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Renzo at this time found himself in the thickest of the

confusion, not now carried there by the press, but by his own

inclination. At the first proposal of blood-shedding, he felt his

own curdle in his veins; as to the plundering, he was not quite

certain whether it was right or wrong; but the idea of murder

caused him unmixed horror. And although he was greatly persuaded

that the vicar was the primary cause of the famine, the grand

criminal, still, having, at the first movement of the crowd,

heard, by chance, some expressions which indicated a willingness

to make any effort to save him, he had suddenly determined to aid

such a work, and had therefore pressed near the door, which was

assailed in a thousand ways. Some were pounding the lock to break

it in pieces; others assisted with stakes, and chisels, and

hammers; others, again, tore away the plastering, and beat in

pieces the wall, in order to effect a breach.