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Untitled Article
• 'Arrived at tie foot of the great staircase , which then made the principal accent to the square of the Capitol , the procession halted ; and as the-crowd filled up that vast space in front—adorned and hallowed by many of the most majestic columns of the temples of old , —¦
Rienzi addressed the populace , whom he had suddenly elevated into a People . "—vol . i . p . 209 . It is impossible within the limits of so short a notice as this must be to convey an adequate idea of Nina di Rasselli , the wife of Rienzi . We shall not make the attempt . There is room but for one more extract—the death scene . We must
premise that Villain , one of the assassins , was the son of Walter de Montreal , the chief of the ' Great Company' who had been executed by the Tribune . " ' Beware , lest the Senator escape disguised , ' cried a voice behind —it was Villani ' s . The concealing load was torn from his head—
-Rienzi stood revealed ! " I am the Senator ! ' he said in a loud voice . ' Who dare touch the Representative of the people ?* <( The multitude were round him in an instant . Not led , but rather hurried and whirled along , the Senator was borne to the place of the Lion . With the intense glare of the bursting flames , the grey
image reflected a lurid light , and glowed ( that grim and solemn monument !) as if itself of tire ! ' There arrived , the crowd gave way , terrified by the greatness of their victim . Silent he stood , and turned his face around ; nor could trre squalor of his garb , nor the terror of the hour , nor the proud grief of detection , abate the majesty of his mien , or reassure the courage of the thousands who gathered , gazing round him . The whole
Capitol wnipped m fire , lighted with gliastly pomp the immense multitude . Down the long vista of the streets extended the fiery light and the hurried throng , till the crowd closed with the gleaming standards of the Colonna—the Orsini—the Savelli ! Her true tyrants were marching into Rome ! As the sound of their approaching horns and trumpets broke upon the burning air , the mob seemed to regain their courage . Rienzi prepared to speak ; his first word was as the signal of his own death .
< ** Die , tyrant ! ' cried Cecco del Vecchio : and he plunged his dagger in the Senator ' s breast . < 4 ' Die , executioner of Montreal ! ' muttered Villani ; * thus the trust is fulfilled ! ' and his was the second stroke . Then as he drew back , and saw the artisan in all the drunken fury of his brute passion toss *
ing up his cap , shouting aloud , and spurning the fallen lion ; the young man gazed upon him with a look of withering and hitter scorn , and said , while be sheathed his blade , and slowly turned to quit the crowd , * Fool , miserable fool ! thou and these at least had no blood of kindred to aveii&e f
4 i Th ^ y heeded not bis words , they saw him not depart ; for as Uienzi without a word , without a groan fell to the earth , —as the roaring waves of the multitude closed over him , —a voice shrill , sharp , and wild , was heard above » 11 the clamour . At the casement of the palace ( the casement of her bridal chamber ) Nina stood ! through the flames
Untitled Article
52 Rienzi .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1836, page 52, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2653/page/52/
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