The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

— Gray.

Since Amabel Bloomberg traced the letters which will be found with this, how many years have elapsed! how many changes have taken place! How 2many persons are now insensible dust, who are described as agitated with such anxious fears and ardent hopes, by the pens of Amabel and the Damsels of Sargans! Accident has also made me mistress of the letters of those unfortunate sisters. Accident, did I say? Surely, it was something more than mere chance, which brought them into the hands of her, who is most able to supply that chasm, which otherwise would have been left in these adventures.

To undertake this task I have both leisure and information sufficient. My fate was too closely united with that of the sisters, to permit the slightest particular concerning them to be concealed from me; and jointly with theirs will 3my name be handed down to posterity.

Yet is it not an idle vanity, a love of worldly fame, which makes me desire this species of immortality?—Well then, I will repress the wish. Long practised in self-denial, I will make even this last sacrifice to my celestial spouse, and will write, as if I treated of strangers and of interests quite foreign to myself. No one shall know my name except Heaven, to whom alone is thoroughly known, how much I have suffered!

When I entered the world, the course of innocence and beauty lay among a thousand snares and pit-falls, which were the more dangerous from being most artfully concealed. This is a truth 4which I learnt to my cost, before I sought, and found, tranquillity in a convent.

Amabel was blind to those snares; though they were spread carelessly enough for her to have seen them, had not her own guileless nature thrown a veil over her eyes, and had not female obstinacy made her reject the prudent warnings of her best friends.

The visit to Engelberg, which she had agreed upon in concert with her brother’s wife, was made the next day; and the latter, as young, imprudent, and unsuspicious as Amabel, undertook to excuse her sister-in-law’s absence to the jealous Arnold, and the sick old man, who suffered no quarter of an 5hour to pass without enquiring for his daughter. However, Juttila engaged to invent some means for satisfying him till Amabel’s return, which was delayed much longer than either of them intended.

How indeed could she return so speedily, since adventures encountered her on the road, on which she little reckoned, and whose nature was of sufficient consequence to have a fearful influence over herself, and over all those who were most dear to her? Alas! the cottage which she left with such a thoughtless heart, she was destined to revisit no more with such content: the fate of the two sisters, which she was so eager to learn, was now enveloped by such 6impenetrable darkness, that she in vain.... But I am running away from the proper order of events, which in truth it is natural for one of my profession and time of life to do. Be it known to you, my youthful readers that it is not easy for an old doating Nun to transcribe even a verse out of her Psalter, without tacking to it at least a dozen of her own childish observations.

At Engelberg Amabel found the Nun to whom Wolfenrad had directed her to apply, and who was his confidante and the secret instrument for effecting the carrying away of Amalberga. She assured Amabel, that her friend had by no means been forced away; but that on account of the assiduities of the 7Lord of Landenberg, and the popular disturbances which increased with every day, Amalberga had voluntarily chosen to withdraw herself from Engelberg.

—“Your partiality for the governor,” said the artful hypocrite, “and your incessant pleading in behalf of a man whom she could not love, made the Lady unwilling to let you know her design. I was her sole confidante on this occasion, and I think I have done well in enabling the dear soul to escape from the temptations of the wicked world! She has taken refuge in the Convent of Zurich, under the protection of an old Lady called Urania, who is either her friend or some near relation, for I understand, never was there joy 8known equal to that of their meeting.”—

In this account Amabel could not discover the least vestige of deception or improbability: still she blamed the Nun greatly for concealing the real cause of Amalberga’s disappearance, by which means the spirit of discontent was encouraged among the people against Landenberg, who bore the odium of having violated the sanctuary, and forcibly carried away an inmate of those holy walls.

The Nun made but an indifferent defence against this charge, and Amabel left her by no means satisfied with her conduct. However, she soon forgot what little had displeased her in the 9Nun’s conversation, and gave herself up entirely to the joy of being assured, that one of her friends at least was safe in the arms of friendship and of maternal love.

—“Oh! that I could but have the same assurance respecting my beloved Emmeline!” thus said Amabel to herself, as she hastened back to her brother’s cottage; “Oh! that as I pass homewards, chance would but throw Wolfenrad in my way, that I might learn from him what he knows about the dear-one! He might just tell me in half a dozen words, and then hurry away, in order that I might not blush too deep a crimson, when the severe Censurer of my actions looks me in the 10face, and says with his magisterial air,—‘Now, Amabel! whence do you come, and with whom have you spoken?’—How ridiculous, that Arnold should take it into his head, that an old man like Wolfenrad has designs upon a young creature like me, not yet twenty! Yet ridiculous as it is, his anxiety proceeds from the warmth of his affection for me, and I ought to forgive my good Arnold for the faults of his head, when I recollect the kindness of his heart.”—

Such were the thoughts which occupied Amabel, as she hastily retraced the long way between her home and the Convent; and as she past along, she threw many an anxious look on every 11side in hopes of seeing the man, who alone could confirm to her the fortunate escape of her friend. Wolfenrad had frequently business that carried him to Engelberg, and it was by no means improbable, that she should encounter him on her way.

In fact, the tempter had long been at no great distance from the fair pilgrim, though without her seeing him; since he stole along concealed by a thick hawthorn plantation, which bordered more than half the road between the village and the Convent of Engelberg.

It is easy for the wicked to guess what steps will be taken by unsuspecting innocence, whose proceedings are the natural result of existing circumstances 12and feelings. Wolfenrad knew how warmly Amabel’s heart was interested about her friends; he had given her hopes of obtaining intelligence respecting them; he had pointed out the place, where a part of those hopes might be realized; and he was therefore certain of finding her on the road to that place, before many days were elapsed. He had accidentally missed seeing her on her way to Engelberg; but when on her return she was descending the Convent-hill, he espied her from behind the watch-tower which stands at the farthest extremity of the mount, and then hastened to shelter himself behind the hawthorn hedge, in order that he might unseen watch her motions, and 13discover what temper she was in, before he accosted her.

And thus did he for some time steal along, examining every change of her expressive countenance, and drawing but too just conclusions of the subject, which employed her thoughts. Her look, now gay, now sorrowful, and the impatient glances which she frequently threw around her, would have been sufficient to betray her, even though a few broken sentences, which escaped from her in the anxiety of her mind, had not left him without a doubt of his presence being perfectly welcome.

Wolfenrad’s plans for the innocent girl’s ruin had been so long arranged, that they were ready to be carried into 14effect at a moment’s warning; nor could he have wished for a more favourable opportunity than the present. The fiercest passion for Amabel reigned in his bosom, and deceived him who was so well skilled in deceiving others. He fancied, that in her impatient looks, in the tone which she used in pronouncing his name occasionally, there was something more than mere friendship for Emmeline, and that love was the motive that made her so anxious to meet him! Immortal powers! Love! love from a girl, pure as innocence itself, for such an earthly dæmon, a dæmon both in person and in mind!

—“Yet however she may be disposed,” ’twas thus he argued with himself, 15 “too abrupt an appearance, too hasty a discovery of my views, might do me a prejudice, and put her too much upon her guard. When her impatience is worked up to the highest pitch, I shall be the more secure of her.”—

And therefore he still remained invisible, and hastened onwards, keeping still a little way before her; so that when the fair pilgrim reached the end of the plantation, and emerged into the open plain, she descried him crossing the path at some distance, as if totally unaware of her approach.

Amabel gave a cry of joy, called him by his name, and flew to join him.

—“Is it you, my fair dame?” answered Wolfenrad. “What would you 16with me?”—and he stopped, as waiting for her to come up to him.

—“Oh! tell me! tell me! give me some tidings of the damsel of Sargans!”—

—“You have been to Engelberg, and surely must have heard more there, than I am able to tell you.”—

“Oh! no, no, no! Emmeline! speak of Emmeline!”—

—“Why, the Lady Emmeline.... Concealment being absolutely necessary.... But we are close to your jealous brother’s house, and he may take offence at our conference—Farewell! I must find an opportunity of communicating what I know unobserved, when I return from Uri.”—

17“From Uri? Heavens! and when do you go thither, and how long shall you remain away?”—

—“I set out to-morrow; as to my stay, I fear the disturbances there will make my return very distant.”—

Amabel’s impatience to know something decisive respecting her friend now grew beyond all bounds. She entreated him at least to put it out of doubt that Emmeline had been saved from the flames, and hesitated not to follow him into a bye-path, which conducted to the Castle. As they passed along, the deceiver began a long and wonderful narrative of Emmeline’s adventures, which occupied his auditor’s whole attention; but as it contained not one syllable of truth, it 18would be superfluous to relate it here.

—“But one question more!” said Amabel at length, and stopped. “See! night is approaching; we are already at the foot of the Castle-hill, and I have still a weary way to traverse, ere I can regain my brother’s cottage, where, I fear, I must be already missed. You assure me that Emmeline is safe, and is concealed in the neighbourhood: Oh! tell me then where she is concealed, for my bosom pants to embrace her!”—

—“That were easily done. You see the Castle is close at hand: thither have I brought her, and I mean to convey her with me to Uri to-morrow, since the disturbances which prevail in 19these parts render them an unsafe abode.”—

—“To Uri? To-morrow? Cruel, cruel Wolfenrad! Would you then have removed her, without suffering me to see her for one moment?”—

—“How could I have contrived an interview without betraying the secret? Had not accident thrown you in my way, I should not have had an opportunity of even telling you, that she is in your neighbourhood. However, as soon as she was out of the reach of discovery, you would have received a letter explaining every thing. I left her occupied in writing it, and when finished it was to be delivered to your husband’s care, who is now with her at the 20Castle, and who has been the chief means of bringing her hither in safety.”—

—“What say you? My husband? Is Edmund then with Emmeline? Oh! lead me to him, dear Wolfenrad, I must accompany you to the Castle; permit me to pass this last evening with the dear lady; or at least suffer me to embrace her once more, and assure her of my unchanged affection, and then my husband can conduct me back to my brother.”—

Wolfenrad heard this proposal with a malicious smile, and answered that for his part he had no objection; but he suggested his fears, lest her taking such a step should displease the suspicious 21Arnold, who surpassed her husband in jealousy a thousand fold.

—“Oh! heed not that!” exclaimed Amabel; “while I am with you, I can set all suspicions at defiance!”—

She said this thoughtlessly, for she alluded to his age and ugliness. The miscreant however interpreted it to his own taste, and saw in it the confirmation of his insolent hopes. He was on the point of rewarding the avowal by a tender pressure of her hand, which perhaps might have opened her eyes, ere it was too late: but she prevented him by making a thousand fond enquiries respecting her beloved Edmund, which put him again upon his guard, and which were not ended till they arrived 22at the Castle. The gates were closed: Wolfenrad sounded his horn; the draw-bridge descended. He entered the Castle; Amabel followed him, and the moment that she had passed the threshold, heard with terror the noise of a port-cullis falling behind her.

How strange is it, that we should frequently remain thoroughly blind till we reach a certain point, and then be rouzed at once from our delusions by some unimportant circumstance! Amabel has frequently told me since, that the sound of that port-cullis (though nothing unusual in the Castle) gave her the first indistinct idea of her imprudence and the danger of her situation.

Her voice faltered, as she pronounced 23the names of Edmund and Emmeline, while she hastily withdrew her hand, which Wolfenrad had now seized with an air of impetuous passion. She looked him anxiously in the face, and her eyes read with horror in his an expression, which explained to her the whole fearful secret.

Yet she was still unwilling to believe that man so great a villain, whom she had long believed so much her friend. It was not till she was convinced, that neither Edmund nor Emmeline were in the Castle; that she found herself totally alone with the wretch, whom she had despised as being too insignificant to be dangerous; and that an old woman, whom (in order to calm the first 24violence of her feelings) he had produced to her as his wife, was nothing more than a domestic; it was not till then, that she saw the whole business clearly, and the sight was one of such danger, that perhaps had she been a woman of a common mind, it would have thrown her into such a state of bodily insensibility, or of mental dejection, as might effectually have prevented all endeavours to effect an escape. But Amabel was a daughter of Helvetia! that is, she was a woman, whose powers both of body and mind existed in their fullest vigour; neither the first was weakened by luxurious indulgence, nor the second liable to be subdued by imaginary terrors. In spite 25of all that credulity and imprudence which had betrayed her into her present danger, her imagination was still both clear and acute enough to suggest a means for effecting her rescue, or at least for gaining time.

She appeared reserved and shy, and sat down in silence to the voluptuous entertainment, which was now served up by Wolfenrad’s confidante; the only person, whom he suffered to penetrate into that part of the Castle. Yet did Amabel contrive to give her silence the appearance of being preserved much against her will; she refused not at Wolfenrad’s request to lay aside the large hat, which overshadowed her face, and which (as he complained) concealed 26from him numberless beauties; nor did she draw away very hastily or with a look of extreme displeasure her soft white hand, when he prest it passionately between his own.

—“May I flatter myself,” said the deceived deceiver, “that Amabel does not absolutely hate me?”—

—“My religion forbids my hating any one.”—

—“And you are not very much offended at my having employed a little artifice to procure myself the happiness of this evening?”—

“—Artifice?—Nay; the effect of accident, and ... and, I am afraid, my own inclination was so much on your side, that....”—

27—“My charming Amabel! then I may hope, that Wolfenrad is not entirely indifferent to you!”—

—“Indifferent? Oh! that you are not indeed!—And as to hoping ... why, nobody can prevent your doing that, you know.”—

And with this kind of doubtful and flattering discourse did she long entertain the betrayer, and forgot not to fill the silver bowls from time to time; though the effects of his frequent draughts prevented him from observing, that while she poured wine into his goblet, nothing but water entered into her own.

At the expence of a few disgusting kisses, which were forced from her occasionally, 28she at length had the pleasure to see Wolfenrad fall senseless from his chair. It was midnight; the old woman had long since betaken herself to rest, and Amabel found herself at liberty to wander through the vacant chambers in search of some means of escape.

Alas! the locks and bars were immoveable, and no keys were to be found.—She at length discovered an unfastened door opening into a balcony; it overhung the middle court; the height was fearful; yet would she have gladly ran the hazard of springing below, if she had not dreaded the meeting there with a greater danger, than that from which she was flying. The 29Castle-Garrison occupied this quarter. She heard from above the conversation, which passed between the sentinels; and its nature was such as to leave her no hope of finding from them protection or even pity. It also informed her, that Wolfenrad’s bounty, and his winking at their committing the most heinous offences, had united them too closely to his interests, to admit even a chance of their acting in opposition to his will.

She wept in agony! She wrung her hands! At length despair took possession of her whole soul. She eyed for a while the torch, which flamed in her hand, and in a moment of desperate resolution she determined to set the Castle on fire; in hopes of either being able to 30effect her escape during the conflagration, or at least of saving herself by death from existing for one instant with dishonour.

Thus resolved, she was on the point of quitting the balcony when a well-known name struck her ear. She stopt, and listened. Two sentinels stood beneath the balcony, and she heard one tell the other, that it would be necessary to wake Wolfenrad; for that he (the sentinel) was just returned from the outer wall, and had seen a company of soldiers crossing over the plain; that he had hailed one of them, and found them to be part of those who had accompanied Bloomberg to Sargans, and that their leader with the rest of his troops would follow them before mid-day.

31—“Bloomberg their leader?” said his companion. “And since when has the gentle peace-loving Bloomberg turned soldier, and what has Wolfenrad to fear from a fellow, who but yesterday followed the plough?”—

“Faith,” rejoined the first, “this is a time, when every countryman exchanges his sickle and ploughshare for a sword and spear; and I know enough of Edmund Bloomberg to be convinced, that the carrying off his pretty wife will make him rage like a mad bull.”—

—“Carrying off, d’ye call it?” said the other; “I think, she seemed to follow Wolfenrad of her own accord; and if Bloomberg draws his sword upon her account, the more fool Bloomberg!”—

32A burst of insulting laughter terminated this conversation, every syllable of which pierced Amabel to the heart; and the soldiers separated, having agreed that it was unnecessary to disturb Wolfenrad that night, and that the news of Bloomberg’s return might safely be delayed till the next morning.

Amabel burst into tears; but she soon recollected, that she had better occupation than weeping. A thousand ideas floated before her mind, inspired by the distant hope which she derived from the assurance, that in a few hours her husband would pass within sight of her prison. The great object therefore was to gain time to wait for his arrival with safety, and find means to inform him of her confinement in the Castle.

33Accident furnished her with both. She returned trembling into the apartment, where the vile Wolfenrad still lay sleeping, the most odious picture of intoxication that the eye ever witnessed. Despair made her snatch a knife from the table, and she rushed to plunge it into his heart; but here the softness of woman’s nature got the better of her resolution and her vengeance. She threw down the knife, and hastened into the balcony, that in the free air and under the sky thick sown with stars, she might implore the Creator of that sky to look down upon and assist her in this hour of fear and danger. She rose from prayer much comforted: she turned towards the East, and looked 34eagerly for the arrival of the dawn, whose approach was already announced. She soon perceived, that the balcony in which she stood, though much too high from the ground to admit of her throwing herself from it without being dashed to pieces, at least commanded an extensive view over the surrounding country, and was admirably calculated for summoning any passing travellers to her assistance.

Oh! now, would but the sleeping Libertine doze away the morning, all might be well! Often did she steal softly into the chamber to see, whether he gave any signs of waking; again the knife attracted her gaze. She seized it, and concealed it in her bosom, as her last resource should all others fail.

35It was now broad-day. Wolfenrad stretched himself, yawned, and opened his red eye-lids. Amabel fled to a distant corner, but his voice soon compelled her to return.

—“My charming angel,” said he, “come near me. You filled my goblet last night too generously, and this morning I feel myself still under the influence of the too potent liquor. Beshrew me, but I am marvellously indisposed.”—

—“Let not that trouble you, my dear friend,” answered Amabel, while she advanced a few paces, trembling with apprehension; “while I resided in the Castle of Sargans, Count Donat frequently found himself unwell from a 36similar indulgence in convivial pleasures; but he soon got the better of his indisposition by using a warm bath, which never failed to restore him to perfect health within an hour. In the next chamber there is a large brazen cistern; the water shall be heated for you without delay, and as soon as your bath is ready, I will call some of your attendants to convey you thither.”—

Without waiting for his answer, she hastened to her new occupation; she soon returned with one pitcher of water, then went back again for another, and thus contrived to get rid of near an hour, never failing as she passed the balcony to cast from it a glance of enquiry, whether there were yet no signs of her deliverer.

37It was in vain, that Wolfenrad desired her to call some of the servants to spare her this unnecessary labour. Amabel remonstrated against the impropriety of suffering herself to be seen by strangers in his apartment, and at the same time protested, that she felt the greatest pleasure in taking this trouble, since it was for him that she took it. Wolfenrad knew not how to find terms sufficiently strong to express his gratitude for her attention, and protested, that he had not flattered himself with the idea of possessing so warm an interest in her heart.

He was still expatiating on the satisfaction which this agreeable discovery gave him, when the sound of trampling 38at a distance struck her hearing. She looked towards the window, and descried a cloud of dust. Down fell the pitcher from her hand.

—“Your bath is ready!” she said in a voice scarcely audible from agitation; and while Wolfenrad staggered into the adjoining chamber, she hastened into the balcony. The horsemen came nearer; she recognized many countenances well known to her; she recognized among them that of Edmund Bloomberg.

His name pronounced in her loudest tone, the cry of “Help for the Virgin’s sake!” and her handkerchief waved in the air towards the horsemen, soon attracted their attention. With equal 39surprise and terror Bloomberg recognized his wife at a balcony of the Castle, heard her implore assistance, and flew with his brave companions to afford it. What followed, I shall relate briefly: the narrative of this adventure may appear already too circumstantial, since its connexion with the Sisters of Sargans is not at present evident; but it had too material an influence upon the fate of all Helvetia to admit of my passing it over with a slight mention.

Before the Castle-Garrison had time to communicate to their Superior that intelligence, which they ought to have conveyed to him the preceding night, and while all hands were busily employed in guarding against an attack on the 40main-quarter, Bloomberg and his friends had already forced their way into the Castle at that neglected side, whence Amabel had called to them for assistance.

The bath, in which the still half-intoxicated Wolfenrad hoped to get rid of the effects of his night’s excess, was crimsoned with his blood. Amabel again found herself safe in the hands of her husband, in whose bosom delight contended with indignation. The opposition of the garrison to the complete conquest of the Castle was but trifling; and this fortress would certainly have remained in the hands of the Helvetians (a circumstance to them of the greatest advantage) had their numbers been 41strong enough to resist the troops, who were shortly after sent against them by the Abbot of St. Gall and other allies of the governor. Bloomberg’s friends were inadequate to maintaining the possession of their conquest, and in a few days afterwards he was compelled to evacuate the Castle.

Hitherto, the resentment of the multitude had been restrained within some bounds: but Amabel’s adventure and the death of Wolfenrad were the signal for open rebellion. The whole country was floated with blood: would that I could say, that the blood which flowed was entirely that of the foes of freedom! But alas! the number of the oppressors was too mighty. The Helvetians 42were over-powered; and after displaying the sentiments and performing the actions of heroes, Edmund Bloomberg, Arnold Melthal, and his venerable father Henric (to whom patriotism and his daughter’s injuries had restored some of his youthful strength) were constrained to fly from those beloved unhappy vallies, which once had been the favourite abodes of freedom and tranquillity.

The name of “flight” was of itself offensive to Helvetian candour and courage; the place to which they were compelled to address their flight, made it no less painful than disgraceful. Altdorf, which was in the jurisdiction of Gessler, whose tyranny had already been the 43cause of such bitter sufferings to Henric and Arnold, was the only refuge which remained to them. By remaining here quiet and concealed, till time allowed them to find fresh means of resisting their enemies, they hoped to escape Gessler’s notice; and accordingly they hastened to take shelter at Altdorf, with the brave William Tell, Bloomberg’s half-brother: here also they were sure of a powerful protector in the person of Walter Forest, a man whose situation and native greatness of mind struck awe into the bosom even of the insolent Gessler.

Here then the fugitives remained concealed, and nourished hopes of better times, which perhaps would have 44made even the present chearful, had not domestic discord obtruded itself into their little circle. The imprudence with which Amabel had thrown herself into the seducer’s snare, in spite of all his warnings and remonstrances, had not passed uncensured by her brother. His bitter reproaches sometimes excited Edmund’s anger, and sometimes his jealousy; and the poor girl would have been absolutely wretched, had not her father sustained her cause, and had not her innocence found a most strenuous advocate in William Tell. It is true, the language of veracity, in which she related her unadorned story, was not to be mistaken; but still it required Tell’s cool unprejudiced nature, and his 45noble guileless heart, to see every circumstance in its real colours.

He at length succeeded in restoring perfect harmony in Bloomberg’s family, and Amabel blessed him for the second time as the author of all her earthly happiness. Perhaps, her entire reconciliation with her husband was a little forwarded by Arnold’s absence. This impetuous young man had been the ring-leader of those, who at the Easter feast had insulted the Abbot of St. Gall by singing the ballad of “Bishop Ulric;” the Abbot had not forgotten it; and the unfortunate Arnold at length fell into one of the many snares, which had been spread for him by his priestly foe. Doubtless, he would have fallen a 46victim to the Abbot’s vengeance, had not Werner Bernsdorf, by means which it is unnecessary to relate circumstantially, contrived to release him from his dungeon, and sheltered him in his own house.

Though Amabel had received her husband’s full pardon, still the reconciliation had taken place too freshly to allow her as yet to feel quite at her ease: and now when the news arrived that her brother (whom she loved most dearly in spite of his violence) was a prisoner, she would have had sufficient reason to be unhappy, even had she not been tormented by the most cruel anxiety respecting the fate of the Damsels of Sargans. She ceased not to make enquiries 47concerning them; and at length she received the confirmation of her bitterest apprehensions. Amalberga was beyond a doubt totally in Landenberg’s power, who (in spite of all Wolfenrad’s assertions to the contrary) kept her confined in the Castle of Rassburg; nor was it less certain, that the Lady Emmeline had perished in the flames of St. Roswitha’s Sanctuary. Report spread far and wide many strange anecdotes respecting that conflagration, which I shall relate in another place; in truth, there is no one better able to give an account of that dreadful incident than myself.

The tears, which Amabel shed for herself and for her beloved friends, were 48soon required by a still more painful cause: misfortunes now awaited her, which were worthy to be mourned with tears of blood.

The furious Gessler’s insolence increased with every succeeding day. His most earnest care was to discover those who disapproved of him, that he might revenge himself by their torments. At length his pride and folly grew to such a height, that he fixed the plumed bonnet (which he usually wore) upon a lance in the market-place of Altdorf, and ordered, that all who passed should bow before it. The sneering populace obeyed, and contented themselves with whispering to each other, that they had much rather pay their 49respect to the empty hat, than the wicked head which it was accustomed to decorate: but William Tell and some few others of the principal inhabitants passed by the bonnet proudly and with unbending necks. From that moment did Gessler mark them down as the future victims of his revenge and rancour.

Had the tyrant dared to lay violent hands on Tell, or had he contrived means of stamping the mark of infamy on his reputation; had he sold the wife of his bosom for a slave, or murdered his infants before his eyes; still would all these atrocities have been excelled by that, which now entered his infernal brain. A prize was to be contended for 50by archers. The sport was interrupted by the arrival of Gessler. What was the horror of all who heard him, when he commanded his guards to seize Tell’s son, a lovely child but four years old, and bind him to the tree which had been selected as a mark for the arrows. He then declared aloud with the most impious execrations, that the heads of six of Tell’s relations (whom he had confined upon some slight pretences) should fall before night, unless the father would engage at a considerable distance to fix a dart into an apple, which should be placed on the head of the child.

How did the father burn with secret indignation, when Gessler dared to lay before him this unnatural proposal! 51No earthly force could have compelled him to arm his hand for the performance of an action so uncertain and so fearful; yet in fact the bow and arrow could be scarcely called an uncertain weapon in the hands of the most dexterous archer in Helvetia: and after a few moments past in thought he confidently accepted a proposal, whose atrocity (he was certain) was thoroughly felt by all present; and whose consequence he trusted would be the kindling the fire of liberty in every bosom till it should at length break into open flames, and the emancipating his country for ever from its present state of ignominious bondage.

A glance, more expressing contempt 52than wrath, was darted by Tell’s dark eyes upon the Governor, as he rocked himself backwards and forwards upon his elevated chair of state, and looked down upon the circle of noble Helvetians, whom the sports had attracted to Altdorf, as if they had been creatures of an inferior kind.

Gessler was too void of sensibility to understand the meaning of the glance, which was darted on him by Tell’s piercing eye. He only smiled contemptuously at having compelled the pride of this great mind to stoop itself to his orders, when he saw him press the lovely laughing child, his latest-born, to his heart with passion, and then bear him in his arms to the tree, where he was 53destined to take his stand. The apple, which was the nominal mark for that arrow, whose point Gessler hoped to see crimsoned with human blood, was fixed on the child’s head by the hands of the unhappy father.

Gessler’s attendants prepared to bind the innocent creature to the tree; but a spark of paternal spirit already burned in the soul of the son.

—“I am an Helvetian!” cried he with boyish eagerness; “I am not afraid of death, but of bonds: why, if my father really wanted to kill me, do you think I would run away?”—

All withdrew from the place, where Death’s intended victim stood calm and sweetly-smiling, like a second Isaac. The 54multitude, agonized with terror, could scarcely be heard to breathe: Tell had already taken his station. All were still, all dreading, lest the father’s hand, rendered trembling and uncertain by anxiety for his darling, should for the first time miss the mark; when the arrow whistled through the air, and fixed itself in the apple just above the crown of the child’s head, who saw it coming towards him, and smiled as he marked its flight.

Now then all rushed, eagerly to learn the event of this awful scene. Some exclaimed—“He is fallen! he is fallen!”—But the boy had only stooped to pick up the apple which the force of the blow had struck from his head; and he 55now presented it to his father, who had flown to embrace his rescued darling with speed scarce inferior to that of his arrow.

