he Emperor, advanced, and kneeling before the
sovereign, craved his mercy.

"I implore your Majesty," he said, "to have pity upon this people,
which, humbled in the dust, prays for your forgiveness. All the
greatness, all the power of the proud city is at your feet. Do not
regard them as criminals; look upon them as your children who knew not
how to discriminate between good and evil; grant them their lives, and
let compassion moderate your justice!"

"Experience has already taught us the sad results of too much
clemency," answered Barbarossa. "Milan has despised and rejected our
favors, and has always remained the centre of all the seditions, the
directress of all the plots against the Empire and its sovereign."

"Nevertheless, I still supplicate your Majesty," continued the Count,
seeing that the Emperor's hesitation displeased the nobles, "not to
break the bruised reed. Would the fame of your Highness, or of the
German nation be increased, if, upon a sign from you, this mighty city,
this assemblage of warriors, became the object of a chastisement
unequalled in the annals of Christendom?"

The nobles audibly gave signs of approbation, and Frederic was unable
to resist. Too much violence might produce unpleasant consequences; he
understood the position and moderated his sentence.

"I will treat them with all the forbearance which is compatible with
justice," he said. "All have merited death; we will grant their lives
to all!"

"God be praised!" exclaimed the nobles.

But the Italians murmured. They wished nothing less than the
destruction of the city; and several of the consuls of the allied towns
stepped forward, and expressed their views with a violence and
animosity which, inwardly, pleased the Emperor.

"Sire," said the Pavian consul, "Milan destroyed Como and Lodi, it is
but justice that she should share their fate."

"Recollect, Sire," added the consul of Vercelli, "that you owe support
to those who always remained faithful to your cause. So long as Milan
exists, neither peace nor order is possible. You have conquered the
she-wolf; your trusty sword has forced her to grovel in the dust; but
that is not enough; she must be destroyed! A few years hence, and
Milan, always thirsting for her neighbors' blood, will again extend her
tyranny over all Lombardy. We ask for simple justice. Sire, give us
justice!"

"You have every right to demand our protection," replied Frederic, "and
you shall have it. We will