Transcriber's notes:
Transcriber's Note:
Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/klytiastoryofhei00hausuoft
COLLECTION
OF
GERMAN AUTHORS.
VOL. 44.
KLYTIA BY GEORGE TAYLOR.
IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.
KLYTIA.
A STORY OF HEIDELBERG CASTLE.
BY
GEORGE TAYLOR.
FROM THE GERMAN BY
SUTTON FRASER CORKRAN.
Copyright Edition.
IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.
LEIPZIG 1883
BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ.
LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON.
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
PARIS: C. REINWALD, 15, RUE DES SAINTS PÈRES.
K L Y T I A.
CHAPTER I.
At a time when in our fatherland a cold raw wind made its presence felt, and the sharp frost at night checked the growth of the early bud, the Rhine valley between the Bergstrasse and Hardtgebirge had revelled for many weeks in the timely spring, the especial privilege of this garden of Germany. Even three hundred years ago at the time of our narrative the Neckar valley shimmered with the white and red blossoms of the various fruit-trees and yellow fields of rape, as if spring had wished to see how an illumination looked by day. The Jettenbühl above Heidelberg which to-day resembles a green velvet pillow, on which the ruins of the castle stand out like an offering to some Deity, was at that date but a bare glacis, surmounted by massive turrets and angular fortresses, the palace of the Kurfürsts of the Palatinate looming out severe and threatening over the smiling valley of Heidelberg, as does at the present time the gloomy residence of the Popes over Avignon, or the menacing Ehrenbreitstein over the green Rhine. Between the octagonal belfry and the "thick Tower" of which at the present time only the inner walls are visible, the gorgeous palaces of Frederic IV. and Frederic V. did not exist, but on the right the peaky gables of the Chapel and of the roof of the old castle reared above the scarped fortress wall; "the new court," erected by Frederic II., was built against the octagonal tower.
In the low but spacious halls of the building which by its mixture of the Gothic and Renaissance schools recalls to the memory the Flemish architecture of the period, a numerous throng crowded together seeking an audience of the Kurfürst, in the latter part of a spring afternoon of the year 1570. Before the door of the Prince stood the portly court-servant Bachmann, attired in the resplendent livery of a Heiduck of the Pfalz, his jovial expression forming a pleasing contrast to the grim heraldic lions ornamenting his breast. Solemnly did he call out the names of those to whom an audience was granted. Huguenots from France begging for aid. Theologians warmly recommended to the notice of the Kurfürst, wandering Scots eager for service, Italian artists who had obtained commissions were received in order, and dismissed. Finally, there remained but two couples, widely differing in appearance, representatives of the two classes which everywhere throng the ante-chambers of sovereigns, resembling in their demeanour Grief and Hope.
The two "Hopefuls" paced up and down the now empty hall in lively discussion, whilst the two sorrowful guests sat sullenly in a corner. One of these, addressed as Your Reverence, was an undersized well fed man with fresh ruddy complexion and coarse features. His companion, on the other hand, was a small dwarf-like being, whose dark costume stood out in marked contrast to his fiery-red-face, one of those figures only to be met with at the interment of a circus-rider. With a deep sigh the dwarf addressed his reverend companion: "Yes, yes. Your Reverence. How often have I, as counsellor of our beloved ruler, shortened with my timely jokes the dreary hours of many awaiting an audience, who, even if not favourably received, nevertheless laughed at my excellent quibbles. At that time I little thought, that I myself should have to sit here and beg for a small pension."
"We both owe our misfortunes to that vagabond Olevianus," said the Parson. "Because I defeated him in a public argument--he knows as much about theology as your cow does of a bag-pipe--and because he cannot bear to see how I filled my church, therefore has he deprived me of my position in the Church of St. Peter, leaving me only matins in the Holy Ghost, which no one ever attends. But that will help him little, let but the Heidelbergers have to choose between me and Olevianus and we shall see who gets the most votes. That he well knows, and on that account am I stuck in the background. But I seek an audience and intend to speak out my mind to the Kurfürst, although he does not like to hear the truth."
"Our day is over, Herr Neuser," said the discharged Court-fool; "these are the people who now have full swing," and he grimly pointed to the other couple, a well dressed old Italian with a head like a fox, listening covertly to anything said in his neighbourhood, whilst at the same time he earnestly addressed a young man, who appeared from his long locks and Raphael-cap to be an artist. "There is another of those starvelings, which the Italian Doctor trots up and down. At the 'Stag' where he has stopped a whole week, he has not as yet drunk a whole bottle of wine. That cock-sparrow has most surely got in his pocket a letter from Herr Beza recommending him for a post as Privy, or Church Counsellor."
"Then ought he to have risen earlier," said the Parson, "the martyrs from Treves, Paris and Prague have long since snapped up those dainty morsels."
"Then in that case he will be paid, so that wolves may not gobble the moon, nor the people of Heilbronn set fire to the Neckar; bread and places are always to be found by the Italians."
"This way, gentlemen, this way most honoured scum!" said the Priest in the tone of a showman. "Here may you see Boquin, Ramus, Du Jon, Tremelli and Sanchi, Ursinus and the Bohemian Zuleger, Olevianus from the lower Rhine, van Keulen, Pithopöus, Dathan, Marnix, and others whatever may be their names. For an honest Swabian there is no place, we may as well quit."
The expressions of the worthy couple would have in no wise lighted up, had they understood the advice which Professor Pigavetta, the hospital surgeon, strove to impress upon the young Felice Laurenzano, cautiously making use, however, of the Italian language. "Remember what you owe to the Society," said he earnestly, "it paid for your education, it sent you to Flanders, in order that you might acquire another style than that of Rome and Florence, it referred you to Master Colins, whose letter of recommendation brings you here under such creditable circumstances."
"Excellency," replied the young architect, "even without this reminder, I can never forget what the reverend Fathers have done for me and my brother. Show me how I can prove my gratitude to the College for its kindness? I am unfortunately so distracted, so accustomed to dream along as I go, that I fear to let a timely opportunity escape unseen, although ingratitude was never a sin of mine."
