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diff --git a/44245-8.txt b/44245-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a38ea93..0000000 --- a/44245-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9442 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Historic Oddities, by Sabine Baring-Gould - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Historic Oddities - and Strange Events - -Author: Sabine Baring-Gould - -Release Date: November 21, 2013 [EBook #44245] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORIC ODDITIES *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -HISTORIC ODDITIES - -AND - -STRANGE EVENTS - - -By the same Author. - - +ARMINELL: A SOCIAL ROMANCE.+ 3 Vols. Cr. 8vo. (_On Nov. 1_). - - +OLD COUNTRY LIFE.+--With Numerous Illustrations, Initial Letters, - &c. Cr. 8vo. (_In October_). - - +YORKSHIRE ODDITIES.+--New and Cheaper Edition (_In Preparation_). - - +STRANGE SURVIVALS.+--(_In Preparation_). - - +HISTORIC ODDITIES.+--Second Series (_In Preparation_). - - -METHUEN & CO. - - - - -HISTORIC ODDITIES - -AND - -STRANGE EVENTS - -BY - -S. BARING GOULD, M.A. -AUTHOR OF "MEHALAH," "JOHN HERRING," ETC. - -FIRST SERIES - -LONDON -METHUEN & CO. -18 BURY STREET, W.C. -1889 - - - - -CONTENTS. - - PAGE -PREFACE, vii - -THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BATHURST, 1 - -THE DUCHESS OF KINGSTON, 26 - -GENERAL MALLET, 51 - -SCHWEINICHEN'S MEMOIRS, 67 - -THE LOCKSMITH GAMAIN, 83 - -ABRAM THE USURER, 103 - -SOPHIE APITZSCH, 121 - -PETER NIELSEN, 136 - -THE WONDER-WORKING PRINCE HOHENLOHE, 164 - -THE SNAIL TELEGRAPH, 185 - -THE COUNTESS GOERLITZ, 199 - -A WAX AND HONEY-MOON, 234 - -THE ELECTRESS' PLOT, 257 - -SUESS OPPENHEIM, 271 - -IGNATIUS FESSLER, 294 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -A reader of history in its various epochs in different countries, comes -upon eccentric individuals and extraordinary events, lightly passed -over, may be, as not materially affecting the continuity of history, as -not producing any seriously disturbing effect on its course. Such -persons, such events have always awakened interest in myself, and when I -have come on them, it has been my pleasure to obtain such details -concerning them as were available, and which would be out of place in a -general history as encumbering it with matter that is unimportant, or of -insufficient importance to occupy much space. Two of the narratives -contained in this work have appeared already in the "Cornhill Magazine," -but I have considerably enlarged them by the addition of fresh -material; some of the others came out in the "Gentleman's Magazine," and -one in "Belgravia." With only two of them--"Peter Nielsen" and "A Wax -and Honey-Moon"--are the authorities somewhat gone beyond and the facts -slightly dressed to assume the shape of stories. - -S. BARING GOULD. - -LEW TRENCHARD, N. DEVON, -_July, 1889_. - - - - -HISTORIC ODDITIES. - - - - -The Disappearance of Bathurst. - - -The mystery of the disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst on November 25, -1809, is one which can never with certainty be cleared up. At the time -public opinion in England was convinced that he had been secretly -murdered by order of Napoleon, and the "Times" in a leader on January -23, 1810, so decisively asserted this, that the "Moniteur" of January 29 -ensuing, in sharp and indignant terms repudiated the charge. -Nevertheless, not in England only, but in Germany, was the impression so -strong that Napoleon had ordered the murder, if murder had been -committed, that the Emperor saw fit, in the spring of the same year, -solemnly to assure the wife of the vanished man, on his word of honour, -that he knew nothing about the disappearance of her husband. Thirty -years later Varnhagen von Ense, a well-known German author, reproduced -the story and reiterated the accusation against Napoleon, or at all -events against the French. Later still, the "Spectator," in an article -in 1862, gave a brief sketch of the disappearance of Bathurst, and -again repeated the charge against French police agents or soldiers of -having made away with the Englishman. At that time a skeleton was said -to have been discovered in the citadel of Magdeburg with the hands -bound, in an upright position, and the writer of the article sought to -identify the skeleton with the lost man.[1] - -We shall see whether other discoveries do not upset this identification, -and afford us another solution of the problem--What became of Benjamin -Bathurst? - -Benjamin Bathurst was the third son of Dr. Henry Bathurst, Bishop of -Norwich, Canon of Christchurch, and the Prebendary of Durham, by Grace, -daughter of Charles Coote, Dean of Kilfenora, and sister of Lord -Castlecoote. His eldest brother, Henry, was Archdeacon of Norwich; his -next, Sir James, K.C.B., was in the army and was aide-de-camp to Lord -Wellington in the Peninsula. - -Benjamin, the third son of the bishop, was born March 14, 1784,[2] and -had been secretary of the Legation at Leghorn. In May, 1805, he married -Phillida, daughter of Sir John Call, Bart., of Whiteford, in Cornwall, -and sister of Sir William Pratt Call, the second baronet. Benjamin is a -Christian name that occurs repeatedly in the Bathurst family after the -founder of it, Sir Benjamin, Governor of the East India Company and of -the Royal African Company. He died in 1703. The grandfather of the -subject of our memoir was a Benjamin, brother of Allen, who was created -Baron in 1711, and Earl in 1772. - -Benjamin had three children: a son who died, some years after his -father's disappearance, in consequence of a fall from a horse at a race -in Rome; a daughter, who was drowned in the Tiber; and another who -married the Earl of Castlestuart in 1830, and after his death married -Signor Pistocchi. - -In 1809, early in the year, Benjamin was sent to Vienna by his kinsman, -Earl Bathurst, who was in the ministry of Lord Castlereagh, and, in -October, Secretary of State for the Foreign Department. He was sent on a -secret embassy from the English Government to the Court of the Emperor -Francis. The time was one of great and critical importance to Austria. -Since the Peace of Pressburg she had been quiet; the Cabinet of Vienna -had adhered with cautious prudence to a system of neutrality, but she -only waited her time, and in 1808 the government issued a decree by -which a militia, raised by a conscription, under the name of the -"Landwehr," was instituted, and this speedily reached the number of -300,000 men. Napoleon, who was harassed by the insurrection in the -Peninsula, demanded angrily an explanation, which was evaded. To overawe -Austria, he met the Emperor Alexander of Russia at Erfurth, and the -latter when sounded by Austria refused to have any part in the -confederation against Napoleon. England, in the meantime, was urging -Austria to cast down the gauntlet. In pledge of amity, the port of -Trieste was thrown open to the English and Spanish flags. In December, a -declaration of the King of England openly alluded to the hostile -preparations of Austria, but the Cabinet at Vienna were as yet undecided -as to the course they would finally adopt. The extreme peril which the -monarchy had undergone already in the wars with Napoleon made them -hesitate. England was about to send fifty thousand men to the Peninsula, -and desired the diversion of a war in the heart of Germany. Prussia -resolved to remain neutral. Napoleon rapidly returned from Spain, and -orders were despatched to Davoust to concentrate his immense corps at -Bamberg; Massena was to repair to Strasburg, and press on to Ulm; -Oudenot to move on Augsburg, and Bernadotte, at the head of the Saxons, -was to menace Bohemia. It was at this juncture that Benjamin Bathurst -hurried as Ambassador Extraordinary to Vienna, to assure the Cabinet -there of the intentions of England to send a powerful contingent into -Spain, and to do all in his power to urge Austria to declare war. -Encouraged by England, the Cabinet of Vienna took the initiative, and on -April 8 the Austrian troops crossed the frontier at once on the Inn, in -Bohemia, in Tyrol, and in Italy. - -The irritation and exasperation of Napoleon were great; and Bathurst, -who remained with the Court, laboured under the impression that the -Emperor of the French bore him especial enmity, on account of his -exertions to provoke the Austrian Ministry to declaration of war. -Whether this opinion of his were well founded, or whether he had been -warned that Napoleon would take the opportunity, if given him, of -revenging himself, we do not know; but what is certain is, that Bathurst -was prepossessed with the conviction that Napoleon regarded him with -implacable hostility and would leave no stone unturned to compass his -destruction. - -On July 6 came the battle of Wagram, then the humiliating armistice of -Znaim, which was agreed to by the Emperor Francis at Komorn in spite of -the urgency of Metternich and Lord Walpole, who sought to persuade him -to reject the proposals. This armistice was the preliminary to a peace -which was concluded at Schönbrun in October. With this, Bathurst's -office at Vienna came to an end, and he set out on his way home. Now it -was that he repeatedly spoke of the danger that menaced him, and of his -fears lest Napoleon should arrest him on his journey to England. He -hesitated for some time which road to take, and concluding that if he -went by Trieste and Malta he might run the worst risks, he resolved to -make his way to London by Berlin and the north of Germany. He took with -him his private secretary and a valet; and, to evade observation, -assumed the name of Koch, and pretended that he was a travelling -merchant. His secretary was instructed to act as courier, and he passed -under the name of Fisher. Benjamin Bathurst carried pistols about his -person, and there were firearms in the back of the carriage. - -On November 25, 1809, about midday, he arrived at Perleberg, with -post-horses, on the route from Berlin to Hamburg, halted at the -post-house for refreshments, and ordered fresh horses to be harnessed -to the carriage for the journey to Lenzen, which was the next station. - -Bathurst had come along the highway from Berlin to Schwerin, in -Brandenburg, as far as the little town of Perleberg, which lies on the -Stepnitz, that flows after a few miles into the Elbe at Wittenberge. He -might have gone on to Ludwigslust, and thence to Hamburg, but this was a -considerable détour, and he was anxious to be home. He had now before -him a road that led along the Elbe close to the frontier of Saxony. The -Elbe was about four miles distant. At Magdeburg were French troops. If -he were in danger anywhere, it would be during the next few hours--that -is, till he reached Dömitz. About a hundred paces from the post-house -was an inn, the White Swan, the host of which was named Leger. By the -side of the inn was the Parchimer gate of the town, furnished with a -tower, and the road to Hamburg led through this gate, outside of which -was a sort of suburb consisting of poor cottagers' and artisans' houses. - -Benjamin Bathurst went to the Swan and ordered an early dinner; the -horses were not to be put in till he had dined. He wore a pair of grey -trousers, a grey frogged short coat, and over it a handsome sable -greatcoat lined with violet velvet. On his head was a fur cap to match. -In his scarf was a diamond pin of some value. - -As soon as he had finished his meal, Bathurst inquired who was in -command of the soldiers quartered in the town, and where he lodged. He -was told that a squadron of the Brandenburg cuirassiers was there under -Captain Klitzing, who was residing in a house behind the Town Hall. Mr. -Bathurst then crossed the market place and called on the officer, who -was at the time indisposed with a swollen neck. To Captain Klitzing he -said that he was a traveller on his way to Hamburg, that he had strong -and well-grounded suspicions that his person was endangered, and he -requested that he might be given a guard in the inn, where he was -staying. A lady who was present noticed that he seemed profoundly -agitated, that he trembled as though ague-stricken, and was unable to -raise a cup of tea that was offered him to his lips without spilling it. - -The captain laughed at his fears, but consented to let him have a couple -of soldiers, and gave the requisite orders for their despatch; then Mr. -Bathurst rose, resumed his sable overcoat, and, to account for his -nervous difficulty in getting into his furs again, explained that he was -much shaken by something that had alarmed him. - -Not long after the arrival of Mr. Bathurst at the Swan, two Jewish -merchants arrived from Lenzen with post-horses, and left before -nightfall. - -On Mr. Bathurst's return to the inn, he countermanded the horses; he -said he would not start till night. He considered that it would be safer -for him to spin along the dangerous portion of the route by night when -Napoleon's spies would be less likely to be on the alert. He remained in -the inn writing and burning papers. At seven o'clock he dismissed the -soldiers on guard, and ordered the horses to be ready by nine. He stood -outside the inn watching his portmanteau, which had been taken within, -being replaced on the carriage, stepped round to the heads of the -horses--_and was never seen again_. - -It must be remembered that this was at the end of November. Darkness had -closed in before 5 P.M., as the sun set at four. An oil lantern hung -across the street, emitting a feeble light; the ostler had a horn -lantern, wherewith he and the postillion adjusted the harness of the -horses. The landlord was in the doorway talking to the secretary, who, -as courier, was paying the account. No one particularly observed the -movements of Mr. Bathurst at the moment. He had gone to the horses' -heads, where the ostler's lantern had fallen on him. The horses were in, -the postillion ready, the valet stood by the carriage door, the landlord -had his cap in hand ready to wish the gentleman a "lucky journey;" the -secretary was impatient, as the wind was cold. They waited; they sent up -to the room which Mr. Bathurst had engaged; they called. All in vain. -Suddenly, inexplicably, without a word, a cry, an alarm of any sort, he -was gone--spirited away, and what really became of him will never be -known with certainty. - -Whilst the whole house was in amazement and perplexity the Jewish -merchants ordered their carriage to be got ready, and departed. - -Some little time elapsed before it was realised that the case was -serious. Then it occurred to the secretary that Mr. Bathurst might have -gone again to the captain in command to solicit guards to attend his -carriage. He at once sent to the captain, but Mr. Bathurst was not with -him. The moment, however, that Klitzing heard that the traveller had -disappeared, he remembered the alarm expressed by the gentleman, and -acted with great promptitude. He sent soldiers to seize the carriage and -all the effects of the missing man. He went, in spite of his swollen -neck, immediately to the Swan, ordered a chaise, and required the -secretary to enter it; he placed a cuirassier and the valet on the box, -and, stepping into the carriage, ordered it to be driven to the Golden -Crown, an inn at the further end of the town, where he installed the -companions of Bathurst, and placed a soldier in guard over them. A guard -was also placed over the Swan, and next morning every possible search -was made for the lost man. The river was dragged, outhouses, woods, -marshes, ditches were examined, but not a trace of him could be found. -That day was Sunday. Klitzing remained at Perleberg only till noon, to -wait some discovery, and then, without delay, hurried to Kyritz, where -was his commandant, Colonel Bismark, to lay the case before him, and -solicit leave to hasten direct to Berlin, there to receive further -instructions what was to be done. - -He was back on Monday with full authority to investigate the matter. - -Before he left he had gone over the effects of Mr. Bathurst, and had -learned that the fur coat belonging to him was missing; he communicated -this fact to the civil magistrate of the district, and whilst he was -away search was instituted for this. It was the sable coat lined with -violet velvet already mentioned, and this, along with another belonging -to the secretary, Fisher was under the impression had been left in the -post-house. - -The amazing part of the matter is that the city authorities--and, -indeed, on his return, Captain Klitzing--for a while confined themselves -to a search for the fur coat, and valuable time was lost by this means. -Moreover, the city authorities, the police, and the military were all -independent, and all jealous of each other. The military commander, -Klitzing, and the burgomaster were in open quarrel, and sent up to -headquarters charges against each other for interference in the matter -beyond their rights. The head of the police was inert, a man afterwards -dismissed for allowing defalcation in the monies entrusted to him. There -was no system in the investigation, and the proper clues were not -followed. - -On December 16th, two poor women went out of Perleberg to a little fir -wood in the direction of Quitzow, to pick up broken sticks for fuel. -There they found, a few paces from a path leading through the wood, -spread out on the grass, a pair of trousers turned inside out. On -turning them back they observed that they were stained on the outside, -as if the man who had worn them had lain on the earth. In the pocket was -a paper with writing on it; this, as well as the trousers, was sodden -with water. Two bullet holes were in the trousers, but no traces of -blood about them, which could hardly have been the case had the bullets -struck a man wearing the trousers. The women took what they had found to -the burgomaster. The trousers were certainly those of the missing man. -The paper in the pocket was a half-finished letter from Mr. Bathurst to -his wife, scratched in pencil, stating that he was afraid he would never -reach England, and that his ruin would be the work of Count -d'Entraigues, and he requested her not to marry again in the event of -his not returning. - -The English Government offered £1,000 reward, and his family another -£1,000; Prince Frederick of Prussia, who took a lively interest in the -matter, offered in addition 100 Friedrichs d'or for the discovery of the -body, or for information which might lead to the solution of the -mystery, but no information to be depended upon ever transpired. Various -rumours circulated; and Mrs. Thistlethwaite, the sister of Benjamin -Bathurst, in her Memoirs of Dr. Henry Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich, -published by Bentley in 1853, gives them. He was said to have been lost -at sea. Another report was that he was murdered by his valet, who took -an open boat on the Elbe, and escaped. Another report again was that he -had been lost in a vessel which was crossing to Sweden and which -foundered about this time. These reports are all totally void of truth. -Mrs. Thistlethwaite declares that Count d'Entraigues, who was afterwards -so cruelly murdered along with his wife by their Italian servant, was -heard to say that he could prove that Mr. Bathurst was murdered in the -fortress of Magdeburg. In a letter to his wife, dated October 14, 1809, -Benjamin Bathurst said that he trusted to reach home by way of Colberg -and Sweden. D'Entraigues had been a French spy in London; and Mrs. -Thistlethwaite says that he himself told Mrs. Bathurst that her husband -had been carried off by _douaniers-montés_ from Perleberg to Magdeburg, -and murdered there. This it is hard to believe. - -Thomas Richard Underwood, in a letter from Paris, November 24, 1816, -says he was a prisoner of war in Paris in 1809, and that both the -English and French there believed that the crime of his abduction and -murder had been committed by the French Government. - -The "European Magazine" for January, 1810, says that he was apparently -carried off by a party of French troops stationed at Lenzen, but this -was not the case. No French troops were on that side of the Elbe. It -further says, "The French Executive, with a view to ascertain by his -papers the nature of the relations subsisting between this country and -the Austrian Government, has added to the catalogue of its crimes by the -seizure, or probably the murder, of this gentleman." - -If there had been French troops seen we should have known of it; but -none were. Every effort was made by the civil and military authorities -to trace Bathurst. Bloodhounds were employed to track the lost man, in -vain. Every well was explored, the bed of the Stepnitz thoroughly -searched. Every suspicious house in Perleberg was examined from attic to -cellar, the gardens were turned up, the swamps sounded, but every effort -to trace and discover him was in vain. - -On January 23, 1810, in a Hamburg paper, appeared a paragraph, which for -the first time informed the people of Perleberg who the merchant Koch -really was who had so mysteriously vanished. The paragraph was in the -form of a letter, dated from London, January 6, 1810--that is, six weeks -after the disappearance. It ran thus: "Sir Bathurst, Ambassador -Extraordinary of England to the Court of Austria, concerning whom a -German newspaper, under date of December 10, stated that he had -committed suicide in a fit of insanity, is well in mind and body. His -friends have received a letter from him dated December 13, which, -therefore, must have been written after the date of his supposed death." - -Who inserted this, and for what purpose? It was absolutely untrue. Was -it designed to cause the authorities to relax their efforts to probe the -mystery, and perhaps to abandon them altogether? - -The Jewish merchants were examined, but were at once discharged; they -were persons well-to-do, and generally respected. - -Was it possible that Mr. Bathurst had committed suicide? This was the -view taken of his disappearance in France, where, in the "Moniteur" of -December 12, 1809, a letter from the correspondent in Berlin stated: -"Sir Bathurst on his way from Berlin showed signs of insanity, and -destroyed himself in the neighbourhood of Perleberg." On January 23, -1810, as already said, the "Times" took the matter up, and not obscurely -charged the Emperor Napoleon with having made away with Mr. Bathurst, -who was peculiarly obnoxious to him. - -In the mean time, the fur coat had been found, hidden in the cellar of a -family named Schmidt, behind some firewood. Frau Schmidt declared that -it had been left at the post house, where she had found it; and had -conveyed it away, and given it to her son Augustus, a fellow of -notoriously bad character. Now, it is remarkable that one witness -declared that she had seen the stranger who had disappeared go out of -the square down the narrow lane in which the Schmidts lived, and where -eventually the fur coat was found. When questioned, Augustus Schmidt -said that "his mother had told him the stranger had two pistols, and had -sent her to buy him some powder. He supposed therefore that the -gentleman had shot himself." Unfortunately the conflict of authorities -acted prejudicially at this point, and the questions how the Schmidts -came to know anything about the pistols, whether Frau Schmidt really was -sent for powder, and whether Bathurst was really seen entering the alley -in which they lived, and at what hour, were never properly entered into. -Whatever information Klitzing obtained, was forwarded to Berlin, and -there his reports remain in the archives. They have not been examined. - -Fresh quarrels broke out between Klitzing and the Burgomaster, and -Klitzing instead of pursuing the main investigations, set to work to -investigate the proceedings of the Burgomaster. So more time was lost. - -On Thursday, November 30th, that is to say, five days after the -disappearance of Bathurst, Captain Klitzing ordered the town -magistrates; 1. To have all ditches and canals round the place examined; -2. To have the neighbourhood of the town explored by foresters with -hounds; 3. To let off the river Stepnitz and examine the bed. Then he -added, "as I have ascertained that Augustus Schmidt, who is now under -arrest for the theft of the fur coat, was _not at home at the time that -the stranger disappeared_, I require that this fact be taken into -consideration, and investigated"--and this, as far as we can ascertain, -was not done; it was just one of those valuable clues which were left -untraced. - -The whole neighbourhood was searched, ditches, ponds, the river bed, -drains, every cellar, and garden, and nothing found. The search went on -to December 6, and proved wholly resultless. It was not till December 16 -that the trousers were found. It is almost certain that they were laid -in the Quitzow wood after the search had been given over, on December -6th. - -As nothing could be proved against the Schmidt family, except that they -had taken the fur coat, Frau Schmidt and her son were sentenced to eight -weeks' imprisonment. - -The matter of the pistols was not properly cleared up. That, again, was -a point, and an important point that remained uninvestigated. - -The military authorities who examined the goods of Mr. Bathurst declared -that nothing was missing except the fur cloak, which was afterwards -recovered, and we suppose these pistols were included. If not, one may -be sure that some notice would have been taken of the fact that he had -gone off with his pistols, and had not returned. This would have lent -colour to the opinion that he destroyed himself. Besides no shot was -heard. A little way outside the gateway of the town beyond the Swan inn -is a bridge over the small and sluggish stream of the Stepnitz. It was -possible he might have shot himself there, and fallen into the water; -but this theory will not bear looking closely into. A shot fired there -would certainly have been heard at night in the cottages beside the -road; the river was searched shortly after without a trace of him having -been found, and his trousers with bullet holes made in them after they -had been taken off him had been discovered in another direction. - -The "Moniteur" of January 29 said: "Among the civilised races, England -is the only one that sets an example of having bandits[3] in pay, and -inciting to crime. From information we have received from Berlin, we -believe that Mr. Bathurst had gone off his head. It is the manner of the -British Cabinet to commit diplomatic commissions to persons whom the -whole nation knows are half fools. It is only the English diplomatic -service which contains crazy people." - -This violent language was at the time attributed to Napoleon's -dictation, stung with the charge made by the "Times," a charge ranking -him with "vulgar murderers," and which attributed to him two other and -somewhat similar cases, that of Wagstaff, and that of Sir George -Rumbold. It is very certain that the "Moniteur" would not have ventured -on such insulting language without his permission. - -In April Mrs. Bathurst, along with some relatives, arrived in -Perleberg. The poor lady was in great distress and anxiety to have the -intolerable suspense alleviated by a discovery of some sort, and the -most liberal offers were made and published to induce a disclosure of -the secret. At this time a woman named Hacker, the wife of a peasant who -lived in the shoe-market, was lying in the town gaol--the tower already -mentioned, adjoining the White Swan. She was imprisoned for various -fraudulent acts. She now offered to make a confession, and this was her -statement: - -"A few weeks before Christmas I was on my way to Perleberg from a place -in Holstein, where my husband had found work. In the little town of -Seeberg, twelve miles from Hamburg, I met the shoemaker's assistant -Goldberger, of Perleberg, whom I knew from having danced with him. He -was well-dressed, and had from his fob hanging a hair-chain with gold -seals. His knitted silk purse was stuffed with louis d'ors. When I asked -him how he came by so much money, he said, 'Oh, I got 500 dollars and -the watch as hush-money when the Englishman was murdered.' He told me no -more particulars, except that one of the seals was engraved with a name, -and he had had that altered in Hamburg." - -No credit was given to this story, and no inquiry was instituted into -the whereabouts of Goldberger. It was suspected that the woman had -concocted it in the hopes of getting Mrs. Bathurst to interest herself -in obtaining her release, and of getting some of the money offered to -informers. - -Mrs. Bathurst did not return immediately to England; she appealed to -Napoleon to grant her information, and he assured her through -Cambacières, and on his word of honour, that he knew nothing of the -matter beyond what he had seen in the papers. - -So the matter rested, an unsolved mystery. - -In Prussia, among the great bulk of the educated, in the higher and -official classes, the prevailing conviction was that Napoleon had caused -the disappearance of Bathurst, not out of personal feeling, but in -political interests, for the purpose of getting hold of the dispatches -which he was believed to be conveying to England from the Austrian -Government. The murder was held to be an accident, or an unavoidable -consequence. And in Perleberg itself this was the view taken of the -matter as soon as it was known who the stranger was. But then, another -opinion prevailed there, that Klitzing had secretly conveyed him over -the frontier, so as to save him from the spies, and the pursuit which, -as he and Bathurst knew, endangered the safety of the returning envoy. - -In Perleberg two opinions were formed, by such as conceived that he had -been murdered, as to the manner in which he had been made away with. - -Not far from the post-house was at the time a low tavern kept by Hacker, -who has been mentioned above; the man combined shoemaking with the sale -of brandy. Augustus Schmidt spent a good deal of his time in this house. -Now shortly after this affair, Hacker left Perleberg, and set up at -Altona, where he showed himself possessed of a great deal of money. He -was also said to have disposed of a gold repeater watch to a jeweller in -Hamburg. This was never gone into; and how far it was true, or idle -rumour, cannot be said. One view was that Bathurst had been robbed and -murdered by Hacker and Schmidt. - -The other opinion was this. Opposite the post-house was a house occupied -at the time by a fellow who was a paid French spy; a man who was tried -for holding secret communication with the enemy of his Fatherland. He -was a petty lawyer, who stirred up quarrels among the peasants, and -lived by the result. He was a man of the worst possible character, -capable of anything. The opinion of one section of the people of -Perleberg was, that Bathurst, before entering the carriage, had gone -across the square, and had entered into conversation with this man, who -had persuaded him to enter his door, where he had strangled him, and -buried him in his cellar. The widow of this man on her death-bed -appeared anxious to confess something, but died before she could speak. - -In 1852 a discovery was made at Perleberg which may or may not give the -requisite solution. - -We may state before mentioning this that Captain Klitzing never believed -that Bathurst had been spirited away by French agents. He maintained -that he had been murdered for his money. - -On April 15, 1852, a house on the Hamburg road that belonged to the -mason Kiesewetter was being pulled down, when a human skeleton was -discovered under the stone threshold of the stable. The skeleton lay -stretched out, face upwards, on the black peat earth, covered with -mortar and stone chips, the head embedded in walling-stones and mortar. -In the back of the skull was a fracture, as if a blow of a heavy -instrument had fallen on it. All the upper teeth were perfect, but one -of the molars in the lower jaw was absent, and there were indications of -its having been removed by a dentist. The house where these human -remains were found had been purchased in 1834 by the mason Kiesewetter -from Christian Mertens, who had inherited it from his father, which -latter had bought it in 1803 of a shoemaker. _Mertens, the father, had -been a serving man in the White Swan at the time of the disappearance of -Mr. Bathurst._ - -Inquiry was made into what was known of old Mertens. Everyone spoke -highly of him as a saving, steady man, God-fearing; who had scraped -together during his service in the Swan sufficient money to dower his -two daughters with respectively £150 and £120. After a long illness he -had died, generally respected. - -Information of the discovery was forwarded to the Bathurst family, and -on August 23, Mrs. Thistlethwaite, sister of Benjamin, came to -Perleberg, bringing with her a portrait of her brother, but she was -quite unable to say that the skull that was shown her belonged to the -missing man, whom she had not seen for forty-three years. And--no -wonder! When Goethe was shown the skull of his intimate friend Schiller -he could hardly trace any likeness to the head he remembered so well. -Mrs. Thistlethwaite left, believing that the discovery had no connection -with the mystery of her brother's disappearance, so ineradicably fixed -in the convictions of the family was the belief that he had been carried -away by French agents. - -However, let us consider this discovery a little closer, and perhaps we -shall be led to another conclusion. - -In the first place, the skeleton was that of a man who had been murdered -by a blow on the back of his head, which had fractured the skull. It had -been stripped before being buried, for not a trace of clothing could be -found. - -Secondly, the house of the Mertens family lay on the Hamburg road, on -the way to Lenzen, outside the Parchimer Gate, only three hundred paces -from the White Swan. In fact, it was separated from the White Swan only -by the old town-gate and prison tower, and a small patch of garden -ground. - -At the time of the disappearance of Mr. Bathurst it was inhabited by -Christian Mertens, who was servant at the White Swan. No examination was -made at the time of the loss of Bathurst into the whereabouts of -Mertens, nor was his cottage searched. It was assumed that he was at the -inn waiting for his "vale," like the ostler and the _Kellner_. It is -quite possible that he may have been standing near the horses' heads, -and that he may have gone on with Mr. Bathurst a few steps to show him -the direction he was to go; or, with the pretence that he had important -information to give him, he may have allured him into his cottage, and -there murdered him, or, again, he may have drawn him on to where by -pre-arrangement Goldberger was lying in wait with a hammer or hatchet to -strike him down from behind. Considering how uneasy Mr. Bathurst was -about the road, and how preoccupied with the idea that French spies and -secret agents were on the look-out for him, he might easily have been -induced by a servant of the inn where he was staying to go a few steps -through the gate, beyond earshot of the post-boy and landlord and -ostler, to hear something which the boots pretended was of importance to -him. Goldberger or another may have lain in wait in the blackness of the -shadow of the gateway but a short distance from the lights about the -carriage, and by one stroke have silenced him. It is possible that -Augustus Schmidt may have been mixed up in the matter, and that the -sable coat was taken off Mr. Bathurst when dead. - -Again, Mertens was able on the marriage of his two daughters to give one -150_l._ and the other 120_l._ This would mean that Mertens had saved as -boots of the Swan at the least 300_l._, for he would not give every -penny to his children. Surely this was a considerable sum for a boots in -a little inn to amass from his wage and from "vales." - -Mrs. Thistlethwaite asserts in her Memoirs of Bishop Bathurst that -shortly after the disappearance of her brother the ostler--can she mean -Mertens?--also disappeared, ran away. But we do not know of any -corroborating evidence. - -Lastly, the discovery of the trousers in the wood near Quitzow points to -the traveller having been murdered in Perleberg; the murderers, whoever -they were, finding that an investigation of houses, barns, gardens and -stables was being made, took the garments of the unfortunate man, -discharged a couple of shots through them to make believe he had been -fired at by several persons lying in wait for him, and then exposed -them in a place away from the road along which Mr. Bathurst was going. -The man who carried these garments was afraid of being observed, and he -probably did not go through the town with them, but made a circuit to -the wood, and for the same reason did not take them very far. The road -to Lenzen ran S.W. and that to Quitzow N.W. He placed the trousers near -the latter, but did not venture to cross the highway. He could get to -the wood over the fields unperceived. - -Supposing that this is the solution of the mystery, one thing remains to -be accounted for--the paragraph in the Hamburg paper dated from London, -announcing that Mr. Bathurst was alive and had been heard of since the -disappearance. - -This, certainly, seems to have been inserted with a design to divert or -allay suspicion, and it was generally held to have been sent from London -by a French agent, on instruction from Paris. But it is possible that -the London correspondent may have heard a coffee-house rumour that -Bathurst was still alive, and at once reported it to the paper. Its -falsehood was palpable, and would be demonstrated at once by the family -of the lost man to the authorities at Perleberg. It could not answer the -purpose of arresting inquiry and staying investigation. - -It remains only to inquire whether it was probable that Napoleon had any -hand in the matter. - -What could induce him to lay hands on an envoy? He could not expect to -find on the person of Mr. Bathurst any important dispatches, for the war -was over, peace with Austria was concluded. He was doubtless angry at -Austria having declared war, and angry at England having instigated her -to do so, but Mr. Bathurst was very small game indeed on which to wreak -his anger; moreover, the peace that had been concluded with Austria gave -great advantages to France. He can have had no personal dislike to -Bathurst, for he never saw him. When Napoleon entered Vienna, Bathurst -was with the Emperor Francis in Hungary, at Komorn. - -And yet, he may have suspected that Austria was insincere, and was -anxious to renew the conflict, if she could obtain assurance of -assistance from England. He may have thought that by securing the papers -carried to England by Bathurst, he would get at the real intentions of -Austria, and so might be prepared for consequences. We cannot say. The -discovery of the body in Mertens' house, under the threshold--supposing -it to be that of Bathurst, does not by any means prove that the murder -was a mere murder for the purpose of robbery. - -If Napoleon had given instructions for the capture of Bathurst, and the -taking from him of his papers, it does not follow that he ordered his -murder, on the contrary, he would have given instructions that he should -be robbed--as if by highwaymen--and let go with his life. The murder was -against his wishes, if he did give orders for him to be robbed. - -The Bathurst family never doubted that Benjamin had been murdered by the -agents of Napoleon. It is certain that he was well aware that his safety -was menaced, and menaced at Perleberg. That was why he at once on -reaching the place asked for the protection of a guard. He had received -warning from some one, and such warning shows that an attempt to rob him -of his papers was in contemplation. - -That caution to be on his guard must have been given him, before he left -Vienna. He probably received another before he reached Perleberg, for he -appeared before the Commandant in a state of great alarm and agitation. -That this was mere spiritual presage of evil is hardly credible. We -cannot doubt--and his letter to his wife leads to this conviction--that -he had been warned that spies in the pay of the French Government were -on the look-out for him. Who the agents were that were employed to get -hold of his papers, supposing that the French Government did attempt to -waylay him, can never be determined, whether Mertens or Augustus -Schmidt. - -In 1815 Earl Bathurst was Secretary of State for War and the Colonial -Department. May we not suspect that there was some mingling of personal -exultation along with political satisfaction, in being able to send to -St. Helena the man who had not only been the scourge of Europe, and the -terror of kings, but who, as he supposed--quite erroneously we -believe--had inflicted on his own family an agony of suspense and doubt -that was never to be wholly removed? - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] The discovery of a skeleton as described was denied afterwards by -the Magdeburg papers. It was a newspaper sensational paragraph, and -unfounded. - -[2] Register of Baptisms, Christchurch, Oxford, 1784, March 14, -Benjamin, s. of Henry Bathurst, Canon, and Grace his wife, born, and -bap. April 19. - -[3] When, in 1815, Napoleon was at St. Helena, on his first introduction -to Sir Hudson Lowe, he addressed the governor with the insulting words, -"Monsieur, vous avez commandé des brigands." He alluded to the Corsican -rangers in the British service, which Lowe had commanded. - - - - -The Duchess of Kingston. - - -Elizabeth Chudleigh, Countess of Bristol and Duchess of Kingston, who -was tried for bigamy in Westminster Hall by the Peers in 1776, was, it -can hardly be doubted, the original from whom Thackeray drew his -detailed portrait of Beatrix Esmond, both as young Trix and as the old -Baroness Bernstein; nor can one doubt that what he knew of his prototype -was taken from that scandalous little book, "An Authentic Detail of -Particulars relative to the late Duchess of Kingston," published by G. -Kearsley in 1788. Thackeray not only reproduced some of the incidents of -her life, but more especially caught the features of her character. - -Poor Trix! Who does not remember her coming down the great staircase at -Walcote, candle in hand, in her red stockings and with a new cherry -ribbon round her neck, her eyes like blue stars, her brown hair curling -about her head, and not feel a lingering liking for the little coquette, -trying to catch my Lord Mohun, and the Duke of Hamilton, and many -another, and missing all? and for the naughty old baroness, with her -scandalous stories, her tainted past, her love of cards, her complete -unscrupulousness, and yet with one soft corner in the withered heart for -the young Virginians? - -The famous, or infamous, Duchess has had hard measure dealt out to her, -which she in part deserved; but some of the stories told of her are -certainly not true, and one circumstance in her life, if true, goes far -to palliate her naughtiness. Unfortunately, almost all we know of her is -taken from unfriendly sources. The only really impartial source of -information is the "Trial," published by order of the Peers, but that -covers only one portion of her life, and one set of incidents. - -Elizabeth Chudleigh was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Chudleigh, of -Chelsea, and his wife Henrietta, who was his first cousin, the fourth -daughter of Hugh Chudleigh, of Chalmington, in Dorset. Thomas was the -only brother of Sir George Chudleigh, fourth baronet of Asheton, in -Devon. As Sir George left only daughters, Thomas, the brother of -Elizabeth, whose baptism in 1718 is recorded in the Chelsea registers, -succeeded as fifth baronet in 1738. Unfortunately the Chelsea registers -do not give the baptism of Elizabeth, and we are not able to state her -precise age, about which there is some difference. Her father had a post -in Chelsea College, but apparently she was not born there. There can, -however, be little doubt that she saw the light for the first time in -1726, and not in 1720, as is generally asserted. - -Her family was one of great antiquity in the county of Devon, and was -connected by marriage with the first families of the west of England. -The old seat, Asheton, lies in a pleasant coombe under the ridge of -Haldon; some remains of the old mansion, and venerable trees of the -park, linger on; and in the picturesque parish church, perched on a rock -in the valley, are many family monuments and heraldic blazonings of the -Chudleigh lions, gules on an ermine field. Elizabeth lost her father -very early, and the widow was left on a poor pension to support and -advance the prospects of her two children. Though narrowed in fortune, -Mrs. Chudleigh had good connections, and she availed herself of these to -push her way in the world. At the age of sixteen--that is, in -1743--Elizabeth was given the appointment of maid of honour to the -Princess of Wales, through the favour of Mr. Pulteney, afterwards Earl -of Bath, who had met her one day while out shooting. The old beau was -taken with the vivacity, intelligence and beauty of the girl. She was -then not only remarkable for her beauty, delicacy of complexion, and -sparkling eyes, but also for the brilliancy of her wit and the -liveliness of her humour. Even her rival, the Marquise de la Touche, of -whom more hereafter, bears testimony to her charms. Pulteney, himself a -witty, pungent, and convivial man, was delighted with the cleverness of -the lovely girl, and amused himself with drawing it out. In after years, -when she was asked the secret of her sparkling repartee, she replied, "I -always aim to be short, clear, and surprising." - -The Princess of Wales, Augusta, daughter of Frederick of Saxe-Gotha, who -with the Prince, Frederick Lewis, had their court at Leicester House, -became greatly attached to her young maid of honour. The beautiful Miss -Chudleigh was speedily surrounded by admirers, among whom was James, -sixth Duke of Hamilton, born in 1724, and therefore two years her -senior. - -According to the "Authentic Detail," the Duke obtained from her a -solemn engagement that, on his return from a tour on the Continent which -he was about to take, she would become his wife. Then he departed, -having arranged for a mutual correspondence. - -In the summer of 1744 she went on a visit to Lainston, near Winchester, -to her maternal aunt, Anne Hanmer, who was then living at the house of -Mr. Merrill, the son of another aunt, Susanna, who was dead. - -To understand the relationship of the parties, a look will suffice at -the following pedigree.[4] - - - Sir George Chudleigh = Elizabeth, da. of Hugh Fortescue - 2nd Bart. | - | - +---------------------+-----------------------+ - | | -Hugh Chudleigh = Susanna da. Sir George Chudleigh = Mary da. -2nd surv. son, | Sir R. Stroud. s. & h., 3rd Bart., | R. Lee, - d. 1716. | d. 1719. | d. 1710. - | | - +----------+-----------+ +----------------------+ - | | | | | -Susanna, Anne, Henrietta = Thomas Chudleigh, Sir George -d. 1740, d. 1764, d. 1756. | 2nd son, Chudleigh, -m. John m. Wm. | d. before 1734. 