The Headsman; Or, The Abbaye des Vignerons

awning public

yl

eek-looking stranger, whose entrance into the barge had drawn so many witticisms from Pippo, sate a little apart, silent, furtively observant, and retiring, in the identical spot he had occupied throughout the day. With these exceptions, the whole of the rest of th

s of worldly distinction, was greatly superior to those among whom he had been accidentally cast by the chances of his journey. Not so with Maso; he, apparently, had little in common with the unobtruding and silent being that sat so near his path, in the short turns he was making to and fro across the pile of freight. The mariner was thirty, while the head of the unknown traveller was already beginning to be sprinkled with gray. The walk, attitudes, and gestures, of the former, were also those of a man confident of himself, a little addicted to be indifferent to others, and far more disposed to lead than to follow. These are qualities that it may be thought his present situation was scarcely suited to discover, but they had been made sufficiently apparent, by the cool, calculating looks he threw, from time to time, at the manoeuvres commanded by Baptiste, the expressive sneer with which he criticised his decisions, and a fe

clusive enjoyment of those who are rich and honoured, there would, indeed, be so crying an injustice in their present ordinances as could not long withstand the united assaults of reason and justice. But, happily for the relief of the less gifted and the peace of the world, the fact is very different. Wealth has its peculiar woes; honors and privileges pall in the use; and, perhaps, as a rule, there is less of that regulated contentment, which forms the nearest approach to the condition of the blessed of which this unquiet state of being is susceptible, amo

po; but no sooner did the modest, decent air of the stranger who remained, make itself apparent, than they felt a desire to compensate him for the privations he had already undergone, by showing the civilities that their own rank rendered so easy and usually so grateful. With this view, then, as soon as the noisy troupe had departed, the Signor Grimaldi raised his

s opportunity to relieve your limbs;" said the young Sigismund, raising his own athlet

by obtruding beyond the limits imposed by modesty. He glanced furtively upwards at the place where

has a self-possession when afloat, that usually gives him the same superiority that the well-armed swas

nd moved about the deck in his usual, quiet, subdued manner, but in a way to show that he found a very sensible and grateful relief in being permitted to make the change. Sigismund was rewarded for this act of good-nature by a smile from Adelheid, who thought his warm interference in behalf of one, seemingl

Wagner, who, Heaven help the worthy peasant! has loaded us fairly to the water's edge, with the notable industry of his dairy people. I like to witness the prosperity of ou

ne, Her

he Genfer See, instead of the Wallenst?tter. T

e is frequent, both in that

lay before Mantua, I remember that two of the brave fellows were buried in the marshes of that low country; for

e personal nature of the conversation, and, while he quietly assented

nore, to get a look at these far

ny;" answered the Herr Müller, whom no kindness of tone, howe

t journeying towards thy mountain residence, afte

nity were accustomed annually to appeal to the liberality of the generous in Switzerland, in behalf of

ion, "and the traveller need wish it well. I have never shared of your hospitality, but all report speaks fair

this better than I! A wanderer these many years, I have often seen the stony roof of the hospice with as much pleasure as I have ever beheld the entrance of my haven, when a

o obtrude on the discourse of the fair and noble, that the party exchanged looks of surprise; but, the Signor Grirnaldi, more accustomed than most of his friends to the fra

a matter of course the right to question one of years so

eference of the vulgar, "I was born in the city of palaces, though it was my fortune first to see the light beneath a humb

usion so vague, and perhaps so unpremeditated, and more especially coming as it did f

n better taste to continue the conversation, tha

n advantage or in suffering," he rejoined, "with the ere

y not the rich or great, however; for one that has seen as much of life as I, knows the difference between the gay colors of the garment, and that of the shrivelled and diseased

e who waste their prime in chasing a phantom. Thou hast well bethought thee of these

t is like the north-star--we seamen stee

eration only affected; and would'st thou be the patron of

ny signs of this land-breeze of which Baptiste has so confidently spoken, the air seems to have gone to sleep as well as the cre

ng in itself, to the different natural phenomena by which they were surrounded. The sunset had now fairly passed, and the travellers were at the witching moment that precedes the final disappearance of the day. A calm so

of the watery expanse, with the exception of one that hung lazily from its yard, in a small bark that was pulling towards St. Gingoulph, bearing Savoyards returning to their homes from the o

e lay another, a heavy-moulded boat, nearly in a line with Villeneuve, which seemed to float in the air instead of its proper element, and whose oars were seen to rise and fall beneath a high mound, that was rendered shapeless by refraction. This was a craft, bearing hay from the meadows at the mo

ht readily have been conquered in an hour or two by means of the sweeps, but for the lumbered condition of the decks, which would have rendered their use difficult, and the unusual draught of the b