"That is very simple, my son," answered the older man. "You should look out for an
The young Italian had been carefully scanning the face of his patron thus addressing him. But his eyes only had followed the play of the characteristic features, had observed the remarkable head of the eager man, noted his every twist and turn, his own fingers meanwhile moving as if he were kneading a lump of clay, endeavouring to retain the expression in this plastic material. "What a model," thought he, "for my picture of Cassius winning Brutus over to the idea of murdering Cæsar. This eloquence, this fanatical look, the cunning insinuating actor!" The latter looked up inquiringly at him, as if expecting an assentient answer. "Certainly, certainly," quickly replied the young artist, a deep blush rising to his face. He endeavoured to collect himself, but became the more absentminded as the wily politician continued to disclose to him the praiseworthy intentions of the Society of Jesus in regard to the Palatinate. An event of his early childhood came back to him, how when once his grandmother in Naples praised him for listening with profound attention to a long scolding, he very inopportunely pointed with his little finger to her meagre throat, and said: "Granny, when thou speakest such a funny little ball goes up and down;" for saying which his enraged grandmother gave him his first box on the ear. He could not help smiling as he thought how little he had improved since then. His illustrious patron ceased and the young man replied: "I am but an artist, seeing nought but colour, form and line, I do not behold with the eyes of a politician."
"Good," replied Pigavetta quite satisfied, "but your brother Paolo, Signor Felice, for that very reason is better informed in political matters. Tell him all that your falcon eye discovers, he will soon draw his conclusions and let me know. My address in Speyer is known to him."
The Prince's usher now stepped up to them, saying: "His Gracious Highness has ordered me to admit you two gentlemen, the audience will then be at an end."
"Come," said the physician to the young man, "answer boldly. The Prince likes straightforward people." They entered the audience chamber, leaving the Parson and his companion to retire grumbling.
CHAPTER II.
In a room of moderate height, panelled in oak, but with broad round-paned windows, stood the Kurfürst Frederic III. near an open writing-table ornamented with inlaid work and richly adorned with appropriate mottoes and allegorical figures. A Dutch stove of coarse German manufacture, representing the world's history from the time of Adam and Eve to that of the Emperor Charles V. and Francis I., offered a solid support to that stout gentleman. Pigavetta bowed deeply and said to the Prince: "I introduce to Your Highness the young artist, whom Your Highness empowered me to invite."
A short, thick-set asthmatic figure stept forward towards the young man. A plate-like ruffle surrounded that part of the body known in other men as the neck, but out of this arose a firm, honest face with a fair beard. The smallish features were enlivened by a pair of clear blue eyes, whose gaze a man willingly met. Honesty, truth, and a clear conscience were all more plainly expressed on the features of this short sturdy man than mental aptitude or quickness of thought.
Near the window stood, attired in a dark Spanish costume, the court physician Thomas Liebler, surnamed Erastus, at that time the most influential man in the Palatinate, whose intervention in church matters was not welcomed by the theologians of the town.
"You are well recommended to me, Master Laurenzano," said the Count Palatine in a kindly tone to the young man, pointing at the same time to plans, accounts, and statements piled up before him. "Master Colins considers you in the light of a second Michel Angelo. You are an artist, sculptor and architect, and your black eyes tell me that you are also a poet."
"He who will build, most gracious Lord," answered the young man in broken German, to the evident amusement of the Prince, "must also be able to draw and chisel. In my own country I should not consider myself an architect, did I not understand both."
"Well spoken, young man, and you shall have an opportunity here of doing both. When I succeeded to the throne, I found empty coffers, and instead of money the newly begun gorgeous structure outside there, which robbed me of my rest by night and day, as I knew not how I could manage to finish it without neglecting something more important. That building was a misfortune for the country. Look out into this open court. The homes of my ancestors resemble old barns, in comparison with this glittering Italian mansion, erected by Count Palatine Otto Heinrich, to whose soul may God grant eternal rest. Who for the future will be contented to live in the Ruprecht castle, or in that of Ludwig V., or here in the new court, when at every turn this magic castle meets his eye?"
Without much respect for the growlings of the old Prince, the young man gazed with unconcealed delight through the open window at the beautiful picture which lay spread before him. The sun-shine streamed into the open court, which resembled an enclosed Piazzetta. Gloomy and low castellated buildings stood in irregular confusion on the South and West sides, but as the fairy castle of some fair dream, rose on the Eastern side, bathed in the rays of the setting sun, the building of Count Otto Heinrich, and the dark blue sky caused the red sand-stone to glow, as if all these pillars, pilasters, consoles, shafts and statues had been carved out of some wondrous precious stone, half ruby, half jasper.
"What a material!" said the young artist in an entranced tone.
"It is the same with this confounded castle," continued the Prince, "as with every unsuitable gift.
Pigavetta listened to the outspoken statements made by the German Prince with a sarcastic smile, and then asked with a tinge of irony: "Then the business of this young man will be to pull down the new building?"
"No," replied the Kurfürst, with a severe glance from under his bushy eyebrows at the impudent Italian. "As we have kept our thumbs on our purse-strings, we have come to such a pass as enables us to finish the building, for connoisseurs tell me that something must be done, or the beauteous work will suffer. For this reason has Master Alexander Colins recommended you to me; for he himself has promised our most gracious Sovereign the Emperor, not to undertake any work till he has erected the monument to the Emperor Max at Innsbruck. You have worked under his orders, and will therefore best carry out his designs."
"It will be a high honour for me," modestly answered the young man, "to work at a building, whose façade the immortal Michel Angelo helped to trace, as I am told, and whose sculptures were chiselled by my master, Colins."
"Yes, yes! these sculptures," puffed out the Prince, throwing himself back in an arm-chair. "Yesterday I had a discussion about them with my Council. A beginning must be made with them. The gentlemen tell me plainly that I am placing heathen Deities on my roof, and that the planetary Gods watch me through my windows, and as the severe Olevianus has heard through you, Herr Pigavetta, that the work is to be begun again, they insist on these idols being removed."
"An impudent set," murmured Pigavetta.