4th Bart. -Merrill. Hanmer. | d. s. p. - | 1738. - +-----------+--------------+ - | | - ELIZABETH, Sir Thomas Chudleigh, - Duchess of Kingston, 5th Bart., d. s. p. 1741. - d. 1788. - - -Mrs. Hanmer, a widow, kept house for her nephew, who was squire. At the -Winchester races, to which she went with a party, Elizabeth met -Lieutenant Hervey, second son of the late John, Lord Hervey, and -grandson of the Earl of Bristol. Lieutenant Hervey, who was in the -"Cornwall," then lying at Portsmouth, a vessel in Sir John Danver's -squadron, was born in 1724, and was therefore two years the senior of -Elizabeth; indeed, at the time he was only just twenty. He was -fascinated by the beautiful girl, and was invited by Mrs. Hanmer to -Lainston. "To this gentleman," says the "Authentic Detail," "Mrs. Hanmer -became so exceedingly partial that she favoured his views on her niece, -and engaged her efforts to effect, if possible, a matrimonial connexion. -There were two difficulties which would have been insurmountable if not -opposed by the fertile genius of a female: Miss Chudleigh disliked -Captain Hervey, and she was betrothed to the Duke of Hamilton. To render -this last nugatory, the letters of his Grace were intercepted by Mrs. -Hanmer, and his supposed silence giving offence to her niece, she worked -so successfully on her pride as to induce her to abandon all thoughts of -the lover, whose passion she had cherished with delight." - -Is this story true? It seems incredible that Mrs. Hanmer should have -urged her niece to throw over such a splendid prospect of family -advancement as that offered by marriage with the Duke of Hamilton, for -the sake of an impecunious young sailor who was without the means of -supporting his wife, and who, at that time, had not the faintest -expectation of succeeding to the Earldom of Bristol. - -It is allowable to hope that the story of the engagement to the Duke of -Hamilton, broken through the intrigues of the aunt, is true, as it forms -some excuse for the after conduct of Elizabeth Chudleigh. - -It is more probable that the Duke of Hamilton had not said anything to -Elizabeth, and did not write to her, at all events not till later. She -may have entertained a liking for him, but not receiving any token that -the liking was reciprocated, she allowed her aunt to engage and marry -her to young Hervey. That the poor girl had no fancy for the young man -is abundantly clear. The Attorney General, in the trial, said that Mrs. -Hanmer urged on the match "as advantageous to her niece;" but -advantageous it certainly was not, and gave no prospect of being. - -In August, Augustus John Hervey got leave from his ship and came to -Lainston. The house, which had belonged to the Dawleys, had passed into -the possession of the Merrills. In the grounds stands the parish church, -but as the only house in the parish is the mansion, it came to be -regarded very much as the private chapel of the manor house. The living -went with Sparsholt. There was no parsonage attached, and though the -Dawleys had their children baptized in Lainston, they were registered in -the book of Sparsholt. The church is now an ivy-covered ruin, and the -mansion is much reduced in size from what it was in the time when it -belonged to the Merrills. - -"Lainston is a small parish, the value of the living being £15 a year; -Mr. Merrill's the only house in it, and the parish church at the end of -his garden. On the 4th August, 1744, Mr. Amis, the then rector, was -appointed to be at the church, alone, late at night. At eleven o'clock -Mr. Hervey and Miss Chudleigh went out, as if to walk in the garden, -followed by Mrs. Hanmer, her servant--Anne Craddock, Mr. Merrill, and -Mr. Mountenay, which last carried a taper to read the service by. They -found Mr. Amis in the church, according to his appointment, and there -the service was celebrated, Mr. Mountenay holding the taper in his hat. -The ceremony being performed, Mrs. Hanmer's maid was despatched to see -that the coast was clear, and they returned into the house without being -observed by any of the servants." This is the account of the wedding -given at the trial by the Attorney General, from the evidence of Anne -Craddock, then the sole surviving witness. - -There was no signing of registers, Mr. Amis was left to make the proper -entry in the Sparsholt book--and he forgot to do this. The happiness of -the newly-married couple lasted but a few days--two, or at the outside, -three; and then Lieutenant Hervey left to rejoin his vessel, and in -November sailed for the West Indies. The "Authentic Detail" declares -that a violent quarrel broke out immediately on marriage between the -young people, and that Elizabeth declared her aversion, and vowed never -to associate with him again. - -So little was the marriage to her present advantage that Elizabeth was -unable to proclaim it, and thereby forfeit her situation as maid of -honour to the Princess, with its pay and perquisites. Consequently, by -her aunt's advice, she kept it concealed. - -"Miss Chudleigh, now Mrs. Hervey,--a maid in appearance, a wife in -disguise,--seemed from those who judge from externals only, to be in an -enviable situation. Of the higher circles she was the attractive centre, -of gayer life the invigorating spirit. Her royal mistress not only -smiled on, but actually approved her. A few friendships she cemented, -and conquests she made in such abundance that, like Cæsar in a triumph, -she had a train of captives at her heels. Her husband, quieted for a -time, grew obstreperous as she became more the object of admiration. He -felt his right, and was determined to assert it. She endeavoured by -letter to negotiate him into peace, but her efforts succeeded not. He -demanded a private interview, and, enforcing his demands by threats of -exposure in case of refusal, she complied through compulsion." - -The Duke of Hamilton returned from the grand tour, and he at once sought -Elizabeth to know why his letters had not been answered. Then the fraud -that had been practised on her was discovered, and the Duke laid his -coronet at her feet. She was unable to accept the offer, and unable also -to explain the reasons of her refusal. Rage at having been duped, -disappointment at having lost the strawberry leaves, embittered -Elizabeth, and stifled the germs of good principle in her. - -This is the generally received story. It is that given by the author, or -authoress, of the "Authentic Detail," usually well informed. But, as we -have seen, it is hardly possible to suppose that Mrs. Hanmer can have -suppressed the Duke's letters. No doubt she was a fool, and a woman, -when a fool, is of abnormal folly, yet she never loses sight of her own -interest; and it was not Mrs. Hanmer's interest to spoil the chances of -her niece with the Duke. - -After the Duke of Hamilton had been refused, and his visits to her -house in Conduit Street prohibited, the Duke of Ancaster, Lord Howe, and -other nobles made offers, and experienced a fate similar to that of his -Grace of Hamilton. This astonished the fashionable world, and Mrs. -Chudleigh, her mother, who was a stranger to the private marriage of her -daughter, reprehended her folly with warmth.[5] To be freed from her -embarrassments, Elizabeth resolved to travel. She embarked for the -Continent, and visited Dresden, where she became an attached friend of -the Electress of Saxony. - -On her return to England she was subjected to annoyance from her -husband. She could not forgive him the deception practised on her, -though he was probably innocent of connivance in it. - -"Captain Hervey, like a perturbed spirit, was eternally crossing the -path trodden by his wife. Was she in the rooms at Bath? he was sure to -be there. At a rout, ridotto, or ball, there was this fell destroyer of -peace, embittering every pleasure and blighting the fruit of happiness -by the pestilential malignity of his presence. As a proof of his -disposition to annoy, he menaced his wife with an intimation that he -would disclose the marriage to the Princess of Wales. In this Miss -Chudleigh anticipated him by being the first relater of the -circumstance. Her royal mistress heard and pitied her. She continued her -patronage to the hour of her death." - -In 1749, Elizabeth attended a masquerade ball in the dress, or rather -undress, of the character of Iphigenia. In a letter of Mrs. Montague to -her sister, she says, "Miss Chudleigh's dress, or rather undress, was -remarkable, she was Iphigenia for the sacrifice, but so naked, the high -priest might easily inspect the entrails of the victim. The Maids of -Honour (not of maids the strictest) were so offended they would not -speak to her." Horace Walpole says, "Miss Chudleigh was Iphigenia, but -so naked that you would have taken her for Andromeda." It was of her -that the witty remark was then first made that she resembled Eve in that -she was "naked and not ashamed." On May 17th Walpole writes: "I told you -we were to have another masquerade; there was one by the King's command -for Miss Chudleigh, the Maid of Honour, with whom our gracious monarch -has a mind to believe himself in love, so much in love, that at one of -the booths he gave her a fairing for her watch, which cost him -five-and-thirty guineas, actually disbursed out of his privy purse, and -not charged on the civil list. I hope some future Holinshed or Speed -will acquaint posterity that five-and-thirty guineas were an immense sum -in those days." - -In December 1750, George II. gave the situation of Housekeeper at -Windsor to Mrs. Chudleigh, Elizabeth's mother. Walpole says, "Two days -ago, the gallant Orondates (the King) strode up to Miss Chudleigh, and -told her he was glad to have the opportunity of obeying her commands, -that he appointed her mother Housekeeper at Windsor, and hoped she would -not think a kiss too great a reward--against all precedent he kissed her -in the circle. He has had a hankering these two years. Her life, which -is now of thirty years' standing, has been a little historic. Why should -not experience and a charming face on her side, and near seventy years -on his, produce a title?" - -In 1760 she gave a soirée on the Prince's birthday, which Horace Walpole -describes: "Poor thing," he writes, "I fear she has thrown away above a -quarter's salary!" - -The Duke of Kingston saw and was captivated by Elizabeth. Evelyn -Pierrepoint, Duke of Kingston, Marquis of Dorchester, Earl of Kingston, -and Viscount Newark, was born in 1711. Horace Walpole says of him that -he was "a very weak man, of the greatest beauty and finest person in -England." - -He had been to Paris along with Lord Scarborough, taking with him an -entire horse as a present to the Duke of Bourbon, and was unable to do -this without a special Act of Parliament to authorise him. The Duke of -Bourbon, in return for the compliment, placed his palace at Paris, and -his château of Chantilly at the disposal of the visitor. - -The Duke was handsome, young, wealthy and unmarried. A strong set was -made at him by the young ladies of the French court; but of all the -women he there met, none attracted his attentions and engaged his heart -but the Marquise de la Touche, a lady who had been married for ten years -and was the mother of three children. He finally persuaded her to elope -with him to England, where, however, he grew cold towards her, and when -he fell under the fascinations of Elizabeth Chudleigh he dismissed her. -The Marquise returned to France, and was reconciled to her husband; -there in 1786 she published her version of the story, and gave a history -of her rival, whom naturally she paints in the blackest colours. - -Now follows an incident which is stated in the English accounts of the -life of Elizabeth Chudleigh; but of which there is no mention in the -trial, and which is of more than doubtful truth. - -She had become desperate, resolved at all hazard to break the miserable -tie that bound her to Captain Hervey. She made a sudden descent on -Lainston--so runs the tale--visited the parsonage, and whilst Mr. Amis -was kept in conversation with one of her attendants, she tore out the -leaf of the register book that contained the entry of her marriage. - -This story cannot possibly be true. As already said, Lainston has no -parsonage, and never had. Lainston goes with Sparsholt, half-a-mile off. -But Mr. Amis never held Sparsholt, but acted as curate there for a while -in 1756 and 1757. Lainston had no original register. What Elizabeth did -was probably to convince herself that through inadvertence, her marriage -had not been registered in the parish book of Sparsholt. - -In 1751 died John, Earl of Bristol, and was succeeded by his grandson, -George William, who was unmarried. He was in delicate health; at one -time seriously ill, and it was thought he would die. In that case -Augustus John, Elizabeth's husband, would succeed to the Earldom of -Bristol. She saw now that it was to her interest to establish her -marriage. She accordingly took means to do so. - -She went at once to Winchester and sent for the wife of Mr. Amis, who -had married her. She told Mrs. Amis that she wanted the register of her -marriage to be made out. Mr. Amis then lay on his death-bed, but, -nevertheless, she went to the rectory to obtain of him what she desired. -What ensued shall be told in the words of Mrs. Amis at the trial. - -"I went up to Mr. Amis and told him her request. Then Mr. Merrill and -the lady consulted together whom to send for, and they desired me to -send for Mr. Spearing, the attorney. I did send for him, and during the -time the messenger was gone the lady concealed herself in a closet; she -said she did not care that Mr. Spearing should know that she was there. -When Mr. Spearing came, Mr. Merrill produced a sheet of stamped paper -that he brought to make the register upon. Mr. Spearing said it would -not do; it must be a book, and that the lady must be at the making of -it. Then I went to the closet and told the lady. Then the lady came to -Mr. Spearing, and Mr. Spearing told the lady a sheet of stamped paper -would not do, it must be a book. Then the lady desired Mr. Spearing to -go and buy one. Mr. Spearing went and bought one, and when brought, the -register was made. Then Mr. Amis delivered it to the lady; the lady -thanked him, and said it might be an hundred thousand pounds in her way. -Before Mr. Merrill and the lady left my house the lady sealed up the -register and gave it to me, and desired I would take care of it until -Mr. Amis's death, and then deliver it to Mr. Merrill." - -The entries made thus were those: - - - "2 August, Mrs. Susanna Merrill, relict of John Merrill, Esq. - buried. - - 4 August, 1744, married the Honourable Augustus Hervey, Esq., in - the parish Church of Lainston, to Miss Elizabeth Chudleigh, - daughter of Col. Thomas Chudleigh, late of Chelsea College, by me, - Thos. Amis." - - -Unfortunately this register book was taken up to Westminster at the -trial of the Duchess and was never returned. Application was made to -Elbrow Woodcock, solicitor in the trial, for the return of the book, by -the then rector and patron of the living, but in vain; and in December, -1777, a new register book was purchased for the parish. - -The Earl recovered, and did not die till some years later, in 1775, when -Augustus John did succeed to the earldom. - -In 1751, the Prince of Wales died, and this necessitated a rearrangement -of the household of the Princess. Elizabeth was reappointed maid of -honour to her, still in her maiden name. Soon after--that is, in -1752--the Duke of Hamilton married the beautiful Miss Gunning. - -In 1760 the king was dead. "Charles Townshend, receiving an account of -the impression the king's death had made," writes Walpole, "was told -Miss Chudleigh cried. 'What,' said he, 'oysters?'" "There is no keeping -off age," he writes in 1767, "as Miss Chudleigh does, by sticking roses -and sweet peas in one's hair." - -Before this, in 1765, the Duke of Kingston's affection for her seeming -to wane, Elizabeth, who was getting fat as well as old, started for -Carlsbad to drink the waters. "She has no more wanted the Carlsbad -waters than you did," wrote Lord Chesterfield. "Is it to show the Duke -of Kingston he can not live without her? A dangerous experiment, which -may possibly convince him that he can. There is a trick, no doubt, in -it, but what, I neither know nor care." "Is the fair, or, at least, the -fat Miss Chudleigh with you still? It must be confessed she knows the -arts of courts to be so received at Dresden and so connived at in -Leicester Fields." - -At last the bonds of a marriage in which he was never allowed even to -speak with his wife became intolerable to Captain Hervey; and some -negotiations were entered into between them, whereby it was agreed that -she should institute a suit in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of -London for the jactitation of the marriage, and that he should not -produce evidence to establish it. The case came on in the Michaelmas -term, 1768, and was in form, proceedings to restrain the Hon. Augustus -John Hervey from asserting that Elizabeth Chudleigh was his wife, "to -the great danger of his soul's health, no small prejudice to the said -Hon. Elizabeth Chudleigh, and pernicious example of others." - -There was a counter-suit of Captain Hervey against her, in which he -asserted that in 1743 or 1744, being then a minor of the age of -seventeen or eighteen, he had contracted himself in marriage to -Elizabeth Chudleigh, and she to him; and that they had been married in -the house of Mr. Merrill, on August 9, 1744, at eleven o'clock at night, -by the Rev. Thomas Amis, since deceased, and in the presence of Mrs. -Hanmer and Mr. Mountenay, both also deceased. - -As will be seen, the counter-libel was incorrectly drawn. The marriage -had not taken place in the house, but in the church; Mr. Hervey was aged -twenty, not seventeen or eighteen; and Anne Craddock, the sole surviving -witness of the ceremony, was not mentioned. The register of the marriage -was not produced,[6] and no serious attempt was made to establish it. -Accordingly, on February 10, 1769, sentence was given, declaring the -marriage form gone through in 1744 to have been null and void, and to -restrain Mr. Hervey from asserting his claim to be husband to Miss -Elizabeth Chudleigh, and condemning him in costs to the sum of one -hundred pounds. - -As the Attorney-General said at her subsequent trial, "a grosser -artifice, I believe, than this suit was never fabricated." - -On March 8, 1769, the Duke of Kingston married Elizabeth Chudleigh by -special licence from the Archbishop, the minister who performed it being -the Rev. Samuel Harper, of the British Museum, and the Church, St. -Margaret's, Westminster. The Prince and Princess of Wales wore favours -on the occasion. - -No attempt was made during the lifetime of the Duke to dispute the -legality of the marriage. Neither he nor Elizabeth had the least doubt -that the former marriage had been legally dissolved. It was, no doubt, -the case that Captain Hervey made no real attempt to prove his -marriage, he was as impatient of the bond as was she. It can hardly be -doubted that the sentence of the Ecclesiastical Court was just. Captain -Hervey was a minor at the time, and the poor girl had been deluded into -marrying him by her wretched aunt. Advantage had been taken of her--a -mere girl--by the woman who was her natural guardian in the absence of -her mother. Such a marriage would at once be annulled in the Court of -the Church of Rome; it would be annulled in a modern English divorce -court. - -The fortune of the Duke was not entailed; his Grace had, therefore, the -option to bequeath it as seemed best to his inclination. His nearest of -kin were his nephews, Evelyn and Charles Meadows, sons of Lady Francis -Pierrepont; Charles was in 1806 created Earl Manners; he had previously -changed his name to Pierrepont, and been created Baron Pierrepont and -Viscount Newark in 1796. - -The Duke was and remained warmly attached to the Duchess. She made him -happy. She had plenty of conversation, had her mind stored with gossip, -and though old, oldened gracefully and pleasantly. Her bitter enemy--an -old servant and confidant, who furnished the materials for the -"Authentic Detail," says, "Contrarily gifted and disposed, they were -frequently on discordant terms, but she had a strong hold on his mind." - -On September 23, 1773, the Duke died. The Duchess had anticipated his -death. He had already made his will, bequeathing to her the entire -income of his estates during her life, subject to the proviso that she -remained in a state of widowhood. This did not at all please the -Duchess, and directly she saw that her husband was dying she sent for a -solicitor, a Mr. Field, to draw up a new will, omitting the obnoxious -proviso; she was only by two years on the right side of fifty, and might -marry again. When Mr. Field was introduced to the Duke, he saw that the -dying man was not in a mental condition capable of executing a will, and -he refused to have anything to do with an attempt to extort his -signature from him. The Duchess was very angry; but the refusal of Mr. -Field was most fortunate for her, as, had the will proposed been -executed, it would most indubitably have been set aside. - -As soon as the Duke was dead the dowager Duchess determined to enjoy -life. She had a pleasure yacht built, placed in command of it an officer -who had served in the navy, fitted it up with every luxury, sailed for -Italy, and visited Rome, where the Pope and the cardinals received her -with great courtesy. Indeed, she was given up one of the palaces of the -cardinals for her residence. Whilst she was amusing herself in Italy -something happened in England that was destined to materially spoil her -happiness. Anne Craddock was still alive, the sole witness of her -marriage that survived. She was in bad circumstances, and applied to Mr. -Field for pecuniary relief. He refused it, but the Duchess sent to offer -her twenty guineas per annum. This Anne Craddock refused, and gave -intimation to Mr. Evelyn Meadows that she had information of importance -which she could divulge. - -When Mr. Meadows heard what Anne Craddock had to say, he set the -machinery of the law in motion to obtain the prosecution of the Duchess, -in the hopes of convicting her of bigamy, and then of upsetting the will -of the late Duke in her favour. A bill of indictment for bigamy was -preferred against her; the bill was found, Mr. Field had notice of the -procedure, and the Duchess was advised to return instantly to England -and appear to the indictment, to prevent an outlawry. - -At this time--that is, in 1775--the Earl of Bristol died without issue, -and Augustus John, her first husband, succeeded to the title. - -The anxieties of the Duchess were not confined to the probable issue of -the trial. Samuel Foote, the comedian, took a despicable advantage of -her situation to attempt to extort money from her. He wrote a farce, -entitled "A Trip to Calais," in which he introduced her Grace under the -sobriquet of Lady Kitty Crocodile, and stuffed the piece with -particulars relative to the private history of the Duchess, which he had -obtained from Miss Penrose, a young lady who had been about her person -for many years. When the piece was finished, he contrived to have it -communicated to her Grace that the Haymarket Theatre would open with the -entertainment in which she was held up to ridicule and scorn. She was -alarmed, and sent for Foote. He attended with the piece in his pocket. -She desired him to read a part of it. He obeyed; and had not read far -before she could no longer control herself, but, starting up in a rage, -exclaimed, "This is scandalous, Mr. Foote! Why, what a wretch you have -made me!" After a few turns round the room, she composed herself to -inquire on what terms he would suppress the play. Foote had the -effrontery to demand two thousand pounds. She offered him fourteen, then -sixteen hundred pounds; but he, grasping at too much, lost all. She -consulted the Duke of Newcastle, and the Lord Chamberlain was apprised -of the circumstances, and his interference solicited. He sent for the -manuscript copy of the "Trip to Calais," perused, and censured it. In -the event of its publication she threatened to prosecute Foote for -libel. Public opinion ranged itself on the side of the Duchess, and Dr. -Schomberg only expressed its opinion when he said that "Foote deserved -to be run through the body for such an attempt. It was more ignoble than -the conduct of a highwayman." - -On April 17, 1776, the trial of the Duchess came on in Westminster Hall, -and lasted five days. The principal object argued was the admission, or -not, of a sentence of the Spiritual Court, in a suit for jactitation of -marriage, in an indictment for polygamy. As the judges decided against -the admission of such a sentence in bar to evidence, the fact of the two -marriages was most clearly proved, and a conviction of course followed. -The Duchess was tried by the Peers, a hundred and nineteen of whom sat -and passed judgment upon her, all declaring "Guilty, upon mine honour," -except the Duke of Newcastle, who pronounced "Guilty, erroneously; but -not intentionally, upon mine honour." - -No sooner did the Duchess see that her cause was lost than she -determined to escape out of England. The penalty for bigamy was death, -but she could escape this sentence by claiming the benefits of the -statute 3 and 4 William and Mary, which left her in a condition to be -burnt in the hand, or imprisoned; but she claimed the benefit of the -peerage, and the Lord Chief Baron, having conferred with the rest of the -judges, delivered their unanimous opinion that she ought "to be -immediately discharged." However, her prosecutors prepared a writ "ne -exeat regno," to obtain her arrest and the deprivation of her personal -property. To escape this she fled to Dover, where her yacht was in -waiting, and crossed to Calais, whilst amusing the public and her -prosecutors by issuing invitations to a dinner at Kingston House, and -causing her carriage to appear in the most fashionable quarters of the -town. Mr. Meadows had carried his first point; she could no longer call -herself Dowager Duchess of Kingston in England, but she was reinstated -in her position of wife to Augustus John Hervey, and was therefore now -Countess of Bristol. Mr. Meadows next proceeded to attack the will of -the late Duke, but in this attempt he utterly failed. The will was -confirmed, and Elizabeth, Countess of Bristol, was acknowledged as -lawfully possessed of life interest in the property of the Duke so long -as she remained unmarried. Mr. Meadows was completely ruined, and his -sole gain was to keep the unhappy woman an exile from England. - -Abroad the Countess was still received as Duchess of Kingston. She lived -in considerable state, and visited Italy, Russia, and France. Her visit -to St. Petersburg was splendid, and to ensure a favourable reception by -the Empress Catharine she sent her a present of some of the valuable -paintings by old masters from Kingston House. When in Russia she -purchased an estate near the capital, to which she gave the name of -Chudleigh, and which cost her 25,000_l._[7] The Empress also gave her a -property on the Neva. She had a corvette built of mahogany which was to -be a present to the Empress, but the vessel stranded on the coast of -Ingermanland. Eight of the cannons out of her are now at Chudleigh, -almost the only things there that recall the Duchess. She gave -magnificent entertainments; at one of these, to which the Empress was -invited, a hundred and forty of her own servants attended in the -Kingston livery of black turned up with red and silver. - -On her return from Russia she bought an estate at Montmartre, which cost -her 9,000_l._, and another that belonged to one of the French royal -princes at Saint Assise, which cost her 55,000_l._ The château was so -large that three hundred beds could be made up in it. - -She was getting on in years, but did not lose her energy, her vivacity, -and her selfishness. Once in Rome, the story goes, she had been invited -to visit some tombs that were famous. She replied with a touch of real -feeling: "Ce n'est pas la peine de chercher des tombeaux, on en porte -assez dans son coeur." - -The account of her death shall be given in the words of the author of -"Authentic Detail." - -"She was at dinner, when her servants received intelligence of a -sentence respecting the house near Paris having been awarded against -her. She flew into a violent passion, and, in the agitation of her mind -and body, burst an internal blood-vessel. Even this she appeared to have -surmounted, until a few days afterwards, on the morning of the 26th -August (1788), when about to rise from her bed, a servant who had long -been with her endeavoured at dissuasion. The Duchess addressed her thus: -'I am not very well, but I _will_ rise. At your peril disobey me; I will -get up and walk about the room. Ring for the secretary to assist me.' -She was obeyed, dressed, and the secretary entered the chamber. The -Duchess then walked about, complained of thirst, and said, 'I could -drink a glass of my fine Madeira and eat a slice of toasted bread; I -shall be quite well afterwards; but let it be a large glass of wine.' -The attendant reluctantly brought and the Duchess drank the wine. She -then said, 'I knew the Madeira would do me good. My heart feels oddly; I -will have another glass.' She then walked a little about the room, and -afterwards said, 'I will lie on the couch.' She sat on the couch, a -female having hold of each hand. In this situation she soon appeared to -have fallen into a profound sleep, until the women found her hands -colder than ordinary; other domestics were rung for, and the Duchess was -found to have expired, as the wearied labourer sinks into the arms of -rest." - -Was it a touch of final malice or of real regret that caused the old -lady, by codicil to her will dated May 10, 1787, to leave pearl earrings -and necklace to the Marquise de la Touche? Was it a token that she -forgave her the cruel book, "Les aventures trop amoureuses; ou, -Elizabeth Chudleigh," which she wrote, or caused to be written, for the -blackening of her rival, and the whitewashing of herself? Let us hope it -was so. The proviso in the Duke's will saved her from herself; but for -that she would have married an adventurer who called himself the -Chevalier de Wortha, a man who obtained great influence over her, and -finally died by his own hand. - -Elizabeth Chudleigh's character and career have never been sketched by -friends; her enemies, those jealous of her fascinations, angry at her -success, discontented with not having been sufficiently considered in -her will, have given us their impressions of her, have poured out all -the evil they knew and imagined of her. She has been hardly used. The -only perfectly reliable authority for her history is the report of her -trial, and that covers only one portion of her story. The "Authentic -Detail" published by G. Kearsley, London, in 1788, is anonymous. It is -fairly reliable, but tinctured by animosity. The book "Les Aventures -trop Amoureuses, ou, Elizabeth Chudleigh, ex-duchesse douairière de -Kingston, aujourd'hui Comtesse de Bristol, et la Marquise de la Touche. -Londres, aux depens des Interessez, 1776," was composed for the -justification of Madame de la Touche, and with all the venom of a -discomfited and supplanted rival. - -An utterly worthless book, "Histoire de la vie et des Aventures de la -Duchesse de Kingston, a Londres, et se trouve à Paris, Chez Quillot, -1789," is fiction. It pretends to be based on family papers. At the -commencement it gives a portion of the diary of Col. Thomas Chudleigh, -in which, among other impossibilities, he records his having reduced the -rents of his tenants on his estates twenty per cent. because the year -was bad. As it happened, Col. Thomas Chudleigh neither possessed an acre -of land, nor a tenant. - -In 1813 appeared "La Duchesse de Kingston, memoires rédigés par M. de -Favolle," in two volumes; this is based solely on the preceding with -rich additions from the imagination of the author. Not a statement in it -can be trusted. - -Some little reliable information may be found in the "Memoires de la -Baronne d'Oberkirch," Paris 1853. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[4] In Col. Vivian's "Visitations of the County of Devon," the pedigree -is not so complete. He was unaware who the wife of Thos. Chudleigh was, -and he had not seen the will of the duchess. - -[5] Mrs. Chudleigh died in 1756, and her will mentions her daughter by -her maiden name. - -[6] Mr. John Merrill died February 1767, and his burial was entered in -it. Mr. Bathurst, who had married his daughter, found the register book -in the hall, and handed it over to the rector, Mr. Kinchin. Nevertheless -it was not produced at the hearing of the case for jactitation in the -Consistory Court. - -[7] This place still bears the name. It is on the main road through -Livland and Esthonia to St. Petersburg; about twenty miles from Narwa. -It also goes by the name of Fockenhof. The present mansion is more -modern, and belongs to the family of Von Wilcken. - - - - -General Mallet. - - -On the return of Napoleon to Paris from Moscow, he was depressed with -news that troubled him more than the loss of his legions. The news that -had reached him related to perhaps the most extraordinary conspiracy -that was ever devised, and which was within an ace of complete success. -It was the news of this conspiracy that induced him to desert the army -in the snows of Russia and hasten to Paris. The thoughts of this -conspiracy frustrated by an accident, as Alison says, "incessantly -occupied his mind during his long and solitary journey." - -"Gentlemen," said Napoleon, when the report of the conspiracy was read -over to him, "we must no longer disbelieve in miracles." - -Claude François Mallet belonged to a noble family in the Franche Comté. -He was born on June 28th, 1754, at Dole, and passed his early life in -the army, where he commanded one of the first battalions of the Jura at -the commencement of the Revolution. In May 1793, he was elevated to the -rank of adjutant-General, and in August 1799, made General of Brigade, -and commanded a division under Championnet. He was a man of -enthusiastically Republican views, and viewed the progress of Napoleon -with dissatisfaction mingled with envy. There can be no question as to -what his opinions were at first; whether he changed them afterwards is -not so certain. He was a reserved, hard, and bitter man, ambitious and -restless. Envy of Napoleon, jealousy of his success seems to have been -the ruling motive in his heart that made of him a conspirator, and not -genuine disgust at Cæsarism. - -Bonaparte knew his political opinions; and though he did not fear the -man, he did not trust him. He became implicated in some illegal -exactions at Civita Vecchia, in the Roman States, and was in consequence -deprived of his command, and sent before a commission of enquiry at -Paris, in July 1807; and, in virtue of their sentence, he was confined -for a short while, and then again set at liberty and reinstated. In -1808, when the war in the Peninsula broke out, Mallet entered at Dijon -into a plot, along with some old anarchists, for the overthrow of the -Emperor, among them the ex-General Guillaume, who betrayed the plot, and -Mallet was arrested and imprisoned in La Force. Napoleon did not care -that conspiracies against himself and his throne should be made public, -and consequently he contented himself with the detention of Mallet -alone. - -In prison, the General did not abandon his schemes, and he had the lack -of prudence to commit them to paper. This fell into the hands of the -Government. The minister regarded the scheme as chimerical and -unimportant. The papers were shown to Napoleon, who apparently regarded -the scheme or the man as really dangerous, and ordered him to perpetual -detention in prison. - -Time passed, and Mallet and his schemes were forgotten. Who could -suppose that a solitary prisoner, without means, without the opportunity -of making confederates, could menace the safety of the Empire? - -Then came the Russian campaign, in 1812. Mallet saw what Napoleon did -not; the inevitable failure that must attend it; and he immediately -renewed his attempts to form a plot against the Emperor. - -But the prison of La Force was bad headquarters from which to work. He -pretended to be ill, and he was removed to a hospital, that of the -Doctor Belhomme near the Barrière du Trône. In this house were the two -brothers Polignac, a M. de Puyvert, and the Abbé Lafon, who in 1814 -wrote and published an account of this conspiracy of Mallet. These men -were Royalists, and Mallet was a Republican. It did not matter so long -as Napoleon could be overthrown, how divergent their views might be as -to what form of Government was to take the place of the Empire. - -They came to discussion, and the Royalists supposed that they had -succeeded in convincing Mallet. He, on his side, was content to -dissemble his real views, and to make use of these men as his agents. - -The Polignac brothers were uneasy, they were afraid of the consequences, -and they mistrusted the man who tried to draw them into his plot. -Perhaps, also, they considered his scheme too daring to succeed. -Accordingly they withdrew from the hospital, to be out of his reach. It -was not so with the others. The Polignacs had been mixed up in the -enterprise of Georges, and had no wish to be again involved. Whether -there were many others in the plot we do not know, Lafon names only -four, and it does not seem that M. de Puyvert took a very active part in -it. - -Mallet's new scheme was identical with the old one that had been taken -from him and shown to Napoleon. Napoleon had recognized its daring and -ability, and had not despised it. That no further fear of Mallet was -entertained is clear, or he would never have been transferred from the -prison to a private hospital, where he would be under very little -supervision. - -In his hospital, Mallet drew up the following report of a Session of the -Senate, imagined by himself: - - - "SÉNAT CONSERVATEUR - - "Session of 22 October, 1812. - - "The Session was opened at 8 P.M., under the presidency of Senator - Sieyes. - - "The occasion of this extraordinary Session was the receipt of the - news of the death of the Emperor Napoleon, under the walls of - Moscow, on the 8th of the month. - - "The Senate, after mature consideration of the condition of affairs - caused by this event, named a Commission to consider the danger of - the situation, and to arrange for the maintenance of Government and - order. After having received the report of this Commission, the - following orders were passed by the Senate. - - "That as the Imperial Government has failed to satisfy the - aspirations of the French people, and secure peace, it be decreed - annulled forthwith. - - "That all such officers military and civil as shall use their - authority prejudicially to the re-establishment of the Republic, - shall be declared outlawed. - - "That a Provisional Government be established, to consist of 13 - members:--Moreau, President; Carnot, Vice-President; General - Augereau, Bigonet, Destutt-Tracy, Florent Guyot, Frochot; Mathieu - Montmorency, General Mallet, Noailles, Truguet; Volney, Garat. - - "That this Provisional Government be required to watch over the - internal and external safety of the State, and to enter into - negociations with the military powers for the re-establishment of - peace. - - "That a constitution shall be drawn up and submitted to the General - Assembly of the French realm. - - "That the National Guard be reconstituted as formerly. - - "That a general Amnesty be proclaimed for all political offences; - that all emigrants, exiles, be permitted to return. - - "That the freedom of the Press be restored. - - "That the command of the army of the Centre, and which consists of - 50,000 men, and is stationed near Paris, be given to General - Lecombe. - - "That General Mallet replaces General Hulin as commandant of Paris, - and in the first division. He will have the right to nominate the - officers in the general staff that will surround him." - - -There were many other orders, 19 in all, but these will suffice to -indicate the tendency of the document. It was signed by the President -and his Secretaries. - - - President, SIEYES. - - Secretaries, LANJUINAIS, et GREGOIRE. - - "Approved, and compared with a similar paper in my own hands, - - Signed, MALLET, - General of Division, Commandant of the main army of - Paris, and of the forces of the First Division." - - -This document, which was designed to be shown to the troops, to the -officers and officials, was drawn up in a form so close to the genuine -form, and the signatures and seals were so accurately imitated, that the -document was not likely at the first glance to excite mistrust. - -Moreover, Mallet had drawn up an order for the day, and a proclamation, -which was printed in many thousand copies. - -On the 22nd October, 1812, at 10 o'clock at night, after he had been -playing cards with great composure in the hospital, Mallet made his -escape, along with four others, one was the Abbé Lafon, another a -corporal named Rateau, whom he had named as his aide-de-camp. Mallet had -just twelve francs in his pocket, and so furnished he embarked on his -undertaking to upset the throne of the Emperor. He at once went to a -Spanish monk, whose acquaintance he had made in prison; and in his rooms -found his general's uniform which had been brought there by a woman the -evening before. Uniforms and swords for his confederates were also -ready. But it rained that night--it rained in torrents, and the streets -of Paris ran with water. It has been remarked that rain in Paris has a -very sobering effect on political agitations, and acts even better than -bayonets in preventing a disturbance of the public peace. - -Mallet and his confederates could not leave their shelter till after -midnight, and some of them did not appear at the place of rendezvous -till 6 o'clock in the morning. Indisputably this had much to do with the -defeat of the plot. - -The success of the undertaking depended on darkness, on the sudden -bewilderment of minds, and the paralysis of the government through the -assassination of some of the ministers. About 2 A.M. Mallet appeared in -his general's uniform, attended by some of his confederates also in -uniform, at the Popincour barracks, and demanded to see the Commandant -Soulier at once, giving his name as Lamothe. Soulier was in bed asleep. -He was also unwell. He was roused from his slumbers, hastily dressed -himself, and received a sealed letter, which he broke open, and read: - - - "To the General of Division, Commandant-in-Chief of the troops - under arms in Paris, and the troops of the First Division, Soulier, - Commandant of the 10th Cohort." - - "General Headquarters, - "Place Vendôme. - "23_rd_ Oct., 1812, 10 o'clock a.m. - - "M. LE COMMANDANT,--I have given orders to the General Lamothe with - a police commissioner to attend at your barracks, and to read - before you and your Cohort the decree of the senate consequent on - the receipt of the news of the death of the Emperor, and the - cessation of the Imperial Government. The said general will - communicate to you the Order for the Day, which you will be pleased - to further to the General of Brigade. You are required to get the - troops under arms with all possible despatch and quietness. By - daybreak, the officers who are in barracks will be sent to the - Place de Grève, there to await their companies, which will there - assemble, after the instructions which General Lamothe will furnish - have been carried out." - - -Then ensued a series of dispositions for the troops, and the whole was -signed by Mallet. - -When Soulier had read this letter, Mallet, who pretended to be General -Lamothe, handed him the document already given, relating to the assembly -of the Senate, and its decisions. Then he gave him the Order for the -Day, for the 23rd and 24th October. - -Colonel Soulier, raised from sleep, out of health, bewildered, did not -for a moment mistrust the messenger, or the documents handed to him. He -hastened at once to put in execution the orders he had received. - -The same proceedings were gone through in the barracks of Les Minimes, -and of Picpus; the decree of the Senate, the Order of the Day, and a -Proclamation, were read by torchlight. - -Everywhere the same success. The officers had not the smallest doubt as -to the authenticity of the papers presented to them. Everywhere also the -Proclamation announcing the death of the Emperor, the cessation of the -Empire, and the establishment of the Provisional Government was being -placarded about. - -At 6 A.M., at the head of a troop, Mallet, still acting as General -Lamothe, marched before the prison of La Force, and the Governor was -ordered to open the gates. The Decree of the Senate and the Order of the -Day were read to him, and he was required at once to discharge three -state prisoners he held, General Guidal, Lahorie, and a Corsican, -Bocchejampe, together with certain officers there confined. He did as -required, and Mallet separated his troops into four detachments, keeping -one under his own command, and placing the others under the orders of -Guidal, Lahorie and Bocchejampe. - -Guidal and Lahorie, by his orders, now marched to the Ministry of -Police, where they arrested Savary, Duke of Rovigo, Minister of Police. -At the same time Boutreux, another confederate, had gone to the -prefecture of the Paris police, had arrested the prefect, Pasquier, and -sent him to be confined in La Force. - -Mallet, now at the head of 150 men, went to the État-Major de-la-place, -to go through the same farce with the Commandant-de-place, and get him -to subscribe the Order for the Day. Count Hullin refused. Mallet -presented a pistol at his head, fired, and Hullin fell covered with -blood to the ground. Mallet left him for dead, but fortunately only his -jaw was broken. By means of a forged order addressed to the commandant -of one of the regiments of the paid guard of Paris, he occupied the -National Bank, in which, at the time, there was a considerable treasure -in specie. - -The État-Major of Paris was a post of the highest importance, as it was -the headquarters of the whole military authority in Paris. Before Mallet -approached it, he sent a packet to the Adjutant-General Doucet, of a -similar tenor to that given to Soulier and the other colonels, and -containing his nomination as general of brigade, and a treasury order -for a hundred thousand francs. - -Soulier, Colonel of the 10th Cohort, obeying the orders he had received, -the authenticity of which he did not for a moment dispute, had in the -meantime made himself master of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and had stationed a -strong force in the square before the building. Frochot, Prefect of the -Seine, was riding into Paris from his country house at half-past eight -in the morning, when he was met by his servants, in great excitement, -with a note from Mallet, on the outside of which were written the -ominous words "Fuit Imperator." Now it so happened that no tidings of -the Emperor had been received for twenty-five days, and much uneasiness -was felt concerning him. When Frochot therefore received this notice, he -believed it, and hurried to the Hôtel-de-Ville. There he received a -despatch from Mallet, under the title of Governor of Paris, ordering him -to make ready the principal apartment in the building for the use of -the Provisional Government. Not for a moment did Frochot remember -that--even if the Emperor were dead, there was the young Napoleon, to -whom his allegiance was due; he at once obeyed the orders he had -received, and began to make the Hôtel ready for the meeting of the -Provisional Government. Afterwards when he was reminded that there was a -son to Napoleon, and that his duty was to support him, Frochot answered, -"Ah! I forgot that. I was distracted with the news." - -By means of the forged orders despatched everywhere, all the barriers of -Paris had been seized and were closed, and positive orders were issued -that no one was to be allowed to enter or leave Paris. - -Mallet now drew up before the État-Major-Général, still accompanied and -obeyed by the officer and detachment. Nothing was wanting now but the -command of the adjutant-general's office to give to Mallet the entire -direction of the military force of Paris, with command of the telegraph, -and with it of all France. With that, and with the treasury already -seized, he would be master of the situation. In another ten minutes -Paris would be in his hand, and with Paris the whole of France. - -An accident--an accident only--at that moment saved the throne of -Napoleon. Doucet was a little suspicious about the orders--or allowed it -afterwards to be supposed that he was. He read them, and stood in -perplexity. He would have put what doubts presented themselves aside, -had it not been for his aide-de-camp, Laborde. It happened that Laborde -had had charge of Mallet in La Force, and had seen him there quite -recently. He came down to enter the room where was Doucet, standing in -doubt before Mallet. Mallet's guard was before the door, and would have -prevented him from entering; however, he peremptorily called to them to -suffer him to pass, and the men, accustomed to obey his voice, allowed -him to enter. The moment he saw Mallet in his general's uniform, he -recognised him and said, "But--how the devil!