—“I was certain, father,” cried the child, as he hung round the neck of the breathless Tell, “I was certain, that you were not really going to kill your own William!”—

—“Kill thee?” exclaimed the father; “sooner would I have driven the arrow into my own heart! But eternal curses and sudden death to him, who would have made a man the murderer of his own child! Look!” he continued, while he clasped the boy to his breast with one hand, and with the other drew from his bosom a dart, which he held 56towards Gessler, “Look, monster! had the first arrow pierced my son’s breast, this should have been buried to the very beard in thine.—For this time thou art safe; but yet rest thou assured, that at the last thou shalt not escape unpunished! Though I may spare thee, Heaven will not.”—

—“Vengeance! vengeance! death and curses to the tyrant! Eternal destruction to the infernal Gessler and all the miscreants who assist him!” thus exclaimed the multitude with one voice; while they closed round Tell in order to conduct him home in safety, and protect him from the Governor’s guards, to whom a signal had been given to fall upon him without delay.

57But the friends of liberty were too weak in numbers to resist their powerful oppressors. Before the gallant Tell had retraced half the way to his cottage, his companions were dispersed, and himself delivered into the hands of his enemy. Gessler commanded, that he should be bound, thrown into a vessel which was ready for sailing, and conveyed to the dungeons of Kussnach, as a violator of the respect due to imperial dignity.

No one was suffered to accompany Tell; but his little son clung to the bonds which were cutting the flesh of his father, and cried, that he would throw himself into the flood, if they tore him from him. Gessler’s soldiers 58had no objection to taking two victims instead of one, and yielded to the child’s request, whom Amabel followed into the vessel without being questioned. The boy was her darling, and it was she who had conducted him to the fatal archery, where it was his destiny to play so principal a part. The cry that he was safe had rouzed her from the swoon into which the sight of his danger had thrown her; and she now found it impossible to part so soon from the cherub, whom she had expected never more to clasp to her bosom but as a corse. She had also no slight grounds for apprehending new dangers for the rescued victim, should she leave him in the hands of his enemies with no other 59protector than his captive father. Gessler’s servile ministers could not have well pitched upon a more skilful or certain means of inflicting pain on Tell, than by murdering his son before his face.

Amabel was aware of this; and dreading lest this horrible plan of vengeance should occur to the soldiers, she took the first opportunity of enticing the child away from his father, and concealing him in a dark corner of the vessel. Here she charged the little William to remain quiet, and pointing to Tell, bade him observe how quiet his father was lying on the floor, his fettered hands clasped together and raised towards Heaven, whither his eyes directed 60devout and imploring glances, which reached the Preserver of innocence above the clouds.

—“What is my father doing?” enquired the child at length in a whisper.

—“He is praying for himself and for us,” answered Amabel.

—“Oh! then God will hear him, and help him; and then you know, we can creep out, and take away those ugly cords from his poor bleeding hands.”—

Amabel replied in the manner, which she thought most likely to satisfy the child; and a conversation was carried on in whispers between her and her little companion which gradually became interesting enough to prevent their observing that a dreadful storm was rising, 61that thick clouds had changed the day into night, and that the light vessel was forced far out of its intended course. The rolling of the thunder, the frequent flashes of lightning, and the heavy torrents of rain at length made both attentive and silent; till William proposed that he should steal to his father under covert of the thick darkness, and spread his little coat over him, for Tell lay entirely exposed to the tempest. Amabel burst into tears as she listened to the kind-hearted boy, then gave him her own cloak, and bade him hasten to alleviate the prisoner’s sufferings.

But Tell showed by no sign, that he was conscious of this affecting testimony 62of his child’s care: he remained with his hands clasped, and his eyes still fixed upon the heavens. Perhaps, the transactions of that day had blunted all his feelings; perhaps, he was revolving plans of escape, which never fail to occupy the thoughts of the captive hero, and whose future execution frequently prevent his being sensible of the weight of present calamities.

The tempest continued to rage: with every moment the danger of the slight vessel became more imminent. Tell, Amabel, and the child were now left by themselves. The other persons were employed in various quarters, endeavouring if possible to save the ship, which was already deprived of sail and 63mast. The prisoners were now the happiest of the party: they at least rejoiced in the hope of perishing together. The child too, who had no clear idea of the danger, and fancied that everything went wrong only because his father was in bonds, ceased not to exert all his little powers in endeavouring to untye the cords; but even with Amabel’s assistance he found the task too difficult for his strength.

While they were still employed in this unavailing labour, they heard the cry of distress increase with tenfold violence: presently some one on the upper deck exclaimed—“Now then all is lost! What winds and waves have failed in doing, will be done by the hidden rocks 64which abound upon this coast, and with which not a soul of us is acquainted. Oh! what would I now give to be as good a pilot as Tell, and to possess his knowledge of these shores!”—

Amabel started up, and listened with more attention. She heard the name of Tell frequently mentioned; and after a few minutes past in contention, some of the sailors approached the place, where she stood by the side of her unfortunate friend.

—“Tell,” said the Captain, “you know, that your life is forfeit to the law; but if you will engage to conduct the vessel safe to land, as a favour we will unbind you, and promise to do our utmost to obtain a milder sentence for you from the Emperor’s mercy.”—

65—“I have saved many a vessel,” answered Tell, “in a more desperate situation than the present; and that which has succeeded with me ten times before, I trust, will not fail with me now.—As to what you say about favours, bestow them on those who ask them; I expect mercy from no one, save from Him under whose hand we all now tremble!”—

Tell was unbound, and the rudder committed to his care. William and Amabel still remained close by his side, while the rest of the ship’s company dispersed to their several stations.

Tell’s rudder seemed to command the tempest: he steered confidently through the foaming waves, and already the 66companions of his danger shouted with joy at the certainty of their escape.

—“And what will be the reward of our preserver?” asked one of the most compassionate among Gessler’s soldiers.

—“What should it be?” answered their leader angrily. “The most he can lay claim to is a speedy death without being previously tortured; or perhaps his sentence may be softened into that of eternal imprisonment.”—

Tell was silent, and cast a despairing look through the dark clouds of the storm towards the Only-one, from whom he had hopes of assistance!

—“Oh! that I had no one here to tremble for, except myself!” said Tell to the afflicted Amabel, who knelt beside 67him after a silence of some minutes—“how quickly should I be safe from the malice of my enemies!”—

—“And what then would you do?”—

—“The rocks are not lofty! One bold and lucky spring, and I were in safety!”—

—“Throw me into the waves, father!” cried the boy, “throw me into the waves, for I am a hindrance to you!”—

At that moment a tremendous flash of lightning illuminated the whole scene. Tell descried an immense tree at a slight distance growing out of a rock which they were approaching, and extending its arms far over the foaming flood—

68“Amabel!” cried Tell, “dare you seize a bough of that tree as we pass under it, suffer the bark to be carried away from you, and cling fast to the branch, till I have time to come to your assistance?”—

—“I dare! I dare!” cried Amabel in the tone of desperation—“But the child! Oh! God! the child!”—

—“Be that my care!—Be prepared!—Now then!” he cried, and was obeyed. He saw that she had fast hold of the bough, and in the same moment he seized the boy with his left arm, with his right turned the rudder to-wards the rock, then sprang boldly from the deck, and left the vessel with its unthankful freight a prey to the 69raging flood. The tempest seized it; the rudder was broken in the shock, and dreadful was the shriek of the crew, as the fury of the winds and waves drove it far away over the roaring billows. Tell sprang upon the rock unhurt; he hastily climbed up the upper part of the coast, and having placed the boy on the ground, he flew to give Amabel his assistance. But she, who was deficient neither in strength of body or presence of mind, had already found means to gain the rock in which the tree was rooted, had forced her way through all impediments, and had nearly reached the loftiest of the broken cliffs, before he could arrive. He assisted her to attain the summit, when she 70instantly sank on her knees, and returned thanks to God with all the joy of one just rescued from destruction.

But I forget, that Tell and Amabel are in fact foreign to my story, and I have already suffered myself to dwell on their adventures too long, to the prejudice of my real heroines. I will therefore pass over in silence the circumstances which followed their escape from the vessel, and those which again threw them into Gessler’s power. Suffice it to say, that the dart which the Avenger of human nature seemed to have reserved for that express purpose, the dart which Tell had shown Gessler, in the first burst of his indignation, that very dart pierced the tyrant’s bosom; 71and thus was Helvetia freed from a monster, who had laid waste her tranquil vallies with circumstances of much greater cruelty, than were ever attributed to fabled dragons in the Legends of Romance.

After performing this dangerous act of justice, Tell betook himself to Stein, where he intended to take refuge with Werner Bernsdorf. Here he found new cause to rejoice at having rid the world of Gessler. Bernsdorf’s new-raised edifice, the admiration of the whole country, lay an heap of ashes! Gessler had thought it too good for a private man, and had threatened to pull it down. Werner laughed at his threats, for it seemed to be no trifle to destroy the 72property of a man of his consequence, while living in the midst of a neighbourhood, where every arm and every heart were devoted to his service: but he did not reflect, that villany can find a hundred secret means for effecting its purposes. In the depth of the night a fire broke out, which, from its bursting all at once from the four corners of the building, and at a time when all were buried in sleep, gained ground too rapidly to admit of its being got under. Werner and Gertrude saved nothing from the flames, except their lives. Every one exclaimed against secret incendiaries, and no one doubted by whose orders this shameful action had been committed: in fact, there were proofs 73sufficient to make it morally certain, that the author of this mischief could be no other than Gessler.

The sight of his friend’s distress (for this fire had reduced Werner to beggary) raised Tell’s indignation to the highest pitch. He left Amabel and his son to the care of Gertrude, and hastened with Bernsdorf in disguise back to Altdorf, to consult with Walter Forest and Henric Melthal on the best and speediest means of rescuing Helvetia from her disgraceful yoke. Arnold Melthal also, who had but lately escaped from the dungeons of the Abbot of St. Gall, increased their band; and the union of five men so remarkable for courage and for prudence produced such 74fortunate and such glorious consequences, as will immortalize their names to the latest posterity^[1].

Bloomberg hastened to Stein, to rejoice with his wife at her escape, and to efface in her embraces the injurious impressions, to which his too easy heart had given way during their separation. Spite and Envy had not neglected the opportunity of calumniating one of Amabel’s noblest actions. Her frank and guileless nature had prevented her from making it a secret, that the admirable William Tell had been the first love of her innocent heart; and her voluntary forsaking her family, in order 75that she might share the fate of that gallant prisoner (a circumstance of which all Altdorf had been an eye-witness) had found that misinterpretation, which Calumny is always so eager to bestow on those heroic actions, of which she feels herself incapable.

Fortunately the heart of Edmund Bloomberg was not more prone to jealous doubts, than open to conviction. Nothing more than the sight of his excellent brother, and the relation of the true circumstances of the case, was necessary to make him feel the folly of suspecting the integrity of such a man. He requested his lovely wife to forgive his unjust suspicions; and the temporary separation of their hearts seemed 76to have renewed his former love with such violence, that he could not resolve to tear himself away from her, in spite of his earnest desire to participate with his friends in the glorious attempt to rescue Helvetia from her chains.

Yet was not Edmund entirely idle. His wife’s anxiety respecting the Damsels of Sargans had formerly induced him to make enquiries respecting their fate; but Wolfenrad (whose sole view was to remove the husband, in order that the unprotected wife might fall a prey during his absence) had taken care to direct his search, where he well knew that it must be fruitless. Edmund at length discovered the trick, and incensed at having been sent on such a 77wild-goose-chase, he hastened back accompanied by a band of well-armed companions, determined to revenge the insult. His vengeance was complete, and now at Amabel’s request he again resumed his search after the Damsels of Sargans: nor was it long before he ascertained, that report had said no more than the truth, when she asserted that Amalberga was a captive in the dungeons of Rassburg, and that Emmeline had really perished among the flames. To rescue the one and to revenge the other now formed the only subject of the conversations, which passed between Gertrude, Amabel, and her husband.

The more they discussed the circumstances, 78the more dreadful did the fate of the two sisters appear, and the more difficult of execution did they find their plans respecting them. They were conscious, that without some powerful supporter, their strength was insufficient for the undertaking; and Amabel’s thoughts immediately suggested to her the names of two young knights, to whom at a former period the Damsels of Sargans had been by no means indifferent, and who (she doubted not) would still feel so much interest about them, as to forward her wish to avenge the death of the one and procure the deliverance of the other.

On enquiry, it appeared, that but few hopes could be grounded upon the aid 79of Count Herman of Werdenberg. Suspicions, injurious to Emmeline’s character, had made him resolve to conquer his passion for her: but to eradicate her from his heart had not been found a task so easy, as he imagined; and at length he had quitted Germany, tormented by his unsatisfied love, and by anger at himself for not having succeeded in overcoming it. He was at this time in England, whence his relations had solicited his return most earnestly, but in vain.

But little as was to be expected from Count Herman, so much the more was to be hoped from the noble Eginhart of Torrenburg, and it was resolved that Edmund should hasten to him without 80delay: it was not long before he returned accompanied by the youthful hero.

There are reasons, which it is unnecessary to disclose, which make it particularly painful to me to trace the name of Torrenburg, and to recollect how closely his fate is interwoven with that of Amalberga of Sargans: but it must be done, and I will not complain. Yes, there ought to be now no sacrifice too difficult for my heart to make: there shall be none!

Eginhart of Torrenburg, who had formerly been as closely bound to Helen of Homburg through motives of policy, as he was now attached by affection and his own choice to the lovely Amalberga, was at length free from his engagements 81to the former, and at liberty to bestow his hand according to the dictates of his heart.

Helen (alas for that poor Helen!) had been carried off on her bridal-day by that fierce terrific tyrant, Donat, Count of Carlsheim and Sargans: force had compelled her to become his wife! Angels of innocence, where were you then lingering, that you gave the unfortunate no warning-sign of the danger, into which she was on the brink of falling? Yet scarcely can I decide, which would have been the harder fate; to become the victim of Count Donat, or with a heart glowing with love to be delivered into the arms of a husband, whose soul was in secret devoted to another, and 82whose hand was only given to the wretched Helen from motives of honour and respect for his plighted word.

Instead of the expected bride, the news of her being carried off reached the Castle of Torrenburg, where the wedding was to have been celebrated. Though love had no share in his concern on this occasion, compassion for the unfortunate girl, and the insult thus offered to himself, made the young Count immediately place himself at the head of his vassals, and hasten to rescue the intended victim from Donat’s clutches.

Helen, who had been compelled to assent to this unhallowed union at the Castle of Upper Halbstein, was now ordered 83to follow her unamiable Lord to another of his fortresses situated southwards among the Rhœtian Alps. She received the command with joy, for at the Castle of Sargans she hoped at least to receive the consolations of friendship. Her step-daughters had been the play-fellows of Helen’s childhood during several weeks; and since their separation occasional letters and messages conveyed by third persons had frequently assured her, that she still lived in the remembrances of her early friends. In their embraces she hoped to find some alleviation of her sufferings: she flattered herself also, that the station which she was now to fill in their house, would give her frequent opportunities 84of making the situation of the poor girls more happy than it had been hitherto; and this reflexion prevented her from feeling herself quite miserable.

Cruel fate decreed, that her journey, which was made in company with her husband and under the protection of a numerous retinue, should be interrupted by the arrival of the Count of Torrenburg and his forces. It was now, that for the first time she saw the bridegroom, whom fortune had destined never to be hers; for whose character she had ever been taught to entertain the highest admiration; and whose sight (for oh! there never yet was man more formed to captivate the soul of woman) was sufficient to make her feel, how near her 85happiness had been, and how completely it was now lost to her for ever.

Torrenburg’s valour forced Count Donat to seek his safety in flight, and the trembling Helen was brought before the conqueror. Helen (who believed herself to be no less dear to her destined bridegroom, than He was dear to Her) for a few moments forgot her duty; but melancholy reflexion soon made her tear herself away from the embraces of the beloved warrior, and she commanded him to leave her.

—“My rescue comes too late!” she exclaimed, wringing her hands in agony; “I am Count Donat’s wife, and must remain so, though it should break my heart! Oh! Eginhart, restore me 86to my husband, and forget the unfortunate, whom fate has separated from you for ever.”—

Tears stood glittering in the warrior’s eyes. He advanced, as if he would have detained her, but she peremptorily forbade his nearer approach. She hastened to her palfrey, and giving the reins to the animal, she soon reached the valley, whither Donat and his vassals had directed their flight.

Helen’s conduct on this occasion, which might well have been termed a difficult effort, if virtue and duty did not make every effort easy, was rewarded by her stern husband with coldness, with sarcasms, with reproaches. She arrived at Sargans; and here was 87Helen destined to find the disappointment of her last poor promised pleasure, the society of her two friends.

Count Donat held out to her as a mark of his complaisance and of his consideration for her happiness, that he had ordered the only one of his daughters who remained to him (for the other had unaccountably disappeared) to quit the Castle. In vain did Helen implore him to recall Emmeline of Sargans from the Sanctuary of St. Roswitha: he was deaf to her entreaties, and she was left a prey to solitude and despair.

Nor had the husband, who had gained her hand by such unworthy means, reason to be entirely satisfied 88with his situation. The Counts of Torrenburg, Mayenfield, and Homburg, mortally offended at the carrying off of Helen, like a deluge over-ran with their forces the territories of Count Donat. His fortresses were forced and plundered one after another, and they now advanced to attack the Castle of Sargans. But Helen, whose only remaining consolation was derived from the most punctilious discharge of her duties, came forth to throw herself at the feet of her relations; and she implored for peace so fervently and so earnestly, and she asserted with so much solemnity her belief, that being once become the Count of Carlsheim’s wife, it was her duty to live and die with him, (a duty, which 89she was resolved to fulfill, whatever might be the consequences,) that her intercession was found irresistible. Dearly was Helen beloved by her parents; earnestly did they desire her happiness, which they well knew she never could find in the arms of Donat: but it was by themselves, that she had been taught the merit of sacrificing all other considerations to that of fulfilling her duties; how then could they advise her now to break through the rules, which they had themselves laid down for her?—Peace was granted, and granted solely to Helen’s intercession. The ravisher was left in possession of his unwilling bride; and her relations quitted his territories, having first exacted from 90him the most solemn and dreadful oath to recompense her for the happy station, of which he had deprived her, by unchanging love and never-ceasing anxiety for her welfare.

Donat took the oath: how he kept it, is a secret to all save the Almighty and Helen: but she has sworn in the presence of God to be silent on this subject, and she will carry that dreadful secret with her to the grave unpublished.

She was very—oh! very miserable! On those days only, when her stern husband was from home, had she any gleams of sunshine. On one of these days an unknown messenger arrived, and desired to speak with the Lady Emmeline of Sargans. He was informed, 91that she was not at the Castle, and he was conducted to Helen. He brought letters from the Lake of Thun, which he at length confided to her, though unwillingly, and only (as he said) induced by the frank expression of her countenance.

—“But,” said he, “will you deliver them to the Lady Emmeline with your own hands?”—

Helen, who lived at Sargans almost in a state of captivity, knew too well that she was not authorised to give such a promise, and only answered by a melancholy shake of the head. Her look, the suspicious countenances of the attendants, and the well-known character of her husband, alarmed the messenger, 92and made him suspect that his life was in danger: he stole unperceived to the gate, and hastened away. The packet was thus left in Helen’s possession. She knew, that it would be impossible to deliver it into the hands of her, for whom it was intended; she long sought for opportunities of doing so in vain; and at length ennui, and her anxiety to obtain some further information respecting the Sisters, which might possibly furnish her with the means of alleviating their cruel destiny, induced her to open the letters.

They were from Amabel Melthal and the lost Amalberga. Heavens! what unexpected discoveries did Helen make while perusing them; discoveries, 93which had no slight connexion with her own situation! God be thanked, that among other things they made it known to her, that nothing but duty to his parents, and consideration for his plighted word, had induced Eginhart of Torrenburg to offer her his hand, while every fond sentiment of his heart had long been Amalberga’s. This discovery at first wounded her to the very soul; but after a time she drew from it reasons for being better satisfied with her fate, and she resolutely banished the beloved youth from her memory, in which till then he had too frequently occupied a place.

Determined to abstract herself entirely from every thing which regarded 94herself, Helen now determined to consider the happiness of her two friends as her only object in life. She endeavoured to make herself mistress of every circumstance belonging to them. Mention was made in one of Amabel’s letters of an old maid-servant at Sargans, called Bertha, who had been Emmeline’s confidante during the latter days of her abode at her father’s mansion; and in hopes of gaining some further information Helen desired, that Bertha might be brought before her. She was answered, that the old woman had been sick for several weeks, and was now drawing near her end. To the great astonishment of the domestics Helen immediately hastened to Bertha’s chamber, saying, 95that she would go and comfort her in her last moments.

Helen had but little time allowed her to perform this charitable office: yet that little she employed to the best advantage, and in return Bertha’s gratitude rewarded her more amply, than she had hoped. Bertha, who had fallen ill soon after Emmeline’s departure, had only had time to forward the letter for Amabel; another packet, intended for the Countess Urania Venosta, was still in her possession. She gave it to Helen, and implored her to take care, that it reached its destination. That was not in Helen’s power; she kept it for some time, in constant terror lest her tyrant husband should discover it, 96and lest it should be the means of drawing down on herself and Emmeline fresh anger and increased sufferings. At length, she resolved at least to put the contents out of Count Donat’s power to bury in oblivion: she broke the seal, and what she read exalted her impatience to rescue the unfortunate writer to a degree, that was almost too strong to admit of concealment.

What Helen suffered at this period is not to be expressed; perhaps her own misfortunes had made her still more compassionate towards those of others, than it was her nature otherwise to be. Three objects were now never out of her thoughts for a moment. The first was, since the Count of Torrenburg 97was now lost to her for ever, to make known to him the present residence of Amalberga; but how to convey to him that intelligence, she in vain sought to discover. The second was, if possible, to rescue Emmeline from the detested Convent of St. Roswitha; but alas! she had but little hopes of delivering others, while she was herself a captive in the Castle of Sargans. The last was, to obtain possession of the key to that chamber, in which was the secret entrance to the subterraneous passages leading to the dwellings of the Anchorets.

The last seemed to afford her the most probable means of gratifying her two former wishes; perhaps too, she 98was unconsciously desirous of securing a means of escaping from the Castle, should she ever find such a step necessary. It is at least certain, that in her eagerness to carry her point, she took many steps, which prudence would not justify. Frequently did she repair to that chamber; she found the door guarded by seven locks. Frequently in the dead of the night, when all slept, or seemed to sleep, did she try the house-keys, which were in her charge; and when at length two of the locks shot back from their fastenings, she sank on her knees, and thanked Heaven with a flood of tears. She doubted not, that the rest of the locks would yield to her perseverance; but a sudden noise at no 99great distance prevented her from pushing the attempt farther that night, and she hastened back to her chamber with a heart filled with delight and expectation.

Joy, at being so near the accomplishment of her wishes, prevented her from sleeping during the remainder of the night, and she employed the vacant hours in revolving her future plans.

—“If,” said she to herself, after giving the matter her most serious consideration; “if I should be so fortunate as to obtain an entrance into the mysterious chamber to-morrow night, I will hasten to the subterraneous passage without losing a moment. A torch, and the clear description of the way 100given in Amalberga’s letter will guide me to the Hermitage to a certainty, and I need only use more than ordinary diligence, in order to be back at the Castle before day-break; for precious as liberty appears to me, I will not obtain it by improper means. I am Donat’s wife, and privately to withdraw myself from his protection were to commit an act of infidelity and treason against my husband. I will content myself therefore with relating what I know to the good hermits, and entreating them to take the best and speediest means of rescuing Emmeline from her dangerous abode, and for placing the fortunate Amalberga in the arms of Torrenburg!”—

101On second thoughts, she reflected, that merely to give this intelligence to the hermits would not be to do enough; it would also be necessary to give some explanation to the Countess Urania respecting the letters which she had opened, and by advising Torrenburg to make Amalberga his wife, to render it clear to him, that she had herself forgotten the tyes which once existed between them. Perhaps too, a threatening letter to the Abbot of Curwald (should all other means fail) might have some weight in inducing him to surrender Emmeline. In order that nothing might delay her on the ensuing night, she rose instantly from her bed, and began to write. But before 102her letters were concluded, it was morning, and her attendants, or rather her jailors, entered the apartment to wake her. They exprest no little surprise at finding her already out of bed.

—“I presume, noble Lady,” said the eldest of them, “either some joyous foreboding, or some prophetic dream has roused you from your couch so early. Our Lord will return to-day; in truth, we knew this yesterday, but we kept it to make our morning-greeting the more welcome, and also through apprehension lest your joy at this intelligence should spoil your night’s rest.”—

Helen only answered the speaker by one of those expressive glances, with 103which the open-hearted repay words, which belie the secret mind. She was well aware, that her women who had been so often the witnesses of her sufferings, could not but know the nature of those feelings, which Donat’s return was likely to excite in her bosom. Nor did she alone tremble in the presence of the fierce Count of Carlsheim; every creature that existed in the Castle listened to his name with terror, and nothing but irony had dictated this speech of the insolent Jutta. Yet dared not Helen find the least fault with any one of her female attendants, who were chiefly composed of her husband’s former favourites, and the meanest of whom had more influence with him still, than was allowed to his unhappy wife.

104The news of Donat’s return was soon confirmed: it was scarcely mid-day, when she heard the drawbridge resounding beneath the hasty trampling of his black steed. She hastened to receive him at the gate with that smile of submissive duty, which she had accustomed herself always to wear in his presence. He repulsed her offered hand with a furious look, and shut himself up in his own chamber with such of his dependents, as were most in his confidence. An hour elapsed; his chamber-door was thrown open, and Donat rushed out again, to all appearance more incensed, if possible, than before.

—“Arm! arm!” cried he with a voice of thunder, which resounded 105through the whole fortress, and which soon collected all his soldiers around him, who, wearied with the journey from which they were just returned, were better fitted for repose than for a second expedition; “to horse, and away this instant; business of importance summons us, and which admits of no delay. Talk not of weariness, or exhausted strength! the deed, which now demands your faulchions, could be executed, if your arms were half useless; for I lead you not against stout warriors, but cowardly monks, on whom I swear to be revenged before sun-set!”—

They were too well accustomed to obey Count Donat at the first motion 106of his finger, to make any remonstrances. In a few minutes all were mounted, and their horses galloped over the echoing draw-bridge into the valley below, whence they disappeared from the eyes of those, who gazed after them, with the rapidity of lightning.

The Castle-inhabitants looked on each other in silent astonishment. The similarity of their present feelings produced a kind of confidence between the Countess and her women; and one of them confessed to her, her being almost certain, that she knew the cause of all this uproar. She would however only impart thus much of her knowledge: on his return homewards the Count had received a letter from 107one who was in the habit of sending him intelligence, and this letter most probably contained the spark, which had kindled such flames in the bosom of Count Donat; for as soon as he had read it to his confidents, he tore it in a thousand pieces, and trampled it under his feet. Besides this, in the midst of a torrent of execrations he had been heard to mention the Abbot of Curwald and his daughter Emmeline.

—“Emmeline and the Abbot?” exclaimed Helen delighted. “Is it possible, that some benevolent Being should have opened his eyes to the miseries of his daughter? Is it to rescue her, that he departed in such haste? Ah! then why have I so long delayed to take the 108nearest and surest way for effecting her deliverance? Had I but confest her danger to Count Donat.... Surely the worst of men could not endure, that his child should be overwhelmed in shame and ruin! The depravity of the Nuns of St. Roswitha must have been concealed from Count Donat, or he never would have made his daughter a member of their society!”—

These reflections, which were only half pronounced by Helen, were totally unintelligible to her attendants, who continued to discuss what had past, and to conjecture what was to follow; this occupied them so entirely, that they did not perceive, that their mistress had left them. She had hastened to her 109husband’s chamber, where she hoped to obtain some insight into the circumstance, which at once both rejoiced and alarmed her.

The fragments of the important letter still lay upon the floor; she eagerly seized them, and having secured herself against interruption, put them again together carefully. She learned from them the truth of what she had just been told; the writer warned Count Donat to beware of the Abbot’s artifices; discovered to him, that St. Roswitha’s Sanctuary was little better than the harem of the Monks of Curwald; and that by enclosing the Lady Emmeline within these sacrilegious walls, he had delivered up his daughter to the passion of her licentious lover.

110No wonder, that information like this should have given a deadly wound to Count Donat’s pride: nor (in spite of his own excesses) was he so totally lost to shame as to endure patiently, that his daughter should become the prey of a libertine. He was almost frantic with rage, and for the first time in his life he drew his sword to punish the insulters of virtue.

