these Latins measured their way over the strait again, as suggested by
last night's council; but since they have arrived, and stand embattled
on our shores, it is better that we pay them with money and with spoil,
than with the lives of our gallant subjects. We cannot, after all,
believe that they come with any serious intention of doing us injury;
it is but the insane desire of witnessing feats of battle and single
combat, which is to them the breath of their nostrils, that can have
impelled them to this partial countermarch. I impose upon you, Achilles
Tatius, combining the Protospathaire in the same commission with you,
the duty of riding up to yonder standard, and learning of their chief,
called the Prince Tancred, if he is there in person, the purpose of his
return, and the cause of his entering into debate with Phraortes and
the Lemnos squadron. If they send us any reasonable excuse, we shall
not be averse to receive it at their hands; for we have not made so
many sacrifices for the preservation of peace, to break forth into war,
if, after all, so great an evil can be avoided. Thou wilt receive,
therefore, with a candid and complacent mind, such apologies as they
may incline to bring forward; and, be assured, that the sight of this
puppet-show of a single combat, will be enough of itself to banish
every other consideration from the reflection of these giddy
crusaders."
A knock was at this moment heard at the door of the Emperor's
apartment; and upon the word being given to enter, the Protospathaire
made his appearance. He was arrayed in a splendid suit of ancient Roman
fashioned armour. The want of a visor left his countenance entirely
visible; which, pale and anxious as it was, did not well become the
martial crest and dancing plume with which it was decorated. He
received the commission already mentioned with the less alacrity,
because the Acolyte was added to him as his colleague; for, as the
reader may have observed, these two officers were of separate factions
in the army, and on indifferent terms with each other. Neither did the
Acolyte consider his being united in commission with the Protospathaire,
as a mark either of the Emperor's confidence, or of his own safety. He
was, however, in the meantime, in the Blacquernal, where the slaves of
the interior made not the least hesitation, when ordered, to execute
any officer of the court. The two generals had, therefore, no other
alternative, than that which is allowed to two greyhounds who are
reluctantly coupled together. The hope of Achilles Tatius was, that he
might get safely through his mission to Tancred, after which he thought
the successful explosion of the conspiracy might take place and have
its course, either as a matter desired and countenanced by those Latins,
or passed over as a thing in which they took no interest on either side.
By the parting order of the Emperor, they were to mount on horseback at
the sounding of the great Varangian trumpet, put themselves at the head
of those Anglo-Saxon guards in the court-yard of their barrack, and
await the Emperor's further orders.
There was something in this arrangement which pressed hard on the
conscience of Achilles Tatius, yet he was at a loss to justify his
apprehensions to himself, unless from a conscious feeling of his own
guilt, he felt, however, that in being detained, under pretence of an
honourable mission, at the head of the Varangians, he was deprived of
the liberty of disposing of himself, by which he had hoped to
communicate with the Caesar and Hereward, whom he reckoned upon as his
active accomplices, not knowing that the first was at this moment a
prisoner in the Blacquernal, where Alexius had arrested him in the
apartments of the Empress, and that the second was the most important
support of Comnenus during the whole of that eventful day.
When the gigantic trumpet of the Varangian guards sent forth its deep
signal through the city, the Protospathaire hurried Achilles along with
him to the rendezvous of the Varangians, and on the way said to him, in
an easy and indifferent tone, "As the Emperor is in the field in person,
you, his representative, or Follower, will of course transmit no orders
to the body guard, except such as shall receive their origin from
himself, so that you will consider your authority as this day
suspended."
"I regret," said Achilles, "that there should have seemed any cause for
such precautions; I had hoped my own truth and fidelity - but - I am
obsequious to his imperial pleasure in all things."
"Such are his orders," said the other officer, "and you know under what
penalty obedience is enforced."
