"Like other tyrants, Death delights to smite
What smitten most proclaims the pride of power,
And arbitrary nod."
YOUNG.
It is probable that Nelson never knew precisely what passed between
Ghita and the lady mentioned in the last chapter. At all events, like
every other application that was made to the English admiral in
connection with this sad affair, that of Ghita produced no results.
Even the mode of execution was unchanged; an indecent haste accompanying
the whole transaction, as in the equally celebrated trial and death of
the unfortunate Duc d'Enghien. Cuffe remained to dine with the
commander-in-chief, while Carlo Giuntotardi and his niece got into their
boat and took their way through the crowded roadstead toward the
Neapolitan frigate that now formed the prison of the unfortunate
Caraccioli.
A request at the gangway was all that was necessary to procure an
admission on board the ship. As soon as the Signor Giuntotardi reached
the quarter-deck he let his errand be known, and a messenger was sent
below to ascertain if the prisoner would see two visitors, the name of
the uncle being alone given. Francesco Caraccioli, of the Princes
Caraccioli, or, as he was more commonly called in English, Prince
Caraccioli, was now a man approaching seventy; and, being a member of
one of the most illustrious houses of lower Italy, he had long been
trusted in employments of high dignity and command. On his offence--its
apology--the indecent haste of his trial and execution, and the
irregularity of the whole proceedings, it is now unnecessary to dwell;
they have all passed into history, and are familiarly known to the
world. That very morning had he been seized and sent on board the
Foudroyant; in the cabin of that vessel had a court of his own
countrymen convened; and there had he been hastily condemned to death.
The hour of doom was near, and he was already in the ship where the
execution was to take place.
The messenger of Carlo Giuntotardi found this unfortunate man with his
confessor, by whom he had just been shrived. He heard the request with
cold indifference, but granted it on the instant, under the impression
that it came from some dependent of his family or estates, who had a
last favor to ask, or an act of justice to see performed.
"Remain here, father, I beseech you." said the prisoner, perceiving
that the priest was about to retire; "it is some contadino, or some
tradesman, whose claims have been overlooked. I am happy that he has
come: one would wish to stand acquitted of injustice before he dies. Let
them come in, my friend."
A sign was given with these words, the door of the cabin was opened, and
Ghita, with her uncle, entered. A pause of quite a minute followed,
during which the parties regarded each other in silence, the prisoner
endeavoring in vain to recall the countenances of his guests, and the
girl trembling, equally with grief and apprehension. Then the last
advanced to the feet of the condemned man, knelt, bowed her head,
and said:
"Grandfather, your blessing on the child of your only son."
"Grandfather!--Son!--and his child!" repeated Don Francesco. "I _had_ a
son, to my shame and contrition be it now confessed, but he has long
been dead, I never knew that he left a child!"
"This is his daughter, Signore," replied Carlo Giuntotardi; "her mother
was my sister. You thought us then too humble to be received into so
illustrious a connection, and we have never wished to bring ourselves
before your eyes until we thought our presence might be welcome."
"And thou comest now, good man, to claim affinity with a condemned
criminal!"
"Not so, grandfather," answered a meek voice at his feet, "it is your
son's daughter that craves a blessing from her dying parent. The boon
shall be well requited in prayers for your soul!"
"Holy father! I deserve not this! Here has this tender plant lived,
neglected in the shade, until it raises its timid head to offer its
fragrance in the hour of death! I deserve not this!"
"Son, if heaven offered no mercies until they are merited, hopeless,
truly, would be the lot of man. But we must not admit illusions at such
a moment. Thou art not a husband, Don Francesco; hadst thou ever a son?"
"That, among other sins, have I long since confessed; and as it has been
deeply repented of, I trust it is forgiven. I had a son--a youth who
bore my name, even; though he never dwelt in my palace, until a hasty
and indiscreet marriage banished him from my presence. I ever intended
to pardon him, and to make provision for his wants; but death came too
soon to both husband and wife to grant the time. This much I _did_ know,
and it grieved me that it was so; but of his child, never before this
instant have I heard! 'Tis a sweet countenance, father; it seems the
very abode of truth!"
