CHAPTER XV.
And this place our forefathers built for man! _Old Play._
The dungeon in which the younger Philipson was immured was one ofthose gloomy caverns which cry shame on the inhumanity of ourancestors. They seem to have been almost insensible to the distinctionbetwixt innocence and guilt, as the consequences of mere accusationmust have been far more severe in those days than is in our own thatspecies of imprisonment which is adjudged as an express punishment forcrime.
The cell of Arthur Philipson was of considerable length, but dark andnarrow, and dug out of the solid rock upon which the tower wasfounded. A small lamp was allowed him, not, however, without somegrumbling, but his arms were still kept bound; and when he asked for adraught of water, one of the grim satellites by whom he was thrustinto this cell answered surlily that he might endure his thirst forall the time his life was likely to last--a gloomy response, whichaugured that his privations would continue as long as his life, yetneither be of long duration. By the dim lamp he had groped his way toa bench, or rough seat, cut in the rock; and, as his eyes gotgradually accustomed to the obscurity of the region in which he wasimmured, he became aware of a ghastly cleft in the floor of hisdungeon, somewhat resembling the opening of a draw-well, but irregularin its aperture, and apparently the mouth of a gulf of Nature'sconformation, slightly assisted by the labour of human art.
"Here, then, is my death-bed," he said, "and that gulf perhaps thegrave which yawns for my remains! Nay, I have heard of prisoners beingplunged into such horrid abysses while they were yet alive, to die atleisure, crushed with wounds, their groans unheard, and their fateunpitied!"
He approached his head to the dismal cavity, and heard, as at a greatdepth, the sound of a sullen and, as it seemed, subterranean stream.The sunless waves appeared murmuring for their victim. Death isdreadful at all ages; but in the first springtide of youth, with allthe feelings of enjoyment afloat, and eager for gratification, to besnatched forcibly from the banquet to which the individual has butjust sat down, is peculiarly appalling, even when the change comes inthe ordinary course of nature. But to sit, like young Philipson, onthe brink of the subterranean abyss, and ruminate in horrid doubtconcerning the mode in which death was to be inflicted, was asituation which might break the spirit of the boldest; and theunfortunate captive was wholly unable to suppress the natural tearsthat flowed from his eyes in torrents, and which his bound arms didnot permit him to wipe away. We have already noticed that, although agallant young man in aught of danger which was to be faced andovercome by active exertion, the youth was strongly imaginative, andsensitive to a powerful extent to all those exaggerations which, in asituation of helpless uncertainty, fancy lends to distract the soulof him who must passively expect an approaching evil.
Yet the feelings of Arthur Philipson were not selfish. They revertedto his father, whose just and noble character was as much formed toattract veneration, as his unceasing paternal care and affection toexcite love and gratitude. He too was in the hands of remorselessvillains, who were determined to conceal robbery by secret murder--hetoo, undaunted in so many dangers, resolute in so many encounters, laybound and defenceless, exposed to the dagger of the meanest stabber.Arthur remembered, too, the giddy peak of the rock near Geierstein,and the grim vulture which claimed him as its prey. Here was no angelto burst through the mist, and marshal him on a path of safety--herethe darkness was subterranean and eternal, saving when the captiveshould behold the knife of the ruffian flash against the lamp whichlent him light to aim the fatal blow. This agony of mind lasted untilthe feelings of the unhappy prisoner arose to ecstasy. He started up,and struggled so hard to free himself of his bonds, that it seemedthey should have fallen from him as from the arms of the mightyNazarene. But the cords were of too firm a texture; and after aviolent and unavailing struggle, in which the ligatures seemed toenter his flesh, the prisoner lost his balance, and, while the feelingthrilled through him that he was tumbling backward into thesubterranean abyss, he fell to the ground with great force.
Fortunately he escaped the danger which in his agony he apprehended,but so narrowly, that his head struck against the low and broken fencewith which the mouth of the horrible pit was partly surrounded. Herehe lay stunned and motionless, and, as the lamp was extinguished inhis fall, immersed in absolute and total darkness. He was recalled tosensation by a jarring noise.
"They come--they come--the murderers! Oh, Lady of Mercy! and oh,gracious Heaven, forgive my transgressions!"