-- That is my prisoner. How -came he to escape?" Doucet still hesitated, and attempted to explain, -when Laborde cut his superior officer short with, "There is something -wrong here. Arrest the fellow, and I will go at once to the minister of -police." - -Mallet put his hand in his pocket to draw out the pistol with which he -had shot Hullin, when the gesture was observed in a mirror opposite, and -before he had time to draw and cock the pistol, Doucet and Laborde were -on him, and had disarmed him. - -Laborde, with great promptitude, threw open the door, and announced to -the soldiers the deceit that had been practised on them, and assured -them that the tidings of the death of the Emperor were false. - -The arrest of Mallet disconcerted the whole conspiracy. Had Generals -Lahorie and Guidal been men of decision and resolution they might still -have saved it, but this they were not; though at the head of -considerable bodies of men, the moment they saw that their chief had met -with a hitch in carrying out his plan, they concluded that all was lost, -and made the best of their way from their posts to places of -concealment. - -It was not till 8 o'clock that Saulnier, General Secretary of Police, -heard of the arrest and imprisonment of his chief, Savary, Duke of -Rovigo. He at once hastened to Cambaçérès, the President of the Ministry -in the absence of the Emperor, and astonished and alarmed him with the -tidings. Then Saulnier hastened to Hullin, whom he found weltering in -his blood, and unable to speak. - -Baron Pasquier, released from La Force, attempted to return to his -prefecture. The soldiers posted before it refused to admit him, and -threatened to shoot him, believing that he had escaped from prison, and -he was obliged to take refuge in an adjoining house. Laborde, who about -noon came there, was arrested by the soldiers, and conducted by them as -a prisoner to the État-Major-Gênéral, to deliver him over to General -Mallet; and it was with difficulty that they could be persuaded that -they had been deceived, and that Mallet was himself, at that moment, in -irons. - -Savary, released from La Force, had Mallet and the rest of the -conspirators brought before him. Soulier also, for having given too -ready a credence to the forged orders, was also placed under arrest, to -be tried along with the organisers and carriers out of the plot. - -Mallet confessed with great composure that he had planned the whole, but -he peremptorily refused to say whether he had aiders or sympathisers -elsewhere. - -Lahorie could not deny that he had taken an active part, but declared -that it was against his will, his whole intention being to make a run -for the United States, there to spend the rest of his days in -tranquillity. He asserted that he had really believed that the Emperor -was dead. - -Guidal tried to pass the whole off as a joke; but when he saw that he -was being tried for his life, he became greatly and abjectly alarmed. - -Next day the generals and those in the army who were under charge were -brought before a military commission. Saulnier had an interesting -interview with Mallet that day. He passed through the hall where Mallet -was dining, when the prisoner complained that he was not allowed the use -of a knife. Saulnier at once ordered that he might be permitted one; and -this consideration seems to have touched Mallet, for he spoke with more -frankness to Saulnier than he did before his judges. When the General -Secretary of Police asked him how he could dream of success attending -such a mad enterprise, Mallet replied, "I had already three regiments of -infantry on my side. Very shortly I would have been surrounded by the -thousands who are weary of the Napoleonic yoke, and are longing for a -change of order. Now, I was convinced that the moment the news of my -success in Paris reached him, Napoleon would leave his army and fly -home, I would have been prepared for him at Mayence, and have had him -shot there. If it had not been for the cowardice of Guidal and Lahorie, -my plot would have succeeded. I had resolved to collect 50,000 men at -Chalons sur Marne to cover Paris. The promise I would have made to send -all the conscripts to their homes, the moment the crisis was over, would -have rallied all the soldiers to my side." - -On October 23, the prisoners to the number of twenty-four were tried, -and fourteen were condemned to be shot, among these, Mallet, Guidai, -Lahorie, and the unfortunate Soulier. Mallet at the trial behaved with -great intrepidity. "Who are your accomplices?" asked the President. "The -whole of France," answered Mallet, "and if I had succeeded, you yourself -at their head. One who openly attacks a government by force, if he -fails, expects to die." When he was asked to make his defence, -"Monsieur," he said, "a man who has constituted himself defender of the -rights of his Fatherland, needs no defence." - -Soulier put in as an apology, that the news of the death of the Emperor -had produced such a sudorific effect on him, that he had been obliged to -change his shirt four times in a quarter of an hour. This was not -considered sufficient to establish his attachment to the Imperial -government. - -In the afternoon of the same day the fourteen were conveyed to the plain -of Grenelle to be shot, when pardon was accorded by the Empress Regent -to two of the condemned, the Corporal Rateau, and Colonel Rabbe. When -the procession passed through the Rue Grenelle, Mallet saw a group of -students looking on; "Young men," he called to them, "remember the 23rd -October." Arrived on the place of execution, some of the condemned cried -out, "Vive l'empereur!" only a few "Vive la République." - -Mallet requested that his eyes might not be bandaged, and maintained the -utmost coolness. He received permission, at his own desire, to give the -requisite orders to the soldiers drawn up to shoot him and his party. -"Peloton! Present!" The soldiers, moved by the tragic catastrophe, -obeyed, but not promptly. "That is bad!" called Mallet, "imagine you are -before the foe. Once again--Attention!--Present!" This time it was -better. "Not so bad this time, but still not well," said the General; -"now pay attention, and mind, when I say Fire, that all your guns are -discharged as one. It is a good lesson for you to see how brave men die. -Now then, again, Attention!" For a quarter of an hour he put the men -through their drill, till he observed that his comrades were in the most -deplorable condition. Some had fainted, some were in convulsions. Then -he gave the command: Fire! the guns rattled and the ten fell to the -ground, never to rise again. Mallet alone reeled, for a moment or two -maintaining his feet, and then he also fell over, without a sound, and -was dead. - -"But for the singular accident," says Savary, "which caused the arrest -of the Minister of War to fail, Mallet, in a few moments, would have -been master of almost everything; and in a country so much influenced by -the contagion of example, there is no saying where his success would -have stopped. He would have had possession of the treasury, then -extremely rich; the post office, the telegraph, and the command of the -hundred cohorts of the National Guard. He would soon have learned the -alarming situation in Russia; and nothing could have prevented him from -making prisoner of the Emperor himself if he returned alone, or from -marching to meet him, if he had come at the head of his shattered -forces." - -As Alison says, "When the news reached Napoleon, one only idea took -possession of his imagination--that in this crisis the succession of his -son was, by common consent, set aside; one only truth was ever present -to his mind--that the Imperial Crown rested on himself alone. The fatal -truth was brought home to him that the Revolution had destroyed the -foundations of hereditary succession; and that the greatest achievements -by him who wore the diadem afforded no security that it would descend to -his progeny. These reflections, which seem to have burst on Napoleon all -at once, when the news of this extraordinary affair reached him in -Russia, weighed him down more than all the disasters of the Moscow -retreat." - - - - -Schweinichen's Memoirs. - - -Memoirs, says Addison, in the Tatler, are so untrustworthy, so stuffed -with lies, that, "I do hereby give notice to all booksellers and -translators whatsoever, that the word _memoir_ is French for a novel; -and to require of them, that they sell and translate it accordingly." - -There are, however, some memoirs that are trustworthy and dull, and -others, again, that are conspicuously trustworthy, and yet are as -entertaining as a novel, and to this latter category belong the memoirs -of Hans von Schweinichen, the Silesian Knight, Marshal and Chamberlain -to the Dukes of Liegnitz and Brieg at the close of the 16th century. -Scherr, a well known writer on German Culture, and a scrupulous observer -and annotator of all that is ugly and unseemly in the past, says of the -diary of Schweinichen: "It carries us into a noble family at the end of -the 16th century and reveals boorish meanness, coarseness and lack of -culture." That is, in a measure, true, but, as is invariably the case -with Scherr, he leaves out of sight all the redeeming elements, and -there are many, that this transparently sincere diarist discloses. - -The MS. was first discovered and published in 1823, by Büsching; it was -republished in 1878 at Breslau by Oesterley. The diary extends to the -year 1602, and Schweinichen begins with an account of his birth in 1552, -and his childish years. But we are wrong in saying that he begins with -his birth--characteristic of the protestant theological spirit of his -times, he begins with a confession of his faith. - -As a picture of the manners and customs of the highest classes in the -age just after the Reformation it is unrivalled for its minuteness, and -for its interest. The writer, who had not an idea that his diary would -be printed, wrote for his own amusement, and, without intending it, drew -a perfect portraiture of himself, without exaggeration of his virtues -and observation of his faults; indeed the virtues we admire in him, he -hardly recognised as virtues, and scarcely considered as serious the -faults we deplore. In reading his truthful record we are angry with him, -and yet, he makes us love and respect him, and acknowledge what sterling -goodness, integrity, fidelity and honour were in the man. - -Hans was son of George, Knight of Schweinichen and Mertschütz, and was -born in the Castle of Gröditzberg belonging to the Dukes of Silesia, of -which his father was castellan, and warden of the Ducal Estates -thereabouts. The Schweinichens were a very ancient noble Silesian -family, and Hans could prove his purity of blood through the sixteen -descents, eight paternal and eight maternal. - -In 1559, Duke Frederick III. was summoned before the Emperor Ferdinand -I. at Breslau, to answer the accusations of extravagance and oppression -brought against him by the Silesian Estates, and was deposed, -imprisoned, and his son Henry XI. given the Ducal crown instead. The -deposition of the Duke obliged the father of our hero to leave -Gröditzberg and retire to his own estates, where Hans was given the -village notary as teacher in reading and writing for a couple of years, -and was then sent, young noble though he was, to keep the geese for the -family. However, as he played tricks with the geese, put spills into -their beaks, pegging them open, the flock was then withdrawn from his -charge. This reminds us of Grettir the Strong, the Icelandic hero, who -also as a boy was sent to drive the family geese to pasture, and who -maltreated his charge. - -His father sent Hans to be page to the imprisoned Duke Frederick at -Liegnitz, where also he was to study with the Duke's younger son, -afterwards Frederick IV. Hans tells us he did not get as many whippings -as his companion, because he slipped his money-allowance into the -tutor's palm, and so his delinquencies were passed over. As page, he had -to serve the Duke at table. A certain measure of wine was allowed the -imprisoned Duke daily by his son, the reigning Duke; what he did not -drink every day, Hans was required to empty into a cask, and when the -cask was full, the Duke invited some good topers to him, and they sat -and drank the cask out, then rolled over on the floor. All night Hans -had to sit or lie on the floor and watch the drunken Duke. - -Duke Frederick took a dislike to the chaplain, and scribbled a lampoon -on him, which may be thus rendered, without injustice to the original:-- - - - "All the mischief ever done - Twixt the old Duke and his son, - Comes from that curs't snuffy one - Franconian Parson Cut-and-run." - - -The Duke ordered Hans to pin this to the pulpit cushion, and he did so. -When the pastor ascended the pulpit he saw the paper, and instead of a -text read it out. The reigning Duke Henry was very angry, and Hans was -made the scape-goat, and sent home in disgrace to his father. - -In 1564, Hans attended his father, himself as page, his father as -Marshal, when Duke Henry and his Duchess visited Stuttgard and Dresden. -Pages were not then allowed to sit astride a horse, they stood in a sort -of stirrup slung to the pommel, to which they held. At Dresden old -Schweinichen ran a tilt in a tournament with the elector Augustus and -unhorsed him, but had sufficient courtesy to at once throw himself off -his own horse, as though he also had been cast by the elector. This so -gratified the latter, that he sent old Schweinichen a gold chain, and a -double florin worth about 4 shillings to the young one. - -When Hans was fifteen, he went to the marriage of Duke Wenceslas of -Teschen with the daughter of Duke Franz of Saxony, and received from his -father a present of a sword, which, he tells us, cost his father a -little under a pound. One of the interesting features of this diary is -that Hans enters the value of everything. For instance, we are given the -price of wheat, barley, rye, oats, meat, &c., in 1562, and we learn from -this that all kinds of grain cost one fifth or one sixth of what it -costs now, and that meat--mutton, was one eighteenth or one twentieth -the present cost. For a thaler, 3 shillings, in 1562 as much food could -be purchased as would now cost from 25 to 30 shillings. Hans tells us -what pocket money he received from his parents; he put a value on every -present he was given, and tells what everything cost him which he give -away. - -In the early spring of 1569 Duke Henry XI. went to Lublin in Poland to a -diet. King Sigismund was old, and the Duke hoped to get elected to the -kingdom of Poland on his death. This was a costly expedition, as the -Duke had to make many presents, and to go in great state. Hans went with -him, and gives an infinitely droll account of their reception, the -miserable housing, his own dress, one leg black, the other yellow, and -how many ells of ribbon went to make the bows on his jacket. His father -and he, and a nobleman called Zedlitz and his son were put in a garret -under the tiles in bitter frost--and "faith," says Hans, "our pigs at -home are warmer in their styes." - -This expedition which led to no such result as the Duke hoped, exhausted -his treasury, and exasperated the Silesian Estates. All the nobles had -to stand surety for their Duke, Schweinichen and the rest to the amount -of--in modern money £100,000. - -When Hans was aged eighteen he was drunk for the first time in his life, -so drunk that he lay like a dead man for two days and two nights, and -his life was in danger. - -Portia characterised the German as a drunkard, she liked him "very -vilely in the morning, when he is sober; and most vilely in the -afternoon, when he is drunk. Set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the -contrary casket: for, if the devil be within, and that temptation -without, I know he will choose it. I will do anything, Nerissa, ere I -will be married to a sponge." - -How true this characterisation was of the old German noble, -Schweinichen's memoirs show; it is a record of drunken bouts at small -intervals. There was no escape, he who would live at court must drink -and get drunken. - -At the age of nineteen old Schweinichen made his son keep the accounts -at home, and look after the mill; he had the charge of the fish-ponds, -and attended to the thrashing of the corn, and the feeding of the horses -and cattle. - -Once Hans was invited to a wedding, and met at it four sisters from -Glogau, two were widows and two unmarried. Their maiden name was Von -Schaben. Hans, aged twenty, danced with the youngest a good deal, and -before leaving invited the four sisters to pay his father and him a -visit. A friend of his called Eicholz galloped ahead to forewarn old -Schweinichen. Some hours later up drove Hans in a waggon with the four -sisters; but he did not dare to bring them in till he had seen his -father, so he went into the house, and was at once saluted with a burst -of laughter, and the shout, "Here comes the bridegroom," and Eicholz -sang at the top of his voice an improvised verse: - - - "Rosie von Schaben - Hans er will haben." - - -"Where are the ladies?" asked the old knight. - -"In the waggon outside," answered Hans. - -"Send for the fiddlers, bring them in. We will eat, drink, dance and be -merry," said the old man. - -But Hans was offended at being boisterously saluted as bridegroom, and -he now kept Rosie at a distance. Somewhat later, the Duke tried to get -him to marry a charming young heiress called Hese von Promnitz, and very -amusing is Hans' account of how he kept himself clear of engagement. -When he first met her at court she was aged fourteen, and was -passionately fond of sugar. Hans says he spent as much as £3 in our -modern money on sweets for her, but he would make no proposal, because, -as he concluded, she was too young to be able "to cook a bowl of soup." -Two years passed, and then an old fellow called Geisler, "looking more -like a Jew than a gentleman," who offered Hese a box of sweets every -day, proposed for her. Hese would not answer till she knew the -intentions of Hans, and she frankly asked him whether he meant to -propose for her hand or not. "My heart's best love, Hese," answered -Schweinichen, "at the right time, and when God wills I shall marry, but -I do not think I can do that for three years. So follow your own -desires, take the old Jew, or wait, as you like." - -Hese said she would wait any number of years for Hans. This made Hans -the colder. The Duke determined that the matter should be settled one -way or other at once, so he sent a crown of gold roses to Hans, and said -it was to be Hese's bridal wreath, if he desired that she should wear it -for him, he was to lay hold of it; Hans thereupon put his hands behind -his back. Then he went to his Schweinichen coat-of-arms and painted -under it the motto, "I bide my time, when the old man dies, I'll get the -prize." This Geisler read, and--says Hans, didn't like. - -Hans was now installed as gentleman-in-waiting to the Duke, and was -henceforth always about his person. He got for his service free bed and -board, a gala coat that cost in our modern money about £36, and an every -day livery costing £18. His father made him a small allowance, but pay -in addition to liveries and keep he got none. The Duke's great amusement -consisted in mumming. For a whole year he rambled about every evening in -masquerade, dropping in on the burghers unexpectedly. Some were, we are -told, pleased to see and entertain him, others objected to these -impromptu visits. The special costume in which the Duke delighted to run -about the town making these visits was that of a Nun. Hans admits that -this was very distasteful to him, but he could not help himself, he was -obliged to accommodate himself to the whims of his master. He made an -effort to free himself from the service of the Duke, so as to go out of -the country to some other court--he felt intuitively that this -association would be fatal to his best interests, but the Duke at once -took him by his better side, pleaded with him to remain and be faithful -to him, his proper master and sovereign, and Hans with misgivings at -heart consented. - -There was at Court an old lady, Frau von Kittlitz, who acted as -stewardess, and exercised great influence over the Duke, whom she had -known from a boy. The Duchess resented her managing ways, and -interference, and was jealous of her influence. One day in 1575 she -refused to come down from her room and dine with the Duke unless the old -Kittlitz were sent to sit at the table below the dais. This led to -words and hot blood on both sides. The Duchess used a gross expression -in reference to the stewardess, and the Duke who had already some wine -under his belt, struck the Duchess in the face, saying, "I'll teach you -not to call people names they do not deserve." Hans, who was present, -threw himself between the angry couple; the Duke stormed and struck -about. Hans entreated the Duchess to retire, and then he stood in her -door and prevented the Duke following, though he shouted, "She is my -wife, I can serve her as I like. Who are you to poke yourself in between -married folk?" - -As soon as the Duchess had locked herself in, Hans escaped and fled; but -an hour after the Duke sent for him, and stormed at him again for his -meddlesomeness. Hans entreated the Duke to be quiet and get reconciled -to the Duchess, but he would not hear of it, and dismissed Schweinichen. -A quarter of an hour later another messenger came from his master, and -Hans returned to him, to find him in a better mood. "Hans," said his -Highness, "try if you can't get my wife to come round and come down to -table--all fun is at an end with this." - -Hans went up and was admitted. The Duchess, in a towering rage, had -already written a letter to her brother the Margrave of Anspach, telling -him how her husband had struck her in the face and given her a black -eye, and she had already dispatched a messenger with the letter. After -much arguing, Hans wrung from her her consent to come down, on two -conditions, one that the Duke should visit her at once and beg her -pardon, the other that the old Kittlitz should sit at the table with -the pages. The Duke was now in a yielding mood and ate his leek humbly. -The Duchess consented to tell the Court that she had got her black eye -from striking her face against a lamp, and the Duke ordered ten -trumpeters and a kettledrum to make all the noise they could to -celebrate the reconciliation. - -The Duchess in an aside to Schweinichen admitted that she had been rash -and unjust, and regretted having sent off that letter. An unlucky -letter--says our author--for it cost the duchy untold gold and years of -trouble. - -The Duke had made several visits to Poland, chasing that Jack o' -lantern--the Polish crown, and it had cost him so much money that he had -quarrelled with his Estates, bullied and oppressed his subjects to -extort money, and at last the Estates appealed to the Emperor against -him, as they had against his father; and the Emperor summoned him to -Prague. The Duke had great difficulty in scraping together money enough -to convey him so far; and on reaching Prague, he begged permission of -the Kaiser to be allowed to visit the Electors and the Free Cities, and -see whether he could not obtain from them some relief from his -embarrassments, and money wherewith to pacify the angry Estates of the -Silesian Duchy. The consent required was given, and then the Duke with -his faithful Schweinichen, and several other retainers, started on a -grand begging and borrowing round of the Empire. Hans was constituted -treasurer, and he had in his purse about £400. The Duke took with him -five squires, two pages, three serving men, a cook, and several kitchen -boys, one carriage drawn by six horses, another by four. And not only -was this train to make the round of the Empire, but also to visit -Italy--and all on £400. - -The first visit was paid, three days' journey from Prague, at Theusing -to a half-sister of the Duchess. She received him coolly, and lectured -him on his conduct to his wife. When the Duke asked her to lend him -money, she answered that she would pay his expenses home, if he chose to -go back to Liegnitz, but not one penny otherwise should he have. Not -content with this refusal, the Duke went on to Nurnberg, where he sent -Hans to the town council to invite them to lend him money; he asked for -4,000 florins. The council declined the honour. The two daughters of the -Duke were in the charge of the Margrave of Anspach, their mother's -brother. The Duke sent Hans to Anspach to urge the Margrave to send the -little girls to him, or invite him to visit Anspach to see them. He was -shy of visiting his brother-in-law uninvited, because of the box in the -ear and the black eye. He confided to Hans that if he got his children -at Nurnberg, he would not return them to their uncle, without a loan or -a honorarium. - -This shabby transaction was not to Schweinichen's taste, but he was -obliged to undertake it. It proved unsuccessful, the Margrave refused to -give up the children till the Duke returned to his wife and duchy and -set a better example. - -Whilst Hans was away, the Duke won a large sum of money at play, enough -to pay his own bill, but instead of doing this with it, he had it melted -up and made into silver cups. When he came to leave Nurnberg he was -unable to pay his inn bill, and obliged to leave in pawn with the -taverner a valuable jewel. Then he and his suite went to Augsburg and -settled into an inn till the town council could agree to lend him money. - -One day, whilst there, Hans was invited to a wedding. The Duke wanted to -go also, but, as he was not invited, he went as Hans' servant, but got -so drunk that Hans was obliged to carry him home to the tavern, after -which he returned to the wedding. In the evening, when dancing began, -the Duke reappeared, he had slept off his drunkenness and was fresh for -more entertainment. He was now recognized, and according to etiquette, -two town councillors, in robes of office and gold chains, danced -solemnly before his Highness. Hans tells us that it was customary for -all dances to be led by two persons habited in scarlet with white -sleeves, and these called the dance and set the figures, no one might -execute any figure or do anything which had not been done by the -leaders. Now as Hans vows he never saw so many pretty girls anywhere as -on that evening, he tipped the leaders with half a thaler to kiss each -other, whereupon the two solemn dancing councillors had also to kiss -each other, and the Duke, nothing loth, his partner, and Hans, with -zest, his. That evening he gave plenty of kisses, and what with the many -lights, and the music and the dancing and the pretty girls he thought -himself in Paradise. Shortly after this, the Duke was invited to dine -with Fugger, the merchant prince, who showed him his treasury, gold to -the worth of a million, and one tower lined within from top half way -down with nothing but silver thalers. The Duke's mouth watered, and he -graciously invited Fugger to lend him £5,000; this the merchant -declined, but made him a present of 200 crowns and a good horse. The -town council consented to lend the Duke £1,200 on his I.O.U. for a year; -and then to pay his host he melted up his silver mugs again, pawned his -plate and gave him a promissory note for two months. - -From Augsburg the Duke went about the abbeys, trying to squeeze loans -out of the abbots, but found that they had always the excuse ready, that -they would not lend to Lutheran princes. Then he stuck on in the abbeys, -eating up all their provisions and rioting in their guest-apartments, -till the abbots were fain to make him a present to be rid of him. - -All at once an opening offered for the Duke to gain both renown and -money. Henry I. of Condé was at the court of the Elector Palatine at -Heidelsberg, soliciting assistance in behalf of the Huguenots against -the King of France. The Elector agreed to send a force under his son -John Casimir, and the Duke of Liegnitz offered his services, which were -readily accepted. He was to lead the rearguard, and to receive a liberal -pay for his services. Whilst he was collecting this force and getting -underway, John Casimir and the Prince of Condé marched through Lorraine -to Metz, and Hans went with John Casimir. He trusted he was now on his -way to fortune. But it was not so to be. The Duke, his master, insisted -that he should return to him, and Hans, on doing so, found him rioting -and gambling away, at Frankfort and Nassau, the money paid him in -advance for his useless services. Almost the first duty imposed on Hans, -on his return, was to negociate a loan for £5,000 with the magistrates -of Frankfort, which was peremptorily refused; whereupon the Duke went to -Cologne and stayed there seven months, endeavouring to cajole the town -council there into advancing him money. - -But we can not follow any further the miserable story of the degradation -of the Silesian Duke, till at the beginning of the new year, 1577, the -Duke ran away from the town of Emmerich, leaving his servants to pay his -debts as best they could. Hans sold the horses and whatever was left, -and then, not sorry to be quit of such a master, returned on foot to his -Silesian home. - -It is, perhaps, worth while quoting Duke Henry's letter, which Hans -found in the morning announcing his master's evasion. - - - "Dear Hans,--Here is a chain, do what you can with it. Weigh it and - sell it, also the horses for ready money; I will not pillow my head - in feathers till, by God's help, I have got some money, to enable - me to clear out of this vile land, and away from these people. Good - morning, best-loved Hans. - - "With mine own hand, HENRY, DUKE." - - -As he neared home, sad news reached Hans. The Ducal creditors had come -down on his father, who had made himself responsible, and had seized the -family estates; whereat the old man's heart broke, and he had died in -January. When Hans heard this, he sat for two hours on a stone beside -the road, utterly unmanned, before he could recover himself sufficiently -to pursue his journey. - -In the meantime an Imperial commission had sat on the Duke, deposed -him, and appointed his brother Frederick duke in his room. -Schweinichen's fidelity to Duke Henry ensured his disfavour with Duke -Frederick, and he was not summoned to court, but was left quietly at -Mertschütz to do his best along with his brother to bring the family -affairs into some sort of order. His old master did not, however, allow -him much rest. By the Imperial decision, he was to be provided with a -daily allowance of money, food and wine. This drew Duke Henry home, and -no sooner was he back in Silesia than he insisted on Hans returning to -his service, and for some years more he led the faithful soul a troubled -life, and involved him in miserable pecuniary perplexities. This was the -more trying to Hans as he had now fallen in love with Margaret von -Schellendorff, whom he married eventually. The tenderness and goodness -of Schweinichen's heart break out whenever he speaks of his dear -Margaretta, and of the children which came and were taken from him. His -sorrows as he lingered over the sick-beds of his little ones, and the -closeness with which he was drawn by domestic bereavements and pecuniary -distresses, to his Margaretta, come out clearly in his narrative. The -whole story is far too long to tell in its entirety. Hans was a -voluminous diarist. His memoirs cease at the year 1602, when he was -suffering from gout, but he lived on some years longer. - -In the church of S. John at Liegnitz was at one time his monument, with -life-sized figure of Hans von Schweinichen, and above it his banner and -an inscription stating that he died on the 23rd Aug., 1616. Alas! the -hand of the destroyer has been there. The church and monument are -destroyed, and we can no longer see what manner of face Hans wore; but -of the inner man, of a good, faithful, God fearing, and loving soul, -strong and true, he has himself left us the most accurate portrait in -his precious memoirs. - - - - -The Locksmith Gamain. - - -Among the many episodes of the French Revolution there is one which -deserves to be somewhat closely examined, because of the gravity of the -accusation which it involves against the King and Queen, and because a -good deal of controversy has raged round it. The episode is that of the -locksmith Gamain, whom the King and Queen are charged with having -attempted to poison. - -That the accusation was believed during "the Terror" goes without -saying; the heated heads and angry hearts at that time were in no -condition to sift evidence with impartiality. Afterwards, the charge was -regarded as preposterous, till the late M. Paul Lacroix--better known as -le Bibliophile Jacob--a student of history, very careful and diligent as -a collector, gave it a new spell of life in 1836, when he reformulated -the accusation in a _feuilleton_ of the _Siècle_. Not content to let it -sleep or die in the ephemeral pages of a newspaper, he republished the -whole story in 1838, in his "Dissertations sur quelques points curieux -de l'histoire de France." This he again reproduced in his "Curiosités de -l'histoire de France," in 1858. M. Louis Blanc, convinced that the case -was made out, has reasserted the charge in his work on the French -Revolution, and it has since been accepted by popular writers--as -Décembre-Alonnier--who seek to justify the execution of the King and -Queen, and to glorify the Revolution. - -M. Thiers rejected the accusation; M. Eckard pointed out the -improbabilities in the story in the "Biographie Universelle," and M. -Mortimer-Ternaux has also shown its falsity in his "Histoire de la -Terreur;" and finally, M. Le Roy, librarian of Versailles, in 1867, -devoted his special attention to it, and completely disproved the -poisoning of Gamain. But in spite of disproval the slanderous accusation -does not die, and no doubt is still largely believed in Paris. - -So tenacious of life is a lie--like the bacteria that can be steeped in -sulphuric acid without destroying their vitality--that the story has -been again recently raked up, and given to the public, from Lacroix, in -a number of the Cornhill Magazine (December, 1887); the writer of course -knew only Lacroix' myth, and had never seen how it had been disproved. -It is well now to review the whole story. - -François Gamain was born at Versailles on August 29, 1751. He belonged -to an hereditary locksmith family. His father Nicolas had been in the -same trade, and had charge of the locks in the royal palaces in -Versailles and elsewhere. - -The love of Louis XVI. for mechanical works is well known. He had a -little workshop at Versailles, where he amused himself making locks, -assisted by François Gamain, to whom he was much attached, and with whom -he spent many hours in projecting and executing mechanical contrivances. -The story is told of the Intendant Thierry, that when one day the King -showed him a lock he had made, he replied, "Sire, when kings occupy -themselves with the works of the common people, the common people will -assume the functions of kings," but the _mot_ was probably made after -the fact. - -After the terrible days of the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, the King -was brought to Paris. Gamain remained at Versailles, which was his home, -and retained the King's full confidence. - -When, later, the King was surrounded by enemies, and he felt the -necessity for having some secret place where he could conceal papers of -importance which might yet fall into the hands of the rabble if the -palace was again invaded, as it had been at Versailles, he sent for -Gamain to make for him an iron chest in a place of concealment, that -could only be opened by one knowing the secret of the lock. - -Unfortunately, the man was not as trustworthy as Louis XVI. supposed. -Surrounded by those who had adopted the principles of the Revolution, -and being a man without strong mind, he followed the current, and in -1792 he was nominated member of the Council General of the Commune of -Versailles, and on September 24 he was one of the commissioners -appointed "to cause to disappear all such paintings, sculptures, and -inscriptions from the monuments of the Commune as might serve to recall -royalty and despotism." - -The records of the debates of the Communal Council show that Gamain -attended regularly and took part in the discussions, which were often -tumultuous. - -The Queen heard of Gamain's Jacobinism, and warned the King, who, -however, could not believe that Gamain would betray him. Marie -Antoinette insisted on the most important papers being removed from the -iron chest, and they were confided to Mme. de Campan. - -When the trial of the King was begun, on November 20, Gamain went to -Roland, Minister of the Interior, and told him the secret of the iron -chest. Roland, alarmed at the consequences of such a discovery, hastened -to consult his wife, who was in reality more minister than himself. - -From August 10, a commission had been appointed to collect all the -papers found in the Tuileries; this commission, therefore, ought to be -made acquainted with the discovery; but here lay the danger. Mme. -Roland, as an instrument of the Girondins, feared that among the papers -in the chest might be discovered some which would show in what close -relations the Girondins stood to the Court. She decided that her husband -should go to the Tuileries, accompanied by Gamain, an architect, and a -servant. The chest was opened by the locksmith, Roland removed all the -papers, tied them up in a napkin, and took them home. They were taken -the same day to the Convention; and the commission charged the minister -with having abstracted such papers as would have been inconvenient to -him to deliver up. - -When Roland surrendered the papers he declared, without naming Gamain, -that they had been discovered in a hole in the wall closed by an iron -door, behind a wainscot panel, in so secret a place "that they could not -have been found had not the secret been disclosed by the workman who -had himself made the place of concealment." - -On December 24 following, Gamain was summoned to Paris by the Convention -to give his evidence to prove that a key discovered in the desk of -Thierry de Ville-d'Avray fitted the iron chest. - -After the execution of the King, on January 21, 1793, the Convention -sent deputies into all the departments "to stimulate the authorities to -act with the energy requisite under the circumstances." Crassous was -sent into the department of Seine-et-Oise; and not finding the -municipality of Versailles, of which Gamain was a member, "up to the -requisite pitch," he discharged them from office; and by a law of -September 17, all such discharged functionaries were declared to be -"suspected persons," who were liable to be brought before the -revolutionary tribunal on that charge alone. - -Thus, in spite of all the proofs he had given of his fidelity to the -principles of the Revolution, Gamain was at any moment liable to arrest, -and to being brought before that terrible tribunal from which the only -exit was to the guillotine. Moreover, Gamain had lost his place and -emoluments as Court locksmith; he had fallen into great poverty, was -without work, and without health. - -On April 27, 1794, he presented a petition to the Convention which was -supported by Musset, the deputy and constitutional curé. "It was not -enough," said Musset from the tribune, "that the last of our tyrants -should have delivered over thousands of citizens to be slain by the -sword of the enemy. You will see by the petition I am about to read -that he was familiarised with the most refined cruelty, and that he -himself administered poison to the father of a family, in the hopes -thereby of destroying evidence of his perfidy. You will see that his -ferocious mind had adopted the maxim that to a king everything is -permissible." - -After this preamble Musset read the petition of Gamain, which is as -follows: "François Gamain, locksmith to the cabinets and to the -laboratory of the late King, and for three years member of the Council -General of the Commune of Versailles, declares that at the beginning of -May 1792 he was ordered to go to Paris. On reaching it, Capet required -him to make a cupboard in the thickness of one of the walls of his room, -and to fasten it with an iron door; and he further states that he was -thus engaged up to the 22nd of the said month, and that he worked in the -King's presence. When the chest was completed, Capet himself offered -citizen Gamain a large tumbler of wine, and asked him to drink it, as -he, the said Gamain, was very hot. - -"_A few hours later_ he was attacked by a violent colic, which did not -abate till he had taken two spoonfuls of elixir, which made him vomit -all he had eaten and drunk that day. This was the prelude to a terrible -illness, which lasted fourteen months, during which he lost the use of -his limbs, and which has left him at present without hope of recovering -his full health, and of working so as to provide for the necessities of -his family." - -After reading the petition Musset added: "I hold in my hands the -certificate of the doctors, that testifies to the bad state of the -health of the citizen petitioner. - -"Citizens! If wickedness is common to kings, generosity is the -prerogative of the free people. I demand that this petition be referred -to the Committee of Public Assistance to be promptly dealt with. I -demand that after the request all the papers relating to it be deposed -in the national archives, as a monument of the atrocity of tyrants, and -be inserted in the bulletin, that all those who have supposed that Capet -did evil only at the instigation of others may know that crime was -rooted in his very heart." This proposition was decreed. On May 17, -1794, the representative Peyssard mounted the tribune, and read the -report of the Committee, which we must condense. - -"Citizens! At the tribunal of liberty the crimes of the oppressors of -the human race stand to be judged. To paint a king in all his -hideousness I need name only Louis XVI. This name sums in itself all -crimes; it recalls a prodigy of iniquity and of perfidy. Hardly escaped -from infancy, the germs of the ferocious perversity which characterise a -despot appeared in him. His earliest sports were with blood, and his -brutality grew with his years, and he delighted in wreaking his ferocity -on all the animals he met. He was known to be cruel, treacherous, and -murderous. The object of this report is to exhibit him to France -cold-bloodedly offering a cup of poison to the unhappy artist whom he -had just employed to construct a cupboard in which to conceal the plots -of tyranny. It was no stranger he marked as his victim, but a workman -whom he had employed for five-and-twenty years, and the father of a -family, his own instructor in the locksmith's art. Monsters who thus -treat their chosen servants, how will they deal with the rest of men?" - -The National Convention thereupon ordered that "François Gamain, -poisoned by Louis Capet on May 22, 1792, should enjoy an annual pension -of the sum of 1,200 livres, dating from the day on which he was -poisoned." - -It will be noticed by the most careless reader that the evidence is -_nil_. Gamain does not feel the colic till some hours after he has drunk -the wine; he had eaten or drunk other things besides during the day; and -finally the testimony of the doctors is, not that he was poisoned, but -that, at the time of his presenting the petition, he was in a bad state -of health. Accordingly, all reasonable historians, unblinded by party -passion, have scouted the idea of an attempt on Gamain's life by the -King. Thus the matter would have remained had not M. Paul Lacroix taken -it up and propped the old slander on new legs. We will take his account, -which he pretends to have received from several persons to whom Gamain -related it repeatedly. This is his _mise en scène_. - -"The old inhabitants of Versailles will remember with pity the man whom -they often encountered alone, bowed on his stick like one bent with -years. Gamain was aged only fifty-eight when he died, but he bore all -the marks of decrepitude." - -Here is a blunder, to begin with; he died, as the Versailles registers -testify, on May 8, 1795, and was accordingly only forty-four years -old,--that is, he died _one_ year after the grant of the annuity. M. -Parrott, in his article on Gamain in the "Dictionnaire de la Révolution -Française," says that he died in 1799, five years after having received -his pension; but the Versailles registers are explicit. - -M. Lacroix goes on: "His hair had fallen off, and the little that -remained had turned white over a brow furrowed deeply; the loss of his -teeth made his cheeks hollow; his dull eyes only glared with sombre fire -when the name of Louis XVI was pronounced. Sometimes even tears then -filled them. Gamain lived very quietly with his family on his humble -pension, which, notwithstanding the many changes of government, was -always accorded him. It was not suppressed, lest the reason of its being -granted should again be raked up before the public." - -As we have seen, Gamain died under the Government which granted the -pension. M. Lacroix goes on to say "that the old locksmith bore to his -dying day an implacable hatred of Louis XVI., whom he accused of having -been guilty of an abominable act of treachery." - -"This act of treachery was the fixed and sole idea in Gamain's head, he -recurred to it incessantly, and poured forth a flood of bitter and -savage recriminations against the King. It was Gamain who disclosed the -secret of the iron chest in the Tuileries, and the papers it contained, -which furnished the chief accusation against Louis XVI.; it was he, -therefore, who had, so to speak, prepared the guillotine for the royal -head; it was he, finally, who provoked the decree of the Convention -which blackened the memory of the King as that of a vulgar murderer. But -this did not suffice the hate of Gamain, who went about everywhere -pursuing the dead beyond the tomb, with his charge of having attempted -murder as payment of life-long and devoted service. Gamain ordinarily -passed his evenings in a cafe at Versailles, the name of which I have -been told, but which I do not divulge lest I should make a mistake. He -was generally in the society of two old notaries, who are still alive -(in 1836), and of the doctor Lameyran, who attended him when he was -poisoned. These three persons were prepared to attest all the -particulars of the poisoning which had been proved at the _procès -verbal_. Gamain, indeed, lacked witnesses to establish the incidents of -the 22nd May, 1792, at the Tuileries; but his air of veracity and -expression of pain, his accent of conviction, his face full of -suffering, his burning eyes, his pathetic pantomime, were the guarantees -of good faith." - -These three men, the notaries and the doctor, which latter M. Lacroix -hints was living when he wrote, were his authorities for what follows. -The notaries he does not name, nor the café where they met. His account -published in the _Siècle_ at once attracted attention, and M. Lacroix -was challenged to produce his witnesses. As for M. Lameyran, the doctor, -he had died in 1811; consequently his testimony was not to be had in -1836. The other doctor who had attended Gamain was M. Voisin, who died -in 1823, but M. Le Roy asserts positively that in 1813 M. Voisin told -him, "Never was Gamain poisoned. Lameyran and I had long attended him -for chronic malady of the stomach. This is all we testified to in our -certificate, when he applied for a pension. In our certificate we stated -that he was in weak health--not a word was in it about poisoning, which -existed only in his fancy." - -These certificates are no longer in existence. They were not preserved -in the archives of the Convention. Even this fact is taken as evidence -in favour of the attempt. M. Emile Bonnet, in an article on Gamain in -the "Intermédiaire des Chercheurs," declares that they have been -substracted since the Restoration of Charles;[8] but there is no trace -in the archives of them ever having been there. Moreover, we have M. Le -Roy's word that M. Voisin assured him he had not testified to poisoning, -and, what is more important, we have Musset's declaration before the -Convention that the certificate of the doctors "asserted the ill-health -of the claimant." If there had been a word about poison in it, he would -assuredly have said so. - -M. Lacroix was asked to name his authorities--the two advocates who, as -M. Lameyran was dead, were alive and would testify to the fact that they -had heard the story from the lips of Gamain. He remained silent. He -would not even name the café where they met, and which might lead to the -identification. M. Eckard, who wrote the notice on Gamain in the -"Biographie Universelle," consulted the family of the locksmith on the -case, and was assured by them that the bad health of Gamain was due to -no other cause than disappointment at the loss of his fortune, the -privations he underwent, and, above all, his terror for his life after -his dismissal from the Communal Council. - -We will now continue M. Lacroix's account, which he proceeds, not a -little disingenuously, to put into the mouth of Gamain himself, so that -the accusation may not be charged on the author. - -"On May 21, 1792," says Gamain, according to the "Bibliophile Jacob," -"whilst I was working in my shop, a horseman drew up at my door and -called me out. His disguise as a carter did not prevent me from -recognising Durey, the King's forge assistant. I refused. I -congratulated myself that evening at having done so, as the rumour -spread in Versailles that the Tuileries had been attacked by the mob, -but this did not really take place till a month later. Next morning -Durey returned and showed me a note in the King's own hand, entreating -me to lend my assistance in a difficult job past his unaided powers. My -pride was flattered. I embraced my wife and children, without telling -them whither I was going, but I promised to return that night. It was -not without anxiety that they saw me depart with a stranger for Paris." - -We need merely point out that Durey was no stranger to the family: he -had been for years associated daily with Gamain. - -"Durey conducted me to the Tuileries, where the King was guarded as in a -prison. We went at once to the royal workshop, where Durey left me, -whilst he went to announce my arrival. Whilst I was alone, I observed an -iron door, recently forged, a mortise lock, well executed, and a little -iron box with a secret spring which I did not at once discover. Then in -came Durey with the King. 