Yonge_The_Dove_in_the_Eagles_Nest.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
the hired lanzknechts. in reason,
quoth , and more shame for us not to have been foremost in our
's own cause; but what said the rest of our misproud chivalry?
would never condescend to climb a wall on foot in company with
lanzknechts! horseback must their worships fight, or not at all;
and when to shame them called myself a mountaineer, more used to
climb than to ride, and vowed that should esteem it an honour to
follow such a knight as , were it on all fours, then cast they
my burgher blood in my teeth. saw the so enraged; he
swore that all the common sense in the empire was in the burgher
blood, and that he would make me a knight of the noblest order in
to show how he esteemed it. next morning he was gone!
ashamed was he of his own army that he rode off in the night, and
sent orders to break up the siege. could have torn my hair, for
had just lashed up a few of our nobles to a better sense of honour,
and we would yet have redeemed our name! after all, the
of proud would never have admitted me had not the heralds
hunted up that the were gentlemen of blood and coat armour
long ago at . am glad my father lived to see that proved,
mother. could not honour thee more than he did, but he would have
been sorely grieved had been rejected. often thought me a
mechanical burgher, as it was."
" quite so, my son. never failed to be proud of thy deeds,
even when he did not understand them; but this, and the grandson's
birth, were the crowning joys of his life."
", those were glad triumphant years, take them all in all, ere the
sent me to act ambassador in , and we left you the two
elder little girls and the boy to take care of. dear little
! had a foreboding that she might never see those children
more, yet would she have pined her heart away more surely had left
her at home! never was absent a week but found her wasted with
watching for me."
" was those weary seven years of that changed thee most, my
son."
" from you, mother, and knowing you now indeed to be widowed,
and with on the one hand such contradictory commands from the
as made me sorely ashamed of myself, of my nation, and of the man
whom loved and esteemed personally the most on earth, yet bound
there by his express command, while saw my tender wife's health
wasting in the climate day by day! still, while most she gasped
for a breath of hills, she ever declared it would kill her
outright to send her from me. thus it went on till laid her in
the stately church of her own patroness. how it would have
fared with me and the helpless little ones know not, but for thy
noble godmother, my , the wise and ready helper of all in
trouble, the only friend thy mother had made at , and who had
been able, from all her heights of learning and accomplishment, to
value my 's golden soul in its simplicity. then, when too
late, came one of the 's kindest letters, recalling me,--a
letter whose every word would have paid for with a drop of my own
blood six weeks before! and which he had only failed to send because
his head was running on the plan of that gorgeous tomb where he is
not buried! , at least it brought us home to you again once
more, mother, and, where you are, comfort never has been utterly
absent from me. then, coming from the wilful gloom of 's
court into our , streamed over by the rays of 's light,
it was as if a new world of hope were dawning, as if truth would no
longer be muffled, and the young would grow up to a world far better
and purer than the old had ever seen. trumpet-calls those were,
and how welcome was the voice of the true faith no longer
stifled! my dear old , with his clear eyes, his unfettered
mind--he felt the power and truth of those theses. bade the
of well to guard the monk as a treasure. !
had he been a younger man, or had he been more firm and resolute,
able to act as well as think for himself, things might have gone
otherwise with the . could think, but could not act; and
now we have a man who acts, but not think. may have been a
good day for our reputation among foreign princes when
. put on the crown; but only two days in my life have been as
mournful to me as that when stood by 's death-bed at
, and knew that generous, loving, fitful spirit was passing away
from the earth! owned friend loved so well as !
has any done so much for this our dear land."
" young never loved thee."
" might have treated me as one who could be useful, but he never
forgave me for shaking hands with at the of .
knew it was all over with my court favour after had joined in
escorting the out of the city. the next thing was that
of and his friends proclaimed me a bigoted
because did my utmost to keep my troop out of the devil's holiday
at the sack of ! has ever been my lot to be in disgrace with
one side or the other! is my daughter's marriage hindered on
the one hand, my son's promotion checked on the other, because have
a conscience of my own, and not of other people's! knows the
right is no easy matter to find; but, when one thinks one sees it,
there is nothing to be done but to guide oneself by it, even if the
rest of the world will not view it in the same light."
" else! doubt me whether it be ever easy to see the
veritably right course while still struggling in the midst. is
for after ages, which behold things afar off; but each man must needs
follow his own principle in an honest and good heart, and assuredly
will guide him to work out some good end, or hinder some evil
one."