He looked up, and observed, with dazzled eyes, that a dark formapproached him, with a knife in one hand and a torch in the other. Hemight well have seemed the man who was to do the last deed upon theunhappy prisoner, if he had come alone. But he came not alone--historch gleamed upon the white dress of a female, which was so muchilluminated by it that Arthur could discover a form, and had even aglimpse of features, never to be forgotten, though now seen undercircumstances least of all to be expected. The prisoner's unutterableastonishment impressed him with a degree of awe which overcame evenhis personal fear--"Can these things be?" was his muttered reflection."Has she really the power of an elementary spirit? Has she conjured upthis earthlike and dark demon to concur with her in my deliverance?"
It appeared as if his guess were real; for the figure in black, givingthe light to Anne of Geierstein, or at least the form which bore herperfect resemblance, stooped over the prisoner, and cut the cord thatbound his arms, with so much despatch that it seemed as if it fellfrom his person at a touch. Arthur's first attempt to arise wasunsuccessful, and a second time it was the hand of Anne ofGeierstein--a living hand, sensible to touch as to sight--which aidedto raise and to support him, as it had formerly done when thetormented waters of the river thundered at their feet. Her touchproduced an effect far beyond that of the slight personal aid whichthe maiden's strength could have rendered. Courage was restored to hisheart, vigour and animation to his benumbed and bruised limbs; suchinfluence does the human mind, when excited to energy, possess overthe infirmities of the human body. He was about to address Anne inaccents of the deepest gratitude. But the accents died away on histongue, when the mysterious female, laying her finger on her lips,made him a sign to be silent, and at the same time beckoned him tofollow her. He obeyed in silent amazement. They passed the entrance ofthe melancholy dungeon, and through one or two short but intricatepassages, which, cut out of the rock in some places, and built inothers with hewn stone of the same kind, probably led to holds similarto that in which Arthur was so lately a captive.
The recollection that his father might be immured in some such horridcell as he himself had just quitted, induced Arthur to pause as theyreached the bottom of a small winding staircase, which conductedapparently from this region of the building.
"Come," he said, "dearest Anne, lead me to his deliverance! I must notleave my father."
She shook her head impatiently, and beckoned him on.
"If your power extends not to save my father's life, I will remain andsave him or die!--Anne, dearest Anne"----
She answered not, but her companion replied, in a deep voice, notunsuitable to his appearance, "Speak, young man, to those who arepermitted to answer you; or rather, be silent, and listen to myinstructions, which direct to the only course which can bring thyfather to freedom and safety."
They ascended the stair, Anne of Geierstein going first; while Arthur,who followed close behind, could not help thinking that her form gaveexistence to a part of the light which her garment reflected from thetorch. This was probably the effect of the superstitious beliefimpressed on his mind by Rudolph's tale respecting her mother, andwhich was confirmed by her sudden appearance in a place and situationwhere she was so little to have been expected. He had not much time,however, to speculate upon her appearance or demeanour, for, mountingthe stair with a lighter pace than he was able at the time to followclosely, she was no longer to be seen when he reached thelanding-place. But whether she had melted into the air, o
r turnedaside into some other passage, he was not permitted a moment's leisureto examine.
"Here lies your way," said his sable guide; and at the same timedashing out the light, and seizing Philipson by the arm, he led himalong a dark gallery of considerable length. The young man was notwithout some momentary misgivings, while he recollected the ominouslooks of his conductor, and that he was armed with a dagger, or knife,which he could plunge of a sudden into his bosom. But he could notbring himself to dread treachery from any one whom he had seen incompany with Anne of Geierstein; and in his heart he demanded herpardon for the fear which had flashed across him, and resigned himselfto the guidance of his companion, who advanced with hasty but lightfootsteps, and cautioned him by a whisper to do the same.
"Our journey," he at length said, "ends here."
