dges named by the king, we know nothing for certain."

"Say, rather," exclaimed another of the bystanders, "that it is his
property which costs him his life; for our sovereign, in order to make us
a great and celebrated nation, cuts off the heads of all our wealthy men,
and would serve us in the same manner if we were to find fault with his
proceedings."

The Devil left the horses at the nearest inn, and then led Faustus
through the crowd. They saw the duke, accompanied by his children, enter
a chamber hung round with black, where a monk waited to receive his last
confession. The father had his eyes fixed upon his sons, and could not
look to heaven. After he had confessed himself, he laid his trembling
hands upon the heads of the children, who were sobbing, and said, "May
the blessing of an unhappy father, who falls a victim to tyranny and
avarice, be your safeguard through life; but, alas, ye are the heirs of
misfortune. Your rights and pretensions will infallibly doom you to long
sufferings; ye are born for misery, and I shall die in this conviction."
He wished to say something more; but the guards silenced him, and hurried
him out upon the scaffold.

The tyrannical king had given orders that the duke's children should be
placed under the scaffold, so that the blood of their father might drop
through the boards upon their white robes. The cries which the wretched
parent uttered at the moment his darlings were torn from him struck
terror to the hearts of all around. Tristan alone, who was the
executioner, and the king's most intimate friend, looked on with perfect
coolness, and felt the sharpness of the axe. Faustus imagined that the
groans of the unhappy parent would excite Heaven to avenge outraged
humanity. He lifted his tearful eyes towards the bright blue sky, which
seemed to smile upon the horrid scene. For a moment he felt himself
strongly tempted to command the Devil to rescue the duke from the hands
of the executioner; but his troubled and agitated mind was incapable of
coming to any resolution. The duke fell upon his knees; he heard the
shrieks and lamentations of his children who were beneath the scaffold;
his own infamous death no longer occupied his mind; he felt for the last
time, and felt only for these unfortunates; big tears hung in his eyes,
his lips trembled; the executioner gave the fatal blow, and the boiling
blood of the father trickled down upon the trembling children. Bathed
with pa