"Not so," answered the Kurfürst, "we will have in the Palatinate no watch-dogs around God's house who cannot bark. Even our predecessor caused his monument to be removed from the Holy Ghost, because Deacon Klebitz told him, he could not permit naked figures, together with the wise Virgins of the Gospels cut in marble, in his church. I will not be more obstinate than my noble cousin. The affair was thus," continued he turning towards the architect: "The Theologians in Jena are now very eagerly exposing the errors of Master Philip Melanchthon, and justly complain, that this pious man laid too much importance on Astrology, a heathen and Jewish science as well as a blasphemous inquisitiveness. Both Luther and Master Calvin reproached him for this very reason. Our great Genevese teacher does not hold images in any esteem, and thus the statues of the planets which you see there, are doubly objectionable to my Church Council."
Felice impatiently shrugged his shoulders, and for a moment it seemed as if the wrath of the hot-blooded Neapolitan must explode.
"I do not mean," said the Kurfürst kindly, "that we must remove all the statues. The male deities and ancient heroes below there can possibly disturb no one, and even if the heathen Hercules looks rather remarkable standing between Samson and King David, he has such a kind genial expression that I cannot help every morning being amused at him. He is also a fitting companion to Samson, who holds the jaw-bone of the ass in his right hand, and has the dead lion at his left side, and was himself the Hercules of the people of Israel. Above them you see the five virtues: strength breaking pillars, justice with sword and balance, faith, hope and charity; charity is the best of them, therefore is she placed over the portal. Against these even Olevianus can say nothing. In the third row higher up are the planetary deities: Saturn, wishing to eat up the child. Mars, Venus, Mercury and Diana, the goddess of the moon, but above them all, there where dwells my physician Erastus and his daughter, who has just withdrawn her pretty fair head from the window, is Jupiter and the Sun-God Serapis with his radiant crown. Against these the spiritual gentlemen are especially spiteful."
"I also," said Erastus for the first time joining in the conversation, "am no friend of astrology, and have, as Your Highness knows, written a book against it. That which makes me however especially take offence at the opinion of my colleagues, is the way in which the gentlemen composing the Church Council, go about Your Highness' Land, spying about with a telescope seeking for some ground of complaint. The figures are so high, that they can scarce be plainly seen with the naked eye, and no straightforward Christian knows that they represent sun, moon and planets, from which constellations the deceased Count Palatine traced all the good or evil fortunes of man, and therefore placed his home under their protection. Were it not known, that Master Philip advised the deceased Count in his choice of the figures, it would never have occurred to the theologians to trouble their heads about the matter. Thus they wish to offer a sacrifice to their hatred of images, and render themselves of importance to their brethren in Geneva and Scotland, as they rule over their princely sovereign and introduce their church regimen even in his household."
Master Felix had not only listened to the speaker with sympathy, but had also taken the opportunity to examine more closely the statesman so well known in the Palatinate. He saw a tall stately man of an energetic commanding appearance. Even outwardly the scholar formed a wonderful contrast to the true-hearted, undersized, strong-built Kurfürst, and this contrast would have been entirely in Erastus' favour, had not nature herself spoilt this her masterpiece of mankind. Erastus' right arm hung dead and stiff at his side. He had been thus crippled from birth, and still more remarkable and singular was the fact that the physician's hair was lighter than the swarthy face which it surrounded, so that he resembled a black man turned gray. His friends called him the Moor, his opponents, of whom he had many, the black devil. "The Almighty writes a plain hand," said his enemy Olevianus, if he even saw him from afar. "Yes, yes," replied the more gentle Ursinus, "he has been marked by God."
The Prince heard smilingly his friend's speech, then said good-naturedly: "You are angry with the Church Council, Erastus, because you lay under the ban. I have however always heard Otto Heinrich praised for altering his tomb-stone, when it became a rock of offence, as he did not wish these theological gentlemen to fight over his grave. I will not be behind him in forbearance for weaknesses. Let us take away the figures, Master Felix," turning towards Laurenzano. "Methought we could insert in the empty niches our heraldic quartering, the Lion of the Palatinate." The young Italian crossed himself and murmured something between his teeth which sounded like "Gesummaria." The stout gentleman however continued quite
"Respect, young man," said the Kurfürst knitting his brows, "you speak to a Prince."
"Oh! most gracious Prince," said the Italian, "respect for a Prince, when speaking of the realm of the Beautiful. Do you know why I left Rome? The Pope had been told that the naked figures carved on the great Altar in his private chapel shocked all pious women, and the Pope believing this caused all the beautiful bodies in Michel Angelo's great picture to be fitted out with aprons and breeches. The man who gave himself up to this is known to the present day in Italy as il bracatore, the breeches painter. I turned my back at the time in a rage with the Holy city, therefore all the less do I thirst for the fame to be known as the cat-painter of the Palatinate."
"The young man is right," said Erastus. "I warn Your Highness most earnestly not to give way to these theological gentlemen. They begin with the outside wall of the house, as they cannot permit what they term 'a public scandal,' then come the private scandals within the house, and finally they will stick their noses in every pot or kettle as did the gentlemen of the Consistorium at Geneva, so as to prescribe what people should eat or drink. This pretended scandal has no other object. These images are no idols, no one worships them, no one has ever taken offence at them. They stand within the enclosed court of my most gracious Lord, and only Olevianus' parson's love of meddling dictated the unseemly representation on the part of the Church Council, so that he might essay the Church regimen on the sovereign's own household."
"So you will chisel no lions?" asked the Kurfürst turning towards the young man.
"No! mai," was the reply, and the artist seized his hat as if to depart, but a sign from his companion reminded him before whom he stood. With a courtly bow he added: "Master Colins was my teacher, my Lord, were I not a scoundrel to destroy the work of part of his life-time, when even a man like Raphael suffered the pictures by Sodoma to remain in the rooms of the Popes, when he himself could have done so much better, only because he had a regard for the work of a man, from whom he had learnt something?"
Frederic III. shook his head in great displeasure and stepping to the window gazed up at the pediment above bathed in the golden splendor of a setting sun. Now that the upper row of images shone out in the clear golden light, whilst the lower portion of the building lay in a bluish shadow, the planetary Deities looked across so pleasantly at the old gentleman, that a feeling came over him, that his Palatinate Lions would besport themselves in a manner less genial. "This building," sighed he, "will always be a beauteous stranger in my Pfalz, what can I do with a castle that is too beautiful even to bear my coat-of-arms."