"Why should we deceive you, grandfather?" rejoined Ghita, stretching her
arms upward, as if yearning for an embrace; "most of all at a time like
this! We come not for honors, or riches, or your great name; we come
simply to crave a blessing, and to let you know that a child of your own
blood will be left on earth to say aves in behalf of your soul"!
"Holy priest, there can be no deception here! This dear child even looks
like her wronged grandmother! and my heart tells me she is mine. I know
not whether to consider this discovery a good or an evil at this late
hour, coming as it does to a dying man!"
"Grandfather, your blessing. Bless Ghita once, that I may hear the sound
of a parent's benediction."
"Bless thee!--bless thee, daughter!" exclaimed the admiral, bending over
the weeping girl to do the act she solicited, and then raising her to
his arms and embracing her tenderly; "this _must_ be my child--I feel
that she is no other."
"Eccellenza," said Carlo, "she is the daughter of your son, Don
Francesco, and of my sister, Ghita Giuntotardi, born in lawful wedlock.
I would not deceive any--least of all a dying man."
"I have no estate to bequeathe--no honors to transmit--no name to boast
of. Better the offspring of the lazzaroni than a child of Francesco
Caraccioli, at this moment."
"Grandfather, we think not of this--care not for this. I have come only
to ask the blessing you have bestowed, and to offer the prayers of
believers, though we are so lowly. More than this we ask not--wish
not--seek not. Our poverty is familiar to us, and we heed it not. Riches
would but distress us, and we care not for them."
"I remember, holy father, that one great reason of displeasure at my
son's marriage was distrust of the motive of the family which received
him; yet here have these honest people suffered me to live on unmolested
in prosperity, while they now first claim the affinity in my disgrace
and ignominy! I have not been accustomed to meet with wishes and hearts
like these!"
"You did not know us, grandfather," said Ghita simply, her face nearly
buried in the old man's bosom. "We have long prayed for you, and
reverenced you, and thought of you as a parent whose face was turned
from us in anger; but we never sought your gold and honors."
"Gold and honors!" repeated the admiral, gently placing his
grand-daughter in a chair. "These are things of the past for me. My
estates are sequestered--my name disgraced; and, an hour hence, I shall
have suffered an ignominious death. No selfish views _can_ have brought
these good people, father, to claim affinity with me at a moment
like this."
"It comes from the goodness of God, son. By letting you feel the
consolation of this filial love, and by awakening in your own bosom the
spark of parental affection, he foreshadows the fruits of his own mercy
and tenderness to the erring but penitent. Acknowledge his bounty in
your soul; it may bring a blessing on your last moment."
"Holy priest, I hope I do. But what says this?--"
Don Francesco took a note from the hand of a servant and read its
contents eagerly; the world and its feelings having too much hold on
his heart to be plucked out in an instant. Indeed so sudden had been his
arrest, trial, and conviction, that it is not surprising the priest
found in him a divided spirit, even at an instant like that. His
countenance fell, and he passed a hand before his eyes, as if to conceal
a weakness that was unbecoming.
"They have denied my request, father," he said, "and I must die like a
felon--"
"The Son of God suffered on the cross suspended between thieves."
"I believe there is far less in these opinions than we are accustomed to
think--yet it is cruel for one who has filled so high employments--a
prince--a Caraccioli, to die like a lazzarone!"
"Grandfather--"
"Did you speak, child? I wonder not that this indignity should fill thee
with horror."
"It is not _that_, grandfather," resumed Ghita, shaking off her doubts
and looking up with flushed cheeks and a face radiant with holy
feelings--"Oh! it is not _that_. If my life could save thine, gladly
would I give it up for such a purpose; but do not--do not--at this awful
moment mistake the shadow for the substance. What matters it how death
is met when it opens the gates of heaven? Pain, I am sure, _you_ cannot
fear;--even I, weak and feeble girl that I am, can despise _that_--what
other honor can there be in the hour of death than to be thought worthy
of the mercy and care of God? Caraccioli or lazzarone--prince or
beggar--it will matter not two hours hence; and let me reverently beg of
you to humble your thoughts to the level which becomes all sinners."
"Thou say'st thou art my grand-child, Ghita--the daughter of my son
Francesco?"
"Signore, I am, as all tell me--as my heart tells me--and as I believe."
