On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
baron . On the one side the river , behind the cottages of the
fishermen , rose Mount Janiculutn , dark with massive foliage , from which gleamed , at frequent intervals , the grey walls of many a castellated palace , and the spires and columns of a hundred churches ; on the other side , the deserted Aventine rose abrupt and steep , covered with thick brushwood : while , on the height , from concealed but numerous convents , rolled , not unmusically , along the quiet landscape and the rippling waves , the sound of the holy bell .
" Of trie young men introduced in this scene , the elder , who might have somewhat passed his twentieth year , was of a tall and even commanding stature , and there was that in his presence remarkable and even noble , despite the homeliness of his garb , which consisted of the long , loose gown , and the plain tunic , both of dark grey serge , which distinguished , at that time , the dress of the humbler scholars who frequented the monasteries for such rude knowledge as then yielded a scanty return for intense toil . His countenance was handsome , and
would have been rather gay than thoughtful in its expression , but for that vague and abstracted dreaminess of eye which so usually denotes
a propensity to reverie and contemplation , and betrays that the past or future is more congenial to the mind within than the enjoyment and action of the present hour . c The younger , who was yet a boy , had nothing striking in his appearance or countenance , unless an expression of great sweetness and gentleness could be so called ; and there was something almost
feminine in the tender deference with which he appeared to listen to his companion . His dress was that usually worn by the humbler classes , though somewhat neater , perhaps , and newer ; and the fond vanity of a mother might be detected in the care with which the long and silky ringlets had been smoothed and parted as they escaped from his cap and flowed midway down his shoulders .
" As they thus sauntered on , beside the whispering reeds of the river , each with his arm round the form of his comrade , not only in their manner and gait , but in their youth and evident affection , there was a grace and sentiment about the brothers—for such their connexion—which elevated the lowliness of their apparent condition . " —vol . i . p . 3 . They talk as they go along of their hopes and aspirations . The elder already dreams of patriotism ; the younger lias
humbler projects— the new boat , the holiday dress , and the cot removed to a quarter more secure from the oppression of the barons , and such distant pictures of love as a dark eye and a merry lip conjure up to the vague sentiment of a boy / They separate ; the elder remembering he has to return to the convent for a manuscript . The boy employs himself while waiting for his return , in weaving a wreath of flowers for his sister Irene . He is suddenly surrounded by a party of horsemen , belonging to the Orsini , involuntarily mixed with them in a fray with a troop of the rival house of Colonna , and killed in the pursuit whicii ensues by one of the sons of Stephen Colonna . His brother only arrives in time to see him pinned
Untitled Article
Rienzi . 49
Untitled Article
No . 10 !) . E
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1836, page 49, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2653/page/49/
-