Laurenzano had also stept up to the window and once more looked over the rows of images. "The home of this artistic workmanship is not unknown to me," said he. "Master Gherardo Doceno has painted almost the same series, as the frieze of a patrician's house at Florence. The façade is not without serious faults, but it is impossible, even to do away with one of the figures, without sinning against the idea in its entirety. The glory of a princely house is built upon Strength and Heroism. That is shown by the giants and heroes which support the whole. Virtues adorn a princely house, they stand there the chief ornaments in the middle. Above the house rules a higher Power, to whom the members must all look up, this is represented by the Planets and Lights, through whom the Godhead rules the Day and the Night. Does Your Grace think, it would be less of an idolatry should the descendants of this noble House see in the highest place nothing but their own heraldic Lion?"
This last argument which appealed to the religious mind of the Count Palatine, made its impression. The old Prince looked with his big astonished eyes straight at the bold Youth, and it was evident, he had been touched.
"Do it not," now prayed the young artist with the touching fervor of a southerner. "How many works of art have been destroyed in Germany within the last fifty years. You have broken some to pieces because they were popish, others because they were heathen or immoral--what remains besides? In Augsburg I wished to see the pictures of Albrecht Dürer, and was told that they have been dispersed since the Reformation. In Basel I asked about Holbein's pictures of the Saints: they have been whitewashed, was the answer given, so none can worship the idols. Shall this continue, noble Sir? The Churches look sad since robbed of their images, shall the castles of the Great also look as bare? Wherefore have you brought me from Innsbruck, where I was the right hand of the Master, if I am to do him here a deadly injury? Of what use is your sculptor, when you desire no image or allegory?"
"Of what is in Heaven, young Man," said the Prince.
"By the blood of the Saviour," cried the Italian, "shall we paint all our lives long, like Master Lucas Cranach of Weimar, instead of Angels and Saints only the square cut faces of Theologians, or the pumpkin-shaped heads of the Dukes of Saxony?"
"Stop, stop, young Fanatic," laughed the old Prince, "let not my daughter hear what you say about Johann Frederic's beauty. Nevertheless I see by your rudeness, that you are an honest fellow, as it is always said in Germany, that the Italians are all smooth-tongued scoundrels. You have convinced me. We shall leave the Planets where they are, and you, Erastus, shall write to the Church Council, that their Prince also knows what causes offence, and prefers reforming his own house himself; let the gentlemen do the same at home."
At this order the physician smiled in such a contented manner that his white teeth gleamed in contrast to his dark complexion. "Master Felix," added the Prince, "shall have from to-day a front apartment in the Ruprechtsbau, where he can have the new building ever before his eyes, and be able to satisfy himself as to the necessary repairs, for whatever we have inherited from our ancestors be it of much or little value shall remain. You shall however paint in the University building the Palatinate Lion reading the Catechism. Receive our thanks for your intervention," said the Kurfürst turning to Pigavetta, "I am contented with your choice."
As the doors of the audience-chamber closed on the two, Pigavetta clapt his companion on the shoulder, and the foxy smile came once more to his lips. "You did that well, my young friend," said he.
"Did I?" answered Felix, "I little thought about that."
"That is the very blessing attending a good disposition, it anticipates of itself, what the advantage of the Holy Church demands. Observe closely the rule of crossing everywhere the path of the heretics. I have already told you, that nothing must be allowed to take root here. Who wins, who loses, is in itself a matter of indifference to us,
The triumphant Jesuit was about to leave the ante-chamber, when he heard Erastus' voice behind him: "Dr. Pigavetta, His Highness wishes to give you other commands for Speyer." Pigavetta hastened back to the room, whilst Erastus descended the staircase towards the court together with Felix.
"You have rendered to-day an important service to all friends of divine art, to the memory of my gracious master; as well as to myself, young Master, and as thanks I will give you a piece of advice."
"And that is?"
"You are in bad company. How came you to know this so-called surgeon?"
The Artist hesitated for a moment, but double-dealing was not his forte. "I made the acquaintance of the doctor in the College at Venice. He procured an entry into the College of the Sapientia for my brother, and the invitation to Colins, which has brought me here, was also owing to his intervention. I owe him thanks, as you see."
"We have experienced in the University but few proofs of his honesty, and he likes to stick his finger in every pie. That this gentleman is connected with the Society of Jesus, is something new to me. The brothers of Ignatius do not usually indulge in such grandiloquence, as does this remarkable statesman. Were you also brought up in the Collegium?"
"The Laurenzanos are of noble race, but poor. So after the death of our parents the family were talked over into trusting my brother to the care of the Society. I followed him to Venice, where I worked in the atelier of Master Jacopo Sansovino, and the Rector gave me the permission to attend certain lectures which were useful to me. I shall never forget with what care the College instructed me in mathematics, languages, and philosophy, requiring no other return but that I should paint pictures for the Chapel. Nowhere have I seen greater sacrifice, greater diligence in getting out of the pupils, anything that might be in them."
"For the use and benefit of the Pope," said Erastus coldly.
"All our gifts are given to us to honor the Holy Church," rejoined Felix. "Besides you knew me to be a Catholic when you called me here."
"Certainly, Master Felix. We cannot permit Otto Heinrich's statues to be repaired by Ursinus' Bachelors, or the Doctors of the Sapientia, and the Heidelberg artists are so busy with politics and church questions, that soon none will understand his handicraft. Therefore must we turn to the Papists. You will be allowed to carry on the exercises of your faith in your chamber, as you please. How comes it however that your brother Paul fills a protestant pulpit, when inwardly he appears to me as Roman as yourself?"
Felix looked up in surprise at his quick-witted interlocutor. Then composing himself, said: "I have not seen my brother for two years."