'The times are bad,' said Louis XVI., 'and I -do not know how matters will end.' Then he showed me the works I had -noticed, and said, 'What do you say to my skill? It took me ten days to -execute these things. I am your apprentice, Gamain.' I protested my -entire devotion. Then the King assured me that he always had confidence -in me, and that he did not scruple to trust the fate of himself and his -family in my hands. Thereupon he conducted me into the dark passage that -led from his room to the chamber of the Dauphin. Durey lit a taper, and -removed a panel in the passage, behind which I perceived a round hole, -about two feet in diameter, bored in the wall. The King told me he -intended to secrete his money in it, and that Durey, who had helped to -make it, threw the dust and chips into the river during the night. Then -the King told me that he was unable to fit the iron door to the hole -unassisted. I went to work immediately. I went over all the parts of the -lock, and got them into working order; then I fashioned a key to the -lock, then made hinges and fastened them into the wall as firmly as I -could, without letting the hammering be heard. The King helped as well -as he was able, entreating me every moment to strike with less noise, -and to be quicker over my work. The key was put in the little iron -casket, and this casket was concealed under a slab of pavement in the -corridor." - -It will be seen that this story does not agree with the account in the -petition made by Gamain to the Convention. In that he said he was -summoned to Paris at the beginning of the month of May, and that "Capet -ordered him to make a cupboard in the thickness of the wall of his -apartment, and to close it with an iron door, the whole of which was not -accomplished till the 22nd of the same month." He was three weeks over -the job, not a few hours. "I had been working," continues Gamain, or M. -Lacroix for him, "for eight consecutive hours. The sweat poured from my -brow; I was impatient to repose, and faint with hunger, as I had eaten -nothing since I got up." - -But, according to his account before the Convention, the elixir made him -throw up "all he had eaten and drunk during the day." - -"I seated myself a moment in the King's chamber, and he asked me to -count for him two thousand double louis and tie them up in four leather -bags. Whilst so doing I observed that Durey was carrying some bundles of -papers which I conjectured were destined for the secret closet; and, -indeed, the money-counting was designed to distract my attention from -what Durey was about." - -What a clumsy story! Why were not the papers hidden after Gamain was -gone? Was it necessary that this should be done in his presence, and he -set to count money, so as not to observe what was going on? - -"As I was about to leave, the Queen suddenly entered by a masked door at -the foot of the King's bed, holding in her hands a plate, in which was a -cake (brioche) and a glass of wine. She came up to me, and I saluted her -with surprise, because the King had assured me that she knew nothing -about the fabrication of the chest. 'My dear Gamain,' said she in a -caressing tone, 'how hot you are! Drink this tumbler of wine and eat -this cake, and they will sustain you on your journey home.' I thanked -her, confounded by this consideration for a poor workman, and I emptied -the tumbler to her health. I put the cake in my pocket, intending to -take it home to my children." - -Here again is a discrepancy. In his petition Gamain says that the King -gave him a glass of wine, and makes no mention of the Queen. - -On leaving the Tuileries, Gamain set out on foot for Versailles, but was -attacked by a violent colic in the Champs Elysées. His agonies -increased; he was no longer able to walk; he fell, and rolled on the -ground, uttering cries and moans. A carriage that was passing stopped, -and an English gentleman got out--wonderful to relate!--extraordinary -coincidence!--a physician, and an acquaintance. - -"The Englishman took me to his carriage, and ordered the coachman to -drive at full gallop to an apothecary's shop. The conveyance halted at -last before one in the Rue de Bac; the Englishman left me alone, whilst -he prepared an elixir which might counteract the withering power of the -poison. When I had swallowed this draught I ejected the venomous -substances. An hour later nothing could have saved me. I recovered in -part my sight and hearing; the cold that circulated in my veins was -dissipated by degrees, and the Englishman judged that I might be safely -removed to Versailles, which we reached at two o'clock in the morning. A -physician, M. de Lameyran, and a surgeon, M. Voisin, were called in; -they recognised the unequivocal tokens of poison. - -"After three days of fever, delirium, and inconceivable suffering, I -triumphed over the poison, but suffered ever after from a paralysis -almost complete, and a general inflammation of the digestive organs. - -"A few days after this catastrophe the servant maid, whilst cleaning my -coat, which I had worn on the occasion of my accident, found my -handkerchief, stained black, and the cake. She took a bite of the -latter, and threw the rest into the yard, where a dog ate it and died. -The girl, who had consumed only a morsel of the cake, fell dangerously -ill. The dog was opened by M. Voisin, and a chemical analysis disclosed -the presence of poison, both on my kerchief stained by my vomit, and in -the cake. The cake alone contained enough corrosive sublimate to kill -ten persons." - -So--the poison was found. But how is it that in Gamain's petition none -of this occurs? According to that document, Gamain was offered a goblet -of wine by the King himself. "A few hours later he was attacked by a -violent colic. This was the prelude to a terrible illness." Only a vague -hint as to poison, no specific statement that he had been poisoned, and -that the kind of poison had been determined. - -Now, corrosive sublimate, when put in red wine, forms a violet -precipitate, and alters the taste of the wine, giving it a -characteristic metallic, harsh flavour, so disagreeable that it insures -its immediate rejection. Gamain tasted nothing. Again, the action of -corrosive sublimate is immediate or very nearly so; but Gamain was not -affected till several hours after having drunk the wine. - -According to the petition, Gamain asserted that he was paralysed in all -his limbs for fourteen months, from May 22, 1792; but the Communal -registers of Versailles show that he attended a session of the Council -and took part in the discussion on June 4 following, that is, less than -a fortnight after; that he was present at the sessions of June 8, 17, -20, and on August 22, and that he was sufficiently hearty and active to -be elected on the commission which was to obliterate the insignia of -monarchy on September 24 following, which certainly would not have been -the case had he been a sick man paralysed in all his members. - -Why, we may further inquire, did not Louis the XVI. or Queen Marie -Antoinette attempt to poison Durey also, if they desired to make away -with all those who knew the secret of the iron locker? - -Now, Durey was alive in 1800, and Eckard, who wrote the article on -Gamain in the "Biographie Universelle," knew him and saw him at that -date, and Durey told him that Gamain's story was a lie; the iron safe -was made, not in 1792, but in May, 1791; and this is probable, as it -would have been easier for the King to have the locker made before his -escape to Varennes, than in 1792, when he was under the closest -supervision. - -According to the version attributed to Gamain by M. Paul Lacroix, Gamain -was paralysed for five months only. Why this change? Because either M. -Lacroix or the locksmith had discovered that it was an anachronism for -him to appear in November before Roland, and assist him in opening the -case which he had made in May--five months before, and afterwards to -declare that he was paralysed in all his members from May till the year -following. We think this correction is due to the Bibliophile. But he -was not acquainted with the Versailles archives proving him to have been -at a session a few days after the pretended poisoning. - -There is not much difficulty in discovering Gamain's motive for -formulating the accusation against the King. He betrayed his king, who -trusted him, and then, to excuse his meanness, invented an odious -calumny against him. - -But what was M. Lacroix's object in revivifying the base charge? We are -not sure that he comes cleaner out of the slough than the despicable -locksmith. He gave the story a new spell of life; he based his "facts" -on testimonies, who, he said, were ready at any moment to vouch for the -truth. When challenged to produce them he would not do so. His "facts" -were proved again and again to be fables, and yet he dared to republish -his slanderous story again and again, without a word of apology, -explanation, or retractation. M. Lacroix died only a year or two ago, -and it may seem ungenerous to attack a dead man, but one is forced to do -this in defence of the honour of a dead Queen whom he grossly -calumniated. The calumny was ingeniously put. M. Lacroix set it in the -mouth of Gamain, thinking thereby to free himself from responsibility, -but the responsibility sticks when he refuses to withdraw what has been -demonstrated to be false. - -There is something offensive to the last degree in the pose of M. -Lacroix as he opens his charge. "For some years I have kept by me, with -a sort of terror, the materials for an historic revelation, without -venturing to use them, and yet the fact, now almost unknown, on which I -purpose casting a sinister light, is one that has been the object of my -most active preoccupations. For long I condemned myself to silence and -to fresh research, hitherto fruitless, hoping that the truth would come -to light.... Well! now, at the moment of lifting the veil which covers a -half-effaced page of history, with the documents I have consulted and -the evidence I have gleaned lying before me, surrounded by a crowd of -witnesses, one sustaining the testimony of the other, relying on my -conscience and on my sentiments as a man of honour--still I hesitate to -open my mouth and call up the remembrance of an event monstrous in -itself, that has not found an echo even in the writings of the blindest -partisans of a hideous epoch. Yes, I feel a certain repugnance in -seeming to associate in thought, though not in act, with the enemies of -Louis XVI. I have just re-read the sublime death of this unhappy -political martyr; I have felt my eyes moisten with tears at the -contemplation of the picture of the death inflicted by an inexorable -state necessity, and I felt I must break my pen lest I should mix my ink -with the yet warm blood of the innocent victim. Let my hand wither -rather than rob Louis XVI. of the mantle of probity and goodness, which -the outrages of '93 succeeded neither in staining nor in rending to -rags." And so on--M. Lacroix is only acting under a high sense of the -sacred duty of seeking the truth, "of forcing the disclosure of facts, -before it be too late," which may establish the innocence of Louis XVI. -Now, be it noted that M. Lacroix is the first to accuse the Queen of -attempting the murder; his assault is on her as much as, more than, on -the poor King--in the sacred interests of historic truth! - -What are his evidences, his crowd of witnesses, his documents that he -has collected? What proof is there of his active preoccupations and -fresh researches? He produced nothing that can be called proof, and -refused the names of his witnesses when asked for them. We can quite -understand that the Bibliophile Jacob may have heard some gossiping -story such as he narrates, and may have believed it when he wrote the -story; but then, where are the high sense of honour, the tender -conscience, the enthusiasm for truth, when his story is proved to be a -tissue of improbabilities and impossibilities, that permit him to -republish, and again republish at intervals of years, this cruel and -calumnious fabrication? - -FOOTNOTE: - -[8] Le Bibliophile Jacob says the same: "Les--pièces--détournées -maladroitement par la Restauration." - - - - -Abram the Usurer.[9] - - -In the reign of Heraclius, when Sergius was patriarch of Constantinople, -there lived in Byzantium a merchant named Theodore, a good man and just, -fearing God, and serving him with all his heart. He went on a voyage to -the ports of Syria and Palestine with his wares, in a large well-laden -vessel, sold his goods to profit, and turned his ship's head homewards -with a good lading of silks and spices, the former some of the produce -of the looms of distant China, brought in caravans through Persia and -Syria to the emporiums on the Mediterranean. - -It was late in the year when Theodore began his voyage home, the -equinoctial gales had begun to blow, and prudence would have suggested -that he should winter in Cyprus; but he was eager to return to Byzantium -to his beloved wife, and to prepare for another adventure in the ensuing -spring. - -But he was overtaken by a storm as he was sailing up the Propontis, and -to save the vessel he was obliged to throw all the lading overboard. He -reached Constantinople in safety, but with the loss of his goods. His -grief and despair were excessive. His wife was unable to console him. He -declared that he was weary of the world, his loss was sent him as a -warning from heaven not to set his heart on Mammon, and that he was -resolved to enter a monastery, and spend the rest of his days in -devotion. - -"Hasten, husband mine," said the wife, "put this scheme into execution -at once; for if you delay you may change your mind." - -The manifest impatience of his wife to get rid of him somewhat cooled -the ardour of Theodore for the monastic profession, and before taking -the irrevocable step, he consulted a friend. "I think, dearest brother, -nay, I am certain, that this misfortune came on me as the indication of -the finger of Providence that I should give up merchandise and care only -for the saving of my soul." - -"My friend," answered the other, "I do not see this in the same light as -you. Every merchant must expect loss. It is one of the ordinary risks of -sailors. It is absurd to despair. Go to your friends and borrow of them -sufficient to load your vessel again, and try your luck once more. You -are known as a merchant, and trusted as an honest man, and will have no -difficulty in raising the sum requisite." - -Theodore rushed home, and announced to his wife that he had already -changed his mind, and that he was going to borrow money. - -"Whatever pleases you is right in my eyes," said the lady. - -Theodore then went the round of his acquaintances, told them of his -misfortune, and then asked them to lend him enough to restock his -vessel, promising to pay them a good percentage on the money lent. But -the autumn had been fatal to more vessels than that of Theodore, and he -found that no one was disposed to advance him the large sum he required. -He went from door to door, but a cold refusal met him everywhere. -Disappointed, and sick at heart, distressed at finding friends so -unfriendly, he returned home, and said to his wife, "Woman! the world is -hard and heartless, I will have nothing more to do with it. I will -become a monk." - -"Dearest husband, do so by all means, and I shall be well pleased," -answered the wife. - -Theodore tossed on his bed all night, unable to sleep; before dawn an -idea struck him. There was a Jew named Abram who had often importuned -him to trade with his money, but whom he had invariably refused. He -would try this man as a last resource. - -So when morning came, Theodore rose and went to the shop of Abram. The -Hebrew listened attentively to his story, and then said, smiling, -"Master Theodore, when thou wast rich, I often asked thee to take my -money and trade with it in foreign parts, so that I might turn it over -with advantage. But I always met with refusal. And now that thou art -poor, with only an empty ship, thou comest to me to ask for a loan. What -if again tempest should fall on thee, and wreck and ruin be thy lot, -where should I look for my money? Thou art poor. If I were to sell thy -house it would not fetch much. Nay, if I am to lend thee money thou must -provide a surety, to whom I may apply, and who will repay me, should -accident befall thee. Go, find security, and I will find the money." - -So Theodore went to his best friend, and told him the circumstances, and -asked him to stand surety for him to the Jew. - -"Dear friend," answered he, "I should be most happy to oblige you; but I -am a poor man, I have not as much money in the world as would suffice. -The Hebrew would not accept me as surety, he knows the state of my -affairs too well. But I will do for you what little I can. We will go -together to some merchants, and together beseech them to stand security -for you to the Jew." - -So the two friends went to a rich merchant with whom they were -acquainted, and told him what they wanted; but he blustered and turned -red, and said, "Away with you, fellows; who ever heard of such insolence -as that two needy beggars should ask a man of substance like me to go -with them to the den of a cursed infidel Jew. God be thanked! I have no -dealings with Jews. I never have spoken to one in my life, and never -give them a greeting when I pass any in street or market-place. A man -who goes to the Jews to-day, goes to the dogs to-morrow, and to the -devil the day after." - -The friends visited other merchants, but with like ill-success. Theodore -had spent the day fasting, and he went supperless to bed, very hopeless, -and with the prospect growing more distinct of being obliged to put on -the cowl of the monk, a prospect which somehow or other he did not -relish. - -Next morning he started from home to tell Abram his failure. His way -was through the great square called the Copper-Market before the -Imperial palace. Now there stood there a porch consisting of four -pillars, which supported a dome covered with brazen tiles, the whole -surmounted by a cross, on the east side of which, looking down on the -square, and across over the sparkling Bosphorus to the hills of Asia, -was a large, solemn figure of the Crucified. This porch and cross had -been set up by Constantine the Great,[10] and had been restored by -Anastasius. - -As Theodore sped through the Copper-Market in the morning, he looked up; -the sky was of the deepest gentian blue. Against it, glittering like -gold in the early sun, above the blazing, brazen tiles, stood the great -cross with the holy form thereon. Theodore halted, in his desolation, -doubt and despair, and looked up at the figure. It was in the old, grave -Byzantine style, very solemn, without the pain expressed in Mediæval -crucifixes, and like so many early figures of the sort was probably -vested and crowned. - -A sudden inspiration took hold of the ruined man. He fell on his knees, -stretched his hands towards the shining form, and cried, "Lord Jesus -Christ! the hope of the whole earth, the only succour of all who are -cast down, the sure confidence of those that look to Thee! All on whom I -could lean have failed me. I have none on earth on whom I can call. Do -Thou, Lord, be surety for me, though I am unworthy to ask it." Then -filled with confidence he rose from his knees, and ran to the house of -Abram, and bursting in on him said, "Be of good cheer, I have found a -Surety very great and noble and mighty. Trust thy money, He will keep it -safe." - -Abram answered, "Let the man come, and sign the deed and see the money -paid over." - -"Nay, my brother," said Theodore; "come thou with me. I have hurried in -thus to bring thee to him." - -Then Abram went with Theodore, who led him to the Copper-Market, and -bade him be seated, and then raising his finger, he pointed to the -sacred form hanging on the cross, and, full of confidence, said to the -Hebrew, "There, friend, thou could'st not have a better security than -the Lord of heaven and earth. I have besought Him to stand for me, and I -know He is so good that He will not deny me." - -The Jew was perplexed. He said nothing for a moment or two, and then, -wondering at the man's faith, answered, "Friend, dost thou not know the -difference between the faith of a Christian and of a Hebrew? How can'st -thou ask me to accept as thy surety, One whom thou believest my people -to have rejected and crucified? However, I will trust thee, for thou art -a God-fearing and an honest man, and I will risk my money." - -So they twain returned to the Jew's quarters, and Abram counted out -fifty pounds of gold, in our money about £2,400. He tied the money up in -bags, and bade his servants bear it after Theodore. And Abram and the -glad merchant came to the Copper-Market, and then the Jew ordered that -the money bags should be set down under the Tetrastyle where was the -great crucifix. Then said the Hebrew usurer, "See, Theodore, I make over -to thee the loan here before thy God." And there, in the face of the -great image of his Saviour, Theodore received the loan, and swore to -deal faithfully by the Jew, and to restore the money to him with usury. - -After this, the merchant bought a cargo for his vessel, and hired -sailors, and set sail for Syria. He put into port at Tyre and Sidon, and -traded with his goods, and bought in place of them many rich Oriental -stuffs, with spices and gums, and when his ship was well laden, he -sailed for Constantinople. - -But again misfortune befell him. A storm arose, and the sailors were -constrained to throw the bales of silk, and bags of costly gums, and -vessels of Oriental chasing into the greedy waves. But as the ship began -to fill, they were obliged to get into the boat and escape to land. The -ship keeled over and drifted into shallow water. When the storm abated -they got to her, succeeded in floating her, and made the best of their -way in the battered ship to Constantinople, thankful that they had -preserved their lives. But Theodore was in sad distress, chiefly because -he had lost Abram's money. "How shall I dare to face the man who dealt -so generously by me?" he said to himself. "What shall I say, when he -reproaches me? What answer can I make to my Surety for having lost the -money entrusted to me?" - -Now when Abram heard that Theodore had arrived in Constantinople in his -wrecked vessel with the loss of all his cargo, he went to him at once, -and found the man prostrate in his chamber, the pavement wet with his -tears of shame and disappointment. Abram laid his hand gently on his -shoulder, and said, in a kind voice, "Rise, my brother, do not be -downcast; give glory to God who rules all things as He wills, and follow -me home. God will order all for the best." - -Then the merchant rose, and followed the Jew, but he would not lift his -eyes from the ground, for he was ashamed to look him in the face. Abram -was troubled at the distress of his friend, and he said to him, as he -shut the door of his house, "Let not thy heart be broken with overmuch -grief, dearest friend, for it is the mark of a wise man to bear all -things with firm mind. See! I am ready again to lend thee fifty pounds -of gold, and may better fortune attend thee this time. I trust that our -God will bless the money and multiply it, so that in the end we shall -lose nothing by our former misadventure." - -"Then," said Theodore, "Christ shall again stand security for me. Bring -the money to the Tetrastyle." - -Therefore again the bags of gold were brought before the cross, and when -they had then been made over to the merchant, Abram said, "Accept, -Master Theodore, this sum of fifty pounds of gold, paid over to thee -before thy Surety, and go in peace. And may the Lord God prosper thee -on thy journey, and make plain the way before thee. And remember, that -before this thy Surety thou art bound to me for a hundred pounds of -gold." - -Having thus spoken, Abram returned home. Theodore repaired and reloaded -his ship, engaged mariners and made ready to sail. But on the day that -he was about to depart, he went into the Copper-Market, and kneeling -down, with his face towards the cross, he prayed the Lord to be his -companion and captain, and to guide him on his journey, and bring him -safe through all perils with his goods back to Byzantium once more. - -Then he went on to the house of Abram to bid him farewell. And the Jew -said to him, "Keep thyself safe, brother, and beware now of trusting thy -ship to the sea at the time of equinoctial gales. Thou hast twice -experienced the risk, run not into it again. Winter at the place whither -thou goest, and that I may know how thou farest, if thou hast the -opportunity, send me some of the money by a sure hand. Then there is -less chance of total ruin, for if one portion fails, the other is likely -to be secure." - -Theodore approved of this advice, and promised to follow it; so then the -Jew and the Christian parted with much affection and mutual respect, for -each knew the other to be a good and true man, fearing God, and seeking -to do that which is right. This time Theodore turned his ship's head -towards the West, intending to carry his wares to the markets of Spain. -He passed safely through the Straits of Hercules, and sailed North. Then -a succession of steady strong breezes blew from the South and swept him -on so that he could not get into harbour till he reached Britain. He -anchored in a bay on the rugged Cornish coast, in the very emporium of -tin and lead, in the Cassiterides famed of old for supplying ore -precious in the manufacture of bronze. He readily disposed of all his -merchandise, and bought as much tin and lead as his ship would hold. His -goods had sold so well, and tin and lead were so cheap that he found he -had fifty pounds in gold in addition to the cargo. - -The voyage back from Britain to Byzantium was long and dangerous, and -Theodore was uneasy. He found no other ships from Constantinople where -he was, and no means presented themselves for sending back the money in -part, as he had promised. He was a conscientious man, and he wished to -keep his word. - -He set sail from Cornwall before the summer was over, passed safely -through the straits into the Mediterranean, but saw no chance of -reaching Constantinople before winter. He would not again risk his -vessel in the gales of the equinox, and he resolved to winter in Sicily. -He arrived too late in the year to be able to send a message and the -money to Abram. His promise troubled him, and he cast about in his mind -how to keep his word. - -At last, in the simple faith which coloured the whole life of the man, -he made a very solid wooden box and tarred it well internally and -externally. Then he inclosed in it the fifty pounds of gold he had made -by his goods in Britain over and above his lading of lead and tin, and -with the money he put a letter, couched in these terms: - -"In the name of my heir and God, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is -also my Surety for a large sum of money, I, Theodore, humbly address my -master Abram, who, with God, is my benefactor and creditor. - -"I would have thee know, Master Abram, that we all, by the mercy of God, -are in good health. God has verily prospered us well and brought our -merchandise to a good market. And now, see! I send thee fifty pounds of -gold, which I commit to the care of my Surety, and He will convey the -money safely to thy hands. Receive it from me and do not forget us. -Farewell." - -Then he fastened up the box, and raised his eyes to heaven, and prayed -to God, saying: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Mediator between God and Man, Who -dwellest in Heaven, but hast respect unto the lowly; hear the voice of -thy servant this day; because Thou hast proved Thyself to me a good and -kind Surety, I trust to Thee to return to my benefactor and creditor, -Abram, the money I promised to send him. Trusting in Thee, Lord, I -commit this little box to the sea!" - -So saying he flung the case containing the gold and the letter into the -waves; and standing on a cliff watched it floating on the waters, rising -and falling on the glittering wavelets, gradually drifting further and -further out to sea, till it was lost to his sight, and then, nothing -doubting but that the Lord Christ would look after the little box and -guide it over the waste of waters to its proper destination, he went -back to his lodging, and told the ship pilot what he had done. The -sailor remained silent wondering in his mind at the great faith of his -master. Then his rough heart softened, and he knelt down and blessed and -praised God. - -That night Theodore had a dream, and in the morning he told it to the -pilot. - -"I thought," said he, "that I was back in Byzantium, and standing in the -Copper-Market before the great cross with Christ on it. And I fancied in -my dream that Abram was at my side. And I looked, and saw him hold up -his hands, and receive the box in them, and the great figure of Christ -said, 'See, Abram, I give thee what Theodore committed to my trust.' -And, thereupon, I awoke trembling. So now I am quite satisfied that the -gold is in safe keeping, and will infallibly reach its destination." - -The summer passed, the storms of autumn had swept over the grey sea, and -torn away from the trees the last russet leaves; winter had set in; yet -Abram had received no news of Theodore. - -He did not doubt the good faith of his friend, but he began to fear that -ill-luck attended him. He had risked a large sum, and would feel the -loss severely should this cargo be lost like the former one. He talked -the matter over with his steward, and considered it from every -imaginable point of view. His anxiety took him constantly to the shore -to watch the ships that arrived, hoping to hear news by some of them, -and to recover part of his money. He hardly expected the return of -Theodore after the injunctions he had given him not to risk his vessel -in a stormy season. - -One day he was walking with his steward by the sea-side, when the waves -were more boisterous than usual. Not a ship was visible. All were in -winter quarters. Abram drew off his sandals, and began to wash his feet -in the sea water. Whilst so doing he observed something floating at a -little distance. With the assistance of his steward he fished out a box -black with tar, firmly fastened up, like a solid cube of wood. Moved by -curiosity he carried the box home, and succeeded with a little -difficulty in forcing it open. Inside he found a letter, not directed, -but marked with three crosses, and a bag of gold. It need hardly be said -that this was the box Theodore had entrusted to Christ, and his Surety -had fulfilled His trust and conveyed it to the hands of the creditor. - -Next spring Theodore returned to Constantinople in safety. As soon as he -had disembarked, he hastened to the house of Abram to tell him the -results of his voyage. - -The Jewish usurer, wishing to prove him, feigned not to understand, when -Theodore related how he had sent him fifty pounds of gold, and made as -though he had not received the money. But the merchant was full of -confidence, and he said, "I cannot understand this, brother, for I -enclosed the money in a box along with a letter, and committed it to the -custody of my Saviour Christ, Who has acted as Surety for me unworthy. -But as thou sayest that thou hast not received it, come with me, and let -us go together before the crucifix, and say before it that thou hast not -had the money conveyed to thee, and then I will believe thy word." - -Abram promised to accompany his friend, and rising from their seats, -they went together to the Copper-Market. And when they came to the -Tetrastyle, Theodore raised his hands to the Crucified, and said, "My -Saviour and Surety, didst Thou not restore the gold to Abram that I -entrusted to Thee for that purpose?" - -There was something so wonderful, so beautiful, in the man's faith, that -Abram was overpowered; and withal there was the evidence that it was not -misplaced so clear to the Jew, that the light of conviction like a -dazzling sunbeam darted into his soul, and Theodore saw the Hebrew -usurer fall prostrate on the pavement, half fainting with the emotion -which oppressed him. - -Theodore ran and fetched water in his hands and sprinkled his face, and -brought the usurer round. And Abram said, "As God liveth, my friend, I -will not enter into my house till I have taken thy Lord and Surety for -my Master." A crowd began to gather, and it was bruited abroad that the -Jewish usurer sought baptism. And when the story reached the ears of the -Emperor Heraclius, he glorified God. So Abram was put under instruction, -and was baptised by the patriarch Sergius.[11] - -And after seven days a solemn procession was instituted through the -streets of Constantinople to the Copper-Market, in which walked the -emperor and the patriarch, and all the clergy of the city; and the box -which had contained the money was conveyed by them to the Tetrastyle -and laid up, along with the gold and the letter before the image, to be -a memorial of what had taken place to all generations. And thenceforth -the crucifix received the common appellation of Antiphonetos, or the -Surety. - -As for the tin and lead with which the vessel of Theodore was freighted, -it sold for a great price, so that both he and Abram realised a large -sum by the transaction. But neither would keep to himself any portion of -it, but gave it all to the Church of S. Sophia, and therewith a part of -the sanctuary was overlaid with silver. Then Theodore and his wife, with -mutual consent, gave up the world and retired into monastic -institutions. - -Abram afterwards built and endowed an oratory near the Tetrastyle, and -Sergius ordained him priest and his two sons deacons. - -Thus ends this strange and very beautiful story, which I have merely -condensed from the somewhat prolix narrative of the Byzantine preacher. -The reader will probably agree with me that if sermons in the 19th -century were as entertaining as this of the 10th, fewer people would be -found to go to sleep during their delivery. - -I have told the tale as related by the preacher. But there are reasons -which awaken suspicion that he somewhat erred as to his dates; but that, -nevertheless the story is really not without a foundation of fact. -Towards the close of the oration the preacher points to the ambone, and -the thusiasterion, and bids his hearers remark how they are overlaid -with silver, and this he says was the silver that Abram, the wealthy -Jewish usurer, and Theodore, the merchant, gave to the Church of S. -Sophia. - -Now it happens that we have got a contemporary record of this overlaying -of the sanctuary with silver; we know from the pen of Procopius of Gaza -that it took place in the reign of Justinian in A.D. 537.[12] - -This was preparatory to the dedication of the great Church, when the -Emperor and the wealthy citizens of Byzantium were lavishly contributing -to the adornment of the glorious building. - -We can quite understand how that the new convert and the grateful -merchant were carried away by the current of the general enthusiasm, and -gave all their silver to the plating of the sanctuary of the new Church. -Procopius tells us that forty thousand pounds of silver were spent in -this work. Not all of this, however, could have been given by Abram and -Theodore. - -If this then were the date of the conversion of Abram, for Heraclius we -must read Justinian, and for Sergius we must substitute Mennas. As the -sermon was not preached till four hundred years after, the error can be -accounted for, one imperial benefactor of the Church was mistaken for -another. - -Now about the time of Justinian, we know from other sources that there -was a converted Jew named Abram who founded and built a church and -monastery in Constantinople, and which in after times was known as the -Abramite Monastery. We are told this by John Moschus. We can not fix the -exact date of the foundation, Moschus heard about A.D. 600 from the -abbot John Rutilus, who had heard it from Stephen the Moabite, that the -Monastery of the Abramites had been constructed by Abram who afterwards -was raised to the metropolitan See of Ephesus. We may put then the -foundation of the monastery at about A.D. 540. - -Now Abram of Ephesus succeeded Procopius who was bishop in 560; and his -successor was Rufinus in 597. The date of the elevation of Abram to the -metropolitan throne of Ephesus is not known exactly, but it was probably -about 565. - -There is, of course, much conjecture in thus identifying the usurer -Abram with Abram, Bishop of Ephesus; but there is certainly a -probability that they were identical; and if so, then one more pretty -story of the good man survives. After having built the monastery in -Constantinople, Moschus tells us that Abram went to Jerusalem, the home -to which a Jewish heart naturally turns, and there he set to work to -erect another monastery. Now there was among the workmen engaged on the -building a mason who ate but sparingly, conversed with none, but worked -diligently, and prayed much in his hours of relaxation from labour. - -Abram became interested in the man, and called him to him, and learned -from him his story. It was this. The mason had been a monk in the -Theodorian Monastery along with his brother. The brother weary of the -life, had left and fallen into grave moral disorders. Then this one now -acting as mason had gone after him, laid aside his cowl and undertaken -the same daily toil as the erring brother, that he might be with him, -waiting his time when by means of advice or example he might draw the -young man from his life of sin. But though he had laid aside the outward -emblems of his monastic profession, he kept the rule of life as closely -as he was able, cultivating prayer and silence and fasting. Then Abram -deeply moved, said to the monk-mason: "God will look on thy fraternal -charity; be of good courage, He will give thee thy brother at thy -petition." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[9] This account is taken from a sermon preached in the Church of St. -Sophia at Constantinople on Orthodoxy Sunday, printed by Combefisius -(Auctuarium novum, pars post. col. 644), from a MS. in the National -Library at Paris. Another copy of the sermon is in the Library at Turin. -The probable date of the composition is the tenth century. Orthodoxy -Sunday was not instituted till 842. - -[10] This famous figure was cast down and broken by Leo the Isaurian in -730, a riot ensued, the market-women interfering with the soldiers, who -were engaged on pulling down the figure, they shook the ladders and -threw down one who was engaged in hacking the face of the figure. This -led to the execution of ten persons, among them Gregory, head of the -bodyguard, and Mary, a lady of the Imperial family. The Empress Irene -set up a mosaic figure in its place. This was again destroyed by Leo the -Armenian, and again restored after his death by Theophilus in 829. - -[11] Sergius was patriarch of Constantinople between 610 and 638. He -embraced the Monothelite heresy. - -[12] Fabricius, Bibl. Græca, Ed. Harles, T.X. p. 124, 125. - - - - -Sophie Apitzsch. - - -"Some are born great," said Malvolio, strutting in yellow stockings, -cross-gartered, before Olivia, "some achieve greatness," and with a -smile, "some have greatness thrust upon them." - -Of the latter was Sophie Sabine Apitzsch. She was not born great, she -was the daughter of an armourer. She hardly can be said to have achieved -greatness, though she did attain to notoriety; what greatness she had -was thrust on her, not altogether reluctant to receive it. But the -greatness was not much, and was of an ambiguous description. She was -treated for a while as a prince in disguise, and then became the theme -of an opera, of a drama, and of a novel. For a hundred years her -top-boots were preserved as historical relics in the archives of the -House of Saxony, till in 1813 a Cossack of the Russian army passing -through Augustenburg, saw, desired, tried on, and marched off with them; -and her boots entered Paris with the Allies. - -About five-and-twenty miles from Dresden lived in 1714 a couple of -landed proprietors, the one called Volkmar, and the other von Günther, -who fumed with fiery hostility against each other, and the cause of -disagreement was, that the latter wrote himself von Günther. Now, to get -a _von_ before the name makes a great deal of difference: it purifies, -nay, it alters the colour of the blood, turning it from red to blue. No -one in Germany can prefix _von_ to his name as any one in England can -append Esq. to his. He must receive authorisation by diploma of nobility -from his sovereign. - -George von Günther had been, not long before, plain George Günther, but -in 1712 he had obtained from the Emperor Charles VI. a patent of -nobility, or gentility, they are the same abroad, and the motive that -moved his sacred apostolic majesty to grant the patent was--as set forth -therein--that an ancestor of George Günther of the same name "had sat -down to table with the elector John George II. of Saxony;" and it was -inconceivable that a mere citizen could have been suffered to do this, -unless there were some nobility in him. George von Günther possessed an -estate which was a manor, a knight's fee, at Jägerhof, and he was -moreover upper Forester and Master of the Fisheries to the King-elector -of Saxony, and Sheriff of Chemnitz and Frankenberg. He managed to marry -his daughters to men blessed with _von_ before their names, one to von -Bretschneider, Privy-Councillor of War, the other to a Major von -Wöllner. - -Now, all this was gall and wormwood to Councillor-of-Agriculture, Daniel -Volkmar, who lived on his paternal acres at Hetzdorf, of which he was -hereditary chief magistrate by virtue of his lordship of the acres. This -man had made vain efforts to be ennobled. He could not find that any -ancestor of his had sat at table with an elector; and, perhaps, he could -not scrape together sufficient money to induce his sacred apostolic -majesty to overlook this defect. As he could not get his diploma, he -sought how he might injure his more fortunate neighbour, and this he did -by spying out his acts, watching for neglect of his duties to the fishes -or the game, and reporting him anonymously to head-quarters. Günther -knew well enough who it was that sought to injure him, and, as Volkmar -believed, had invited some of the gamekeepers to shoot him; accordingly, -Volkmar never rode or walked in the neighbourhood of the royal forests -and fish-ponds unarmed, and without servants carrying loaded muskets. - -One day a brother magistrate, Pöckel by name, came over to see him about -a matter that puzzled him. There had appeared in the district under his -jurisdiction a young man, tall, well-built, handsome, but slightly -small-pox-pitted, who had been arrested by the police for blowing a -hunting-horn. Now ignoble lips might not touch a hunting-horn, and for -any other than breath that issued out of noble lungs to sound a note on -such a horn was against the laws. - -"Oh," said Volkmar, "if he has done this, and is not a gentleman--lock -him up. What is his name?" - -"He calls himself Karl Marbitz." - -"But I, even I, may not blow a blast on a horn--that scoundrel Günther -may. Deal with the fellow Marbitz with the utmost severity." - -"But--suppose he may have the necessary qualification?" - -"How can he without a von before his name?" - -"Suppose he be a nobleman, or something even higher, in disguise?" - -"What, in disguise? Travelling incognito? Our Crown Prince is not at -Dresden."