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The constant moral sentinel that God hath set on
watch in every man's breast, but which acts so differently
in different circumstances, though, perhaps,
in no condition of humiliation and ignorance does it
ever entirely desert its trust, is sure to bring repentance
with the sense of error. It is vain to say that
this innate sentiment of truth, which we call conscience,
is the mere result of opinion and habit, since
it is even more apparent in the guileless and untrained
child than in the most practised man, and
nature has so plainly set her mark upon all its workings,
as to prove its identity with the fearful being
that forms the incorporeal part of our existence.
Like all else that is good, it may be weakened and
perverted, or be otherwise abused; but, like every
thing that comes from the same high source, even
amid these vicious changes, it will retain traces of
its divine author. We look upon this unwearied
monitor as a vestige of that high condition from
which the race fell; and we hold it to be beyond
dispute, that precisely as men feel and admit its influence
do they approach, or recede from, their
original condition of innocence.

The destruction of the Abbey was succeeded by
most of those signs which attend all acts of violence,
in degrees that are proportioned to previous habits.
Even they who had been most active in accomplishing
this long-meditated blow, began to tremble for
its consequences; and few in the Palatinate heard
of the deed, without holding their breaths like men
who expected Heaven would summarily avenge the
sacrilege. But in order that the thread of the

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narrative should not be broken, we will return to our
incidents in their proper order, advancing the time
but a few days after the night of the conflagration.

The reader will have to imagine another view of
the Jaegerthal. There was the same smiling sun,
and the same beneficent season; the forest was as
green and waving, the meadows were as smooth and
dark, the hill-sides as bright beneath the play of
light and shade, while the murmuring brook was as
limpid and swift, as when first presented to his eye
in these pages. Not a hut or cottage was disturbed,
either in the hamlets or along the travelled paths,
and the Hold of Hartenburg still frowned in feudal
power and baronial state, on the well-known pass of
the mountains, gloomy, massive, and dark. But the
hill of Limburg presented one of those sad and melancholy
proofs of the effects of violence which are
still scattered over the face of the old world, like so
many admonitory beacons of the scenes through
which its people have reached their present state of
comparative security;—beacons that should be as
useful in communicating lessons for the future, as
they are pregnant with pictures of the past.

The outer wall remained unharmed, with the
single exception of the principal gate, which bore
the indelible marks of the smith's sledges; but above
this barrier the work of devastation appeared in
characters not to be mistaken. Every roof, and
there had been fifty, was fallen; every wall, some
of which were already tottering, was blackened;
and not a tower pointed towards the sky, that did
not show marks of the manner in which the flames
had wreathed around its slender shaft. Here and
there, a small thread of white smoke curled upwards,
losing itself in the currents of the air, resembling
so many of the lessening symptoms of a volcano
after an explosion. A small crucifix, which popular
rumor said was wood, but which, in fact, was

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of painted stone, still kept its place on a gable of
the ruined church; and many a peasant addressed
to it his silent prayers, firm in the belief that God
had protected this image of his sacrifice, throughout
the terrors of the memorable night.

In and about the castle, there appeared the usual
evidences of a distrustful watch;—such ward as is
kept by him who feels that he has justly become obnoxious
to the hand of the constituted powers. The
gates were closed; the sentinels on the walls and
bastions were doubled; and, from time to time, signals
were made that communicated with look-outs, so stationed
on the hills that they could command views
of the roads which led towards the Rhine, beyond
the gorge of the valley.

The scene in Deurckheim was different, though
it also had some points of resemblance with that in
the hold. There was the same apprehension of
danger from without, the same watchfulness on the
walls and in the towers, and the same unusual display
of an armed force. But in a town of this
description, it was not easy to imitate the gloomy
reserve of baronial state. The citizens grouped
together in the streets, the women gossipped as in
all sudden and strong cases of excitement, and even
the children appeared to reflect the uneasiness and
indecision of their parents; for as the hand of authority
relaxed in their seniors, most wandered idly
and vaguely among the men, listening to catch such
loose expressions as might enlighten their growing
understandings. The shops were opened, as usual,
but many stopped to discourse at the doors, while
few entered; and most of the artisans wasted their
time in speculations on the consequence of the hardy
step of their superiors.

In the mean time there was a council held in the
town-hall. Here were assembled all who laid claim
to civic authority in Deurckheim, with some who

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appeared under the claim of their services in the
late assault upon the monks. A few of the anxious
wives of the burghers, also, were seen collected in
the more public rooms of the building; for domestic
influence was neither covert nor trifling in that uxorious
and simple community. We shall resume the
narrative within the walls of this municipal edifice.