Erastus shook his head: "In such a time great changes certainly often take place. I am interested in the young man, yea more, as often as I see him I have compassion on him. He is as handsome as you are, perhaps handsomer, but his expression does not exhibit happiness and contentment of mind. Can I help you, we are now neighbours. I dwell in the 'new building' as the Kurfürst often requires my medical advice. For a lame man my quarters are rather high up between Jupiter and Serapis, and I look down on the heads of all the planets and christian virtues. You have a claim upon me, in that you spared me a daily sight of seven lions' tails. I am also indebted to all Italians. I spent nine years in Bologna and Padua, and experienced much kindness at the hands of your countrymen. Visit me soon; Erastus' advice will be of use to you in this Heidelberg where everything is war and partizanship, since in twenty years the religion has been four times changed."
"Bachmann," he now called out to the old servant, who was leaning against a well-house supported by high pillars, "this gentleman is to have the two rooms near the pages' apartment. Look to it that his property is brought up from the Hirsch." With a friendly shake of the hand he left the young artist who looked after his new patron in wonderment. "Model for a Regulus," he murmured, and then followed the broad-shouldered Bachmann who preceded him jingling his bunch of keys.
CHAPTER III.
The full moon shone brightly over the Königsstuhl and shed its gentle light o'er the gables and crooked streets of the old town, as the Italian doctor left the Castle, and descended through the Bergstadt to his home in the so-called Klingenthor. A clear spring pattered cheerily to the right of the dark gate-way, and the water reflected back the silver rays of the moon. At an open bay-window of a room in a neighbouring house stood the tall figure of a young priest, who gazed sadly at the quivering play of the light and at the Church of St. Peter, whose vast nave appeared doubly massive in the moonlight, and his ear was turned towards the bustling town, from which arose a confused wild noise of drunken voices, the screaming of shrieking girls, and the ear-rending din of the various bands of music in the taverns, "What has come over thee, thou noisy raging town? Thy slain men are not slain with the sword," murmured the young Priest in the words of Isaiah. Sounds from the Neckar were mingled with those of the streets. These were caused by fifers and cornet-players on board a brilliantly lighted up ship bearing the guests of the Kurfürst to the landing-place near the bridge, and salutes fired from the "Trutzbaier" lighted up the darkness for seconds and re-echoed through the valley. "Oh! that thou wouldest come down that the mountains might flow at thy presence," sighed the pale young man. Then he heard a quick step coming from the Castle way and soon Pigavetta's voice said from beneath: "You have been obliged to wait for a long time, my dear Master, but His Lordship could to-day hardly make any end to his scruples. I am coming at once." A key was turned in the heavy lock and after a time our excellent physician entered the lofty room in the mansarde holding a brilliant lamp, and offered with all the grace of an Italian his hand to his countryman who reluctantly placed therein his long slender fingers. "I bring you good news. Master Paul," continued Pigavetta, "your brother is here and was received by the Kurfürst in the most friendly manner." The young Laurenzano quickly raised his head for a moment and the name "Felice" came like a note of joy from his thin pale lips. Then he was silent and passing his hand over his high forehead, the old expression of melancholy resignation returned to his face. "You mean," said Pigavetta in the tone of a man of the world, "that it does not become a monk to make a relation in the flesh an object of rejoicing, and the Holy Ignatius forbids them to be considered in any other light than that of the Church and her Holy Cause; but my dear Friend, a man is often a better Jesuit by not being so according to rule. It is not necessary to hide your feelings before me."
"My brother will be useful to me," answered the young Priest shortly. Then he drew from his pocket and handed to Pigavetta a number of papers. "Here are the reports as to the state of the Church in the Stift; here, what I could learn without exciting comment concerning the religious relations of the families of my pupils. Here are the astronomical calculations, so far as I, owing to the
"Let us sit down, my dear Master," said Pigavetta, throwing himself back in a chair, and drawing the Priest towards him with offensive familiarity. "You are not satisfied with your position?" asked he confidentially.
"All delays and evasions have availed nothing," replied the other in a low tone. "Yesterday I was again bound and have moreover to subscribe by oath that I would render my teaching more in accordance with the fundamental doctrines of the Augsburg Confession and the Catechism of the Kurfürst. You know that I cannot do this, therefore help me to quit this position."
"You are not bound to fulfil this promise, since you never intended carrying it out when you gave it."
"But the black gown of the heretics chokes me."
"Now, my dear young friend, I am for my part ready to rid you at once of this Nessus robe if you prove yourself disposed for other duties." The pale young man raised his large black eyes and fixed them attentively on his superior. "They are looking out for a tutor for the young Counts Palatine," continued the older man, "and as you are an excellent teacher I shall recommend you for the post, but the young Princes could help us but little if you do not obtain influence over the new Kurfürstin and even over the old Count. I am told that she affects the Kabbalah and astrological studies. This may be the reason why the thick-headed Count growls and opposes so violently the noble science of astrology, by means of which many a court chaplain has made a fool of his Sovereign during his lifetime. Do you know anything of this science?"
"I can decipher the rota vitae et mortis" said Paul Laurenzano sadly, "draw a horoscope, calculate the appearances, and the rest I can easily learn, if you only provide me with the necessary books and instruments."
"These will be forthcoming, still you must not enter into the study of this foolery too earnestly. I have seen, how at times even the most steady heads went mad on the Kabbalah and astrology, for once the mind has got accustomed to wander about the starry fields, it returns unwillingly to earth. The young Princess has eyes like stars, and to gaze into them will reward you better than looking at Sirius or Jupiter, and your own are not bad," added he with a gallant smile. "Once win over the young Princess, and then can we do with the Kurfürst what we wish, that is," correcting himself sanctimoniously, "what is required for the benefit of the Church. When a Prince at the age of sixty marries a young widow he is a lost man. The widow Brederode brings with her all the charms of youth, but not its inexperience; so the good old animal is doubly lost. You are young and handsome, and it must come to pass, that she will prefer you to her fat German husband. Thus we shall soon compel the old man to do what you read in the stars, and what you have to read there, that we shall arrange together in yonder observatory," and he pointed through the window to the tower of the Klingenthor. Paul made an impatient gesture of dissension, but Pigavetta continued quietly. "Other secret sciences would be of use. The Kurfürst is heavily in debt. Otto Heinrich lived fast, and Simmern was ever a land of need. How would it answer, should we fit up a laboratorium. You must study the fixing of metals, making gold, must gather falling-stars so as to extract the materia prima, collect the night-dews in buckets, with which the Princess may wash her alabaster neck ... You will find me no bad preceptor, I think I have proved to you that I can do more than eat bread. I will instruct you, especially in white magic," said he emphatically, with a sharp look at Paul, "not in the black art."
