THE DECLINE AND FALL
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CHAP
LXX.
stored the aristocracy and the church ; three se-nators were chosen, and the legate assuming thefirst rank, accepted his two colleagues from therival families of Colonna and Ursini. The actsof the tribune were abolished, his head was pro-scribed ; yet such was the terror of his name,that the barons hesitated three days before theywould trust themselves in the city; and Rienziwas left above a month in the c,astle of St. An-gelo, from whence he peaceably witjbdr.eyv, afterlabouring, without effect, to revive the affectionand courage of the Romans. The vision of,freerdom and empire had vanished: their fallen spiritwould have acquiesced in servitude, had it b^ensmoothed by tranquillity and order; and jt wasscarcely observed, that the new senators derivedtheir authority from the apostolic see; that fourcardinals were appointed to reform, with dicta-torial power, the state of the republic. Rome was again agitated by the bloody feuds of thebarons, who detested each other, aud despisedthe commons: their hostile fortieses, both intown and country, again rose, and were againdemolished; and the peaceful citizens, a flockof sheep, were devoured, says the Florentine his-torian, by these rapacious wolves. But whentheir pride and avarice had exhausted the pa-tience of the Romans, a confraternity of the vir-gin Mary protected or avenged the republic: thebell of the capitol was again tolled; the noblesin arms trembled in the presence of an unarmedmultitude; and of the two senators, Colonnaescaped from the window of the palace, and