d round, and then with a flushed cheek and raised
voice resumed, "Yes, the Tribune, that was and shall be--travelled in
disguise, as a pilgrim, over mountain and forest, night and day, exposed
to rain and storm, no shelter but the cave,--he who had been, they
say, the very spoilt one of Luxury. Arrived at length in Bohemia,
he disclosed himself to a Florentine in Prague, and through his aid
obtained audience of the Emperor Charles."

"A prudent man, the Emperor!" said Giacomo, "close-fisted as a miser. He
makes conquests by bargain, and goes to market for laurels,--as I have
heard my brother say, who was under him."

"True; but I have also heard that he likes bookmen and scholars--is
wise and temperate, and much is yet hoped from him in Italy! Before the
Emperor, I say, came Rienzi. 'Know, great Prince,' said he, 'that I am
that Rienzi to whom God gave to govern Rome, in peace, with justice, and
to freedom. I curbed the nobles, I purged corruption, I amended law. The
powerful persecuted me--pride and envy have chased me from my dominions.
Great as you are, fallen as I am, I too have wielded the sceptre and
might have worn a crown. Know, too, that I am illegitimately of
your lineage; my father the son of Henry VII.; (Uncle to the Emperor
Charles.) the blood of the Teuton rolls in my veins; mean as were my
earlier fortunes and humble my earlier name! From you, O King, I seek
protection, and I demand justice." (See, for this speech, "the Anonymous
Biographer," lib. ii. cap. 12.)

"A bold speech, and one from equal to equal," said Giacomo; "surely you
swell us out the words."

"Not a whit; they were written down by the Emperor's scribe, and every
Roman who has once heard knows them by heart: once every Roman was the
equal to a king, and Rienzi maintained our dignity in asserting his
own."

Giacomo, who discreetly avoided quarrels, knew the weak side of
his friend; and though in his heart he thought the Romans as
good-for-nothing a set of turbulent dastards as all Italy might furnish,
he merely picked a straw from his mantle, and said, in rather an
impatient tone, "Humph! proceed! did the Emperor dismiss him?"

"Not so: Charles was struck with his bearing and his spirit, received
him graciously, and entertained him hospitably. He remained some time
at Prague, and astonished all the learned with his knowledge and
eloquence." (His Italian contemporary delights in representing this
remarkable man as another Crichton. "Di