"Excuse me from studying either. It might suit certain people later on to turn white into black, and I have not vowed to spread the devil's arts and idol worship over Germany."
"Idol worship!" screamed the Physician. "You speak like a Calvinist. In matters of religion the question is not what is true, but what is efficacious. Properly handled, belief in the Philosophers' stone or in the Elixir vitae of Bombastus Paracelsus can bear fruit just as profitable to the Holy Church, as belief in the scapulary of the Holy Franciscus or the bones of the Apostles."
The young Priest remained silent, but a hard sarcastic smile played over his pale thin lips.
Pigavetta's brow wrinkled. "Brother Paul," said he then, "it appears to me, that the air of this heretic town is dangerous to your vows. Did you not promise to obey your superior, silently, unconditionally, submissively as the stick in his hand? It seems to me that you are falling back into the spirit of opposition for which the Principal once reproved you so severely. It grieves me, but I shall not be able to praise your obedience, when I send my report concerning you." The young man bowed his head and looked down in silence without returning any answer.
"Well," continued the old man more kindly, "if alchemy is obnoxious to you, let us see what we can do through the stars. Our principal adversary at this court is Erastus. Why am I not yet private physician to this fat gentleman? Because the Kurfürst has a blind confidence in this Moor. Why is it that the Church Council has not been able to introduce its regimen, which would certainly have driven the population into our net? Because the Count was warned by this Erastus! He has also written a book against astrology, and is full of ridiculous zeal against the Chaldæans as he calls us. If we succeed in winning the Princess over to the stars, and a pretty woman likes standing, on a warm summer's night, near a telescope close to a young man of your appearance, then is the war against the presumptuous court-physician waged in the bed-chamber, and it is your business to get rid of Erastus in this or that manner."
A burning blush had risen to Paul's cheeks whilst listening to the wanton speech of his superior and his breath became audible. Was there any temptation in the proposition for the pale young man, that he answered so eagerly, and his words issued from his throat cutting and sharp as the stiletto of his countrymen. "Your Theology, most worthy father, becomes every day more wonderful. I thought that it was written: 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.'"
The old Physician looked at him sarcastically. "San Giuseppe, what have I now said? On the whole you would commit no mortal sin, in as much as your intention would not be to destroy the sacrament of marriage but simply to amuse yourself and in this particular case for the advantage of the Church. Here can I refer you also to the moral guides of the Holy Ignatius: 'Discrimination with less sanctity is better than greater sanctity with less discrimination.' You may also shut your eyes to certain advances made to you by the beauteous woman, for as the General of our Society says: 'An experienced proselyter may overlook much which he need not understand.' Prudens tempore illo tacebit. Moreover if you do not wish for the post, I know a dozen of the affiliated who would only be too happy."
"I will accept any position," replied the young man quickly, "which will free me from the obligation of wearing the robes of a heretic priest, and of submitting to their laws. My own convictions are no longer a secret to any here. Help me therefore out of this ambiguous situation and I will render myself as useful as possible."
"Wait a moment," rejoined Pigavetta. "In the Rector's reports is not your wondrous skill in imitating handwriting mentioned?"
"I know not," hesitatingly answered the young man, "why the Rector had the whim to teach an art to the best draughtsmen of the class, which according to the code of the laws of the Emperor
"You will obey the commands of your superiors." The young man sighed. "I will give you nothing to do which could make you or me responsible before God or to man. Shall our messengers be prevented from entering the territory of the heretics, because the authorities will grant them no safe-conduct, and is it a sin to render the presumptuous request of these tyrants of no avail through your innocent art, when the eternal salvation of millions is in question? Are not your bands as a clergyman of the reformed church, and your now hidden tonsure, forgeries? What mean these caprices?"
"I do not refuse to write a pass," answered the Priest in a smothered tone.
"Let us see what you can do," said Pigavetta, handing a sheet of paper and a pen to the young man. Then carelessly sorting a bundle of papers he took out a legal document. "Can you imitate this official hand-writing?"
The Priest looked carefully at the strokes. Then said: "What shall I write?"
"Well, as an attempt, anything you like, for instance: 'Dear Herr Adam! I have received your letter and quite agree with you. Matters are going on well; to-morrow you will receive the required pass, and then follow my directions exactly in all things, greet the Inspector. Your Friend.'"
The young Priest wrote, the Physician looking over his shoulder. "Optime, optime!" he then cried. "You are a finished artist. I will shortly bring you some forms, you will write out letters of safe-conduct for all our agents." He then with apparent indifference folded up the note and put it with his other papers. But the other said mistrustfully: "Give me back that sheet, I do not know what you may want to do with it."
"I think you are becoming childish," cried Pigavetta impatiently, "since when has it become the custom of the society for the novices to watch over the initiated." And he took the folded paper from his pocket and threw it out of the open window. "What sort of French scholar are you?" added he quickly. "The Countess Brederode, or Her Highness the Princess Amelia as she likes to be called, is very particular on that point."
"She will be contented with me," said Paul, "but now dismiss me, it is late. As you ordered me to conceal our interviews, I told the ladies of the Stift, that I was about to attend a meeting of the clergy, in the Hirsch, where I nearly die of ennui, therefore all the less do I dare stay out till midnight, lest my reputation should suffer in the eyes of these pious women."
