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Page 23
_Hoc pavimentum ... feci
... ductus amore Dei._
This was the spot upon which the duke loved to kneel. Before rising, he
drew from under his robe a golden chalice, and gave it to Herman, who
was beside him. The priest took it and carried it to the sanctuary.
"I would almost give the decade of Jura," exclaimed Rodolph, as he
approached the castle gate, "to know who made that superb pavement."
"It resembles more the pavement of a cathedral than the simple floor of
a chapel," said Father Omehr. "I wish we had such an one to our little
church at Stramen."
"Trust that to your successor," replied the duke; "you have given him
the walls, the pillars, the windows, and the roof, and are well entitled
to a pavement and alabaster altar at his hands."
They were now at the gate, into which were cut two niches containing
statutes of SS. Victor and Apollinaris. The bars, which yielded to every
stranger and to every peasant, flew open before the high-born group, and
the almoner, as he recognized the duke, bent his knee in reverence. They
mounted a heavy flight of stairs, and, traversing an arched gallery,
were ushered into the principal hall. This large room was hung with
solemn tapestry, reaching from the ceiling to the floor. The
characteristic piety of these ages displayed itself in the beautiful
recesses in the walls, adapted to the reception of holy water, and in
the devices upon the floor and ceiling, which always conveyed some pious
meaning. The walls were covered with paintings chiefly relating to the
exploits of the lords of Hers, or filled up with heraldic blazonry.
In the cathedral or in the castle, in the monastery or in the chapel,
durability was the principal object of the architect. It is true that
the genius of the age contrived to combine the greatest strength with
the greatest elegance; but durability was the great end. The pious men
of the Middle Ages did not erect mere shells, which, though sufficient
for their own brief lives, would crumble over their posterity; but
looked to the wants of future generations. And, then, there was a
reliance upon posterity which is neither felt nor warranted now. Thus,
in the minor Church of the Nativity in the lordship of Stramen, which
had been designed by Father Omehr, and which had exhausted the revenues
of the barony, the missionary had conceived it upon a scale to which his
present means were insufficient, but to which the charity of another
generation would be adequate. This was always the case with the
cathedrals. Even the castles themselves had so many rooms set apart for
recluses and wanderers, that it was easy to convert them into
monasteries; and the Castle of Hers, with very little alteration, would
have made an excellent convent.
Rodolph was about to throw himself into one of the large high-back
chairs of state; but yielding a graceful respect to the aged priests, he
motioned them to be seated, and placed himself between them.
"You are rather pale, my lord duke, from your wounds," said the baron,
as an attendant entered with some wine-cups--"and I beg you to accept
from my son a draught of the vintage you used to relish."
Rodolph received the goblet from the youth, and replied, as he raised it
to his lips, "How I missed you at Hohenburg!"
"I would have given my lordship," returned the baron, "to have seen you
outstripping all the chivalry of Austria, and charging where none dared
to follow!"
"My fair cousin, the Margrave Udo, would have atoned for the thrust at
my face, which made me see more stars than were ever created, had you
been at my side."
"But to aid you was to assist Henry; and I was loth to break our league
with Saxony."
"That league was merely defensive, and _they_ broke it by aggression and
sacrilege."
"But we could not punish their crime without strengthening the power of
that greater criminal, the emperor."
"You acted uncharitably," said the duke; "but you judged aright, and I
have forgiven you."
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