IHmeiESll!!ll3ll3I[E510IliSlEl 
 
 THE HISTORY OF qDiI 
 
 VALENTINE & ORSON. IBI 
 
 c^ 
 
 The forests Valentine prepared to trace, 
 To find the man who'd laid tlie country waste ; 
 5 With sword of steel and shield of glittering brass 
 ■d He sallied forth, and saw wild Orson pass, 
 % Who swift as stag advanc'd, and fought the knight, — 
 ■^ Loi^gj dubious, and conflicting was the fight, 
 2 
 
 i DEVONPORT: PRINTED BY SAMUEL & JOHN KEYS. 
 
 152JIill5Eliai5afil15EJlill5arai 
 
VALENTINE AND ORSON. 
 
 TDEPIN, King of France, had a sister named 
 Bellisant, whose hand was demanded in 
 marriage by several kings and princes. Her 
 choice fell on Alexander, Emperor of Constan- 
 tinople, who came to the court of King Pepin, 
 to espouse the princess ; and shortly after the 
 marriage, the emperor took leave of King 
 Pepin, and conducted his bride to the city of 
 C/onstantinople. The emperor's prime minister 
 and favourite was an arch-priest — a selfish and 
 cruel man — who completely governed the em- 
 
§ VALENTi^fE 
 
 peror. The arch-priest, observing the gentleness 
 of the new empress, began to fear that she would 
 acquire too much influence over the emperor, 
 and on this belief resolved to seek her destruction. 
 The emperor was of a suspicious temper, and 
 the arch-priest soon found means to infuse into 
 his mind suspicions of the empress. One day, 
 when the emperor was abne, the arch-priest 
 entered the apartment, and said, " Mighty king, 
 may heaven guard you from the base attempt of 
 treachery [ I conjure your majesty to be aware 
 of the designs of your empress, for that 
 dissembling lady is faithless, and is planning 
 your death." 
 
 The emperor, giving implicit faith to the priest, 
 could no longer restrain his fury ; and abruptly 
 leaving him, he rushed into the apartment of the 
 empress, and in a fierce manner dragged her 
 about the chamber by her hair. 
 
 "Alas! my dear lord!'' she cried, ''what 
 moves you to this outrage. 
 
 '' Base wretch ! " he exclaimed, " I am but too 
 well informed of your infamous proceedings!" 
 Then dashing her against the ground, left her. 
 
 The attendants of the empress, finding her 
 bleeding upon the floor, uttered loud screams, 
 which presently brought all the court into the 
 chamber of the empress. Every one pitied the 
 sufl'erings of their queen; and the state coun- 
 cillors demanded an audience of the emperor, 
 to present to him the wrong he had done to the 
 lady. He answered, '' Let no man presume to 
 defend her : she shall die 1 " 
 
AND ORSON. O 
 
 The empress, being recovered, fell on her knees 
 and addressed the emperor: " Alas ! take pity 
 on one who never harboured an evil thought 
 against your person. I shall soon become a 
 mother, and I implore your compassion in behalf 
 of my child. Let me be imprisoned until the 
 time of its birth, and then, if your anger be not 
 appeased, do with me what you please ; but, oh ! 
 save my child ! " The emperor answered — 
 " Perish, thou basest of women ! thy child would 
 be to me no joy." The courtiers, perceiving 
 nothing could mitigate the rage of the emperor, 
 removed Bellisant from his presence. Her 
 faithful servant, Blandiman, now threw himself 
 at her feet, exclaiming, "Ah, madam, quit this 
 barbarous monarch, and suffer me to conduct 
 you to your brother, the good king Pepin ; for if 
 you stay here, the emperor will bring you to a 
 shameful death." " No, Blandiman," the queen 
 replied, *' should I steal privately from the court, 
 it might be said I had fled, knowing myself to 
 be guilty." 
 
 The emperor, still loving his queen, could not 
 bring himself to pronounce the sentence of her 
 execution, yet he resolved to banish her. He 
 published an edict, forbidding all persons, on pain 
 of death, to assist the unfortunate lady, allowing 
 her no other attendant than her servant, Blandi- 
 man. As she passed through the city, she was 
 met by multitudes of people, lamenting the loss 
 of so good an empress. Her servant said to her, 
 '* Be not discomfited, but trust to providence." 
 
 After refreshing themselves at a fountain, they 
 proceeded towards France. Arriving at the 
 forest of Orleans, the empress was so much 
 
VALENTINE 
 
 overcome with fatigue, that she sunk clown, and 
 was incapable of proceeding farther. Her faith- 
 ful attendant gathered the fallen leaves and moss, 
 to make a couch for her, and then hastened 
 swiftly away to seek assistance for his mistress. 
 
