66 Surely," said the other, as if catching at a sudden thought, "Michael Kohlhaas would know how to obtain justice for himself, were he once at liberty!" Michael hesitated; he looked into the cottage at the sleeping soldiers. "Tempter," said he, "avaunt! I am weary of blood: this locket I will not part with save on the scaffold." The attention of the sentry had been attracted by the earnestness of their conversation, and he came near to listen. The stranger was silent, but Michael could hear for some moments the convulsive beating of his heart. He at length turned suddenly away, rushed out of the cottage, and the sound of his horse's hoofs died speedily away in the distance. "What man is that?" demanded Michael of the centinel. "The Prince of Saxony," was the reply. "The Prince of Saxony!" said Michael, smiting his breast fiercely with his open hand. Then turning his face to look after his visitor, his features were for a moment lighted up with pride and exultation. Michael was by no means free from the superstition of the age, and when he called to mind the circumstances in which this mysterious gift had been presented to him, he wondered little at the anxiety of the elector. The paper, he had been told, contained the name of the last prince of his line, the period of his death, and the name of him who was to wrest the sovereignty out of his hands; and the mysterious power of the old woman had been verified by a token, the foreknowledge of which, to his simple apprehension, must have been supernatural. 66 Tyrant!" muttered Michael with a hoarse laugh, "is it of him, whose cry for justice you would have smothered in his own blood, that you come to ask a boon." Again he clutched the locket in his nervous grasp, and carefully concealed it beneath his doublet. The Prince of Saxony, at once timid and superstitious, lost no time in inaction. Having tried in vain both personally and by means of emissaries to obtain from Kohlhaas what appeared to him the book of his destiny, he immediately engaged in intrigues with the other Princes of the Confederation, the object of which was the free pardon of the incendiary, hoping thus to obtain from his gratitude what was withheld by his vindictive feelings. No one would stir however in a matter which the Emperor had taken in hand; with inexpressible dismay the Prince saw creeping on day by day, the period fixed for the decision of the council at Vienna; and, as a last resort, he determined, if Michael was indeed to suffer, that he would at least be near the scaffold, and by some means obtain the bullet and its precious inclosure. Michael had been some weeks a state prisoner at Berlin, with his five children, when, from the window of his cell, he saw approaching the three legal functionaries of the Emperor, the Prince of Saxony and the Prince of Brandenburgh, with the chancellors of the two electors, and other high officers, forming the deputation appointed to communicate to Kohlhaas the decision, final and irrevocable, of the imperial council, and which was forthwith read aloud to the prisoner by the attendant herald. The judgment on the Knight of Tronka, which condemned him to two years' imprisonment, and restitution of the horses in their original condition, was no sooner read, than Michael clasped his hands and uttered a cry of joy which echoed through the building. He then ran to the window, attracted by sounds which no ear but his own could have recognized, and saw his two black horses, restored to health and beauty, pawing the ground, and neighing with impatience. They were led by Herman, who no sooner beheld his master than he fell on his knees, and sobbed aloud. "Michael Kohlhaas!" continued the herald," Thou hast heard the just sentence passed on the Knight of Tronka, thou art now to hear the doom which thine own crimes have drawn upon thy head." He then read aloud the sentence which condemned the horse-dealer to immediate execution." With an unmoved countenance Michael said, "At whose expense were my horses purchased from the flayer?" "At the cost of the Knight of Tronka, whose squire then waved a flag over their heads and restored them to the honour they had lost in the flayer's possession." "By whose care," continued Michael," and at whose expense were they restored to their original condition?" 66 By the servants, and at the expense of the Knight of Tronka, who has moreover, by imperial award, made restitution in money for all other injuries done to thee and thy servant Herman. The sentence has been read to thee the forms of justice are fulfilled—and thou must now prepare for death upon the scaffold." Regardless of his own sentence, Michael placed on the ground his two youngest children, who were in his arms, then fell upon his knees, and with glistening eyes and folded hands exclaimed-“ My God! I thank thee-this is indeed justice, and I am satisfied." When led out to the scaffold, Herman was permitted to approach him with the horses. "Art thou free, my good fellow ?" said Michael. The faithful follower's voice was choked with emotion, while he answered “yes.” "Thank God," cried his master, embracing him. Patting for the last time his two black coursers, "Herman," he said, "I leave my horses to my two sons, and my family to the care of the bailiff of Kohlhaasenbruck, who will be a father to them, a faithful guardian of their property, and a kind master to thee." Among the crowd assembled round the scaffold was one in the garb of a peasant, who fixed his eyes with such keen and anxious interest upon the prisoner, that he attracted the attention of the guards who told him to stand back. The stranger however whispered something into the ear of one of them, and he was suffered to remain. This momentary disturbance arrested the attention of Michael, who looked at and appeared to recognize the peasant. He then took the leaden locket from his bosom, and biting it in twain, extracted the paper. While reading the few lines which were written on it, a stern smile of satisfaction passed across his features; the next moment, glancing at the stranger, he put the mysterious prediction into his mouth, and swallowed it. The peasant, with a wild shriek, fell senseless on the ground; and before he recovered, Michael Kohlhaas was no more. A report soon after prevailed in Berlin, that the Elector of Saxony had attended the execution in disguise. To the curious reader who would seek historical evidence of the rumoured connexion between the mysterious prediction and the fortunes of the Saxon Prince and his descendants, we can only say-is it not written in the chronicles of the Electoral House of Saxony? To conclude, the high-minded Prince of Brandenburgh ordered that the remains of the unfortunate Kohlhaas should receive a Christian and decent burial in a church-yard