Helen sank on her knees, and thanked God for this unexpected accomplishment of her wishes. She sent a thousand prayers after her husband for the good success of his expedition: she even went so far, as to begin to make preparations for receiving the rescued Emmeline, whom in fancy she already 111prest to her heart; and when this agreeable occupation was finished, she turned her thoughts towards guessing at the benevolent writer of the letter, which had induced the father to hasten to preserve his child.

Poor simple Helen! it entered not into her thoughts (and it was not till long after, that she made the discovery) that villainy often performs a seemingly virtuous action, in order to forward its own unholy designs. She knew not, that the author of that letter was Wolfenrad. It seems, that those oppressors of Rhœtian and Helvetian liberty, the lord governors and their assistants, carried on a very close though secret understanding with some of the most potent 112noblemen, whose object it was equally to bring the inhabitants of these unfortunate countries still more beneath the yoke, and to build upon their subjection the fabric of their own power and grandeur. Among the secret allies of Gessler and Landenberg, Count Donat and the Abbot of Curwald were the most distinguished; and Wolfenrad on account of his well-known skill in penmanship was frequently employed by both the governors to carry on their correspondence both with Curwald and Sargans.

Still the fact was, that neither of these parties meant honestly to each other. Donat and the Abbot were determined only to go hand in hand with 113the vice-regents so long, as it suited their own views; and these on the other side intended, as soon as they had derived as much benefit as they could from the assistance of the Count and his ecclesiastical ally, to excite a quarrel between them, and then join with the one in plundering the other.

We have already seen, how imprudently Amabel had laid her secrets open to Wolfenrad. Her letters to Emmeline passed through his hands, and he missed not this opportunity to increase his knowledge of the affairs of the Count of Carlsheim; and though Emmeline’s letters to Amabel were not confided to him, by one artifice or another he had not failed to obtain a sight of them. 114Bloomberg’s simple wife observed indeed, that the seal of Emmeline’s packet had been forced; but she little guest by whom.

The contents of this letter immediately furnished him with the most certain means for producing an irreconcileable hatred between Count Donat and the potent Abbot of Curwald. The power of the latter was beginning to appear dangerous to the Lord Governors; but they could expect nothing but an accession of strength to themselves, while the Count of Carlsheim and the Abbot were mutually weakening themselves in feudal skirmishes. Such was Wolfenrad’s object in writing this warning-letter, whose author was loaded 115with blessings by the unsuspicious Helen, while waiting with a throbbing heart for the return of her Lord.

The night arrived. She now thought no longer of attempting to open the door of the mysterious chamber, which she had meant to attempt at this hour, since a principal object of her wish to visit the Hermitage was already accomplished. Besides, the design could not then have been possibly executed, since every one in the Castle was still awake, and waiting with impatience for Count Donat’s return.

It was almost morning, when some of her attendants rushed with looks of terror into Helen’s apartment, and entreated her to ascend the upper platform, 116whence she would discern towards the west indubitable marks of some dreadful conflagration.

—“God preserve us from some mishap!” exclaimed Helen, while she followed her women to the battlements; the whole quarter of the heavens towards Curwald seemed one blaze of red!—“Oh! Donat, Donat, what hast thou done? Were there no gentler means?—Emmeline, my poor Emmeline, where art thou at this moment?”—

Helen’s fears were but too well-founded. Donat, in doing what he thought it right to do, had done it in his usual manner. Wolfenrad’s letter had given him some hints of the midnight revels, which were frequently carried 117on between the inhabitants of the adjacent Convents of Curwald and St. Roswitha. He made enquiries of the neighbouring peasants, who were no friends of these ecclesiastical libertines; their report confirmed the truth of Wolfenrad’s assertions; and an old man (who declared himself particularly well informed respecting these disgraceful secrets) added—“that on that very night there was to be a superb entertainment given to celebrate the conversion of a Nun, who was the last admitted.”—

—“You may easily guess, valiant knight,” continued the old man, “what they mean by her conversion. I suppose the lady (I saw her brought into the 118Convent myself, and she seemed to be an angel of innocence and beauty) was a little violent at first; and so they have at last succeeded in taming her stern morality, as many another has been tamed in the same way before her.”—

—“Good heavens!” exclaimed one of the least depraved among Count Donat’s knights; “are such things spoken of in these parts so openly, and yet is Justice silent, and does the Bishop of Coira take no notice of such abominations?”—

—“Oh! the Lord have mercy on me, Sir Knight,” answered the old man, “such things are not talked of openly, or so many fathers would not 119plunge their children into yonder abyss of infamy! I warrant you, the parents of this converted damsel little thought, when they sent her to St. Roswitha, that they were placing the sweet creature in Satan’s own claws. But when one is speaking to gallant warriors like yourselves, who are able, and perhaps willing to help us, one must be open-hearted. I see that you are all well-armed, and yonder tall gentleman with his eye-brows bent so sternly and his hands clenched seems to feel for what we poor country-folks must suffer under the dominion of these voluptuous Monks, who make us contribute the chief part of our hard-earned gains to the support of their luxury. As to the 120Bishop of Coira.... I am afraid, you are in the right about him! The notice which he takes.... Aye; were old Hugo of Werdenberg still bishop indeed.... But the present Bishop.... Well! well! he and his boon-companion, the Abbot of St. Gall, make a pair of worthies indeed!”—

While his knights were carrying on this discourse with the peasants, their Lord, whom fury had almost deprived of his senses, was considering what was to be done: the resolution which he took was worthy of his character, was worthy of no one but himself. Entrance into either of the two convents was demanded in vain; every other proposal which his attendants suggested, 121was rejected as incompetent to effect his object; at length his commands were obeyed, and by midnight St. Roswitha’s Sanctuary was enveloped in flames. It’s true, that a spark of paternal love still glimmered in his heart for the unfortunate Emmeline; but the idea, that in all probability she also had been converted after the fashion of the sisterhood, soon extinguished it, and he resolved to hide her and his shame together in the ashes of St. Roswitha. Impressed with this idea—“Drive them back into the flames!” roared the inhuman Donat, whenever either Friar or Nun tried to rescue themselves from the conflagration, without deigning to examine whether Emmeline might not be one of 122those unfortunates. The number of monks, whom the flames compelled to attempt their escape from St. Roswitha at this undue time of night, confirmed the reports of the mode of life practised in the convents; and the dresses of the Nuns, who had been arrayed for the feast, proclaimed how little their hearts were estranged from worldly vanities. The fire continued to spread; it now caught the adjacent Abbey of Curwald, and before day-break there remained of both the Sanctuaries and their infamous inhabitants nothing but heaps of smoaking ruins^[2].

123Such was the cause of those flames, whose reflexion on the sky excited so much consternation at Sargans: Helen’s heart had not throbbed with sad forebodings without necessity. In the course of the morning Donat returned home, and returned without Emmeline!

Helen flew to meet him, and eagerly enquired, where was his daughter? His answer was a short and cold narrative of the dreadful transaction, which had just taken place, and the consequence was, that overpowered with horror Helen fell senseless at the monster’s feet. When she recovered, her first words were to ask, where he had placed Emmeline, (for she doubted not, 124that previous to firing the Convent he had provided for his daughter’s safety,) and unfortunately her question was so worded, that it betrayed her more intimate knowledge of the business, than was by any means suspected by Donat. This discovery converted his unfeeling coldness into a degree of fury, that nearly approached delirium. He seized her roughly by the arm, and demanded, in a voice of thunder, how she came to be so well acquainted with his affairs? The unfortunate knew no other way of extricating herself from this dilemma, than repeating what she had heard mentioned by one of her attendants respecting Wolfenrad’s letter, which (she confest) had so strongly excited her anxiety 125about Emmeline, that she had not scrupled to piece the fragments again together. The storm of rage was now diverted from Helen to the woman, who had given her mistress this intelligence, and who had it in her power to disclose much more important secrets, if she had thought proper.

Incensed at Count Donat’s ill-treatment of her, for which she considered herself as indebted to Helen, Jutta resolved to disclose in her turn all that she thought most likely to injure her mistress. Accordingly she began an accusation, which among a thousand falsehoods contained some truths, calculated to make Helen shudder as she listened to them.

126The Countess (Jutta said) had some time before received a packet from an unknown messenger, who afterwards quitted the Castle with all speed, and whose arrival she ordered to be concealed from her husband. She had also received several letters from the hands of the dying Bertha; after reading which she had been frequently seen loitering about the door of that chamber, which (on account of the strange noises frequently heard within) was supposed to be haunted. Nay, on the night before last she had actually tried to force back the locks, but had been scared away, by hearing Jutta’s rosary fall on the ground, while she was watching her Lady’s proceedings concealed behind 127St. Martin’s statue. She had afterwards seen through the key-hole the Countess busily employed in writing, and during the confusion which followed Count Donat’s arrival, had found means to get the letters into her possession; which to confirm her story Jutta was now ready to lay before him.

These heavy charges against Helen failed not to produce the effect intended. Donat ordered the letters to be brought immediately: He was no scholar; yet was he not so totally deficient in the knowledge of writing, but that he could clearly decypher the addresses, which were written in large characters. His eyes flashed fire, while he spelt the names of “Eginhart of 128Torrenburg,” “the Abbot of Curwald,” and “Urania Venosta, the widowed Countess of Carlsheim and Sargans.” These directions would have been sufficient to condemn the poor Helen, even had she been tried by a more impartial judge. It was certain, that these three persons were her husband’s bitterest enemies; with what propriety then could she be engaged in a secret correspondence with them? In particular, what motive could she have for writing to the Count of Torrenburg, who was her former lover, and had been so long her destined bridegroom? Alas! poor Helen! appearances were sorely against thee! Nor would Donat’s fury give him time to enquire further into the 129business. In a paroxysm of rage he tore the letters into a thousand fragments, and pronounced Helen to be in a secret correspondence with his implacable foe, the Countess Urania for the purpose of betraying him to his enemies; he asserted also, that she had been privy to the Abbot’s designs upon his daughter, and had encouraged them in order to be revenged on the father; and that she was still in love with the Count of Torrenburg and meant to have fled to him from Sargans, an intention which was sufficiently proved by her midnight efforts to obtain entrance into that chamber, which concealed a private outlet from the Castle. It’s true, that finding Emmeline had quitted that chamber of 130her own accord, and thinking the knowledge of the secret passage might be of use to himself on some future occasion, the Abbot had not mentioned to Count Donat his suspicions, that such a passage existed; and the room had been merely shut up from the report of its being haunted. But Wolfenrad had learned this secret from the perusal of Amalberga’s letter to Emmeline, and had communicated it to the Count, hoping thereby to increase the merit of his services. Now then Donat had no doubt, that the noises, which had been heard in that chamber, proceeded from no ghosts, but from persons who were waiting to assist his wife in her projected flight. Under the influence of these 131impressions, Helen was held convicted of the most infamous designs, and condemned to suffer the most exemplary chastisement. She was instantly confined in one of the strongest dungeons, probably in that where Urania had shed so many tears; in the mean while her tyrant with his confidents and those women of the Castle who were most her enemies, sat in council to decide, what punishment would be sufficiently severe to suit her crime.

I am in doubt as to Donat’s reasons for not immediately proceeding to the last extremities with his wife: that sentiment towards her, which he had chosen to dignify with the name of love, had long ago disappeared; and 132his late atrocious act, which had proved the destruction of the whole Orders of Curwald and St. Roswitha, had left him no scruples to overcome. One murder more or less, what did that signify to a man, who had arrived at so dreadful a height of guilt?—The most probable cause for Donat’s moderation was, fear: Helen was the Count of Homburg’s daughter; was niece to the Count of Mayenfield; and had been affianced to the Count of Torrenburg, who it was well known, would not suffer her to be injured with impunity. These considerations made Donat hesitate, as to the course which he was now to pursue.

Donat past two days in resolving, 133whether it would not be possible to bring Helen to confess herself guilty. This would justify him in the eyes of her relations for any severity, which he might think proper to inflict upon her; but when he considered his wife’s character, he saw little prospect of persuading her to declare herself infamous. In the mean while Helen was suffered to remain tranquil in her dungeon; and her husband was still meditating how to avoid the vengeance of her friends, when the Castle was unexpectedly attacked by enemies incensed upon a different account. He might indeed have foreseen, that the Bishop of Coira would not pass over the destruction of Cloister-Curwald in silence; occupied 134however by his anger against Helen, Donat had bestowed no thought upon the Bishop; and the avengers of the Monks of Curwald were at the gates of Sargans, before any one had even bestowed a thought on the possibility of such an attack.

Helen heard from her prison the noise of the assault, the shouts of the victors, and the expiring groans of those who fell beneath their swords; but her spirit was too much broken to enable her to guess at what was passing, or to offer up prayers or wishes for the success of either party. She lay almost in a state of insensibility, when the door of her dungeon was thrown open. The Count of Carlsheim entered, snatched her 135rudely from the earth, and more by gestures than speech, commanded her attendance. She followed her conductor in silence, like a lamb to the slaughter; he saw, that she was scarcely able to move through weakness, and either out of compassion or cruelty compelled her to swallow a cordial. She gradually recovered herself sufficiently to remark, that her husband was habited like a pilgrim on the point of setting out on some long journey, and that he guided her towards a part of the Castle remote from the clamour of the combat. Here they found a domestic waiting with a torch, who in a low voice and with few words assured his Lord, that the passage was still safe. A door, artfully 136concealed in the wall, was now unlocked, and Helen was commanded to ascend the stair-case, which presented itself before her.

She was too wreak, too hopeless, to think it worth while to make any reflections on Donat’s unaccountable conduct in regaining the upper apartments of the fortress, (which, she was convinced, was already in the enemy’s possession,) instead of employing these precious moments to effect his escape. They now arrived at the door of that chamber, which concealed the entrance to the subterraneous passages: the touch of a single key was sufficient to make all the seven locks fly back. Donat entered, and compelled his unhappy 137wife to follow him; he then took the torch from the domestic, and commanded him to execute his orders without delay, and then to provide for his own safety. The servant bowed, and retired.

Now then Helen was at length in that very spot, which she had so anxiously wished to visit, but not with such a companion. Donat paused for a moment; and she could hear distinctly, that the domestic fastened the door through which she had entered, not omitting a single lock. Her tyrant left her no time for reflecting on the purpose for which she had been conducted hither; he hastened to unclose the secret door which led to Urania’s 138baths, dragged her through it, and then commanded her to proceed, having first taken care to fasten the door after him.

Helen obeyed, and as she moved slowly forwards, through the subterraneous passages, she observed that her husband occasionally examined the side-walls with his hand or foot. At length he stopped before a small door half sunk in the ground; he forced it open with a violence which shook the whole cavern, and held his torch within, in order to examine it.

—“Yes, yes!” said he, “this is it! Found in good time!—Helen, return! or canst thou find the way through these vaults without assistance?”—

She dragged her feeble steps towards 139him: he grasped her arm, and dashed her with violence down a few steps terminating in a small cave. She sank on the ground with a shriek of pain, which her tyrant answered by a burst of diabolical laughter.

—“Here, traitress!” he exclaimed; “here is the place of your punishment and your perdition; and here is the last nourishment, which you shall ever receive on this side the grave. I give it not out of compassion, but that you may not perish in your present state of stupor, and thus escape the sense of what I have doomed you to suffer.—Eat! revive to the full consciousness of your misery; then die in agony, as others have died here before you!”—

140Thus saying, he placed by her side a loaf of bread and a small flask of water, which he had brought with him in his pilgrim’s scrip. She was not in a condition to make him any answer, and listened in morbid silence, while he quitted the cave, flinging the door after him with violence, and carefully barricading it on the outside to prevent her escape.

Nothing now animated the frame of Helen but mere animal life; and even that was half extinguished by the shock which she had sustained the day before and by long abstinence from all nourishment. She was scarcely conscious of what had past, and it afterwards cost her no little difficulty to recall the recollection 141of it. Instinct made her seize eagerly the food, of which she had so long been deprived; and the relief, which this afforded her, was the first thing, which brought her to herself, and gave her spirits to ask the question—“What has happened to me? Whither have I been conveyed?”—She thought, that she must be the sport of some fantastic vision, and with the sensation of being totally exhausted she closed her eyes, and endeavoured to end her dream.

A violent shock, which made the hollow ground tremble beneath her, forced her to start up in terror; and she now had strength and recollection sufficient to rush forward a few paces, 142which brought her to the steps, down which Count Donat had so lately dashed her. An instant after she was sensible of a second shock like that of an earthquake, and which was accompanied by a noise so loud, that for a few moments she was completely stunned. On recovering herself, she was sensible of a strong current of air blowing into the cave: her heart beat violently with hope and fear, while she thought it possible, that the late earthquake might have forced the dungeon open. She hastened up the steps, and with rapture ascertained by the touch that the door had been driven from its fastenings, and that nothing prevented her from quitting her prison. With as much speed, as her extreme 143weakness and the total obscurity would permit, she hastened to profit by this interposition of Providence. She crept along slowly and cautiously, when on turning a corner she perceived a distant gleam of light. With increased hopes she made the best of her way towards it, and found, that it proceeded from Count Donat’s torch, as it lay half extinguished in the rubbish, among which it had fallen.

Without giving herself time to guess, what motive could have induced her husband to throw away his only guide through the gloom, or how he could have found his way out of these intricate passages without its aid, she caught it eagerly from the ground, cleared the 144wick from the dust with which it was clogged, and made the flame burn brightly; while she frequently cast a look of anxiety round her, lest some one should be advancing to rob her of this invaluable prize. This apprehension made her proceed with still greater exertion of speed; but she had not gone far, before her way was barred by large heaps of stones and earth: she fancied too, that she heard a faint murmur at no great distance, like some one groaning. She stopped; she listened;—it struck her, that from beneath a pile of stones, which seemed to have lately fallen down, there came a voice, whose accents were familiar to her; but before she could recover herself from the 145horror, which this idea occasioned her sufficiently to ascertain the truth of her suspicions, a third shock, similar to the two first, but if possible more violent and terrible, overpowered her faculties so completely, that she sank upon the earth, unable to move for several minutes. Fortunately her torch was not extinguished by her fall. She rose; the way, so lately open before her, was now completely blocked up by the earth, which had fallen in; and it seemed to her in the first moments of terror, that she saw the roof tottering above, and felt the ground giving way beneath her. Fear gave her strength, and she fled hastily down a side passage, which accident presented to her, nor rested, 146till she thought, that the place, which she had reached, was not totally unknown to her. She stopped, and looking down discovered lying on the earth, torn from its hinges, and considerably shattered the low door of that dungeon, which Donat had destined for her grave.

She now exerted her whole strength to pass onwards, without falling into an enormous chasm, which had been formed by the late convulsion, and which occupied almost the whole breadth of the passage. She shuddered, as she remarked, that the earth had fallen into the dungeon, and would infallibly have smothered her, had she remained there but a few minutes longer.

She reached the opposite side of the 147chasm with much difficulty, but unhurt. She was now certain, that the Castle was at no great distance: but she dreaded either to miss the proper road, or to find it rendered impassable by earth and rubbish. Should either happen, she had no alternative left but perishing of hunger in these frightful dungeons: nor had she much time left her for deliberation, since her torch already began to draw towards its end. Observing this, she rushed forwards with desperate resolution, and committed herself to the guidance of chance. Accident, or rather a benevolent Providence directed her footsteps; and she reached the staircase and Urania’s chamber, before her strength entirely failed 148her. Here then she rested at length; but that rest was insensibility.

After some time her recollection returned. She raised herself, and saw with surprise, that the chamber, which Donat to favour his escape had caused to be fastened so carefully, was filled with people. She felt, that they conveyed her to a couch, and rendered her every possible assistance; and she heard them make a thousand kind enquiries respecting her health and her wishes: but her strength both of mind and body was so completely exhausted, that she found it impossible to pronounce a word, or even make a sign, that she was sensible of their attentions.

It was pain, which enabled her to give 149the first token of sensation. Her arms and bosom were much bruised, and the blood streamed copiously from a wound on her head. She has never been able to recollect, whether she received these injuries, when Donat threw her down the dungeon steps, or from her being struck by the falling stones while making her escape. The persons, who surrounded her couch, lost no time in binding up her wounds, and the pain of this operation forced from her a feeble cry. Finding that she was now sensible, they repeated their enquiries as to what had happened to her, and how she had been brought into so terrible a condition. She stammered out the word “earthquake!” Where was Count Donat, was the next 150demand, which she answered by pointing to the private door conducting to the vaults.

She was soon removed to a more quiet chamber, and the care which was taken of her convinced her, that she had not fallen into the hands of enemies.

On the fourth day she was already declared to be convalescent; and it was announced to her, that the Commander of the Bishop of Coira’s forces, which had, conquered the Castle, requested an audience of her. She consented to receive him, and shortly after a young man of prepossessing appearance entered the room.

—“Noble Lady,” said he, “though you are the wife of the cruel owner of 151this fortress, we are well aware, that you are not a partner in his crimes. His people are some of them slain; others have betaken themselves to flight; and it is in vain, that we have endeavoured to find the place of his concealment. Your pointing out the door into the vaults has not been sufficient; he cannot have made his escape through that passage, since the falling-in of the roof has rendered it impracticable; and had he in his flight been overtaken by the vengeance of Heaven, how could you have avoided the sharing his fate? Be frank with us, noble Lady; I conjure you in the name of humanity, tell us, where he is concealed, and depend on our dealing 152better with him, than he has been accustomed to deal with others.”—

Helen mustered up all her strength, and endeavoured to relate the circumstances of her escape: but anxiety to be as brief as possible, and her endeavours to conceal Donat’s ill-usage of her, (which she thought, duty to her husband forbade her revealing,) rendered every thing she said obscure and improbable. She mentioned the earthquake, and to prove it showed the bruises and wounds, which it had occasioned her. The stranger, however, assured her, that she must have received them in some other manner, for that no one in the Castle had perceived the slightest symptoms of an earthquake.

153Helen, however, endeavoured to establish her assertion; and while recalling the various circumstances which had passed in the caverns, she suddenly recollected the groans, which had struck her hearing. She earnestly entreated, that the heap of rubbish might be examined; she was obeyed; the stones were removed, and beneath them was discovered the shattered and lifeless form of the Count of Carlsheim.

It was now the general opinion, that the violence which Donat had used in forcing open the dungeon-door, had shattered the rotten cavern, had made the supports crack, and had brought down the roof, whose fall had involved in it his own destruction.

154Helen’s horror at this discovery, her urgent entreaties that the corse might have christian burial, and the many hours which she past in prayers for the repose of Donat’s spirit, startled the present masters of the Castle not a little. They began to suspect, that she was not by any means so innocent a creature, and so unfortunate a victim of conjugal tyranny, as she had been represented, and as in truth she was. They therefore ceased to trouble her with questions, considering her as the confidante and accomplice of Count Donat’s crimes; but as they had no other fault to lay to her charge, and as the power of her relations compelled them to treat her with respect, as soon as she was 155sufficiently recovered, she was removed to the Convent of Zurich, and left there with a hint by no means equivocal,—“that all things considered, she would do well to pass the remainder of her days within that sanctuary.”—

Helen’s joy at understanding, that she had been conveyed to Zurich, was indescribable: she immediately requested to see the venerable Countess Urania, and discovered to the patroness of her mother both herself and all that had happened. It was now, that her fate seemed disposed to abate its severity. In an unrestrained intercourse with this excellent woman, who received her with open arms, and to whom she unveiled her whole heart, she looked forward to a 156life of tranquil happiness. Urania’s conversation poured balsam into her wounded soul, and explained to her many things, which had hitherto appeared to her unaccountable. Donat’s resolution to make her his wife was produced by a former passion, which he had entertained for her mother, and by a desire to be revenged on her father, the Count of Homburg; and that unknown cavern to which he had conducted her, was doubtless the same, in which (as it was reported) the worthy father of such a son had starved to death two of the fugitive monks of Curwald. Oh! Towers of Sargans, what crimes have been committed within your gloomy bounds! And will then the vengeance 157of the Eternal Judge sleep for ever? Will neither the heavens rain down fire to consume you, nor the earth unclose to swallow you in its womb, and thus prevent you from reminding posterity of those horrible acts, to which you have been so long a witness?—Yet the blood of your barbarous master has purified you, and you are now the abode of innocence and virtue. Peace, long peace be with you, and be with your lawful possessors; and may the curse of retribution only fall on those, who shall dare to deprive those possessors of their right!

Solitude and experience sometimes endow the soul, which has withdrawn itself from earth to devote itself to Heaven, with a prophetic power. Even 158now I see into futurity! I see, that the family of Carlsheim and Sargans, which has already suffered so much, has still much more to suffer; but again I say it—“Alas for those, by whom the descendants of Amalberga and Emmeline shall be robbed of their lawful inheritance, and compelled to experience the calamities of their predecessors.”—

I have deviated from my narrative, to which I now return.—Helen lived tranquil by Urania’s side, equally unconscious of the evil reports, which were circulated respecting her late misfortunes by her enemies, and of the benevolent intentions of her powerful friends. Her parents soon visited her at Zurich, and now that she was a 159widow, requested her to accept the hand of her former bridegroom, the Count of Torrenburg: but Helen knew but too well, that no Count of Torrenburg existed for her. She had courageously torn his image from her heart; and she avowed to her friends her knowledge of his passion for Amalberga, and declared, that to see them happy in the possession of each other was now the only wish of her heart.

Helen’s relations listened to this declaration with no trifling regret: they would willingly have rewarded her for her past sufferings by the certainty, that the remainder of her life would be past in happiness with one of the noblest of Helvetian youths. But they had brought 160with them (for the purpose of persuading Helen to the proposed marriage) some of Torrenburg’s relations, to whom his passion for Amalberga was by no means so unpleasant a subject. She was now a rich heiress; as Count Donat’s only surviving daughter, she was entitled to the extensive domains of Carlsheim and Sargans, and consequently she was a much more advantageous match than Helen. This gave rise to some disputes between the friends of the different parties: but the solemn declaration of Count Donat’s widow, that she never would lay aside that name, at length silenced every opposition; and she obtained from them all a promise, that they would mutually exert themselves 161to accomplish the only wish, which she indulged on this side of the grave; namely, the union of Eginhart of Torrenburg with Amalberga of Sargans. They were informed by her, that according to Amabel’s letter the lady was concealed in the Convent of Engelberg, and thither they hastened to apprize her of the happiness, which awaited her.

I need not say, that they sought her there in vain; the Count of Torrenburg’s endeavours to discover her were also unsuccessful, till the arrival of Bloomberg, who assured him, that she must be in Landenberg’s power, and that the most likely place to look for her was the Fortress of Rassburg. The consequence of this information was a bond of union 162between Torrenburg and the Friends of Freedom against Landenberg and his brother in iniquity, the insolent Gessler; and the Count immediately accompanied Bloomberg to Stein, that he might consult with his new allies the best means for effecting Landenberg’s overthrow and Amalberga’s deliverance.

In the mean while William Tell’s plan, for throwing off the Governor’s yoke, and asserting the liberty of his beloved country, had been gradually ripening. The impression, which he and his friends, Walter Forest, Bernsdorf, and the two Melthals, had made upon the general mind was great, and their adherents were numerous; but the 163success of their enterprise still depended entirely upon its being kept a profound secret. Those men, whose plans were soon to burst out into flames terrible as the explosion of a volcano, and to give posterity an example of heroic devotion to the cause of Freedom, were as yet compelled to work in darkness, and arrange their vast designs in corners and by stealth.

It was not till the 28th of December (being the Festival of St. Alexander) that they ventured to muster their numbers in a large meadow near the Lake of the Four Cantons; this was to be their last conference, and even this they took the precaution of holding under covert of the night. The Count of Torrenburg 164and Edmund Bloomberg were also present; but the former by his impatience had nearly ruined the whole design. Conscious of his exalted station, and of the valour of his new allies, he could not endure the degrading idea of skulking about in darkness and concealment, as if he were plotting the execution of some crime. He insisted upon an instant declaration of hostility against Landenberg, and that an attempt to rescue his beloved should be made without delay: it was not without difficulty that William Tell convinced him, how impossible it would be to rescue Amalberga any other way than by artifice, without exposing her to the most imminent danger; and that he persuaded 165him to wait patiently till St. Sylvester’s Eve, when (it was determined) the tyrant should have an open and forcible attack made upon him; though in making that attack, there would still be an absolute necessity for conducting it with the utmost caution.