"If I did not," said Achilles, "the composition of this body of guards
would remind me, since it comprehends not only great part of those
Varangians, who are the immediate defenders of the Emperor's throne,
but those slaves of the interior, who are the executioners of his
pleasure." To this the Protospathaire returned no answer, while the
more closely the Acolyte looked upon the guard which attended, to the
unusual number of nearly three thousand men, the more had he reason to
believe that he might esteem himself fortunate, if, by the intervention
of either the Caesar, Agelastes, or Hereward, he could pass to the
conspirators a signal to suspend the intended explosion, which seemed
to be provided against by the Emperor with unusual caution. He would
have given the full dream of empire, with which he had been for a short
time lulled to sleep, to have seen but a glimpse of the azure plume of
Nicephorus, the white mantle of the philosopher, or even a glimmer of
Hereward's battle-axe. No such objects could be seen anywhere, and not
a little was the faithless Follower displeased to see that whichever
way he turned his eyes, those of the Protospathaire, but especially of
the trusty domestic officers of the empire, seemed to follow and watch
their occupation.
Amidst the numerous soldiers whom he saw on all sides, his eye did not
recognise a single man with whom he could exchange a friendly or
confidential glance, and he stood in all that agony of terror, which is
rendered the more discomfiting, because the traitor is conscious that,
beset by various foes, his own fears are the most likely of all to
betray him. Internally, as the danger seemed to increase, and as his
alarmed imagination attempted to discern new reasons for it, he could
only conclude that either one of the three principal conspirators, or
at least some of the inferiors, had turned informers; and his doubt was,
whether he should not screen his own share of what had been
premeditated, by flinging himself at the feet of the Emperor, and
making a full confession. But still the fear of being premature in
having recourse to such base means of saving himself, joined to the
absence of the Emperor, united to keep within his lips a secret, which
concerned not only all his future fortunes, but life itself. He was in
the meantime, therefore, plunged as it were in a sea of trouble and
uncertainty, while the specks of land, which seemed to promise him
refuge, were distant, dimly seen, and extremely difficult of attainment.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIRST.
To-morrow - oh, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him!
He's not prepared to die.
SHAKSPEARE.
At the moment when Achilles Tatius, with a feeling of much insecurity,
awaited the unwinding of the perilous skein of state politics, a
private council of the Imperial family was held in the hall termed the
Temple of the Muses, repeatedly distinguished as the apartment in which
the Princess Anna Comnena was wont to make her evening recitations to
those who were permitted the honour of hearing prelections of her
history. The council consisted of the Empress Irene, the Princess
herself, and the Emperor, with the Patriarch of the Greek Church, as a
sort of mediator between a course of severity and a dangerous degree of
lenity.
"Tell not me, Irene," said the Emperor, "of the fine things attached to
the praise of mercy. Here have I sacrificed my just revenge over my
rival Ursel, and what good do I obtain by it? Why, the old obstinate
man, instead of being tractable, and sensible of the generosity which
has spared his life and eyes, can be with difficulty brought to exert
himself in favour of the Prince to whom he owes them. I used to think
that eyesight and the breath of life were things which one would
preserve at any sacrifice; but, on the contrary, I now believe men
value them like mere toys. Talk not to me, therefore, of the gratitude
to be excited by saving this ungrateful cub; and believe me, girl,"
turning to Anna, "that not only will all my subjects, should I follow
your advice, laugh at me for sparing a man so predetermined to work my
ruin, but even thou thyself wilt be the first to upbraid me with the
foolish kindness thou art now so anxious to extort from me."
"Your Imperial pleasure, then," said the Patriarch, "is fixed that your
unfortunate son-in-law shall suffer death for his accession to this
conspiracy, deluded by that heathen villain Agelastes, and the
traitorous Achilles Tatius?"
"Such is my purpose," said the Emperor; "and in evidence that I mean
not again to pass over a sentence of this kind with a seeming execution
only, as in the case of Ursel, this ungrateful traitor of ours shall be
led from the top of the staircase, or ladder of Acheron, as it is
called, through the large chamber named the Hall of Judgment, at the
upper end of which are arranged the apparatus for execution, by which I
swear" - -
"Swear not at all!" said the Patriarch; "I forbid thee, in the name of
that Heaven whose voice (though unworthy) speaks in my person, to
quench the smoking flax, or destroy the slight hope which there may
remain, that you may finally be persuaded to alter your purpose
respecting your misguided son-in-law, within the space allotted to him
to sue for your mercy. Remember, I pray you, the remorse of
Constantine."