[13] - -"Exactly. All kinds of rumours are afloat concerning this young man, who -is, indeed, about the Crown Prince's age; he has been lodging with a -baker at Aue, and there blowing the horn." - -"I'll go with you and see him. I will stand bail for him. Let him come -to me. Hah-hah! George von Günther, hah-hah!" - -So Volkmar, already more than half disposed to believe that the -horn-blower was a prince in disguise, rode over to the place where he -was in confinement, saw him, and lost what little doubt he had. The -upright carriage, the aristocratic cast of features, the stand-off -manners, all betokened the purest of blue blood--all were glimmerings of -that halo which surrounds sovereignty. - -The Crown Prince of Saxony was away--it was alleged, in France--making -the grand tour, but, was it not more likely that he was going the round -of the duchy of Saxony, inquiring into the wants and wrongs of the -people? If so, who could better assist him to the knowledge of these -things, than he, Volkmar, and who could better open his eyes to the -delinquencies of high-placed, high-salaried officials--notably of the -fisheries and forests? - -"There is one thing shakes my faith," said Pöckel: "our Crown Prince is -not small-pox marked." - -"That is nothing," answered Volkmar eagerly. "His Serenity has caught -the infection in making his studies among the people." - -"And then--he is so shabbily dressed." - -"That is nothing--it is the perfection of disguise." - -Volkmar carried off the young man to his house, and showed him the -greatest respect, insisted on his sitting in the carriage facing the -horses, and would on no account take a place at his side, but seated -himself deferentially opposite him. - -On reaching Hetzdorf, Volkmar introduced his wife and his daughter -Joanna to the distinguished prince, who behaved to them very graciously, -and with the most courtly air expressed himself charmed with the room -prepared for him. - -Dinner was served, and politics were discussed; the reserve with which -the guest treated such subjects, the caution with which he expressed an -opinion, served to deepen in Volkmar's mind the conviction that he had -caught the Crown Prince travelling incog. After the servants had -withdrawn, and when a good deal of wine--the best in the cellar--had -been drunk, the host said confidentially in a whisper, "I see clearly -enough what you are." - -"Indeed," answered the guest, "I can tell you what I am--by trade an -armourer." - -"Ah, ha! but by birth--what?" said Volkmar, slyly, holding up his glass -and winking over it. - -"Well," answered the guest, "I will admit this--I am not what I appear." - -"And may I further ask your--I mean you--where you are at home?" - -"I am a child of Saxony," was the answer. - -Afterwards, at the trial, the defendant insisted that this was exactly -the reply made, whereas Volkmar asserted that the words were, "I am a -child of the House of Saxony." But there can be no doubt that his -imagination supplemented the actual words used with those he wished to -hear. - -"The small-pox has altered you since you left home," said Volkmar. - -"Very likely. I have had the small-pox since I left my home." - -Volkmar at once placed his house, his servants, his purse, at the -disposal of his guest, and his offer was readily accepted. - -It is now advisable to turn back and explain the situation, by relating -the early history of this person, who passed under the name of Karl -Marbitz, an armourer; but whom a good number of people suspected of -being something other than what he gave himself out to be, though only -Volkmar and Pöckel and one or two others supposed him to be the Crown -Prince of Saxony. - -Sophie Sabine Apitzsch was born at Lunzenau in Saxony in 1692, was well -brought up, kept to school, and learned to write orthographically, and -to have a fair general knowledge of history and geography. When she left -school she was employed by her father in his trade, which was that of an -armourer. She was tall and handsome, somewhat masculine--in after years -a Cossack got into her boots--had the small-pox, which, however, only -slightly disfigured her. In 1710 she had a suitor, a gamekeeper, -Melchior Leonhart. But Sophie entertained a rooted dislike to marriage, -and she kept her lover off for three years, till her father peremptorily -ordered her to marry Melchior, and fixed the day for the wedding. Then -Sophie one night got out of her own clothing, stepped into her father's -best suit, and walked away in the garments of a man, and shortly -afterwards appeared in Anspach under a feigned name, as a barber's -assistant. Here she got into difficulties with the police, as she had no -papers of legitimation, and to escape them, enlisted. She carried a -musket for a month only, deserted, and resumed her vagabond life in -civil attire, as a barber's assistant, and came to Leipzig, where she -lodged at the Golden Cock. How she acquired the art, and how those liked -it on whose faces she made her experiments with the razor, we are not -told. - -At the Golden Cock lodged an athletic lady of the name of Anna Franke, -stout, muscular, and able to lift great weights with her teeth, and with -a jerk throw them over her shoulders. Anna Franke gave daily exhibitions -of her powers, and on the proceeds maintained herself and her daughter, -a girl of seventeen. The stout and muscular lady also danced on a tight -rope, which with her bounces acted like a taut bowstring, projecting the -athlete high into the air. - -The Fräulein Franke very speedily fell in love with the fine young -barber, and proposed to her mother that Herr Karl should be taken into -the concern, as he would be useful to stretch the ropes, and go round -for coppers. Sophie was nothing loth to have her inn bill paid on these -terms, but when finally the bouncing mother announced that her -daughter's hand was at the disposal of Karl, then the situation became -even more embarrassing than that at home from which Sophie had run away. -The barber maintained her place as long as she could, but at last, when -the endearments of the daughter became oppressive, and the urgency of -the mother for speedy nuptials became vexatious, she pretended that the -father, who was represented as a well-to-do citizen of Hamburg, must -first be consulted. On this plea Sophie borrowed of Mother Franke the -requisite money for her journey and departed, promising to return in a -few weeks. Instead of fulfilling her promise, Sophie wrote to ask for a -further advance of money, and when this was refused, disappeared -altogether from the knowledge of the athlete and her daughter. - -On this second flight from marriage, Sophie Apitzsch met with an -armourer named Karl Marbitz, and by some means or other contrived to get -possession of his pass, leaving him instead a paper of legitimation made -out under the name of Karl Gottfried, which old Mother Franke had -induced the police to grant to the young barber who was engaged to marry -her daughter. - -In June 1714, under the name of Marbitz, Sophie appeared among the -Erz-Gebirge, the chain of mountains that separate Saxony from Bohemia, -and begged her way from place to place, pretending to be a schoolmaster -out of employ. After rambling about for some time, she took up her -quarters with a baker at Elterlein. Here it was that for the first time -a suspicion was aroused that she was a person of greater consequence -than she gave out. The rumour reached the nearest magistrate that there -was a mysterious stranger there who wore a ribbon and star of some -order, and he at once went to the place to make inquiries, but found -that Sophie had neither ribbon nor order, and that her papers declared -in proper form who and what she was. At this time she fell ill at the -baker's house, and the man, perhaps moved by the reports abroad -concerning her, was ready to advance her money to the amount of £6 or -£7. When recovered, she left the village where she had been ill, and -went to another one, where she took up her abode with another baker, -named Fischer, whom she helped in his trade, or went about practising -upon the huntsman's horn. - -This amusement it was which brought her into trouble. Possibly she may -not have known that the horn was a reserved instrument that might not be -played by the ignoble. - -At the time that Volkmar took her out of the lockup, and carried her off -to his mansion in his carriage, she was absolutely without money, in -threadbare black coat, stockings ill darned, and her hair very much in -want of powder. - -Hitherto her associates had been of the lowest classes; she had been -superior to them in education, in morals, and in character, and had to -some extent imposed on them. They acknowledged in her an undefined -dignity and quiet reserve, with unquestioned superiority in attainments -and general tone of mind, and this they attributed to her belonging to a -vastly higher class in society. - -Now, all at once she was translated into another condition of life, one -in which she had never moved before; but she did not lose her head; she -maintained the same caution and reserve in it, and never once exposed -her ignorance so as to arouse suspicion that she was not what people -insisted on believing her to be. She was sufficiently shrewd never by -word to compromise herself, and afterwards, when brought to trial, she -insisted that she had not once asserted that she was other than Karl -Marbitz the armourer. Others had imagined she was a prince, but she had -not encouraged them in their delusion by as much as a word. That, no -doubt, was true, but she accepted the honours offered and presents made -her under this erroneous impression, without an attempt to open the eyes -of the deluded to their own folly. - -Perhaps this was more than could be expected of her. "Foolery," said the -clown in "Twelfth Night," "does walk about the orb, like the sun; it -shines everywhere"--and what are fools but the natural prey of the -clever? - -Sophie had been ill, reduced to abject poverty, was in need of good -food, new clothes, and shelter; all were offered, even forced upon her. -Was she called upon to reject them? She thought not. - -Now that Volkmar had a supposed prince under his roof he threw open his -house to the neighbourhood, and invited every gentleman he knew--except -the von Günthers. He provided the prince with a coat of scarlet cloth -frogged and laced with gold, with a new hat, gave him a horse, filled -his purse, and provided him with those identical boots in which a -century later a Cossack marched into Paris. - -She was addressed by her host and hostess as "Your Highness," and "Your -Serenity," and they sought to kiss her hand, but she waived away these -exhibitions of servility, saying, "Let be--we will regard each other as -on a common level." Once Volkmar said slyly to her, "What would your -august father say if he knew you were here?" - -"He would be surprised," was all the answer that could be drawn from -her. One day the newspaper contained information of the Crown Prince's -doings in Paris with his tutor and attendants. Volkmar pointed it out to -her with a twinkle of the eye, saying, "Do not suppose I am to be -hoodwinked by such attempts to deceive the public as that." - -In the mornings when the pseudo prince left the bedroom, outside the -door stood Herr Volkmar, cap in hand, bowing. As he offered her a pinch -of snuff from a gold _tabatière_ one day, he saw her eyes rest on it; he -at once said, "This belonged formerly to the Königsmark." - -"Then," she replied, "it will have the double initials on it. 'A' for -Aurora." - -Now, argued Volkmar, how was it likely that his guest should know the -scandalous story of Augustus I. and the fair Aurora of Königsmark, -mother of the famous French marshal, unless he had belonged to the royal -family of Saxony?[14] He left out of account that Court scandal is -talked about everywhere, and is in the mouths of all. Then he presented -her with the snuff-box. Next he purchased for her a set of silver plate -for her cover, and ordered a ribbon and a star of diamonds, because it -became one of such distinguished rank not to appear without a -decoration! As the girl said afterwards at her trial, she had but to -hint a desire for anything, and it was granted her at once. Her host -somewhat bored her with political disquisitions; he was desirous of -impressing on his illustrious guest what a political genius he was, and -in his own mind had resolved to become prime minister of Saxony in the -place of the fallen Beichlingen, who was said to have made so much money -out of the State that he could buy a principality, and who, indeed, -struck a medal with his arms on it surmounted by a princely crown. - -But Volkmar's ambition went further. As already stated he had a -daughter--the modest Joanna; what a splendid opportunity was in the -hands of the scheming parents! If the young prince formed an attachment -for Joanna, surely he might get the emperor to elevate her by diploma to -the rank of a princess, and thus Volkmar would see his Joanna Queen of -Poland and Electress of Saxony. He and Frau Volkmar were far too good -people to scheme to get their daughter such a place as the old -Königsmark had occupied with the reigning sovereign. Besides, Königsmark -had been merely created a countess, and who would crave to be a countess -when she might be Queen? and a favourite, when, by playing her cards -well, she might become a legitimate wife? - -So the old couple threw Joanna at the head of their guest, and did their -utmost to entangle him. In the meantime the von Günthers were flaming -with envy and rage. They no more doubted that the Volkmars had got the -Crown Prince living with them, than did the Volkmars themselves. The -whole neighbourhood flowed to the entertainments given in his honour at -Hetzdorf; only the von Günthers were shut out. But von Günther met the -mysterious stranger at one or two of the return festivities given by the -gentry who had been entertained at Hetzdorf, and he seized on one of -these occasions boldly to invite his Highness to pay him also a visit at -his "little place;" and what was more than he expected, the offer was -accepted. - -In fact, the Apitzsch who had twice run away from matrimony, was -becoming embarrassed again by the tenderness of Joanna and the ambition -of the parents. - -The dismay of the Volkmars passes description when their guest informed -them he was going to pay a visit to the hated rivals. - -Sophie was fetched away in the von Günther carriage, and by servants put -into new liveries for the occasion, and was received and entertained -with the best at Jägerhof. Here, also, presents were made; among others -a silver cover for table was given her by the daughter of her host, who -had married a major, and who hoped, in return, to see her husband -advanced to be a general. - -She was taken to see the royal castle of Augustusburg, and here a little -difference of testimony occurs as to the observation she made in the -chapel, which was found to be without an organ. At her trial it was -asserted that she had said, "I must order an organ," but she positively -swore she had said, "An organ ought to be provided." She was taken also -to the mansion of the Duke of Holstein at Weisenburg, where she -purchased one of his horses--that is to say, agreed to take it, and let -her hosts find the money. - -The visit to the von Günthers did not last ten days, and then she was -back again with the Volkmars, to their exuberant delight. Why she -remained so short a time at Jägerhof does not appear. Possibly she may -have been there more in fear of detection than at Hetzdorf. Now that the -Volkmars had her back they would not let her out of their sight. They -gave her two servants in livery to attend her; they assured her that her -absence had so affected Joanna that the girl had done nothing but weep, -and had refused to eat. They began to press in their daughter's interest -for a declaration of intentions, and that negotiations with the Emperor -should be opened that a title of princess of the Holy Roman Empire might -be obtained for her as preliminary to the nuptials. - -Sophie Apitzsch saw that she must again make a bolt to escape the -marriage ring, and she looked about for an opportunity. But there was no -evading the watch of the Volkmars, who were alarmed lest their guest -should again go to the hated von Günthers. - -Well would it have been for the Volkmars had they kept the "prince" -under less close surveillance, and allowed him to succeed in his -attempts to get away. It would have been to their advantage in many -ways. - -A fortnight or three weeks passed, and the horse bought of the Duke of -Holstein had not been sent In fact the Duke, when the matter was -communicated to him, was puzzled. He knew that the Crown Prince was in -Paris, and could not have visited his stables, and promised to purchase -his horse. So he instituted inquiries before he consented to part with -the horse, and at once the bubble burst. Police arrived at Hetzdorf to -arrest the pretender, and convey her to Augustusburg, where she was -imprisoned, till her trial. This was in February, 1715. In her prison -she had an apoplectic stroke, but recovered. Sentence was pronounced -against her by the court at Leipzig in 1716, that she should be publicly -whipped out of the country. That is to say, sent from town to town, and -whipped in the market-place of each, till she was sent over the -frontier. In consideration of her having had a stroke, the king commuted -the sentence to whipping in private, and imprisonment at his majesty's -pleasure. - -She does not seem to have been harshly treated by the gaoler of -Waldheim, the prison to which she was sent. She was given her own room, -she dined at the table of the gaoler, continued to wear male clothes, -and was cheerful, obedient, and contented. In 1717 both she and her -father appealed to the king for further relaxation of her sentence, but -this was refused. The prison authorities gave her the best testimony for -good conduct whilst in their hands. - -In the same year, 1717, the unfortunate Volkmar made a claim for the -scarlet coat--which he said the moths were likely to eat unless placed -on some one's back--the gold snuff-box, the silver spoons, dishes, -forks, the horse, the watch, and various other things he had given -Sophie, being induced to do so by false representations. The horse as -well as the plate, the star, the snuff-box, the coat and the boots had -all been requisitioned as evidence before her trial. The question was a -hard one to solve, whether Herr Volkmar could recover presents, and it -had to be transmitted from one court to another. An order of court dated -January, 1722, required further evidence to be produced before purse, -coat, boots, &c., could be returned to Volkmar--that is, _seven_ years -after they had been taken into the custody of the Court. The horse must -have eaten more than his cost by this time, and the coat must have lost -all value through moth-eating. The cost of proceedings was heavy, and -Volkmar then withdrew from his attempt to recover the objects given to -the false prince. - -But already--long before, by decree of October 1717--Sophie Apitzsch had -been liberated. She left prison in half male, half female costume, and -in this dress took service with a baker at Waldheim; and we hear no more -of her, whether she married, and when she died. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[13] Augustus the Strong was King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. - -[14] Aurora v. Königsmark went out of favour in 1698--probably then sold -the gold snuff-box. She died in 1728. - - - - -Peter Nielsen. - - -On the 29th day of April in the year 1465, died Henry Strangebjerg, -bishop of Ribe in Denmark, after having occupied the See for just ten -years. For some days before his decease public, official prayer had been -made for his recovery by the Cathedral Chapter, but in their hearts the -Canons were impatient for his departure. Not, be it understood, that the -Bishop was an unworthy occupant of the See of Liafdag the Martyr--on the -contrary, he had been a man of exemplary conduct; nor because he was -harsh in his rule--on the contrary, he had been a lenient prelate. The -reason why, when official prayer was made for his recovery, it was -neutralised by private intercession for his removal, was solely -this--his removal opened a prospect of advancement. - -The Cathedral Chapter of Ribe consisted of fifteen Canons, and a Dean or -Provost, all men of family, learning and morals. Before the doctors had -shaken their heads over the sick bed of Henry Strangebjerg, it was known -throughout Ribe that there would be four candidates for the vacant -throne. It was, of course, impossible for more than one man to be -elected; but as the election lay entirely and uncontrolledly in the -hands of the Chapter, it was quite possible for a Canon to make a good -thing out of an election without being himself elected. The bishops -nominated to many benefices, and there existed then no law against -pluralities. The newly chosen prelate, if he had a spark of gratitude, -must reward those faithful men who had made him bishop. - -At 4 p.m. on April 29th the breath left the body of Henry Strangebjerg. -At 4.15 p.m. the Chapter were rubbing their hands and drawing sighs of -relief. But Thomas Lange, the Dean, rubbed his hands and drew his sigh -of relief ten minutes earlier, viz., at 4.5 p.m., for he stood by the -bed of the dying bishop. At 3.25 p.m. Thomas Lange's nerves had received -a great shock, for a flicker as of returning life had manifested itself -in the sick man, and for a few minutes he really feared he might -recover. At 4.10 p.m. Hartwig Juel, the Archdeacon, who had been -standing outside the bishop's door, was seen running down the corridor -with a flush in his cheeks. Through the keyhole he had heard the Dean -exclaim: "Thank God!" and when he heard that pious ejaculation, he knew -that all dread of the Bishop's restoration was over. It was not till so -late as 4.20 p.m. that Olaf Petersen knew it. Olaf was kneeling in the -Cathedral, in the Chapel of St. Lambert, the yellow chapel as it was -called, absorbed in devotion, consequently the news did not reach him -till five minutes after the Chapter, twenty minutes after the vacation -of the See. Olaf Petersen was a very holy man; he was earnest and -sincere. He was, above everything, desirous of the welfare of the Church -and the advancement of religion. He was ascetic, denying himself in -food, sleep and clothing, and was profuse in his alms and in his -devotions. He saw the worldliness, the self-seeking, the greed of gain -and honours that possessed his fellows, and he was convinced that one -thing was necessary for the salvation of Christianity in Ribe, and that -one thing was his own election to the See. - -The other candidates were moved by selfish interests. He cared only for -true religion. Providence would do a manifest injustice if it did not -take cognizance of his integrity and interfere to give him the mitre. He -was resolved to use no unworthy means to secure it. He would make no -promises, offer no bribes--that is, to his fellow Canons, but he -promised a silver candlestick to St. Lambert, and bribed St. Gertrude to -intervene with the assurance of a pilgrimage to her shrine. - -We have mentioned only three of the candidates. The fourth was Jep -Mundelstrup, an old and amiable man, who had not thrust himself forward, -but had been put forward by his friends, who considered him sufficiently -malleable to be moulded to their purposes. - -Jep was, as has been said, old; he was so old that it was thought (and -hoped), if chosen, his tenure of office would be but brief. Four or five -years--under favourable circumstances, such as a changeable winter, a -raw spring with east winds--he might drop off even sooner, and leave the -mitre free for another scramble. - -The Kings of Denmark no longer nominated to the Sees, sent no _congé -d'élire_ to the Chapter. They did not even appoint to the Canonries. -Consequently the Canons had everything pretty much their own way, and -had only two things to consider, to guide their determination--the good -of the Church and their own petty interests. The expression "good of -the Church" demands comment. "The good of the Church" was the motive, -the only recognised motive, on which the Chapter were supposed to act. -Practically, however, it was non-existent as a motive. It was a mere -figure of speech used to cloak selfish ambition. - -From this sweeping characterisation we must, however, exclude Olaf -Petersen, who did indeed regard pre-eminently the good of the Church, -but then that good was, in his mind, inextricably involved with his own -fortunes. He was the man to make religion a living reality. He was the -man to bring the Church back to primitive purity. He could not blind his -eyes to the fact that not one of the Canons beside himself cared a -farthing for spiritual matters; therefore he desired the mitre for his -own brows. - -The conclave at which the election was to be made was fixed for the -afternoon of the day on which Henry Strangebjerg was to be buried, and -the burial was appointed to take place as soon as was consistent with -decency. - -The whole of the time between the death and the funeral was taken up by -the Canons with hurrying to and from each other's residences, canvassing -for votes. - -Olaf Petersen alone refrained from canvassing, he spent his whole time -in fasting and prayer, so anxious was he for the welfare of the Church -and the advancement of true religion. - -At length--Boom! Boom! Boom! The great bell of the minster tower -summoned the Chapter to the hall of conclave. Every Canon was in his -place, fifteen Canons and the provost, sixteen in all. It was certain -that the provost, although chairman, would claim his right to vote, and -exercise it, voting for himself. It was ruled that all voting should be -open, for two reasons--that the successful candidate might know who had -given him their shoulders on which to mount, and so reward these -shoulders by laying many benefices upon them, and secondly, that he -might know who had been his adversaries, and so might exclude them from -preferments. Every one believed he would be on the winning side, no one -supposed the other alternative possible. - -The candidates, as already intimated, were four. Thomas Lange, the Dean, -who belonged to a good, though not wealthy family. He had been in -business before taking orders, and brought with him into the Church -practical shrewdness and business habits. He had husbanded well the -resources of the Chapter, and had even enlarged its revenue by the -purchase of three farms and a manor. - -The second candidate, Hartwig Juel, was a member of a powerful noble -family. His brother was at Court and highly regarded by King Christian. -His election would gratify the king. Hartwig Juel was Archdeacon. - -The third candidate was the good old Jep Mundelstrup; and the fourth was -the representative of the ascetic, religious party, which was also the -party of reform, Olaf Petersen. - -The Dean was, naturally, chairman. Before taking the chair he announced -his intention of voting. The four candidates were proposed, and the -votes taken. - -The Dean numbered 4. - -Hartwig Juel numbered 4. - -Jep Mundelstrup numbered 4. - -Olaf Petersen numbered 4. - -Moreover, each candidate had voted for himself. - -What was to be done? The Chapter sat silent, looking about them in each -others' faces. - -Then the venerable Jep Mundelstrup, assisted by those who sat by him, -staggered to his feet, and leaning on his staff, he mumbled forth this -address: "My reverend brothers, it was wholly without my desire and not -in furtherance of any ambition of mine, that my name was put up as that -of a candidate for the vacant mitre of the Holy See of Ribe. I am old -and infirm. With the patriarch Jacob I may say, 'Few and evil have been -the days of the years of my life.' and I am not worthy to receive so -great an honour. Evil my days have been, because I have had only my -Canonry and one sorry living to support me; and there are comforts I -should desire in my old age which I cannot afford. My health is not -sound. I shrink from the responsibilities and labours of a bishopric. If -I withdraw my candidature, I feel confident that the successful -candidate will not forget my infirmities, and the facility I have -afforded for his election. I decline to stand, and at the same time, -lest I should seem to pose in opposition to three of my excellent -brethren, I decline also to vote." Then he sat down, amidst general -applause. - -Here was an unexpected simplification of matters. The Dean and Hartwig -Juel cast kindly, even affectionate glances at those who had previously -voted for Jep, Olaf Petersen looked up to heaven and prayed. - -Again, the votes were taken, and again the chairman claimed his right to -vote. - -When taken they stood thus: - -The Dean, 5. - -Hartwig Juel, 5. - -Olaf Petersen, 5. - -What was to be done? Again the Chapter sat silent, rubbing their chins, -and casting furtive glances at each other. The Chapter was adjourned to -the same hour on the morrow. The intervening hours were spent in -negociations between the several parties, and attempts made by the two -first in combination to force Olaf Petersen to resign his candidature. -But Olaf was too conscientious a man to do this. He felt that the -salvation of souls depended on his staying the plague like Phinehas with -his censer. - -Boom! Boom! Boom! The Cathedral bell again summoned the conclave to the -Chapter House. - -Before proceeding to business the Dean, as chairman, addressed the -electors. He was an eloquent man, and he set in moving words before them -the solemnity of the duty imposed on them, the importance of considering -only the welfare of the Church, and the responsibility that would weigh -on them should they choose an unworthy prelate. He conjured them in -tones vibrating with pathos, to put far from them all self-seeking -thoughts, and to be guided only by conscience. Then he sat down. The -votes were again taken. Jep Mundelstrup again shaking his head, and -refusing to vote. When counted, they stood thus. - -Thomas Lange, 5. - -Hartwig Juel, 5. - -Olaf Petersen, 5. - -Then up started the Dean, very red in the face, and said, "Really this -is preposterous! Are we to continue this farce? Some of the brethren -must yield for the general good. I would cheerfully withdraw my -candidature, but for one consideration. You all know that the temporal -affairs of the See have fallen into confusion. Our late excellent -prelate was not a man of business, and there has been alienation, and -underletting, and racking out of church lands, which I have marked with -anxiety, and which I am desirous to remedy. You all know that I have -this one good quality, I am a business man, understand account keeping, -and look sharp after the pecuniary interests of the Chapter lands. It is -essential that the lands of the See should be attended to by some -practical man like myself, therefore I do not withdraw from my -candidature, but therefore only--" - -Then up sprang Hartwig Juel, and said, "The very Reverend the Dean has -well said, this farce must not continue. Some must yield if a bishop is -to be elected. I would cheerfully withdraw from candidature but for one -little matter. I hold in my hand a letter received this morning from my -brother, who tells me that his most gracious majesty, King Christian, -expressed himself to my brother in terms of hope that I should be -elected. You, my reverend brothers, all know that we are living in a -critical time when it is most necessary that a close relation, a -cordial relation, should be maintained between the Church and the State. -Therefore, in the political interests of the See, but only in these -interests, I cannot withdraw my candidature." - -Then all eyes turned on Olaf Petersen. His face was pale, his lips set. -He stood up, and leaning forward said firmly, "The pecuniary and the -political interests of the See are as nothing to me, its spiritual -interests are supreme. Heaven is my witness, I have no personal ambition -to wear the mitre. I know it will cause exhausting labour and terrible -responsibilities, from which I shrink. Nevertheless, seeing as I do that -this is a period in the history of the Church when self-seeking and -corruption have penetrated her veins and are poisoning her life-blood, -seeing as I do that unless there be a revival of religion, and an -attempt at reform be made within the Church, there will ensue such a -convulsion as will overthrow her, therefore, and only therefore do I -feel that I can not withdraw from my candidature." - -"Very well," said the Dean in a crusty tone. "There is nothing for it -but for us to vote again. Now at least we have clear issues before us, -the temporal, the political, and the spiritual interests of the Church." -The votes were again taken, and stood thus. - -The temporal interests, 5. - -The political interests, 5. - -The spiritual interests, 5. - -Here was a dead lock. It was clear that parties were exactly divided, -and that none would yield. - -After a pause of ten minutes, Jep Mundelstrup was again helped to his -feet. He looked round the Chapter with blinking eyes, and opened and -shut his mouth several times before he came to speak. At last he said, -in faltering tones, "My reverend brethren, it is clear to me that my -resignation has complicated, rather than helped matters forward. Do not -think I am about to renew my candidature, _that_ I am not, but I am -going to make a proposition to which I hope you will give attentive -hearing. If we go on in this manner, we shall elect no one, and then his -Majesty, whom God bless, will step in and nominate." - -"Hear, hear!" from the adherents of Hartwig Juel. - -"I do not for a moment pretend that the nominee of his Majesty would not -prove an excellent bishop, but I do fear that a nomination by the crown -would be the establishment of a dangerous precedent." - -"Hear! hear!" from the adherents of Olaf Petersen. - -"At the same time it must be borne in mind that the temporal welfare of -the See ought to be put in the hands of some one conversant with the -condition into which they have been allowed to lapse." - -"Hear! hear!" from the adherents of Thomas Lange. - -"I would suggest, as we none of us can agree, that we refer the decision -to an umpire." - -General commotion, and whispers, and looks of alarm. - -"How are we to obtain one at once conversant with the condition of the -diocese, and not a partizan?" asked the Dean. - -"There is a wretched little village in the midst of the Roager Heath, -cut off from communication with the world, in which lives a priest named -Peter Nielsen on his cure, a man who is related to no one here, belongs, -I believe, to no gentle family, and, therefore, would have no family -interests one way or the other to bias him. He has the character of -being a shrewd man of business, some of the estates of the Church are on -the Roager Heath, and he knows how they have been treated, and I have -always heard that he is a good preacher and an indefatigable parish -priest. Let him be umpire. I can think of none other who would not be a -partizan." - -The proposition was so extraordinary and unexpected that the Chapter, at -first, did not know what to think of it. Who was this Peter Nielsen? No -one knew of him anything more than what Jep Mundelstrup had said, and -he, it was believed, had drawn largely on his imagination for his facts. -Indeed, he was the least known man among the diocesan clergy. It was -disputed whether he was a good preacher. Who had heard him? no one. Was -it true that he was not a gentleman by birth? No one knew to what family -he belonged. In default of any other solution to the dead lock in which -the Chapter stood, it was agreed by all that the selection of a bishop -for Ribe should be left to Peter Nielsen of Roager. - -That same day, indeed as soon after the dissolution of the meeting as -was possible, one of the Canons mounted his horse, and rode away to the -Roager Heath. - -The village of Ro or Raa-ager, literally the rough or barren field, lay -in the dead flat of sandy heath that occupies so large a portion of the -centre and west coast of Jutland, and which goes by various names, as -Randböll Heath and Varde Moor. In many places it is mere fen, where the -water lies and stagnates. In others it is a dry waste of sand strewn -with coarse grass and a few scant bushes. The village itself consisted -of one street of cottages thatched with turf, and with walls built of -the same, heather and grass sprouting from the interstices of the -blocks. The church was little more dignified than the hovels. It was -without tower and bell. Near the church was the parsonage. - -The Canon descended from his cob; he had ridden faster than was his -wont, and was hot. He drew his sleeve across his face and bald head, and -then threw the bridle over the gate-post. - -In the door of the parsonage stood a short, stout, rosy-faced, dark-eyed -woman, with two little children pulling at her skirts. This was Maren -Grubbe, the housekeeper of the pastor, at least that was her official -designation. She had been many years at Roager with Peter Nielsen, and -was believed to manage him as well as the cattle and pigs and poultry of -the glebe. From behind her peered a shock-headed boy of about eight -years with a very dirty face and cunning eyes. - -The Canon stood and looked at the woman, then at the children, and the -woman and children stood and looked at him. - -"Is this the house of the priest, Peter Nielsen?" he asked. - -"Certainly, do you want him?" inquired the housekeeper. - -"I have come from Ribe to see him on diocesan business." - -"Step inside," said the housekeeper curtly. "His reverence is not in the -house at this moment, he is in the church saying his offices." - -"That's lies!" shouted the dirty boy from behind. "Dada is in the -pigstye setting a trap for the rats." - -"Hold your tongue, Jens!" exclaimed the woman, giving the boy a cuff -which knocked him over. Then to the Canon she said, "Take a seat and I -will go to the church after him." - -She went out with the two smaller children staggering at her skirts, -tumbling, picking themselves up, going head over heels, crowing and -squealing. - -When she was outside the house, the dirty boy sat upright on the floor, -winked at the Canon, crooked his fingers, and said, "Follow me, and I -will show you Dada." - -The bald-headed ecclesiastic rose, and guided by the boy went into a -back room, through a small window in which he saw into the pig-styes, -and there, without his coat, in a pair of stained and patched breeches, -and a blue worsted night-cap, over ankles in filth, was the parish -priest engaged in setting a rat-trap. Outside, in the yard, the pigs -were enjoying their freedom. Leisurely round the corner came the -housekeeper with the satellites. "There, Peers!" said she, "There is a -reverend gentleman from the cathedral come after thee." - -"Then," said the pastor, slowly rising, "do thou, Maren, keep out of -sight, and especially be careful not to produce the brats. Their -presence opens the door to misconstruction." - -The Canon stole back to his seat, mopped his brow and head, and thought -to himself that the Chapter had put the selection of a chief pastor into -very queer hands. The nasty little boy began to giggle and snuffle -simultaneously. "Have you seen Dada? Dada saying his prayers in there." - -"Who are you?" asked the ecclesiastic stiffly of the child. - -"I'm Jens," answered the boy. - -"I know you are Jens, I heard your mother call you so. I presume that -person is your mother." - -"That is my mother, but Dada is not my dada." - -"O, Jens, boy, Jens! Truth above all things. Magna est veritas et -prævalebit." The Reverend Peter Nielsen entered, clean, in a cassock, -and with a shovel hat on his head. - -"The children whom you have seen," said Peter Nielsen, "are the nephews -and nieces of my worthy housekeeper, Maria Grubbe. She is a charitable -woman, and as her sister is very poor, and has a large family, my Maren, -I mean my housekeeper, takes charge of some of the overflow."[15] - -"It is a great burden to you," said the Canon. - -Peter Nielsen shrugged his shoulders. "To clothe the naked and give -food to the hungry are deeds of mercy." - -"I quite understand, quite," said the Canon. - -"I only mentioned it," continued the parish priest, "lest you should -suppose--" - -"I quite understand," said the Canon, interrupting him, with a bow and a -benignant smile. - -"And now," said Peter Nielsen, "I am at your service." - -Thereupon the Canon unfolded to his astonished hearer the nature of his -mission. The pastor sat listening attentively with his head bowed, and -his hands planted on his knees. Then, when his visitor had done -speaking, he thrust his left hand into his trouser pocket and produced a -palmful of carraway seed. He put some into his mouth, and began to chew -it; whereupon the whole room became scented with carraway. - -"I am fond of this seed," said the priest composedly, whilst he turned -over the grains in his hand with the five fingers of his right. "It is -good for the stomach, and it clears the brain. So I understand that -there are three parties?" - -"Exactly, there is that of Olaf Petersen, a narrow, uncompromising man, -very sharp on the morals of the clergy; there is also that of the Dean, -Thomas Lange, an ambitious and scheming ecclesiastic; and there is -lastly that of the Archdeacon Hartwig Juel, one of the most amiable men -in the world." - -"And you incline strongly to the latter?" - -"I do--how could you discover that? Juel is not a man to forget a friend -who has done him a favour." - -"Now, see!" exclaimed Peter Nielsen, "See the advantage of chewing -carraway seed. Three minutes ago I knew or recollected nothing about -Hartwig Juel, but I do now remember that five years ago he passed -through Roager, and did me the honour of partaking of such poor -hospitality as I was able to give. I supplied him and his four -attendants, and six horses, with refreshment. Bless my soul! the -efficacy of carraway is prodigious! I can now recall all that took -place. I recollect that I had only hogs' puddings to offer the -Archdeacon, his chaplain, and servants, and they ate up all I had. I -remember also that I had a little barrel of ale which I broached for -them, and they drank the whole dry. To be sure!