The Burgomaster and other chief men were much
moved, by the vague apprehension which was the
consequence of their hazardous experiment. Some
were bold in the audacity of success; some doubted
merely because the destruction of the brotherhood
seemed too great a good, to come unmixed with
evil; some held their opinions in suspense, waiting
for events to give a value to their predictions, and
others shook their heads in a manner that would
appear to imply a secret knowledge of consequences
that were not apparent to vulgar faculties. The latter
class was more remarkable for its pretension to
exclusive merit than for numbers, and would have
been equally prompt to exaggerate the advantages
of the recent measure, had the public pulse just then
been beating on the access. But the public pulse
was on the decline, and, as we have said, seeing and
understanding all the advantages that were to be
hoped from the defeat of Bonifacius, uncertainty
quickened most imaginations in a manner to conjure
disagreeable pictures of the future. Even Heinrich,
who wanted for neither moral nor physical resolution,
was disturbed at his own victory, though if
questioned he could scarcely have told the reason
why. This uneasiness was heightened by the fact,
that most of his compeers regarded him as the man,
on whom the weight of the Church's and of the
Elector's displeasure was most likely to fall, though
it is more than probable that his situation would have
been far less prominent, had there been no question
of any results but such as were agreeable.

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This sort of distinction, so isolated in defeat, and
so social in prosperity, is a species of revenge that
society is very apt to take of all who pretend to be
wiser or better than itself, by presuming to point the
way in cases of doubtful expediency, or in presuming
to lead the way in those that require decision
and nerve. He alone is certain of an unenvied
reputation who, in preceding the main body in the
great march of events, leaves no very sensible space
between him and his fellows; while he alone can
hope for impunity, who keeps so near his backers
as to be able to confound himself in the general
mass, when singularity brings comment and censure.

Heinrich fully felt the awkwardness of his position,
and, just then, he would gladly have compounded
for less of the fame acquired by the bold manner in
which he had led the attack, in order to be rid of
some of his anxiety. Still a species of warlike instinct
led him to put the best face on the affair, and
when he addressed his colleagues, it was with cheerfulness
in his tones, however little there might have
been of that desirable feeling in his heart.

“Well, brethren,” he said, looking around at the
knot of well-known faces, which surrounded him in
the gravity of civic authority, “this weighty matter
is, at length, happily, and, as it has been effected
without bloodshed, I may say, peaceably over! The
Benedictines are departed, and though the excellent
Abbot hath taken post in a neighboring abbey, whence
he sends forth brave words to frighten those who are
unused to more dangerous missiles, it will be long
before we shall again hear Limburg bell tolling in
the Jaergerthal.”

“For that I can swear,” said the smith, who was
among the inferiors that crowded a corner of the
hall, occupying as little space as possible, in deference
to their head-men;—“my own sledge hath
helped to put the fine-tuned instrument out of tune!”

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“We are now met to hear further propositions
from the monks; but as the hour set for the arrival
of their agent is not yet come, we can lighten the
moments by such discourse as the circumstances
may seem to require. Hast any thing to urge that
will ease the minds of the timid, brother Wolfgang,—
if so, of God's name, give it utterance, that we
may know the worst at once.”

The affinity between Wolfgang and Heinrich existed
altogether in their civic relations. The former,
although he coveted the anticipated advantages that
were to result from the downfall of Limburg, had a
constitutional deference for all superior power, and
was unable to enjoy the triumph, without the bitterest
misgivings concerning the displeasure of the
Elector and Rome. He was aged, too,—a fact that
served to heighten the tremor of tones, that, by a
very general convention, are termed raven.

“It is wise to call upon the experienced and wise,
for counsel, in pressing straits,” returned the old
burgher, “for years teach the folly of every thing
human, inclining us to look at the world with moderation,
and with less love for ourselves, and our interests—”

“Brother Wolfgang, thou art not yet yielding so
fast as thou wouldest have us believe,” interrupted
Heinrich, who particularly disliked any discouraging
views of the future. “Thou art but a boy—the
difference between us cannot be greater than some
five-and-twenty years.”

“Not that, not that;—I count but three-and-seventy,
and thou mayest fairly number fifty-and-five.”

“Thou heapest honors on me I little deserve, friend
Wolfgang. I shall not number the days thou namest
these many months, and time marches fast enough
without any fillips from us to help him. If I have
yet seen more than fifty-four, may my fathers arise

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from their graves to claim the little they left behind,
when they took leave of earth!”

“Words will make neither young, but I could
wish we had found means to lay this unquiet spirit
of Limburg, without so much violence and danger
to ourselves. I am old, and have little interest in
life, except to see those who will come after me
happy and peaceful. Thou knowest that I have
neither chick nor child, neighbor Heinrich, and the
heart of such a man can only beat for all. 'Twere,
indeed, folly in me to think of much else, than of
that great future which lies before us.”

“Sapperment!” exclaimed the smith, who was
disposed to presume a little on the spirit he had
shown in the late attack.—“Worshipful Burgomaster,
were Master Wolfgang to deal out some of his
stores a little freely to the Benedictines, the whole
affair might be quietly settled, and Deurckheim
would be a great gainer. I warrant you now, that
Bonifacius would be glad to receive a well-told sum
in gold, without question or farther account, in lieu
of his lodgings and fare in Limburg, of which he
was only a life-tenant at best. At least, such had
been my humor, an' it had pleased Heaven to have
made me a Benedictine, and Bonifacius a smith.”

“And where is this gold to be had, bold-speaking
artisan?” demanded the aged burgher, severely.

“Where but from your untouched stores, venerable
Wolfgang,” answered the single-minded smith;
“thou art old, father, and, as thou truly sayest, without
offspring; the hold of life is getting loose, and to
deal with thee in frankness, I see no manner in which
the evil may be so readily turned from our town.”

“Peace, senseless talker! dost think thy betters
have no other employment for their goods than to
cast them to the winds, as thy sparks scatter at the
stroke of the sledge? The little I have hath been gained
with sore toil and much saving, and it may yet be

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needed to keep want and beggary from my door.
Nay, nay, when we are young we think the dirt
may be turned to gold; hot blood and lusty limbs
cause us to believe man equal to any labor, ay, even
to living without food; but when experience and
tribulation have taught us truth, we come to know,
neighbors, the value of pence. I am of a long-living
stock, Heaven help us! and there is greater
likelihood of my yet becoming a charge to the town,
than of my ever doing a tithe of that, this heedless
smith hath hinted.”

“By St. Benedict, master! I hinted naught: what
I said was in plain words, and it is this, that one so
venerable for his years, and so respected for his
means, might do great good in this strait! Such
an act would sweeten the few days thou yet hast.”

“Get thee away, fellow; thou talkest of death an'
it were a joke. Do not the young go to their graves
as well as the old, and are there not instances of
thousands that have outlived their means? No, I
much fear that this matter will not be appeased
without mulcting the artisans in heavy sums;—
but happily, most that belong to the crafts are young
and able to pay!”

The reply of the smith, who was getting warm
in a dispute in which he believed all the merit was
on his own side, was cut short by a movement
among the populace, who crowded the outer door
of the town-house; the burghers seemed uneasy, as
if they saw a crisis was near, and then a beadle
announced the arrival of a messenger from the
routed community of Limburg. The civic authorities
of Deurckheim, although assembled expressly
with the expectation of such a visit, were,
like all men of but indifferently regulated minds,
taken by surprise at the moment. Nothing was digested,
no plan of operations had been proposed,
and, although all had dreamed for several nights of

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the very subject before them, not one of them all
had thought upon it. Still it was now necessary to
act, and after a little bustle, which had no other object
than an idle attempt to impose upon the senses
of the messenger, by a senseless parade, orders
were given that the latter should be admitted.

The agent of the monks was himself a Benedictine.
He entered the hall, attended only by the
city-guard who had received him at the gate, with
his cowl so far drawn upon his head as to conceal
the features. There was a moment of curiosity,
and the name of “Father Siegfried” was whispered
from one to another, as each judged of the man by
the exterior.

“Uncover, of Heaven's mercy! Father,” said
Heinrich, “and seat thyself as freely in the townhall
of Deurckheim, as if thou wert at thine ease in
the ancient cloisters of Limburg. We are lions
in the attack, but harmless as thy marble cherubs,
when there is not occasion for your true manly qualities;
so take thy seat, of God's name! and be of good
cheer;—none will harm thee.”

The voice of the Burgomaster lost its confidence
as he concluded. The Benedictine was calmly removing
the cowl; and when the cloth fell, it exposed
the respected features of Father Arnolph.

“He that comes in the service of him I call master,
needeth not this assurance,” answered the monk;
“still I rejoice to find ye in this mood, and not bent
on maintaining an original error, by further out-rages.
It is never too late to see our faults, nor yet
to repair them.”