Amalberga’s friends had obtained some intelligence respecting her present situation. One of Arnold Melthal’s sons, a spirited lad, equally well adapted to daring enterprise and the winding paths of artifice, found means to enter the Fortress of Rassburg in disguise, and examine whether any thing could be attempted towards the rescue of the lady. During her abode on the banks of the Lake of Thun, her sweetness and humility of manners; 166her majestic air accompanied by the condescension of an angel; the little difference which she seemed to make between herself and the girls of the village, whom she honoured with the name of her companions; all these together had made her an universal favourite; and had not every appearance of a chain been hateful in the eyes of the sons of Freedom, it would have been easy for Amalberga to have established herself as the queen of one of the best people that the earth holds, and to have mounted Helvetia’s throne by general acclamation.

To an eager desire for rescuing this adored lady from the power of Landenberg, was now united the wish to gain 167possession of the strong Castle of Rassburg; which would secure to Helvetia the success of all those mighty plans, whose accomplishment still lay concealed within the bosom of futurity.

Alwyn, Arnold Melthal’s son, when he ventured to approach the fortress in disguise, was not aware, that his was one of those countenances, which cannot pass unobserved. Fortunately, the eyes, whose notice he attracted, were those of one, by whom features like his were seldom viewed with displeasure. Landenberg happened to be absent, and had left his fair prisoner to the charge of a female attendant, who had formerly stood high in his estimation for the sake of her own beauty, and who 168now preserved her influence with him by condescending to watch over those, who were in present possession of that heart, to which she was herself become indifferent. Well skilled in manly beauty, she no sooner saw Alwyn pass along with a bucket on his head (for he had obtained entrance into Rassburg under the disguise of a common water-carrier) than she was convinced of his being something better, than his dress denoted. She accosted, and questioned him. His affected simplicity could not deceive her; and he saw himself compelled either to adopt some artifice, or to be reduced to that suspicious silence, which in such a situation would have been scarcely better than a confession of the truth.

169—“And so you continue to deny,” continued the girl, “that there is any secret reason for a man like you being here, habited in a manner to which, I am certain, you have never been accustomed? Young man, be frank with me! I should be sorry to give you over to some other questioner, who might use rough means to obtain an answer, or to order that you should be kept in custody, till the Governor returns. Then tell me honestly at once, who you are, and what motive has brought you hither?”—

Alwyn during this speech had examined the countenance of his new acquaintance, and fancied, that he could read in it marks of a partiality for him 170by no means doubtful. His resolution was taken in a moment, and he threw himself at her feet.

—“What brought me hither?” he exclaimed; “’twas Love, most beautiful of all earthly creatures! But who I am.... Ah! shall I dare to avow myself one of the lowliest among the inhabitants of yonder valley, and thus make it certain, that my suit will be rejected, and myself driven with scorn from the presence of her whom I adore?”—

—“And who is it that you adore?” demanded Ursula.

“You, lovely angel! you!” he exclaimed passionately, while he seized her hand, and prest upon it a thousand kisses; “my heart is devoted to you alone, and your cruelty will kill me!”—

171The astonished and delighted Ursula forced herself from his embrace, and fled; but it was not long before she returned, anxious to convince herself, that her half-faded charms had really made so valuable a conquest. To make a woman’s vanity believe any thing flattering, Heaven knows, is no difficult task; and half an hour was sufficient to leave her no doubt of her triumph. She soon grew weary of playing the prude, and she gave him to understand, that he would not find her heart absolutely marble; and thus did the handsome Alwyn find himself involved in an amour, at whose termination he could not guess, and of which, while it lasted, he thought, that he had but little reason to be vain.

172At present he reaped no great advantages from his artifice. It was impossible to get a sight of Amalberga, or convey to her a hint, that her friends in the valley were making preparations for her rescue. He was also soon compelled to retire by the return of the Governor, who was now frequently absent for days together from Rassburg on account of the popular disturbances, and who could only bestow a few isolated hours on the prosecution of his suit to the heiress of Sargans. As soon as the warder’s horn announced the Governor’s return, Ursula (who trembled, lest her supposed lover should be discovered by others, as he had been by her) requested him to be gone; yet still 173there was a secret means left for him to gain entrance into the fortress of the rock, which (disagreeable as it was) for Amalberga’s sake and the general advantage, he did not refuse to employ. At midnight his doating inamorata used to let a bucket down through a chasm in the wall; the rock was steep and flat; the unwilling Lover was then drawn up to the top, where he was obliged to purchase every little scrap of intelligence, which it was requisite for him to know, by a thousand lies and flattering speeches; every one of which, to an heart filled with Helvetian honesty, was scarcely less painful than the stab of a dagger.

He was rewarded, however, for this 174sacrifice by obtaining the important information, that hitherto Landenberg’s behaviour towards the Lady of Sargans had been restrained within the limits of the most respectful adoration: but that he had assured her with the most dreadful imprecations, that a period was fixed, beyond which he would no longer submit to be the patient victim of her severity. The first day of the ensuing year, he was determined, should make the cruel beauty completely his by fair means or by force. This intelligence induced Alwyn to be more frequent in his midnight visits; he repeated them, till every part of the fortress was become perfectly familiar, and till every little circumstance had been carefully 175gleaned by him, which might assist his friends in their design of storming the fort and rescuing the lovely captive.

By the Festival of St. Sylvester every necessary preparation was completed; and all the machines were ready to be worked at once in various parts of the country, which might secure the success of an enterprise, of whose views the release of an imprisoned damsel made but a very trifling part—those views were of the most extensive nature; yet if the plan had failed, in spite of the justice of Tell’s cause posterity would no doubt have branded him with the name of rebel, and confounded him with the common herd of unsuccessful adventurers, who have dared to 176attempt objects beyond their power to attain. But as his plan was arranged with the utmost foresight, and its execution was followed with the most prosperous issue, after-ages have viewed his deed with admiration, have reckoned it as the proudest triumph of the rights of nature over cruelty and oppression, and have bestowed on its author the title of a Hero: so certain is it, that actions are almost always weighed according to their result, and the most impartial judge (without being aware of it) is frequently induced to decide unfairly of events, dazzled by the lustre of the success with which they were attended.

Had nothing but the Count of Torrenburg’s 177inclination been consulted, the attempt, which was to decide upon his future happiness or despair, would not have been deferred till the latest day possible; neither when it was made, would so small a number of men have been employed to carry it into effect. Perhaps in this respect something would have been sacrificed in consideration of the impatience natural to a lover; but Helvetia’s deliverers were not without a certain portion of that obstinacy, which so often accompanies valour and resolution. Torrenburg’s opinion would doubtless have had more influence with them, had he not been a nobleman and one who was able to bring so powerful a force either to their aid or against 178them. They considered the most distant trace of authority over them with abhorrence, and were determined, that every step, which they made in the service of liberty, should be taken of their own free will. It was certain, that the fortress was but ill garrisoned, and that its security consisted solely in its inaccessible situation: in spite therefore of Torrenburg’s entreaties and anger, they resolved, that no more than one hundred men should be allotted for this service; and among these the jealous Helvetians, who could not endure that any hands but their own should break their fetters, would not suffer one of Torrenburg’s warriors to be introduced. It was not without some difficulty, that 179the Count obtained permission to accompany the party himself, and to be the next to Alwyn Melthal, who should penetrate into the Castle of Rassburg.

Never did any summer’s day seem so long to the Count as St. Sylvester’s, while he waited with impatience for the departure of light. No sooner was it dark, than the allies began to assemble by twos and threes from different quarters. It was one of the most gloomy winter nights, that ever favoured a secret enterprise; and the glimmering taper, which was the usual signal for Alwyn to ascend the wall, was not yet discernible. Midnight was already past; still there was no token of Ursula’s approach; when suddenly the trampling 180of horses was heard, and the gleam of approaching torches showed them a body of soldiers coming from the Castle by a path, which was well guarded by sentinels and provided with several draw-bridges. Landenberg was at the head of the troop. Unmoved by her tears and fainting, he had just informed Amalberga, that he should return the next day to hear her final decision; and he was now bending his course to Sarno, in order to exact the usual new-year’s gift from the inhabitants of the Valley, and hear them renew the oath of submission to their Leige-Lord, the Emperor. It was an established custom of the vice-gerents to receive from the hands of the vassals on the first day of 181the new year, what little had escaped their extortion during the old one; in return for which they never failed to promise greater indulgence for the future, nor in spite of that promise to conduct themselves with increased oppression.

As he journeyed onwards, Landenberg recapitulated to himself the advantages, which this year had produced to him; the quantity of wealth which he had collected in gold, jewels, and other valuables; the possession of the lovely Amalberga, whom he already looked upon as his own; and above all, the power of throwing off the wearisome mask of hypocrisy, which he had at first been compelled to assume.

182—“As to Gessler’s death,” said he to himself, “that has rather improved my situation, than done me any harm. It has relieved me from the rival of my greatness, and authorises me to exercise that severity, which is necessary for my own views, under the fair-sounding name of just revenge. These late unavailing efforts to oppose my will have convinced me, that I have to do with a weak, powerless people, who may be incensed indeed so far as to make some show of resistance at first, but whom firmness and chastisement will soon reduce within the limits of abject submission. There are not many Tells among them, God be thanked! He was the only man whom I feared, and luckily 183he is either dead, or a voluntary exile in some distant country; report says the former; but let him be where he will, so he be not here to spirit up my slaves against me with his poisonous influence. My slaves? Right; they are mine, no other’s. The ensuing year will, I trust, make clear to the world, for whom I am labouring, and whose advantage and peril are most implicated in the business! Then when I have attained the height at which I aim, doubtless my new dignity being shared with their adored Amalberga will have no slight influence in reconciling these people to my authority; and her popularity will induce them to protect her husband against the wrath of the deceived Emperor. 184The precious prize once secure, I shall then have no need of this assumed severity; the affection of my subjects will suffice to preserve them in obedience; I shall be at liberty to follow the bent of my inclinations by ruling with a gentle sway; and all of us will at once be made happy, Amalberga, myself, and the country which we govern.”—

Such was the subject of Landenberg’s reflections, many of which he occasionally imparted to some of his confidential attendants, as he rode along, totally unconscious of the foes so near him, and of the danger which threatened the speedy overthrow of all his ambitious hopes and projects. Here and there a sentence or two spoken in a louder 185voice than ordinary reached the hearing of the Helvetians, who were concealed among the various caverns Of the Castle-rock: and then was many a sword half drawn from the scabbard to impose eternal silence upon the insolent boaster. The vigilance of the prudent chiefs, however, and consideration for the public welfare compelled them to repress their unseasonable zeal. An over-hasty attack would have been sufficient to ruin every thing. Landenberg, it’s true, would probably have perished, but only to make room for a successor perhaps even worse than himself. The object here was not to make away with a single tyrant; no, it was to throw off a disgraceful yoke for ever, and to bequeath 186the precious treasure Liberty to their children, and to the children of their children even down to the latest posterity. Landenberg therefore was suffered to proceed with his attendants unmolested; nothing gave them warning of the danger, which lurked so near, except now and then a low whispering noise among the brambles, which made their hair stand an end, for it was now the ghostly hour; and as they dreaded its being something supernatural, the sound only served to make those who heard it pursue their course with the greater speed.

Scarcely had the last horseman disappeared in the farther part of the Valley, or rather scarcely had darkness 187dropt her thick curtain between the enemies; scarcely had the mountain-echoes ceased to reverberate the last sound of the hoofs of their steeds, when Alwyn’s guiding-star made its appearance: Ursula’s lamp was seen glimmering on the battlements above. A few hasty words were spoken among the confederates respecting the conduct of the enterprise; the last directions were given; and then young Melthal sprang into the bucket destined to convey him to her who expected him so impatiently, and whom he now met for the last time with expressions of pretended love. It was no trifling sacrifice, which poor Alwyn made on this occasion to the general welfare. To conceal the feelings of 188his honest guileless heart; to dissemble love for one who was totally indifferent to him; in many a rude tempestuous night to encounter dangers, such as nothing but the most sincere and ardent passion would have induced any other man to risk; and then at last to throw aside the mask, and to hear himself called a betrayer and a hypocrite, and called so with justice; this task was a most painful one, and keenly did Alwyn feel that his situation was disgraceful. Yet he thought, that even this sacrifice was not too much to make for his native land; and duty and patriotism made him submit to do that, which was of all things the most cruel to his feelings, and repugnant to his nature; 189they made him submit to play the hypocrite.

Silently lamenting the ignominious character which he was obliged to sustain, Alwyn followed his supposed mistress to a retired chamber, where (she told him) they should be secure from disturbance till morning; for hitherto the fear of discovery had only suffered their interviews to last for a few minutes. But at the moment when she expected to receive the kiss of ardent love, and when she turned to her lover after having carefully closed the door, to her utter astonishment a gag was forced into her half-opened mouth; and then seizing her arms, her supposed admirer fastened them with strong 190cords to the bed-posts. It is true, that the general safety had been declared to require the death of this wretched creature; but the noble heart of Alwyn revolted at the idea. Even the precautions, which circumstances now made it absolutely necessary for him to take, caused his cheeks to burn with indignation against himself; he took care to confine Ursula’s hands in such a way, that the pressure of the bonds could give her no pain; nor could he resolve to leave even a creature, whom in his heart he despised, a prey to absolute despair.

—“Fear nothing, Ursula,” said he in a gentle voice, while quitting the room; “every thing shall be explained 191shortly, and on my soul no harm shall happen to you”—a promise, which was religiously fulfilled.

Alwyn now hastened back to the battlements, and drew up the Count of Torrenburg in the same manner, by which he had ascended himself; and anxious as Eginhart was to fly to Amalberga’s assistance, still did he not quit his station, till two more of the confederates were safely landed on the platform of the Castle. These in their turn rendered the same service to their companions, and a sufficient number were soon mustered within the wails to authorize their proceeding to more hazardous attempts. Half of them seized the sleeping sentinels, while the rest 192without noise made the best of their way to the great gate. They opened it, and the approach through the rock was soon made practicable for the remainder of their friends, whom time had not permitted to ascend in the bucket.

No slight expectations had been entertained by the Helvetians, that this midnight attack would have made them masters of Rassburg, without its costing them a single drop of blood; but they had miscounted the strength of the garrison. Sufficient opposition was made to compel the besiegers to purchase their conquest dearly. Many a brave Helvetian bit the dust, and shared the grave of the enemy, who had just 193expired at his feet. The dawn of morning discovered the walls of the Castle of the Rock dyed with the blood both of friends and foes. By the time that the sun was fully risen, the work was completed; Helvetia’s sons had achieved their object, and the sheaths once more received their bloody swords. The chiefs now employed themselves in giving orders and making dispositions to preserve their conquest, while Torrenburg flew to deliver his Amalberga. He found her in a stately chamber; she was on her knees praying for him. The noise of the combat had roused her from sleep; yet convinced that her situation could not alter for the worse, she experienced no alarm for herself, till as the clash of arms occasionally drew nearer to her chamber door, she 194heard the name of Torrenburg shouted, and concluded, that he was among the combatants: then indeed she trembled, and sought refuge from her terrors in supplication to her Patron-Saint. The heart of the pious girl was full of confidence in the Divine justice: she doubted not, that the Ruler of all things had decreed every thing for the best; she knew, that neither herself nor Torrenburg had merited to suffer, and she trusted, that Heaven would act towards her with gentleness. In her supplications therefore she rather spoke of the goodness of Providence, than implored its help: or if she prayed for any thing, it was that a speedy stop might be put to the shedding of blood, of whose flowing she was but too well convinced by the clashing of arms, and the dying groans of 195some, who were slaughtered at no great distance from her chamber.

A long and fearful silence now succeeded. Suddenly her door was thrown open, and a knight in complete armour entered the room. He hastened towards her, raised his visor, and well did she recollect the noble countenance of him, whose portrait was engraved on her heart in characters indelible: but she recollected also his engagements to Helen; she was conscious of her danger and the weakness of her heart, and attempted to force away the hand, which he had seized, and prest to his lips with passion. It was long, before she recovered from her surprise and confusion sufficiently to comprehend the whole extent of those delightful views, which were now presented before her by indulgent Fortune.

196A Nun is but a sorry describer of love-scenes; and she, who traces this narrative, though she may not perhaps have always been a stranger to tender sentiments, still is unwilling to dwell longer than is necessary upon those, which filled the heart of the happy Amalberga, when she sank into her lover’s arms, and murmured—“Torrenburg, I am thine!”—I have since been assured, that in these first moments of rapture the name of Helen was not forgotten. In truth some trifling recollection, some little portion of gratitude at least was due to the unfortunate, who to procure the happiness of Amalberga and Torrenburg had not hesitated to immolate her own. The sacrifice was indeed a most difficult and painful one; but never did Helen once regret, that she had made it.

197While the lovers forgot every thing in the contemplation of those flattering prospects, which futurity showed them on all sides; and while the Helvetians were employed in taking every possible precaution, that might preserve to them the Fortress, of which they had so valiantly obtained possession; the other Patriots (as had been previously arranged) were carrying their glorious designs into execution in different parts of the country.

Peregrine of Landenberg had reached Castle-Sarno before day-break. He slept for a few hours, and then rose to welcome the day, which, he was determined, should see him the husband of the Heiress of Sargans. He had commanded, that towards evening a strong guard should conduct her thither from Rassburg, when a Friar, belonging 198to the Abbot of St. Gall, and who was entirely devoted to the Governor, had engaged to perform the marriage ceremony between them: whether with her consent, or without it, the good father cared but little.

Anxious to give as creditable an appearance as possible to this most important transaction of his life, Landenberg thought it best for the general edification to open the day’s business by walking in solemn procession to the neighbouring church. For this purpose he was already descending the great staircase accompanied by a numerous train of courtiers, when he was informed, that the inhabitants of the adjacent districts had assembled in the valley below, each bringing the accustomed New-year’s offering.

199Landenberg had great confidence in omens; he looked upon it as a pledge of future good fortune, that before he had set his foot without the Castle-walls, his course was impeded by presents. The procession to the church was deferred for awhile: part of his attendants were sent to take charge of the gifts, which had been brought to him; of the fatted oxen, the corn, the fruit, the cloth woven by the skilful hands of the industrious Helvetian housewives; the casks of wine; and here and there a few bags of coin, which were not the least welcome part of the offerings. In the mean while the Governor himself remained in the front-court, attended by a few of his most confidential attendants, and prepared for the reception of “the slaves of his servants,” as it 200was usual for him to term the brave Helvetians.

The deputation arrived. It consisted of fifty persons, with Henric Melthal at their head, Henric, on whose locks eighty winters had now shed their snows.

—“Lord Governor,” said the venerable man, approaching Landenberg, “the old year expired yesterday; the new one begins to-day. How you have sustained the character of Imperial Majesty among the opprest children of a free-born nation, that is your affair. How we begin the new, is our’s! Be God the judge between you and us, Peregrine of Landenberg; God, who has already judged Gessler, as he will judge you! But as for you, my sons, do as ye see me do, nor hesitate to lay down your lives in the cause of liberty and justice.”—

201It is inconceivable to me, how the daring old man was suffered to proceed so far in his speech. The Almighty must have struck a panic into the tyrant and his base dependents; but now recovering themselves, they hastily drew their side-weapons, which (from being rather intended for ornament than use, and able to do but little injury) were generally called “holy-swords.” Some, who were unprovided with even these weak instruments, hastened into the Castle in search of arms; in the mean while old Melthal and his trusty companions had drawn concealed pike-heads from under their cloaks, which they fixed dexterously and with promptitude on the tops of their long white staves; and now was the signal given for beginning a massacre, which 202once commenced was not concluded hastily. Among the first who fell was the Governor. The feeble arm of Henric Melthal, strengthened by Heaven and the justice of his cause, gave the decisive blow; and Edmund Bloomberg hastened to extricate his father-in-law from the crowd of those, who (now that they were recovered from their first consternation) prest on him to destroy the slayer of their chief. Landenberg cursed his fate, that he should fall so disgracefully by the arm of a dotard, and poured out his last breath in execrations. The combat became general. The Friends of Liberty were attacked by the Governor’s remaining attendants, who were now better armed; but this opposition was not of much avail, since at a given signal a second party of Helvetians, 203who were in waiting on the outside of the Castle, hastened to support their confederates.

The superiority of numbers being now on their side, the conquerors proclaimed quarter in the name of Henric Melthal. The loss of their chief had deprived the scanty band of his adherents of all their courage: they were glad to sheathe their weapons, and the conquering Helvetians took them under their protection, and conducted them uninjured to the boundaries. The gallant men were unwilling to stain their native soil with blood shed unnecessarily, and doubted not, that such a barbarous measure would have induced the Almighty to withdraw his blessing from their enterprise. They lost no time in taking measures for maintaining themselves 204in the possession of Castle-Sarno. Towards evening intelligence arrived, that Rassburg also had been attacked with success, and during the three or four succeeding days similar tidings were received from other parts of the country: Schwannau, Kussnach, Zinguri (which was not yet finished) and many other places of importance, had been wrested from the hands of Helvetia’s tyrants. Such universal success testified, that the arm of the Protector of innocence had fought in their cause; and they thought, the best means of showing their gratitude for such powerful aid to him, who detests unnecessary bloodshed, was to use their victory with mildness and moderation. They had expelled their enemies, and reinstated themselves in their natural rights: more they 205sought not, more they desired not; and it was this laudable moderation, which, by preventing them from aiming to obtain further advantages, enabled them to secure, what they had won already.

Peace after so long an absence returned once more to these happy vallies; and a firm fraternal union for offence and defence was established, which I pray, that God may grant to last, as long as the world exists.

Has not the ignorant Nun suffered herself to be enticed out of her proper sphere, while she described scenes of war and the efforts of Liberty? She, a weak defenceless woman, a slave bound in lasting fetters? Yet Heaven be thanked for it, those fetters are light: pious submission enables me to bear them, and they will 206ere long be loosened by the hand of Death.

Count Donat’s widow lived in tranquil seclusion at Zurich in the society of the Countess Urania; and their prayers were frequently offered up for the success of the honest Helvetians. They rejoiced to hear of their victories, of Amalberga’s rescue, and of her union with the Count of Torrenburg. But Helen did not wish to be herself a spectatress of their felicity; nor (when shortly after their marriage the happy pair visited her to express their mutual gratitude) could she be prevailed upon to pass more than one hour in their society; and many, many of the succeeding days were for her days of anguish. Poor Helen was but a weak mortal, no saint, no angel: and alas! to forget is a task not so easy, as some may think!

207Yet in recompence for her past sorrows Heaven had still reserved one pleasure for her future life. Oh! Blessed Virgin, what a pleasure was that! what a surprise! what an unexpected re-union!—But let me proceed regularly.

The good Domina of Zurich was dead; the Princess Euphemia had already been appointed Abbess of Tull, and therefore could not accept the vacant dignity. No persuasion could induce Urania, at her advanced age, to fill so laborious a situation, and the lot now fell upon Count Donat’s widow. She obeyed the general voice, and was well-pleased to have a means for exerting benevolence in a more extended circle. She became (what I say of her ought not to be counted to her as a merit, since she did but her duty) she became 208the mother of the opprest; and the man, who intrusted to her a daughter, a sister, or a mistress, knew, that she could be no where safer than in her arms. This was universally known; and many a knight, before he set out on some distant expedition, secured under her protection those treasures, which he valued dearer than all others, which the world contained.

One day a knight requested an audience of her: as soon as she saw him, it struck her, that his features were not altogether unknown to her.

—“Sir Knight,” said she, “it appears to me, that we have met before.”—

—“You say truly, holy mother,” answered he; “it was I, who by the Bishop of Coira’s command took the Castle of Sargans by storm, and afterwards conducted 209you to this Convent. Methinks, you placed but little confidence in me on that occasion, though perhaps it would have been for your advantage, had you shown more: but its true, you knew not my name; knew not, that never had any one reason to repent the trust, which he reposed in Herman of Werdenberg. I will not follow your example; I am now preparing to reveal to you my dearest secrets, and solicit you to become the guardian of my most precious treasure. Grief of heart some time ago drove me from my native land: my uncle’s death necessitated my return; and being once more in Germany, I suffered myself to be persuaded to remain there: nay, under a borrowed name I consented to act as the knight-protector of the new Bishop’s subjects, 210and to become the assertor of his rights and privileges.

“It was in this capacity, that I became acquainted with you, Lady, in the Castle of Sargans: report, and mysterious circumstances respecting your conduct, I confess, had not prejudiced me in your favour; and perhaps I did not treat you with so much respect and attention, as (I am now well convinced) was justly due to your merits. After escorting you hither, I returned to Sargans, being commissioned to defend the Castle against Landenberg and his associates, in the name of Count Donat’s daughters; whom the Bishop had adopted as his wards, and whom he publicly declared his intention of reinstating in their rights, as soon as the place of their concealment could be ascertained. 211It seems, the rebellious Landenberg thought, that this was the fit time for making himself master of all Rhœtia, while the Ten Jurisdictions were torn to pieces by the tumults and confusion, to which his artifices had given rise; but report must have already informed you, how soon those vain hopes were crushed by the noble efforts of the assertors of Liberty.

“In order that I might not be quite idle during my undisturbed residence at Sargans, the Bishop (who has no antipathy to gold) commissioned me to enquire into the truth of an old tradition very current among the people, that immense treasures lie buried in the foundation of that antient fortress. Upon asking some questions, I was conducted to an old and ruined 212well in a remote court, and assured that it contained wealth inexhaustible. The Bishop on this report desired me to cause the well to be cleared out; but its contents furnished nothing but venomous reptiles, filth, and some human bones, the melancholy memorials of former cruelties, whose commission Heaven no doubt had long since punished.

“Other places were afterwards pointed out to me as the repository of this buried wealth; but no better success attended their examination. At length I resolved to set my workmen to clear out that subterraneous passage, the falling-in of whose roof had so nearly proved your destruction. It seemed to me much more probable, that I should find here that of which I was in search, than in those places which I had 213already examined; but it was my full determination, in case of discovering the supposed treasures, not to give them up to the Bishop, but to reserve them for the heiress of Carlsheim and Sargans, who had lately been rescued from Landenberg’s power, and was now Countess of Torrenburg. It was however less my object to find wealth which I despised, than to furnish my followers with a harmless occupation, and by restoring the concealed passage (which in our turbulent times is absolutely necessary in every fortress) to render a trifling service to posterity. The work was difficult and tedious; however, I was just rejoicing in the reflection, that a few days would suffice to finish it, when the Bishop of Coira found it impossible to delay any longer with common decency 214the restoring of Sargans to the Countess Amalberga and her husband. One branch of the passage alone remained in ruins, and I would gladly have completed my task; but Count Eginhart was already at the gates of Sargans. I hastened to deliver up every thing, which had been committed to my custody, and we renewed our former friendship; a friendship, which in the earlier part of our lives had been most intimate.

“It was my intention to request his permission to finish the repairs of the subterraneous caverns: unluckily, as we sat conversing together, and recalling the events of former days over our flowing goblets, he mentioned the sister of his bride, who had once made upon my heart a very forcible impression; but my passion 215was not strong enough to make me consent to commit my honour to the keeping of a daughter of Count Donat. The Count painted in glowing colours the happiness, which he enjoyed with Amalberga; and he finally accused me of having treated the Lady Emmeline unworthily, and of having driven her into the jaws of perdition by my rigour and contempt. As her relations have always wrapt in mystery the latter scenes of Emmeline’s life, I am even at this moment ignorant, as to what is become of Her, who was once so dear to me; nor could I understand, to what the Count alluded in the conclusion of his speech. I could not, however, allow, that I had acted by her with injustice, and asserted, with that warmth which is natural to me, that no man of prudence 216and honour would have acted otherwise. Our conversation grew bitter; and at length we parted in such anger, that it was impossible for me to submit to asking of him as a favour, that I might prosecute my subterraneous labours.

“Perhaps you will be surprised at my being so anxious about such a trifle, as the repairs of these vaults; I must therefore confess to you, that the real motive of my wish to examine this passage thoroughly, was nothing more than a dream; but that dream was in truth a very remarkable one.