"And thou look'st upon these opinions as unworthy--_unsuited_, if thou
lik'st that better--to this solemn moment, and considerest the _manner_
of a death a matter of indifference, even to a soldier?"
"When placed in comparison with his hopes of heaven--when viewed through
his own demerits, and the merits of his Saviour, grandfather."
"And wilt thou, then, just entering on the stage of life, with the world
before thee, and all that its future can offer, accompany me to the
scaffold; let it be known to the mocking crowd that thou derivest thy
being through the felon, and art not ashamed to own him for a parent?"
"I will, grandfather--this have I come to do," answered Ghita, steadily.
"But do not ask me to look upon thy sufferings! All that can be done to
lessen, by sharing thy disgrace, if disgrace it be, will I most gladly
do; though I dread to see thy aged form in pain!"
"And this wilt thou do for one thou never beheld'st until this
hour?--one thou canst hardly have been taught to consider just
to thyself?"
"If I have never seen thee before this visit, grandfather, I have loved
thee and prayed for thee from infancy. My excellent uncle early taught
me this duty; but he never taught me to hate thee or any one. My own
father is taken away; and that which he would have been to thee this day
will I endeavor to be for him. The world is naught to me; and it will
console thee to think that one is near whose heart weeps for thee and
whose soul is lost in prayers for thy eternal pardon."
"And this being, father, is made known to me an hour before I die! God
punishes me sufficiently for the wrong I've done her, in letting me thus
know her worth, when it is too late to profit by it. No, Ghita--blessed
child, such a sacrifice shall not be asked of thee. Take this cross--it
was my mother's; worn on her bosom, and has long been worn on mine--keep
it as a memorial of thy unhappy parent, and pray for me; but quit this
terrible ship, and do not grieve thy gentle spirit with a scene that is
so unfit for thy sex and years. Bless thee--bless thee, my child. Would
to heaven I had earlier known thee--but even this glimpse of thy worth
has lightened my heart. Thou find'st me here a poor condemned criminal,
unable to provide for thy future wants--nay, I can yet do a little for
thee, too. This bag contains gold. It has been sent to me by a relative,
thinking it might be of service in averting the punishment that awaits
me. For that purpose it is now useless; with thy simple habits, however,
it will render thy life easy and above care."
Ghita, with streaming eyes, steadily put aside the gold, though she
pressed the cross to her bosom, kissing it fervently again and again.
"Not that--not that, grandfather," she said; "I want it not--wish it
not. This is enough; and this will I keep to my own last moment. I will
quit the ship, too; but not the place. I see many boats collecting, and
mine shall be among them; my prayers shall go up to God for thee, now
thou art living, and daily after thou art dead. There needs no gold,
grandfather, to purchase a daughter's prayers."
Don Francesco regarded the zealous and lovely girl with intense feeling;
then he folded her to his heart once more, blessing her audibly again
and again. While thus employed the Foudroyant's bell struck once, and
then those of all the surrounding ships, English and Neapolitan,
repeated the stroke. This, Caraccioli, a seaman himself, well knew
denoted that the time was half-past four; five being the hour named for
his execution. He felt it necessary, therefore, to dismiss his new-found
relative, that he might pass a few more minutes alone with his
confessor. The parting was solemn but tender, and as Ghita left the
cabin her condemned grandfather felt as he would had he taken leave for
ever of one whom he had long loved, and whose virtues had been a solace
to him from the hour of his birth.
The deck of the Minerva presented a sorrowful scene, Although the
prisoner had been condemned by a court of Neapolitan officers, the trial
was had under the British ensign, and the feeling of the public was with
the prisoner. There existed no necessity for the hurry in which
everything had been done; no immediate danger pressed, and an example
would have been more impressive had there been less of the appearance of
a desire for personal vengeance, and more of the calm deliberation of
justice in the affair. Ghita's connection with the prisoner could not be
even suspected; but as it was known that she had been in the cabin, and
believed that she felt an interest in the condemned, the officers
manifested an interest in her wishes and too evident emotions. An
immense throng of boats had assembled around the ship; for, hasty as had
been the proceedings, the tidings that Francesco Caraccioli was to be
hanged for treason spread like wildfire; and scarce a craft of proper
size was left within the mole, so eager was the desire to witness that
which was to occur. Either in the confusion, or bribed by money, the man
who had brought off Carlo Giuntotardi and his niece was no longer to be
found, and the means of quitting the ship seemed momentarily to be lost.
