Part 12 (1/2)
CHAPTER x.x.xVII. THE ANTIQUARY
It was Easter Eve. Every thing in the antique monument was in readiness for the siege, and those of the band who were not on duty were a.s.sembled with Orazio and the ladies in the s.p.a.cious dining-hall. After a truly Homeric supper, which was enlivened by some patriotic toasts, Emilio the antiquary, who desired to put them on their guard against any contretemps that might arise, asked permission of his commander to speak a few words. Consent being given, Emilio began thus:-
”As we shall soon have to take refuge in the subterranean pa.s.sages, I wish, by way of precaution, to narrate a circ.u.mstance that happened to me a few years ago in the vicinity of Rome. You all remember the superb mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, erected by a Roman patrician in honor of his daughter, who died in her twelfth year.
”You know, too, that that mausoleum is beautiful among all our ruins, and, like the Pantheon, one of the best preserved. But what you do not, perhaps, know, is that under it is the opening to a subterranean pa.s.sage, leading no one knows whither. One day I determined to investigate this dark place, and as, in my youthful folly and pride, I thought I should not have so much merit if I were accompanied by any one, I resolved to go alone. Providing myself with an immense ball of twine, so large that I could scarcely grasp it, and a bundle of tapers, some bread, and a flask of wine, I ventured out very early in the morning, descended into the bowels of the earth, having previously secured the end of my twine at the entrance to the tunnel, and commenced my mysterious journey. Onward, onward I went under the gloomy arches, and the farther I went the more my curiosity was excited. It appeared truly astounding to me that any human being destined by G.o.d to dwell upon the earth, and enjoy the fruits and blessed light of the sun, should ever have condemned himself to perpetual darkness, or have worked so hard, like the mole, to construct such a secure but fearful habitation. Wretched, and bitterly terrified, although rich, must have been those who, at the cost of so much labor, excavated these gigantic works for hiding-places.
”While such thoughts were pa.s.sing through my mind, I continued to walk, lighted by my taper, unrolling my ball at the same time, and endeavoring to follow in a direction originally indicated by the narrow pa.s.sage at the entrance; but I discovered that the gloomy lane gradually widened, and was supported by columns of clay, from between which opened various alleys, spreading out in all directions. These were fantastically and unsymmetrically arranged, as if the architect had wished to involve any trespa.s.sers in an inextricable labyrinth. The observations I made troubled me somewhat, and I speak frankly when I say that I occasionally felt my courage failing me, and was several times on the point of turning back, but Pride cried, 'Of what use were these preparations if your expedition is to be a failure?'
”I felt ashamed of myself for my terror; besides, had I not my guiding thread that would lead me back to security? Onward I went again, unwinding my twine, and lighting, from time to time, a fresh taper, as each became consumed. At last I came to the end of my twine, and, much to my discontent, I had encountered nothing but a profound solitude. I was tired and rather discouraged at having such a long road to retrace.
While I stood contemplating my position, and holding the end of the thread firmly, lest I should lose it, and anxiously regarding my last taper, which I feared every moment would be extinguished, I heard a rustling, as of a woman's dress, behind me, and, while turning round to discover the cause, a breath blew out my light, some one tore the thread violently out of my fingers, and my arms were seized with such force that the very bones seemed to crack, while a cloth was thrown over my head, completely blinding me.
”A presentiment of danger is oft times harder to bear than the danger itself. I had felt very much terrified when I first heard the footsteps approaching me, but now that I was being led by the hand like a child, my fear fled: I had to do with flesh and blood. I walked boldly along.
Although I was blinded, I was conscious another light had been struck, and that the touch and footsteps near me were those of living beings, and not of spirits. In this manner I proceeded for some minutes, and then the veil or bandage was removed from my eyes, and, to my amazement, I found myself in a small room, brilliantly illuminated, with a table in the centre splendidly laid out, around which sat twenty hearty fellows feasting merrily.”
During the antiquary's narrative, a smile had pa.s.sed over Gasparo's face from time to time; now he rose, and extending his hand to Emilio, said, with some motion-
”Ah, my friend, were you then that incautious explorer? I dwelt in the catacombs in those days with my band; and the emissaries of Rome, before venturing into them, generally made their wills, if prudent. The woman who blew out your light, and who afterwards showed you so much kindness was my Alba, who died a short time since from grief on account of my sufferings and imprisonment.”
”Oh!” exclaimed the antiquary, ”was it you who sat at the head of the table, and received as much homage from your men as if you had been in reality a sovereign?”