As he spoke, a door gave way, and admitted them into a gloomy Gothicapartment, furnished with large oaken presses, apparently filled withbooks and manuscripts. As Arthur looked round, with eyes dazzled withthe sudden gleam of daylight from which he had been for some timeexcluded, the door by which they had entered disappeared. This,however, did not greatly surprise him, who judged that, being formedin appearance to correspond with the presses around the entrance whichthey had used, it could not when shut be distinguished from them; adevice sometimes then practised, as indeed it often is at the presentday. He had now a full view of his deliverer, who, when seen bydaylight, showed only the vestments and features of a clergyman,without any of that expression of supernatural horror which thepartial light and the melancholy appearance of all in the dungeon hadcombined to impress on him.
Young Philipson once more breathed with freedom, as one awakened froma hideous dream; and the supernatural qualities with which hisimagination had invested Anne of Geierstein having begun to vanish, headdressed his deliverer thus: "That I may testify my thanks, holyfather, where they are so especially due, let me inquire of you ifAnne of Geierstein"----
"Speak of that which pertains to your house and family," answered thepriest, as briefly as before. "Hast thou so soon forgot thy father'sdanger?"
"By heavens, no!" replied the youth. "Tell me but how to act for hisdeliverance, and thou shalt see how a son can fight for a parent!"
"It is well, for it is needful," said the priest. "Don thou thisvestment, and follow me."
The vestment presented was the gown and hood of a novice.
"Draw the cowl over thy face," said the priest, "and return no answerto any man who meets thee. I will say thou art under a vow.--MayHeaven forgive the unworthy tyrant who imposes on us the necessity ofsuch profane dissimulation! Follow me close and near--beware that youspeak not."
The business of disguise was soon accomplished, and the Priest of St.Paul's, for such he was, moving on, Arthur followed him a pace or twobehind, assuming as well as he could the modest step and humbledemeanour of a spiritual novice. On leaving the library, or study, anddescending a short stair, he found himself in the street of Brisach.Irresistibly tempted to look back, he had only time, however, to seethat the house he had left was a very small building of a Gothiccharacter, on the one side of which rose the church of St. Paul's, andon the other the stern black gate-house, or entrance-tower.
"Follow me, Melchior," said the deep voice of the priest; and his keeneyes were at the same time fixed upon the supposed novice, with a lookwhich instantly recalled Arthur to a sense of his situation.
They passed along, nobody noticing them, unless to greet the priestwith a silent obeisance, or muttered phrase of salutation, until,having nearly gained the middle of the village, the guide turnedabruptly off from the street, and, moving northward by a short lane,reached a flight of steps, which, as usual in fortified towns, led tothe banquette, or walk behind the parapet, which was of the old Gothicfashion, flanked with towers from space to space, of different formsand various heights at different angles.
There were sentinels on the walls; but the watch, as it seemed, waskept not by regular soldiers, but by burghers, with spears, or swords,in their hands. The first whom they passed said to the priest, in ahalf-whispered tone, "Holds our purpose?"
"It holds," replied the Priest of St. Paul's.--"Benedicite!"
"_Deo Gratias!_" replied the armed citizen, and continued his walkupon the battlements.
The other sentinels seemed to avoid them; for they disappeared whenthey came near, or passed them without looking, or seeming to observethem. At last their walk brought them to an ancient turret, whichraised its head above the wall, and in which there was a small dooropening from the battlement. It was in a corner, distinct from anduncommanded by any of the angles of the fortification. In awell-guarded fortress, such a point ought to have had a sentinel forits special protection, but no one was there upon duty.
"Now mark me," said the priest, "for your father's life, and, it maybe, that of many a man besides, depends upon your attention, and noless upon your despatch.--You can run?--you can leap?"
"I feel no weariness, father, since you freed me," answered Arthur;"and the dun deer that I have often chased shall not beat me in such awager."
"Observe then," replied the Black Priest of St. Paul's, "this turretcontains a staircase, which descends to a small sallyport. I will giveyou entrance to it--The sallyport is barred on the inside, but notlocked. It will give you access to the moat, which is almost entirelydry. On crossing it, you will find yourself in the circuit of theouter barriers. You may see sentinels, but they will not seeyou--speak not to them, but make your way over the palisade as youcan. I trust you can climb over an undefended rampart?"
"I have surmounted a defended one," said Arthur. "What is my nextcharge?--All this is easy."