"What means your reverence?" said Irene.
"A trifle," replied the Emperor, "not worthy being quoted from such a
mouth as the Patriarch's, being, as it probably is, a relic of
paganism."
"What is it?" exclaimed the females anxiously, in the hope of hearing
something which might strengthen their side of the argument, and
something moved, perhaps, by curiosity, a motive which seldom slumbers
in a female bosom, even when the stronger passions are in arms.
"The Patriarch will tell you," answered Alexius, "since you must needs
know; though I promise you, you will not receive any assistance in your
argument from a silly legendary tale."
"Hear it, however," said the Patriarch; "for though it is a tale of the
olden time, and sometimes supposed to refer to the period when
heathenism predominated, it is no less true, that it was a vow made and
registered in the chancery of the rightful Deity, by an Emperor of
Greece."
"What I am now to relate to you," continued he, "is, in truth, a tale
not only of a Christian Emperor, but of him who made the whole empire
Christian; and of that very Constantine, who was also the first who
declared Constantinople to be the metropolis of the empire. This hero,
remarkable alike for his zeal for religion and for his warlike
achievements, was crowned by Heaven with repeated victory, and with all
manner of blessings, save that unity in his family which wise men are
most ambitious to possess. Not only was the blessing of concord among
brethren denied to the family of this triumphant Emperor, but a
deserving son of mature age, who had been supposed to aspire to share
the throne with his father, was suddenly, and at midnight, called upon
to enter his defence against a capital charge of treason. You will
readily excuse my referring to the arts by which the son was rendered
guilty in the eyes of the father. Be it enough to say, that the
unfortunate young man fell a victim to the guilt of his step-mother,
Fausta, and that he disdained to exculpate himself from a charge so
gross and so erroneous. It is said, that the anger of the Emperor was
kept up against his son by the sycophants who called upon Constantine
to observe that the culprit disdained even to supplicate for mercy, or
vindicate his innocence from so foul a charge.
"But the death-blow had no sooner struck the innocent youth, than his
father obtained proof of the rashness with which he had acted. He had
at this period been engaged in constructing the subterranean parts of
the Blacquernal palace, which his remorse appointed to contain a record
of his paternal grief and contrition. At the upper part of the
staircase, called the Pit of Acheron, he caused to be constructed a
large chamber, still called the Hall of Judgment, for the purpose of
execution. A passage through an archway in the upper wall leads from
the hall to the place of misery, where the axe, or other engine, is
disposed for the execution of state prisoners of consequence. Over this
archway was placed a species of marble altar, surmounted by an image of
the unfortunate Crispus - the materials were gold, and it bore the
memorable inscription, TO MY SON, WHOM I RASHLY CONDEMNED, AND TOO
HASTILY EXECUTED. When constructing this passage, Constantine made a
vow, that he himself and his posterity, being reigning Emperors, would
stand beside the statue of Crispus, at the time when any individual of
their family should be led to execution, and before they suffered him
to pass from the Hall of Judgment to the Chamber of Death, that they
should themselves be personally convinced of the truth of the charge
under which he suffered.
"Time rolled on - the memory of Constantine was remembered almost like
that of a saint, and the respect paid to it threw into shadow the
anecdote of his son's death. The exigencies of the state rendered it
difficult to keep so large a sum in specie invested in a statue, which
called to mind the unpleasant failings of so great a man. Your Imperial
Highness's predecessors applied the metal which formed the statue to
support the Turkish wars; and the remorse and penance of Constantine
died away in an obscure tradition of the Church or of the palace. Still,
however, unless your Imperial Majesty has strong reasons to the
contrary, I shall give it as my opinion, that you will hardly achieve
what is due to the memory of the greatest of your predecessors, unless
you give this unfortunate criminal, being so near a relation of your
own, an opportunity of pleading his cause before passing by the altar
of refuge; being the name which is commonly given to the monument of
the unfortunate Crispus, son of Constantine, although now deprived both
of the golden letters which composed the inscription, and the golden
image which represented the royal sufferer."