Pigavetta gave him his hand. "I hope you will soon dwell in yonder castle, and the pretty Princess will have no objection to your then stopping somewhat later." The Priest blushed anew and hastily left. Through the open window could be heard the hurried footsteps of the young man for whom the fresh evening breeze was not sufficient to cool his fevered brow. Pigavetta's long foxy head was thrust out to watch him. "'One cannot angle without bait,' said the Holy Ignatius, and he was the only man who ever impressed me. Of what use hearing the confessions of this good youth, if I could not work upon his weak point. He seems however as if he would shortly break away, so it will be right to lay a new chain on him." After a while he added: "Leaving all higher considerations aside, it would be no bad spectacle, if I were to let this black panther loose on the white kitten in yonder castle. This would bring about some excitement in this tedious home of heretics, where we have five months of winter and seven months of rain." Carefully taking from his pocket a creased piece of paper, he laid another sheet over it, and began cautiously to smooth it out. When he had finished this piece of work, he added: "Exposed a few times to the night-air and this masterpiece of our good Magister will be quite smooth, and then, friend Erastus, thou wilt thyself swear, that thou at some time must have written this letter." After weighting down the paper near the window with a stone he took his lamp and sought his bed, saying: "The instruction in writing as given in Venice is worthy of all commendation. Now we have in black upon white, that Erastus is an Arian and therefore do not first require to turn white into black, as piped this fledgeling."
CHAPTER IV.
The following morning the sun shone brightly on the small bow-window of the room in the castle, in which Felice Laurenzano now dwelt. The Otto Heinrich building stood before him in the bluish mist of the early morning, and behind in vague outlines the Königsstuhl. The balmy air of the park surrounding the castle poured in through the open window, and the full notes of numerous birds sent forth an invitation to come out and enjoy the freshness of the morning. In a cheery mood the young man dressed himself, keeping ever before him the façade which was about to become the future work of his life. But to-day his first duty must be to seek out his brother whom he had not seen for so long, and who now occupied an official dwelling in the Convent (Stift) at Neuburg.
The appointment of the young Jesuit to the Convent Neuburg, at that time protestant, had a history. The Convent situated within half an hour of Heidelberg was so rich and lay so immediately under the eyes of the Kurfürst, that it was impossible for it to escape "reform." Even Frederic II. had stretched out his hand in that direction, whilst Otto Heinrich had insisted on processions and clausure being done away with, and granted the nuns permission to secede from their vows. Over those that remained a counsellor of the Palatinate had been appointed as Inspector, who confiscated the church property for the benefit of the Palatinate treasury leaving to the ladies a meagre annuity. Thus far the "reforms" had not been very serious. When however the Inspector endeavored to alter the mode of life of these old ladies, he learnt to know a power of resistance in these obstinate and headstrong females against which he could not cope. As everywhere else, the nuns here clung with greater tenacity to the old ways than did the monks or priests. The female mind took no pleasure in the dogmatic discussions of the reformers, and the reformation deprived these pious ladies of everything for the which their hearts yearned, their particular dress, the regular life, to which they were so accustomed, their beloved pictures, and moreover the great consolation of their solitary lives--their songs. To sing and attend mass, had been up to that time their sole occupation, and thus in peaceful retirement had they been happy. Evenly proportioned between Ave Maria and Salve Regina, their days had peacefully succeeded one another. But now a turbulent throng raged around their gates, and the haughty spiritual advisers of the Kurfürst forced themselves contrary to all regulations within their walls, to explain to them, that this existence was opposed to the Gospel and to destroy their peace by forcing them to hear theological arguments. Terrified out of their quiet life, the helpless dames burst into the bitterest complaints against the tyranny which forbade them the use of consecrated salt, wax-candles, and all things pertaining to the glorification of God, and also refused to suffer them to sing "Regina cœli," or "Maria mater gratiæ." Moreover these proud new fangled Theologians with their wide white neck-bands permitted the youngest novice to confute their Domina out of the Scriptures, the servants were urged to break the commands of the church, and when the child of the convent miller, whom the old ladies had loved and petted, died, no one dared to administer the last unction to him, he was allowed to die "like a beast" and was buried without incense or holy water. That Satan himself had incited the wicked Luther and the hellish Calvin to such misdeeds was a moral
The new Domina herself was a kind-hearted, rather old-fashioned lady. She was in reality as catholic as the others, but she loved peace and wisely avoided a conflict with those in power. When the Pfalz inclined from Lutheranism to Calvinism, public attention became less and less directed to the Stift. The ladies now hoped to be able to return to their former practices if they could only get rid of the Preacher. Domina Sabina managed at last, owing to her influence with the Church Council of the Kurfürst, to have the old drunkard as she called him dismissed from his office. To avoid fresh conflicts, the Kurfürst ordered that the ladies should choose from among the clergy of the town the preacher most acceptable to them. Long had they consulted and hesitated, at length they elected Master Laurenzano of the College of the Sapientia, who was capable of imparting instruction in the foreign languages to the young ladies committed to their charge. "My pious cousin has chosen the youngest and handsomest of the lot," sneered the Kurfürst, as he nevertheless granted their wish. "They will however thus become quicker reconciled to the new doctrines," he thought. This time he had not seen the matter in the right light, and however sharp the old gentleman appeared, in this case he had been taken in. In the meanwhile he gave orders that Master Laurenzano should at times preach in the castle, "so that one might taste the food on which the Dames were fed, for this was not the affair of a cap full of flesh, but of the eternal welfare of the soul."
Paul's conversion to Calvinism was something new to Master Felix, and the rôle of preacher appeared to him all the more grievous, as he had gathered from Pigavettas' remarks, that the new faith had only been assumed, to spy on the heretics. The education in the Jesuits' college had ever been in Felix's eyes a fate attended with all good to himself, but with much tribulation to Paul. Thus together with his love for his younger brother, there existed a feeling of pity and commiseration, which rendered him kind and yielding towards the excitable young Priest, who often aroused his mental indignation, but also called for much sympathy. Whether Paul had taken oaths binding to the order, Felix knew as little, as what to make out of his part of calvinistic preacher. "Poveretto," he sighed, "I have never understood this reserved brother of mine, nevertheless Erastus' way of speaking, showed me plainly, that something still exists to be comforted, perhaps cured. Poor Paolo, yonder planetary Deities must have formed a complex conjunction at thy birth."
