The Headsman; Or, The Abbaye des Vignerons

itzers? Let the

s the

ml

ir and generous land, has led us to over-estimate its advantages or not, and bright and cheerful as our autumnal days certainly are, a fairer morning never dawned upon the Alleghanies, than that which illumined the Alps, on the reappearance of the sun after the gust of the night which has been so lately described. As the day advanced, the scene

cent so wonderfully beautiful. The upright natural wall that overhangs Villeneuve and Chillon stretches along the verge of the water, barely leaving room for a carriage-road, with here and there a cottage at its base, for the distance of two leagues, when it diverges from the course of the lake, and, withdrawing inland, it is finally lost among the minor eminences of Fribourg. Every one has observed those sloping declivities, composed of the washings of torrents, the débris of precipices, and what may be termed the constant drippings of perpendicular eminencies and which lie like broad buttresses at their feet, forming a sort of foundation or basement for the superincumbent mass. Among the Alps, where nature has acted on so sublime a scale, and whe

that thrust their naked heads occasionally through the soil of the declivity, was the commencement of the hold. Other edifices have been reared around this nucleus i

architecture, which never much surpasses, and is, perhaps, generally inferior to our own; but the beauty and quaintness of the sites, the great variety of the surfaces, the hill-sides, and the purity of the atmosphere, supply charms that are peculiar to the country. Vévey lay at the water-side, many hundred feet lower, and seemingly on a narrow strand, though in truth enjoying ample space; while the houses of St. Saphorin, Corsier, Montreux, and of a dozen more villages, were clustered together, like so many of the compact habitations of wasps stuck against the mountains. But the principal charm was in the Leman. One who had never witnessed the lake in its fury, could not conceive the possibility of danger in the tranquil shining sheet that was now spread like a liquid mirror, for leagues, beneath the

full of that quiet happiness which succeeds sudden and lively joy. Adelheid had been weeping; but, judging from the radiance of her eyes, the healthful and brightening bloom of her cheeks, and the struggling smiles that played about her ripe lips, the tears had been sweet, rathe

er," said Adelheid, after they had stood a moment, gazing at the magnificent panorama, "why should the S

he precipices above, the whole of that shore well deserves its happy reputation. Still they whose spirits require diversion, and whose constitutions need support, g

I am now to become strong, and active, and laughing, as we

s would be calm as those of a saint--though Heaven knows I have li

et conscience and a sure h

rom my good sister so little like thyself, I would have forbidden the visit, much as I love her, and all that are her's. But the wisest of us are helpless mortals, and scarce know our own wants from hour to hour. Thou saidst, I think, that this brave Sigismund

by the confiding expression of her eye, that she had no longer any secret from her parent. "He had too

of his own merit--but that he should distrust my affection and justice is an o

yet to learn that my happiness,

e quickly and

od sense and right way of thinking should have better understood the f

iles came easily, "he may not have felt or anticipated all that thou imagin'st. He knew the prejudices of the world on the

ly of me. Have we not Willading, with all its fair lands, besides our rights in the city, that we need go begging money of others, like ne

or I knew our own means sufficient for all our own wants; but I did believe that

schaft the one essential right in Berne--why should I r

ds so grateful, with a charmed ear; and yet she shook her head, in a way

," she resumed, the tears starting unbidden to her thoughtful blue eye, "I thank thee fer

do that which thou hast just acknowledged to be so necessary to preven

essed that the hopelessness of the sentiments with which she met the declared love of Sigismund was the true cause of the apparent malady that had so much alarmed her friends, the words which had flowed spontaneously

er will never be torn so cruelly from one to whom she is the last and only stay. I may mourn this disappointment, and foolishly wish, perhaps, i

llent heart. Adelheid, whose good sense, and quick recollections, instantly showed her the weakness of this little display

smund be not noble, it will not be difficult to obtain for him that honorable distinction, and, in failure of male line, he may bear the name a

ess of the happy, she continued to trifle with her own feelings--"it is true. The bürgerschaft will be sufficient for all the purposes of office and political privileges,

if employed to defeat thine own cause-

ent to so much worth united to a service so great What I have said of our prejudices is, then, rather for your reflection, dearest sir, than for myself. I have thought much of all this, and am ready to make any sacrifice to pride, and to bear all the remarks of the world, in order to discharge a debt to one to whom I owe so much. But, while it is natural, perhaps unavoidable, that I should feel thus, thou art not necessarily to forget the other claims upon thee. It is true that, in one sense, we are all to each oth

her father's castle, had read and reflected far more than her years would have probably permitted in the busier scenes of the world. He felt the justice of

ny friends in the German courts, and favors may be had; letters of nobility will give the youth the station

ty, and is much older than our institutions. I remember to have heard him say, that when a people refuse to bestow these distinctions themselves, their citizens can never rece

d, little less than thyself; and we will win him ever to our purpose gently, and by degrees. A maiden of thy beauty and years to say nothing of thy other qu

tues, his modesty, and hi

king signs at his window, as if he were about to come forth: go thou to thy chamber, that I may disco