A mournful strain of music was now heard to ascend the stair so often
mentioned.
"If I must hear the Caesar Nicephorus Briennius, ere he pass the altar
of refuge, there must be no loss of time," said the Emperor; "for these
melancholy sounds announce that he has already approached the Hall of
Judgment."
Both the Imperial ladies began instantly, with the utmost earnestness,
to deprecate the execution of the Caesar's doom, and to conjure Alexius,
as he hoped for quiet in his household, and the everlasting gratitude
of his wife and daughter, that he would listen to their entreaties in
behalf of an unfortunate man, who had been seduced into guilt, but not
from his heart.
"I will at least see him," said the Emperor, "and the holy vow of
Constantine shall be in the present instance strictly observed. But
remember, you foolish women, that the state of Crispus and the present
Caesar, is as different as guilt from innocence, and that their fates,
therefore, may be justly decided upon opposite principles, and with
opposite results. But I will confront this criminal; and you, Patriarch,
may be present to render what help is in your power to a dying man; for
you, the wife and mother of the traitor, you will, methinks, do well to
retire to the church, and pray God for the soul of the deceased, rather
than disturb his last moments with unavailing lamentations."
"Alexius," said the Empress Irene, "I beseech you to be contented; be
assured that we will not leave you in this dogged humour of blood-
shedding, lest you make such materials for history as are fitter for
the time of Nero than of Constantine."
The Emperor, without reply, led the way into the Hall of Judgment,
where a much stronger light than usual was already shining up the stair
of Acheron, from which were heard to sound, by sullen and intermitted
fits, the penitential psalms which the Greek Church has appointed to be
sung at executions. Twenty mute slaves, the pale colour of whose
turbans gave a ghastly look to the withered cast of their features, and
the glaring whiteness of their eyeballs, ascended two by two, as it
were from the bowels of the earth, each of them bearing in one hand a
naked sabre, and in the other a lighted torch. After these came the
unfortunate Nicephorus; his looks were those of a man half-dead from
the terror of immediate dissolution, and what he possessed of remaining
attention, was turned successively to two black-stoled monks, who were
anxiously repeating religious passages to him alternately from the
Greek scripture, and the form of devotion adopted by the court of
Constantinople. The Caesar's dress also corresponded to his mournful
fortunes: His legs and arms were bare, and a simple white tunic, the
neck of which was already open, showed that ho had assumed the garments
which were to serve his last turn. A tall muscular Nubian slave, who
considered himself obviously as the principal person in the procession,
bore on his shoulder a large heavy headsman's axe, and, like a demon
waiting on a sorcerer, stalked step for step after his victim. The rear
of the procession was closed by a band of four priests, each of whom
chanted from time to time the devotional psalm which was thundered
forth on the occasion; and another of slaves, armed with bows and
quivers, and with lances, to resist any attempt at rescue, if such
should be offered.
It would have required a harder heart than that of the unlucky princess
to have resisted this gloomy apparatus of fear and sorrow, surrounding,
at the same time directed against, a beloved object, the lover of her
youth, and the husband of her bosom, within a few minutes of the
termination of his mortal career.
As the mournful train approached towards the altar of refuge, half-
encircled as it now was by the two great and expanded arms which
projected from the wall, the Emperor, who stood directly in the passage,
threw upon the flame of the altar some chips of aromatic wood, steeped
in spirit of wine, which, leaping at once into a blaze, illuminated the
doleful procession, the figure of the principal culprit, and the slaves,
who had most of them extinguished their flambeaux so soon as they had
served the purpose of lighting them up the staircase.
The sudden light spread from the altar failed not to make the Emperor
and the Princess visible to the mournful group which approached through
the hall. All halted - all were silent. It was a meeting, as the
Princess has expressed herself in her historical work, such as took
place betwixt Ulysses and the inhabitants of the other world, who, when
they tasted of the blood of his sacrifices, recognised him indeed, but
with empty lamentations, and gestures feeble and shadowy. The hymn of
contrition sunk also into silence; and, of the whole group, the only
figure rendered more distinct, was the gigantic executioner, whose high
and furrowed forehead, as well as the broad steel of his axe, caught
and reflected back the bright gleam from the altar. Alexius saw the
necessity of breaking the silence which ensued, lest it should, give
the intercessors for the prisoner an opportunity of renewing their
entreaties.