“The first time that I broke a lance at a public tournament, it was my fortune to obtain the prize, a ring apparently of considerable value. I was pleased both with the jewel, and with the manner in which I obtained 217it, and never failed to wear it on all solemn festivals; till a person well skilled in precious stones convinced me, that the diamond was false and the ring itself scarcely worth three golden shields^[3]. Incensed at having been so grossly imposed upon, I snatched it from my finger, and threw it over the battlements: the circumstance of its having been the reward of my address soon made me wish to recover it; but though my squire was immediately dispatched, he returned without having been able to find it. I had quite forgotten this ring and all its circumstances; but on both the two nights preceding Torrenburg’s entry into the Castle of Sargans, I dreamt, that in traversing the subterraneous passage I found my lost ring, and 218that the false stone was changed into a diamond, which illuminated the whole cavern with its radiance.

“I cannot account for the strong impression, which this dream made upon my fancy; yet (Heaven knows!) I set but little store upon the treasures of this world, and were I possest of all the diamonds which the earth contains, I should only employ them to adorn our Redeemer’s cross; that cross, which it is my firm resolution to wear in future against the Saracens, and other enemies of our holy religion. Yet in spite of this contempt of wealth, and of the little faith which I put in omens, the repetition of this dream struck my imagination so forcibly, that I could not rest without ascertaining, whether the vaults did really contain the ring, which I had so long lost.

219“My disagreement with Torrenburg had made it impossible for me to satisfy my doubts by means of the Castle-entrance: but I thought it by no means unlikely, that there might be some communication between the passage and the ruined Abbey of Curwald, which was situated at no great distance, and was just beginning to be rebuilt.

“I was well acquainted with Father John; a worthy man, who had lately been appointed the Superior of those few Monks, who had escaped from Count Donat’s barbarity. He readily acceded to my request, and I immediately began my work.

“For several days the ruins were examined without success: yet the assurance of one of the elder Monks, that he remembered 220having heard (but merely as a tradition) that a private communication had formerly existed between the Convent and Sargans, made me unwilling to give up the pursuit. It was frequently my custom after dismissing my labourers (wearied with their fruitless endeavours to discover that, which they were firmly persuaded had no existence) to wander by myself, and mark the melancholy contrast made by the slowly-rising walls of the new building, with the ruins of the old one which had not yet been removed. The vaults beneath the Convent being generally the scene of our enquiries, as affording us the best chance for finding the so much wished-for passage, I frequently loitered here alone, after my workmen had left me for the evening, A fixed melancholy had 221taken possession of my soul: in truth, it could not well be otherwise, surrounded as I was on all sides by memorials of mortality, and the marks of celestial judgments!

—“Where,” said I often to myself, “where are now the voluptuous pleasures of the Monks of Curwald? where the pride and power of the tyrants of Carlsheim and Sargans? The grave has swallowed them all; nothing remains of them, but the memory of their crimes and the detestation of posterity!—Herman, still preserve in your heart unshaken the love of virtue, and not less the hatred of vice: be at once the terror of the profligate and the friend of the innocent and the helpless. Bring equally before the world’s eye the rights of the opprest and the crimes of the oppressor, and unite in one person the protecting and the avenging angel.”—

222“These ideas prest themselves upon my mind with more than ordinary force, as I sat one evening in one of the Convent-vaults upon a heap of stones. It was in the vault nearest to those of Sargans; and despairing of finding the old secret communication, I had at length resolved to employ my workmen in digging out a new one. They had already commenced their labours, and were retired after making no inconsiderable progress. The hour was late; darkness had closed round me, but an iron lamp was fixed against the wall and guided my steps, as I slowly traversed to and fro this abode of religious melancholy. The scene was congenial to the state of my feelings; I consecrated it to secret sorrow; and here it was that I offered up my prayers for the future, here 223it was that I poured forth my tears, while dwelling upon the past. Yes, holy Mother, my tears! The stern and haughty Herman of Werdenberg has wept frequently; has wept, when if any eye had witnessed the drops, his cheek would have blushed with shame at the unworthy cause of his sorrow; to you alone, to the ear of indulgent pity, he scruples not to disclose the secret of his weakness.

“Lady, my tears streamed for having formed an early attachment for one, who deserved not my affection. I once adored Emmeline of Sargans; but I tore her from my heart, convinced that it was impossible for her to be virtuous, who had been educated in the very lap of vice. Yet Amalberga, Emmeline’s sister, and who had been educated with her, was 224modest, pure, and irreproachable; then why not Emmeline? What had since happened to that unfortunate was unknown to me; and my disagreement with her brother-in-law prevented my obtaining that information from him, which I was now most anxious to obtain; for one of his expressions had cut me to the very soul, and I strove in vain to banish it from my memory. He told me, “that my rigour had driven Emmeline into the jaws of perdition;” and while his words lay heavy upon my heart, I could not but own, that it was possible for his accusation to be well-founded. An union with an honest man, such as Herman of Werdenberg boasts himself to be, would have been the best and most certain means of rescuing her from the power of her licentious 225father and the contagion of his example. Yet what could I do? Say, that I was mistaken in my judgment of Emmeline; still was it incumbent on me to run so great a risque to preserve her, as to entrust the care of my honour to one, who I feared would prove a wanton?

“But at all events, these considerations came too late. Nothing was now left for me but to banish recollections which, (Heaven only knows, why) intruded themselves upon me so forcibly, and which certainly were the most absurd and fruitless, with which I could have employed my mind. Yet still they did employ it in spite of all my efforts, as I sat with my eyes sometimes fixed on the dark vaults which frowned above me, sometimes on the glimmerings of the distant lamp, without being conscious 226what it was, at which I was gazing. At length incensed at my own folly I started from my seat, and was quitting the vault abruptly, when a faint murmur struck my hearing.

“I stopped. It was not the first time, that I had heard something like a groan, while traversing these vaults; but I had always supposed the noise to be occasioned by the wind, or else to be the echo of my own heart-drawn sighs. But now it was not only more loud and more distinct, but I almost fancied, that it was followed by sounds resembling words spoken by one in agony.

“I hastened back to the place, which I had just quitted. I shouted, to observe whether an echo would answer me, but all was silent.—I removed to a distance; 227I came back again; I placed my head against the wall of the cavern; I knelt, and laid my ear to the ground; I heard the noise again. I endeavoured to trace it; still it continued, sometimes louder, sometimes weaker; till at length it conducted me to a small iron grating inserted in the ground, and from whence the wind, which blew upon me, seemed to be more heavy and chilling, than that which I breathed in the vaults above.

“And through this opening did a voice now reach me, whose melancholy tones seemed those of a female! It sounded so audibly, that all my doubts vanished at once, and all my sensations resolved themselves into the single eager enquiry—‘By what means I could assist the sufferer?’—

—“Are you then come at last?” answered 228the voice; “but speak louder, for I cannot understand what you say!—My senses are so confused ... and my brain seems to whirl round and round so rapidly!”—

“I repeated my enquiries, but with no better effect.”

—“I hear the sound of your voice, but not your words,” answered the captive; “and weakness prevents my dragging myself nearer to the grate—Do you bring me food?—Alas! it is so long since you last visited me!—I was afraid, that you had died suddenly—Afraid, did I say?—Oh! Heaven, who would have suspected, that I should ever have dreaded Luprian’s death!”—

“These words were pronounced slowly, and in broken sentences. I now stretched my voice to its utmost extent, and dwelt 229with peculiar emphasis on the words “Help” and “Liberty.”

—“Liberty?” she repeated; “no, Luprian; at your price it would be too dearly purchased. Urge me no more to be the partner of your flight: could I have ever stooped to disgrace, I need not have languished so long in this dreary dungeon. If I have no choice left but death or infamy, I prefer the former; leave me, and let me die!—And yet.... Oh! God in Heaven! To part with even the most miserable existence is so bitter.... Oh! it is still so bitter!”

“I saw, that it would be vain for me to labour any more at making myself understood; and the faint tone, in which these last words were uttered, alarmed me. Yet I spoke once again, but no answer was returned; 230I doubted not, that the unfortunate had fainted.

“How I might effect her delivery with the utmost celerity, I knew not; yet in my anguish and uncertainty I accidentally struck upon that, which was most prudent: I hastened to the small temporary building inhabited by Abbot John and his Monks; I related in a few words what had happened, and requested their advice.

“The Fraternity one and all hastened with me to the vault, every one bearing a mattock, a pick-axe, or some such instrument. They were holy benevolent men, resembling the original founders of their Order, and had escaped as it were by a miracle from the flames, in which their guilty brethren had perished. They were eager to redeem by their own conduct 231the slur, which the crimes of others had brought upon their Convent, and were as greedy of good actions, as most other Monks are of rich legacies and well-stored cellars.

“We were now near the vault, and already the beams of the distant lamp struck our eyes; but on our entrance, those among us who were best-sighted were aware, that the vault was not so totally unoccupied, as I had left it. By the glimmerings of a small lanthorn a tall dark figure was descried, kneeling on the before-mentioned grating. I sprang forward. The stranger heard my steps, started from the ground, and rushed by me so suddenly, that I attempted to stop him in vain. I called to the approaching Monks not to let him pass; but before 232they could reach him, his foot stumbled, and he fell prostrate on the ground.

“Totally engrossed by their impatience to rescue the prisoner, my companions were hastening forwards without paying any attention to the stranger; but a thought, which passed through my mind like a flash of light, made me conceive, how important it was to examine him. I flattered myself, that I should discover in him that same Luprian, whom the unfortunate had mentioned, and who in all probability was her gaoler. Should my conjecture prove correct, I considered this meeting as a great step towards her deliverance: I therefore grasped him firmly by the arm, and dragged him towards the lamp, in order that I might examine my prize.

233“I beheld a miserable creature, enveloped in the ragged habit of a monk, and whose bloodless cheeks, sunk eyes, and emaciated limbs would have excited my deepest compassion, had I not had good cause to harbour suspicions, that compassion was a sentiment, of which he was but little deserving.

—“Art thou Luprian?” said I in a thundering voice.

“He sank at my feet, and stammered out an avowal.

—“Wretch!” I continued; “what motive could induce thee to confine an unfortunate woman in yonder subterraneous dungeon?”—

“He was silent for a few moments; then suddenly starting from the ground—“You know that she is confined there,” 234said he with a furious look, “and knowing that, you know enough to destroy me! Ask me no more questions; I will answer none!”—

“He threw himself sullenly upon the heap of ruins, and maintained an obstinate silence. Unwilling to own that I knew no more than his name, I first endeavoured to terrify him into a disclosure of this mystery; and finding my threats produce no effect, I had recourse to persuasion, painting in as strong colours as possible the cruelty of suffering the unfortunate to remain longer in her prison, and exhorting him to atone in some degree for his faults towards his captive, by being himself the instrument to effect her release. In the mean while my companions had fallen to work with their spades and mattocks; 235but large pieces of stone frequently fell into the dungeon below; and the cries of the sufferer, who dreaded being crushed beneath their weight, convinced them, how dangerous was this mode of procuring her deliverance, and finally compelled them to desist from the attempt.

“What was now to be done? While we agitated this question, Luprian stood with his arms folded, silent and thoughtful, as if He too had been resolving some difficult point; at length he threw himself on his knees before us; and on condition that his life and liberty should be secured to him, he made a proposal, which he swore to fulfil conscientiously.

—“No one but myself,” said he, “can enable you to set that captive free, and it is in my power to show you such means 236as are most sure and speedy. You see how rotten is this vault, and you may judge from the faint murmur of her complaints, how deep her dungeon is sunk into the ground. It will at any rate be long, ere you can force your way to her; and from her extreme weakness it is unlikely, that she should live till your arrival, even should she escape the imminent danger of having her brains dashed out by some fragment of the crumbling roof. But only speak one word to assure me of life and forgiveness, and I will immediately furnish you with explanations, which (should you refuse my offer) this dagger shall enable me to take with me to the grave.”—

“The naked steel, which Luprian now pointed towards his bosom, inspired us 237with no alarm. It would have been easy to wrest the weapon from his grasp; but our impatience to assist the unfortunate captive compelled us to give the required promise. Her complaints had now again ceased to be audible; and we felt, that not a moment was to be lost, if we meant to find her still in existence.

“As soon as we had solemnly engaged not to attempt either his life or freedom, Luprian resigned his dagger to one of the Monks, and informed us, that in order to accomplish our object it would be necessary to quit the vault, and seek a different entrance to the lady’s dungeon, which was well known to him. Accordingly we followed him for some time, till we arrived at a remote part of the Convent ruins.

238—“Here,” said he, stopping before a ruined wall, from which he removed a few loose stones, and showed us a narrow flight of stairs; “here you must descend, and these steps will conduct you to the place, of which you are in search. Now then I have performed my promise, and require the performance of yours: permit me to retire.”—

“I hastily seized a torch from one of the Monks, and was hastening down the staircase, without giving myself a moment’s reflection: but the more prudent Abbot detained me, gave the torch to Luprian, and commanded him to finish the work which he had begun, before he claimed the reward of his services.

“Nothing was left for him but to obey. He guided us down about fifty steps, and 239after reaching the foot of the stairs we had a subterraneous passage to traverse of the same length with that, which had led us from the grating to the ruined wall. It was terminated by an iron door strongly fastened on the outside, and which had we not detained Luprian, we should have found no little difficulty, and lost no little time, in opening. As I made this observation, I cast upon him an accusing glance; but the door unclosing left me no time to express in words my indignation at this proof of his intended treachery. We rushed eagerly into the dungeon, and found it to be a large vaulted cell, of which darkness had taken such complete possession, that the beams of our torches were insufficient to dissipate the gloom, and could only shed a faint glimmering 240around us. Its only recommendations were its loftiness and space. By holding our lights on high, we could discern (but with difficulty) the iron grating inserted in the roof, through which the complaints of the prisoner had so seasonably reached me. Exactly beneath it stood a loaf and a flask of wine, which Luprian had just let down into the dungeon; and in a corner of it stretched on a miserable pallet the object of our search lay fainting, as indeed we had suspected from her silence. With the assistance of one of the younger Monks I raised her from the ground, and bore her to the upper air, which we considered as the most likely means of bringing her to herself.

“This hope however proved vain. Animation was lost too completely to be so 241easily recalled. Above an hour had elapsed since our conveying her to the Abbot’s dwelling (where no means were neglected that could restore animation) before we had the least reason to flatter ourselves with hopes of her recovery. At length with inexpressible delight we saw her half unclose her eyes; but she instantly shut them again on account of the pain caused in them by the light, to which they were now quite unaccustomed.

“We gave her every possible assistance, and after some time she gained strength and recollection enough to enable her to comprehend the favourable change, which had taken place in her situation. Tears of joy, and her clasped hands raised in gratitude to Heaven, were her only answer. She strove to thank us for the 242service which we had rendered her; but emotion choaked her utterance, and to express her sense of our kindness by looks was not in her power, since the beams of the sun (who was now risen) were so painful to her eyes, that she had been obliged to cover her face with a thick veil to save herself from relapsing into insensibility.

“We therefore carefully excluded day-light from her chamber, and left her to repose. While she slept, we resolved to take the opportunity of making Luprian explain a business, which we conceived to be of some importance, and respecting which our curiosity was raised to the highest pitch by hearing some of the Monks assert their persuasion, that Luprian’s features were not unknown to them. The last Abbot of Curwald, who 243was supposed to have perished in the conflagration, had borne that name, and in spite of his pale countenance and meagre form they verily believed my prisoner to be no other. We were now all impatience to ascertain this point; but we found, that in order to effect our object we ought to have been more upon our guard. Occupied by the melancholy situation of the lady, which excited universal interest and compassion, not one of us had paid the least attention to her gaoler: now that we recollected him, he was not to be found. It appeared probable, that he had forsaken us immediately upon our entrance into the subterraneous dungeon, since no one remembered to have seen him since that time, nor indeed to have bestowed a thought upon him. We had now nothing 244left for it but to rail at our inattention, and to lay the blame upon each other. However, we did not think our loss of any material consequence, since we doubted not the lady’s ability to clear up the mystery; and at all events the captive was at liberty, and we had effected a good deed.

“She awoke, greatly strengthened by her refreshing slumber: her first request was to be removed from the society of men, and committed to the charge of persons of her own sex. We had already agreed with a respectable widow in one of the neighbouring villages, that the invalid should be taken to her house, as soon as she was able to bear the removal. The good woman soon made her appearance, and the stranger’s impatience to quit the 245Monastery was so extreme, that we judged her likely to suffer less detriment from the journey than from delay. The distance was not great; she was placed in an easy litter; and her nurse took such good care of her both during her removal and afterwards, that she was quickly pronounced out of all danger. Her eyes again became accustomed to day-light; her hearing was no longer hurt by the loudness of human voices, and she could speak without difficulty: yet has she never thought proper to disclose her name either to myself, or to the Abbot who visited her daily.—But let it still remain concealed; there is at least one title, which after hearing the brief relation of her sufferings I know well to be her proper right; the title of the purest and most heroic of virtuous martyrs, a 246name which deserves to be engraved on marble, and employed to add sanctity to altars!

“You are surprised, holy Lady, to hear the cold and serious Herman speak with such enthusiasm; but let it not injure me in your opinion. The rescued prisoner perhaps was once beautiful, but now she is so no longer. Sorrow and confinement have robbed her person of every charm, which could inspire the voluptuary’s heart with passion: yet were I ever to love again, my soul should be devoted to the perfection of female virtue, not of female loveliness. Emmeline, the enchanting Emmeline, with all her train of charms and graces, perhaps, I may in time cease to remember; but never, oh! never shall I forget the form of my pale emaciated captive, 247sinking into the grave the victim of her principles; never while he has breath, shall that interesting countenance fade from the recollection of Herman of Werdenberg!

“But I have wandered widely from the object of this long discourse; I came hither to make a request, to which all that I have said is but an introduction: the health of this noble persecuted creature, of my friend, my sister, my preserved one, is now almost re-established. She begins to consider, what it will hereafter be most expedient for her to do; and as she says, that she has no relation in the world to whom she dares confide her interests, she has condescended to ask my advice respecting her future proceedings. We both agreed, that a convent is the most proper 248retreat for her in her present circumstances; and on my mentioning to her that, which is under your direction, holy Mother, she received the proposal with rapture.

—“Oh! surely,” she exclaimed, “my mind cannot yet be quite itself again, or I could not have hesitated a moment respecting my choice.—Helen of Homburg!—the Convent of Zurich!—Heavenly powers, how could I have forgotten those dear dear names so long?”—

“She then enquired eagerly, whether Urania Venosta still lived within these walls; and when I answered in the affirmative, she discovered such strong emotion, as her gentle despondent manners had little led me to expect her being capable of feeling. She clasped her hands in ecstacy; 249a shower of tears rolled down her pale cheeks, while she sank on her knees, and returned thanks to Heaven; she then entreated me to leave her without delay, and prepare a reception for her in your Convent. I would willingly have first ascertained, whether she was already known to you; but her impatience would not admit of my postponing my journey for an instant, and I was compelled to depart unsatisfied.

“Now then may I hope, that my request will not be rejected? Shall I be authorised to assure my friend of a welcome reception within these walls? Speak but one gracious word, and a few hours will be sufficient to bring her to your feet. Conducted by the good Abbot she has followed my steps hither, and I need only your 250permission to deliver her up to your protection,”—

It is superfluous to say, that Herman’s request was granted with readiness; but how great was the emotion, which his narrative had excited in his auditress, how ardent her impatience for the arrival of the unhappy lady! She was unable to restrain her tears, and a thousand joyful exclamations escaped her lips, whose import was unintelligible to Herman.

—“Am I right,” said he, “in supposing, that my friend is not unknown to you?”—

—“Heaven grant, that it may prove so,” answered the Abbess, while she hastily wiped away her tears. “But as yet you have allowed me so little insight into her history, that I scarcely dare give credit to 251my hopes. Oh! furnish me with more light; tell me every thing that you know about her; and prevent my nourishing the sweet but deceitful dreams, which now occupy my fancy. Alas! alas! it is impossible that they should be verified; in pity then destroy them at once, before these fond hopes have time to take such root in my heart, that to tear them out again would almost break it.”—

—“All that I know respecting this stranger,” answered Herman, “is, that she was immured by her friends in the Convent of St. Roswitha several months before the fatal conflagration. It was not long, before she became acquainted with the manners, which prevailed in this polluted Sanctuary. Luprian, the unworthy Abbot of Curwald, who even under the 252protecting roof of her father had insulted her by a declaration of his passion, renewed his persecution with increased ardour in a place, which was completely under his dominion. Much time was not suffered to elapse, before her resistance was punished by confinement in the cell, whence I released her: yet she was occasionally compelled to return to the Convent, in order that her virtue might be assailed by art, flattery, and every power of the most refined seduction, as well as by severity and persecution.

“The day preceding the dreadful night, in which these dwellings of sin were purified by fire, had witnessed such a scene of temptation, as Luprian thought could not possibly fail of success. But it was defeated in a manner so disgraceful for 253the enemies of innocence, that spite and fury took the place of seduction and love. The heroine was compelled to endure a variety of the most cruel insults and injuries, and then was dragged back to her dungeon so exhausted with her sufferings, that she could scarcely be called alive.

“To her return to this prison was she indebted for existence. It was sunk so deep within the earth and so remote from the inhabited parts of the Convent, that she only had a slight suspicion from different circumstances, that something unusual was passing above her head. She was confirmed in this idea by several days elapsing without any nourishment being brought to her. She was reduced to the greatest extremity; and hunger would soon have put a period to her sufferings, 254when the prison-door was unlocked, and the Abbot entered. A cordial of great power, which he gave her, restored her strength sufficiently to enable her at length to comprehend the object of his visit. He first informed her of the events which had lately taken place, and then proceeded to propose to her the terms, on which she might obtain her liberty.

—“It is universally believed,” said he, “that I, as well as the rest of my Order, have fallen a prey to the flames; I encourage this opinion, since it enables me with security to quit a profession, for which I am ill calculated, and which I have always held in detestation. I acknowledge it, my passion for you has hitherto been such, as you ought not to have complied with; but I now come to declare sentiments so 255pure, that you may safely listen to them without doing the least injury to your honour. I have rescued the Abbey-treasure from the ruins; I have also secured such considerable funds in other countries, as will enable me to support the establishment of a temporal prince in any place which you may prefer, provided it be one where my person is not known. Nothing is wanting to complete my happiness, except the possession of your hand, and I trust, you will not be so blind to your own advantage, as to reject my honourable suit. But one choice is allowed you; either you must perish in this dungeon, whose existence is now a secret to every human being except myself; or else you must take a solemn oath upon the cross to share my flight from Germany, and become 256 my wife, as soon as we are safe in some foreign climate. There is no time for deliberation; the success of my plans depends upon their speedy execution, and you must instantly and at once pronounce the sentence, which decides both your fate and my own.—I wait your answer.”—

“That answer was such, as might have been expected from one, by whom the licentious Luprian was held in as much abhorrence, as virtue was held dear and idolized. She asserted the indissoluble nature of his vows to religion, and repaid his tender speeches with such scorn, that he left her with a threat never to repeat his offer, but to suffer her to perish of hunger without compassion or remorse. But the captive was too dear to him to permit his keeping that resolution. He tormented 257her with frequent visits, and desisted not from his fruitless endeavours to reconcile her to his plans; though to her great satisfaction he was latterly compelled to abstain from entering her dungeon. A suspicion existed, that considerable treasures were buried among the ruins of the Monastery; it was therefore judged prudent to place sentinels about them, and thus was the execrable Monk debarred all intercourse with his prisoner, except such as could be carried on by favour of the iron grating.

“Luprian now found it absolutely necessary for him to visit Italy, where he had deposited the chief part of his wealth. He entrusted the care of the lady to his sole Confident. As his absence was protracted longer than he had himself expected, she 258enjoyed some respite from his infamous addresses, and was not without hopes, that her entreaties and sufferings would at last induce his representative to take some steps towards effecting her deliverance. Those hopes however were continually disappointed. His heart was not more flexible than his associate’s; he remained immutably faithful to the trust reposed in him; and in answer to her enquiries respecting the transactions of the regions above her, he gave her such accounts of the successes of her enemies and of the destruction of all those who were dear to her, as almost extinguished her anxiety to escape from her dungeon. She saw, that nothing but sorrow would welcome her return to liberty, and the natural love of life struggled but faintly against the certainty of 259present sufferings, and the apprehension of those, which were still to come.

“Day after day crept away, during which the dreadful uniformity of her unhappy situation was uninterrupted, except by moments of utter despair, whose power frequently was on the point of subduing the poor prisoner; or else by those gleams of ungrounded hope, with which Providence strengthens and comforts those whom he means finally to preserve, in order that they may not quite sink beneath the burthen of their calamities. Luprian still returned not: the lady’s complaints seemed gradually to make their impression on the mind of his deputy. He occasionally suffered hints to escape him, that it would not be impossible to obtain his consent to her liberty: and at length at her 260earnest request he was induced to declare, that he was ready that instant to put an end to her sufferings, provided she would consent to share with him as his wife the enjoyment of that wealth, which the Abbot had placed in his custody.

“Here then her hopes again were disappointed. Vexation added bitterness to the manner, in which she indignantly rejected his infamous proposal: and the wretch, exasperated by her cutting expressions, swore, that he would put his plan in execution without her that very day, and would leave her to her fate. He kept his oath; and the captive must have perished, had not the Abbot fortunately returned at this identical moment. His expedition had been attended with nothing but disappointment. The wealth, 261which he had vested in foreign hands, had disappeared from a variety of causes, some through mischance, more through treachery; and he now only returned to find his associate fled, his treasure plundered, and his mistress as inflexible as ever. Vexation, poverty, and fatigue threw him on the bed of sickness. Many days frequently past, during which the captive was totally neglected; when at length her gaoler appeared, it was only to throw to her a loaf of that bread, of which he now could with difficulty procure a sufficiency for his own sustenance, and with every time to assure her, that this nourishment was the last, which she would ever receive from his hands. He spoke no longer of flight, or indeed of his passion for her; in truth, the former now seemed to be almost 262impracticable, for the rebuilding of the Monastery was begun; people were constantly employed in the neighbourhood of the dungeon’s entrance; and the outlets from the ruins were watched with more vigilance than ever. The sufferer frequently entreated him to promise, that he would at least reveal to some one the place of her confinement before his death; since in order to increase her terrors he never mist an opportunity of assuring her, that he had not many days to exist. But in vain did she represent to him, that when he should be in another world, her sufferings in this could by no means be to him of any advantage: he was deaf to her supplications. Bitter and contemptuous irony was his only answer; and it seemed as if he solely enabled her to support life, in 263order that he might still have a human being in his power to torment.

“It was about this time, that the vaults above her prison became an object of examination: they were completely clogged up with rubbish, except one narrow passage conducting to the grate. She had often determined on ending her sufferings by a voluntary death, and for several days persisted in refusing sustenance; but now that she frequently heard a noise above her head, and even once or twice caught the gleam of distant torches through the iron opening, her fearful resolutions were laid aside, and their place occupied by the hope, that accident perhaps might effect her deliverance.

“These hopes she concealed most sedulously from her tyrant; and so often had 264her sweetest dreams disappointed her, that despair still was able at times to regain his former influence over her mind. Yet she was now so accustomed to mark by some piteous sound, that there was a suffering creature buried in these caverns who implored assistance, that she continued her groans and cries, even when she had long given up the expectation of their reaching the ear of compassion. In truth, the workmen, during the intervals of their labours, had caught the faint murmurs of her complaints; but they put no other interpretations upon the sound, than such as were suggested by terror and superstition. Fortunately our enterprise necessarily brought us every day nearer the place of her seclusion; till at length some good Angel made me attentive to the cry of sorrow, 265and guided me to the performance of an action, which I shall never cease to consider as the most blessed and fortunate event of my whole life.”—

Herman of Werdenberg here ended his long narrative; the emotions which it had produced in Helen were so violent, that every similitude would fall short of expressing their strength.

