Louis, where he was left a
prisoner, while another portion of the multitude gathered about the
scene of the tragedy, surrounded the body of the Bourgeois, which
was lifted off the ground and borne aloft on men's shoulders,
followed by wild cries and lamentations to the House of the Golden
Dog,--the house which he had left but half an hour before, full of
life, vigor and humanity, looking before and after as a strong man
looks who has done his duty, and who feels still able to take the
world upon his shoulders and carry it, if need were.
The sad procession moved slowly on amid the pressing, agitated
crowd, which asked and answered a hundred eager questions in a
breath. The two poor Recollet brothers, Daniel and Ambrose, walked
side by side before the bleeding corpse of their friend, and stifled
their emotions by singing, in a broken voice that few heard but
themselves, the words of the solitary hymn of St. Francis d'Assisi,
the founder of their order:
"Praised be the Lord, by our sweet sister Death,
From whom no man escapes, howe'er he try!
Woe to all those who yield their parting breath
In mortal sin! But blessed those who die
Doing thy will in that decisive hour!
The second death o'er such shall have no power.
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