Bex. spread for leagues between these snow-capped barriers, so dwindled to the eye, however, that the spectator believed that to be a mere bottom, which was, in truth, a broad and fertile plain. Beyond these again, came the celebrated pass of St. Maurice, where the foaming Rhone dashed between two abutments of rock, as if anxious to effect its exit before the superincumbent mountains could come together, and shut it out for ever from the inviting basin to which it was hurrying with a never-ceasing din. Behind this gorge, so celebrated as the key of the Valais, and even of the Alps in the time of the conquerors of the world, the back-ground took a character of holy mystery. The shades of evening lay thick in that enormous glen, which was sufficiently large to contain a sovereign state, and the dark piles of mountains beyond were seen in a hazy, confused array. The setting was a grey boundary of rocks, on which fleecy clouds rested, as if tired with their long and high flight, and on which the parting day still lingered soft and lucid. One cone of dazzl

stead the mild hues, the pleasing shadows, and the varying tints of twilight. It is true that a hundred chalets dotted the Alps, or those mountain pasturages which spread themselves a thousand fathom

ed hills, and buttressed by a few such salient spurs as are perhaps necessary to give variety and agreeable shadows to their acclivities. Their outlines were now drawn in those waving lines that the pencil of Raphael would have loved to sketch, dark, distinct, and appearing to be carved by art. The inflected and capricious edges of the rocks stood out in high relief against the back-ground of

the view, like the shifting of scenes, was in a constant state of transition under the waning and changing light, and each had eagerly pointed out to the others some peculiar charm of the view. The sight was, in sooth, of a nature to preclude selfishness, no one catching a glimpse that he

ght love to light in his visits to the earth; "if thou hast much of this, we of Italy must look to it, or--by the shades of our fathers! we shall lose our reputation for natural beauty. How is it young lady; hast thou many o

much as she loved her native land, she could not pervert the t

ur lakes, our cottages, our chalets, our Oberland, and

not the true child of old Melchior de Willading; but it is lost on the cooler head of one who has seen other lands. Father Xavier, thou art a neutral, fo

ked, for the elasticity of the air, and the heavenly tranquillity a

ng. The latter leaves more durable impressions and is more fondly cherished. One strikes the senses, but the other slowly winds its way into the affections; and he who has freely vented his

ch his share of consolation and vanity. Herr Müller, dost thou agree in a

, as is always the fact with that which God hath formed. This is a glorious worl

theology, in which our common nature is treated with but indifferent respec

se eye had been earnestly riveted on his face,

mitted too much of his own will gets to be headstrong, and, like the overfed bullock, difficult to be managed; whereas, he who lives under the

tine suddenly, surprised to hear opinions so health

on of Geneva. I am a humble worshipper of God, and

nd such sentiments out of

birth, and I have not been permitted to mingle much with men; but the solitude of my life has driven me to study my own nature, which I hope has become none the wors

exaggerated spirits who exalt themselves by a pretended self-abasement, but his natural, quiet, and thoughtful deportment soon produced a more favorable opinion. There was a habit of reflec

person addressed, while a shade insensibly stole over his own venerable features; "neither are all at peace that so seem. If it will be any consolation to thee to know that others are probably no more

h my whole life has so passed that I can hardly say that I enjoy it. It is not easy to smile whe

ply attentive listeners to the calm but strong language of the Herr Müller. The young man did not answer, and

inances. The latter may not be always just, but there is a common sentiment which refuses to visit

about to answer; but, checking the impulse, he bowed in submiss

cted to quarrelling with the world, but, after all, when we look closely into the ma

ly for one of her respectful habits and great filial tenderness. "Can we r

is a truth in this that no

one to that of another, as if seeking for some countenance on which he could rely. But he turned away to the view of those

w voice, "and whose repentance is strangely mixed with resignation. I know not whether such a man is

e warm burghers, and mostly of fair name. It is true, that in my youth one of the family got out of favor with the councils, on account of some concealment of their lawful claims in the way of reven

placed as I am. Neither Rome nor Calvin i

ou hast ta

in uneasiness. The other glanced frequently at the forward part of the bark, and he seemed struggling hard to speak, but, for some strong reason, unable to effect his purpose

astle come to discover the truth. My blood hath been made to curdle to-day whilst listening to their heartless threats

s it was by a common movement of aversion, ind

ever it is thy pleasure to be called," observed the Genoese, casting a quick glan

am the heads

arily to repress strong emotions, the Signor Grimaldi could not conceal the start which t

iet mien had lately interested him so much, but whose manner he now took to be assumed,--few pausing to investigate the motives o

on with less feeling. He had been greatly puzzled to account for the singular la

eat difficulty in fitting the character which the honest man gave of himself fairly upon any one of them all. But it is now clear enoug

ditary?" demanded t

rable pale must be satisfied to live out of it, unless he has gold or favor. Our institutions are a hint from nature, which leaves men as they are created, preserving the order and harmony

i looked like one

itary executioner?" he asked,

ife. 'Tis a hard duty to perform, even under the obligatio

deemed it a

f the fathers, in our case, have indeed been vi

righter and his voice resumed the pol

ority to protect thee, should the danger thou seemest to apprehend really occur. Still the laws must be respected, though not always of the rig

dread the untamed fury of these ignorant and credulous men, who have t

words. Such was the case with this meek and unexpected appeal of Balthazar. All who heard him saw his situation under very different colors from those in which it would have been regarded had the subject presented itself under ordinary circumst