"Here is a boat close to our gangway," said the officer of the deck, who
had kindly interested himself in behalf of so interesting a girl, "with
a single man in it; a few grani would induce him to put you ashore."
The fellow in the boat was of the class of the lazzaroni, wearing a
clean cotton shirt, a Phrygian cap, and cotton trousers that terminated
at the knees, leaving his muscular arms and legs entirely bare; models
for the statuary, in their neatness, vigor, and proportions. The feet
alone formed an exception to the ordinary attire, for they were cased in
a pair of quaint canvas shoes that were ornamented a little like the
moccasins of the American Indian. Carlo caught the eye of this man, who
appeared to be eagerly watching the frigate's gangway for a fare, and
holding up a small piece of silver, in a moment the light boat was at
the foot of the accommodation-ladder. Ghita now descended; and as soon
as her uncle and she were seated, the skiff, for it was little more,
whirled away from the ship's side, though two or three more, who had
also been left by recreant boatmen for better fares, called out to him
to receive them also.
"We had best go alone, even though it cost us a heavier price," quietly
observed Carlo to his niece as he noted this occurrence. "Pull us a
short distance from the ship, friend;--here, where there are fewer
boats, and thou shalt meet with a fair reward. We have an interest in
this solemn scene, and could wish not to be observed."
"I know that well, Signor Carlo," answered the boatman; "and will see
that you are not molested."
Ghita uttered a faint exclamation, and, looking up, first saw that the
feigned lazzarone was no other than Raoul Yvard. As her uncle was too
unobservant in general to detect his disguise, he made a sign for her to
command herself, and continued rowing as if nothing had occurred.
"Be at ease, Ghita," said Carlo; "it is not yet the time, and we have
twenty good minutes for our aves."
Ghita, however, was far from being at ease. She felt all the risks that
the young man now ran, and she felt that it was on her account solely
that he incurred them. Even the solemn feeling of the hour and the
occasion was disturbed by his presence, and she wished he were away on
more accounts than one. Here he was, nevertheless, and in the midst of
enemies; and it would not have been in nature for one of her tender
years and sex, and, most of all, of her feelings, not to indulge in a
sentiment of tender gratitude toward him who had, as it were, thrust his
head into the very lion's mouth to do her a service. Between Raoul and
Ghita there had been no reserves on the subject of parentage, and the
former understood why his mistress was here, as well as the motive that
brought her. As for the last, she glanced timidly around her, fearful
that the lugger, too, had been brought into the throng of ships that
crowded the anchorage. For this, however, Raoul was much too wary,
nothing resembling his little craft being visible.
The reader will have understood that many vessels of war, English,
Russian, Turkish, and Neapolitan, were now anchored in the bay. As the
French still held the castle of St. Elmo, or the citadel that crowns the
heights, that in their turn crown the town, the shipping did not lie
quite as close to the mole as usual, lest a shot from the enemy above
might do them injury; but they were sufficiently near to permit all the
idle and curious of Naples, who had the hearts and the means, to pull
off and become spectators of the sad scene that was about to occur. As
the hour drew near, boat after boat arrived, until the Minerva was
surrounded with spectators, many of whom belonged even to the higher
classes of society.
The distance between the Neapolitan frigate and the ship of the English
rear-admiral was not great; and everything that occurred on board the
former, and which was not actually hidden by the sides and bulwarks of
the vessel itself, was easily to be seen from the decks of the latter.
Still the Foudroyant lay a little without the circle of boats; and in
that direction Raoul had pulled to avoid the throng, resting on his oars
when about a third of a cable's length from the British admiral's stern.
Here it was determined to wait for the awful signal and its fatal
consequences. The brief interval was passed by Ghita in telling her
beads, while Carlo joined in the prayers with the devotion of a zealot.
It is scarcely necessary to say that all this Raoul witnessed without
faith, though it would be doing injustice to his nature, as well as to
his love for Ghita, to say he did so without sympathy.