"You will see a species of thicket, or stretch of low bushes--make forit with all speed. When you are there, turn to the eastward; butbeware, while holding that course, that you are not seen by theBurgundian Free Companions, who are on watch on that part of thewalls. A volley of arrows, and the sally of a body of cavalry inpursuit, will be the consequence, if they get sight of you; and theireyes are those of the eagle, that spy the carnage afar off."
"I will be heedful," said the young Englishman.
"You will find," continued the priest, "upon the outer side of thethicket a path, or rather a sheep-track, which, sweeping at somedistance from the walls, will conduct you at last into the roadleading from Brisach to Bale. Hasten forward to meet the Swiss, whoare advancing. Tell them your father's hours are counted, and thatthey must press on if they would save him; and say to RudolphDonnerhugel, in especial, that the Black Priest of St. Paul's waits tobestow upon him his blessing at the northern sallyport. Dost thouunderstand me?"
"Perfectly," answered the young man.
The Priest of St. Paul's then pushed open the low-browed gate of theturret, and Arthur was about to precipitate himself down the stairwhich opened before him.
"Stay yet a moment," said the priest, "and doff the novice's habit,which can only encumber thee."
Arthur in a trice threw it from him, and was again about to start.
"Stay yet a moment longer," continued the Black Priest. "This gown maybe a tell-tale--Stay, therefore, and help me to pull off my uppergarment."
Inwardly glowing with impatience, Arthur yet saw the necessity ofobeying his guide; and when he had pulled the long and loose uppervestment from the old man, he stood before him in a cassock of blackserge, befitting his order and profession, but begirt, not with asuitable sash such as clergymen wear, but with a most uncanonicalbuff-belt, supporting a short two-edged sword, calculated alike tostab and to smite.
"Give me now the novice's habit," said the venerable father, "and overthat I will put the priestly vestment. Since for the present I havesome tokens of the laity about me, it is fitting it should be coveredwith a double portion of the clerical habit."
As he spoke thus he smiled grimly; and his smile had something morefrightful and withering than the stern frown, which suited better withhis features, and was their usual expression.
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p; "And now," said he, "what does the fool tarry for, when life and deathare in his speed?"
The young messenger waited not a second hint, but at once descendedthe stairs, as if it had been by a single step, found the portal, asthe priest had said, only secured by bars on the inside, offeringlittle resistance save from their rusted state, which made itdifficult to draw them. Arthur succeeded, however, and found himselfat the side of the moat, which presented a green and marshyappearance. Without stopping to examine whether it was deep orshallow, and almost without being sensible of the tenacity of themorass, the young Englishman forced his way through it, and attainedthe opposite side, without attracting the attention of two worthyburghers of Brisach, who were the guardians of the barriers. One ofthem indeed was deeply employed in the perusal of some profanechronicle, or religious legend; the other was as anxiously engaged inexamining the margin of the moat, in search of eels, perhaps, orfrogs, for he wore over his shoulder a scrip for securing some suchamphibious booty.
Seeing that, as the priest foretold, he had nothing to apprehend fromthe vigilance of the sentinels, Arthur dashed at the palisade, in hopeto catch hold of the top of the stockade, and so to clear it by onebold leap. He overrated his powers of activity, however, or they werediminished by his recent bonds and imprisonment. He fell lightlybackward on the ground, and, as he got to his feet, became aware ofthe presence of a soldier, in yellow and blue, the livery of DeHagenbach, who came running towards him, crying to the slothful andunobservant sentinels, "Alarm!--alarm!--you lazy swine! Stop the dog,or you are both dead men."
The fisherman, who was on the farther side, laid down his eel-spear,drew his sword, and, flourishing it over his head, advanced towardsPhilipson with very moderate haste. The student was yet moreunfortunate, for, in his hurry to fold up his book and attend to hisduty, he contrived to throw himself (inadvertently, doubtless) full inthe soldier's way. The latter, who was running at top speed,encountered the burgher with a severe shock which threw both down; butthe citizen, being a solid and substantial man, lay still where hefell, while the other, less weighty, and probably less prepared forthe collision, lost his balance and the command of his limbs at once,and, rolling over the edge of the moat, was immersed in the mud andmarsh. The fisher and the student went with deliberate speed to assistthe unexpected and unwelcome partner of their watch; while Arthur,stimulated by the imminent sense of danger, sprang at the barrier withmore address and vigour than before, and, succeeding in his leap,made, as he had been directed, with his utmost speed for the covert ofthe adjacent bushes. He reached them without hearing any alarm fromthe walls. But he was conscious that his situation had becomeextremely precarious, since his escape from the town was known to oneman at least who would not fail to give the alarm in case he was ableto extricate himself from the marsh--a feat, however, in which itseemed to Arthur that the armed citizens were likely to prove ratherhis apparent than actual assistants. While such thoughts shot acrosshis mind, they served to augment his natural speed of foot, so that inless space than could have been thought possible, he reached thethinner extremity of the thicket, whence, as intimated by the BlackPriest, he could see the eastern tower and the adjoining battlementsof the town--
With hostile faces throng'd, and fiery arms.