“I cry thy mercy, Holy Prior! we had taken
thee for a very different member of the fraternity,
and thou art not the less welcome for being him
thou art.”

Heinrich arose respectfully, and his example was
followed by all present. The Prior seemed pleased,

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and a glow, like that which a benevolent hope creates,
passed athwart his countenance. With perfect
simplicity he took the offered stool, as the least
obtrusive manner of inducing the burghers to resume
their seats. The experiment produced the
effect he intended.

“I should pretend to an indifference I do not feel,
were I to say, Heinrich Frey, that I come among
you, men to whom I have often administered the
rites of the church during long and watchful years,
without the wish to find that my ministrations are
remembered.”

“If there dwelleth knave in Deurckheim whose
heart hath not been touched by thy good works,
Father, the hound is without bowels, and unfit to
live among honest people.”

“Most true!” exclaimed the smith, in his audible
by-play. “The Burgomaster doth us all justice! I
never struck spark from iron, more freely than I will
render respect to the most reverend Prior. His
prayers are like tried steel, and next to those of him
of the hermitage are in most esteem among us.
Fill me an abbey with such men, and for one, I
shall be ready to trust all our salvation to their
godliness, without thought or concern for ourselves.
Sapperment! could such a community be found, it
would be a great relief to the laymen, and more
particularly to your artisan, who might turn all
his thoughts to his craft, with the certainty of being
watched by men capable of setting the quickest-witted
devil at defiance!”

Arnolph listened to this digression with patience,
and he acknowledged the courtesy and friendliness
of his reception, by a slow inclination of the head.
He was too much accustomed to hear these temporal
applications of the spiritual interests of which
he was a minister, to be surprised at any thing; and
he was too meek on the subject of his own

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deserving, to despise any because they were weaker than
himself. The Christian religion seems to be divided
into two great classes of worshippers; those who
think its consolations are most palpable in their
direct and worldly form, and those whose aspirations
are so spiritualized, and whose thoughts are
so sublimated, as to consider it a metaphysical theory,
in which the principal object is to preserve the
logical harmony. For ourselves, we believe it to
be a dispensation from God, to those of his creatures
who are fearfully composed of the material and
immaterial, and that so far as it is connected with
our probation here, it is never to be considered as
entirely distinct from one or the other of the great
attributes of our nature. It is evident that such
were not the views of the honest smith; and it is
probable, had the matter been thoroughly sifted, it
would have been found that, as respects Deurckheim,
he was altogether of the popular party.

“Thou comest, Father, like the dove to the ark,
the bearer of the olive-branch,” resumed Heinrich;
“though for our northern regions a leaf of the oak
would more likely have been the emblem, had Ararat
been one of these well-wooded hills of ours.”

“I come to offer the conditions of our brotherhood,
and to endeavor to persuade the misguided in
Deurckheim to accept them. The holy abbots, with
the right reverend fathers in God, the Bishops of
Spires and Worms, now assembled in the latter city,
have permitted me to be the bearer of their terms,
an office I have sought, lest another should forget
to entreat and influence, in the desire to menace.”

“Gott bewahre! thou hast done well, as is thy
wont, excellent Arnolph! Threats are about as useful
with Deurckheim, as the holy water is in our
rhenish, both being well enough in their places; but
he that cannot be driven must be led, and liquor
that is right good in itself needeth no flavor from

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the church. As for this old misunderstanding between
Limburg of the one side, and the noble
Count of Hartenburg with our unworthy town of
the other, the matter may be said to be now of
easy adjustment, since the late events have cleared
it of its greatest difficulty; and so, from my heart,
I wish thee joy of thy mission, and felicitate the
town that it hath to treat with one so skilful and so
reasonable. Thou wilt find us in a friendly humor,
and ready to meet thee half-way; for I know not
the man in Deurckheim that desireth to push the
controversy a foot further, or who is not at heart
content.”

“No, that would be out of reason and charity,”
said the smith, speaking again among the auditors,
“We ought to show these Benedictines an example
of moderation, neighbors; and therefore for
one, though no better than a poor artisan that gaineth
his bread by blows on the anvil, do I agree with
the worshipful Heinrich, and say, of God's name!
let us be reasonable in our demands, and be content
with as little as may be, in the settlement of our
dispute.”