—“Emmeline!” said she in that internal voice, which is only audible to the soul, “thou liv’st then, and I shall once more clasp to my bosom the poor forlorn orphan, the persecuted dove, the pious martyr of chastity and religion!—And Herman is your deliverer! that very Herman of Werdenberg, who once was unjust to your merits, and who now (if I may judge by every possible evidence) 266adores you with the warmest, purest affection, ever kindled in the bosom of a mortal! Oh! Helen, Helen, what unexpected joy! You will see two of the best of human beings made happy after long and cruel sufferings, and will yourself assist in forwarding their happiness! My own plans of worldly bliss have all been ruined; in reward for my not murmuring at their destruction, grant me, ye powers of mercy, that wisdom and that foresight, which may enable me to establish the felicity of my friend on the firmest foundations and with the least delay.”—

Herman was at a loss to comprehend the long silence of the Abbess, and the deep meditation, into which his narrative seemed to have plunged her. At length 267she recollected herself, and at her request he retired in search of the stranger, Helen having previously stipulated that he should not be present at their meeting. She was not certain, that in the first moments of emotion she should be sufficiently mistress of herself to conceal Emmeline’s name; and from what he had said, she collected, that it was not her friend’s intention at present to discover herself to her deliverer.

A few hours elapsed, before Emmeline appeared leaning on the good Abbot: Helen now was no longer surprised, that in her present situation she had not been recognized by her former lover. She was sadly, sadly changed. It was necessary to have been quite as lovely as Emmeline, in order not to have lost every charm of person 268during the long and cruel period of her captivity; it was necessary to have possest as wonderful a strength of mind as hers, in order to escape with her senses unimpaired from the fearful shipwreck of all that was then most dear to her. Ah! Herman, Herman! that youthful vivacity, which appeared to you so high a crime, and for which you so unjustly blamed the innocent girl, was now fled for ever; its place was supplied by a mild and serious look of resignation, whose melancholy it’s true was sometimes illumined by a benevolent smile; but the smile was but momentary, and its lustre soon faded away. Yet thus it was, that you wished her to be; and thus must Emmeline needs appear to you a thousand times more pleasing, than while she yet shone with all the brilliant 269powers of unfaded youth, vivacity, and beauty. Beautiful in truth was Emmeline no more; but Emmeline was still interesting beyond expression. A slight frail nymph-like form, so light that it seemed as if air could have sustained her; a face, robbed of its roseate colour, but so dazzling fair, that she resembled a marble statue; a countenance, from which a painter might have formed a portrait of Christian Humility, and to which the consciousness of heroic self-denial and of long abstraction from all earthly hopes and pleasures, had given a saint-like expression that was almost supernatural; such now was the once brilliant Emmeline of Sargans!

But Helen did not make these observations during the first moments of their 270meeting; she could attend to nothing but the joy of once more embracing her persecuted friend, whom she prest to her bosom with pleasure too great for utterance. Emmeline was more composed; it was long since she had seen Helen, who had never been to her more than a beloved play-fellow, whom she sometimes remembered with a wish to meet again, and sometimes quite forgot in contemplation of nearer interests and impending dangers: but much more was she to Helen. The sufferings of amiable persons, with whom we have ever had even the slightest acquaintance, give them an extraordinary value in our eyes; and they inspire us with an affection for them which rises to the highest pitch, if we feel that it is at all in our power to show them kindness, 271and to repair in some degree the past injustice of their fate.

What happened at this interview between the re-united friends; with what rapture Emmeline was received by the infirm Urania, whose life was now drawing towards its close; the recapitulation of what had past during their separation, and the plans which they arranged for the future; all this I shall pass over in silence, and shall only relate so much of the latter, as may be absolutely necessary. Time and grief had made alterations in Herman’s appearance scarcely less surprising than in Emmeline’s. His assumed name; his gentle manners softened by melancholy recollections and by compassion for the invalid, so different from the sternness and contempt with which he had ever treated 272her at the Bishop’s court; the dimness of her still-enfeebled sight; the darkened chamber, whose half-light only afforded her an indistinct view of her deliverer, when he visited her; these circumstances had contributed to conceal Herman from her knowledge, and she only entertained a suspicion, that the sound of his voice was not totally unknown to her. But she remarked his growing affection; and being unwilling to encourage it, she abstained from making those enquiries, which might perhaps have satisfied her curiosity, but which also might have led him to believe, that she was interested respecting him.

She was perfectly ignorant of all, that had passed during her captivity. She had given her gaoler’s assertions implicit credit, 273and firmly believed, that the few persons whom she loved were numbered among the dead.—With what joy did she hear from Helen’s lips the assurance, that Amalberga was alive and happy, and that she herself was indebted for her release to no other than Herman of Werdenberg!—In truth, she had hitherto been resolved to discourage the attachment of this unknown warrior; but this resolution only lasted, till she discovered his real name. Present gratitude and former affection now gave him a double interest in her heart: yet did it not so totally overpower all other feelings, as to determine her to forget entirely the injustice of his former conduct. She was resolved to put him to a severe trial; she was besides not quite certain, that his ancient prejudices might 274not still have some influence over him; but a few conversations with the Knight were sufficient to efface every suspicion on this subject. He frequently visited his unknown mistress at the Convent-grate, where (the better to elude a discovery) she never appeared without a veil: with every visit his attachment evidently increased in strength; yet even in her presence he frequently bestowed a sigh upon the rejected Emmeline, whom he never mentioned but in terms of interest and compassion. This conduct was not without its advantage, and when he was soon after compelled to fulfill his vow of assisting in the crusade against the infidel Albigese, he did not depart without hopes of being welcome at his return.

During his absence the meeting took 275place between Emmeline and her beloved sister. Helen had at length gained such perfect mastery over her feelings, as to endure without agony the presence of Torrenburg and the happy Amalberga; and she and Urania were the delighted witnesses of a scene, which appeared rather calculated for the regions of light beyond the grave, than for the habitation of wretched mortality. Amalberga, clasped in the arms of that sister, whom she had so long numbered with the dead; Torrenburg, Urania, and Helen, the spectators of and the partners in their joy; and then the relation of Emmeline’s cruel sufferings; and then the description of Amalberga’s unclouded happiness; and then the brilliant prospects for the future which displayed themselves to both, and which 276for this time were no illusions.... No, I will not trust my feeble pen with the description!

The report soon circulated through the country, that the lost daughter of Count Donat was still in existence. The sisters shared the inheritance amicably, like two lovers dividing some scarce and delicious fruit, each anxious that the other should receive a full proportion. From every quarter of the free and happy Helvetia thronged the ancient friends of the family of Sargans to congratulate the co-heiresses. At length came also Herman of Werdenberg in quest of his unknown mistress, whom he understood to be resident at Sargans; he returned from his expedition, crowned with glory, and rewarded by the Pope with absolution from his sins; a favour, 277of which the pious warrior stood but little in need. Count Torrenburg proffered him the hand of his sister, of the rich heiress of Sargans, of her whose beauty had formerly fascinated his eyes; but his heart was now possest by the poor and friendless stranger, and the hand of the rich heiress was respectfully declined. Indignation at this refusal was the reason assigned by Amalberga for the non-appearance of her sister; the stranger however was not equally invisible, though her veil was not yet laid aside; and her consent to become his bride soon repaid him for his constancy. It was not till the espousals had taken place, that she revealed to him her real name, which Herman now grown wiser heard without repugnance; for his early prejudices had at length lost 278their influence in his bosom, and Emmeline’s past sufferings left him no doubt respecting the purity of her future conduct. He believed, that he had plighted his faith to a needy friendless orphan; and the orphan in giving him her hand made him the powerful Lord of Upper-Carlsheim, of Ortenstein, and of many other fruitful territories. Happy were their days; happy was she through him, and he through her! He had found once more the long-lost jewel, of whose value he was so long unconscious; he had found the attachments of his early youth and of his maturer manhood, the choice both of his heart and of his head, and had found them all united in the person of his adored Emmeline!

And Helen was the spectatress of their 279felicity, nay is so still at the moment that I trace these lines! Dear as they were to her, so dear to her are still the sisters and their worthy husbands!—Lo! how in this world every thing passes away; God be thanked for it, even our passions pass away, as well as the rest. Tranquil age succeeds the impetuosity and hurry of youth; the summer, whose every day was disturbed by tempests, is replaced by the mild and mellow autumn.—Much as it had suffered, bitter as had been its disappointments, cruel as had been its sacrifices, even the heart of Helen at length was at rest.

All my friends still flourish; all who are dear to me still live, even the venerable Urania. My native land smiles all around in blessed peace; not one of those, 280who are near to my heart, has as yet been obliged to pay with his blood the price of precious Freedom! Guilt begins to be a stranger among our citizens; the dwellings of luxury and indolence are converted into sanctuaries of virtue and religion. The Monastery of Curwald has risen from its ashes with increased lustre; no Luprian, no Guiderius now rules there over proud voluptuous Monks; no sisters of Love^[4] now inhabit the cells of the neighbouring Convent. The good Abbot John has admitted into his fraternity none but such men, as look on vice with no less detestation than himself; and their holy conduct has completely removed the stigma, which the remembrance of their abandoned 281predecessors had fixed upon the whole brotherhood of Cloister-Curwald.

In the subterraneous vaults of Sargans has Herman lately raised a splendid monument sacred to the sufferings of his wife. Thirty silver lamps blaze before it; an easy and unguarded entrance admits every one, who chooses to approach it; and there does many a pilgrim often loiter to hear with pious admiration the history of a still living saint.

Amalberga was desirous of opening the communication between the vaulted caverns and the south-western mountains, where the fugitive Monks established their hermitage: but hitherto all attempts to discover the outlet have been unsuccessful. The old Gertrude is no more; the Countess Urania’s age and infirmity forbids 282her visiting the Castle; and the directions, which her memory could furnish, are rendered of no avail, the vaults being completely altered in appearance by the falling-in of the roof. Researches made on the outside of the mountain have been equally fruitless, nor has even the Hermitage itself been discovered. Probably the holy Society has been dissolved by death: Fame will not hand down their good works to the admiration of after-ages, but that is of but little consequence; they stand inscribed in letters of flame in the book of the Everlasting!

Elizabeth, Countess of Torrenburg, to Count Oswald of March.

By this, my dear brother, you must be as well informed of the history of the Ladies of Sargans, as myself; I am impatient to know your opinion of these papers, and whether the effect which they have produced upon your mind is as strong, as that which during their perusal I experienced upon my own.—Yet that is impossible; my peculiar situation makes these annals inexpressibly interesting to me; and did 284not the parchments, from which I have copied them, bear unequivocal marks of their antiquity, I should suspect their having been written for the purpose of being laid before me. While I read, I was half tempted to believe, that the good old Abbot, who recommended them to my notice, had inserted all those passages, which apply so well to my own situation, in order to lead me unconsciously to the point, where he has been labouring to place me; and if this were the fact, how would he triumph in the success of his design! But the circumstances of these memoirs are alas! but too authentic; as to their antiquity I have such proofs of it, that I would boldly match them against the title-deeds of my domains, and other old documents of that period, at which these annals are stated to have been composed.

285Nevertheless, feeling it to be of no slight importance to me to know, whether what I had read was authentic or a mere fabrication, I spared no pains to ascertain the fact. You are aware, that I became possest of these writings by little better than a piece of theft; and in truth there may be good reasons for not communicating to one of the laity these papers, which contain such frightful memorials of ecclesiastical guilt.—I could not therefore attack the Abbess on the subject directly; but as in hopes of pacifying me for my disappointment she had proposed to relate such particulars respecting the Ladies of Sargans, as were most worthy of my attention, (an offer, which I at first rejected out of obstinacy, and through vexation at the denial of my request) I now summoned 286her to perform her promise, for the purpose of comparing what I should hear from her with the particulars contained in the stolen parchments.

The Abbess bestowed upon me a few hours every day in that closet, where the portraits of the Ladies of Sargans had first attracted my attention to those models of virtue and patient suffering: her account of them did not greatly vary from that, which I had already obtained. I confess, that where-ever a clerical person would have appeared in rather an odious light, whether it was a Monk or a Nun, a Bishop or an Abbess, the good lady never failed to soften matters and wrap the transgressors up carefully in the veil of mystery; but those examples of misfortune and heroic self-command, which appeared so peculiarly 287applicable to myself, she confirmed most fully, and exactly as I had read them: nor can I decide, whether they made most impression on me while reading them alone and for the first time by the glimmerings of a midnight lamp, or when they were pronounced by the lips of this holy woman, this earthly saint, whose head within a few short years (too soon alas! for those who like me know her worth) will be crowned with wreaths of celestial glory.

Though scarcely in the autumn of her life, the excellent Abbess already stands upon the brink of her grave. A slow consumption insensibly destroys her noble powers, and the repetition of these adventures was a real sacrifice which she made to friendship. Her present state 288adds weight to her testimony. Think you, Oswald, that so near the transit from time to eternity, she would waste away her hours in relating tales, which she knew to be mere fabrications?—Impossible!

No! oh, no! What I have read, is true! The venerable Urania, on whose image my eye rests with such soft melancholy, and thou too, poor Adelaide, whose bitter fate beguiled me so often of my tears! you both once lived and suffered, you both once thought and acted, exactly as I have read and believed; and these examples of heroic patience, under afflictions far heavier than mine, shall serve me as guides in the conduct, which it now becomes me to pursue.

But for thee, generous Helen! for thee 289whose fortune so thoroughly resembles my own, from this moment thou shalt be the model, after which I will form my whole heart and character; and when my resolution staggers under the weight of human weakness, to thy portrait will I turn my eyes for comfort and support.

My brother, I am convinced beyond the power of doubting, that Helen herself, and no other, was the authoress of the concluding manuscript. Every page of it betrays marks of an interest, which none but an actor in the tale could be capable of feeling; and oh! how much has this persuasion increased in my eyes the value of the writing!

At my request the Abbess pointed out to me Helen’s picture; and such was my enthusiastic partiality, that I was weak 290enough to fancy a striking likeness between her features, and those which my mirror shows me. I made the observation to my venerable friend; she assented to it with a smile, and added, “that it was not in person alone, that I resembled Helen of Homburg.”—I started, and requested an explanation as to the parts of Helen’s history, which were so like my own. Again the idea of an imposition flitted across my mind; I believed, what had passed between myself and Ida to be a total secret in the Convent; and if the Abbess was acquainted with my story, it was still possible, that all which I had heard from her had been dictated by Abbot Conrad. Her answer, however, soon removed this suspicion.

—“Helen,” said she, “was not only 291fair, illustrious, benevolent, and pious, like Elizabeth, but she was also learned like Her. I understand, that the exercise of your pen is your favourite amusement; and there still exist writings of Helen, which are well-deserving your attention, and which I would willingly communicate to you, my dear Lady, had I not been positively enjoined to the contrary by superior orders.”—

The recollection of my treachery forced the colour into my cheeks. To prevent my confusion being remarked, I hastened to enquire—“why I was prohibited this pleasure, and who was my secret enemy?”—The Abbess shook her head, and confest, that the writings of ecclesiastical persons frequently contained circumstances improper 292to be made known to the laity, for fear of giving a shock to their orthodox opinions.

—“But only resolve,” she added smiling, “to become one of our Sisterhood, and when I die, I will bequeath you my station, and full permission to peruse all the manuscripts deposited in the spacious archives of this Convent.”—

Ah! my dear brother, were Montfort a Torrenburg and Ida an Amalberga, how easy would it be for me to take such a step! But the ill opinion which I entertain both of Henry and his mistress, and my still lively sense of the perfidy and injustice with which they repaid my affection, will perhaps make me yet longer hesitate to act, as would best become me, and to 293follow the glorious example of self-denial, set forth in Helen’s conduct.—Farewell, dear Oswald; my heart is sad, but loves you tenderly.

I have confided my secret history to the Abbess. In whom can I more properly confide, than in her who will soon stand before the Almighty’s throne, and before whose eyes all concealed things will soon be made manifest? To whom can I better apply for advice, than to a soul so near the boundaries of earthly being, that a ray of celestial light already illumines it, and enables her mental vision to see the things of this world in their proper likeness?

She is now informed of every thing; and I must acknowledge, I was frequently 295embarrassed by some questions, with which she every now and then interrupted my narrative.

—“Then you are certain, quite certain of having been the first object of Montfort’s affection?”—

—“I am to understand then, that the attachment between you was equally strong, and that his whole soul was as much devoted to you, as yours was to him?”—

“What? and could he really be so base as to desert you at the very foot of the altar, merely because at that moment he happened to be struck by the charms of one of your bridemaids? This seems to me very strange, my daughter; and me-thinks, it does not well harmonize with the acknowledged probity of Montfort’s 296former conduct.—If he had not loved you, to be sure he would not have persuaded you to fly with him from your brother’s Castle—and yet, if I recollect right, you mentioned, that his carrying you off prevented your being compelled to espouse the aged Count of Torrenburg, who was then as much the object of your aversion, as (when his virtues became, known to you) he was afterwards the object of your esteem?—You were young, amiable, in distress, partial to Montfort ... it is very possible, that love induced him to advise your flight; but then again it is also possible, that mere sympathy and compassion might have led him to give the very same counsel, and to take the very same step.”—

Such was the vexatious mode of arguing 297and of seeing things adopted by the Abbess. I recapitulated the strong reasons which I had to believe, that in offering me his hand Montfort was prompted by affection.——The Abbess acknowledged their force; but she added—“that it was very easy for that, which was at first nothing more than compassionate interest for the beautiful Elizabeth, to be in time converted into love.”—

This compliment so ill-timed put me more out of patience, than her humiliating questions and remarks. It was with difficulty, that I concealed my ill-humour, and hastily endeavoured to change the subject of our discourse.

Alas! my dear brother, everyone seems to be in Montfort’s interests, and averse to mine. The decision of my venerable 298counsellor Albert Reding has just been communicated to me, and I find.... But I will not repeat to you, what he says: what do wealth and power, what do vassals and domains concern me now?—My peace is fled, my heart is broken!—

The Abbess was not easily persuaded to quit the subject: and at length she put some enquiries, which cut me to the very heart.—They regarded the friend and companion of my earliest youth, the worthy Richard of Ulmenhorst, whose love I had rejected, solely influenced by my partiality for Montfort. I was thrown into such confusion by this unexpected home-attack, that ... I set all politeness fairly at defiance, and without replying, abruptly spoke upon another subject.

We were sitting in the Abbess’s private 299closet; and I now compelled those portraits, which had at first excited my curiosity respecting the secrets of this Convent, to furnish me with an excuse (good or bad) for eluding questions, which I felt but little inclination to answer.

—“Holy Mother,” said I, “among all the histories respecting the Ladies of Sargans which you have related, there is one still unknown to me. You have always past over the picture, which represents two female pilgrims, bewildered among the barren wilds of a snow-covered mountain; a picture, which when I first entered this room, drew more of my attention, than any of its companions. I at first believed them to represent the unfortunate sisters, Emmeline and Amalberga; but I do not recollect to have heard (I 300had nearly said “to have read”) any circumstances in their history according with the scene before me. How anxiously they seem to be looking for the right path!—Good Mother, inform me, whether they found it, and what untoward accident brought them into their present distress? You really must make me better acquainted with their adventures, for my whole heart already speaks in their favour.”—

—“Does it in truth?” said the Abbess, smiling at my eagerness. “Oh! that good heart!—But look at the picture nearer; see whether you can find in the countenances nothing to justify your partiality, except the expression of distress?”—

I drew near, and examined the picture carefully; but I soon turned away again, 301and felt, that my cheeks were burning; in truth something till then unobserved struck me in the features, but the effect produced was by no means pleasing.

—“Well!” enquired the Abbess; “have you discovered any thing?”—

—“That general family-likeness,” I replied carelessly, “which is peculiar to the House of Sargans. But I entreat you, Mother, inform me, who do those figures represent?”—

—“Two innocent and unfortunate sisters,” was the Abbess’s answer, “driven from their proper station, and compelled even to conceal their very names by a succession of untoward circumstances, not by any fault of their own committing. I could tell you much respecting them, that perhaps would not appear to you uninteresting; 302but I am too weak to undertake the task at present. However, not to leave your curiosity quite unsatisfied, such an account of them as exists in our archives shall be looked out, and delivered to you in the course of this evening. Probably, you will find this narrative more instructive, and in every respect better worth your inspection, than those which I am compelled to withhold from you, since the latter were written by Females but little skilled in literature; while the history, of which I speak, was transmitted to posterity by the learned pen of an Abbot of Cloister-Curwald.”—

—“Of Curwald?” I repeated, with a smile of contempt and incredulity.

—“Nay, nay, good Countess,” said the Abbess with some warmth; “no prejudices, 303I implore you! The author of that manuscript, a copy of which I propose entrusting to you, was no Guiderius, no Luprian, believe me! No, daughter, he was one of the wisest and holiest men of the age, in which he lived; a man in short, whose virtues conferred honour on the rank of a prelate, and who was in fact, as well as in name, a true dignitary of the church.”—

I am now waiting in momentary expectation of receiving the promised manuscript. The situation, in which I exist at present, is such, as makes it necessary for me to seize every means of diverting the natural current of my thoughts into a different channel: it is to this necessity, that a great portion must be ascribed of the impatience, with which I look forward to the arrival of this narrative.

I have received the manuscript; I have read it, and have read it more than once.—I send it to you, my brother; read it, as I have done; feel, what I have felt; then will nothing surprise you which you may hear, respecting the actions of your sister

Elizabeth.

Written by the Abbot of Cloister-Curwald.

Above a century has passed away, since the last heroines of that family, to whose annals I am preparing to add, quitted the scene of human action. I say, the last, because no accounts exist of their successors; but during that long and vacant period, who knows, but that many excellent persons may have acted in a manner which did credit to their ancestors, though no written or traditional memorial remains to 306communicate to posterity their virtues and their woes, their trials and their victories? My heart delights in the tale, which records examples of heroic excellence; and I have frequently censured the indolence of cotemporary writers, for suffering this period to remain a blank. Lest I should deserve that censure myself, which I have not scrupled to inflict upon others, I now take up my pen, and proceed to execute a task, which (should I live to finish it) will, I trust, rescue from oblivion some circumstances well-deserving to be remembered. What I shall set down will be truth, pure unadorned truth. A just cause demands not the aid of ornament; and should these leaves ever meet the eye of persons, who may think themselves more nearly interested in their 307contents than others, let them not for an instant suspect, that one syllable is either inserted or retrenched upon their account, or with a view to produce any other sentiment in their bosoms, than a conviction of the truth. It is not before their tribunal, that I plead the cause of two unfortunates, but before that of the whole world: I write not for them, whose prejudices may perhaps make them refuse to peruse more than a few pages of this narrative, and who may close their eyes obstinately against the light, which shews them that, which they are unwilling to see. No; I write for impartial judges, and will state my case with as pure and rigid fidelity, as were I stating it to the ear of Heaven.

In the tranquil vales, which border the lakes of Thun and of the Four Cantons, 308those lakes where Helvetian Liberty first threw her fetters away, still do the families exist of those best friends of their native country, the Melthals, the Forests, the Bernsdorfs, and the Tells. Their different branches have spread themselves on all sides, and almost form a little nation of their own; whose sons and daughters, even in a land where honour, bravery, and truth are so universal, still distinguish themselves from their compatriots by the superiority of their virtues. It were an easy task for me to point out many Williams, Walters, and Henrics, many Gertrudes and Amabels in this amiable community, so perfectly have the good qualities of their fore-fathers been inherited by their children: but at present I shall only mention the inhabitants of one 309particular house, which sheltered the infancy of the heroines of my tale.

’Twas the peaceful cottage of a younger William and a younger Amabel, the descendants of that Tell, who offered up the tyrant Gessler as a sacrifice to the insulted liberties of Helvetia: here among a crowd of blooming sons and daughters two lovely girls were remarked, whose appearance made it evident, that their origin was not the same with that of their play-mates. It is true, that they called themselves their sisters, and were persuaded, that in fact they were so; but yet the truth was quite otherwise. The real children of the family were healthy and strong like the generality of their kindred; but these two girls were fair and delicate, and rather resembled beautiful exotic plants surrounded 310by meadow flowers, to which they condescended to allow the honour of a common origin: and however they might themselves esteem the merits of these simple children of nature, to all other eyes it was plain, that their own perfections were far superior.

I have entitled this narrative “the Sisters without a Name,” for it was long before they knew the family, from which they sprung; and when it was at length revealed to them, they found, that their rights were in the possession of strangers. Nay, at the moment that I am writing, they are still denied the privilege of calling themselves by the name of an illustrious House, whose dignity would be disgraced by the inferior station, in which they are at present compelled to exist.

311In the early and happiest period of their lives, the Sisters were totally unconscious of the magnitude of their claims, and their minds encouraged no wish to be greater than they were. Happy in the humble sphere for which they believed themselves ordained, happy in the shades of their mountains, in the tranquillity of their flowery vallies and glassy lakes, they considered the scenes which surrounded them, and which appeared to them so enchanting, as a beautiful specimen of the whole world; nor did they ever trouble their heads with a thought, whether beyond those mountains, and on the outside of those vallies, there existed objects which were deserving of a wish to be acquainted with. This fortunate unconsciousness was assiduously preserved in their minds 312by those, to whose care they were confided; and on winter-evenings, when William Tell had collected all his children around him (among whom the Sisters were still reckoned) the stories, with which he entertained them, always respected some hero or heroine of ancient Helvetia; so that nothing was made known to them except the country which gave them birth, and they were led to consider nothing as of importance but what related to that country, because of that country alone had they ever been told any thing important. In the same manner were they instructed respecting the concerns of human life: every illustration was selected from the lower or middling classes of society and the manners and customs of the great would have been totally unknown to them, 313had it not been for an old man, over whose head near a century had past, and who was a member of the happy family, in which the Sisters resided. This good father would often take the two girls apart from their playmates, and recount to them particulars of the ancient Houses of Carlsheim, Torrenburg, and Homburg. Mary and Rosanna (so were the Sisters called, while under Tell’s roof) listened to him with the greatest interest, and each selected a heroine from among the Helens, Emmelines, and Uranias, as the object of her peculiar admiration.

But such ladies of those illustrious families, as had finished their lives in a cloister, were sure of obtaining the favour of the gentle serious Mary. She was not fourteen, when she made a pilgrimage to the 314Convent of Engelberg for the purpose of kissing the stone, on which Amalberga was kneeling, when surprised by Landenberg’s emissaries; and she frequently expressed a wish, that she might one day be permitted to take the veil in that Convent, which had so long given shelter to the heiress of Sargans.

The laughing Rosanna often added to this wish an assertion, that her sister hoped like Amalberga to exchange in due time the cloister for a bridal garland; but Mary’s conduct sufficiently proved, that her religious vocation was at that time no affectation. She was just sixteen, when William Tell was obliged to comply with her entreaties, and suffer her to reside at Engelberg. He seemed to consent to this step unwillingly: but he comforted himself 315with the reflection, that the rules of this House permitted no one to pronounce the irrevocable vow, who had not completed her twenty-fifth year; a period, before whose arrival a thousand accidents must necessarily have taken place, capable of shaking the most determined resolutions and the most ardent zeal.

Rosanna accompanied her sister to the Convent, and for a few days forced herself to be pleased and satisfied with the religious tranquillity of her new abode. But at length she could no longer conceal from herself, that nothing save Mary’s society could have made the manners of a convent endurable; and that in fact she was much better calculated for singing and dancing with her young companions on the village green, than for attending the 316Abbess and her Nuns to the midnight mass. She therefore endeavoured to give her occupations some variety by taking an active part in the internal arrangements of the Convent.

Rosanna was beautiful, but as yet no one had told her so. None of the neighbouring youths pleased her enough to make any impression upon her, and the consequence was, that her charms made but little impression upon them. With all her vivacity, there was a certain something in Rosanna’s manner, which kept the multitude in awe. Every one admired her, wished her well, was pleased to see her join in their amusements, but she produced no warmer sentiment. A kind of dignity, of which she was herself unconscious, prevented the young men from 317being as much at their ease with her, as with her companions, and kept even the least abashed of them at a distance: at length the society was increased by the arrival of a person, who only required to be seen, in order to inspire her with a wish to obtain from him something more than indifference, or mere dispassionate approbation.

The ancient friendship established between the families of William Tell and Henric Melthal was kept up by their descendants in all its original vigour. A son of that Alwyn Melthal, who played the chief part at the capture of Rassburg, was still alive, and nearly of the same age with that old relation of William Tell, whom I formerly mentioned. Both these venerable men were still fresh and hearty in spite 318of their advanced time of life; such is indeed the natural effect of breathing the pure mountain air, and living far from the vices and excesses of cities. The two families often met together, and their days of festivity were always observed in common.