It required, at the same time, some address on the part of thefugitive to keep so much under shelter as to prevent himself frombeing seen in his turn by those whom he saw so plainly. He thereforeexpected every moment to hear a bugle wind, or to behold that bustleand commotion among the defenders which might prognosticate a sally.Neither, however, took place, and heedfully observing the footpath, ortrack, which the priest had pointed out to him, young Philipsonwheeled his course out of sight of the guarded towers, and soonfalling into the public and frequented road, by which his father andhe had approached the town in the morning, he had the happiness, bythe dust and flash of arms, to see a small body of armed men advancingtowards Brisach, whom he justly concluded to be the van of the Swissdeputation.
He soon met the party, which consisted of about ten men, with RudolphDonnerhugel at their head. The figure of Philipson, covered with mud,and in some places stained with blood (for his fall in the dungeon hadcost him a slight wound), attracted the wonder of every one, whocrowded around to hear the news. Rudolph alone appeared unmoved. Likethe visage on the ancient statues of Hercules, the physiognomy of thebulky Bernese was large and massive, having an air of indifferent andalmost sullen composure, which did not change but in moments of thefiercest agitation.
He listened without emotion to the breathless tale of ArthurPhilipson, that his father was in prison, and adjudged to death.
"And what else did you expect?" said the Bernese, coldly. "Were younot warned? It had been easy to have foreseen the misfortune, but itmay be impossible to prevent it."
"I own--I own," said Arthur, wringing his hands, "that you were wise,and that we were foolish.--But oh! do not think of our folly in themoment of our extremity! Be the gallant and generous champion whichyour Cantons proclaim you--give us your aid in this deadly strait!"
"But how, or in what manner?" said Rudolph, still hesitating. "We havedismissed the Balese, who were willing to have given assistance, somuch did your dutiful example weigh with us. We are now scarce above ascore of men--how can you ask us to attack a garrison town, secured byfortifications, and where there are six times our number?"
"You have friends within the fortifications," replied Arthur--"I amsure you have. Hark in your ear--The Black Priest sent to you--to you,Rudolph Donnerhugel of Berne--that he waits to give you his blessingat the northern sallyport."
"Ay, doubtless," said Rudolph, shaking himself free of Arthur'sattempt to engage him in private conference, and speaking so that allaround might hear him, "there is little doubt on't; I will find apriest at the northern sallyport to confess and absolve me, and ablock, axe, and headsman to strike my throat asunder when he has done.But I will scarce put the neck of my father's son into such risk. Ifthey assassinate an English pedlar, who has never offended them, whatwill they do with the Bear of Berne, whose fangs and talons Archibaldde Hagenbach has felt ere now?"
Young Philipson at these words clasped his hands together, and heldthem up to heaven, as one who abandons hope, excepting thence. Thetears started to his eyes, and, clenching his hands and setting histeeth, he turned his back abruptly upon the Swiss.
"What means this passion?" said Rudolph. "Whither would you now?"
"To rescue my father, or perish with him," said Arthur; and was aboutto run wildly back to La Ferette, when a strong but kindly graspdetained him.
"Tarry a little till I tie my garter," said Sigismund Biederman, "andI will go with you, King Arthur."
"You? oaf!" exclaimed Rudolph. "You?--and without orders?"