--I had a bin of oats, -and the horses consumed every grain! I know that the Archdeacon -regretted that I had no bell to my church, and that he promised to send -me one. He also assured me he would not leave a stone unturned till he -had secured for me a better and more lucrative cure. I even sent a side -of bacon away with him as a present--but nothing came of the promises. I -ought to have given him a bushel of carraway. You really have no notion -of the poverty of this living. I cannot now offer you any other food -than buck-wheat brose, as I have no meat in the house. I can only give -you water to drink as I am without beer. I cannot even furnish you with -butter and milk, as I have not a cow." - -"Not even a cow!" exclaimed the Canon. "I really am thankful for your -having spoken so plainly to me. I had no conception that your cure was -so poor. That the Archdeacon should not have fulfilled the promises he -made you is due to forgetfulness. Indeed, I assure you, for the last -five years I have repeatedly seen Hartwig Juel strike his brow and -exclaim, 'Something troubles me. I have made a promise, and cannot -recall it. This lies on my conscience, and I shall have no peace till I -recollect and discharge it.' This is plain fact." - -"Take him a handful of carraway," urged the parish priest. - -"No--he will remember all when I speak to him, unaided by carraway." - -"There is one thing I can offer you," said Peter Nielsen, "a mug of -dill-water." - -"Dill-water! what is that?" - -"It is made from carraway. It is given to infants to enable them to -retain their milk. It is good for adults to make them recollect their -promises." - -"My dear good friend," said the Canon rising, "your requirements shall -be complied with to-morrow. I see you have excellent pasture here for -sheep. Have you any?" - -The parish priest shook his head. - -"That is a pity. That however can be rectified. Good-bye, rely on me. -_Qui pacem habet, se primum pacat._" - -When the Canon was gone, Peter Nielsen, who had attended him to the -door, turned, and found Maren Grubbe behind him. - -"I say, Peers!" spoke the housekeeper, nudging him, "What is the meaning -of all this? What was that Latin he said as he went away?" - -"My dear, good Maren," answered the priest, "he quoted a saying -familiar to us clergy. At the altar is a little metal plate with a cross -on it, and this is called the Pax, or Peace. During the mass the priest -kisses it, and then hands it to his assistant, who kisses it in turn and -passes it on so throughout the attendance. The Latin means this, 'Let -him who has the Pax bless himself with it before giving it out of his -hands,' and means nothing more than this: 'Charity begins at Home,' -or--put more boldly still, 'Look out for Number I.'" - -"Now, see here," said the housekeeper, "you have been too moderate, -Peers, you have not looked out sufficiently for Number I. Leave the next -comer to me. No doubt that the Dean will send to you, in like manner as -the Archdeacon sent to-day." - -"As you like, Maren, but keep the children in the background. Charity -that thinketh no ill, is an uncommon virtue." - -Next morning early there arrived at the parsonage a waggon laden with -sides of bacon, smoked beef, a hogshead of prime ale, a barrel of -claret, and several sacks of wheat. It had scarcely been unloaded when a -couple of milch cows arrived; half an hour later came a drove of sheep. -Peter Nielsen disposed of everything satisfactorily about the house and -glebe. His eye twinkled, he rubbed his hands, and said to himself with a -chuckle, "He who blesses, blesses first himself." - -In the course of the morning a rider drew up at the house door. Maren -flattened her nose at the little window of the guest-room, and -scrutinized the arrival before admitting him. Then she nodded her head, -and whispered to the priest to disappear. A moment later she opened the -door, and ushered a stout red-faced ecclesiastic into the room. - -"Is the Reverend Pastor at home?" he asked, bowing to Maren Grubbe; "I -have come to see him on important business." - -"He is at the present moment engaged with a sick parishioner. He will be -here in a quarter of an hour. He left word before going out, that should -your reverence arrive before his return--" - -"What! I was expected!" - -"The venerable the Archdeacon sent a deputation to see my master -yesterday, and he thought it probable that a deputation from the very -Reverend the Dean would arrive to-day." - -"Indeed! So Hartwig Juel has stolen a march on us." - -"Hartwig Juel had on a visit some little while ago made promises to my -master of a couple of cows, a herd of sheep, some ale, wine, wheat, and -so on, and he took advantage of the occasion to send all these things to -us." - -"Indeed! Hartwig Juel's practice is sharp." - -"Thomas Lange will make up no doubt for dilatoriness." - -"Humph! and Olaf Petersen, has he sent?" - -"His deputation will, doubtless, come to-morrow, or even this -afternoon." - -The Canon folded his hands over his ample paunch, and looked hard at -Maren Grubbe. She was attired in her best. Her cheeks shone like -quarendon apples, as red and glossy; full of health--with a threat of -temper, just as a hot sky has in it indications of a tempest. Her eyes -were dark as sloes, and looked as sharp. She was past middle age, but -ripe and strong; for all that. - -The fat Canon sat looking at her, twirling his thumbs like a little -windmill, over his paunch, without speaking. She also sat demurely with -her hands flat on her knees, and looked him full and firm in the face. - -"I have been thinking," said the Canon, "how well a set of silver chains -would look about that neck, and pendant over that ample bosom." - -"Gold would look better," said Maren, and shut her mouth again. - -"And a crimson silk kerchief--" - -"Would do," interrupted the housekeeper, "for one who has not -expectations of a crimson silk skirt." - -"Quite so." A pause, and the windmills recommenced working. Presently -squeals were heard in the back premises. One of the children had fallen -and hurt itself. - -"Cats?" asked the Canon. - -"Cats," answered Maren. - -"Quite so," said the Canon. "I am fond of cats.' - -"So am I," said Maren. - -Then ensued an uproar. The door burst open, and in tumbled little Jens -with one child in his arms, the other clinging to the seat of his -pantaloons. These same articles of clothing had belonged to the Reverend -Peter Nielsen, till worn out, when at the request of Maren, they had -been given to her and cut down in length for Jens. In length they -answered. The waistband was under the arms, indeed, but the legs were -not too long. In breadth and capacity they were uncurtailed. - -"I cannot manage them, mother," said the boy. "It is of no use making me -nurse. Besides, I want to see the stranger." - -"These children," said Maren, looking firmly in the face of the Canon, -"call me mother, but they are the offspring of my sister, whose husband -was lost last winter at sea. Poor thing, she was left with fourteen, and -I--" - -She put her apron to her eyes and wept. - -"O, noble charity!" said the fat priest enthusiastically. "You--I see it -all--you took charge of the little orphans. You sacrifice your savings -for them, your time is given to them. Emotion overcomes me. What is -their name?" - -"Katts." - -"Cats?" - -"John Katts, and little Kristine and Sissely Katts." - -"And the worthy pastor assists in supporting these poor orphans?" - -"Yes, in spite of his poverty. And now we are on this point, let me ask -you if you have not been struck with the meanness of this parsonage -house. I can assure you, there is not a decent room in it, upstairs the -chambers are open to the rafters, unceiled." - -"My worthy woman," said the Canon, "I will see to this myself. Rely upon -it, if the Dean becomes Bishop, he will see that the manses of his best -clergy are put into thorough repair." - -"I should prefer to see the repairs begun at once," said Maren. "When -the Dean becomes Bishop he will have so much to think about, that he -might forget our parsonage house." - -"Madam," said the visitor, as he rose, "they shall be executed at once. -When I see the charity shown in this humble dwelling, by pastor and -housekeeper alike, I feel that it demands instantaneous acknowledgment." - -Then in came Peter Nielsen, and said, "I have not sufficient -cattle-sheds. Sheep yards are also needed." - -"They shall be erected." - -Then the Canon caught up little Kirsten and little Sissel, and kissed -their dirty faces. Maren's radiant countenance assured the Canon that -the cause of Thomas Lange was won with Maren Grubbe. - -He took the parish priest by the hand, pressed it, and said in a low -tone, "_Qui pacem habet, se primum pacat_. You understand me?" - -"Perfectly," answered Peter Nielsen, with a smile. - -Next morning early there arrived at Roager a party of masons from Ribe, -ready to pull down the old parsonage and build one more commodious and -extensive. The pastor went over the plans with the master mason, -suggested alterations and enlargements, and then, with a chuckle, he -muttered to himself, "That is an excellent saying, _Qui pacem habet, se -primum pacat_." Then looking up, he saw before him an ascetic, -hollow-eyed, pale-faced priest. - -"I am Olaf Petersen," said the new comer. "I thought best to come over -and see you myself; I think the true condition of the Church ought to be -set before you, and that you should consider the spiritual welfare of -the poor sheep in the Ribe fold, and give them a chief pastor who will -care for the sheep and not for the wool." - -"I have got a flock of sheep already," said Peter Nielsen, coldly. -"Hartwig Juel sent it me." - -"I think," continued Olaf, "that you should consider the edification of -the spiritual building." - -"I am going to have a new parsonage erected," said Peter Nielsen, -stiffly; "Thomas Lange has seen to that." - -"The Bishop needed for this diocese," Olaf Petersen went on, "should -combine the harmlessness of the dove with the wisdom of the serpent." - -"If he does that," said Nielsen, roughly, "he will be half knave and -half fool. Let us have the wisdom, that is what we want now; and one of -the first maxims of wisdom in Church and State is, _Qui pacem habet, se -primum pacat_. You take me?" - -Olaf sighed, and shook his head. - -"Do you see this plan," said Peter Nielsen. "I am going to have a byre -fashioned on that, with room for a dozen oxen. I have but two cows; -stables for two horses, I have not one; a waggon shed, I am without a -wheeled conveyance. I shall have new rooms, and have no furniture to put -in them. Now, to stock and furnish farm and parsonage will cost much -money. I have not a hundred shillings in the world. What am I to do? The -man who would be Bishop of Ribe should consider the welfare of one of -the most influential, learned, and moral of the priests in the diocese, -and do what he can to make him comfortable. Before we choose a cow we go -over her, feel her, examine her parts; before we purchase a horse we -look at the teeth and explore the hoofs, and try the wind. When we -select a bishop we naturally try the stuff of which he is made, if -liberal, generous, open-handed, amiable. You understand me?" - -Olaf sighed, and drops of cold perspiration stood on his brow. A contest -was going on within. Simony was a mortal sin. Was there a savour of -simony in offering a present to the man in whose hands the choice of a -chief pastor lay? He feared so. But then--did not the end sometimes -justify the means? As these questions rose in his mind and refused to be -answered, something heavy fell at his feet. His hand had been plucking -at his purse, and in his nervousness he had detached it from his girdle, -and had let it slip through his fingers. He did not look down. He seemed -not to notice his loss, but he moved away without another word, with -bent head and troubled conscience. When he was gone, Peter Nielsen bowed -himself, picked up the pouch, counted the gold coins in it, laughed, -rubbed his hands, and said, "He who blesses, blesses first himself." - -Next day a litter stayed at the parsonage gate, and out of it, with -great difficulty, supported on the arms of two servants, came the aged -Jep Mundelstrup. He entered the guest-room and was accommodated with a -seat. When he got his breath, he said, extending a roll of parchment to -the incumbent of Roager, "You will not fail to remember that it was at -_my_ suggestion that the choice of a bishop was left with you. You are -deeply indebted to me. But for me you would not have been visited and -canvassed by the Dean, the Arch-deacon, and the Ascetic, either in -person or by their representatives. You will please to remember that I -was nominated, but seeing so many others proposed, I withdrew my name. I -think you will allow that this exhibited great humility and shrinking -from honour. In these worldly, self-seeking days such an example -deserves notice and reward. I am old, and perhaps unequal to the labours -of office, but I think I ought to be considered; although I did formally -withdraw my candidature, I am not sure that I would refuse the mitre -were it pressed on me. At all events it would be a compliment to offer -it me and I might refuse it. _Qui pacem habet, se primum pacat._ You -will not regret the return courtesy." - - * * * * * - -Boom! Boom! Boom! The cathedral bell was summoning all Ribe to the -minster to be present at the nomination of its bishop. All Ribe answered -the summons. - -The cathedral stands on a hill called the Mount of Lilies, but the mount -is of so slight an elevation that it does not protect the cathedral from -overflow, and a spring tide with N.W. wind has been known to flood both -town and minster and leave fishes on the sacred floor. The church is -built of granite, brick and sandstone; originally the contrast may have -been striking, but weather has smudged the colours together into an ugly -brown-grey. The tower is lofty, narrow, and wanting a spire. It -resembles a square ruler set up on end; it is too tall for its base. The -church is stately, of early architecture with transepts, and the choir -at their intersection with the nave, domed over, and a small -semi-circular apse beyond, for the altar. The nave was crowded, the -canons occupied the stalls in their purple tippets edged with crimson; -purple, because the chapter of a cathedral; crimson edged, because the -founder of the See was a martyr. Fifteen, and the Dean, sixteen in all, -were in their places. On the altar steps, in the apse, in the centre, -sat Peter Nielsen in his old, worn cassock, without surplice. On the -left side of the altar stood the richly-sculptured Episcopal throne, and -on the seat was placed the jewelled mitre, over the arm the cloth of -gold cope was cast, and against the back leaned the pastoral crook of -silver gilt, encrusted with precious stones. - -When the last note of the bell sounded, the Dean rose from his stall, -and stepping up to the apse, made oath before heaven, the whole -congregation and Peter Nielsen, that he was prepared to abide by the -decision of this said Peter, son of Nicolas, parish priest of Roager. -Amen. He was followed by the Archdeacon, then by each of the canons to -the last. - -Then mass was said, during which the man in whose hands the fortunes of -the See reposed, knelt with unimpassioned countenance and folded hands. - -At the conclusion he resumed his seat, the crucifix was brought forth -and he kissed it. - -A moment of anxious silence. The moment for the decision had arrived. He -remained for a short while seated, with his eyes fixed on the ground, -then he turned them on the anxious face of the Dean, and after having -allowed them to rest scrutinisingly there for a minute, he looked at -Hartwig Juel, then at Olaf Petersen, who was deadly white, and whose -frame shook like an aspen leaf. Then he looked long at Jep Mundelstrup -and rose suddenly to his feet. - -The fall of a pin might have been heard in the cathedral at that moment. - -He said--and his voice was distinctly audible by every one present--"I -have been summoned here from my barren heath, into this city, out of a -poor hamlet, by these worthy and reverend fathers, to choose for them a -prelate who shall be at once careful of the temporal and the spiritual -welfare of the See. I have scrupulously considered the merits of all -those who have been presented to me as candidates for the mitre. I find -that in only one man are all the requisite qualities combined in proper -proportion and degree--not in Thomas Lange," the Dean's head fell on his -bosom, "nor in Hartwig Juel," the Archdeacon sank back in his stall; -"nor in Olaf Petersen," the man designated uttered a faint cry and -dropped on his knees, "nor in Jep Mundelstrup--but in myself. I -therefore nominate Peter, son of Nicolas, commonly called Nielsen, -Curate of Roager, to be Bishop of Ribe, twenty-ninth in descent from -Liafdag the martyr. _Qui pacem habet, se primum pacat._ Amen. He who has -to bless, blesses first himself." - -Then he sat down. - -For a moment there was silence, and then a storm broke loose. Peter sat -motionless, with his eyes fixed on the ground, motionless as a rock -round which the waves toss and tear themselves to foam. - -Thus it came about that the twenty-ninth bishop of Ribe was Peter -Nielsen. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[15] In Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, clerical celibacy was -never enforced before the Reformation. Now and then a formal prohibition -was issued by the bishops, but it was generally ignored. The clergy were -married, openly and undisguisedly. - - - - -The Wonder-Working Prince Hohenlohe. - - -In the year 1821, much interest was excited in Germany and, indeed, -throughout Europe by the report that miracles of healing were being -wrought by Prince Leopold Alexander of -Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst at Würzburg, Bamberg, and -elsewhere. The wonders soon came to an end, for, after the ensuing year, -no more was heard of his extraordinary powers. - -At the time, as might be expected, his claims to be a miracle-worker -were hotly disputed, and as hotly asserted. Evidence was produced that -some of his miracles were genuine; counter evidence was brought forward -reducing them to nothing. - -The whole story of Prince Hohenlohe's sudden blaze into fame, and speedy -extinction, is both curious and instructive. In the Baden village of -Wittighausen, at the beginning of this century, lived a peasant named -Martin Michel, owning a farm, and in fairly prosperous circumstances. -His age, according to one authority, was fifty, according to another -sixty-seven, when he became acquainted with Prince Hohenlohe. This -peasant was unquestionably a devout, guileless man. He had been -afflicted in youth with a rupture, but, in answer to continuous and -earnest prayer, he asserted that he had been completely healed. Then, -for some while he prayed over other afflicted persons, and it was -rumoured that he had effected several miraculous cures. He emphatically -and earnestly repudiated every claim to superior sanctity. The cures, he -declared, depended on the faith of the patient, and on the power of the -Almighty. The most solemn promises had been made in the gospel to those -who asked in faith, and all he did was to act upon these evangelical -promises. - -The Government speedily interfered, and Michel was forbidden by the -police to work any more miracles by prayer or faith, or any other means -except the recognised pharmacopoeia. - -He had received no payment for his cures in money or in kind, but he -took occasion through them to impress on his patients the duty of -prayer, and the efficacy of faith. - -By some means he met Prince Alexander Hohenlohe, and the prince was -interested and excited by what he heard, and by the apparent sincerity -of the man. A few days later the prince was in Würzburg, where he called -on the Princess Mathilde Schwarzenberg, a young girl of seventeen who -was a cripple, and who had already spent a year and a half at Würzburg, -under the hands of the orthopædic physician Heine, and the surgeon -Textor. She had been to the best medical men in Vienna and Paris, and -the case had been given up as hopeless. Then Prince Schwarzenberg placed -her under the treatment of Heine. She was so contracted, with her knees -drawn up to her body, that she could neither stand nor walk. - -Prince Hohenlohe first met her at dinner, on June 18, 1821, and the -sight of her distortion filled him with pity. He thought over her case, -and communicated with Michel, who at his summons came to Würzburg. As -Würzburg is in Bavaria, the orders of the Baden Government did not -extend to it, and the peasant might freely conduct his experiments -there. - -Prince Alexander called on the Princess at ten o'clock in the morning of -June 20, taking with him Michel, but leaving him outside the house, in -the court. Then Prince Hohenlohe began to speak to the suffering girl of -the power of faith, and mentioned the wonders wrought by the prayers of -Michel. She became interested, and the Prince asked her if she would -like to put the powers of Michel to the test, warning her that the man -could do nothing unless she had full and perfect belief in the mercy of -God. The Princess expressed her eagerness to try the new remedy and -assured her interrogator that she had the requisite faith. Thereupon he -went to the window, and signed to the peasant to come up. - -What follows shall be given in the Princess's own words, from her -account written a day or two later:--"The peasant knelt down and prayed -in German aloud and distinctly, and, after his prayer, he said to me, -'In the Name of Jesus, stand up. You are whole, and can both stand and -walk!' The peasant and the Prince then went into an adjoining room, and -I rose from my couch, without assistance, in the name of God, well and -sound, and so I have continued to this moment." - -A much fuller and minuter account of the proceedings was published, -probably from the pen of the governess, who was present at the time; -but as it is anonymous we need not concern ourselves with it. - -The news of the miraculous recovery spread through the town; Dr. Heine -heard of it, and ran to the house, and stood silent and amazed at what -he saw. The Princess descended the stone staircase towards the garden, -but hesitated, and, instead of going into the garden, returned upstairs, -leaning on the arm of Prince Hohenlohe. - -Next day was Corpus Christi. The excitement in the town was immense, -when the poor cripple, who had been seen for more than a year carried -into her carriage and carried out of it into church, walked to church, -and thence strolled into the gardens of the palace. - -On the following day she visited the Julius Hospital, a noble -institution founded by one of the bishops of Würzburg. On the 24th she -called on the Princess Lichtenstein, the Duke of Aremberg, and the -Prince of Baar, and moreover, attended a sermon preached by Prince -Hohenlohe in the Haugh parish church. Her recovery was complete. - -Now, at first sight, nothing seems more satisfactorily established than -this miracle. Let us, however, see what Dr. Heine, who had attended her -for nineteen months, had to say on it. We cannot quote his account in -its entirety, as it is long, but we will take the principal points in -it:--"The Princess of Schwarzenberg came under my treatment at the end -of October, 1819, afflicted with several abnormities of the thorax, with -a twisted spine, ribs, &c. Moreover, she could not rise to her feet from -a sitting posture, nor endure to be so raised; but this was not in -consequence of malformation or weakness of the system, for when sitting -or lying down she could freely move her limbs. She complained of acute -pain when placed in any other position, and when she was made to assume -an angle of 100° her agony became so intense that her extremities were -in a nervous quiver, and partial paralysis ensued, which, however, -ceased when she was restored to her habitual contracted position. - -"The Princess lost her power of locomotion when she was three years old, -and the contraction was the result of abscesses on the loins. She was -taken to France and Italy, and got so far in Paris as to be able to hop -about a room supported on crutches. But she suffered a relapse on her -return to Vienna in 1813, and thenceforth was able neither to stand nor -to move about. She was placed in my hands, and I contrived an apparatus -by which the angle at which she rested was gradually extended, and her -position gradually changed from horizontal to vertical. At the same time -I manipulated her almost daily, and had the satisfaction by the end of -last April to see her occupy an angle of 50°, without complaining of -suffering. By the close of May further advance was made, and she was -able to assume a vertical position, with her feet resting on the ground, -but with her body supported, and to remain in this position for four or -five hours. Moreover, in this situation I made her go through all the -motions of walking. The extremities had, in every position, retained -their natural muscular powers and movements, and the contraction was -simply a nervous affection. I made no attempt to force her to walk -unsupported, because I would not do this till I was well assured such a -trial would not be injurious to her. - -"On the 30th of May I revisited her, after having been unable, on -account of a slight indisposition, to see my patients for several days. -Her governess then told me that the Princess had made great progress. -She lay at an angle of 80°. The governess placed herself at the foot of -the couch, held out her hands to the Princess, and drew her up into an -upright position, and she told me that this had been done several times -of late during my enforced absence. Whilst she was thus standing I made -the Princess raise and depress her feet, and go through all the motions -of walking. Immediately on my return home I set to work to construct a -machine which might enable her to walk without risk of a fall and of -hurting herself. On the 19th of June, in the evening, I told the -Princess that the apparatus was nearly finished. Next day, a little -after 10 A.M., I visited her. When I opened her door she rose up from a -chair in which she was seated, and came towards me with short, somewhat -uncertain steps. I bowed myself, in token of joy and thanks to God. - -"At that moment a gentleman I had never seen before entered the room and -exclaimed, 'Mathilde! you have had faith in God!' The Princess replied, -'I have had, and I have now, entire faith.' The gentleman said, 'Your -faith has saved and healed you. God has succoured you.' Then I began to -suspect that some strange influence was at work, and that something had -been going on of which I was not cognizant. I asked the gentleman what -was the meaning of this. He raised his right hand to heaven, and replied -that he had prayed and thought of the Princess that morning at mass, and -that Prince Wallerstein was privy to the whole proceeding. I was puzzled -and amazed. Then I asked the Princess to walk again. She did so, and -shortly after I left, and only then did I learn that the stranger was -the Prince of Hohenlohe. - -"Next month, on July 21, her aunt, the Princess Eleanor of -Schwarzenberg, came with three of the sisters of Princess Mathilde to -fetch her away and to take her back to her father. Her Highness did me -the honour of visiting me along with the Princesses on the second day -after their arrival, to thank me for the pains I had taken to cure the -Princess Mathilde. Before they left, Dr. Schäfer, who had attended her -at Ratisbon, Herr Textor, and myself were allowed to examine the -Princess. Dr. Schäfer found that the condition of the thorax was -mightily improved since she had been in my hands. I, however, saw that -her condition had retrograded since I had last seen her on June 20, and -it was agreed that the Princess was to occupy her extension-couch at -night, and by day wear the steel apparatus for support I had contrived -for her. At the same time Dr. Schäfer distinctly assured her and the -Princess, her aunt, that under my management the patient had recovered -the power of walking _before_ the 19th of June." - -This account puts a different complexion on the cure, and shows that it -was not in any way miraculous. The Prince and the peasant stepped in -and snatched the credit of having cured the Princess from the doctor, to -whom it rightly belonged. - -Before we proceed, it will be well to say a few words about this Prince -Alexander Hohenlohe. The Hohenlohe family takes its name from a bare -elevated plateau in Franconia. About the beginning of the 16th century -it broke into two branches; the elder is Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, the -younger is Hohenlohe-Waldenburg. - -The elder branch has its sub-ramifications--Hohenlohe-Langenburg, which -possesses also the county of Gleichen; and the Hohenlohe-Oehringen and -the Hohenlohe-Kirchberg sub-branches. The second main branch of -Hohenlohe-Waldenburg has also its lateral branches, as those of -Hohenlohe-Bartenstein and Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst; the last of these -being Catholic. - -Prince Leopold Alexander was born in 1794 at Kupferzell, near -Waldenburg, and was the eighteenth child of Prince Karl Albrecht and his -wife Judith, Baroness Reviczky. His father never became reigning prince, -from intellectual incapacity, and Alexander lost him when he was one -year old. He was educated for the Church by the ex-Jesuit Riel, and went -to school first in Vienna, then at Berne; in 1810 he entered the -Episcopal seminary at Vienna, and finished his theological studies at -Ellwangen in 1814. He was ordained priest in 1816, and went to Rome. - -Dr. Wolff, the father of Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, in his "Travels and -Adventures," which is really his autobiography, says (vol i. p. 31):-- - -"Wolff left the house of Count Stolberg on the 3rd April, 1815, and -went to Ellwangen, and there met again an old pupil from Vienna, Prince -Alexander Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, afterwards so celebrated for his -miracles--to which so many men of the highest rank and intelligence have -borne witness that Wolff dares not give a decided opinion about them. -But Niebuhr relates that the Pope said to him himself, speaking about -Hohenlohe in a sneering manner, '_Questo_ far dei miracoli!' _This_ -fellow performing miracles! - -"It may be best to offer some slight sketch of Hohenlohe's life. His -person was beautiful. He was placed under the direction of Vock, the -Roman Catholic parish priest at Berne. One Sunday he was invited to -dinner with Vock, his tutor, at the Spanish ambassador's. The next day -there was a great noise in the Spanish embassy, because the mass-robe, -with the silver chalice and all its appurtenances, had been stolen. It -was advertised in the paper, but nothing could be discovered, until Vock -took Prince Hohenlohe aside, and said to him, 'Prince, confess to me; -have you not stolen the mass-robe?' He at once confessed it, and said -that he made use of it every morning in practising the celebration of -the mass in his room; which was true." (This was when Hohenlohe was -twenty-one years old.) "He was afterwards sent to Tyrnau, to the -ecclesiastical seminary in Hungary, whence he was expelled, on account -of levity. But, being a Prince, the Chapter of Olmütz, in Moravia, -elected him titulary canon of the cathedral; nevertheless, the Emperor -Francis was too honest to confirm it. Wolff taught him Hebrew in -Vienna. He had but little talent for languages, but his conversation on -religion was sometimes very charming; and at other times he broke out -into most indecent discourses. He was ordained priest, and Sailer[16] -preached a sermon on the day of his ordination, which was published -under the title of 'The Priest without Reproach.' On the same day money -was collected for building a Roman Catholic Church at Zürich, and the -money collected was given to Prince Hohenlohe, to be remitted to the -parish priest of Zürich (Moritz Mayer); but the money never reached its -destination. Wolff saw him once at the bed of the sick and dying, and -his discourse, exhortations, and treatment of these sick people were -wonderfully beautiful. When he mounted the pulpit to preach, one -imagined one saw a saint of the Middle Ages. His devotion was -penetrating, and commanded silence in a church where there were 4,000 -people collected. Wolff one day called on him, when Hohenlohe said to -him, 'I never read any other book than the Bible. I never look in a -sermon-book by anybody else, not even at the sermons of Sailer.' But -Wolff after this heard him preach, and the whole sermon was copied from -one of Sailer's, which Wolff had read only the day before. - -"With all his faults, Hohenlohe cannot be charged with avarice, for he -give away every farthing he got, perhaps even that which he obtained -dishonestly. They afterwards met at Rome, where Hohenlohe lodged with -the Jesuits, and there it was said he composed a Latin poem. Wolff, -knowing his incapacity to do such a thing, asked him boldly, 'Who is the -author of this poem?' Hohenlohe confessed at once that it was written by -a Jesuit priest. At that time Madame Schlegel wrote to Wolff: 'Prince -Hohenlohe is a man who struggles with heaven and hell, and heaven will -gain the victory with him.' Hohenlohe was on the point of being made a -bishop at Rome, but, on the strength of his previous knowledge of him, -Wolff protested against his consecration. Several princes, amongst them -Kaunitz, the ambassador, took Hohenlohe's part on this occasion; but the -matter was investigated, and Hohenlohe walked off from Rome without -being made a bishop. In his protest against the man, Wolff stated that -Hohenlohe's pretensions to being a canon of Olmütz were false; that he -had been expelled the seminary of Tyrnau; that he sometimes spoke like a -saint, and at others like a profligate." - -And now let us return to Würzburg, and see the result of the cure of -Princess Schwarzenberg. The people who had seen the poor cripple one day -carried into her carriage and into church, and a day or two after saw -her walk to church and in the gardens, and who knew nothing of Dr. -Heine's operations, concluded that this was a miracle, and gave the -credit of it quite as much to Prince Hohenlohe as to the peasant Michel. - -The police at once sent an official letter to the Prince, requesting to -be informed authoritatively what he had done, by what right he had -interfered, and how he had acted. He replied that he had done nothing, -faith and the Almighty had wrought the miracle. "The instantaneous cure -of the Princess is a _fact_, which cannot be disputed; it was the result -of a living faith. That is the truth. It happened to the Princess -according to her faith." The peasant Michel now fell into the -background, and was forgotten, and the Prince stood forward as the -worker of miraculous cures. Immense excitement was caused by the -restoration of the Princess Schwarzenberg, and patients streamed into -Würzburg from all the country round, seeking health at the hands of -Prince Alexander. The local papers published marvellous details of his -successful cures. The blind saw, the lame walked, the deaf heard. Among -the deaf who recovered was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of -Bavaria, three years later King Ludwig I., grandfather of the late King -of Bavaria. Unfortunately we have not exact details of this cure, but a -letter of the Crown Prince written shortly after merely states that he -heard _better_ than before. Now the spring of 1821 was very raw and wet, -and about June 20 there set in some dry hot weather. It is therefore -quite possible that the change of weather may have had to do with this -cure. However, we can say nothing for certain about it, as no data were -published, merely the announcement that the Crown Prince had recovered -his hearing at the prayer of Prince Hohenlohe. Here are some -better-authenticated cases, as given by Herr Scharold, an eye-witness; -he was city councillor and secretary. - -"The Prince had dined at midday with General von D----. All the -entrances to the house from two streets were blocked by hundreds of -persons, and they said that he had already healed four individuals -crippled with rheumatism in this house. I convinced myself on the spot -that one of these cases was as said. The patient was the young wife of a -fisherman, who was crippled in the right hand, so that she could not -lift anything with it, or use it in any way; and all at once she was -enabled to raise a heavy chair, with the hand hitherto powerless, and -hold it aloft. She went home weeping tears of joy and thankfulness. - -"The Prince was then entreated to go to another house, at another end of -the town, and he consented. There he found many paralysed persons. He -began with a poor man whose left arm was quite useless and stiff. After -he had asked him if he had perfect faith, and had received a -satisfactory answer, the Prince prayed with folded hands and closed -eyes. Then he raised the kneeling patient; and said, 'Move your arm.' -Weeping and trembling in all his limbs the man did as he was bid; but as -he said that he obeyed with difficulty, the Prince prayed again, and -said, 'Now move your arm again.' This time the man easily moved his arm -forwards, backwards, and raised it. The cure was complete. Equally -successful was he with the next two cases. One was a tailor's wife, -named Lanzamer. 'What do you want?' asked the Prince, who was bathed in -perspiration. Answer: 'I have had a paralytic stroke, and have lost the -use of one side of my body, so that I cannot walk unsupported.' 'Kneel -down!' But this could only be effected with difficulty, and it was -rather a tumbling down of an inert body, painful to behold. I never saw -a face more full of expression of faith in the strongly marked features. -The Prince, deeply moved, prayed with great fervour, and then said, -'Stand up!' The good woman, much agitated, was unable to do so, in spite -of all her efforts, without the assistance of her boy, who was by her, -crying, and then her lame leg seemed to crack. When she had reached her -feet, he said, 'Now walk the length of the room without pain.' She tried -to do so, but succeeded with difficulty, yet with only a little -suffering. Again he prayed, and the healing was complete; she walked -lightly and painlessly up and down, and finally out of the room; and the -boy, crying more than before, but now with joy, exclaimed, 'O my God! -mother can walk, mother can walk!' Whilst this was going on, an old -woman, called Siebert, wife of a bookbinder, who had been brought in a -sedan-chair, was admitted to the room. She suffered from paralysis and -incessant headaches that left her neither night nor day. The first -attempt made to heal her failed. The second only brought on the paroxysm -of headache worse than ever, so that the poor creature could hardly keep -her feet or open her eyes. The Prince began to doubt her faith, but when -she assured him of it, he prayed again with redoubled earnestness. And, -all at once, she was cured. This woman left the room, conducted by her -daughter, and all present were filled with astonishment." This account -was written on June 26. On June 28 Herr Scharold wrote a further account -of other cures he had witnessed; but those already given are -sufficient. That this witness was convinced and sincere appears from his -description, but how far valuable his evidence is we are not so well -assured. - -A curious little pamphlet was published the same year at Darmstadt, -entitled, "Das Mährchen vom Wunder," that professed to be the result of -the observations of a medical man who attended one or two of these -_séances_. Unfortunately the pamphlet is anonymous, and this deprives it -of most of its authority. Another writer who attacked the genuineness of -the miracles was Dr. Paulus, in his "Quintessenz aus den -Wundercurversuchen durch Michel und Hohenlohe," Leipzig, 1822; but this -author also wrote anonymously, and did not profess to have seen any of -the cures. On the other hand, Scharold and a Dr. Onymus, and two or -three priests published their testimonies as witnesses to their -genuineness, and gave the names and particulars of those cured. - -Those who assailed the Prince and his cures dipped their pens in gall. -It is only just to add that they cast on his character none of the -reflections for honesty which Dr. Wolff flung on him. - -The author of the Darmstadt pamphlet, mentioned above, says that when he -was present the Prince was attended by two sergeants of police, as the -crowd thronging on him was so great that he needed protection from its -pressure. He speaks sneeringly of him as spending his time in eating, -smoking, and miracle-working, when not sleeping, and says he was plump -and good-looking, "A girl of eighteen, who was paralysed in her limbs, -was brought from a carriage to the feet of the prophet. After he had -asked her if she believed, and he had prayed for about twelve seconds, -he exclaimed in a threatening rather than gentle voice, 'You are -healed!' But I observed that he had to thunder this thrice into the ear -of the frightened girl, before she made an effort to move, which was -painful and distressing; and, groaning and supported by others, she made -her way to the rear. 'You will be better shortly--only believe!' he -cried to her. I, who was looking on, observed her conveyed away as much -a cripple as she came. - -"The next case was a peasant of fifty-eight, a cripple on crutches. -Without his crutches he was doubled up, and could only shuffle with his -feet on the ground. After the Prince had asked the usual questions and -had prayed, he ordered the kneeling man to stand up, his crutches having -been removed. As he was unable to do so, the miracle-worker seemed -irritated, and repeated his order in an angry tone. One of the policemen -at the side threw in 'Up! in the name of the Trinity,' and pulled him to -his feet. The man seemed bewildered. He stood, indeed, but doubled as -before, and the sweat streamed from his face, and he was not a ha'porth -better than previously; but as he had come with crutches, and now stood -without them, there arose a shout of 'A miracle!' and all pressed round -to congratulate the poor wretch. His son helped him away. 'Have faith -and courage!' cried to him the Prince; and the policeman added, 'Only -believe, and rub in a little spirits of camphor!' Many pressed alms into -the man's hand, and he smiled; this was regarded as a token of his -perfect cure. I saw, however, that his knees were as stiff as before, -and that the rogue cast longing eyes at his crutches, which had been -taken away, but which he insisted on having back. No one thought of -asking how it fared with the poor wretch later, and, as a fact, he died -shortly after. - -"The next to come up was a deaf girl of eighteen. The wonder-worker was -bathed in perspiration, and evidently exhausted with his continuous -prayer night and day. After a few questions as to the duration of her -infirmity, the Prince prayed, then signed a cross over the girl, and, -stepping back from her, asked her questions, at each in succession -somewhat lowering his tone; but she only heard those spoken as loudly as -before the experiment was made, and she remained for the most part -staring stupidly at the wonder-worker. To cut the matter short, he -declared her healed. I took the mother aside soon after, and inquired -what was the result. She assured me that the girl heard no better than -before. - -"In her place came a stone-deaf man of twenty-five. The result was very -similar; but as the Prince, when bidding him depart healed, made a sign -of withdrawal with his hand, the man rose and departed, and this was -taken as evidence that he had heard the command addressed to him." - -The author gives other cases that he witnessed, not one of which was -other than a failure, though they were all declared to be cures. - -On June 29 the Prince practised his miracle-working at the palace, in -the presence of the Crown Prince and of Prince Esterhazy, the Austrian -ambassador who was on his way to London to attend the coronation of -George IV. in July. The attempts were probably as great failures as -those described in the Darmstadt pamphlet. The Prince was somewhat -discouraged at the invitation of the physicians attached to the Julius -Hospital; he had visited that institution the day before, and had -experimented on twenty cases, and was unsuccessful in every one. Full -particulars of these were published in the "Bamberger Briefe," Nos. -28-33. We will give only a very few:-- - -"1. Barbara Uhlen, of Oberschleichach, aged 39, suffering from dropsy. -The Prince said to her, 'Do you sincerely believe that you can be helped -and are helped?' The sick woman replied, 'Yes. I had resolved to leave -the hospital, where no good has been done to me, and to seek health from -God and the Prince.' He raised his eyes to heaven and prayed; then -assured the patient of her cure. Her case became worse rapidly, instead -of better. - -"7. Margaretta Löhlein, of Randersacher, aged 56. Suffering from dropsy -owing to disorganisation of the liver. Another failure. Shortly after -the Prince left, she had to be operated on to save her from suffocation. - -"10. Susanna Söllnerin, servant maid of Aub, aged 22, had already been -thirteen weeks in hospital, suffering from roaring noises in the head -and deafness. The Prince, observing the fervour of her faith, cried out, -'You shall see now how speedily she will be cured!' Prayers, blessing, -as before, and--as before, no results. - -"11. George Forchheimer, butcher, suffering from rheumatism. One foot -is immovable, and he can only walk with the assistance of a stick. -During the prayer of the Prince the patient wept and sobbed, and was -profoundly agitated. The Prince ordered him to stand up and go without -his stick. His efforts to obey were unavailing; he fell several times on -the ground, though the Prince repeated over him his prayers." - -These are sufficient as instances; not a single case in the hospital was -more successfully treated by him. - -On July 5 Prince Hohenlohe went to Bamberg, where he was eagerly awaited -by many sick and credulous persons. The Burgomaster Hornthal, however, -interfered, and forbade the attempt at performing miracles till the -authorities at Baireuth had been instructed of his arrival, and till a -commission had been appointed of men of judgment, and physicians to take -note of the previous condition of every patient who was submitted to -him, and of the subsequent condition. Thus hampered the Prince could do -nothing; he failed as signally as in the Julius Hospital at Würzburg, -and the only cases of cures claimed to have been wrought were among a -mixed crowd in the street to whom he gave a blessing from the balcony of -his lodging. - -Finding that Bamberg was uncongenial, he accepted a call to the Baths of -Brückenau, and thence news reached the incredulous of Bamberg and -Würzburg that extraordinary cures had been wrought at the prayers of the -Prince. As, however, we have no details respecting these, we may pass -them over. - -Hohenlohe, who had no notion of hiding his light under a bushel, drew -up a detailed account of over a hundred cures which he claimed to have -worked, had them attested by witnesses, and sent this precious document -to the Pope, who, with good sense, took no notice of it; at least no -public notice, though it is probable that he administered a sharp -private reprimand, for Hohenlohe collapsed very speedily. - -From Brückenau the Prince went to Vienna, but was not favourably -received there, so he departed to Hungary, where his mother's relations -lived. Though he was applied to by sick people who had heard of his -fame, he did not make any more direct attempts to heal them. He, -however, gave them cards on which a day and hour were fixed, and a -prayer written, and exhorted them to pray for recovery earnestly on the -day and at the hour indicated, and promised to pray for them at the same -time. But this was also discontinued, having proved inefficacious, and -Hohenlohe relapsed into a quiet unostentatious life. He was appointed, -through family interest, Canon of Grosswardein, and in 1829 advanced to -be Provost of the Cathedral. His powers as a preacher long survived his -powers of working miracles. He spent his time in good works, and in -writing little manuals of devotion. In 1844 he was consecrated titular -Bishop of Sardica _in partibus_, that is, without a See. He died at -Vöslau, near Vienna, in 1849. That Hohenlohe was a conscious hypocrite -we are far from supposing. He was clearly a man of small mental powers, -very conceited, and wanting in judgment. We must not place too much -reliance on the scandalous gossip of Dr. Wolff. Probably Hohenlohe's -vanity received a severe check in 1821, when both the Roman See and the -world united to discredit his miracles; and he had sufficient good sense -to accept the verdict. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[16] Johann M. Sailer was a famous ex-Jesuit preacher, at this time -Professor at the University of Landshut, afterwards Bishop of Ratisbon. -He died, 1832. - - - - -The Snail-Telegraph. - - -The writer well remembers, as a child, the sense of awe not unmixed with -fear, with which he observed the mysterious movements of the telegraph -erected on church towers in France along all the main roads. - -Many a beautiful tower was spoiled by these abominable erections. There -were huge arms like those of a windmill, painted black, and jointed, so -as to describe a great number of cabalistic signs in the air. Indeed, -the movements were like the writhings of some monstrous spider. - -Glanvil who wrote in the middle of the 17th century says, "To those that -come after us, it may be as ordinary to buy a pair of wings to fly into -the remotest regions, as now a pair of boots to ride a journey. _And to -confer, at the distance of the Indies, by sympathetic conveyances_, may -be as usual to future times as to us is literary correspondence." He -further remarks, "Antiquity would not have believed the almost -incredible force of our cannons, and would as coldly have entertained -the wonders of the telescope. In these we all condemn antique -incredulity. And it is likely posterity will have as much cause to pity -ours. But those who are acquainted with the diligent and ingenious -endeavours of true philosophers will despair of nothing." - -In 1633 the Marquis of Worcester suggested a scheme of telegraphing by -means of signs. Another, but similar scheme, was mooted in 1660 by the -Frenchman Amonton. In 1763 Mr. Edgeworth erected for his private use a -telegraph between London and Newmarket. But it was in 1789 that the -Optical Telegraph came into practical use in France--Claude Chappe was -the inventor. When he was a boy, he contrived a means of communication -by signals with his brothers at a distance of two or three miles. He -laid down the first line between Lille and Paris at a cost of about two -thousand pounds, and the first message sent along it was the -announcement of the capture of Lille by Condé. This led to the -construction of many similar lines communicating with each other by -means of stations. Some idea of the celerity with which messages were -sent may be gained from the fact that it took only two minutes to -reproduce in Paris a sign given in Lille at a distance of 140 miles. On -this line there were 22 stations. The objections to this system lay in -its being useless at night and in rainy weather. The French system of -telegraph consisted of one main beam--the regulator, at the end of which -were two shorter wings, so that it formed a letter Z. The regulator and -its flags could be turned about in various ways, making in all 196 -signs. Sometimes the regulator stood horizontally, sometimes -perpendicularly. - -Lord Murray introduced one of a different construction in England in -1795 consisting of two rows of three octangular flags revolving on their -axis. This gave 64 different signs, but was defective in the same point -as that of Chappe. Poor Chappe was so troubled in mind because his claim -to be the inventor of his telegraph was disputed, that he drowned -himself in a well, 1805. - -Besides the fact that the optical telegraph was paralysed by darkness -and storm, it was very difficult to manage in mountainous and -well-wooded country, and required there a great number of stations. - -After that Sömmering had discovered at Munich in 1808 the means of -signalling through the galvanic current obtained by decomposition of -water, and Schilling at Canstadt and Ampère in Paris (1820) had made -further advances in the science of electrology, and Oersted had -established the deflexion of the magnetic needle, it was felt that the -day of the cumbrous and disfiguring optical telegraph was over. A new -power had been discovered, though the extent and the applicability of -this power were not known. Gauss and Weber in 1833 made the first -attempt to set up an electric telegraph; in 1837 Wheatstone and Morse -utilised the needle and made the telegraph print its messages. In 1833 -the telegraph of Gauss and Weber supplanted the optical contrivance on -the line between Trèves and Berlin. The first line in America was laid -from Washington to Baltimore in 1844. The first attempt at submarine -telegraphy was made at Portsmouth in 1846, and in 1850 a cable was laid -between England and France. - -It was precisely in this year when men's minds were excited over the -wonderful powers of the galvanic current, and a wide prospect was opened -of its future advantage to men, when, indeed, the general public -understood very little about the principle and were in a condition of -mind to accept almost any scientific marvel, that there appeared in -Paris an adventurer, who undertook to open communications between all -parts of the world without the expense and difficulty of laying cables -of communication. The line laid across the channel in 1850 was not very -successful; it broke several times, and had to be taken up again, and -relaid in 1851. If it did not answer in conveying messages across so -narrow a strip of water, was it likely to be utilized for Transatlantic -telegraphy? The _Presse_, a respectable Paris paper, conducted by a -journalist of note, M. de Girardin, answered emphatically, No. The means -of communication was not to be sought in a chain. The gutta percha -casing would decompose under the sea, and when the brine touched the -wires, the cable would be useless. The Chappe telegraph was superseded -by the electric telegraph which answered well on dry land, but fatal -objections stood in the way of its answering for communication between -places divided by belts of sea or oceans. Moreover, it was an intricate -system. Now the tendency of science in modern times was towards -simplification; and it was always found that the key to unlock -difficulties which had puzzled the inventors of the past, lay at their -hands. The electric telegraph was certainly more elaborate, complicated -and expensive than the optical telegraph. Was it such a decided advance -on it? Yes--in one way. It could be worked at all hours of night and -day. But had the last word in telegraphy been spoken, when it was -invented? Most assuredly not. - -Along with electricity and terrestrial magnetism, another power, -vaguely perceived, the full utility of which was also unknown, had been -recognised--animal magnetism. Why should not this force be used as a -means for the conveyance of messages? - -M. Jules Allix after a long preamble in _La Presse_, in an article -signed by himself, announced that a French inventor, M. Jacques -Toussaint Benoît (de l'Hérault), and a fellow worker of Gallic origin, -living in America, M. Biat-Chrétien, had hit on "a new system of -universal intercommunication of thought, which operates -instantaneously." - -After a long introduction in true French rhodomontade, tracing the -progress of humanity from the publication of the Gospel to the 19th -century, M. Allix continued, "The discovery of MM. Benoît and Biat -depends on galvanism, terrestrial and animal magnetism, also on natural -sympathy, that is to say, the base of communication is a sort of special -sympathetic fluid which is composed of the union or blending of the -galvanic, magnetic and sympathetic currents, by a process to be -described shortly. And as the various fluids vary according to the -organic or inorganic bodies whence they are derived, it is necessary -further to state that the forces or fluids here married are: (_a_) The -terrestrial-galvanic current, (_b_) the animal-sympathetic current, in -this case derived from _snails_, (_c_) the adamic or human current, or -animal-magnetic current in man. Consequently, to describe concisely the -basis of the new system of intercommunication, we shall have to call the -force, '_The galvano-terrestrial-magnetic-animal and adamic force!_'" -Is not this something like a piece of Jules Verne's delicious scientific -_hocus-pocus_? Will the reader believe that it was written in good -faith? It was, there can be no question, written in perfect good faith. -The character of _La Presse_, of the journalist, M. Jules Allix, would -not allow of a hoax wilfully perpetrated on the public. We are quoting -from the number for October 27th, 1850, of the paper. - -"According to the experiments made by MM. Benoît and Biat, it seems that -snails which have once been put in contact, are always in sympathetic -communication. When separated, there disengages itself from them a -species of fluid of which the earth is the conductor, which develops and -unrolls, so to speak, like the almost invisible thread of the spider, or -that of the silk worm, which can be uncoiled and prolonged almost -indefinitely in space without its breaking, but with this vital -difference that the thread of the escargotic fluid is invisible as -completely and the pulsation along it is as rapid as the electric fluid. - -"But, it may be objected with some plausibility, granted the existence -in the snails of this sympathetic fluid, will it radiate from them in -all directions, after the analogy of electric, galvanic and magnetic -fluids, unless there be some conductor established between them? At -first sight, this objection has some weight, but for all that it is more -specious than serious." The solution of this difficulty is exquisitely -absurd. We must summarise. - -At first the discoverers of the galvanic current thought it necessary to -establish a return wire, to complete the circle, till it was found to be -sufficient to carry the two ends of the wire in communication with the -earth, when the earth itself completed the circle. There is no visible -line between the ends underground, yet the current completes the circle -through it. Moreover, it is impossible to think of two points without -establishing, in idea, a line between them, indeed, according to -Euclid's definition, a straight line is that which lies evenly between -its extreme points, and a line is length without breadth or substance. -So, if we conceive of two snails, we establish a line between them, an -unsubstantial line, still a line along which the sympathetic current can -travel. "Now MM. Benoît and Biat, by means of balloons in the -atmosphere," had established beyond doubt that a visible tangible line -of communication was only necessary when raised above the earth. - -"Consequently, there remains nothing more to be considered than the -means, the apparatus, whereby the transmission of thought is effected. - -"This apparatus consists of a square box, in which is a Voltaic pile, of -which the metallic plates, instead of being superposed, as in the pile -of Volta, are disposed in order, attached in holes formed in a wheel or -circular disc, that revolves about a steel axis. To these metallic -plates used by Volta, MM. Benoît and Biat have substituted others in the -shape of cups or circular basins, composed of zinc lined with cloth -steeped in a solution of sulphate of copper maintained in place by a -blade of copper riveted to the cup. At the bottom of each of these -bowls, is fixed, by aid of a composition that shall be given presently, -a living snail, whose sympathetic influence may unite and be woven with -the galvanic current, when the wheel of the pile is set in motion and -with it the snails that are adhering to it. - -"Each galvanic basin rests on a delicate spring, so that it may respond -to every escargotic commotion. Now; it is obvious that such an apparatus -requires a corresponding apparatus, disposed as has been described, and -containing in it snails in sympathy with those in the other apparatus, -so that the escargotic vibration may pass from one precise point in one -of the piles to a precise point in the other and complementary pile. -When these dispositions have been grasped the rest follows as a matter -of course. MM. Benoît and Biat have fixed letters to the wheels, -corresponding the one with the other, and at each sympathetic touch on -one, the other is touched; consequently it is easy by this means, -naturally and instantaneously, to communicate ideas at vast distances, -by the indication of the letters touched by the snails. The apparatus -described is in shape like a mariner's compass, and to distinguish it -from that, it is termed the _pasilalinic--sympathetic compass_, as -descriptive at once of its effects and the means of operation." - -But, who were these inventors, Benoît and Biat-Chrétien? We will begin -with the latter. As Pontoppidon in his History of Norway heads a -chapter, "Of Snakes," and says, "Of these there are none," so we may say -of M. Biat-Chrétien; there was no such man; at least he never rose to -the surface and was seen. Apparently his existence was as much a -hallucination or creation of the fancy of M. Benoît, as was Mrs. Harris -a creature of the imagination of Mrs. Betsy Gamp. Certainly no -Biat-Chrétien was known in America as a discoverer. - -Jacques Toussaint Benoît (de l'Hérault) was a man who had been devoted -since his youth to the secret sciences. His studies in magic and -astrology, in mesmerism, and electricity, had turned his head. Together -with real eagerness to pursue his studies, and real belief in them, was -added a certain spice of rascality. - -One day Benoît, who had by some means made the acquaintance of M. Triat, -founder and manager of a gymnasium in Paris for athletic exercises, came -to Triat, and told him that he had made a discovery which would -supersede electric telegraphy. The director was a man of common sense, -but not of much education, certainly of no scientific acquirements. He -was, therefore, quite unable to distinguish between true and false -science. Benoît spoke with conviction, and carried away his hearer with -his enthusiasm. - -"What is needed for the construction of the machine?" asked M. Triat. - -"Only two or three bits of wood," replied Benoît. - -M. Triat took him into his carpenter's shop. "There, my friend," he -said, "here you have wood, and a man to help you." - -M. Triat did more. The future inventor of the instantaneous -communication of thought was house-less and hungry. The manager rented a -lodging for him, and advanced him money for his entertainment. Benoît -set to work. He used a great many bits of wood, and occupied the -carpenter a good part of his time. Other things became necessary as -well as wood, things that cost money, and the money was found by M. -Triat. So passed a twelvemonth. At the end of that time, which had been -spent at the cost of his protector, Benoît had arrived at no result. It -was apparent that, in applying to M. Triat, he had sought, not so much -to construct a machine already invented, as to devote himself to the -pursuit of his favourite studies. The director became impatient. He -declined to furnish further funds. Then Benoît declared that the machine -was complete. - -This machine, for the construction of which he had asked for two or -three pieces of wood, was an enormous scaffold formed of beams ten feet -long, supporting the Voltaic pile described by M. Allix, ensconced in -the bowls of which were the wretched snails stuck to the bottom of the -basins by some sort of glue, at intervals. This was the -Pasilalinic-sympathetic compass. It occupied one end of the apartment. -At the other end was a second, exactly similar. Each contained -twenty-four alphabetic-sympathetic snails. These poor beasts, glued to -the bottom of the zinc cups with little dribbles of sulphate of copper -trickling down the sides of the bowls from the saturated cloth placed on -them, were uncomfortable, and naturally tried to get away. They thrust -themselves from their shells and poked forth their horns groping for -some congenial spot on which to crawl, and came in contact with the wood -on which was painted the letters. But if they came across a drop of -solution of sulphate of copper, they went precipitately back into their -shells. - -Properly, the two machines should have been established in different -rooms, but no second room was available on the flat where Benoît was -lodged, so he was forced to erect both vis-à-vis. That, however, was a -matter wholly immaterial, as he explained to those who visited the -laboratory. Space was not considered by snails. Place one in Paris, the -other at the antipodes, the transmission of thought along their -sympathetic current was as complete, instantaneous and effective as in -his room on the _troisième_. In proof of this, Benoît undertook to -correspond with his friend and fellow-worker Biat-Chrétien in America, -who had constructed a similar apparatus. He assured all who came to -inspect his invention that he conversed daily by means of the snails -with his absent friend. When the machine was complete, the inventor was -in no hurry to show it in working order; however M. Triat urged -performance on him. He said, and there was reason in what he said, that -an exhibition of the pasilalinic telegraph before it was perfected, -would be putting others on the track, who might, having more means at -their command, forestall him, and so rob him of the fruit of his -labours. At last he invited M. Triat and M. Allix, as representative of -an influential journal, to witness the apparatus in working order, on -October 2nd. He assured them that since September 30, he had been in -constant correspondence with Biat-Chrétien, who, without crossing the -sea, would assist at the experiments conducted at Paris on Wednesday, -October 2nd, in the lodging of M. Benoît. - -On the appointed day, M. Triat and M. Allix were at the appointed place. -The former at once objected to the position of the two compasses, but -was constrained to be satisfied with the reason given by the operator. -If they could not be in different rooms, at least a division should be -made in the apartment by means of a curtain, so that the operator at one -compass could not see him at the other. But there was insuperable -difficulty in doing this, so M. Triat had to waive this objection also. -M. Jules Allix was asked to attend one of the compasses, whilst the -inventor stood on the scaffold managing the other. M. Allix was to send -the message, by touching the snails which represented the letters -forming the words to be transmitted, whereupon the corresponding snail -on M. Benoît's apparatus was supposed to thrust forth his horns. But, -under one pretext or another, the inventor ran from one apparatus to the -other, the whole time, so that it was not very difficult, with a little -management, to reproduce on his animated compass the letters transmitted -by M. Jules Allix. - -The transmission, moreover, was not as exact as it ought to have been. -M. Jules Allix had touched the snails in such order as to form the word -_gymnase_; Benoît on his compass read the word _gymoate_. Then M. Triat, -taking the place of the inventor, sent the words _lumiere divine_ to M. -Jules Allix, who read on his compass _lumhere divine_. Evidently the -snails were bad in their orthography. The whole thing, moreover, was a -farce, and the correspondence, such as it was, was due to the incessant -voyages of the inventor from one compass to the other, under the pretext -of supervising the mechanism of the two apparatuses. - -Benoît was then desired to place himself in communication with his -American friend, planted before his compass on the other side of the -Atlantic. He transmitted to him the signal to be on the alert. Then he -touched with a live snail he held in his hand the four snails that -corresponded to the letters of the name BIAT; then they awaited the -reply from America. After a few moments, the poor glued snails began to -poke out their horns in a desultory, irregular manner, and by putting -the letters together, with some accommodation CESTBIEN was made out, -which when divided, and the apostrophe added, made _C'est bien_. - -M. Triat was much disconcerted. He considered himself as hoaxed. Not so -M. Allix. He was so completely satisfied, that on the 27th October, -appeared the article from his pen which we have quoted. M. Triat then -went to the inventor and told him point blank, that he withdrew his -protection from him. Benoît entreated him not to throw up the matter, -before the telegraph was perfected. - -"Look here!" said M. Triat; "nothing is easier than for you to make me -change my intention. Let one of your compasses be set up in my -gymnasium, and the other in the side apartment. If that seems too much, -then let a simple screen be drawn between the two, and do you refrain -from passing between them whilst the experiment is being carried on. If -under these conditions you succeed in transmitting a single word from -one apparatus to the other, I will give you a thousand francs a day -whilst your experiments are successful." - -M. Triat then visited M. de Girardin who was interested in the matter, -half believed in it, and had accordingly opened the columns of _La -Presse_ to the article of M. Allix. M. de Girardin wished to be present -at the crucial experiment, and M. Triat gladly invited him to attend. He -offered another thousand francs so long as the compasses worked. "My -plan is this," said M. de Girardin: "If Benoît's invention is a success, -we will hire the _Jardin d'hiver_ and make Benoît perform his -experiments in public. That will bring us in a great deal more than two -thousand francs a day." - -Benoît accepted all the conditions with apparent alacrity; but, before -the day arrived for the experiment, after the removal of the two great -scaffolds to the gymnasiums--he had disappeared. He was, however, seen -afterwards several times in Paris, very thin, with eager restless eyes, -apparently partly deranged. He died in 1852! - -Alas for Benoît. He died a few years too soon. A little later, and he -might have become a personage of importance in the great invasion of the -table-turning craze which shortly after inundated Europe, and turned -many heads as well as tables. - - - - -The Countess Goerlitz. - - -One of the most strange and terrible tragedies of this century was the -murder of the Countess Goerlitz; and it excited immense interest in -Germany, both because of the high position of the unfortunate lady, the -mystery attaching to her death, and because the charge of having -murdered her rested on her husband, the Count Goerlitz, Chamberlain to -the Grand-Duke of Hesse, Privy Councillor, a man of fortune as well as -rank, and of unimpeachable character. There was another reason why the -case excited general interest: the solution remained a mystery for three -whole years, from 1847 to 1850. - -The Count Goerlitz was a man of forty-six, a great favourite at the -Court, and of fine appearance. He had married, in 1820, the daughter of -the Privy Councillor, Plitt. They had no children. The Countess was aged -forty-six when the terrible event occurred which we are about to relate. - -The Count and Countess lived in their mansion in the Neckarstrasse in -Darmstadt--a large, palatial house, handsomely furnished. Although -living under the same roof, husband and wife lived apart. She occupied -the first floor, and he the parterre, or ground floor. They dined -together. The cause of the unfriendly terms on which they lived was the -fact that the Countess was wealthy, her family was of citizen origin, -and had amassed a large fortune in trade. Her father had been ennobled -by the Grand-Duke, and she had been his heiress. The Count, himself, had -not much of his own, and his wife cast this fact in his teeth. She loved -to talk of the "beggar nobility," who were obliged to look out for rich -burghers' daughters to gild their coronets. The Count may have been hot -of temper, and have aggravated matters by sharpness of repartee; but, -according to all accounts, it was her miserliness and bitter tongue -which caused the estrangement. - -There were but four servants in the house--the Count's valet, the -coachman, a manservant of the Countess, and the cook. - -Every Sunday the Count Goerlitz dined at the palace. On Sunday, June 13, -1847, he had dined at the Grand-Duke's table as usual. As we know from -the letters of the Princess Alice, life was simple at that Court. Hours -were, as usual in South Germany, early. The carriage took the Count to -dinner at the palace at 3 P.M., and he returned home in it to the Neckar -Street at half-past six. When he came in he asked the servant of the -Countess, a man named John Stauff, whether his wife was at home, as he -wanted to see her. As a matter of fact, he had brought away from the -dinner-table at the palace some maccaroons and bonbons for her, as she -had a sweet tooth, and he thought the attention might please her. - -As John Stauff told him the Countess was in, he ascended the stone -staircase. A glass door led into the anteroom. He put his hand to it and -found it fastened. Thinking that his wife was asleep, or did not want -to be disturbed, he went downstairs to his own room, which was under her -sitting-room. There he listened for her tread, intending, on hearing it, -to reascend and present her with the bonbons. As he heard nothing, he -went out for a walk. The time was half-past seven. A little before nine -o'clock he returned from his stroll, drew on his dressing-gown and -slippers, and asked for his supper, a light meal he was wont to take by -himself in his own room, though not always, for the Countess frequently -joined him. Her mood was capricious. As he had the bonbons in his -pocket, and had not yet been able to present them, he sent her man -Stauff to tell her ladyship that supper was served, and that it would -give him great satisfaction if she would honour him with her presence. -Stauff came back in a few moments to say that the Countess was not at -home. "Nonsense!" said the husband, "of course she is at home. She may, -however, be asleep. I will go myself and find her." Thereupon he -ascended the stairs, and found, as before, the glass door to the -anteroom fastened. He looked in, but saw nothing. He knocked, and -received no answer. Then he went to the bedroom door, knocked, without -result; listened, and heard no sound. The Count had a key to the -dressing-room; he opened, and went in, and through that he passed into -the bed-chamber. That was empty. The bed-clothes were turned down for -the night, but were otherwise undisturbed. He had no key to the anteroom -and drawing-room. - -Then the Count went upstairs to the laundry, which was on the highest -storey, and where were also some rooms. The Countess was particular -about her lace and linen, and often attended to them herself, getting up -some of the collars and frills with her own hands. She was not in the -laundry. Evidently she was, as Stauff had said, not at home. The Count -questioned the manservant. Had his mistress intimated her intention of -supping abroad? No, she had not. Nevertheless, it was possible she might -have gone to intimate friends. Accordingly, he sent to the palace of -Prince Wittgenstein, and to the house of Councillor von Storch, to -inquire if she were at either. She had been seen at neither. - -The Count was puzzled, without, however, being seriously alarmed. He -bade Stauff call the valet, Schiller, and the coachman, Schämbs, who -slept out of the house, and then go for a locksmith. Stauff departed. -Presently the valet and coachman arrived, and, after, Stauff, without -the locksmith, who, he said, was ill, and his man was at the tavern. The -Count was angry and scolded. Then the coachman went forth, and soon came -back with the locksmith's apprentice, who was set at once to open the -locked doors in the top storey. The Countess was not in them. At the -same time the young man noticed a smell of burning, but whence it came -they could not decide. Thinking that this smell came from the kitchen on -the first storey--that is, the floor above where the Count lived--they -attacked the door of the kitchen, which was also locked. She was not -there. Then the Count led the way to the private sitting-room of the -Countess. As yet only the young locksmith had noticed the fire, the -others were uncertain whether they smelt anything unusual or not. The -key of the apprentice would not fit the lock of the Countess' ante-room, -so he ran home to get another. Then the Count went back to his own -apartment, and on entering it, himself perceived the smell of burning. -Accordingly, he went upstairs again, to find that the coachman had -opened an iron stove door in the passage, and that a thick pungent smoke -was pouring out of it. We must enter here into an explanation. In many -cases the porcelain stove of a German house has no opening into the -room. It is lighted outside through a door into the passage. Several -stoves communicate with one chimney. The Count and his servants ran out -into the courtyard to look at the chimney stack to see if smoke were -issuing from it. None was. Then they returned to the house. The -apprentice had not yet returned. Looking through the glass door, they -saw that there was smoke in the room. It had been unperceived before, -for it was evening and dusk. At once the Count's valet, Schiller, -smashed the plate glass, and through the broken glass smoke rolled -towards them. - -The hour was half-past ten. The search had occupied an hour and a half. -It had not been prosecuted with great activity; but then, no suspicion -of anything to cause alarm had been entertained. If the Countess were at -home, she must be in the sitting-room. From this room the smoke must -come which pervaded the ante-chamber. The fire must be within, and if -the Countess were there, she must run the danger of suffocation. -Consequently, as the keys were not at hand, the doors ought to be broken -open at once. This was not done. Count Goerlitz sent the servants away. -Stauff he bade run for a chimney-sweep, and Schiller for his medical -man, Dr. Stegmayer. The coachman had lost his head and ran out into the -street, yelling, "Fire! fire!" The wife of Schiller, who had come in, -ran out to summon assistance. - -The Count was left alone outside the glass door; and there he remained -passive till the arrival of the locksmith's man with the keys. More time -was wasted. None of the keys would open the door, and still the smoke -rolled out. Then the apprentice beat the door open with a stroke of his -hammer. He did it of his own accord, without orders from the Count. That -was remembered afterwards. At once a dense, black, sickly-smelling smoke -poured forth, and prevented the entrance of those who stood without. - -In the meantime, the coachman and others had put ladders against the -wall, one to the window of the ante-room, the other to that of the -parlour. Seitz, the apprentice, ran up the ladder, and peered in. The -room was quite dark. He broke two panes in the window, and at once a -blue flame danced up, caught the curtains, flushed yellow, and shot out -a fiery tongue through the broken window. Seitz, who seems to have been -the only man with presence of mind, boldly put his arm through and -unfastened the valves, and, catching the burning curtains, tore them -down and flung them into the street. Then he cast down two chairs which -were flaming from the window. He did not venture in because of the -smoke. - -In the meanwhile the coachman had broken the window panes of the -ante-room. This produced a draught through the room, as the glass door -had been broken in by Seitz. The smoke cleared sufficiently to allow of -admission to the parlour door. This door was also found to be locked, -and not only locked, but with the key withdrawn from it, as had been -from the ante-chamber door. This door was also burst open, and then it -was seen that the writing-desk of the Countess was on fire. That was all -that could be distinguished at the first glance. The room was full of -smoke, and the heat was so great that no one could enter. - -Water was brought in jugs and pails, and thrown upon the floor. The -current of air gradually dissipated the smoke, and something white was -observed on the floor near the burning desk. "Good heavens!" exclaimed -the Count, "there she lies!" - -The Countess lay on the floor beside her writing-desk; the white object -was her stockings. - -Among those who entered was a smith called Wetzell; he dashed forward, -flung a pail of water over the burning table, caught hold of the feet of -the dead body, and dragged it into the ante-room. Then he sought to -raise it, but it slipped through his hands. A second came to his -assistance, with the same result. The corpse was like melted butter. -When he seized it by the arm, the flesh came away from the bone. - -The body was laid on a mat, and so transported into a cabinet. The upper -portion was burnt to coal; one hand was charred; on the left foot was a -shoe, the other was found, later, in another room. More water was -brought, and the fire in the parlour was completely quenched. Then only -was it possible to examine the place. The fire had, apparently, -originated at the writing-desk or secretaire of the Countess; the body -had lain before the table, and near it was a chair, thrown over. From -the drawing-room a door, which was found open, led into the boudoir. -This boudoir had a window that looked into a side street. In the -ante-room were no traces of fire. In the drawing-room only the -secretaire and the floor beneath it had been burnt. On a chiffonier -against the wall were candlesticks, the stearine candles in them had -been melted by the heat of the room and run over the chiffonier. - -In this room was also a sofa, opposite the door leading from the -ante-chamber, some way from the desk and the seat of the fire. In the -middle of the sofa was a hole fourteen inches long by six inches broad, -burnt through the cretonne cover, the canvas below, and into the horse -hair beneath. A looking-glass hung against the wall above; this glass -was broken and covered with a deposit as of smoke. It was apparent, -therefore, that a flame had leaped up on the sofa sufficiently high and -hot to snap the mirror and obscure it. - -Left of the entrance-door was a bell-rope, torn down and cast on the -ground. - -Beyond the parlour was the boudoir. It had a little corner divan. Its -cover was burnt through in two places. The cushion at the back was also -marked with holes burnt through. Above this seat against the wall hung -an oil painting. It was blistered with heat. Near it was an étagère, on -which were candles; these also were found melted completely away. In -this boudoir was found the slipper from the right foot of the Countess. - -If the reader will consider what we have described, he will see that -something very mysterious must have occurred. There were traces of -burning in three distinct places--on the sofa, and at the secretaire in -the parlour, and on the corner seat in the boudoir. It was clear also -that the Countess had been in both rooms, for her one slipper was in the -boudoir, the other on her foot in the drawing-room. Apparently, also, -she had rung for assistance, and torn down the bell-rope. - -Another very significant and mysterious feature of the case was the fact -that the two doors were found locked, and that the key was not found -with the body, nor anywhere in the rooms. Consequently, the Countess had -not locked herself in. - -Again:--the appearance of the corpse was peculiar. The head and face -were burnt to cinder, especially the face, less so the back of the head. -All the upper part of the body had been subjected to fire, as far as the -lower ribs, and there the traces of burning ceased absolutely. Also, the -floor was burnt in proximity to the corpse, but not where it lay. The -body had protected the floor where it lay from fire. - -The police were at once informed of what had taken place, and the -magistrates examined the scene and the witnesses. This was done in a -reprehensibly inefficient manner. The first opinion entertained was that -the Countess had been writing at her desk, and had set fire to herself, -had run from room to room, tried to obtain assistance by ringing the -bell, had failed, fallen, and died. Three medical men were called in to -examine the body. One decided that this was a case of spontaneous -combustion. The second that it was not a case of spontaneous combustion. -The third simply stated that she had been burnt, but how the fire -originated he was unable to say. No minute examination of the corpse was -made. It was not even stripped of the half-burnt clothes upon it. It was -not dissected. The family physician signed a certificate of "accidental -death," and two days after the body was buried. - -Only three or, at the outside, four hypotheses could account for the -death of the Countess. - -1. She had caught fire accidentally, whilst writing at her desk. - -2. She had died of spontaneous combustion. - -3. She had been murdered. - -There is, indeed, a fourth hypothesis--that she had committed suicide; -but this was too improbable to be entertained. The manner of death was -not one to be reconciled with the idea of suicide. - -The first idea was that in the minds of the magistrates. They were -prepossessed with it. They saw nothing that could militate against it. -Moreover, the Count was Chamberlain at Court, a favourite of the -sovereign and much liked by the princes, also a man generally respected. -Unquestionably this had something to do with the hasty and superficial -manner in which the examination was gone through. The magistrates -desired to have the tragedy hushed up. - -A little consideration shows that the theory of accident was untenable. -The candles were on the chiffonier, and no traces of candlesticks were -found on the spot where the fire had burned. Moreover, the appearance of -the secretaire was against this theory. The writing-desk and table -consisted of a falling flap, on which the Countess wrote, and which she -could close and lock. Above this table were several small drawers which -contained her letters, receipted bills, and her jewelry. Below it were -larger drawers. The upper drawers were not completely burnt; on the -other hand, the lower drawers were completely consumed, and their -bottoms and contents had fallen in cinders on the floor beneath, which -was also burnt through to the depth of an inch and a half to two inches. -It was apparent, therefore, that the secretaire had been set on fire -from below. Moreover, there was more charcoal found under it than could -be accounted for, by supposing it had fallen from above. Now it will be -remembered that only the upper portion of the body was consumed. The -Countess had not set fire to herself whilst writing, and so set fire to -the papers on the desk. That was impossible. - -The supposition that she had died of spontaneous combustion was also -entertained by a good many. But no well-authenticated case of -spontaneous combustion is known. Professor Liebig, when afterwards -examined on this case, stated that spontaneous combustion of the human -body was absolutely impossible, and such an idea must be relegated to -the region of myths. - -There remained, therefore, no other conclusion at which it was possible -for a rational person to arrive who weighed the circumstances than that -the Countess had been murdered. - -The Magisterial Court of the city of Darmstadt had attempted to hush-up -the case. The German press took it up. It excited great interest and -indignation throughout the country. It was intimated pretty pointedly -that the case had been scandalously slurred over, because of the rank of -the Count and the intimate relation in which he stood to the royal -family. The papers did not shrink from more than insinuating that this -was a case of murder, and that the murderer was the husband of the -unfortunate woman. Some suspicion that this was so seems to have crossed -the minds of the servants of the house. They recollected his -dilatoriness in entering the rooms of the Countess; the time that was -protracted in idle sending for keys, and trying key after key, when a -kick of the foot or a blow of the hammer would have sufficed to give -admission to the room where she lay. It was well known that the couple -did not live on the best terms. To maintain appearances before the -world, they dined and occasionally supped together. They rarely met -alone, and when they did fell into dispute, and high words passed which -the servants heard. - -The Countess was mean and miserly, she grudged allowing her husband any -of her money. She had, however, made her will the year before, leaving -all her large fortune to her husband for life. Consequently her death -released him from domestic and pecuniary annoyances. On the morning -after the death he sent for the agent of the insurance company with -whom the furniture and other effects were insured and made his claim. He -claimed, in addition to the value of the furniture destroyed, the worth -of a necklace of diamonds and pearls which had been so injured by the -fire that it had lost the greater part of its value. The pearls were -quite spoiled, and the diamonds reduced in worth by a half. The agent -refused this claim, as he contended that the jewelry was not included in -the insurance, and the Count abstained from pressing it. - -To the Count the situation became at length intolerable. He perceived a -decline of cordiality in his reception at Court, his friends grew cold, -and acquaintances cut him. He must clear himself of the charge which now -weighed on him. The death of the Countess had occurred on June 13, 1847. -On October 6, that is four months later, Count Goerlitz appeared before -the Grand-Ducal Criminal Court of Darmstadt, and produced a bundle of -German newspapers charging him with having murdered his wife, and set -fire to the room to conceal the evidence of his crime. He therefore -asked to have the case re-opened, and the witnesses re-examined. Nothing -followed. The Court hesitated to take up the case again, and throw -discredit on the magistrates' decision in June. Again, on October 16, -the Count renewed his request, and desired, if this were refused, that -he and his solicitor might be allowed access to the minutes of the -examination, that they might be enabled to take decided measures for the -clearing of the Count's character, and the chastisement of those who -charged him with an atrocious crime. On October 21, he received a -reply, "that his request could not be granted, unless he produced such -additional evidence as would show the Court that the former examination -was defective." - -On October 25, the Count laid a mass of evidence before the Court which, -he contended, would materially modify, if not absolutely upset the -conclusion arrived at by the previous investigation. - -Then, at last, consent was given; but proceedings did not begin till -November, and dragged on till the end of October in the following year, -when a new law of criminal trial having been passed in the grand-duchy, -the whole of what had gone before became invalid, save as preliminary -investigation, and it was not till March 4, 1850--that is, not till -_three years_ after the death of the Countess--that the case was -thoroughly sifted and settled. Before the promulgation of the law of -October, 1848, all trials were private, then trial by jury, and in -public, was introduced. - -However, something had been done. In August 1848--that is, over a year -after the burial of the Countess--the body was exhumed and submitted to -examination. Two facts were then revealed. The skull of the Countess had -been fractured by some blunt instrument; and she had been strangled. The -condition in which the tongue had been found when the body was first -discovered had pointed to strangulation, the state of the jaws when -exhumed proved it. - -So much, then, was made probable. A murderer had entered the room, -struck the Countess on the head, and when that did not kill her, he had -throttled her. Then, apparently, so it was argued, he had burnt the -body, and next, before it was more than half consumed, had placed it -near the secretaire, and, finally, had set fire to the secretaire. - -He had set fire to the writing-desk to lead to the supposition that the -Countess had set fire to herself whilst writing at it; and this was the -first conclusion formed. - -That a struggle had taken place appeared from several circumstances. The -bell-rope was torn down. Probably no servant had been in the house that -Sunday evening when the bell rang desperately for aid. The seat flung -over seemed to point to her having been surprised at the desk. One shoe -was in the boudoir. The struggle had been continued as she fled from the -sitting-room into the inner apartment. - -Now, only, were the fire-marks on the divan and sofa explicable. The -Countess had taken refuge first on one, then on the other, after having -been wounded, and her blood had stained them. The murderer had burnt out -the marks of blood. - -She had fled from the sitting-room to the boudoir, and thence had hoped -to escape through the next door into a corner room, but the door of that -room was locked. - -The next point to be determined was, where had her body been burnt. - - - locked | boudoir - room | - o|o - ---------+---------- - |a|o - -| - anteroom | parlour - - -In the sitting-room, the boudoir, and a locked corner room were stoves. -The walls of these rooms met, and in the angles were the stoves. They -all communicated with one chimney. They were all heated from an opening -in the anteroom, marked _a_, which closed with an iron door, and was -covered with tapestry. The opening was large enough for a human being to -be thrust through, and the fire-chamber amply large enough also for its -consumption. - -Much time had passed since a serious examination was begun, and it was -too late to think of finding evidence of the burning of the body in this -place. The stoves had been used since, each winter. However, some new -and surprising evidence did come to light. At five minutes past eight on -the evening that the mysterious death took place, Colonel von -Stockhausen was on the opposite side of the street talking to a lady, -when his attention was arrested by a dense black smoke issuing suddenly -from the chimney of the Count Goerlitz' palace. He continued looking at -the column of smoke whilst conversing with the lady, uncertain whether -the chimney were on fire or not, and whether he ought to give the alarm. -When the lady left him, after about ten minutes, or a quarter of an -hour, he saw that smoke ceased to issue from the chimney. He accordingly -went his way without giving notice of the smoke. - -So far every piece of evidence went to show that the Countess had been -murdered. The conclusion now arrived at was this: she had been struck on -the head, chased from room to room bleeding, had been caught, strangled, -then thrust into the fire-chamber of the stove over a fire which only -half consumed her; taken out again and laid before the secretaire, and -the secretaire deliberately set fire to, and all the blood-marks -obliterated by fire. That something of this kind had taken place was -evident. Who had done it was not so clear. The efforts of the Count to -clear himself had established the fact that his wife was murdered, but -did not establish his innocence. - -Suddenly--the case assumed a new aspect, through an incident wholly -unexpected and extraordinary. - -The result of inquiry into the case of the death of the Countess -Goerlitz was, that the decision that she had come to her end by -accident, given by the city magistrates, was upset, and it was made -abundantly clear that she had been murdered. By whom murdered was not so -clear. - -Inquiry carried the conclusion still further. She had been robbed as -well as murdered. - -We have already described the writing-desk of the Countess. There were -drawers below the flap, and other smaller drawers concealed by it when -closed. In the smaller drawers she kept her letters, her bills, her -vouchers for investments, and her jewelry. Among the latter was the -pearl and diamond necklace, which she desired by her will might be sold, -and the money given to a charitable institution. The necklace was indeed -discovered seriously injured; but what had become of her bracelets, -brooches, rings, her other necklets, her earrings? She had also a chain -of pearls, which was nowhere to be found. All these articles were gone. -No trace of them had been found in the cinders under the secretaire; -moreover, the drawers in which she preserved them were not among those -burnt through. In the first excitement and bewilderment caused by her -death, the Count had not observed the loss, and the magistrates had not -thought fit to inquire whether any robbery had been committed. - -A very important fact was now determined. The Countess had been robbed, -and murdered, probably for the sake of her jewels. Consequently the -murderer was not likely to be the Count. - -When the case was re-opened, at Count Goerlitz's repeated demand, an -"Inquirent" was appointed by the Count to examine the case--that is, an -official investigator of all the circumstances; and on November 2, 1847, -in the morning, notice was given to the Count that the "Inquirent" would -visit his mansion on the morrow and examine both the scene of the murder -and the servants. The Count at once convoked his domestics and bade them -be in the house next day, ready for examination. - -That same afternoon the cook, Margaret Eyrich by name, was engaged in -the kitchen preparing dinner for the master, who dined at 4 P.M. At -three o'clock the servant-man, John Stauff, came into the kitchen and -told the cook that her master wanted a fire lit in one of the upper -rooms. She refused to go because she was busy at the stove. Stauff -remained a quarter of an hour there talking to her. Then he said it was -high time for him to lay the table for dinner, a remark to which she -gave an assent, wondering in her own mind why he had delayed so long. He -took up a soup dish, observed that it was not quite clean, and asked her -to wash it. She was then engaged on some sauce over the fire. - -"I will wash it, if you will stir the sauce," she said. "If I leave the -pan, the sauce will be burnt." - -Stauff consented, and she went with the dish to the sink. Whilst thus -engaged, she turned her head, and was surprised to see that Stauff had a -small phial in his hand, and was pouring its contents into the sauce. - -She asked him what he was about; he