 During Rlandiman's absence, the royal lady 
 was delivered of two beautiful sons. She pressed 
 the lovely infants by turns to her bosom, and 
 shed tears of joy over them ; when suddenly a 
 huge bear rushed upon her, and snatching up 
 one of the babes in its mouth, hastened into the 
 thickest parts of the forest. The wretched 
 mother pursued the bear with shrieks and lamen- 
 tations, until, overcome with anguish and' terror, 
 she fell into a swoon near the mouth of the cave 
 into which the bear had borne her infant. It 
 happened that King Pepin, accompanied, by 
 several lords, was on that day hunting in the 
 forest, and chanced to pass near the tree where 
 the other son of Bellisant lay sleeping. The 
 king was astonished at the beauty of the child, 
 wdio stretched out his little arms as if to ask 
 protection. " See, my lords," said king Pepin, 
 ''this lovely infant appears to solicit my favour, 
 and I will adopt it as my own." He now 
 deUvered it into the hands of one of his pages, 
 who took the babe to be nursed, and gave it, by 
 the king's order, the name of Valentine. 
 
 Scarcely had the page ridden away with the 
 child, when the king met Blandiman, and de- 
 manded what news from Constantinople. Blandi- 
 man related the disasters of the empress: lung 
 Pepin hearing that the arch-priest had accused her 
 of plotting the emperor's death, said, "Now, by 
 heaven, I cannot believe the arch-priest would 
 
AND ORSON. b i, 
 
 bring a false accusation against any one, and I 
 blame the emperor for sparing the life of the 
 queen : let her beware how she comes in my 
 power." So saying, he proceeded towards 
 Orleans. Blandiman searched the forest for his 
 mistress, and at length espied her, tearing her 
 hair, and uttering piercing cries. She related to 
 Blandiman the birth of her two sons, the sad fate 
 of one of them, and the loss of the other from 
 where she had left it. " And, perhaps," said she, 
 " some more cruel beast has devoured it." 
 
 Blandiman communicated his interview with 
 king Pepin, and his unjust wrath against her. 
 This determined her to take shelter in a monastery. 
 
 The bear that had carried away the infant, 
 bore it to her cave, and laid it down unhurt be- 
 fore her young ones. The cubs, however, did 
 not devour it; but stroked it with their rough 
 paws; the old bear, perceiving their kindness 
 for the little babe, gave it suck for the space of 
 a year. The child became hearty, and as he 
 grew in strength, began to range the forest, and 
 attack the wild beasts with such fury, that they 
 used to shun the cave where he continued to live 
 with the old bear. He had passed this kind of 
 life eighteen years, growing to such wonderful 
 strength that he was the terror of the country. 
 The name of Orson was given him, because he 
 had been nurtured by a bear ; and the renown of 
 this wild man spread all over France. 
 
 Valentine, in the mean time, had been educated 
 in all kinds of accomplishments with the king's 
 fair daughter, Eglantine. Nothing could exceed 
 
b VALENTINE 
 
 the fondness of these young people. The king 
 marking Valentine's inclination for arms, gave 
 him a command in the army. Valentine, having 
 conquered the Saracens, returned to the court of 
 king Pepin. The distinctions and favours 
 showered on him, raised the envy and hatred of 
 Henry and Haufry, the king's sons, who plotted 
 together to destroy Valentine. King Pepin pre- 
 sented Valentine to his nobles, saying, " My 
 lords, this brave youth saved my life, and rescued 
 his country from the Saracens ; I therefore create 
 him earl of Clermont." Haufry and Henry were 
 more irritated against Valentine by this new 
 distinction, and they determined to effect his 
 destruction. Shortly after a petition was pre- 
 sented to the king by the peasants, praying relief 
 against Orson, the fear of whom was now become 
 so great that the peasants dared not go out to till 
 their fields. The king issued a proclamation, if 
 any man would bring Orson, alive or dead, he 
 should receive a thousand marks of gold. " Sire," 
 said Henry, " I think no person so proper to 
 undertake this enterprise as the foundling, Valen- 
 tine. Perhaps, if he conquer the savage, you 
 will reward him with the hand of our sister. 
 Eglantine. The king replied, with a frown, 
 *' Away ! for this speech betrays thy envy." 
 Valentine said, " You give this council to 
 encompass my death. Be it so, I will go to 
 conquer the savage man." " No," said the king, 
 *' you shall not rush upon destruction to gratify 
 evil persons. " Pardon me, my liege," replied 
 Valentine, " it concerns my honour. I will 
 encounter this danger to prove myself worthy of 
 your majesty's favour." 
 
