Rienzi | Page 8

later, will do the work of the King.
And in now looking round Italy for a race worthy of Rienzi, and able to
accomplish his proud dreams, I see but one for which the time is ripe or
ripening, and I place the hopes of Italy in the men of Piedmont and
Sardinia.
London, February 14, 1848.
RIENZI, The Last of the Tribunes.
BOOK I. THE TIME, THE PLACE, AND THE MEN.
"Fu da sua gioventudine nutricato di latte di eloquenza; buono
grammatico, megliore rettorico, autorista buono...Oh, come spesso
diceva, 'Dove sono questi buoni Romani? Dov'e loro somma giustizia?

Poterommi trovare in tempo che questi fioriscano?' Era bell
'omo...Accadde che uno suo frate fu ucciso, e non ne fu fatta vendetta
di sua morte: non lo poteo aiutare; pensa lungo mano vendicare 'l
sangue di suo frate; pensa lunga mano dirizzare la cittate di Roma male
guidata." - "Vita di Cola di Rienzi" Ed. 1828. Forli.
"From his youth he was nourished with the milk of eloquence; a good
grammarian, a better rhetorician, well versed in the writings of
authors...Oh, how often would he say, 'Where are those good Romans?
Where is their supreme justice? Shall I ever behold such times as those
in which they flourished?' He was a handsome man...It happened that a
brother of his was slain, and no retribution was made for his death: he
could not help him; long did he ponder how to avenge his brother's
blood; long did he ponder how to direct the ill guided state of Rome." -
"Life of Cola di Rienzi."
Chapter 1.
I. The Brothers.
The celebrated name which forms the title to this work will sufficiently
apprise the reader that it is in the earlier half of the fourteenth century
that my story opens.
It was on a summer evening that two youths might be seen walking
beside the banks of the Tiber, not far from that part of its winding
course which sweeps by the base of Mount Aventine. The path they had
selected was remote and tranquil. It was only at a distance that were
seen the scattered and squalid houses that bordered the river, from
amidst which rose, dark and frequent, the high roof and enormous
towers which marked the fortified mansion of some Roman baron. On
one side of the river, behind the cottages of the fishermen, soared
Mount Janiculum, dark with massive foliage, from which gleamed at
frequent intervals, the grey walls of many a castellated palace, and the
spires and columns of a hundred churches; on the other side, the
deserted Aventine rose abrupt and steep, covered with thick brushwood;
while, on the height, from concealed but numerous convents, rolled, not

unmusically, along the quiet landscape and the rippling waves, the
sound of the holy bell.
Of the young men introduced in this scene, the elder, who might have
somewhat passed his twentieth year, was of a tall and even
commanding stature; and there was that in his presence remarkable and
almost noble, despite the homeliness of his garb, which consisted of the
long, loose gown and the plain tunic, both of dark-grey serge, which
distinguished, at that time, the dress of the humbler scholars who
frequented the monasteries for such rude knowledge as then yielded a
scanty return for intense toil. His countenance was handsome, and
would have been rather gay than thoughtful in its expression, but for
that vague and abstracted dreaminess of eye which so usually denotes a
propensity to revery and contemplation, and betrays that the past or the
future is more congenial to the mind than the enjoyment and action of
the present hour.
The younger, who was yet a boy, had nothing striking in his appearance
or countenance, unless an expression of great sweetness and gentleness
could be so called; and there was something almost feminine in the
tender deference with which he appeared to listen to his companion.
His dress was that usually worn by the humbler classes, though
somewhat neater, perhaps, and newer; and the fond vanity of a mother
might be detected in the care with which the long and silky ringlets had
been smoothed and parted as they escaped from his cap and flowed
midway down his shoulders.
As they thus sauntered on, beside the whispering reeds of the river,
each with his arm round the form of his comrade, there was a grace in
the bearing, in the youth, and in the evident affection of the brothers -
for such their connexion - which elevated the lowliness of their
apparent condition.
"Dear brother," said the elder, "I cannot express to thee how I enjoy
these evening hours. To you alone I feel as if I were not a mere
visionary and idler when I talk of the uncertain future, and build up