OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

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right hand; and three great standards were chapborne aloft as the emblems of their design. In _*;**„„.the first, the banner of liberty, Rome was seatedon two lions, with a palm in one hand and aglobe in the other: St. Paul, with a drawnsword, was delineated in the banner of justice;and in the third, St. Peter held the keys of con-cord and peace. Rienzi was encouraged by thepresence and applause of an innumerable crowd,who understood little, and hoped much; andthe procession slowly rolled forwards from thecastle of St. Angelo to the capitol. His triumphwas disturbed by some secret emotion which helaboured to suppress: he ascended without op-position, and with seeming confidence, the cita-del of the republic; harangued the people fromthe balcony; and received the most flatteringconfirmation of his acts and laws. The nobles,as if destitute of arms and counsels, beheld insilent consternation this strange revolution; andthe moment had been prudently chosen, whenthe most formidable, Stephen Colonna, was ab-sent from the city. On the first rumour he re-turned to his palace, affected to despise this ple-beian tumult, and declared to the messengers ofRienzi, that at his leisure he would cast themadman from the windows of the capitol. Thegreat bell instantly rang an alarm, and so rapidwas the tide, so urgent was the danger, that Co-lonna escaped with precipitation to the suburbof St. Laurence: from thence, after a moment’srefreshment, he continued the same speedy ca-reer till he reached in safety his castle of Pales-trina ; lamenting his own imprudence, which had