 At the first dawn of morning Valentine arose, 
 
^ 
 
 AND ORSON. 7 
 
 and putting on his armour, having his shield 
 poHshed like a mirror, he departed, and being 
 arrived at the forest, he wandered about, and 
 came to a large cave. Valentine climbed a 
 high tree, when he heard Orson roar, who came 
 bearing a buck he had killed. Valentine admired 
 the beauty of his person and agility, and wished 
 it were possible to tame him. Valentine now 
 tore off a branch of the tree and threw it at 
 Orson, who, looking up, uttered a howl of fury, 
 and darted up the tree like lightning. Valentine 
 
 descended on the other side. Orson seeing him 
 on the ground, leaped down to rush upon him, 
 ^^. but Valentine, holding up his shield, Orson be- 
 held his own figure. Valentine lowered his 
 shield, which enabled Orson again to see him, 
 who immediately prepared to grasp his enemy. 
 The strength of Orson was so great, that Valentine 
 was unable to defend himself without having 
 recourse to his sword. Orson uttered loud shriek^ 
 
 of anger and surprise, and tearing up a tree by 
 its roots, attacked Valentine. A dreadful fight 
 nowensued, Orson receiving many wounds from 
 the sword, and Valentine with difficulty escaping 
 from being crushed by the weighty club of Orson. 
 Just at this moment, the bear who had nursed 
 Orson, hearing the cries, came to see what was 
 the matter. Valentine perceiving her, aimed a 
 blow at her, which would have killed her, had 
 not Orson rushed forward, and throwing one arm 
 round the neck of the bear, supplicated mercy 
 for his old friend. Valentine was greatly affected 
 at this generous action, and made signs that he 
 would not hurt the bear ; and as a token of kind- 
 ness, brought some grapes and a bottle of strong 
 
S VALENTINE 
 
 liquor, and presented them to Orson. He no 
 sooner tasted the dehcious flavour of the fruit 
 than he gave it to the bear, and afterwards let 
 her drink the hquor, with which she seemed much 
 pleased ; while Orson, delighted to see her make 
 such a plentiful repast, threw his arms round 
 her, when the bear uttered a gentle growl to 
 express her satisfaction. Valentine now made 
 signs to Orson, persuading him to go with him. 
 The strong liquor which the bear had drunk so 
 greedily caused her death. Orson stood for a 
 few moments motionless, supposing that his friend 
 might be only asleep;, he endeavoured to rouse 
 her ; finding all his efforts ineffectual, his grief 
 was such as can scarcely be described. He 
 uttered piercing shrieks. At length approach- 
 ing Valentine, he made signs that he would now 
 be his ; and while the tears ran down his cheeks 
 for the loss of his bear, he suffered Valentine to 
 bind his hand, and followed him. Valentine 
 took his way towards Orleans ; the people per- 
 ceiving the wild man, ran and hid themselves. 
 Being come to the outer court of king Pepin's 
 palace, the porter, in a fright, barred the gate, 
 and would not open it. Valentine made a sign 
 to Orson, who, tearing up one of the large stone 
 posts, shattered the gate to pieces. The princess 
 Eglantine and all her attendants fled to hide 
 themselves when they heard that Orson was 
 arrived; and Valentine had the greatest difficulty 
 to persuade them to believe that Orson was no 
 longer savage. At length the king permitted 
 him to be brought in ; and the whole court 
 gathered in a crowd, and were amused by his 
 wild actions. On Valentine making signs, he 
 kissed the hand of the princess. 
 
AND ORSON. 9 
 
 Soon after, a herald appeared at the court from 
 the duke of Acqnitain, summoning all true 
 knights to avenge the cause of the lady Fezon, 
 who was held in captivity by the green knight : 
 the herald proclaiming, that whoever should 
 conquer the green knight should receive the hand 
 of the lady Fezon in marriage. 
 