"Why, look you, cousin Rudolph," said the youth, continuing, withgreat composure, to fasten his garter, which, after the fashion of thetime, was somewhat intricately secured--"you are always telling usthat we are Swiss and freemen; and what is the advantage of being afreeman, if one is not at liberty to do what he has a mind? You are myHauptman, look you, so long as it pleases me, and no longer."
"And why shouldst thou desert me now, thou fool? Why at this minute,of all other minutes in the year?" demanded the Bernese.
"Look you," replied the insubordinate follower, "I have hunted withArthur for this month past, and I love him--he never called me fool oridiot, because my thoughts came slower, maybe, and something duller,than those of other folk. And I love his father--the old man gave methis baldrick and this horn, which I warrant cost many a kreutzer. Hetold me, too, not to be discouraged, for that it was better to thinkjustly than to think fast, and that I had sense enough for the one ifnot for the other. And the kind old man is now in Hagenbach'sbutcher-shambles!--But we will free him, Arthur, if two men may. Thoushalt see me fight, while steel blade and ashen shaft will holdtogether."
So saying, he shook in the air his enormous partisan, which quiveredin his grasp like a slip
of willow. Indeed, if Iniquity was to bestruck down like an ox, there was not one in that chosen band morelikely to perform the feat than Sigismund; for though somewhat shorterin stature than his brethren, and of a less animated spirit, yet hisbreadth of shoulders and strength of muscles were enormous, and ifthoroughly aroused and disposed for the contest, which was very rarelythe case, perhaps Rudolph himself might, as far as sheer force went,have had difficulty in matching him.
Truth of sentiment and energy of expression always produce an effecton natural and generous characters. Several of the youths around beganto exclaim that Sigismund said well; that if the old man had puthimself in danger, it was because he thought more of the success oftheir negotiation than of his own safety, and had taken himself fromunder their protection, rather than involve them in quarrels on hisaccount. "We are the more bound," they said, "to see him unscathed;and we will do so."
"Peace! all you wiseacres," said Rudolph, looking round with an air ofsuperiority; "and you, Arthur of England, pass on to the Landamman,who is close behind. You know he is our chief commander, he is no lessyour father's sincere friend, and, whatever he may determine in yourfather's favour, you will find most ready executors of his pleasure inall of us."
His companions appeared to concur in this advice, and young Philipsonsaw that his own compliance with the recommendation was indispensable.Indeed, although he still suspected that the Bernese, by his variousintrigues, as well with the Swiss youth as with those of Bale, and, asmight be inferred from the Priest of St. Paul's, by communication evenwithin the town of La Ferette, possessed the greater power ofassisting him at such a conjuncture; yet he trusted far more in thesimple candour and perfect faith of Arnold Biederman, and pressedforward to tell to him his mournful tale, and crave his assistance.
From the top of a bank which he reached in a few minutes after heparted from Rudolph and the advanced guard, he saw beneath him thevenerable Landamman and his associates, attended by a few of theyouths, who no longer were dispersed upon the flanks of the party, butattended on them closely, and in military array, as men prepared torepel any sudden attack.
Behind came a mule or two with baggage, together with the animalswhich, in the ordinary course of their march, supported Anne ofGeierstein and her attendant. Both were occupied by female figures asusual, and, to the best of Arthur's ken, the foremost had thewell-known dress of Anne, from the grey mantle to a small heron'splume, which, since entering Germany, she had worn in compliance withthe custom of the country, and in evidence of her rank as a maiden ofbirth and distinction. Yet, if the youth's eyes brought him truetidings at present, what was the character of their formerinformation, when, scarce more than half an hour since, they hadbeheld, in the subterranean dungeon of Brisach, the same form whichthey now rested upon, in circumstances so very different! The feelingexcited by this thought was powerful, but it was momentary, like thelightning which blazes through a midnight sky, which is but just seenere it vanishes into darkness. Or, rather, the wonder excited by thismarvellous incident only maintained its ground in his thoughts byallying itself with the anxiety for his father's safety, which wastheir predominant occupation.
"If there be indeed a spirit," he said, "which wears that beautifulform, it must be beneficent as well as lovely, and will extend to myfar more deserving father the protection which his son has twiceexperienced."