Old Melthal had several children; but now it was rumoured, that one of them called Erwin (whom no one recollected to have ever heard of before) was just returned from foreign parts, and that a great feast was shortly to be given in honour of his safe arrival. Accordingly, the venerable chief of the Melthals made a tour through the neighbouring districts, for the purpose of inviting his relations and intimates to assemble on the green lawn before his house on an appointed 319day; thence to accompany his newly-arrived son to the old church on the banks of the Lake, and return thanks to Heaven for his prosperous return; and finally, to pass the remainder of the day and a good portion of the following night at his expence in various festivities and amusements.

Tell’s family was one of the first invited: the expectation of the approaching entertainment gave a look of joy to every countenance. In the great world, no one looks forward to a day marked out for some amusement with half this enthusiasm: the hurry of tiresome and expensive preparations; recollections, how often on similar occasions we have expected more amusement, than we received; the frequent recurrence of such pleasures, 320which robs them of the charm of novelty; the suggestions of mortified vanity or dissatisfied pride; all these combine to embitter the festivals of the great. But here in the land of innocence and gaiety, here where no one looks for any pleasure, but that which he is sure of finding; where pride and vanity have nothing to do; where every recollection is delightful, and the whole expence and preparation consist in a wreath of fresh-gathered flowers; here it is, that an invitation to a party of pleasure is really welcome, and seldom fails of justifying its name.

The sun was not yet risen, and the youths and damsels of Tell’s family were already on their road to Melthal’s cottage. Lots were cast among the girls to decide, who should have the honour to conduct 321the procession; the chance fell upon Rosanna. In consequence, she added to that which confined her locks, a second wreath of flowers which she hung round her arm, ready (as was the custom on such occasions) to crown the hero of the entertainment. It was a special privilege enjoyed by that company of young people, which arrived first at the place of rendezvous, that a similar garland to that, with which themselves were adorned, should ornament the head of the principal personage, whereas the garlands of the others could only be worn by relations of that particular family; and this privilege was one, which they valued highly.

Tell’s children, therefore, entreated their sister Rosanna to hasten forwards, in order that no one might arrive before them; 322and obliging as she ever was, she quickened her steps, though solely from the desire to comply with their wishes: for she little guessed the sort of youth, for whom her garland had been woven. She expected to see a person, who would be as indifferent to her as all those were, whom she had already seen; and it was a matter of little concern to her, whether she ornamented with her garland the locks of the young Melthal, or of one of her own relations.

But how were her sentiments changed, when at the head of her company she arrived on the brow of a little hill, and looked down upon Melthal’s cottage! There sat the old man on a stone bench before the door; and near him stood a youth, whose countenance was illumined by the rosy light of the rising sun, and 323whose figure excelled in manly beauty every thing that she had ever seen, nay that she had ever thought or dreamt of.—She started back.

—“What!” said she to herself; “can this be a son of the old Henric Melthal? No, no! ’tis certainly some angel, or some saint or martyr at the least. In truth, I never saw one of the beings, to whom those names are applied; but I have been told much respecting such supernatural Existences, and surely if they ever deign to visit the earth in human form, they must needs resemble yonder youth.”—

Erwin Melthal appeared to be in earnest conversation with his father: but no sooner was he aware of the approaching guests, than he hastened towards them, and delivered a welcome with such unaffected 324grace and easy dignity, that Rosanna’s delight and astonishment were raised to the very highest pitch.

Tell’s family was in fact the first arrived, and Rosanna’s garland was without a competitor for the honour of adorning Erwin’s head; an honour, which she now no longer looked upon as a matter of indifference, and which she could not have consented to make over to one of her companions without some little movements of jealousy and dissatisfaction.

She approached the stranger, while her cheeks were suffused with blushes, and her hand trembled, as she drew the garland from her arm. He stood before her like some well grown cedar, and bowed down his head a little to be crowned by the lovely stranger. She hesitated, retired 325a few steps, and looked anxiously round to her female companions, as if she would willingly have given up her office to one of them: while Erwin, either out of respect and admiration at the heavenly vision which now stood manifest before him, or from the more earthly consideration of the difference between her stature and his own, sank upon one knee before her, and in this attitude was crowned by her trembling hands.

It was an established custom, that the conductress of the first company that arrived, on these occasions should be the partner of the king of the festival during the whole of the day. Rosanna, who loved to enjoy the earliest breath of morning and the glories of the rising sun, had already frequently obtained this privilege 326without its causing her much emotion; but now when she reflected, that for a whole day she should be by the side of Erwin Melthal; that she should kneel on the same step with him at church; should join at the same time and almost in the same breath with him in the most solemn offices of devotion; should blend her voice with his in prayers and anthems; and that at table, in the dance, at every kind of festivity, she should still have no associate but Erwin, all this was too much for her to conceive at once, and her feelings scarcely permitted her to breathe.

Still she only dared to express those feelings by looks and blushes: but Erwin, who felt the same, was not confined like her by the restraints of decorum. He made use of the privilege of his sex, and 327not only spoke, but spoke so plainly, that little as Rosanna was skilled in the language of love, which she then first heard from his lips, she still understood his meaning; and little as she ventured to answer, still before the entertainment concluded, she had left no doubt upon his mind, that their affection was mutual. The embarrassment, which took place at their first meeting; the gift of her garland; the religious ceremonies in which they had been engaged together, and in which each had stolen a little from that which was destined for Heaven, for the purpose of bestowing it on the other; all these circumstances and a thousand other trifles, which occurred in the course of the entertainment, assured them, that an exchange of hearts had taken place, that their sentiments 328were sanctioned by the approbation of Heaven, and that every thing would turn out as they wished and expected.

From this day forwards Erwin’s leisure was totally engrossed by Rosanna. The habitations of Tell and Melthal were not so very distant, but that by setting out at the same time the lovers were certain to meet halfway, time enough to pass some hours together undisturbed: besides the intimate connection, which subsisted between the two families, furnished too many opportunities of intercourse, to admit of their often complaining of long absence from each other. The passion, which grew stronger in their bosoms with every hour, was carefully concealed from every one; not that they had any reason to apprehend censure from their superiors; but 329because secrecy seemed to give an additional charm to the correspondence of their hearts, and because the goal of their desires seemed to be still at a considerable distance.

The venerable Melthal, the youth’s great-grandfather, had caused him to be educated in a foreign country, and intended him for the profession of arms. Erwin had been long suffered to remain ignorant, both to what family he belonged, and to what country he owed his origin: but the good antient (whom the number of his years rather than any sensible infirmity made conscious, that the close of his existence could not be far removed) now thought proper to summon his grandson to a private conference, in which he disclosed to him many particulars of great importance.

330—“One more campaign,” said Erwin to his mistress, the first time that he saw her after holding this conversation with old Melthal, “one more campaign under the Emperor’s banners, in whose service I am at present engaged; and then will I hasten back to lay my laurels at the feet of my Rosanna, confess my love for her, and fix my habitation with her in that quarter of the globe, which her fancy shall prefer. If she thinks proper still to reside in the shades of her native vallies, there too will I take up my abode: if she rather desires to see the world (which in truth has its charms and can show some scenes, with which even these enchanting solitudes must not come in competition) perhaps her happy Erwin may succeed in procuring for her there a situation better suited to 331her merits, than that which she must fill in the obscurity of these retired mountains.”—

—“Dear Erwin,” interrupted Rosanna, “speak no more of this; speak not of my merits, or of removing me to the great world! Ah! why must you needs yourself go thither? Is it not enough to make me hate that world, that it soon must rob me of your society? and alas! who knows, whether you will return from that wild tumult, which I only know by description, with sentiments as kind and as honest and true an heart, as you will bear away with you!”—

Poor Rosanna was bathed in tears, while she made these representations. She had had dreams, and omens, and forebodings, which promised nothing good, 332and which her lover soon banished by means, which every lover (the false as well as the true) equally practises on similar occasions. But Erwin was true as the truest; and his oaths were heard and registered in the Book of Eternity by the Angel, who suffers no perjury to escape unpunished.

There was one person in the world, with whom Rosanna had been too long accustomed to share all her joys and all her sorrows, all her hopes and all her fears, not to make her feel uneasy under the profound secrecy, which she had hitherto imposed on herself respecting her attachment: that person was Mary. In fact, she had already suffered some distant hints to escape her, that she had a secret to communicate; and at length she summoned 333up all her resolution, and (with Erwin’s approbation) set forward one morning for the Convent of Engelberg, determined to lay her whole heart open to her sister’s inspection.

Though Mary found her own felicity within the bounds of cloistered retirement, her notions were too liberal to make her consider it as improper, that Rosanna should seek for happiness in the arms of an affectionate husband. With folded hands and a countenance bright with tranquil joy, she piously invoked a blessing on her sister’s union with the honest-hearted Erwin; though she could not help lamenting with a sigh, that he should have adopted the profession of Blood! Before they separated, it was settled between the Sisters, that on an appointed day Rosanna should 334conduct her lover to the Convent, in order that Mary might become personally acquainted with her future brother.

This interview was not difficult to be procured; Mary had not yet pronounced her vows, and was left at perfect liberty to employ her time, as she thought proper. Yet partly from a wish to make the business no more public than could be avoided, and partly from a movement of religious enthusiasm which forcibly operated upon her imagination, Mary desired, that the meeting should not take place, till the evening was on the point of closing.

It was in autumn, and the weather proved gloomy. Mary had provided herself with a key of the Chapel, and it was in this awful place, that she received the lovers. A small porch, faintly lighted by 335the glimmerings of a distant lamp, witnessed their first meeting. Mary (who in spite of her extreme youth had already adopted the dignity and grave character appropriate to her destined station) spoke long and seriously to the warrior, respecting the sincerity of his attachment and the sacred nature of his engagement to Rosanna. His answers were such as she most desired to hear; and she now conducted them into the Chapel, where she had already placed two burning tapers before an altar consecrated to Saint Engeltruda.

—“Kneel,” said she, “kneel upon the stone, on which Amalberga was kneeling when seized by the sacrilegious Landenberg; kneel, and swear in the presence of God and of this chapel’s Patron-Saint, never even in thought to 336swerve from the strictest rules of eternal truth and unsullied virtue: so shall this place be cleansed from the pollution, which it contracted from the impure steps of the virgin’s ravisher!—May Landenberg’s fate be thine, Erwin, shouldst thou ever for one instant prove faithless to Rosanna!—Never may’st thou, Rosanna, find in the time of need such a preserver as Amalberga found in Eginhart, shouldst thou ever forget the man, to whom I now solemnly betroth thee in the face of listening Heaven.—Let nothing part you, but the grave!—And should hereafter either of you from inconstancy or caprice rend asunder the sacred bonds, with which I now unite your fates for ever, that instant shall my form (be I living, or be I dead) stand before you threatening and 337awful, and warn you to return to the paths of propriety and duty!—But peace, everlasting peace be with the bosoms of faith, and may the wings of angels overspread them and preserve them!”—

Erwin and Rosanna, as they gazed on the lovely form, which stood before them illuminated by the pale light of the consecrated tapers, fancied themselves in the presence of some celestial being. They thought, that in her words they heard the voice of her Patron-Saint; they swore fidelity while life should last, and Mary kissed and blessed them.

She then accompanied them to the Chapel-porch; and the betrothed or rather the espoused lovers (for as such they now considered themselves) bent their course homewards beneath a sky heavy with 338the dews of an autumnal evening. Not one syllable did they exchange, as they past along; a gentle pressure of the hand occasionally was the only manner, in which they gave token of their feelings. Yet was their joy not quite unclouded; a secret heaviness weighed down their hearts: melancholy forebodings forbade their abandoning themselves entirely to the delightful thought—“We are united for ever!”—

The three actors in this solemn and singular scene had not enveloped their secret in so impenetrable a veil, as they imagined; and this transaction was the means of their meeting with many severe reproofs from those, to whom they were in subjection. The youthful devotee had been watched by an inquisitive Nun; and the respectable 339office, which she had thought proper to perform on this occasion, was made known to the Abbess the next morning. Severe were the censures past by that good lady on Mary’s boldness, in assuming a character so ill adapted to her time of life. On the other hand, each of the lovers was closeted by the chief of their respective families; and many representations were laid before them in these private conferences, which seemed to make great impression on the minds of both, though they had not the smallest effect in diminishing their mutual attachment. At their next meeting Erwin revealed not to Rosanna one word of the conversation, which he had held with his grandfather Melthal; neither on her side was Rosanna more communicative of the information, 340which she had gained from the old William Tell. They only confest to each other, that the main-topic of both these secret conferences had been reasons for their renouncing their so lately contracted union; and the question was exchanged—“Whether what each had heard, but which neither revealed, was of such force, as to authorize their breaking vows, which had been pronounced with such solemnity”—“No!”—uttered in a tone so positive, as to convey in it a renewal of all their former oaths, was the reply on both sides: yet they agreed to commit their cause to Heaven and Time, and to suffer, to hope, and to believe, what (in secret each was compelled to own) appeared then to be impossible.

That Erwin and Rosanna were mutually 341attached to each other, had been long suspected; but the fact was now made known throughout the Province, and the prejudice ran universally in favour of the lovers. The youths and damsels exclaimed loudly against the severity of the two fathers; and even the old people shook their heads, and let a few words escape them now and then about inexplicable obstinacy. They declared, that Melthal’s son and Tell’s daughter seemed to be formed for one another, that they ought to be united, and that united they would be some day or other, happen what might. Whenever they encountered the dejected lovers, they never failed to whisper some kind exhortations to be faithful, and to hope for better times; while on the other hand their young companions were anxious 342to furnish them with opportunities of meeting, and frequently in their village festivals the lovers suddenly found themselves encircled by the same chain of flowers, and heard every voice unite in singing the praise of their tender attachment and their wishes for its happy issue. A thousand ballads were made upon them, some plaintive, some gay, and they circulated from mouth to mouth with rapidity; for the love of Erwin and Rosanna was an affair, in which the whole Province felt itself interested.

This universal good-will, however, advanced their cause but little. When they were alone, each spoke of eternal fidelity and insurmountable difficulties; each made it evident, that a secret sorrow weighed heavy upon the heart; each 343found fault with the father of the other, and declared him to be extremely in the wrong; while the father of the speaker was asserted to be perfectly in the right, at the same time that to obey him was acknowledged to be impossible. As to the two old men, they took no steps towards an explanation. It was rather observed, that from this time forward they shunned each other’s society, and seemed by the mutual distance thus suddenly created between them, to give their children a hint of the conduct, which they expected them also to adopt.

Sooner than they were aware, chance relieved them from the troublesome employment of watching over the lovers. Erwin was unexpectedly summoned to join the Emperor’s army, and the orders 344were so pressing, as not even to permit his taking leave of his mistress. Yet as he past by it on his road, he said a short but fervent prayer in the Chapel of Engelberg; he commended himself and his fortunes to the protection of that Saint, who had heard his vows pronounced; and Mary being fortunately among the Nuns, and within reach of his eye, he implored her by signs to bear his melancholy greeting to her sister. Mary perfectly understood the meaning of those signs; though it was long, before an opportunity presented itself for complying with his wish. Ever since her culpable interference in unhallowed love-affairs, the virtuous Lady Abbess had caused a strict watch to be kept over Mary; and though Rosanna’s heart was full and greatly needed the 345consolations of a sister’s tenderness, she still hesitated to visit Engelberg. The secret, which the old Tell had revealed to her, was a dead weight upon her heart; she knew well, that it was her duty to make it immediately known to Mary, who was no less interested in it than herself; and she trembled to hear the decision, which (she doubted not) would be pronounced even by her truest friend and the partial favourer of her love, as soon as she should be made acquainted with the real nature of the case.

The useful art of penmanship, which a century before had been familiar in these parts, and practised by persons totally unconnected with learned pursuits, even by women, (as the annals of the Ladies of Sargans testify,) at the present period 346was fallen into neglect. With the exception of some few characters of distinguished merit, it was confined to the clergy, and alas! in this respect Erwin and Rosanna were completely laical: neither was it safe or prudent to confide their tender secrets to the discretion of chance messengers; and it necessarily followed, that the lovers were but seldom informed of the proceedings of each other. Common fame however occasionally brought the maid tidings of her warrior not less strange than satisfactory; and the girls of the Valley frequently were able to comfort their sorrowing companion with reports, which asserted Erwin’s heroism to be only equalled by his good fortune. Rosanna’s heart readily gave credit to assertions so flattering; and she 347was too well disposed to believe them, to require much proof of their veracity; nay, she sometimes was so completely fascinated by the illusions of Fancy, that she could not refrain from communicating her hopes to the venerable Tell.

—“Surely, my good father,” would she say to him, “should Erwin return to me crowned with honour and renown; should he be really what Fame asserts, the favourite of his Emperor, what is more probable, than that the lowness of his origin should be sunk in the splendour of some new-acquired title, and his merits be rewarded by his elevation to some station of importance? and in that case, where would be the impropriety of my giving him my hand? and what obstacle would my mother’s injunctions oppose any longer to our union?”—

348The old man on hearing such observations never failed to exclaim against the credulity of young minds, and to warn the exulting girl against the painful effect, which evil tidings would produce upon her mind with as much facility and with still greater violence. They say, that Age often possesses the gift of second-sight; it is at least certain, that what Tell foreboded, happened but too soon. On a sudden, Rosanna’s Companions greeted her arrival no more with chearful songs of encouragement and hope; the name of the heroic Erwin now was never suffered to pass their lips; when she enquired, whether no tidings of him had reached the Valley, her question was evaded. At length the deep mourning, in which the Melthal family appeared, made public the 349dreadful intelligence, which her friends had so long concealed from her, and the relation of which struck her senseless to the earth, as if it had been a flash of lightning. Erwin had accompanied his sovereign to relieve the Fortress of Bender, which was besieged by Sultan Amurath, and in an unsuccessful attack upon the enemy’s camp had fallen as became a warrior. The whole Valley was afflicted at his loss; the old Melthal was inconsolable. Shortly afterwards he left his home to visit the Castle of a nobleman, who had been long his patron and his friend, and he returned no more. Death surprised him on his journey; and his children brought nothing back but his bones, which they buried in his native land, that land which through life he had ever loved so dearly!

350It seemed, as if at this period every kind of misfortune had conspired to ruin this once so happy Province. It was visited by continual storms, such as had never before taken place within the memory of man: the mountain-torrents deluged the country with unusual fury; nor was it possible for the cultivators, industrious as they were, to bring their ruined fields into order again, till a considerable time had elapsed. The crops failed; prices rose; at length the distress became universal, and it was soon followed by the twin-sisters of Death, Famine and Disease.

Rosanna saw so many of the venerable fathers of the Valley sink into the grave, and wept over the tombs of so many of her youthful friends, that she could not but 351expect the lot soon to fall upon herself and her good old grandfather. The first was as earnestly desired by Her, who languished to embrace her Erwin in the land of shadows, as the latter was looked forward to with terror. She anxiously wished to lengthen the days of one, who was now almost her only friend, and she implored him to retire for a while from a spot become so dangerous. It was not far from Tell’s habitation to the Convent of Engelberg, and there the plague had not as yet commenced its ravages. Mary obtained permission from the Abbess to take possession of an uninhabited monastery, which made part of the domains of Engelberg; and she now hastened like some benevolent Angel to guide her sickening relations to the place of refuge, which she 352had found for them, and where she proposed to be their nurse herself. As many as were still capable of moving, blest her, and followed her to the Monastery; Rosanna and Tell made part of the melancholy caravan, which Death had taken care to prevent from being numerous. In defiance of the extreme danger, Mary resided with them, and administered to their necessities with her own hands. Her exertions were crowned with their deserved success; she had the happiness of rescuing all her patients from the grave, except the grey-headed Tell. Yet even He did not fall a martyr to the plague; Mary’s unceasing efforts had relieved him from that poisonous enemy; but the weight of near an hundred years prest him down, and forbade his ever rising 353again from that bed, from whose side, during the time of his most imminent danger, he had vainly entreated Mary and her sister to retire and attend to their own preservation.

—“My children,” said he at length, when no doubt remained that the hour of his death was at hand, “I feel, that we must part: and long as my worldly course has lasted, still at its close does nothing press heavy on my heart except the reflection, that I leave your fate and fortunes undecided. Rosanna, have you communicated to your sister those circumstances, which I thought fit to lay before you, in order that you might be convinced, that an union with Erwin Melthal would be ill-sorted and improper in every point of view?”—

354Rosanna replied in the negative; she had of late found but few opportunities, she said, of seeing her sister; and even when they were together, the Lady Abbess (whose notions of decorum had been greatly shocked at the share, which Mary had taken in the Chapel-scene) had watched them with such vigilance, as effectually prevented any confidential communications. She concluded her apology for having so long neglected to obey his injunctions, by entreating him to suffer Mary to retain the pleasing illusion that she had a right to his affection; an illusion, with which she herself had parted so unwillingly.

—“It must not be,” answered the expiring Tell; “it is necessary, that both of you should be aware, that you are no 355grandchildren of mine. The story of your birth is long; Rosanna is informed of all the circumstances, and will relate them to you, my gentle Mary, at some hour of leisure: at present learn from me such points, as are most essential.

“You and your sister are the sole remaining descendants of the younger branch of the ancient and illustrious families of Carlsheim and Sargans. That you have past so large a portion of your lives in obscurity, and that your great expectations are still in so questionable a state, you must accuse the superstitious obstinacy of the Countess, your deceased mother. She was a daughter of the Count of Mayenfield, and her extraordinary beauty made her the object of universal admiration. Among her suitors were 356numbered the heads of the two families of Torrenburg and Werdenberg, both equally descended from the united House of Carlsheim and Sargans. The latter was accepted; the former was not only rejected, but even held by your mother in the most absolute detestation. On the contrary, the Count of Torrenburg (who is still alive, and whose excellent heart never harboured resentment against any human being,) not only forgave the slight, but continued on the most friendly terms with his successful rival. He succeeded in expelling from his bosom his unfortunate passion, bestowed his heart on another lady more capable of estimating its worth, and his marriage was blest with two sons, as was that of the Count of Werdenberg with two daughters. On this fortunate 357occurrence taking place, the fathers entered into the most solemn engagements to unite their children in marriage, and by this means blend inseparably their mutual claims upon the inheritance of each other.

“My lovely girls, you were these daughters thus betrothed while in the cradle: I cannot express to you the repugnance, with which your mother entertained the idea, that she should one day hear you call the sons of the Count of Torrenburg by the name of husband. The antipathy, which she bore that family, was increased a thousandfold by the death of her husband; on which event the great domains of your father (according to the long-established customs of the Houses, to which you owe your origin) fell to the only remaining male heirs of the Counts of Carlsheim 358and Sargans, the Count of Torrenburg and his sons. The prospect of recovering the whole of this inheritance by your union with those sons, and the generous offers made by their father for her accommodation, had no effect in softening her animosity: she felt, that it was less disagreeable to lose every thing and sacrifice both herself and you, than to depart in any degree from her obstinate resolution.

“Accordingly she quitted the Castle of Werdenberg in the greatest privacy, and concealed herself in my humble habitation. I had been long known to her, and in general had been honoured with her confidence; but she carefully hid from me the real situation of her affairs and the true motives of her conduct. She did not long survive the loss of her husband; 359grief for his death and vexation at the good fortune of Torrenburg rapidly destroyed her health. On her death-bed she demanded from me a solemn oath, that I would adopt her orphan-daughters for my own, and would bring them up according to the instructions, which after her decease I should find conveyed in writing.

“That your prudent mother should prefer your being educated in the lap of rural innocence and tranquillity, rather than in the tumult of the great world, did not surprise me in the least, and I readily gave the oath demanded. But when after her death I learned from her papers the whole extent of my promise, and found myself enjoined to spread the report of your death, and never to disclose your real names, unless circumstances should 360give you a just claim to the inheritance of your ancestors, my surprise was extreme; and gladly would I have called back the oath, which your mother had carried with her into the grave, and which therefore was irrevocable.

“As the case stood, no choice was left me, and I was compelled to obey your mother’s injunctions respecting your education. It greatly comforted me to find, that the secret of your real station was not confined to myself. The deceased Countess mentioned in her will, that the Bishop of Coira and the Abbot of Cloister-Curwald (both of them related to her though but distantly) were aware of her design, and had sanctioned it with their consent; and I concluded, that since her determination had found favour in the 361eyes of such learned and respectable persons, it must needs have claims to approbation, which my own understanding was too short-sighted to discover.

—“It is possible,” it was thus that the Countess exprest herself in her last will; “it is possible, however trifling the probability seems at present, that the family of Torrenburg may become extinct; or that it may please Heaven to deprive it of male heirs, as it has been pleased to deprive the family of Werdenberg. In that case, let the claims of my daughters be advanced, and the documents produced, which are deposited in the hands of the Bishop of Coira, and in the archives of Cloister-Curwald: for the rights of these consolidated families are so ordained, that the daughters can only lay claim to the inheritance 362of their ancestors, in case no male heir should exist; a regulation, on whose justice I am too little learned to give an opinion, and whose effect I possess too little power to counteract.

“But as it is possible, that my orphan daughters may one day become the heiresses of Sargans, care must be taken to prevent their adopting any measure, which may make them blush at recollecting the obscurity, in which they are to pass their early years. I desire therefore, that you William Tell (whom I appoint their guardian) should not only bring them up innocently and virtuously, but should make them mistresses of as many elegant accomplishments, as circumstances will admit. Above all I command you on no account to suffer them to contract a 363marriage unsuitable to their illustrious birth. Unless a mother’s fondness deceives me, they will be singularly beautiful. Providence ever watches over the orphan’s destiny; and perhaps even in their humble station their charms may attract the observant glance of some young nobleman. Should such be the case, William Tell is at liberty to remove all obstacles to such an union, by revealing to the lover the real name of the parents of my daughters; and I also absolve him from his oath in so far, as to authorize him to disclose to themselves the secret of their illustrious origin, whenever they are sufficiently arrived at years of discretion, to make such a disclosure necessary or useful.”—

—“Here is this important paper,” resumed 364Tell after a short pause, for this long discourse had greatly exhausted him; “you will read it over together at your leisure: but one thing more I must observe to you. The Countess was no less averse to the seclusion of a convent than to ill-assorted marriages.—In one place (which I have pointed out for Mary’s observation by three crosses) she writes thus—“Be the veil the last refuge of my children, and on no account must either of them be suffered to assume it before her six-and-twentieth year. Then, if no more inviting prospect presents itself, their real rank may be revealed to the Superior, and the sums (which I leave for that purpose in the hands of William Tell) appropriated to the endowment of the Convent, in which they think proper to pronounce their vows.”—

365—“I trust,” continued the old man, “that I have not abused the confidence with which your noble mother honoured me. Anxiety to leave no part of her commands unexecuted made me lose no time in hastening to the Bishop of Coira and the Abbot of Cloister-Curwald, and requesting their advice respecting your future education. I found them already fully acquainted with the intentions of the deceased Countess; I also gathered from some words which escaped them, that all the singular injunctions of that lady’s will related to an old prophecy, by which the daughters of Werdenberg were threatened with the most severe mortifications and persecutions through the means of the family of Torrenburg. For my own part, I cannot say, that I lay any great stress upon these 366old traditions, and even look upon belief in them as little better than rank superstition: nay, I am almost persuaded, that the very means taken to avoid the dangers with which such prophecies menace us, frequently produce their accomplishment, of which (unless I am much deceived) your own history will furnish an additional proof. The two reverend gentlemen, however, were quite of a different opinion from me on this point; in truth, they received so ill a hint of this nature which escaped me, that if I had not held my tongue in good time, I verily believe, they would have excommunicated me as an arch-heretic. Luckily, the business was not to decide, whether your mother’s opinions were right, but whether her will should be obeyed; and on this head all 367three were of the same way of thinking.

“Annually I made them a visit to lay before them my proceedings, and receive instructions respecting your future conduct. At length they died, both nearly at the same time, and were succeeded by Bishop Sigisbert, and Abbot Conrad the Fourth, who also succeeded to the knowledge of your secret. The latter of those prelates (as you probably remember) once visited our cottage, as it seemed, by accident. He saw you, and felt himself greatly interested in your welfare. I have informed him of my illness, and also of the melancholy occurrences which have lately taken place, and which render these vallies no longer a safe retreat. In his answer, the good Abbot promises you his protection, 368proposes to remove you to those scenes where your noble ancestors once ruled, and engages (when the proper time shall be arrived) to support your claims to the utmost of his power.