 This green knight was so famous for his cruelty 
 and his victories, that the young lords all drew 
 back, and seemed unwilling to enter the lists. 
 Valentine, however, offered himself, and engaged 
 to depart the next morning. The princess Eglan- 
 tine secretly resolved to prevent, if possible, the 
 destruction of Valentine, by combating the green 
 knight herself. She had been accustomed to 
 fence and ride. She contrived to steal away the 
 armour of Valentine while he slept, and mounted 
 a fiery courser ; and attended only by a favourite 
 maid, in quality of a page, she proceeded to the 
 castle of the green knight. Valentine learning 
 that the princess was going on so perilous an 
 enterprise, he ordered his horse to be prepared ; 
 and followed by Orson, set out in search of the 
 princess ; he arrived just as she was almost over- 
 powered in the combat. Valentine rushed with 
 fury upon the green knight. At length Agramont 
 demanded a parley. " Brave knight," said he, 
 " in pity to thy youth, I tell thee unless thou 
 canst remove yonder shield, thou ne'er canst 
 conquer me." Valentine ap})roached the shield ; 
 but in spite of all his efforts, he could not loosen 
 it, when the green knight, with a loud laugh, 
 exclaimed, " Know, there is no one living who 
 can subdue me, except he was suckled by a wild 
 beast." Valentine hearing these words, ran to 
 
iO VALENTINE 
 
 Orson, led him to the enchanted shield, which 
 on Orson's raising his arm, dropped instantly. 
 The green knight turned pale ; he attempted to 
 grasp Orson ; but Orson dashed him on the 
 ground, and would have killed him had not 
 Valentine interposed. Orson continued to hold 
 him down until chains were brought, to lead 
 Agramont away prisoner. Finding himself sub- 
 dued, he said, "This savage is my conqueror, 
 and, therefore, there must be some mystery in 
 his fate. Haste then to the castle of my brother 
 Ferragus, where you will find a brazen head that 
 will explain to you who he is." Valentine and 
 Orson w^ent to the castle of the giant Ferragus. 
 
 This castle was guarded by two lions ; when 
 Orson appeared, they laid down, and crouched 
 beneath his feet. A little dwarf conducted them 
 to a chamber, where the brazen head rested upon 
 a rich pedestal. It spoke thus : — 
 
 "Thou, Valentine the Brave, art the man 
 destined to be the husband of the princess, 
 Eglantine. Thou art son to the emperor of 
 Constantinople, and thy mother is Bellisant, 
 sister to king Pepin. She was unjustly banished, 
 and took refuge in a monastery, where she has 
 resided these twenty years. The wild man, who 
 hath accompanied thee, is thy brother. You 
 were both born in the forest of Orleans. Thou 
 wert found and brought up under the care of 
 king Pepin, thy uncle; but thy brother was 
 stolen and nurtured by a bear. Proceed, Valen- 
 tine, to France, where' thou wilt find the innocent 
 empress, thy hapless mother; at the moment when 
 she embraces thy brother, his speech shall be 
 given to him. Away, and prosper ! " 
 
AND ORSON. I 1 
 
 Having thus spoken, the brazen head fell ; 
 thunder shook the castle ; they were surrounded 
 with darkness ; and when the light again burst 
 upon them, they found themselves upon an open 
 plain, and no traces of the castle remained The 
 little dwarf, whose name was Pacolet, at the same 
 time appeared before them on a winged horse, 
 and said, " Noble youths, I go before you to the 
 court of king Pepin, to prepare your royal parents, 
 who are already there for your reception." 
 Valentine now fell upon the bosom of his brother 
 Orson ; they embraced each other, and proceeded 
 towards France. 
 
 While these transactions were passing, the 
 emperor of Constantinople had lived in great 
 affliction. The wicked arch-priest, on his death- 
 bed repenting, sent for the emperor, and confessed 
 that he had basely slandered the amiable empress. 
 Nothing could exceed the emperor's grief. He 
 immediately set out to France, to implore king 
 Pepin to assist him in searching for the injured 
 Bellisant, and offered an immense reward to any 
 one who should bring tidings of her to the court. 
 
 The empress quitted the monastery, and went 
 to the palace of her brother, where she w^as 
 received with shouts of triumph, — king Pepin 
 and the emperor both falling at her feet, to implore 
 forgiveness for having believed so unjustly of her. 
 
 The noble youths now presented themselves to 
 their parents ; and no sooner had the empress 
 Bellisant thrown her arms round the neck of 
 Orson, than the faculty of speech was given to 
 him. The duke of Acquitain, having already 
 come to the palace of king Pepin, to congratulate 
 
12 
 
 VALENTINE AND ORSON. 
 
 his daughter on her rescue from Agramont, the 
 green knight now took the hand of Orson, and 
 presented him to the lady Fezin, as her future 
 husband ; king Pepin at the same time joined the 
 hands of Valentine and the princess Eglantine. 
 
 Splendid preparations were immediately made 
 for the celebration of these nuptials ; and notliing 
 was to be heard of throughout France but feasts 
 and balls, fire works and illuminations, with every 
 other kind of splendid and magnificent enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 SAMUEL AND JOHN KEYS, PRINTKRS, DETONPORT. 
 
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