Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

16
"
Adieu, my dear mother," said the young student, tenderly
wiping the tears from her cheeks; "I shall never forget you,
but then
mid it' God grants me life, I -will soon see you again;
I hope to be rich and powerful."
" Be always a good man, dear child," replied Jane, " that is
my ambition."
She accompanied Matthew some distance from the town, and
when at length he left her, she watched his receding figure un-
til distance hid him from her sight; then, weeping bitterly,
she returned home, and for many days her cottage appeared
her more dreary, and her poverty harder to endure.
CHAPTER H.
THE CARDINAL OP SIGN'S DDOTEE.
Several years after, on a beautiful spring day, the good city
of Berne presented a noisy and animated spectacle, which contrasted
singularly with its usual calm. The streets were filled
with an immense crowd; countrymen and citizens, laborers
and noble lords, were all clothed in their holiday garb.
The cause of this unaccustomed agitation was the arrival of
the celebrated Cardinal of Sion, who had been sent, by Pope
Julius the Second, as legate extraordinary into Switzerland.
This high dignitary of the Church enjoyed great influence at
Home, and actively seconded the policy of the Sovereign Pon-
tiff. The Bernese, therefore, offered him a reception, worthy,
MATTHEW SCHINNKK.
not only of himself, but of the Holy See, which he represented.
The clergy, the senate, the university, and the corporation,
went in great pomp to meet the prelate, and conducted him,
with great respect, to the palace, which had been splendidly
decorated for his reception.
The first magistrate of Berne would not yield to anyone tho
honor of entertaining such an illustrious guest, and invited the
prinpipal inhabitants of the city to dine at his mansion with the
legate. The Cardinal, in order to show his gratitude for the
kind welcome he had received, invited all the nobles who were
then present to a grand banquet on the following day.
At daybreak on the morrow, the major-domo of his Eminence
was seen to pass hastily down a narrow street, which the prelate
had pointed out to him, and rap at the door of a very poor
house. Workmen of all kinds accompanied him.
Au old woman opened the door, complaining bitterly that
she had been disturbed so early.
"What do you desire, sir?" said she, greatly confused at
speaking to a person so richly dressed.
" His Eminence, the illustrious Cardinal of Sion," replied
the steward, " intends to dine at your house to-day, with all
the nobles and magistrates of the city. It is a great honor for
you, my good woman; but you must understand that so many
noble lords cannot be entertained in such an humble dwelling.
I have orders, therefore, to prepare for their proper recep-
tion. Come men," added "
he, to your work, time presses."
Immediately, disregarding the cries, complaints, and exclamations
of the old woman, who could not comprehend this extraordinary
caprice of the Cardinal, the workmen began their
labor. They knocked down the partitions, removed the furniture
to a neighboring granary, and formed in a few hours the
whole of the house into one large hall, which they hung with
beautiful tapestry, and then prepared the banquet.
About noon, (for in the sixteenth century, people dined at
that hour) the Cardinal of Sion left his palace, followed by his
gentlemen, the magistrates, and the nobles of Berne. The
preparations for the banquet, executed by the major-domo in
so unusual a manner, had excited the public curiosity to the
highest pitch. The streets were crowded with people, and
regardless of the respect due to the ambassador of the Pope,
more than one citizen had not hesitated to say, that his Eminence
did not appear in the perfect enjoyment of his senses.
The astonishment of the noble cortege was extreme when they
saw the Cardinal direct his steps towards the poorest quarter
of the town. Every one thought him mistaken, and the Mayor
ventured to address to him a very humble remonstrance; but
the Carninal interrupted him, saying, with a smile:
" I know the city as well as you do, and I beg you will believe
that I also know whither I am leading my guests. "
Having arrived at the little cottage, from which his steward
had expelled the poor woman in such an expeditious manner,
the Cardinal stopped, and deep emotion was depicted on his
countenance. Unbroken silence reigned in the crowd; they
awaited some unexpected occurrence; they were at last to learn
the great secret, the object of so many comments !
The legate, who appeared to seek some one, and whose emo-
tion momentarily increased, invited his guests by a gesture to
follow him into this novel banquet hall, when a cry of joy and
astonishment was heard, and the old woman of the house, rush-
ing from the midst of a group standing near the door, flew towards
the Cardinal, exclaiming :
"
My little Matthew ! My Matthew Schinner I
come mad with joy."
I shall be-
Great was the astonishment of the crowd, when this great
dignitary of the Church, after embracing the poor woman,
turned with tearful eyes to his noble guests, and said :
"
Noble lords, this is my mother, you will dine with her to-
day."
Jane (our reader will have recognised the adopted mother of
the little student of Berne), confused at her audacity, threw
herself at his feet; but the Cardinal kindly raised her, and of-
fering his arm, led her, amongst the acclamations of the crowd,
into that house where so much of his youth had been spent.
At table he placed her at his right hand, called her mother,
and begged that she wor.ld as formerly give him the simple
name of Matthew. At length, to satisfy the curiosity of his
guests, the illustrious prelate related to them how the good
old woman had received him, when a poor child wandering in
the streets of Berne. He added that he had never forgotten
her maternal care, and that constant labor had prevented him
visiting her before. But being made Cardinal of Sion (it was
as we know his birth-place), and sent into Switzerland as legate
of the Pope, he had hastened to Berne to see his adopted
mother. -.******* * * * *
"
"And now, Jane," said the Cardinal, embracing her tenderly,
" was I not right when I told you that with education
to man ?"
nothing is impossible
On his departure he left her his furniture and the plate which
had been used at the feast, and settled on her an annual pension
of fifty ducats, which was a large fortune at that
period.
Jane lived many years happy and respected, relating to
strangers how she had the honor of dining in her own house
with the Cardinal of Sion.