"Nicephorus Briennius," he said, with a voice which, although generally
interrupted by a slight hesitation, which procured him, among his
enemies, the nickname of the Stutterer, yet, upon important occasions
like the present, was so judiciously tuned and balanced in its
sentences, that no such defect was at all visible - "Nicephorus
Briennius," he said, "late Caesar, the lawful doom hath been spoken,
that, having conspired against the life of thy rightful sovereign and
affectionate father, Alexius Comnenus, thou shalt suffer the
appropriate sentence, by having thy head struck from thy body. Here,
therefore, at the last altar of refuge, I meet thee, according to the
vow of the immortal Constantine, for the purpose of demanding whether
thou hast any thing to allege why this doom should not be executed?
Even at this eleventh hour, thy tongue is unloosed to speak with
freedom what may concern thy life. All is prepared in this world and in
the next. Look forward beyond yon archway - the block is fixed. Look
behind thee, thou seest the axe already sharpened - thy place for good
or evil in the next world is already determined - time flies - eternity
approaches. If thou hast aught to say, speak it freely - if nought,
confess the justice of thy sentence, and pass on to death."
The Emperor commenced this oration, with those looks described by his
daughter as so piercing, that they dazzled like lightning, and his
periods, if not precisely flowing like burning lava, were yet the
accents of a man having the power of absolute command, and as such
produced an effect not only on the criminal, but also upon the Prince
himself, whose watery eyes and faltering voice acknowledged his sense
and feeling of the fatal import of the present moment.
Rousing himself to the conclusion of what he had commenced, the Emperor
again demanded whether the prisoner had any thing to say in his own
defence.
Nicephorus was not one of those hardened criminals who may be termed
the very prodigies of history, from the coolness with which they
contemplated the consummation of their crimes, whether in their own
punishment, or the misfortunes of others. "I have been tempted," he
said, dropping on his knees, "and I have fallen. I have nothing to
allege in excuse of my folly and ingratitude; but I stand prepared to
die to expiate my guilt," A deep sigh, almost amounting to a scream,
was here heard, close behind the Emperor, and its cause assigned by the
sudden exclamation of Irene, - "My lord! my lord! your daughter is
gone!" And in fact Anna Comnena had sunk into her mother's arms without
either sense or motion. The father's attention was instantly called to
support his swooning child, while the unhappy husband strove with the
guards to be permitted to go to the assistance of his wife. "Give me
but five minutes of that time which the law has abridged - let my
efforts but assist in recalling her to a life which should be as long
as her virtues and her talents deserve; and then let me die at her feet,
for I care not to go an inch beyond."
The Emperor, who in fact had been more astonished at the boldness and
rashness of Nicephorus, than alarmed by his power, considered him as a
man rather misled than misleading others, and felt, therefore, the full
effect of this last interview. He was, besides, not naturally cruel,
where severities were to be enforced under his own eye.
"The divine and immortal Constantine," he said, "did not, I am
persuaded, subject his descendants to this severe trial, in order
further to search out the innocence of the criminals, but rather to
give to those who came after him an opportunity of generously forgiving
a crime which could not, without pardon - the express pardon of the
Prince - escape unpunished. I rejoice that I am born of the willow
rather than of the oak, and I acknowledge my weakness, that not even
the safety of my own life, or resentment of this unhappy man's
treasonable machinations, have the same effect with me as the tears of
my wife, and the swooning of my daughter. Rise up, Nicephorus Briennius,
freely pardoned, and restored even to the rank of Caesar. We will
direct thy pardon to be made out by the great Logothete, and sealed
with the golden bull. For four-and-twenty hours thou art a prisoner,
until an arrangement is made for preserving the public peace. Meanwhile,
thou wilt remain under the charge of the Patriarch, who will be
answerable for thy forthcoming. - Daughter and wife, you must now go
hence to your own apartment; a future time will come, during which you
may have enough of weeping and embracing, mourning and rejoicing. Pray
Heaven that I, who, having been trained on till I have sacrificed
justice and true policy to uxorious compassion and paternal tenderness
of heart, may not have cause at last for grieving in good earnest for
all the events of this miscellaneous drama."
