-that
murderous yoke, which others take in their turn, thus to be borne from
age to age on the submissive and bruised shoulders of the masses.

"And now, for the third time in five centuries, I reach the summit of
one of the hills that overlook the city. And perhaps I again bring with
me fear, desolation, and death.

"Yet this city, intoxicated with the sounds of its joys and its
nocturnal revelries, does not know--oh! does not know that I am at its
gates.

"But no, no! my presence will not be a new calamity. The Lord, in his
impenetrable views, has hitherto led me through France, so as to
avoid the humblest hamlet; and the sound of the funeral knell has not
accompanied my passage.

"And, moreover, the spectre has left me--the green, livid spectre, with
its hollow, bloodshot eyes. When I touched the soil of France, its damp
and icy hands was no longer clasped in mine--and it disappeared.

"And yet--I feel that the atmosphere of death is around me.

"The sharp whistlings of that fatal wind cease not, which, catching me
in their whirl, seem to propagate blasting and mildew as they blow.

"But perhaps the wrath of the Lord is appeased, and my presence here is
only a threat--to be communicated in some way to those whom it should
intimidate.

"Yes; for otherwise he would smite with a fearful blow, by first
scattering terror and death here in the heart of the country, in the
bosom of this immense city!

"Oh! no, no! the Lord will be merciful. No! he will not condemn me to
this new torture.

"Alas! in this city, my brethren are more numerous and miserable than
elsewhere. And should I be their messenger of death?"

"No! the Lord will have pity. For, alas! the seven descendants of my
sister have at length met in this town. And to them likewise should I be
the messenger of death, instead of the help they so much need?

"For that woman, who like me wanders from one border of the earth to the
other, after having once more rent asunder the nets of their enemies,
has gone forth upon her endless journey.

"In vain she foresaw that new misfortunes threatened my sister's family.
The invisible hand, that drives me on, drives her on also.

"Carried away, as of old, by the irresistible whirlwind, at the moment
of leaving my kindred to their fate, she in vain cried with supplicating
tone: 'Let me at least, O Lord, complete my task!'--'GO ON!--'A few
days, in mercy, only a few poor days!'--'GO ON'--'I leave those I love
on