Aung himſelf with fury backward on the ground ; fierce and wild convulſion ſeized his frame, which being ſoon followed by a ſtate of exhauſion , he was in this condition , unable any longer to refift, hurled into the dreadful chaſm ; his armour ſtriking upon the rock, there burtt a ſudden effulgence, and the repetition of the ſtroke was heard for many minutes as he deſcended down its rugged fide. Nowords can deſcribe the horrible emotions, which, oa the fight of this ſhocking ſpectacle, tortured the devoted wretches. The foul ofMontmorency funk within him , and, as they unbound his laſt fellow ſufferer, his eyes fhot forth a gleam of vengeful light, and he ground his teeth in filent and unutterable anguiſh . The, inhuman monſters now laid hold of the unhappy man ; he gave no oppoſition , and, though deſpair fat upon his features, not a ſhriek, not a groan eſcaped him, but no ſooner had he reached the brink, than making a ſudden effort, he liberated an arm , and graſp ing one of the villains round the waiſt, fprang headlong with him into the interminable gulph. · All was filent - but at length a dreadful plunge was heard, and the ſullen deep howled fearfully over its prey. The three remaining ban . ditti ftood aghaft ; they durft not unbind Montmorency, but reſolved, as the tree to which he was tied grew near the mouth of the pit , to cut it down, and, by that means he would fall , along with it , into the charm . Montmoren cy , who, alter the example of his attendant, had conceived the hope of avenging himſelf, now ſaw all poſſibility of efa. fecting that deſign taken away, and as the axe entered the trunk , bis anguilh became ſo exceſſive that he fainted . The villains, obſerving this , determined, from a malicious pru . dence, to forbear, as at preſent he was incapable of feeling the terrors of his ſituation. They therefore withdrew , and left him to recover at his leiſure . Not many minutes had paſſed away when, life and ſen . fation returning, the hapleſs Montmorency awoke to the rememberance of his fate. • Have inercy,' he exclaimed , the briny ſweat trickling down his pallid features, “ oh ! Chriſt have mercy !' then looking around him , he ſtarted at the abyſs beneath, and ſhrinking from its ghaſtly brink , preſ fed cloſe againſt the tree. In a little time, however, he re.. covered his perfect recollection , and preceiving that the banditti had left him, became more compoſed . His hands , which De Montmorency.-- The Dirge of Wallace . 59 which were bound behind him , he endeavoured to diſen tangle , and , to his inexpreſſible joy, after many painful ef forts, he ſucceeded ſo far as to looſen the cord, and, by a little more perſeverance , effected his liberty. Hethen fought around for a place to eſcape through , but without ſucceſs ; at length , as he was paffing on the other ſide of the chaſm , he obſerved a part of its craggy fide as he thought, illumi. nated , and, advancing a little nearer, he found that it pro ceeded from the moon's rays ſhining through a large cleft of the rock , and at a very inconſiderable depth below the furface. A gleam of hope now broke in upon his deſpair , and gathering up the ropes which had been uſed for himſelf and his aſſociates, he tied them together, and faſtening one end to the hole of a tree, and the other to his waiſt, he de termined to deſcend as far as the illuminated ſpot. Horri ble as was the experiorent, he heſitated not a moment in putting it into execution , for, when contraſted with bis late fears, the mere hazard of an accident weighed as no. thing, and the apprehenſion that the villains might return before his purpoſe was ſecure, accelerated , and gave vi. gour to his efforts. Soon was he ſuſpended in the gloomy abyſs, and neither the roaring of the river, nor the daſhing of the pray, intimidated his daring ſpirit, but, having reached the cleft, he crawled within it , then , looſening the cord from off his body, he proceeded onward , and, at laſt , with a rapture no deſcription can paint, diſcerned the ap pearance of the glen beneath him. He knelt down, and was returning thanks to heaven for his eſcape, when ſud denly

See also

• On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror