"Is it true that Alexander has anathematized the city?"
"No, no!" exclaimed several voices; "he did not even curse Barbarossa."
"I can speak positively on this point," said Anselm, "Frangipani heard the Pope's very words as he was kneeling before the image of our Saviour; this is what he said:--'Arise, O Lord, and judge between me and my enemies! O Almighty God, stretch out thine arm against the enemies of the Church!'--This was precisely what happened, and nothing more."
"It is quite enough! he called down Heaven's vengeance upon us, and we may expect the most direful calamities!"
"Nonsense!" said Anselm; "all this is merely the effect of yesterday's tempest."
"What a time that was, what a storm!"
"Yes, and cries and groans were heard in the air."
"And some people even saw a cross of fire above St. Peter's Church."
"Did not the hurricane come from the direction of Gaeta? Such a thing was never known before; I tell you it was more than natural."
"You are a fool, Ambrose."