", mother. party may guard one side or other of the truth in
all honesty and faithfulness; he who cannot with his whole heart cast
in his lot with either,--he is apt to serve no purpose, and to be
scorned."
", , may he not be a witness to the higher and more perfect
truth than either party have conceived? is inaction always
needful. which is right towards either side still reveals
itself at the due moment, whether it be to act or to hold still.
verily, , what thou didst say even now has set me on a strange
thought of mine own dream, that which heralded the birth of thyself
and thy brother. thou knowest, it seemed to me that was
watching two sparkles from the extinguished wheel. rose
aloft and shone as a star!"
" guiding-star!"
" other fulfilled those words of the . shone and ran
to and fro in the grass. surely, my , thy mother may feel
that, in all these dark days of perplexity and trial, the spark of
light hath ever shone and drawn its trail of brightness in the gloom,
even though the way was long, and seemed uncertain."
" mother who ever fondled me think so, it may be! , ah!
she had better pray that the light be clearer, and that may not
fall utterly short of the star!"
in may perhaps turn aside from glorious old
, and the memories of the battlefields around it, to the romantic
country round the mountains, through which descend the
tributaries of the . they may think themselves fortunate
if they come upon a green valley, with a bright mountain torrent
dashing through it, fresh from the lofty mountain, with terraced
sides that rise sheer above. old bridge, a mill, and a neat
village lie clustered in the valley; a seignorial mansion
peeps out of the forest glades; and a lovely church, of rather late
, but beautifully designed, attracts the eye so soon as it can
be persuaded to quit the romantic outline of the ruined baronial
castle high up on one of the mountain ledges. declares that
there are tombs in the church well worth inspection. seek out an
old venerable blue-coated peasant who has charge of the church.
" is yonder castle?"
" is the castle of ."
" the family still extant?"
", yea; they built yonder house when the became ruinous.
have always been here."
church is very beautiful in its details, the carved work of the
east end and pulpit especially so, but nothing is so attractive as
the altar tomb in the chantry chapel. is a double one, holding
not, as usual, the recumbent effigies of a husband and wife, but of
two knights in armour.
" are these, good friend?"
" are the good and ."
and son they appear to be, killed at the same time in some
fatal battle, for the white marble face of one is round with youth,
no hair on lip nor chin, and with a lovely peaceful solemnity, almost
cheerfulness, in the expression. other, a bearded man, has the
glory of old age in his worn features, beautiful and restful, but it
is as if one had gone to sleep in the light of dawn, the other in the
last glow of sunset. armour and their crests are alike, but
the young one bears the eagle shield alone, while the elder has the
same bearing repeated upon an escutcheon of pretence; the young man's
hands are clasped over a harp, those of the other over a , and
the elder wears the insignia of the order of the .
are surely father and son, a maiden knight and tried warrior who fell
together?
"," the guide shakes his head; "they are twin brothers, the good
and , who were born when their father had been
taken captive by the while on a crusade. was
slain by the at the bridge foot, and his brother built the
church in his memory. first planted vines upon the mountains, and
freed the peasants from the lord's dues on their flax. it is
true that the two brothers may still be seen hovering on the
mountain-side in the mist at sunset, sometimes one, sometimes both."
turn with a smile to the inscription, sure that those windows,
those porches, that armour, never were of crusading date, and ready
to refute the old peasant. spell out the upright letters
around the cornice of the tomb, and you read, in mediaeval ,
" pro . . .
mccccxciii"
turn to the other side and read -
" jacet . .. mdxliii. "
, the guide is right. are brothers, with well-nigh a
lifetime between their deaths. that the meaning of that strange
?
of the other tombs are worth attention, each lapsing further into
the bad taste of later ages; yet there is one still deserving
admiration, placed close to the head of that of the two .
is the effigy of a lady, aged and serene, with a delicately-carved
face beneath her stiff head-gear. this monument was erected
somewhat later, for the inscription is in . , contracted,
hard to read, but this is the rendering of it
" lies , wife of , xxth von
, and mother of the and .
fell asleep two days before her son, on the feast of . ,
mdxliii.
" children shall rise up and call her blessed.
" with full hearts by her grandson,
, and his brothers and sisters. ."