The pardoned Caesar, who endeavoured to regulate his ideas according to
this unexpected change, found it as difficult to reconcile himself to
the reality of his situation as Ursel to the face of nature, after
having been long deprived of enjoying it; so much do the dizziness and
confusion of ideas, occasioned by moral and physical causes of surprise
and terror, resemble each other in their effects on the understanding.
At length he stammered forth a request that he might be permitted to go
to the field with the Emperor, and divert, by the interposition of his
own body, the traitorous blows which some desperate man might aim
against that of his Prince, in a day which was too likely to be one of
danger and bloodshed.
"Hold there!" said Alexius Comnenus; - "we will not begin thy newly-
redeemed life by renewed doubts of thine allegiance; yet it is but
fitting to remind thee, that thou art still the nominal and ostensible
head of those who expect to take a part in this day's insurrection, and
it will be the safest course to trust its pacification to others than
to thee. Go, sir, compare notes with the Patriarch, and merit your
pardon by confessing to him any traitorous intentions concerning this
foul conspiracy with which we may be as yet unacquainted. - Daughter and
wife, farewell! I must now depart for the lists, where I have to speak
with the traitor Achilles Tatius and the heathenish infidel Agelastes,
if he still lives, but of whose providential death I hear a confirmed
rumour."
"Yet do not go, my dearest father!" said the Princess; "but let me
rather go to encourage the loyal subjects in your behalf. The extreme
kindness which you have extended towards my guilty husband, convinces
me of the extent of your affection towards your unworthy daughter, and
the greatness of the sacrifice which you have made to her almost
childish affection for an ungrateful man who put your life in danger."
"That is to say, daughter," said the Emperor, smiling, "that the pardon
of your husband is a boon which has lost its merit when it is granted.
Take my advice, Anna, and think otherwise; wives and their husbands
ought in prudence to forget their offences towards each other as soon
as human nature will permit them. Life is too short, and conjugal
tranquillity too uncertain, to admit of dwelling long upon such
irritating subjects. To your apartments, Princesses, and prepare the
scarlet-buskins, and the embroidery which is displayed on the cuffs and
collars of the Caesar's robe, indicative of his high rank. He must not
be seen without them on the morrow. - Reverend father, I remind you once
more that the Caesar is in your personal custody from this moment until
to-morrow at the same hour."
They parted; the Emperor repairing to put himself at the head of his
Varangian guards - the Caesar, under the superintendence of the
Patriarch, withdrawing into the interior of the Blacquernal Palace,
where Nicephorus Briennius was under the necessity of "unthreading the
rude eye of rebellion," and throwing such lights as were in his power
upon the progress of the conspiracy.
"Agelastes," he said, "Achilles Tatius, and Hereward the Varangian,
were the persons principally entrusted in its progress. But whether
they had been all true to their engagements, he did not pretend to be
assured."
In the female apartments, there was a violent discussion betwixt Anna
Comnena and her mother. The Princess had undergone during the day many
changes of sentiment and feeling; and though they had finally united
themselves into one strong interest in her husband's favour, yet no
sooner was the fear of his punishment removed, than the sense of his
ungrateful behaviour began to revive. She became sensible also that a
woman of her extraordinary attainments, who had been by a universal
course of flattery disposed to entertain a very high opinion of her own
consequence, made rather a poor figure when she had been the passive
subject of a long series of intrigues, by which she was destined to be
disposed of in one way or the other, according to the humour of a set
of subordinate conspirators, who never so much as dreamed of regarding
her as a being capable of forming a wish in her own behalf, or even
yielding or refusing a consent. Her father's authority over her, and
right to dispose of her, was less questionable; but even then it was
something derogatory to the dignity of a Princess born in the purple -
an authoress besides, and giver of immortality - to be, without her own
consent, thrown, as it were, at the head now of one suitor, now of
another, however mean or disgusting, whose alliance could for the time
benefit the Emperor. The consequence of these moody reflections, was
that Anna Comnena deeply toiled in spirit for the discovery of some
means by which she might assert her sullied dignity, and various were
the expedients which she revolved.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SECOND.