th a thoughtful air. As she descended from the terrace, it was not

he Baron de Willading; for, until thought, and reflection paled her cheek, a more blooming maiden than Adelheid, or one that united more perfect health with feminine delicacy, did not dwell among her native mountains. She had quietly consented to the Italian journey, in the expectation that it might serve to divert her mind from brooding over what she had long considered hopeless, and with the natural desire to see lands so celebrated, but not under any mistaken opinions of her own situation. The presence of Sigismund, so far as she was concerned, was purely accidental, although she could not prevent the pleasing idea from obtruding--an idea so grateful to her womanly affections and maiden pride--that the young soldier, who was in the service of Austria, and who had become known to her in one of his frequent visits to his native land, had gladly seized this favorable occasion to return to his colors. Circumstances, which it is not nec

ouch of the humorous in the native character of the Genoese, which came so quick upon his more painful recollection, as greatly to relieve their weight, and to render him, in appearance at least, a happy, while the truth would have shown that he was a sorrowing man. He had been making his orisons with a grateful heart, and he now came forth into the genial mountain air, like one who had r

ding. "We both have reason to remember their care, though; heretic as thou art, I doubt not thou hast already found some other mediators to th

ll his mercies--for thy life, G

e hollow of his hand, in good faith, for a minute later would have gathered both with our lathers. Still tho

ewhat of the reserve of one conscious of a stronger dissidence than he wished to express, as they turned and commenced

the last extremity, and feel more agony for the friend than for one's self, and yet entertain such opinions of their respective creeds, as to fancy the unbeliever in the devil's claws all this time, and to entertain a latent

other sages, discovered that it was weakness to submit to dogmas, without close examination, merely because they were venerable, and they winnowed the wheat from the chaff. This we call a reform. It is enough for me that men so wise were satisf

the same with the children of St. Peter too. Each has his arguments for faith, or politics, or any interest that may be named, which he uses like a hammer to knock down the bricks of his opponent's reasons, and when he finds himself in the other's intrenchments, why he gathers together the scattered materials in order to build a wall for his own protection.

lities that vary a little from our own than by a perfect homogeneity of character and disposition which is more liable to give birth to rivalry and contention, than when each party has some distinct capital of his own on which to adventure, and with which to keep alive the interest of him who, in that particular feature, may be but indifferently provided. All that is required for a perfect community of feeling is a mutual recognition of, and a common respect for, certain great moral rules, without which there can exist no esteem between the upright. The alliance of knaves d

corded, "but we know that his favors are commonly shown to us here below by means of human instruments. Ought we not, t

me much since we separated of his singular refusal, and

on as an auxiliary. But he was not in my thoughts at the instant; there is still a

ne, I learn, and if he will take service in Genoa, I will charge myself with the care of his preferment. Trouble not

ring feeling of worldly pride, and the consequence of prejudices which were then universal, and which are even now far from being extinct

, "and, in virtue of the tie of country, I c

ilt do well to remember that I possess especial means to push

hy political power, nor thy princely fortune; but, poor as I am in these, there is a boon in my keeping that is worth them all,

countenance of his friend, as if to ask an explanation. The baron was not only committed by what had escaped him, but he was warming

ly, determined to break the ice at once, and expose a de

, is not to be found among all the excellent of her excellent sex. But thou wouldst scarce think of besto

et to maintain the honor of their families. I deem gratitude to be a de

as evident he listened to his frie

yield to lighten its cares. I have never liked this heartless manner of trafficking in the tenderest ties, to uphold a failing line or a failing fortune; and better it were that Adelheid should pass her days unwooe

that women were like the steel of thy sword, so easily tarnished by rust, or evil breath, or neglect, that no father or brother could be easy on the score of honor, until the last of his

on the solemn and grave ties of married life, without enlisting in the cause of happiness the support of the judgment, the fancy, the tastes, with the feelings that are dependent on them, and, more than all, those wayward inclinations, whose workings too often baffle human foresight. If the hopes of the ardent

ock as one who found the con

ead her to form. I had a terrible ally too in the acknowledged unworthiness of him who had captivated her young fancy, and whom, as age brought reflection, her reason condemned. I was accepted, therefore, as a cure to a bleeding heart and broken pe

an opportunity; else, my life on it, she would have come to love thee,

d together; but this is not the holy union which keeps noble qualities in a family, and which fortifies against the seductions of a world that is already too strong for honesty. I remember to have heard from one that understood his fellow-creatures well, that m

e;--but Adelheid

mplexion of the affair.

under the warmth and sincerity of feeling

for I will not suppose that one like thy d

will be apt to call an obstacle, but it shall co

e there is sufficient to endure from causes that cannot be removed. Wedlock is a precarious exper

favor. Thou hast princes in Italy, too, that mig

what means has a daughter of thine been placed

he has now saved thine and mine. My sister, near whose castle the acquaintance commenced, permitted the intercourse, which it would now be too late to think of prohibiting. And, to speak honestly, I begin to rejoice the boy is what he is, in order that our readiness to receive him

ade him wary on the subject of doubtful or ill-assorted alliances; "let his origin be what it may, he shall not need gold. I charge my

ld men continued their walk for an hour longer, discussing the fortunes of the young pair, for Melchior de W