The Prior listened patiently, as usual, but a hectic
glowed, for an instant, on his cheek. It disappeared,
and the benevolent blue eye was again seen shining
amid features that the cloister and the closet had
long since robbed of all other bloom. “Ye know,
burghers of Deurckheim,” he answered, “that in
assailing the altars of Limburg ye set a double
power at defiance;—that of the Church, as it is
constituted and protected on earth, and that of God.
My errand, at this moment, is to speak of the first.
Our Father of Worms is sorely angered, and he
has not failed to address himself directly and promptly
to our Father at Rome. In addition to this reverend
appeal, messengers have been dispatched to
both the Elector and Emperor, as well as to divers

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of the Ecclesiastical Princes who rule on the banks
of the Rhine. This is a fearful array of power to be
met by a mountain baron, and a city whose walls
can be measured by the leg in so short a time.
But chiefly would I lay stress on the evil that may
flow from the displeasure of the Head of the Church.”

“And should he read the late exploit with severity,
reverend Prior, what are we to look to, as its fruits?”

“To be denounced as excluded from the fold,
and to be left to the wickedness and folly of your
own hearts. In a word, excommunication.”

“Umph!—this might prove a short way of recruiting
the followers of Brother Luther! thou knowest,
holy Arnolph, that men look more and more
closely, every day, into these disputed points.”

“Would that they looked with more humility and
understanding! If ye consider the denunciations
and benedictions of him to whom has been confided
the authority to bless and to curse, as of little weight,
no words of mine can heighten their effect; but all
among ye who are not prepared to go the length
that your Burgomaster hath just hinted, may deem
it prudent to pause, ere they incur the heavy risk of
living under such a weight of Heaven's displeasure.”

The burghers regarded each other in doubt, few
among them being yet prepared to push resistance
so far. Some inwardly trembled, for habit and
tradition were too strong for the new opinions;
some shrewdly weighed the temporal rather than
the spiritual consequences, and others ruminated on
the possibility of enduring the anathema in so good
company. There are thousands that are willing to
encounter danger in large bodies, who shrink from
its hazards alone; and perhaps the soldier goes to
the charge quite as much stimulated by the sympathy
of association, as he is sustained by the dread
of shame or the desire of renown. The civic counsellors
of Deurckheim now found themselves in

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some such plight, and each man felt assurance or
doubt, much as he happened to meet with either of
those feelings expressed in the eyes of his neighbor.

“Have ye any less godly proposition to make?”
asked Heinrich, who perceived that the moral part
of his civic support began to waver, “for these are
points in which we are better skilled, than on those
that touch your doctrinal niceties.”

“I am commanded to say, that, as becomes their
divine office, the brotherhood of Limburg is disposed
to pardon and forget, inasmuch as duty will
allow, the late act of Deurckheim, on conditions
that may be named.”

“Ay, this is christian-like, and will meet with a
ready return, in our dispositions. On our side, too,
holy Prior, there is every wish to forget the past,
and to look only to a quiet and friendly future—
do I interpret the intentions of the town well, my
neighbors?”

“To the letter!—no clerk could do it better.”—
“Yes, we are of the community's mind; it is wise
to live at peace, and to pardon and overlook;” were
ready answers to this appeal.

“Thou hearest, father! a better mood no minister
or messenger need wish! 'Fore Heaven! we are
all of one mind in this particular; and I know not
that the man would find safety in Deurckheim, who
should talk of aught but peace!”

“It is to be mourned, that ye have not always
been of this humor; I come not, however, to reproach,
but to reclaim; not to defy, but to persuade;
not to intimidate, but to convince. Here are the
written propositions of the holy divines by whom I
am charged with this office of mediator, and I leave
it for a time to your private consultations. When
ye shall have well digested this fit offer, I will come
among ye in peace and friendliness.”

The written proposals were received, and the

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whole assembly rose to do the Prior honor. As the
latter left the hall, he asked permission of several
of the burghers, among whom was Heinrich Frey,
to visit their families, in the spirit of Christian guardianship.
The desired consents were obtained without
demur or doubt, on the part of any; for whatever
may be said or thought of the errors of public
opinion, it is usually right where the means are
possessed of at all giving it a true direction. The
high estimation in which Arnolph was held, by the
mere force of popular instinct, was never more
plainly seen than on the present occasion, when
even those who had so lately warred against the
community, threw open their doors without reserve;
though it was well known, that the late policy of the
town had many a secret enemy, and many a bitter
commentator, in that sex which is sometimes as
slow to incite to violence and resistance, as at others
it is thoughtless and hasty.