Part 70 (1/2)
”I am afraid he has got the nervous fever,” said Baron Engenberg, who was conveying Wallner and Eliza in his carriage from the last station to Vienna. ”It will be necessary for us to take him at once to a hospital.”
”Can I stay with him there and nurse him?” asked Eliza, repressing her tears.
”Of course you can.”
”Then let us take him to a hospital,” she said, calmly. ”He will die, but I shall be there to close his eyes.”
And it was Eliza that closed her father's eyes. The violent nervous fever which had seized Anthony Wallner was too much for his exhausted body. He died five days after his arrival at Vienna, on the 15th of February, 1810, at the city hospital.
Many persons attended his funeral; many persons came to see Eliza Wallner, the young heroine of the Tyrol. But Eliza would not see anybody. She remained in the room which had been a.s.signed to her at the hospital, and she spoke and prayed only with the priest who had administered the last unction to her father.
On the day after the funeral the Emperor Francis sent one of his chamberlains to Eliza, to induce her to remain in Vienna. He would provide for her bountifully, and reward her for what her father had done. The chamberlain was also instructed to conduct Eliza to the emperor, that he might thank and console her personally.
Eliza shook her head, gravely. ”The emperor need not thank me,” she said, ”for I did no more for him than he did for the Tyrol. He is unable to console me; G.o.d alone can do that, and He will also provide for me. I cannot see the emperor, for my heart is too deeply afflicted. But if you will give me money enough, sir, to return quickly to my dear Tyrol and my beloved mother, I shall accept it and be grateful to you. I must return to my mother and weep with her; and my dear home, my dear mountains will console me.”
”You can set out as soon as you please,” said the chamberlain. ”The emperor has interceded in your behalf and obtained this safeguard for you in case you wished to return to your native country. No one will molest you, and you and your family can live quietly at your home.”
”If the emperor had done as much for my father as he does for me, my father would not have died,” said Eliza, gravely, accepting the paper. ”Now he has no longer need of an emperor. He is with G.o.d, and I would I were with him above! But I must not leave my mother. I must console her and stay with her as long as it pleases G.o.d.”
[Footnote: Eliza Wallner returned to Windisch-Matrey, and lived there in quiet retirement. She never married. After the death of her mother she yielded to Joachim Haspinger's entreaties and went to live at his house. The Capuchin was ordained and appointed pastor of Jotelsee, and afterward of Traunfeld. Eliza lived with him as his adopted daughter, and was still with him at the time of his death, which took place in 1856, at Salzburg.--See Sehallhammer's ”Joachim Haspinger,” p. 184.]
CHAPTER XLIV.
ANDREAS HOFER'S DEATH.
The court-martial at Mantua had pa.s.sed sentence of death upon Andreas Hofer for fighting against the French after the last proclamation of Eugene Beauharnais offering a general amnesty. But the court-martial had not adopted this decision unanimously; several members had voted for long confinement, and two had had the courage to vote for his entire deliverance. By a singular revolution of fortune, the same General Bisson, who had been taken prisoner at Innspruck at the outbreak of the insurrection, and with whom Major Teimer had made his triumphal entry into Innspruck, was now governor of Mantua, and president of the court-martial which tried the commander-in-chief of the Tyrolese. The general, in consideration of his captivity among the Tyrolese, wished to act mildly and impartially, and sent a telegraphic dispatch to the viceroy at Milan to inquire what was to be done with Andreas Hofer, inasmuch as the sentence of the court-martial had not been pa.s.sed unanimously. An answer was returned very soon. It contained the categorical order that Andreas Hofer should be shot within twenty-four hours.
Commissioners of the military authorities, therefore, entered Andreas Hofer's cell on the 21st of February, and informed him that he would suffer death within two hours.
He listened to them standing, and with unshaken firmness. ”I shall die, then, at least as a soldier, and not as a criminal,” he said, nodding his head gently. ”I am not afraid of bullets, nor of the good G.o.d either; He was always kind to me, and it is even now kind in Him to relieve me from my sufferings here. I am ready to appear before the judgment-seat of G.o.d.”
”If you have any special wishes to prefer, communicate them to us now; and if it is possible, they shall be granted,” said one of the officers, profoundly moved.
”There are some wishes which I should like to prefer,” replied Hofer, musingly. ”In the first place, I wish to see once more my dear Cajetan Doeninger, who was separated from me and confined in another cell; and then I wish to dictate a letter and my last will, and would request that both be sent to my dear brother-in-law.”
”These wishes shall be complied with; I promise it to you in the name of General Bisson. Do you desire to prefer any additional requests?”
”I wish further that a priest be sent to me, that he may receive my confession, and grant me absolution; and finally, I should like to see once more my dear countrymen, who are imprisoned in the casemates here, and take leave of them in a few words.”
”A confessor will be sent to you, but your last request can not be complied with,” was the reply. ”An exciting and perhaps disorderly scene would ensue, and such things must be avoided.”
”Well, then,” said Andreas, sighing, ”send me my dear secretary, and afterward the priest.”
A few minutes after the officers had withdrawn, the door opened, and Cajetan Doeninger came in. He burst into tears, rushed toward Andreas Hofer, and folding him to his heart, exclaimed mournfully: ”Is it true, then, that they intend to kill you? Is it true that they are going to a.s.sa.s.sinate the n.o.blest and best man like a criminal?”
”Hush, hush, Cajetan,” said Andreas, gently, pressing Doeninger tenderly to his heart; ”do not scold, but submit as I do. I die gladly, for it is better that I should sacrifice myself for my native country than that others should die for my sake, or for the fatherland.” [Footnote: Hofer's own words--See ”Gallery of Heroes: Andreas Hofer,” p. 195.]
”Oh, would that I could die for you!” sobbed Doeninger; ”my life is worthless without you. Is it possible that you must suffer now so ignominious a punishment for all your n.o.ble deeds and aspirations?”
”G.o.d alone knows what is good,” said Andreas, mildly, ”and I have doubtless committed many errors, for which I have to suffer now.