The Place of the Capitol was deserted save by the tread of the single
sentinel. But still, dark and fearful, hung from the tall gibbet the
clay of the robber noble; and the colossal shape of the Egyptian lion
rose hard by, sharp and dark in the breathless atmosphere.

"Dread statue!" thought Rienzi, "how many unwhispered and solemn rites
hast thou witnessed by thy native Nile, ere the Roman's hand transferred
thee hither--the antique witness of Roman crimes! Strange! but when I
look upon thee I feel as if thou hadst some mystic influence over my own
fortunes. Beside thee was I hailed the republican Lord of Rome; beside
thee are my palace, my tribunal, the place of my justice, my triumphs,
and my pomp:--to thee my eyes turn from my bed of state: and if fated to
die in power and peace, thou mayst be the last object my eyes will mark!
Or if myself a victim--." He paused--shrank from the thought presented
to him--turned to a recess of the chamber--drew aside a curtain, that
veiled a crucifix and a small table, on which lay a Bible and the
monastic emblems of the skull and crossbones--emblems, indeed, grave and
irresistible, of the nothingness of power, and the uncertainty of life.
Before these sacred monitors, whether to humble or to elevate, knelt
that proud and aspiring man; and when he rose, it was with a lighter
step and more cheerful mien than he had worn that day.



Chapter 4.III. The Actor Unmasked.

"In intoxication," says the proverb, "men betray their real characters."
There is a no less honest and truth-revealing intoxication in
prosperity, than in wine. The varnish of power brings forth at once the
defects and the beauties of the human portrait.