The Wandering Jew — Complete
a moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries of
Nature, and the will of God, are impenetrable."
Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence,
which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case of
extraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the natural
gratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take a
deep interest in this singular coincidence."
Rodin, bursting with impatience, here said to the notary, by whose side
he stood, "It seems to me, sir, that all this little romance has nothing
to do with the testament."
"You are right," answered the notary, resuming his seat; "but the fact
is so extraordinary, and as you say, romantic, that one cannot help
sharing in this gentleman's astonishment."
He pointed to Gabriel, who, with his elbow resting on the arms of the
chair, leaned his forehead upon his hand, apparently quite absorbed in
thought. The notary continued the reading of the will, as follows:
"'Such are the persecutions to which my family has been exposed on the
part of the Society of Jesus.
"'The Society possesses at this hour the whole of my confiscated
property. I am about to die. May its hatred perish with me, and spare my
kindred, whose fate at this solemn moment is my last and only thought.
"'This morning I sent for a man of long tried probity Isaac Samuel. He
owes his life to me, and every day I congratulate myself on having been
able to preserve to the world so honest and excellent a creature.
"'Before the confiscation of my property, Isaac Samuel had long managed
it with as much intelligence as uprightness. I have entrusted him with
the fifty thousand crowns, returned to me by a faithful friend. Isaac
Samuel, and his descendants after him, to whom he will leave this debt
of gratitude, will invest the above sum, and allow it to accumulate,
until the expiration of the hundred and fiftieth year from this time.
"'The amount thus accumulated may become enormous, and constitute a
royal fortune, if no unfavorable event should occur. May my descendants
attend to my wishes, as to the division and employment of this immense
sum!
"'In a century and a half, there happen so many changes, so many
varieties of fortunes, such a rise and fall in the condition of the
successive generations of a family, that probably, a hundred and fifty
years hence, my descendants will belong to various classes of society,
and thus represent the divers social elements of their time.
"'There may, perhaps, be among them men of great intelligence great
courage, or great virtue--learned men, or names illustrious in arts
and arms. There may, perhaps, also be obscure workmen, or humble
citizens--perhaps, also, alas! great criminals.
"'However, this may be, my most earnest desire is that my descendants
should combine together, and, reconstituting one family, by a close and
sincere union, put into practice the divine words of Christ, "Love ye
one another."
"'This union would have a salutary tendency; for it seems to me that
upon union, upon the association of men together, must depend the future
happiness of mankind.
"'The Company, which so long persecuted my family, is one of the most
striking examples of the power of association, even when applied to
evil.
"'There is something so fruitful and divine in this principle, that it
sometimes forces to good the worst and most dangerous combinations.
"'Thus, the missions have thrown a scanty but pure and generous light on
the darkness of this Company of Jesus--founded with the detestable and
impious aim of destroying, by a homicidal education, all will, thought,
liberty, and intelligence, in the people, so as to deliver them,
trembling, superstitious, brutal, and helpless, to the despotism of
kings, governed in their turn by confessors belonging to the Society.'"
At this passage of the will, there was another strange look exchanged
between Gabriel and Father d'Aigrigny. The notary continued:
"'If a perverse association, based upon the degradation of humanity,
upon fear and despotism, and followed by the maledictions of the people,
has survived for centuries, and often governed the world by craft and
terror--how would it be with an association, which, taking fraternity
and evangelic love for its means, had for its end to deliver man
and woman from all degrading slavery, to invite to the enjoyment of
terrestrial happiness those who have hitherto known nothing of life but
its sorrows and miseries, and to glorify and enrich the labor that feeds
the state?--to enlighten those whom ignorance has depraved?--to favor
the free expansion of all the passions, which God, in His infinite
wisdom, and inexhaustible goodness, gave to man as so many powerful
levers?--to sanctify all the gifts of Heaven: love, maternity, strength,
intelligence, beauty, genius?--to make men truly religious, and deeply
grateful to their Creator, by making them understand the splendors of
Nature, and bestowing on them their rightful share in the treasures
which have been poured upon us?
"'Oh! if it be Heaven's will that, in a century and a half, the
descendants of my family, faithful to the last wishes of a heart that
loved humanity, meet in this sacred union!--if it be Heaven's will
that amongst them be found charitable and passionate souls, full of
commiseration for those who suffer, and lofty minds, ardent for liberty!
warm and eloquent natures! resolute characters! women, who unite beauty
and wit with goodness--oh! then, how fruitful, how powerful will be the
harmonious union of all these ideas, and influences, and forces--of
all these attractions grouped round that princely fortune, which,
concentrated by association, and wisely managed, would render
practicable the most admirable Utopias!