A solemn and expecting silence reigned in all the neighboring ships. The
afternoon was calm and sultry, the zephyr ceasing to blow earlier than
common, as if unwilling to disturb the melancholy scene with its
murmurs. On board the Minerva no sign of life--scarcely of death--- was
seen; though a single whip was visible, rigged to the fore-yard arm,
one end being led in-board, while the other ran along the yard, passed
through a leading block in its quarter, and descended to the deck. There
was a platform fitted on two of the guns beneath this expressive but
simple arrangement; but, as it was in-board, it was necessarily
concealed from all but those who were on the Minerva's decks. With these
preparations Raoul was familiar, and his understanding eye saw the
particular rope that was so soon to deprive Ghita of her grandfather;
though it was lost to her and her uncle among the maze of rigging by
which it was surrounded.
There might have been ten minutes passed in this solemn stillness,
during which the crowd of boats continued to collect; and the crews of
the different ships were permitted to take such positions as enabled
them to become spectators of a scene that it was hoped might prove
admonitory. It is part of the etiquette of a vessel of war to make her
people keep close; it being deemed one sign of a well-ordered ship to
let as few men be seen as possible, except on those occasions when duty
requires them to show themselves. This rigid rule, however, was
momentarily lost sight of, and the teeming masses that floated around La
Minerva gave up their thousands like bees clustering about their hives.
It was in the midst of such signs of expectation that the call of the
boatswain was heard piping the side on board the Foudroyant, and four
side-boys lay over on the accommodation-ladder, a mark of honor never
paid to one of a rank less than that of a captain. Raoul's boat was
within fifty yards of that very gangway, and he turned his head in idle
curiosity to see who might descend into the gig that was lying at the
foot of the long flight of steps. An officer with one epaulette came
first, showing the way to two civilians, and a captain followed. All
descended in a line and entered the boat. The next instant the oars
fell, and the gig whirled round under the Foudroyant's stern and came
glancing up toward his own skiff. Four or five of the strong man-of-war
jerks sufficed to send the long, narrow boat as far as was desired, when
the men ceased rowing, their little craft losing her way within ten feet
of the skiff occupied by our party, Then it was that Raoul, to his
surprise, discovered that the two civilians were no other than Andrea
Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, who had accompanied Cuffe and Griffin, their
companions in the gig, on a cruise, of which the express object was to
capture himself and his vessel.
Another man would have been alarmed at finding himself in such close
vicinity to his enemies; but Raoul Yvard was amused, rather than
rendered uneasy, by the circumstance. He had faith in his disguise; and
he was much too familiar with incidents of this sort not to retain his
self-command and composure. Of course he knew nothing of the persons of
the two Englishmen; but perfectly aware of the presence of the
Proserpine, he guessed at their identity, and very correctly imagined
the circumstances that brought companions so ill-assorted together. He
had taken no precautions to disguise his face; and the red Phrygian cap
which he wore, in common with thousands on that bay, left every feature
and lineament fully expressed. With Ghita, however, the case was
different. She was far better known to the two Elbans, as indeed was the
person of her uncle, than he was himself; but both had veiled their
faces in prayer.
"I do not half like this business, Griffin," observed the captain, as
his gig entirely lost its way; "and wish with all my heart we had
nothing to do with it. I knew this old Caraccioli, and a very good sort
of man he was; and as to treason, it is not easy to say who is and who
is not a traitor in times like these, in such a nation as this. Ha! I
believe my soul, this is the same old man and the same pretty girl that
came to see Nelson half an hour ago about this very execution?"
"What could _they_ have to do with Prince Caraccioli or his treason,
sir? The old chap looks bookish; but he is not a priest; and, as to the
girl, she is trim-built enough; I fancy the face is no great matter,
however, or she would not take so much pains to hide it."
Raoul muttered a "sacr-r-re," between his teeth, but he succeeded in
suppressing all outward expression of feeling. Cuffe, on the contrary,
saw no other motive for unusual discretion, beyond the presence of his
boat's crew, before whom, however, he was accustomed to less reserve
than with his people in general.