“The sons of the Count of Torrenburg are dead; the Count himself is a widower, but is not quite so far advanced in years as to make his contracting a second marriage highly improbable. Still you have much to expect from his known generosity of mind, and I cannot but flatter myself, that you may look forwards to more fortunate times! Oh! with what content could I lay my head down in my grave, were I but certain that this hope will soon be realized! But alas! every thing shows itself to me, as if still at a fearful distance! Every thing seems covered with a gloomy 369veil of clouds. Many and many a bitter sigh must you heave, many and many a painful step must you tread, ere you regain that station, whence you have been degraded by maternal obstinacy and superstitious prejudice.—Yet take courage, my children; an invisible hand still guides the steps of the innocent, and you will find a powerful friend and safe adviser in the Abbot of Cloister-Curwald.”—

Here the old man concluded; his adopted daughters were silent, and wept.—All that they had heard, all the glorious prospects, which were just presented before them, were unable to overpower the melancholy conviction, that the hour was arrived, when they must close the eyes of that venerable man, who had for so many years cherished them with all the fondness 370of a father. In losing him, they foresaw too the loss of those simple pleasures, which had made their childhood glide away so gaily, and for which they feared to find the advantages of their new situation but a sorry and incomplete exchange.

Tell visibly became weaker, that is, his body became so; but his mind preserved its strength unimpaired, and to the last moment of sensibility possest its gaiety and freedom. He had indeed got the better of that illness, which at first confined him to a sick couch, but he sank under the burthen of his years. His heart at length felt the arrow of death; though in truth that metaphor is here inapplicable, for he felt no wound, he endured no pain. His existence ended in a gradual peaceful 371slumber; the lamp of his life was extinguished gently and imperceptibly.

Abbot Conrad arrived before the decease of Tell, for the purpose of removing the Sisters: but they implored a short respite. Gladly would they have remained Tell’s daughters all their lives; it was no light blow, that could sever the bonds, by which they were connected with the good old man; even Death was unable to effect this completely, and their affection still followed him even beyond the grave. Neither was Conrad anxious to remove them from the dying man: it was a blessed sight for him to witness the gentle departure of a just spirit, and for once to behold the so-dreaded form of Death arrayed in the peaceful appearance of a beneficent Angel. Neither was it an uninteresting 372sight, to see two girls in the bloom of youth and beauty turning away from the brilliant prospects of the world, to dwell with their whole souls on one of the most sorrowful and painful scenes, which can meet the eye of human nature; to see two highly-born princesses weep at resigning for such sounding titles the dearer-ones of daughters and sisters in the abode of rustic innocence; and to hear them at the grave of their common ancestor vow to their former play-mates, that they should ever hold their relationship as the most close and precious, though the whole universe should unite in endeavouring to efface the recollection of it from their minds.

Tell’s children could not understand rightly, what their supposed sisters meant 373by such assurances; and the Abbot thought it unnecessary to explain to them a mystery, which their approaching separation from the young Countesses of Werdenberg would soon make sufficiently clear.

The Abbot was obliged to be more communicative with the Domina of Engelberg. He found no great difficulty in obtaining her permission, that Mary (or Constantia, as she was now called, while Rosanna resumed her baptismal name of Ida.... Yes, Elizabeth! Ida and Constantia were their real names!) that Mary should for a time make trial of a worldly life, and should postpone her adoption of the veil till after the unravelling of her destiny. Three conditions however were annexed to the permission; first, that in case her call to a religious profession should 374be confirmed, that she should pronounce her vows in no other Convent than Engelberg; secondly, that in remembrance of her cloister-duties she should always wear the habit of the Order; lastly, that in case of the worst (by which the pious lady meant an union with an earthly bridegroom) she should not assume a worldly dress till her wedding-day, and should purchase the permission of renouncing the veil by a handsome benefaction to the Convent of Engelberg. The abbot understood the manners of the cloister, and agreed to these conditions on behalf of his wards; who in the mean while heaved many a sigh, while preparing for a journey, from which their hearts boded no good.

In the sphere in which they now moved, 375every thing appeared strange to them, and consequently disagreeable, from their not being accustomed to such manners and appearances. The splendour of Bishop Sigisbert’s court (at which they now resided) was too dazzling to be pleasant to eyes, which were only used to admire the simple charms of Nature; and when compared with those scenes, in which their childhood had past so happily, everything which now offered itself to their notice seemed ridiculous and frequently disgusting.

The Bishop, who felt the greater interest in the welfare of his young wards on account of their simplicity and want of relish for the dissipations of the world, was soon obliged to consent to their retiring from his court, and taking refuge 376in the tranquillity of a Convent at Zurich. Here Constantia was perfectly at ease; but Ida, who had been always accustomed to liberty, was but half satisfied with the restraints of her abode. Nay, she would have found them insupportable, had not the recollection of Erwin Melthal followed her to the Convent, and made solitude and silence agreeable, by suffering her to indulge unrestrained the melancholy of her heart. In truth, Ida had so little of that lofty spirit, which should have been united with her lofty station, that the remembrance of the son of an humble peasant, who had perished as an undistinguished warrior, still was sacred to her affection; and often did she assure Constantia, that were he still in existence, she would rather have renounced her birth-right 377than the hope of being one day called his wife.

—“I concealed my rank from Erwin,” said she, “that his love might not take the alarm at hearing the proud title of the Countess of Werdenberg: but I will not conceal the affection which I felt, and still feel for this Erwin, this humble peasant’s son, this undistinguished warrior, from any one, should any one hereafter think proper to demand my hand. No! I will avow my passion openly and firmly; and doubtless this confession will be enough to make my noble suitors abandon a girl, whose folly sets so little value on illustrious birth and titles handed down by a long line of ancestors.”—

Constantia was a little embarrassed in answering these declarations. Not being 378in love, she could not easily reconcile the union of two such names as Erwin Melthal, and Ida, Countess of Werdenberg: yet still she could not efface from her memory the solemn vows, which had passed between them; and in particular she could not but lay great stress upon their having been affianced before the altar of St. Engeltruda; a transaction, in which she had herself borne so principal a part. However the sum of her reflections was (though the goodness of her heart made her sigh, as she confest it) that it was fortunate, that Erwin’s death had solved all the difficulties, which would otherwise have arisen; and she could not but fancy, that in this event she saw the hand of Providence, which had preserved from degradation the honour of the illustrious House of Werdenberg.

379In the mean while the Bishop and Abbot Conrad were consulting, how they might best advance the interests of their young favourites. As they were not influenced by the prejudices, which made the late Countess of Werdenberg refuse all intercourse with the family of Torrenburg, and as they laid no stress upon the before-mentioned prophecy, they soon agreed to take the straight road (which indeed is always the best) and make the generous Frederick of Torrenburg immediately acquainted with the existence and adventures of his long-forgotten relations. The Count was old, and without children; and it was not unlikely, that he would adopt these orphans, and bring them up as the future heiresses of his domains. Under this impression they set forward 380for his Castle, well provided with letters and other documents to establish the veracity of their assertions.

The Abbot has been heard to say, that when the Count was first informed of the nature of their embassy, he started and turned pale; as the Bishop proceeded and made the fact certain beyond the possibility of dispute, this paleness gave place to a burning crimson, and when the tale was finished, the Count sat for a few moments lost in silent meditation; circumstances, from which the friends of the two Sisters augured nothing good to their cause. The event however proved that they were mistaken in imagining, that the generous Frederick would wilfully close his eyes against a truth, because it was unpleasant to him; though what made it so unpleasant 381to him, they were then at a loss to conceive.

He bestowed a noble heart-drawn sigh upon the memory of the Countess of Werdenberg. He blamed her for having suffered her prejudices to interfere so much with the welfare of her daughters, and engaged to repair the injury, which she had done them. Accompanied by the two Prelates he hastened to the Convent of Zurich, and entreated his new-found relations to make his abode their own. Deep was the emotion exprest in his honest countenance, when he first saw the Sisters. In them he beheld renewed in their most brilliant colours the charms of their mother, whom he had loved so long and so dearly without success; and he clasped them to his bosom with tears, 382which he vainly struggled to conceal. The girls too felt their hearts attracted towards the excellent man, and found no difficulty in considering him in every respect as their father.

They followed him to his Castle with willingness, were grateful for the kindness which he showed them, nor did it ever enter their thoughts, that it was in his power to show them more: but the Bishop was extremely surprised, that although the Count had acknowledged the validity of the documents which testified their birth, and had adopted them as his nieces, he made no mention of their being entitled to any part of his inheritance, nor seemed to have it in his contemplation to bestow them on proper bridegrooms.

—“The little eagerness,” said the Abbot, 383“which the Count shows for the wedding of his nieces confirms the report, that he is thinking of one for himself. I have already heard it whispered, that he is attached to a young person, with whom we are both well acquainted. She is lovely and virtuous; nobody can blame Count Frederick’s choice, though perhaps some people may blame him for making at his time of life any choice at all.”—

—“I am sorry to hear this,” replied the Bishop; “should children spring from this union, the claims of our wards will be completely annihilated.”—

—“In which case will they be made unhappy?” said the Abbot (who thought liberally on the subject, and to whom the lady, on whom the Count’s choice was supposed to have fallen, was even more 384dear than Constantia and her sister).—“Their rank is acknowledged; the sums left by their mother in our charge are sufficient to secure them against absolute want; their desires are moderate; neither will Frederick’s generosity fail to provide for them in a manner suitable to their station. But to expect that he should sacrifice the point, on which he grounds the happiness of his whole future life, in order that his inheritance may descend unimpaired to these unexpected newcomers, is really more than I can possibly justify to myself.”—

This conversation was communicated to the Sisters: they heard it with indifference. They were too little acquainted with the world to think much about events, which might affect their future interests, 385and were too grateful to their benefactor to wish for more favours from him, than such as he could grant without injury to his own feelings. But had they known on whom their uncle’s choice had fallen, they would have offered up their most fervent prayers for the success of his suit; and would have looked forward to the wedding-day with as much heart-felt pleasure, as to any which they had ever witnessed, while they were still the daughters of old Tell and Inhabitants of the happy Vale of Rutelis.

In the circle of young women, with whom their near relationship to the Count of Torrenburg necessarily brought them acquainted, none attracted their affection so strongly, as the beautiful Elizabeth of March. The interest, which Ida felt for 386this charming stranger was shortly reciprocal: yet it is probable, that Constantia would in the end have obtained the largest share of Elizabeth’s friendship and confidence, on account of that winning softness of manner and gentleness of temper, which made her a much more universal favourite than her gay and thoughtless sister, had she not thought proper to retire for a while from the world not long after the commencement of her acquaintance with Elizabeth. In spite of Ida’s remonstrances, Constantia entreated her uncle to suffer her to pass some time in the Convent of Zurich, and easily obtained her request.

It seems, that lovely as were the Ladies of Werdenberg, and general as was the admiration which they excited, still there 387was not so violent a contest for the possession of their hands, as the good Bishop had expected. It was known, that they were dowerless orphans; and as their uncle’s marriage (though not publicly spoken of) was much circulated in whispers, this event, which was likely to annihilate at once all the lofty claims of the Sisters, made their admirers think it to the full as prudent to confine their admiration for the present to their own breasts. The gentle Constantia alone found in the young Count of Thuringia one, who would have chosen her as his bride, had she been still the daughter of the peasant Tell. Constantia on her side felt, how generous was the youth’s conduct, and could not doubt the sincerity of his love: her heart inclined her to listen to him: but she could 388not consent to break her religious determinations so quickly and so lightly; and she retired into the Convent, that she might at least weigh the matter maturely, and try her suitor’s patience and perseverance a little by the test of time.

After her departure, the friendship of Elizabeth and Ida acquired strength daily; though their intercourse was much restricted by Count Frederick’s evident dissatisfaction at it, which the unsuspecting Ida attributed to some unaccountable antipathy conceived by her uncle against her lovely friend. The fact was, that with all his excellent qualities the Count was not without his weaknesses; among the chief of which maybe reckoned suspicion, bigotry, and a fondness for mystery even in the most innocent things. The last induced 389him carefully to conceal the proposals which (under the seal of secrecy) he had laid before Elizabeth’s father: the first, made him fancy, that Ida had fathomed his purpose, and from interested motives had endeavoured to set her friend against him; and his superstitious enthusiasm led him to believe that the best means of obtaining Elizabeth’s heart and hand was to tell his rosary more frequently than ever, and bestow enormous donations on the Church. He gave much; he promised more; and those promises were not breathed in inattentive ears. The Count’s domestic Priest and the chaplain of the March family found, that their own advantage was concerned in the accomplishment of Count Frederick’s wishes; and they held many a secret and serious conference on the means 390of bringing about this union. Besides the grand inducement of avarice, Father Hilarius (so was the priest of Torrenburg named) had additional motives for action. He looked on the Damsels of Werdenberg with all that aversion, which old family-servants ever bear to new-comers; whom they generally consider as intruders, and whom they fear, lest by their influence their own should be diminished. But with most invincible antipathy did the Monk regard the gay and thoughtless Ida, who had sometimes indulged her mirth at his expence, and whom he was determined to expel from her uncle’s heart, whatever trouble it might cost him.

Elizabeth by this time had no secrets for Ida. She informed her, that her parents had promised her hand to a powerful 391nobleman, and had ordered her in the most peremptory manner to prepare for the reception of her future husband, without even condescending to inform her of his name or situation. However, she was in truth little curious respecting him, for her heart was already bestowed upon another.

—“Yes!” said she to Ida, “I love Count Henry of Montfort, and have every reason to believe, that I am beloved in return most sincerely. Be this unknown bridegroom whom he may, he will find himself only an object of aversion in the eyes of Elizabeth of March.”—

Ida, judging by her own attachment to the deceased Erwin, agreed, that to banish from the heart the image of an adored lover was quite impossible: and Elizabeth was so well-pleased with her friend’s mode 392of reasoning, that she embraced her with redoubled affection. Ida advised her by no means to give up Count Henry; and Elizabeth on the other hand promised solemnly to follow that advice, which was so perfectly in unison with her own inclinations.

—“I am grieved to think,” said Elizabeth, “that probably in future we shall be suffered to meet but seldom! I have already received some hints, that my parents suspect you of not giving me such counsels, as they could wish; and yet in the present situation of my affairs it is so necessary for me to possess some feeling heart, to whom I can apply for sympathy and advice!—However, we shall still be able to correspond privately; and those communications may be made in writing, 393which the enemies of our friendship forbid us to impart in conversation.”—

Ida unluckily knew nothing of the art of writing on her first arrival at the Castle of Torrenburg; and since that time she had made but little progress under the tuition of Father Hilarius. She blushed, while she confest this ignorance; however, on examination Elizabeth was of opinion, that her friend was already sufficiently advanced to answer all necessary purposes.

—“I shall require no circumstantial answers from you,” said she; “a single expressive word will be enough to convey to me your opinion of my situation, and guide me in my difficulties: a “yes” or “no” will in general be sufficient to decide my conduct. On my side, I will 394take care to write so large a hand that it can be easily read, and to express myself in a manner that shall be intelligible only to yourself. Then if you are quite at a loss respecting any part of my letters, you may show the isolated passage to your chaplain Father Hilarius. He is a simple good kind of man, whose understanding is not keen enough to pierce through our mystery, and who may easily be deceived by two young girls with all their wits about them.”—

This “simple good kind of man,” as Elizabeth called him, the pious Father Hilarius, was perfectly astonished at the diligence, with which Ida now prosecuted her studies under his direction. Hitherto he had found her a very inattentive pupil, and as long as his lessons lasted, Ida 395was accustomed to yawn without intermission: on a sudden she was seized with the greatest fondness for that, which hitherto had inspired her with nothing but disgust: she even requested, that an additional hour’s instruction might be allowed her every day; and as Father Hilarius was not quite so simple as the girls had imagined, he concluded, that there must be some secret cause for this unexpected love of literature. An epistolary intercourse, arising from some love-affair, naturally suggested itself to his mind; and he determined to watch with the eyes of an Argus, whether he could not make some discovery to the prejudice of his detested pupil.

Ida soon received a pressing invitation to visit Elizabeth; the Count’s permission 396was requested; but as he was now on the point of declaring himself, and conceived that the presence of his lineal heiress could by no means be advantageous to his suit, that permission was refused. Elizabeth therefore had recourse to her pen, and Ida soon received the following letter.

—“I told you, that I had every reason to think that he loved me: alas! I fear, that I deceived myself. He knows my situation; knows, how I am persecuted; and yet he offers no friendly advice for my relief, nay even seems to decline every opportunity of visiting the Castle. He is at present with his uncle, who is too closely connected with my parents to favour an attachment, which would disappoint their views. Perhaps, he even insists upon Henry’s giving up every 397thought of me!—The bridegroom of my father’s choice has not yet revealed himself: I am still ignorant of all, except that he is rich, powerful, and old; but I am threatened with his speedy arrival, and have been assured, that the day in which I am presented to him, shall be that of my nuptials.—Write to me, dear Ida, and say, what course I should follow: the danger is urgent.”—

The messenger, who brought this letter, waited for an answer: it was with infinite difficulty, that Ida contrived to scrawl the following words.

—“Write to your Henry: if he loves you, he will hasten to your relief.”—

Several letters followed the foregoing; though Ida was frequently unable to decypher whole sentences of Elizabeth’s, and 398Elizabeth was sometimes completely at a loss to guess the meaning of Ida’s pot-hooks. But the next letter of any consequence ran as follows—

—“Though he is the friend of my parents, my lover’s uncle is not my enemy. He read the letter which I addrest to Henry, and permitted him to obey it. Henry has done so: Henry is here, and says that he is come to save me: but how?—Many a bold resolution presents itself to my thoughts, but all are too desperate to be adopted without advice. Decide for me, my friend; I will follow your judgment implicitly.”—

To this, Ida answered—“Fly with your Henry, and take refuge in his uncle’s Castle. In your situation, I would not have hesitated to follow Erwin through the world!”—

399This reply was not received, till the Count of Torrenburg had been presented to Elizabeth as the man, to whom her hand was destined. The repugnance, with which she listened to his declaration, was too visible to escape his notice; but as her parents gave him the most solemn assurances, that her heart (though not yet disposed in his favour) was still free from any other attachment, he persisted in his addresses. He persuaded himself, that his assiduities must in the end make him master of her affections, if once her hand became his property; and he looked forward with impatience to the nuptial-day, which was already fixed, and at no great distance.

Ida’s reply arriving at this critical moment, produced a rejoinder from her 400friend, which put her in no slight embarrassment; for the greatest part of it was totally unintelligible to her. Of Elizabeth’s former letters she had frequently failed in decyphering the words; but in the present epistle, even where she had overcome that difficulty, the sense frequently appeared to her as obscure as ever.

—“Ah! my sweet friend! how precious should I esteem your last advice, could I but be certain, that in giving it you were prompted by no motive but affection for Me. You cannot be ignorant, that all mystery is now laid aside; the dreaded bridegroom is arrived; and doubtless you must have been made aware of his intentions, long before my parents thought proper to communicate them to 401myself. When therefore you counsel me to shun this marriage by flight, can I avoid apprehending lest interest.... Ah! forgive me these suspicions, dear Ida! I will not doubt the sincerity of your friendship.—Yet flight is difficult, dangerous, disgraceful; Henry himself is unwilling to resort to this clandestine means of rescue! On the other hand, this hated Bridegroom.... Why do they tell me of his wealth and power? What are they to me? What are the domains of Carlsheim, Torrenburg, and Sargans, when balanced against Henry’s heart?—I know not what to do!—Once more, dear Ida! but once more advise me! Lay aside every interested motive, which might prompt your counselling me to flight; assure me, that friendship alone dictates your decision; 402and then if you still bid me trust my fate to Henry, I will throw myself into his arms, and bid adieu to the Castle of March.... alas! perhaps for ever!”—

Again and again did Ida read this letter, and still found herself as far as ever from understanding it. She would gladly have submitted it to some more learned head than her own; but her sister was absent, and prudence forbade her communicating it to the chaplain. Above all, the line which contained the three difficult words “Torrenburg,” “Carlsheim,” and “Sargans” set all her skill at defiance; and she could not but fancy, that were she once mistress of the meaning of that one line, it would make the rest of the letter quite intelligible.—And then what harm could there be in showing a stranger that 403single passage? The reader would certainly be able to gain but little information from it; and arguing thus, she cut the passage out of the letter, and hastened to request Father Hilarius to give her the interpretation.

Father Hilarius (whose activity was quite indefatigable, when exerted to find out what could injure his enemies, among whom he numbered the innocent Ida) already suspected the secret correspondence between his pupil and Elizabeth. The subject of it, however, was still unknown to him; but now the whole was as clear as day-light. He read what was shown to him, guest the remainder, and malicious pleasure sparkled in his eyes. To put the matter beyond a doubt, he pretended, that it was impossible to understand the 404meaning of a passage so detached, and demanded a sight of the whole epistle. This, however, was refused him: upon which he declared it to be his opinion, that “the difficult words in question must be Greek; for his part, he could make neither head nor tail of them.”—

Ida went away out of all patience! However, as she could not discover, that her friend’s situation had undergone any material alteration since her last letter, she at length determined at all events to send her the same answer: accordingly the messenger was despatched with a note containing only——“Flight! instant flight.”—

Ida’s belief, that the bands of love once formed could never be broken (together with other romantic notions, which she 405had imbibed among the Helvetian mountains, respecting justice and injustice, liberty of the heart, and suitability in marriage) must plead her excuse for the rash advice, which in the simplicity of her nature she gave her friend; advice, which afterwards operated to her prejudice so strongly, that it nearly ruined her reputation and her whole happiness in life. She counselled Elizabeth to take that step which (had she been herself the heroine of the adventure) she would herself undoubtedly have taken: this was the utmost extent of her error; this, and no more!

The advice was given; the advice was followed. A few days elapsed, and she heard, that the whole country was in an uproar. The beautiful Elizabeth of March had eloped with Henry of Montfort; and 406her brother Oswald, assisted by the forces of the Count of Torrenburg, had set forward in pursuit of the fugitives.

Ida was delighted to find, that her advice had been carried into execution with so much success: she only feared, lest the lovers should be overtaken by their pursuers, among whom she grieved to hear her uncle numbered; she was still ignorant, how deeply he was interested in this affair, and concluded that he was actuated to take a part in it by the friendship, which had so long subsisted between himself and the old Count of March.

Her prayers and wishes were half accomplished, half rejected. The lovers were overtaken: but Count Oswald of March was fondly attached to his sister; some well-disposed persons kindly interfered; 407Count Frederick voluntarily resigned his pretensions; and it was finally resolved, that the errors of love should be pardoned, and the fugitives united in a public and customary manner. In truth, no one could deny, that Henry was a much more suitable partner for the blooming Elizabeth, than her destined bridegroom, the age-stricken Count of Torrenburg.

Ida was not long without hearing from her friend: this letter, (the last which she ever received from Elizabeth,) induced her to take a step, which filled up the measure of her mischances, and not only deprived her of the favour of her deceived uncle, but totally ruined her in the general opinion.

—“Ida! dear Ida! authoress of all my 408present happiness! How wise was your advice! How perfectly has it succeeded! Yet a few days, and I shall become the wife of Henry. Still I shall feel my pleasure incomplete, unless I can thank you for it with an embrace on my bridal-day. Come then, my friend! come to place the garland on my brow^[5], and rejoice in the work of your prudence! You will find your sister with me: it was easy for her to obtain a dispensation from her Abbess. I rejoice, that your uncle is now in a distant part of the country, as in the present moment you would certainly have been 409refused permission to come to me. As it is, resolve to brave the hazard of a few frowns at his return; he will soon forget his displeasure at your witnessing my nuptials, being totally ignorant of every thing which might seriously make him offended with you, and which (you may be assured) shall never come to his knowledge.—But though concealed from all others, the friendly part which you have acted in this business, shall never be forgotten by the grateful heart of your Elizabeth.

“Then haste to me, my friend! I burn with impatience to make my Henry known to you: he too is impatient to see the friend of his Betrothed, the kind adviser, to whom the Happy-ones owe their happiness. I have resolved, that this 410wished-for introduction shall take place at the altar, before which I am to pronounce the nuptial vow. I confess, this decision is in some degree dictated by selfish motives: were Henry to see the lovely Ida of Werdenberg, before it is too late for him to retract with honour, who knows but her charms might make him faithless to the less fair Elizabeth?—Ah! dearest Ida, you are conscious, that I do but jest; I know well the heart of my friend, and the honour of my lover! Forgive then the fantastic humours of a girl already half wild with her happiness, and refuse not to make by your presence that happiness still greater.”—

A great part of this letter was as little understood by Ida as the former one; however, she took good care not to employ the Chaplain to explain the meaning. 411She doubted not his opposing her departure for the Castle of March, since her uncle (though for what reason she could not imagine) would disapprove of her visit; and in the Count’s absence she was totally under the direction of Father Hilarius. Ida therefore contented herself with understanding from the letter, that she was invited to a wedding, at which the successful counsels which she had given (together with other friendly services which she had rendered the happy pair) would make her an important personage; at which she should meet her sister Constantia, and doubtless many other of her youthful friends; and where she should exhibit her beauty to the best advantage, and should dress, dance, sing, and laugh, as she had frequently done on 412similar occasions on the blooming lawn of Rutelis. This was enough for her to know, and to determine her proceedings. On the appointed day Elizabeth sent a small body of attendants to wait for her friend in a wood at no great distance from the Castle of Torrenburg. Ida failed not to join them there; and without bidding adieu to Father Hilarius, she very quietly set forward for the Castle of March.

She reached it in safety, and soon found herself clasped in the arms of her delighted friend. There too she had the happiness of once more embracing Constantia. The two Sisters past the intervening time between their arrival and the wedding-day with Elizabeth in her apartment; where (according to the custom of our times) on such occasions no man was permitted 413to show himself, not even the bridegroom.

The important day arrived. Followed by her lovely companions, herself the most lovely, Elizabeth with trembling steps and a fluttering heart approached the altar, where Henry of Montfort waited her arrival. Ida now stepped forward; she threw back her veil, and prepared to fasten the wreath of Innocence among the golden ringlets of her friend: a similar garland hung on her arm, with which she was afterwards to present the bridegroom. Occupied entirely with the task of decorating Elizabeth, she had not yet cast her eyes on young Montfort; she had not observed, that he started on beholding her; she had not heard the name of “Rosanna,” which escaped from his trembling lips. She 414now turned to him for the purpose of offering him the other wreath; she already extended her hand; when fixing her eyes on his countenance, she uttered a cry expressive at once of the utmost surprise and terror, attempted but in vain to pronounce the name of Erwin Melthal, and would have sank upon the ground, had not Constantia rushed forward and received her in her supporting arms.

Constantia still wore the habit of a Nun; the altar was adorned exactly in the same manner, and the blazing lamps shed the same mysterious light along the fretted roots and gloomy arches, as on that day when Erwin and Rosanna knelt at the shrine of St. Engeltruda, poured forth the most solemn vows of eternal fidelity, and heard Constantia devote the breaker 415of those vows to unceasing shame and sorrow.—Erwin Melthal (or rather Henry of Montfort, for alas! they formed but one) had long believed the lovely Sisters to be no more the inhabitants of earth: Constantia on the other hand was in the same error respecting Erwin. The sudden appearance of one, whom she had long since numbered with the dead, imprest upon her countenance something of that serious, that strangely awful expression, which struck him so forcibly, when she united his hand with Rosanna’s in the Chapel of Engelberg. He recollected her words—“Should either of you rend asunder the bonds, with which I now unite your fates for ever, that instant shall my form (be I living, or be I dead) stand before you threatening and awful, to reproach 416you with your crimes.”—These recollections, and the unexpected appearance of the Sisters, at the very moment when he was on the point of giving his hand to another, made him consider the whole scene as a supernatural vision! He believed, that the forms which stood before him, were creatures of another world; his brain was unable to support the shock; the surrounding objects floated before his eyes, his senses forsook him, and he sank without animation at the feet of his astonished bride.