"'What a wondrous centre of fertile and generous thoughts! What precious
and life-giving rays would stream incessantly from this focus of
charity, emancipation, and love! What great things might be attempted
what magnificent examples given to the world! What a divine mission!
What an irresistible tendency towards good might be impressed on the
whole human race by a family thus situated, and in possession of such
means!
"'And, then, such a beneficent association would be able to combat the
fatal conspiracy of which I am the victim, and which, in a century and a
half, may have lost none of its formidable power.
"'So, to this work of darkness, restraint, and despotism, which weighs
heavily on the Christian world, my family would oppose their work of
light, expansion, and liberty!
"'The genii of good and evil would stand face to face. The struggle
would commence, and God would protect the right.
"'And that these immense pecuniary resources, which will give so much
power to my family, may not be exhausted by the course of years,
my heirs, following my last will, are to place out, upon the same
conditions, double the sum that I have invested--so that, a century and
a half later, a new source of power and action will be at the disposal
of their descendants. What a perpetuity of good!
"'In the ebony cabinet of the Hall of Mourning will be found some
practical suggestions on the subject of this association.
"'Such is my last will--or rather, such are my last hopes.
"'When I require absolutely that the members of my family should appear
in person in the Rue Saint-Francois, on the day of the opening of this
testament, it is so that, united in that solemn moment, they may see and
know each other. My words may then, perhaps, have some effect upon them;
and, instead of living divided, they will combine together. It will be
for their own interest, and my wishes will thus be accomplished.
"'When I sent, a few days ago, to those of my family whom exile has
dispersed over Europe, a medal on which is engravers the date of the
convocation of my heirs, a century and a half from this time, I was
forced to keep secret my true motive, and only to tell them, that my
descendants would find it greatly to their interest to attend this
meeting.
"'I have acted thus, because I know the craft and perseverance of the
society of which I have been the victim. If they could guess that my
descendants would hereafter have to divide immense sums between them,
my family would run the risk of much fraud and malice, through the fatal
recommendations handed down from age to age in the Society of Jesus.
"'May these precautions be successful! May the wish, expressed upon
these medals, be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation!
"'If I fix a day and hour, in which my inheritance shall irrevocably
fall to those of my descendants who shall appear in the Rue
Saint-Francois on the 13th February, in 1832, it is that all delays
must have a term, and that my heirs will have been sufficiently informed
years before of the great importance of this meeting.
"'After the reading of my testament, the person who shall then be the
trustee of the accumulated funds, shall make known their amount, so
that, with the last stroke of noon, they may be divided between my heirs
then and there present.
"'The different apartments of the house shall then be opened to them.
They will see in them divers objects, well worthy of interest, pity, and
respect--particularly in the Hall of Mourning.
"'My desire is, that the house may not be sold, but that it may remain
furnished as it is, and serve as a place of meeting for my descendants,
if, as I hope, they attend to my last wishes.
"'If, on the contrary, they are divided amongst themselves--if, instead
of uniting for one of the most generous enterprises that ever signalized
an age, they yield to the influence of selfish passions--if they prefer
a sterile individuality to a fruitful association--if, in this immense
fortune, they see only an opportunity for frivolous dissipation, or
sordid interest--may they be accursed by all those whom they might have
loved, succored, and disfettered!--and then let this house be utterly
demolished and destroyed, and the papers, of which Isaac Samuel
possesses the inventory, as well as the two portraits in the Red Room,
be burnt by the guardian of the property.
"'I have spoken. My duty is accomplished. In all this, I have followed
the counsels of the man whom I revere and love as the image of God upon
earth.
"'The faithful friend, who preserved for me the fifty thousand crowns,
the wreck of my fortune, knows the use I mean to make of them. I could
not refuse his friendship this mark of confidence. But I have concealed
from him the name of Isaac Samuel--for to have mentioned it might have
exposed this latter and his descendants to great dangers.
"'In a short time, this friend, who knows not that my resolution to die
is so near its accomplishment, will come hither with my notary. Into
their hands, after the usual formalities, I shall deliver my sealed
testament.
"'Such is my last will. I leave its execution to the superintending care
of Providence. God will protect the cause of love, peace, union, and
liberty.
"'This mystic testament,(20) having been freely made by me, and written
entirely with my own hand, I intend and will its scrupulous execution
both in spirit and the letter.
"'This 13th day of February, 1682, at one o'clock in the afternoon.
"'MARIUS DE RENNEPONT.'"
As the notary had proceeded with the reading of the testament, Gabriel
was successively agitated by divers painful impressions. At first, as
we have before said, he was struck with the singular fatality which
restored this immense fortune, derived from a victim of the Society of
Jesus, to the hands of that very association, by the renewal of his
deed of gift. Then, as his charitable and lofty soul began fully to