without the city, whither the body was followed by a crowd of sincere mourners, who had long known and respected "Honest Michael, the horse-dealer." Before the procession departed from the place of execution, the Prince called unto him from the prison the two sons of Kohlhaas, knighted them, and took them as pages into his immediate service. He provided, with generous care, for all the orphan family, and in the eighteenth century their descendants were settled and flourishing in the state of Mecklenburgh. OUR wisest institution O spirit of antiquity Avert the great iniquity! Aristocracy and Democracy, A murderous Democracy Aristocracy and Democracy, Lawless intimidation Perverts our Legislation The Jacobin Reform Our consciences would storm. This horrid bill effaces Our pensions, bribes and places. O dismal Revolution! Aristocracy and Democracy, ITALIA DEPICTA, OR ILLUSTRATIONS OF BYRON, EUSTACE AND FORSYTH. [Under this head we propose to adorn our miscellany with engravings, or spirited etchings, of Italian figures, scenery, and architecture, intended to illustrate the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold, and the classical tours of Eustace and Forsyth. We commence with views of the most distinguished Villas in Rome and its environs, accurately reduced from the admired and now scarce designs of the French architects, Percier and Fontaine, the only work at all worthy of the subject.] No. 1.-THE VILLA OF POPE JULIUS III. THE villas of Italy, although celebrated by poets and travellers, and employed as models throughout Europe, are but imperfectly known to the British public; and, with a view to remedy what may be deemed a national reproach, we shall superadd to our engravings some brief historical and descriptive notices. Many of these edifices, although in a great measure or entirely abandoned by the proprietors, preserve an appearance of grandeur which no neglect can destroy; and indeed some of them derive, even from this desertion, an air of picturesque seclusion which enhances their various beauties. Some of the Roman villas still contain noble pictures, and combine with the charms of architectural and landscape scenery, the opulence and variety of a national museum; abounding with sculptured marbles, columns, statues, and vases, excavated from the rich mines of antiquity beneath and around them. Externally the walls are coated with antique sculptured marbles, and the extensive gardens are a fairy landscape, presenting vivid contrasts of light and shade, and an unequalled combination of verdure, foliage, grottos, cascades, and fountains; of terraces, temples, and every variety of architectural embellishment. In general the villa-gardens of Italy display a picturesque variety, widely differing from the monotonous and puerile simplicity which characterises the parks of France and Germany. They are planted regularly around the mansion, and by ingenious and tasteful gradations, appear to blend with the surrounding landscape. Although not altogether free from defects, according to English notions of landscape gardening, they are well suited to the climate and habits of the people. At every turn the pedestrian discovers some new and beautiful feature. Sunny and extensive views of Rome, or of the distant hills of Tivoli and Albano, suddenly burst upon him through openings in the dark green foliage of lofty hedge-rows; fountains of elegant and ingenious design throw up their cooling waters, which descend in the brilliant sunshine like a shower of diamonds; or a copious stream, issuing from a dark cavern, glides slowly along a channel of the richest marbles; and then, descending by a succession of falls, supplies a large basin or canal, the margin of which is enlivened by numerous jets d'eau, or by statues, which reflect their graceful forms in the liquid mirror below. Garden saloons, adorned with richly coloured arabesques, invite the weary to repose; and in more secluded spots, beneath the dense foliage of lofty trees, are discovered spacious grottos, coated with shellwork and mosaics, and containing marble benches around a basin of transparent water, where stands upon her pedestal the Divinity of the place, surrounded by picturesque groups of Naiads and Tritons; while the delicious murmurs of near and distant fountains fall upon the ear like music, and complete the enchantment. The classical taste and beauty which pervade every part of these delightful abodes, prove the dignified objects and liberal expenditure of the Roman cardinals and nobles, at a period when the aristocracy of northern Europe sought no higher gratifications than the chace and the bottle. To the educated traveller they present surpassing modernizations of the storied gardens and villas of Lucullus and Sallust, of Pliny and Cicero: and to the lover of ancient and modern art, they afford a daily and inexhaustible source of gratification, fully verifying the remark of Forsyth that “the villas are to this day the OCELLI ITALIE.” The much admired villa of Papa Giulio, situate without the walls of Rome, and near the ancient Flaminian Way, between the Ponte Molle, and the Porto del Popolo, was commenced in 1550, by Pope Julius III. The painter Vasari boasts in his writings that he first suggested the design; the Romans, however, attribute to Michael Angelo the distribution of the apartments, and the tasteful combination of the whole. Many of the decorative details were the work of Vignola; Bartolomeo Ammanati constructed the fountain at the end of the first court; and Taddeo Zucchero executed the paintings and arabesques which adorn the circular gallery. This favourite abode of Pope Julius has lost much of its original splendour, and several of the garden-grottos and terraces are in ruinous condition. Even the name of villa has departed from it, and it is now called by the Romans the vigna, or vineyard, of Papa Giulio, because the gardens are planted with vines. The original design of the palace is, however, still entire; and although most of the statues which once adorned it, have been transferred to the Vatican museum, it still remains one of the gems of Modern Rome, and fascinates every beholder by the superlative beauty of the architecture. Beyond the vestibule is a semi-circular gallery, open, and surrounded by columns. This gallery is the entrance to the principal court, the decorations of which are very beautiful. From hence is seen, through an open peristyle, a subteranean grotto, a cool and delightful retreat from the heats of an Italian summer, and adorned with mosaics, rockwork, relievos, statues, and fountains. This villa still attracts the Romans on days of festival, and in the accompanying view a group of dancers, after one of Pinelli's etchings, has been introduced by the French artist. |