”Yes, it was I,” replied the bandit, somewhat mournfully, noting Emilio's surprise; ”years and the irons and cruelties of those wretched men calling themselves ministers of G.o.d have wrinkled my forehead and silvered these hairs. But my conscience is pure. I have treated every unhappy creature kindly, and you know whether you received any harm from us, or if even a hair of your head were touched. I wished only to humiliate those proud voluptuaries who live in luxury and vice at the expense of suffering humanity; and with G.o.d's help and yours, although I am old, I yet hope to see my country freed from their monstrous yoke.”
”Yes,” answered the antiquary affectionately, ”I received the greatest kindness from you and your lady. I shall never forget it as long as I live.”
And then turning to the company, he continued his recital:
”I was much shaken by my solitary exploration, and a little, too, by my unexpected encounter; and was so feverish inconsequence, that I was compelled to remain two days in the subterranean abode; and during that time I received, as you have heard, the greatest care and the most delicate attentions from the amiable Alba, who not only provided me with every necessary, but watched a.s.siduously by my pillow. Having regained my strength at the end of the two days, I requested to be allowed to depart, and was conducted by a new and shorter road into the light of the sun, which I had thought never to see again. Upon giving my word of honor not to betray the secret of their existence, two of the band pointed out the road to Rome, and left me to pursue my way.”
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII. THE ROMAN ARMY
”Now opens before us,” says the great writer on ancient Italy, ”that splendid region in which man grew to grander stature than in any other part of the world, and displayed prodigies of energy and moral judgment.
We are about to enter that land consecrated by heroic virtues, from which came a light of empire that illumined the universe. To that proud life has since succeeded deep death; and now in many places of ancient majesty you will find nought but ruins--monuments of departed grandeur amidst vast deserts of death--dreary solitude, and the decayed achievements of man. The city of the rulers of the world fell, but the remains of her past glories can not be destroyed. They have for ages sent, and still send forth a mighty voice, which breaks the silence of her grave, proclaiming the greatness of those ancient inhabitants.
The country of the Latins is desolate, but grand in its desolation; an austere nature adds solemnity to the vacant sites of the cities, their sepulchres, and relics. In the midst of a wilderness, at every step, one meets with tokens of a bygone power that overawes the imagination.
Frequently, in the same spot, on the same stone, the traveller reads the record of the joys and the sorrows of generations divided by prodigious intervals of time. Here, also, are to be seen the columns of those temples in which the priests of old, with their auguries and idols, deceived the people, and reduced them to moral slavery.
”In this, however, little is changed; for farther on may be viewed modern temples, in which religion is still made an instrument of infamous tyranny. Sadnesses ancient and sadnesses modern blend together; memories of past dominations, and tokens of dominations ruling down to the present day.
”If the far-off cry of the wretched plebeians whom the savage aristocracy of a past age precipitated from the cliff, makes us shudder, shall we not feel something akin to this when we hear the cry of living victims of Popish fury imprisoned in dungeons in our own day? Mingled with the ashes of the leaders of the ancient people, you may here dig up those of the martyrs of our own age, who shed their blood for the new Republic, and fell protesting against the bitter dominion of the priesthood; and pondering over these memories, antique and recent, each true Roman may draw comfort for his afflicted soul, seeing that, in spite of the pa.s.sage of centuries, and the debasing strength of tyrannies, the children of Rome, far as they are from her heroic days, have never quite lost the energy of their forefathers, and thence, on this soil of auguries each may rightly draw the joyful presage that now, as then, the genius of this sublime country will never long leave her to such shameful vicissitudes.”
This n.o.ble and patriotic piece we have introduced to aid in the difficult task of depicting the Rome of heroic times along with the living but paralyzed virtues of modern Latium. We may thus proceed to discuss that strange and sad heterogeneous band, native and foreign, which forms what is called ”the Roman army.” What manner of men are those who dedicate themselves to the service of a government like that of ”Pio Nono”--a service that can not fail to inspire an honest man with disgust? And here, we may repeat, none but a priesthood could have so degraded a people, and placed them on a level with the basest upon earth--a people, too, born in a region where they have attained to greater perfection of manhood than in any other part of the known world.
The ”Roman army,” so called, is at present composed partly of Romans, under the observation of foreign soldiery, and partly of foreign soldiers under the sway of foreign commanders, while the people themselves are under the protection (or rather subjection) of a set of scoundrels called gendarmes. For what are these hired mercenaries but knaves thirsting for profit, who, without principle and without honor, enter this disgraceful service? The t.i.tle, therefore, of ”Papal soldier”
is by no means a martial distinction, but one despised by a true man; while, on the other hand, the foreign interloper, scoundrel though he be in embracing so dishonorable a calling, despises none the less the native soldiery, whom he is called upon to aid and abet. Hence, the native soldier and the foreign hireling (not being in the true sense of the term brothers in arms) frequently come to blows, when the foreigner usually comes off second best, for, in spite of the influence of the priesthood to render the Roman soldiery degenerate and corrupt, some remains at least of their ancient valor still exist.