Thus saying Felix threw his cloak over his shoulders and pulled the brim of his Raphael cap well down so as to protect his eyes from the sun. He moreover began to hum his favorite song, but the Nina, Ninetta, Nina, involuntarily stuck in his throat as he entered the gloomy gateway of the watch-tower. "One goes in and out of here like the prophet Jonas," muttered he with a feeling of discomfort. "Do not the pointed spikes of the drawn up portcullis project over the round, dark moat as do the teeth of an open-mouthed shark? Sincerely do I hope that these jaws will never snap behind me." Only after leaving the fortress behind him did his heart feel lighter. The towers of the town arose out of the morning-mist, as Felix gazed over at the beauteous plain beyond. In the marketplace, opposite the chief church, he exchanged a few friendly words with the host of the Hirsch, paid his bill, and after finishing his breakfast, walked down the street
"Since I turned my back on the snows of the Alps," thought the young artist, "I have never seen any landscape which reminds me more of Italy than does this valley with its chestnuts and vines. Who would have expected so much beauty, that gorgeous building opposite, this Neckar valley at my feet. I am a child of Fortune, therefore am I named Felice." And he drank in deep draughts of the air laden with the perfume of the newly-broken up sod and the fragrant rape-fields, borne to him on the wind. Whilst thus dreaming of the delightful sensation of being one of the lucky mortals, a division of the road caused him to remember that he hardly knew whether he would reach his destination by following this path, and he therefore stopt to await a peasant, who had stood by his side whilst he gave his name at the Bridge.
"You cannot have heard much about Heidelberg," said the old man, "if you do not know where the Neuburg lies? Come along with me, you wish to visit your brother, the Italian parson?"
"How do you know that Magister Laurenzano is my brother?"
"Why he is as like you as two peas, only he is thinner and pale, but a fine speaker, you must hear him in the pulpit, he is like a dancer on a tight-rope."
"You have heard him?" asked Felix rather shocked at the comparison.
"That I have," rejoined the old man. "As I went for the first time to the Court chapel, I saw in the pulpit a tall young man of about six feet, who raged, wept, wrung his hands, and threw himself from one side of the pulpit to the other, in a way that quite frightened me. What can have taken place, I thought to myself 'Oh! what a total depravity of the human heart!' I heard him call out as I sat down. Have they whacked him, thought I, or broken his windows, or stolen his cabbages? For it did not seem like preaching, but quite natural. Then he said again: 'Dearly beloved, such was the hardness of heart of the people of Israel against Moses.' Ah, thought I, if that is all the matter, that happened a long time ago. I had thought from the way the mannikin carried on that the parsonage was on fire."
Felix looked attentively at the old man. "You are no peasant?"
"I am a miller."
"Is yonder house the convent?"
"No, that is where the novices had their hair cut before entering into the cloister. Now kindling material (Lohkäse) is made there. It has been turned into a tan-yard."
"You do not appear to be a friend to the Catholics?"
"I was a Catholic at the time when everybody else was catholic."
"And then you became a Lutheran?"
"And am now a Calvinist, as we are not allowed to remain Zwingliites."
"Did you change willingly?"
"One was obliged to do it."
"And when the Pfalzgraf Ludwig becomes Kurfürst, what will you be then?"
"One must take things as they come," said the old man with a sly smile. "After Ludwig comes another Frederic. You know what our Sovereign said, 'If Jack does not do it, Freddy will.' One must know how to wait."
Felix did not quite believe in the passive resignation of the weather beaten old man, for there was a cunning look in his eyes, and his whole appearance was not one of stupid dependence.
"In my country," said the young man carrying on the conversation, "we say that at the present time in Germany a cock-chafer can fly over three different national churches, but it appears to me that if he only lives long enough, he need not even fly. Religions here seem to change like the weather."
"That is good as producing change and movement," said the old man laughing. "When I lived in the town, every Parson had his special idea concerning the holy sacrament, and each of my eight children had his separate Parson. Harry learnt that the Body of the Lord was in the bread; that is not enough, argued little Christina, he is with, in, and under the bread. Parson Neuser told Christopher that it was there in the Presence and that we received it through eating. Parson Greiner however taught Jack: circa circum, round and about, not in the bread but close at hand. Do you understand?"
"Were the customs then," answered Felix evasively, "as varied as the opinions."
"Oh yes," said the old man, "the year in the which we had at one and the same time both the Church Counsellors of the old Count, and those of the new, was an amusing year; then had every church its own ritual. Hesshusen enclosed the host in the tabernacle, consecrated it, turning his back to the congregation, ordered them to worship the wafers and handed these to the communicants over a communion cloth, so that not a single crumb should be lost, and what remained was buried as in the good old time. In the Convent, mass was once more celebrated. In the Church of St. Peter they wished to become Zwingliites as is Erastus the Physician to the Kurfürst. Then they kept their seats on the benches and the bread and wine was handed round as in a tavern. In the sacristy the Deacon reclined with twelve others to celebrate the Lords' supper, so that everything should take place as at Jerusalem, and once the assistant-clergyman brought a soup-tureen filled with wine and crumbled the bread in it, and said they must dip the hand with Christ in the dish, that alone was a veritable communion."
The Italian crossed himself.
"That must have been a beautifully peaceful church, when every Preacher did as he chose," said he.
"Well, not exactly peaceful. Hesshusen wished once to snatch the cup out of Klebitz's hands on the altar steps of the Holy Ghost, and these two right reverend gentlemen blackguarded each other before the church doors in such a manner that the market-women of Ziegelhausen and Bergheim learnt quite a collection of expressions. The following Sunday however the Superintendent-General got into the pulpit, excommunicated the Deacon, and forbade the congregation to have any intercourse with him. No one should eat or drink with the excommunicated man, and the authorities were compelled to deprive him of his office. Then you should have seen how the Heidelbergers went for each other."
"Now you see, man," said Felix angrily, "what comes from doing away with customs thousands of years old, when every man insists on doing what passes through his head."
"The Turkish religion is also a thousand years old and yet comes from the devil."
"But what is your creed, as you are neither catholic, lutheran, zwinglian, or calvinist?" asked Felix. The old man looked at him cautiously and then said in a low voice: "The spirit must act, not the sacrament. Water availeth not, neither do bread and wine. The Spirit must come from inwardly. They have many Bibles in Heidelberg, but they only look at things from the outside, not
"You do not then belong to any Heidelberg communion?"
"You do not possess the truth," replied the old man. "You baptize children who do not know the difference between good and evil, or what yes or no is, and then you say, they have renounced the Devil. Thus you begin with a lie."