But ere he had time to prosecute such a thought further, he had metthe Landamman and his party. Here his appearance and his conditionexcited the same surprise as they had formerly occasioned to Rudolphand the vanguard. To the repeated interrogatories of the Landamman hegave a brief account of his own imprisonment, and of his escape, ofwhich he suffered the whole glory to rest with the Black Priest of St.Paul's, without mentioning one word of the more interesting femaleapparition, by which he had been attended and assisted in hischaritable task. On another point also Arthur was silent. He saw nopropriety in communicating to Arnold Biederman the message which thepriest had addressed to Rudolph's ear alone. Whether good should comeof it or no, he held sacred the obligation of silence imposed upon himby a man from whom he had just received the most important assistance.
The Landamman was struck dumb for a moment with sorrow and surprise atthe news which he heard. The elder Philipson had gained his respect,as well by the purity and steadiness of the principles which heexpressed, as by the extent and depth of his information, which waspeculiarly valuable and interesting to the Switzer, who felt hisadmirable judgment considerably fettered for want of that knowledge ofcountries, times, and manners, with which his English friend oftensupplied him.
"Let us press forward," he said to the Banneret of Berne and the otherdeputies; "let us offer our mediation betwixt the tyrant De Hagenbachand our friend, whose life is in danger. He must listen to us, for Iknow his master expects to see this Philipson at his court. The oldman hinted to me so much. As we are possessed of such a secret,Archibald de Hagenbach will not dare to brave our vengeance, since wemight easily send to Duke Charles information how the Governor of LaFerette abuses his power, in matters where not only the Swiss butwhere the Duke himself is concerned."
"Under your reverend favour, my worthy sir," answered the Banneret ofBerne, "we are Swiss Deputies, and go to represent the injuries ofSwitzerland alone. If we embroil ourselves with the quarrels ofstrangers, we shall find it more difficult to settle advantageouslythose of our own country; and if the Duke should, by this villany doneupon English merchants, bring upon him the resentment of the Englishmonarch, such breach will only render it more a matter of peremptorynecessity for him to make a treaty advantageous to the Swiss Cantons."
There was so much worldly policy in this advice, that Adam Zimmermanof Soleure instantly expressed his assent, with the additionalargument, that their brother Biederman had told them scarce two hoursbefore how these English merchants had, by his advice and their ownfree desire, parted company with them that morning, on purpose thatthey might not involve the Deputies in the quarrels which might beraised by the Governor's exactions on his merchandise.
"Now what advantage," he said, "shall we derive from this same partingof company, supposing, as my brother seems to urge, we are still toconsider this Englishman's interest as if he were our fellow-traveller,and under our especial protection?"
This personal reasoning pinched the Landamman somewhat closely, for hehad but a short while before descanted on the generosity of the elderPhilipson, who had freely exposed himself to danger, rather than thathe should embarrass their negotiation by remaining one of theircompany; and it completely shook the fealty of the white-beardedNicholas Bonstetten, whose eyes wandered from the face of Zimmerman,which expressed triumphant confidence in his argument, to that of hisfriend the Landamman, which was rather more embarrassed than usual.
"Brethren," said Arnold at length with firmness and animation, "Ierred in priding myself upon the worldly policy which I taught to youthis morning. This man is not of our country, doubtless, but he is ofour blood--a copy of the common Creator's image--and the more worthyof being called so, as he is a man of integrity and worth. We mightnot, without grievous sin, pass such a person, being in danger,without affording him relief, even if he lay accidentally by the sideof our path; much less should we abandon him if the danger has beenincurred in our own cause, and that we might escape the net in whichhe is himself caught. Be not, therefore, downcast--We do God's will insuccouring an oppressed man. If we succeed by mild means, as I trustwe shall, we do a good action at a cheap rate;--if not, God can assertthe cause of humanity by the hands of few as well as of many."
"If such is your opinion," said the Bannerman of Berne, "not a manhere will shrink from you. For me, I pleaded against my owninclinations when I advised you to avoid a breach with the Burgundian.But as a soldier, I must needs say, I would rather fight the garrison,were they double the number they talk of, in a fair field, thanundertake to storm their defences."
"Nay," said the Landamman, "I sincerely hope we shall both enter anddepart fr
om the town of Brisach, without deviating from the pacificcharacter with which our mission from the Diet invests us."