"If she be the same as the one we had in the cabin," he answered, "there
is no necessity for a veil; for a prettier or a more modest-looking girl
is not often fallen in with. What she wanted exactly is more than I can
tell you, as she spoke Italian altogether; and 'miladi' had the
interview pretty much to herself. But her good looks seem to have taken
with this old bachelor, the justice of the peace, who eyes her as if he
had an inclination to open his mind to the beauty. Ask him in Italian,
Griffin, what mare's nest he has run foul of now."
"You seem to have found something to look at besides the Minerva, Signor
Podestà," observed Griffin, in an undertone. "I hope it is not Venus."
"Cospetto!" grunted Vito Viti, nudging his neighbor, the
vice-governatore, and nodding toward the other boat; "if that be not
little Ghita, who came into our island like a comet and went out of
it--to what shall I liken her sudden and extraordinary disappearance,
Signor Andrea?--"
"To that of le Feu-Follet, or ze Ving-y-Ving," put in Griffin, who, now
he had got the two functionaries fairly afloat, spared none of the jokes
that come so easy and natural to a man-of-war's man. "_She_ went out,
too, in an 'extraordinary disappearance,' and perhaps the lady and the
lugger went out together."
Vito Viti muttered an answer; for by this time he had discovered that he
was a very different personage on board the Proserpine from what the
other had appeared to consider him while in his native island. He might
have expressed himself aloud, indeed; but at that instant a column of
smoke glanced out of the bow port of the Minerva--a yellow flag was
shown aloft--and then came the report of the signal gun.
It has been said that vessels of war of four different nations were at
that time lying in the Bay of Naples. Nelson had come in but a short
time previously, with seventeen ships of the line; and he found several
more of his countrymen lying there. This large force had been assembled
to repel an expected attack on the island of Minorca; and it was still
kept together in an uncertainty of the future movements of the enemy. A
Russian force had come out of the Black Sea, to act against the French,
bringing with it a squadron of the Grand Signor; thus presenting to the
world the singular spectacle of the followers of Luther, devotees of the
Greek church, and disciples of Mahomet, uniting in defence of "our
rights, our firesides, and our altars!" To these vessels must be added a
small squadron of ships of the country; making a mixed force of four
different ensigns that was to witness the melancholy scene we are about
to relate.
The yellow flag and the signal gun brought everything in the shape of
duty to a standstill in all the fleets. The hoarse commands ceased--the
boatswains and their mates laid aside their calls, and the echoing
midshipmen no longer found orders to repeat. The seamen gathered to the
sides of their respective vessels--every part glistened with expectant
eyes--the booms resembled clusters of bees suspended from the boughs of
a forest; and the knight-heads, taffrails, gangways, and stretchers of
the rigging were garnished with those whose bright buttons, glazed hats,
epaulets, and dark-blue dresses denoted to belong to the privileged
classes of a ship. Notwithstanding all this curiosity, nothing like the
feeling which is apt to be manifested at an exhibition of merited
punishment was visible in a single countenance. An expression resembling
a sombre gloom appeared to have settled on all those grim warriors of
the deep; English, Russian, Neapolitan, or Turk, apparently reserving
all his sympathies for the sufferer, rather than for the majesty of
justice. Still, no murmur arose--no sign of resistance was made--no look
of remonstrance given. The unseen mantle of authority covered all; and
these masses of discontented men submitted as we bow to what is believed
to be the fiat of fate. The deep-seated and unresisting habit of
discipline suppressed complaint, but there was a general conviction that
some act was about to be committed that it were better for humanity and
justice should not be done; or, if done at all, that it needed more of
form, greater deliberation and a fairer trial, to be so done as to
obtain the commendation of men. The Turks alone showed apathy; though
all showed submission. These subjects of destiny looked on coldly,
though even among them a low rumor had passed that a malign influence
prevailed in the fleet; and that a great and proud spirit had got to be
mastered by the passion that so often deprives heroes of their
self-command and independence.
Ghita ceased her prayers, as the report of the gun broke rudely on her
ears, and with streaming eyes she even dared to look toward the frigate.
Raoul and all the rest bent their gaze in the same direction. The
sailors, among them, saw the rope at the fore-yard-arm move, and then
heads rose slowly above the hammock-cloths; when the prisoner and his
attendant priest were visible even to their feet. The unfortunate
Caraccioli, as has been said, had nearly numbered his threescore and ten
years, in the regular course of nature; and his bare head now showed the
traces of time. He wore no coat; and his arms were bound behind his
back, at the elbows, leaving just motion enough to the hands to aid him
in the slighter offices about his own person. His neck was bare, and the
fatal cord was tightened sufficiently around it to prevent accidents,
constantly admonishing its victim of its revolting office.