But now the hand of fate is on the curtain,
And brings the scene to light.
DON SEBASTIAN.
The gigantic trumpet of the Varangians sounded its loudest note of
march, and the squadrons of the faithful guards, sheathed in complete
mail, and enclosing in their centre the person of their Imperial master,
set forth upon their procession through the streets of Constantinople.
The form of Alexius, glittering in his splendid armour, seemed no
unmeet central point for the force of an empire; and while the citizens
crowded in the train of him and his escort, there might be seen a
visible difference between those who came with the premeditated
intention of tumult, and the greater part, who, like the multitude of
every great city, thrust each other and shout for rapture on account of
any cause for which a crowd may be collected together. The hope of the
conspirators was lodged chiefly in the Immortal Guards, who were levied
principally for the defence of Constantinople, partook of the general
prejudices of the citizens, and had been particularly influenced by
those in favour of Ursel, by whom, previous to his imprisonment, they
had themselves been commanded. The conspirators had determined that
those of this body who were considered as most discontented, should
early in the morning take possession of the posts in the lists most
favourable for their purpose of assaulting the Emperor's person. But,
in spite of all efforts short of actual violence, for which the time
did not seem to be come, they found themselves disappointed in this
purpose, by parties of the Varangian guards, planted with apparent
carelessness, but in fact, with perfect skill, for the prevention of
their enterprise. Somewhat confounded at perceiving that a design,
which they could not suppose to be suspected, was, nevertheless, on
every part controlled and counter-checked, the conspirators began to
look for the principal persons of their own party, on whom they
depended for orders in this emergency; but neither the Caesar nor
Agelastes was to be seen, whether in the lists or on the military march
from Constantinople: and though Achilles Tatius rode in the latter
assembly, yet it might be clearly observed that he was rather attending
upon the Protospathaire, than, assuming that independence as an officer
which he loved to affect.
In this manner, as the Emperor with his glittering bands approached the
phalanx of Tancred and his followers, who were drawn up, it will be
remembered, upon a rising cape between the city and the lists, the main
body of the Imperial procession deflected in some degree from the
straight road, in order to march past them without interruption; while
the Protospathaire and the Acolyte passed under the escort of a band of
Varangians, to bear the Emperor's inquiries to Prince Tancred,
concerning the purpose of his being there with his band. The short
march was soon performed - the large trumpet which attended the two
officers sounded a parley, and Tancred himself, remarkable for that
personal beauty which Tasso has preferred to any of the crusaders,
except Rinaldo d'Este, the creatures of his own poetical imagination,
advanced to parley with them.
"The Emperor of Greece," said the Protospathaire to Tancred, "requires
the Prince of Otranto to show, by the two high officers who shall
deliver him this message, with what purpose he has returned, contrary
to his oath, to the right side of these straits; assuring Prince
Tancred at the same time, that nothing will so much please the Emperor,
as to receive an answer not at variance with his treaty with the Duke
of Bouillon, and the oath which was taken by the crusading nobles and
their soldiers; since that would enable the Emperor, in conformity to
his own wishes, by his kind reception of Prince Tancred and his troop,
to show how high is his estimation of the dignity of the one, and the
bravery of both - We wait an answer."
The tone of the message had nothing in it very alarming, and its
substance cost Prince Tancred very little trouble to answer. "The
cause," he said, "of the Prince of Otranto appearing here with fifty
lances, is this cartel, in which a combat is appointed betwixt
Nicephorus Briennius, called the Caesar, a high member of this empire,
and a worthy knight of great fame, the partner of the Pilgrims who have
taken the Cross, in their high vow to rescue Palestine from the
infidels. The name of the said Knight is the redoubted Robert of Paris.
