that you would become slaves;
that the time would come when you would no longer have possessions, or
rights, or liberty? Is not the Emperor to-day Pope? Is not the
pretended Pope the Emperor's humble slave? Does not the Emperor pretend
to an authority over the Church which is wellnigh divine? Is it not he
who lays down the forms of preaching and prayer? Thanks to him, our
bishops have been replaced by the minions of tyranny, and our good
shepherds by ravening wolves who tear the flock."

"He is right! all that is only too true; Pandolfo is right!"

"Barbarossa is the Antichrist!"

"He is a child of Satan!"

"A worthy successor of Nero!"

"An infamous tyrant!"

"Curses upon him! may he die unabsolved!"

"Long live our Holy Father the Pope! May God save Alexander!"

"Yes, long live the Pope! may God protect him!" resumed Pandolfo, who
was charmed with the enthusiasm which he had excited. "The sovereign
Pontiff is the rampart of liberty, the only real defence against
Imperial despotism. Why is it that Barbarossa has turned all his rage
against Alexander? It is because he knows that he can never accomplish
his perfidious ends so long as the Christian world shall retain him
whom God himself has appointed to be the guardian of right, and
morality, and liberty. The Pope suffers and struggles in our cause; let
us unite with him, let us bravely flock to freedom's standard. Raise
your right hands, and swear allegiance to the Lombard league."

Instantly a hundred hands were stretched forth in breathless silence. A
heavy cloud overshadowed the sun and seemed to threaten the roofless
cloister. A violent wind rushed through the dismantled windows and
shook the parasitic plants upon the crumbling walls.

"As it is better to die gloriously than live in shameful slavery,"
cried Pandolfo, whose clear voice rang through the ruined building, "we
promise obedience and fidelity to the principles of the Lombard league.
We swear to devote our property and our lives to our faith and our
country, to the Church, and to liberty. We take God as witness to our
loyalty; may He doom us to eternal torments if we violate our oath!"

"We swear it;" and the oath unhesitatingly pronounced by a hundred
voices was repeated by the echoes of the surrounding hills. The
assembly then broke up, and the conspirators separated; on their
features might be read the thoughts which filled their minds, and the
noble resolutions to which they had subscribed