A low murmur arose among the people in the boats as this spectacle
presented itself to their eyes; and many bowed their faces in prayer.
The condemned man caught a ray of consolation from this expression of
sympathy; and he looked around him an instant, with something like a
return of those feelings of the world which it had been his effort and
his desire totally to eradicate since he had taken, leave of Ghita, and
learned that his last request--that of changing his mode of
punishment--had been denied. That was a fearful moment for one like Don
Francesco Caraccioli, who had passed a long life in the midst of the
scene that surrounded him--illustrious by birth, affluent, honored for
his services, and accustomed to respect and deference. Never had the
glorious panorama of the bay appeared more lovely than it did at that
instant, when he was about to quit it for ever, by a violent and
disgraceful death. From the purple mountains--the cerulean void above
him--the blue waters over which he seemed already to be suspended--and
the basking shores, rich in their towns, villas, and vines, his eye
turned toward the world of ships, each alive with its masses of living
men. A glance of melancholy reproach was cast upon the little flag that
was just waving at the mizzen-masthead of the Foudroyant; and then it
fell on the carpet of faces beneath, that seemed fairly to change the
surface of the smooth sea into an arena of human countenances. His look
was steady, though his soul was in a tumult. Ghita was recognized by her
companion and by her dress. He moved toward the edge of his narrow
scaffolding, endeavored to stretch forth his arms, and blessed her again
aloud. The poor girl dropped on her knees in the bottom of the boat,
bowed her head, and in that humble attitude did she remain until all was
over; not daring once to look upward again.
"Son," said the priest, "this is a moment when the earth and its
feelings must be forgotten."
"I know it, father," answered the old man, his voice trembling with
emotion, for his sensations were too powerful, too sublime, even, for
the degrading passion of fear--"but never before did this fair piece of
the creation seem so lovely in my eyes as now, when I am about to quit
it for the last time."
"Look beyond this scene, into the long vista of eternity, son; there
thou wilt behold that which mocks at all human, all earthly means. I
fear that our time is but short--hast thou aught yet to say in
the flesh?"
"Let it be known, holy priest, that in my dying moment I prayed for
Nelson, and for all who have been active in bringing me to this end. It
is easy for the fortunate and the untempted to condemn; but he is wiser,
as he is safer, who puts more reliance on the goodness of God than on
his own merits."
A ray of satisfaction gleamed athwart the pale countenance of the
priest--a sincerely pious man, or fear of personal consequences might
have kept him aloof from such a scene--and he closed his eyes while he
expressed his gratitude to God in the secret recesses of his own spirit.
Then he turned to the prince and spoke cheeringly.
"Son," he said, "if thou quittest life with a due dependence on the Son
of God, and in this temper toward thy fellow-creatures, of all this
living throng thou art he who is most to be envied! Address thy soul in
prayer once more to Him who thou feelest can alone serve thee."
Caraccioli, aided by the priest, knelt on the scaffold; for the rope
hung loose enough to permit that act of humiliation, and the other bent
at his side.
"I wish to God Nelson had nothing to do with this!" muttered Cuffe, as
he turned away his face, inadvertently bending his eyes on the
Foudroyant, nearly under the stern of which ship his gig lay. There, in
the stern-walk, stood the lady, already mentioned in this chapter, a
keen spectator of the awful scene. No one but a maid was near her,
however; the men of her companionship not being of moods stern enough
to be at her side. Cuffe turned away from this sight in still stronger
disgust; and just at that moment a common cry arose from the boats.
Looking round, he was just in time to see the unfortunate Caraccioli
dragged from his knees by the neck, until he rose, by a steady
man-of-war pull, to the end of the yard; leaving his companion alone on
the scaffold, lost in prayer. There was a horrible minute of the
struggles between life and death, when the body, so late the tenement of
an immortal spirit, hung, like one of the jewel-blocks of the ship,
dangling passively at the end of the spar, as insensible as the wood
which sustained it.