It becomes, therefore, an obligation, indispensable upon the Holy
Pilgrims of the Crusade, to send one chief of their number, with a body
of men-at-arms, sufficient to see, as is usual, fair play between the
combatants. That such is their intention, may be seen from, their
sending no more than fifty lances, with their furniture and following;
whereas it would have cost them no trouble to have detached ten times
the number, had they nourished any purpose of interfering by force, or
disturbing the fair combat which is about to take place. The Prince of
Otranto, therefore, and his followers, will place themselves at the
disposal of the Imperial Court, and witness the proceedings of the
combat, with the most perfect confidence that the rules of fair battle
will be punctually observed."
The two Grecian officers transmitted this reply to the Emperor, who
heard it with pleasure, and immediately proceeding to act upon the
principle which he had laid down, of maintaining peace, if possible,
with the crusaders, named Prince Tancred with the Protospathaire as
Field Marshals of the lists, fully empowered, under the Emperor, to
decide all the terms of the combat, and to have recourse to Alexius
himself where their opinions disagreed. This was made known to the
assistants, who were thus prepared for the entry into the lists of the
Grecian officer and the Italian Prince in full armour, while a
proclamation announced to all the spectators their solemn office. The
same annunciation commanded the assistants of every kind to clear a
convenient part of the seats which surrounded the lists on one side,
that it might serve for the accommodation of Prince Tancred's followers.
Achilles Tatius, who was a heedful observer of all these passages, saw
with alarm, that by the last collocation the armed Latins were
interposed between the Immortal Guards and the discontented citizens,
which made it most probable that the conspiracy was discovered, and
that Alexius found he had a good right to reckon upon the assistance of
Tancred and his forces in the task of suppressing it. This, added to
the cold and caustic manner in which the Emperor communicated his
commands to him, made the Acolyte of opinion, that his best chance of
escape from the danger in which he was now placed, was, that the whole
conspiracy should fall to the ground, and that the day should pass
without the least attempt to shake the throne of Alexius Comnenus. Even
then it continued highly doubtful, whether a despot, so wily and so
suspicious as the Emperor, would think it sufficient to rest satisfied
with the private knowledge of the undertaking, and its failure, with
which he appeared to be possessed, without putting into exercise the
bow-strings and the blinding-irons of the mutes of the interior. There
was, however, little possibility either of flight or of resistance. The
least attempt to withdraw himself from the neighbourhood of those
faithful followers of the Emperor, personal foes of his own, by whom he
was gradually and more closely surrounded, became each moment more
perilous, and more certain to provoke a rupture, which it was the
interest of the weaker party to delay, with whatever difficulty. And
while the soldiers under Achilles's immediate authority seemed still to
treat him as their superior officer, and appeal to him for the word of
command, it became more and more evident that the slightest degree of
suspicion which should be excited, would be the instant signal for his
being placed under arrest. With a trembling heart, therefore, and eyes
dimmed by the powerful idea of soon parting with the light of day, and
all that it made visible, the Acolyte saw himself condemned to watch
the turn of circumstances over which he could have no influence, and to
content himself with waiting the result of a drama, in which his own
life was concerned, although the piece was played by others. Indeed, it
seemed as if through the whole assembly some signal was waited for,
which no one was in readiness to give.
The discontented citizens and soldiers looked in vain for Agelastes and
the Caesar, and when they observed the condition of Achilles Tatius, it
seemed such as rather to express doubt and consternation, than to give
encouragement to the hopes they had entertained. Many of the lower
classes, however, felt too secure in their own insignificance to fear
the personal consequences of a tumult, and were desirous, therefore, to
provoke the disturbance, which seemed hushing itself to sleep.
A hoarse murmur, which attained almost the importance of a shout,
exclaimed, - "Justice, justice! - Ursel, Ursel! - The rights of the
Immortal Guards!" &c. At this the trumpet of the Varangians awoke, and
its tremendous tones were heard to peal loudly over the whole assembly,
as the voice of its presiding deity. A dead silence prevailed in the
multitude, and the voice of a herald announced, in the name of Alexius
Comnenus, his sovereign will and pleasure.
"Citizens of the Roman Empire, your complaints, stirred up by factious
men, have reached the ear of your Emperor; you shall yourselves be