But The Former Objection Remains In Full Force, And Can Only Be
Obviated By Supposing That Either Morales Advanced A
Falsehood in
asserting, that he had the account of this discovery from the English
themselves, instead of learning it from
The other slaves, among whom the
tradition might have been current for many years after the event; or
Alcaforado may have mistaken the report of Morales in this particular.
The following is the substance of the narrative, as given by Alcaforado.
In the glorious reign of Edward III. Robert a Machin, of Macham, a
gentleman of the second degree of nobility, whose genius was only
equalled by his gallantry and courage, beheld and loved the beautiful
Anna d'Arfet[5]. Their attachment was mutual, but the pleasing indulgence
of ardent hope gratified and betrayed the secret of their passion. The
pride of the illustrious family of d'Arfet was insensible to the
happiness of their daughter, and they preferred the indulgence of their
own ambition to the voice of love. The feudal tyranny of the age was
friendly to their cruelty, and a royal warrant seemed to justify the
vanity of her parent. The consolation of an ingenious mind supported
Machin under confinement, and enabled him to seek after redress without
yielding to despondency. On his releasement from prison, he learned that
the beloved cause of his persecution had been forced to marry a nobleman,
whose name he could not discover, but who had carried her to his castle
near Bristol. The friends of Machin made his misfortune their own, and
one of them had the address to get introduced into the service of the
afflicted Anna under the character of a groom.
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