denied having done anything, and the -woman, with great prudence, said nothing further, so as not to let him -think that her suspicions were aroused. Directly, however, that he had -left the kitchen, she examined the sauce, saw it was discoloured, and on -trying it, that the taste was unpleasant. She called in the coachman and -the housekeeper. On consultation they decided that this matter must be -further investigated. The housekeeper took charge of the sauce, and -carried it to Dr. Stegmayer, the family physician, who at once said that -verdigris had been mixed with it, and desired that the police should be -communicated with. This was done, the sauce was analysed, and found to -contain 15½ grains of verdigris, enough to poison a man. Thereupon -Stauff was arrested. - -We see now that an attempt had been made on the life of the Count, on -the day on which he had announced that an official inquiry into the -murder was to be made in his house and among his domestics. - -Stauff, then, was apparently desirous of putting the Count out of the -way before that inquiry was made. At this very time a terrible tragedy -had occurred in France, and was in all the papers. The Duke of Praslin -had murdered his wife, and when he was about to be arrested, the duke -had poisoned himself. - -Did Stauff wish that the Count should be found poisoned that night, in -order that the public might come to the conclusion he had committed -suicide to escape arrest? It would seem so. - -John Stauff's arrest took place on November 3, 1847, four months and a -half after the death of the Countess. He was, however, only arrested on -a charge of attempting to poison the Count, and the further charge of -having murdered the Countess was not brought against him till August 28, -1848. The body of the murdered woman, it will be remembered, was not -exhumed and examined till August 11, 1848--eight months after the -re-opening of the investigation! It is really wonderful that the mystery -should have been cleared and the Count's character satisfactorily -vindicated, with such dilatoriness of proceeding. One more instance of -the stupid way in which the whole thing was managed. Although John -Stauff was charged with the attempt to poison on November 3, 1847, he -was not questioned on the charge till January 10, 1849, that is, till he -had been fourteen months in prison. - -It will be remembered that the bell-rope in the Countess's parlour was -torn down. It would suggest itself to the meanest capacity that here was -a point of departure for inquiry. If the bell had been torn down, it -must have pealed its summons for help through the house. Who was in the -house at the time? If anyone was, why did he not answer the appeal? -Inconceivable was the neglect of the magistrates of Darmstadt in the -first examination--they did not inquire. Only several months later was -this matter subjected to investigation. - -In the house lived the Count and Countess, the cook, who also acted as -chambermaid to the Countess, Schiller, the valet to the Count, Schämbs, -the coachman, and the Countess's own servant-man, John Stauff. Of these -Schiller and Schämbs did not sleep in the house. - -June 13, the day of the murder, was a Sunday. The Count went as usual to -the grand-ducal palace in his coach at 3 P.M. The coachman drove him; -Stauff sat on the box beside the coachman. They left the Count at the -palace and returned home. They were ordered to return to the palace to -fetch him at 6 P.M. On Sundays, the Count usually spent his day in his -own suite of apartments, and the Countess in hers. On the morning in -question she had come downstairs to her husband with a bundle of coupons -which she wanted him to cash for her on the morrow. He managed her -fortune for her. The sum was small, only £30. At 2 P.M. she went to the -kitchen to tell the cook she might go out for the afternoon, as she -would not be wanted, and that she must return by 9 P.M. - -At three o'clock the cook left. The cook saw and spoke to her as she -left. The Countess was then partially undressed, and the cook supposed -she was changing her clothes. Shortly after this, Schiller, the Count's -valet, saw and spoke with her. She was then upstairs in the laundry -arranging the linen for the mangle. She was then in her morning cotton -dress. Consequently she had not dressed herself to go out, as the cook -supposed. At the same time the carriage left the court of the house for -the palace. That was the last seen of her alive, except by John Stauff, -and, if he was not the murderer, by one other. - -About a quarter past three the coach returned with Schämbs and Stauff -on the box. The Count had been left at the palace. The coachman took out -his horses, without unharnessing them, and left for his own house, at -half-past three, to remain there till 5 o'clock, when he must return, -put the horses in, and drive back to the palace to fetch the Count. A -quarter of an hour after the coachman left, Schiller went out for a walk -with his little boy. - -Consequently--none were in the house but the Countess and Stauff, and -Stauff knew that the house was clear till 5 o'clock, when Schämbs would -return to the stables. What happened during that time? - -At a quarter past four, the wife of Schiller came to the house with a -little child, and a stocking she was knitting. She wanted to know if her -husband had gone with the boy to Eberstadt, a place about four miles -distant. She went to the back-door. It was not fastened, but on being -opened rang a bell, like a shop door. Near it were two rooms, one -occupied by Schiller, the other by Stauff. The wife went into her -husband's room and found it empty. Then she went into that of Stauff. It -also was empty. She returned into the entrance hall and listened. -Everything was still in the house. She stood there some little while -knitting and listening. Presently she heard steps descending the -backstairs, and saw Stauff, with an apron about him, and a duster in his -hand. She asked him if her husband had gone to Eberstadt, and he said -that he had. Then she left the house. Stauff, however, called to her -from the window to hold up the child to him, to kiss. She did so, and -then departed. - -Shortly after five, Schämbs returned to the stable, put in the horses, -and drove to the palace without seeing Stauff. He thought nothing of -this, as Stauff usually followed on foot, in time to open the coach door -for the Count. On this occasion, Stauff appeared at his post in livery, -at a quarter to six. At half-past six both returned with their master to -the house in Neckar Street. - -Accordingly, from half-past three to a quarter past four, and from -half-past four to half-past five, Stauff was alone in the house with the -Countess. But then, from a quarter to five to half-past five she was -quite alone, and it was possible that the murder was committed at that -time. The Count, it will be remembered, on his return, went upstairs and -knocked at the door of the Countess' apartments, without meeting with a -response. Probably, therefore, she was then dead. - -At seven o'clock the coachman went away, and Stauff helped the Count to -take off his court dining dress, and put on a light suit. He was with -him till half-past seven, when the Count went out for a walk. The Count -returned at half-past eight; during an hour, therefore, Stauff was alone -in the house with the Countess, or--her corpse. - -What occurred during that hour? Here two independent pieces of evidence -come in to assist us in determining what took place. At five minutes -past eight, Colonel von Stockhausen had seen the column of black smoke -issue from the chimney of the house; it ascended, he said, some fifteen -feet above the chimney, and was so dense that it riveted his attention -whilst he was talking to a lady. - -At about a quarter-past eight the smoke ceased. - -The reader may remember that the window of the inner boudoir did not -look into the Neckar Street, but into a small side street. Immediately -opposite lived a widow lady named Kekule. On the evening in question, -her daughter, Augusta, a girl of eighteen, came in from a walk, and went -upstairs to the room the window of which was exactly opposite, though at -a somewhat higher level than the window of the boudoir. Looking out of -her window, Augusta Kekule saw to her astonishment a flickering light -like a lambent flame in the boudoir. A blind was down, so that she could -see nothing distinctly. She was, however, alarmed, and called her -brother Augustus, aged twenty years, and both watched the flames -flashing in the room. They called their mother also, and all three saw -it flare up high, then decrease, and go out. The time was 8.15. On -examination of the spot, it was seen that the window of Miss Kekule -commanded the corner of the boudoir, where was the divan partly burnt -through in several places. - -What was the meaning of these two appearances, the smoke and the flame? -Apparently, from half-past seven to half-past eight the murderer was -engaged in burning the body, and in effacing with fire the blood-stains -on the sofas. During this time John Stauff was in the house, and, beside -the Countess, alive or dead, John Stauff only. - -Stauff was now subjected to examination. He was required to account for -his time on the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 13. - -He said, that after his return from the palace, that is, about ten -minutes past three, he went into his room on the basement, and ate bread -and cheese. When told that the wife of Schiller stated she had seen him -come downstairs, he admitted that he had run upstairs to fetch a duster, -to brush away the bread crumbs from the table at which he had eaten. -After the woman left, according to his own account, he remained in his -room below till five o'clock, when the Countess came to the head of the -stairs and called him. He went up and found her on the topmost landing; -she went into the laundry, and he stood in the door whilst she spoke to -him, and gave him some orders for the butcher and baker. She wore, he -said, a black stuff gown. Whilst he was talking to her, Schämbs drove -away to fetch the Count. He gave a correct account of what followed, up -to the departure of the Count on his walk. After that, he said, he had -written a letter to his sweetheart, and at eight went out to get his -supper at an outdoor restaurant where he remained till half-past nine. -He was unable to produce evidence of anyone who had seen him and spoken -to him there; but, of course, much cannot be made of this, owing to the -distance of time at which the evidence was taken from the event of the -murder. According to his account, therefore, no one was in the house at -the time when the smoke rose from the chimney, and the flame was seen in -the boudoir. - -If we sum up the points determined concerning the murder of the -Countess, we shall see how heavily the evidence told against Stauff. - -She had been attacked in her room, and after a desperate struggle, which -went on in both parlour and boudoir, she had been killed. - -Her secretaire had been robbed. - -Her body had been burnt. - -The blood-stains had been effaced by fire. - -The secretaire had been set fire to; and, apparently, the body removed -from where it had been partially consumed, and placed near it. - -Now all this must have taken time. It could only be done by one who knew -that he had time in which to effect it undisturbed. - -John Stauff was at two separate times, in the afternoon and evening, -alone in the house for an hour, knowing that during that time he would -be undisturbed. - -If his account were true, the murder must have been committed during his -brief absence with the coach, and the burning of the body, and setting -fire to the room, done when he went out to get his supper. But--how -could the murderer suppose he would leave the house open and unprotected -at eight o'clock? Was it likely that a murderer and robber, after having -killed the Countess and taken her jewels at six o'clock, would hang -about till eight, waiting the chance of getting back to the scene of his -crime unobserved, to attempt to disguise it? not knowing, moreover, how -much time he would have for effecting his purpose? - -It was possible that this had been done, but it was not probable. - -Evidence was forthcoming from a new quarter that served to establish -the guilt of Stauff. - -On October 6, 1847, an oilman, Henry Stauff, in Oberohmen, in Hesse -Cassel, was arrested, because he was found to be disposing of several -articles of jewelry, without being able to give a satisfactory account -of where he got them. The jewelry consisted of a lump of molten gold, -and some brooches, bracelets and rings. - -Henry Stauff had been a whitesmith in his youth, then he became a -carrier, but in the last few years, since the death of his wife, he had -sold knives, and been a knife-grinder. He was very poor, and had been -unable to pay his rates. In July of 1847, however, his affairs seemed to -have mended; he wore a silver watch, and took out a licence to deal in -oil and seeds. When he applied for the patent, the burgomaster was -surprised, and asked him how he could get stock to set up business, in -his state of poverty. Thereupon, Henry Stauff opened his purse and -showed that it contained a good amount of silver, and--with the coins -was a gold ring with, apparently, a precious stone in it. - -The cause of his arrest was his offering the lump of gold to a -silversmith in Cassel. It looked so much as if it was the melting up of -jewelry, that the smith communicated with the police. On his arrest, -Henry Stauff said he was the father of four children, two sons and two -daughters; that his sons, one of whom was in the army, had sent him -money, that his daughter in America had given him the jewelry, and that -the gold he had had by him for several years, it had been given him by -a widow, who was dead. The silver watch he had bought in Frankfort. -Henry Stauff had a daughter at home, name Anna Margaretta, who often -received letters from Darmstadt. One of these letters had not been -stamped, and as she declined to pay double for it, it lay in the -post-office till opened to be returned. Then it was found to be dated -September 29, 1847, and to be from her brother, John Stauff. It simply -contained an inclosure to her father; this was opened; it contained an -angry remonstrance with him for not having done what he was required, -and sent the money at once to the writer. - -Was it possible that this had reference to the disposal of the jewelry? - -On July 7, three weeks after the death of the Countess, Henry Stauff was -at Darmstadt, where one son, Jacob, was in the army; the other, John, -was in service with the Goerlitz family. - -This led the magistrates in Cassel to communicate with those in -Darmstadt. On November 10, John Stauff was questioned with reference to -his father. He said he had often sent him money. He was shown the -jewelry, and asked if he recognised it. He denied having ever seen it, -and having sent it to his father. - -The jewelry was shown to Count Goerlitz, and he immediately identified -it as having belonged to his wife. A former lady's-maid of the Countess -also identified the articles. The Count, and a maid, asserted that these -articles had always been kept by the deceased lady in the small upper -drawers of her secretaire. The Countess was vain and miserly, and often -looked over her jewelry. She would, certainly, have missed her things -had they been stolen before June 13. - -The articles had not been stolen since, found among the ashes, and -carried off surreptitiously, for they showed no trace of fire. - -Here we must again remark on the extraordinary character of the -proceedings in this case. The articles were identified and shown to John -Stauff on November 10, 1847, but it was not till ten months after, on -August 28, 1848, that he was told that he was suspected of the murder of -the Countess, and of having robbed her of these ornaments. Another of -the eccentricities of the administration of justice in Darmstadt -consisted in allowing the father Henry, and his son John, to have free -private communication with each other, whilst the latter was in prison, -and thus allowing them to concoct together a plausible account of their -conduct, with which, however, we need not trouble ourselves. - -On September 1, 1848, on the fourth day after Stauff knew that he was -charged with the murder of the Countess, he asked to make his statement -of what really took place. This was the account he gave. It will be seen -that, from the moment he knew the charge of murder was brought against -him, he altered his defence. - -He said, "On June 20, 1847," (that is, a week after the murder), "about -ten o'clock in the evening, after the Count had partaken of his supper -and undressed, he brought me a box containing jewelry, and told me he -would give it to me, as I was so poor, and that it would place my father -and me in comfortable circumstances. I then told the Count that I did -not know what to do with these jewels, whereupon he exhorted me to send -them to my father, and get him to dispose of them. He told me that he -required me solemnly to swear that I would not tell anyone about the -jewels. I hid the box in a stocking and concealed it in some bushes on -the Bessungen road. Later I told my brother Jacob where they were, and -bade him give them to my father on his visit to Darmstadt." - -When Stauff was asked what reason he could assign for the Count giving -him the jewels, he said that the Count saw that he, John Stauff, -suspected him of the murder, and he named several circumstances, such as -observing blood on the Count's handkerchief on the evening of the -murder, which had led him to believe that the Count was guilty, and the -Count was aware of his suspicions. - -On March 4, 1850, began the trial of John Stauff for the murder of the -Countess, for robbery, for arson, and for attempt to poison the Count. - -At the same time his father, Henry Stauff, and his brother, Jacob -Stauff, were tried for concealment of stolen goods. The trial came to an -end on April 11. As many as 118 witnesses were heard; among these was -the Count Goerlitz, as to whose innocence no further doubts were -entertained. - -John Stauff was at that time aged twenty-six, he was therefore -twenty-four years old at the time of the murder. He had been at school -at Oberohmen, where he had shown himself an apt and intelligent scholar. -In 1844 he had entered the grand-ducal army, and in May 1846 had become -servant in the Goerlitz house, as footman to the Countess. In his -regiment he had behaved well; he had been accounted an excellent -servant, and both his master and mistress placed confidence in him. -Curiously enough, in the autumn of 1846, he had expressed a wish to a -chambermaid of the Countess "that both the Countess and her pack of -jewels, bracelets and all, might be burnt in one heap." - -When the maid heard of the death of the Countess in the following year, -"Ah!" she said, "now Stauff's wish has been fulfilled to the letter." - -He was fond of talking of religion, and had the character among his -fellow-servants of being pious. He was, however, deep in debt, and -associated with women of bad character. Throughout the trial he -maintained his composure, his lips closed, his colour pale, without -token of agitation. But the man who could have stood by without showing -emotion at the opening of the coffin of his mistress, at the sight of -the half-burnt, half-decomposed remains of his victim, must have had -powers of self-control of no ordinary description. During the trial he -seemed determined to show that he was a man of some culture; he -exhibited ease of manner and courtesy towards judges, jury, and lawyers. -He never interrupted a witness, and when he questioned them, did so with -intelligence and moderation. He often looked at the public, especially -the women, who attended in great numbers, watching the effect of the -evidence on their minds. When, as now and then happened, some ludicrous -incident occurred, he laughed over it as heartily as the most innocent -looker-on. - -The jury unanimously found him "guilty" on every count. They -unanimously gave a verdict of "guilty" against his father and brother. -Henry Stauff was sentenced to six months' imprisonment; Jacob Stauff to -detention for three months, and John to imprisonment for life. At that -time capital punishment could not be inflicted in Hesse. - -On June 3, he was taken to the convict prison of Marienschloss. On July -1, he appealed to the Grand-Duke to give him a free pardon, as he was -innocent of the crimes for which he was sentenced. The appeal was -rejected. Then he professed his intention of making full confession. He -asked to see the Count. He professed himself a broken-hearted penitent, -desirous of undoing, by a sincere confession, as much of the evil as was -possible. - -We will give his confession in his own words. - -"When, at five o'clock, I went to announce to the Countess that I was -about to go to the palace, I found both the glass door of the ante-room, -and that into the sitting-room, open, and I walked in through them. I -did not find the Countess in her parlour, of which the curtains were -drawn. Nor was she in her boudoir. I saw the door into the little corner -room ajar, so I presumed she was in there. The flap of her desk was -down, so that I saw the little drawers, in which I knew she kept her -valuables, accessible to my hand. Opportunity makes the thief. I was -unable to resist the temptation to enrich myself by these precious -articles. I opened one of the drawers, took out a gold bracelet, one of -gold filigree, two of bronze, a pair of gold ear-rings, a gold brooch, -and a triple chain of beads or Roman pearls; and pocketed these -articles, which my father afterwards had, and, for the most part, melted -up. - -"Most of these articles were in their cases. At that moment the Countess -appeared on the threshold of her boudoir and rushed towards me. I do not -remember what she exclaimed; fear for the consequences, and anxiety to -prevent the Countess from making a noise and calling assistance, and -thereby obtaining my arrest, prevailed in my mind, and I thought only -how I might save myself. I grasped her by the neck, and pressed my -thumbs into her throat. She struggled desperately. I was obliged to use -all my strength to hold her. After a wrestle of between five and seven -minutes, her eyes closed, her face became purple, and I felt her limbs -relax. - -"When I saw she was dead I was overcome with terror. I let the body -fall, whereby the head struck the corner of the left side of the -secretaire, and this made a wound which began to bleed. Then I ran and -locked both the doors, hid what I had taken in my bed, and left the -house. On my way to the palace, I stepped into Frey's tavern and drank -three glasses of wine. I was afraid I should arrive too late at the -palace, where I appeared, however, at half-past five. The Count did not -return till half-past six, as dinner that day lasted rather longer than -usual. - -"When the Count went upstairs to see his wife and take her something -good he had brought away with him from table, I was not uneasy at all, -for I knew that he would knock and come away if he met with no response. -So he did. He came down without being discomposed, and remarked that he -fancied the Countess had gone out. At half-past seven he left the house. -In the mean time I had been considering what to do, and had formed my -plan. Now my opportunity had arrived, and I hastened to put it into -execution. My plan was to efface every trace of my deed by fire, and to -commit suicide if interrupted. - -"As the weather was chilly, the Count had some fire in his stove. I -fetched the still glowing charcoal, collected splinters of firwood and -other combustibles, and matches, and went upstairs with them. Only the -wine sustained me through what I carried out. I took up the body. I put -a chair before the open desk, seated the corpse on it, placed one arm on -the desk, laid the head on the arm, so that the body reposed in a -position of sleep, leaning on the flap of the desk. I threw the red hot -charcoal down under the head, heaped matches, paper, and wood splinters -over them; took one of the blazing bits of wood and threw it on the -divan in the boudoir; locked both doors, and flung away the keys. - -"Then I went to my own room and lighted a fire in the stove, and put the -jewel cases on the fire. The fire would not burn well, and thick smoke -came into the room. Then I saw that the damper was closed. I opened -that, and the smoke flew up the chimney; this is what Colonel von -Stockhausen saw. There were a lot of empty match-boxes also in the -stove, and these burnt with the rest." - -Such was the confession of Stauff. How far true, it is impossible to -say. He said nothing about the bell-pull being torn down, nothing about -the holes burnt in the sofa of the sitting-room. According to the -opinion of some experimentalists, the way in which he pretended to have -burnt the Countess would not account for the appearance of the corpse. - -His object was to represent himself as the victim of an over-mastering -temptation--to show that the crime was wholly unpremeditated. - -This was the sole plea on which he could appeal for sympathy, and expect -a relaxation of his sentence. - -That sentence was relaxed. - -In 1872 he obtained a free pardon from the Grand-Duke, on condition that -he left the country and settled in America. Including his imprisonment -before his trial, he had, therefore, undergone twenty-five years of -incarceration. - -When released he went to America, where he probably still is. - - - - -A War-and-Honey-Moon. - - -In the history of Selenography, John Henry Maedler holds a distinguished -place. He was the very first to publish a large map of the lunar -surface; and his map was a good one, very accurate, and beautifully -executed, in four sheets (1834-6). For elucidation of this map he wrote -a book concerning the moon, entitled "The Universal Selenography." Not -content with this, he published a second map of the moon in 1837, -embodying fresh discoveries. Indeed as an astronomer, Maedler was a -specialist. Lord Dufferin when in Iceland met a German naturalist who -had gone to that inclement island to look for one moth. It is of the -nature of Teutonic scientific men not to diffuse their interests over -many branches of natural history or other pursuits, but to focus them on -a single point. Maedler was comparatively indifferent to the planets, -cold towards the comets, and callous to the attractions of the nebulæ. -On the subject of the moon, he was a sheer lunatic. - -He died at Hanover in 1874 at the age of eighty, a moon gazer to the -last. Indeed, he appeared before the public as the historian of that -science in a work published at Brunswick, the year previous to his -death. The study of astronomy, more than any other,--even than -theology--detaches a man from the world and its interests. Indeed -theology as a study has a tendency to ruffle a man, and make him bark -and snap at his fellow men who use other telescopes than himself; it is -not so with astronomy. This science exercises a soothing influence on -those who make it their study, so that an Adams and a Le Verrier can -simultaneously discover a Neptune without flying at each other's noses. - -Astronomy is certainly an alluring science; set an astronomer before a -telescope, and an overwhelming attraction draws his soul away through -the tube up into heaven, and leaves his body without mundane interests. -An astronomer is necessarily a mathematician, and mathematics are the -hardest and most petrifying of studies. The "humane letters," as classic -studies are called, draw out the human interests, they necessarily carry -men among men, but mathematics draw men away from all the interests of -their fellows. The last man one expects to find in love, the last man in -whose life one looks for a romantic episode, is a mathematician and -astronomer. But as even Cæsar nods, so an astronomer may lapse into -spooning. The life of Professor Maedler does not contain much of -animated interest; but it had its poetic incident. The curious story of -his courtship and marriage may be related without indiscretion, now that -the old Selenographer is no more. - -Even the most prosaic of men have their time of poetry. The swan is said -to sing only once--just before it dies. The man of business--the -stockbroker, the insurance-company manager, the solicitor, banker, the -ironmonger, butcher, greengrocer, postman, have all passed through a -"moment," as Hegel would call it, when the soul burst through its rind -of common-place and vulgar routine, sang its nightingale song, and then -was hushed for ever after. It is said that there are certain flowers -which take many years coming to the point of bloom, they open, exhale a -flood of incense, and in an hour wither. It is so with many. Even the -astronomer has his blooming time. Then, after the honeymoon, the flower -withers, the song ceases, the sunshine fades, and folds of the fog of -common-place settle deeper than before. - -Ivan Turgenieff, the Russian novelist, says of love, "It is not an -emotion, it is a malady, attacking soul and body. It is developed -without rule, it cannot be reckoned with, it cannot be overreached. It -lays hold of a man, without asking leave, like a fever or the cholera. -It seizes on its prey as a falcon on a dove, and carries it, where it -wills. There is no equality in love. The so-termed free inclination of -souls towards each other is an idle dream of German professors, who have -never loved. No! of two who love, one is the slave, the other is the -lord, and not inaccurately have the poets told of the chains of love." - -But love when it does lay hold of a man assumes some features congruent -to his natural habit. It is hardly tempestuous in a phlegmatic -temperament, nor is a man of sanguine nature liable to be much -influenced by calculations of material advantages. That calculations -should form a constituent portion of the multiform web of a -mathematician's passion is what we might anticipate. - -It will be interesting to see in a German professor devoted to the -severest, most abstract and super-mundane of studies, the appearance, -course, and dying away of the "malady" of love. We almost believe that -this case is so easy of analysis that the very _bacillus_ may be -discovered. - -Before, however, we come to the story of Professor Maedler's love -episode, we must say a word about his previous history. - -Maedler was born at Berlin on May 29th, 1794, in the very month of love, -though at its extreme end. He began life as a schoolmaster, but soared -in his leisure hours into a purer atmosphere than that of the -schoolroom; he began to study the stars, and found them brighter and -more interesting than the heads of his pupils. - -In 1828 William Beer, the Berlin banker, brother of the great composer, -Meyerbeer, a Jew, built a small observatory in the suburbs of Berlin. He -had made the acquaintance of Maedler, they had the same love of the -stars, and they became close friends. - -The Beers were a gifted family, running out in different directions. -Michael, a third brother, was a poet, and wrote tragedies, one or two of -which occasionally reappear on the boards. - -The result of the nightly star gazings was an article on Mars when in -opposition, with a drawing of the surface as it appeared to Beer and -Maedler, through the telescope of the former. - -But Mars did not admit of much further scrutiny, it presented no more -problems they were capable of solving, so they devoted themselves to the -moon. A gourmand exists from dinner to dinner, that meal is the climax -of his vitality, that past he lapses into inertness, indifference, -quiescence. Full moon was the exciting moment of the periods in -Maedler's life, which was divided, not like a gourmand's day, into -periods of twenty-four hours, but into lunar months. When the moon began -to show, Maedler began to live; his interest, the pulses of his life -quickened as full moon approached, then declined and went to sleep when -there was no lunar disc in the sky. From 1834 to 1836 he issued his -great map of the moon, and so made his name. But beyond that, in the -summer of 1833 he was employed by the Russian Government on a -chronometrical expedition in the Baltic. - -When his map came out, he was at once secured by the Prussian Government -as assistant astronomer to the observatory at Berlin, recently erected. -In 1840 he became a professor, and was summoned to take charge of the -observatory, and lecture on astronomy, in the Russian University of -Dorpat. There he spent six uneventful years. He was unmarried, -indifferent to female society, and as cold as his beloved moon. He was -as solitary, as far removed from the ideas of love and matrimony, as the -Man in the Moon. - -At last, one vacation time, he paid a long deferred visit to a friend, a -Selenologist, at Gröningen, the University of the Kingdom of Hanover. -Whilst smoking, drinking beer, and talking over the craters and luminous -streaks in the moon, with his friend, who was also a professor, that -gentleman drew his pipe from his mouth, blew a long spiral from between -his lips, and then said slowly, "By the way, professor, are you aware -that we have here, in this kingdom, not, indeed, in Gröningen, but in -the town of Hanover, a lady, the wife of the Herr Councillor Witte, who -is, like yourself, devoted to the moon; a lady, who spends entire nights -on the roof of her house peering at the face of the moon through one -end--the smaller--of her telescope, observing all the prominences, -measuring their altitudes, and sounding all the cavities. Indeed, it is -asserted that she studies the face and changes of the moon much more -closely than the features and moods of her husband. Also, it is -asserted, that when the moon is shining, the household duties are -neglected, the dinners are bad, the maids--" - -"O dinners! maids! you need not consider them; there are always dinners -and maids," said the Dorpat astronomer contemptuously, "but the moon is -seen so comparatively rarely. The moon must be made much of when she -shows. Everything must then be sacrificed to her." - -Dr. Maedler did not call the moon _she_, but _he_; however, we are -writing in English, not in German, so we change the gender. - -The Astronomer Royal of the University of Gröningen went on, without -noticing the interruption: "Frau von Witte has spent a good deal of her -husband's money in getting the largest procurable telescope, and has -built an observatory for it with a dome that revolves on cannon balls, -on the top of her house. Whilst Herr von Witte slumbers and snores -beneath, like a Philistine, his enlightened lady is aloft, studying the -moon. The Frau Councilloress has done more than observe Luna, she has -done more than you and Beer together, with your maps--she has modelled -it." - -"Modelled it!--modelled the moon!--in what?" - -"In white wax." - -Professor Maedler's countenance fell. He had gained great renown, not in -Germany only, but throughout Europe by his maps of the moon. Here was an -unknown lady, as enthusiastic a devotee to the satellite as himself, who -had surpassed him. "You see," continued the Hanoverian professor, "the -idea is superb, the undertaking colossal. You have a fixed strong light, -you make the wax moon to revolve on its axis, and you reproduce in the -most surprising and exact manner, all the phases of the moon itself." - -This was indeed an idea. Maedler looked at his hands, his fingers. Would -they be capable of modelling such a globe? Hardly, he had very broad -coarse hands, and thick flat fingers, like paddles. He suddenly stood -up. - -"What is the matter? Whither are you going?" asked his friend. - -"To Hanover, to Frau Witte, to see the wax moon." No persuasion would -restrain him, he was in a selenological fever, he could not sleep, he -could not eat, he could not read, he must see the wax moon. - -And now, pray observe the craft of Cupid. The professor was aged -fifty-two. In vain had the damsels of Berlin and Dorpat set their caps -at him. Not a blonde beauty of Saxon race with blue eyes had caught his -fancy, not a dark Russian with large hazel eyes and thick black hair, -had arrested his attention. His heart had been given to the cold, chaste -Diana. It was, with him, the reverse of the tale of Endymion. - -He had written a treatise on the occultation of Mars, he had described -the belts of Saturn, he had even measured his waist. Venus he had -neglected, and now Cupid was about to avenge the slight passed on his -mother. There was but one avenue by which access might be had to the -professor's heart. The God of Love knew it, and resolved to storm the -citadel through this avenue. Dr. Maedler packed his trunk himself in the -way in which unmarried men and abstract thinkers do pack their -portmanteaus. He bundled all his clothes in together, higglety-pigglety. -The only bit of prudence he showed was to put the pomatum pot into a -stocking. His collars he curled up in the legs of his boots. Copies of -his astronomical pamphlets for presentation, lay in layers between his -shirts. Then as the trunk would not close, the Professor of Astronomy -sat down heavily on it, stood up, then sharply sat down on it again, and -repeated this operation, till coats, trousers, linen, pamphlets, brushes -and combs had been crushed together into one cohesive mass, and so the -lock would fasten. - -No sooner was Dr. Maedler arrived at his inn in Hanover, and had dusted -the collar of his coat, and revolved before the _garçon_ who went over -him with a clothes brush, revolved like the moon he loved, than he -sallied forth in quest of the house of the Wittes. There was no -mistaking it--with the domed observatory on the roof. - -Dr. Maedler stood in the square, looking up at it. The sight of an -observatory touched him; and now, hard and dry as he was, moisture came -into his eyes, as he thought that there, on that elevated station, an -admirable woman spent her nights in the contemplation of the moon. What -was Moses on Pisgah, viewing the Promised Land, what was Simeon Stylites -braving storm and cold, to this spectacle? - -Never before had the astronomer met with one of the weaker sex who cared -a button for the moon, _qua_ moon, and not as a convenience for -illumining lovers' meetings, or for an allusion in a valentine. Here was -an heroic soul which surged, positively surged above the frivolities of -her sex, one who aspired to be the rival of man in intelligence and love -of scientific research. - -Professor Maedler sent in his card, and a letter of introduction from -his friend at Gröningen, and was at once admitted. He had formed an -ideal picture of the Selenographic lady, tall, worn with night watching, -with an arched brow, large, clear eyes. He found her a fat little woman, -with a face as round and as flat as that of the moon, not by any means -pale, but red as the moon in a fog. - -The lady was delighted to make the acquaintance of so renowned an -astronomer. She made him pretty speeches about his map, at the same time -letting him understand that a map was all very well, but she knew of -something better. Then she launched out into a criticism of his -pamphlets on Mars and Saturn, on which, as it happened, he was then -sitting. He had put a crumpled copy in each of his tail-coat pockets for -an offering, and was now doubly crumpling them. Then she asked his -opinion about the revolution and orbit of Biela's comet, which had been -seen the preceding year. Next she carried him to Hencke's recently -discovered planet, Astræa; after that she dashed away, away with him to -the nebulæ, and sought to resolve them with his aid. Then down they -whirled together through space to the sun, and the luminous red -protuberances observable at an eclipse. Another step, and they were -plunging down to earth, had reached it in safety, and were discussing -Lord Rosse's recently erected telescope. It was like Dante and Beatrix, -with this difference, that Maedler was not a poet, and Frau Witte was a -married woman. - -The Professor was uneasy. Charming as is a telescope, delightful as is -the sun, fascinating as Astræa may be, still, the moon, the moon was -what he had come to discuss, and wax moon what he had come to see. - -So he exercised all his skill, and with great dialectic ability -conducted his Beatrix away on another round. They gave the fixed stars a -wide berth, dived in and out among the circling planets and planetoids -without encountering one, avoided the comets, kept their feet off -nebulous matter, and at last he planted his companion firmly on the -moon, and when there, there he held her. - -To her words of commendation of his lunar map, he replied by expressing -his astonishment at her knowledge of the several craters and so-called -seas. Presently Frau Witte rose with a smile, and said, "Herr Professor, -I may, perhaps, be allowed to exhibit a trifle on which I have been -engaged for many years:--an independent work that I have compared with, -but not copied from, your excellent selenic map." - -The doctor's heart fluttered; his eyes brightened; a hectic flush came -into his cheeks. - -Frau Witte took a key and led the way to her study, where she threw open -a mahogany cupboard, and exposed to view something very much like a meat -cover. This also she removed, it was composed of the finest silk -stretched on a frame, and exposed to view--the wax moon. - -The globe was composed of the purest white beeswax, it stood upon a -steel needle that passed through it, and rested on pivots, so that the -globe was held up and held firm, and could be easily made to revolve. -Frau Witte closed the shutters, leaving open only one orifice through -which the light could penetrate and fall on the wax ball. - -The doctor raised his hands in admiration. Never had he seen anything -that so delighted him. The globe's surface had been most delicately -manipulated. The mountains were pinched into peaks, the hollows indented -to the requisite depth, the craters were rendered with extraordinary -precision, the striæ being indicated by insertions of other tinted wax. -A shadow hung sombre over the mysterious Sea of Storms. - -Professor Maedler returned to his hotel a prey to emotion. He inquired -the address of a certain Rollmann, whom he had known in former years at -Berlin, and who was now professor in the Polytechnic school at Hanover. -Then he rushed off in quest of Rollmann. The Polytechnic Professor was -delighted to see his friend, but disturbed at the condition of mind in -which he found him. - -"What has brought you to Hanover, dear Professor?" he asked. - -"The moon! the moon! I have come after the moon." - -"The moon! How can that be? She shines over Dorpat as surely as over our -roofs in Hanover." - -"I've just seen her." - -"Impossible. The moon is new. Besides, it is broad daylight." - -"New! of course she is new. Only made lately." - -Professor Rollman was puzzled. - -"The moon is certainly as old as the world, and even if we give the -world so limited an age as four thousand years--" - -"I was not allowed to touch her, scarcely to breathe near her," -interrupted Maedler. - -"My dear colleague, what is the matter with you? You are--what do you -say, seen, touched, breathed on the moon? The distance of the moon from -the earth is two hundred and forty thousand miles." - -"Not the old moon--I mean the other." - -"There is no other, that is, not another satellite to this world. I am -well aware that Jupiter has four moons, two of which are smaller than -the planet Mars. I know also that Mars--" - -"My dear Rollman, there is another--here in Hanover." - -"I give it up, I cannot understand." - -"Happy Hanover to possess such an unique treasure," continued the -excited Maedler, "and such a woman as Frau Witte." - -"Oh! her wax moon!" said Rollmann, with a sigh of relief. - -"Of what else could I speak?" - -"So you have seen that. The old lady is very proud of her performance." - -"She has cause to be proud of it. It is simply superb." - -"And the sight of it has nearly sent you off your head!" - -"Rollmann! what will become of that model? Frau Councilloress Witte will -not live for ever. She is old, puffy, and red, and might have apoplexy -any day. Is her husband an astronomer?" - -"O dear no! he regards astronomy as as unprofitable a study as -astrology. It is quite as expensive a pursuit, he says." - -"Merciful heavens! Suppose she were to predecease--he would have the -moon, and be unable to appreciate it. He might let it get dusty, have -the craters and seas choked; perhaps the mountain-tops knocked off. He -must not have it." - -"It cannot be helped. The moon must take its chance." - -"It must not be. She _must_ outlive the Councillor." - -"If you can manage that--well." - -"But--supposing she does outlive him, she is not immortal. Some day she -must die. Who will have the moon then?" - -"I suppose, her daughter." - -"What will the daughter do with it?" - -"Melt it up for waxing the floors." - -Professor Maedler uttered a cry of dismay. - -"The object is one of incalculable scientific value. Has the daughter no -husband, a man of intelligence, to stay her hand?" - -"The daughter is unmarried. There was some talk of a theological -candidate--" - -"A theological candidate! An embryo pastor! Just powers! These men are -all obscurantists. He will melt up the moon thinking thereby to -establish the authority of Moses." - -"That came to nothing. She is disengaged." - -Professor Maedler paced the room. Perspiration bedewed his brow. He -wiped his forehead, more drops formed. Suddenly he stood still. -"Rollmann," he said, in a hollow voice, "I must--I will have that moon, -even if I have to marry the daughter to secure it." - -"By all means. Minna is a pleasant young lady." - -"Minna! Minna! is that her name?" asked the distracted professor; then, -more coolly, "I do not care a rush what her name is. I want, not her, -but the moon." - -"She is no longer in the bloom of early youth." - -"She is an exhausted world; a globe of volcanic cinder." - -"She is of real solid worth." - -"Solid--she is of solid wax--white beeswax." - -"If she becomes yours--" - -"I will exhibit her at my lectures to the students." - -"As you are so much older, some provision will have to be made in the -event of your death." - -"I will leave her to the Dorpat museum, with directions to the curator -to keep the dust off her." - -"My dear Professor Maedler, I am speaking of the young lady, _you_ of -the moon." - -"Ah so! I had forgotten the incumbrance. Yes, I will marry the moon. I -will carry her about with me, hug her in my arms, protect her most -carefully from the fingers of the Custom House officers. I will procure -an ukase from the Emperor to admit her unfingered over the frontier." - -"And Minna!" - -"What Minna?" - -"The young lady." - -"Ah so! She had slipped out of my reckoning. She shall watch the box -whilst I sleep, and whilst she sleeps I will keep guard." - -"Be reasonable, Maedler. Do you mean, in sober earnest, to invite Minna -Witte to be your wife?" - -"If I cannot get the moon any other way." - -"But you have not even seen her yet." - -"What does that matter? I have seen the moon." - -"And you are in earnest!" - -"I _will_ have the moon." - -"Then, of course, you will have to propose." - -"I propose!" - -"And, of course, to make love." - -"I make love!" - -Professor Maedler's colour died away. He stood still before his friend, -his pocket-handkerchief in hand, and stared. - -"I have not the remotest idea how to do it." - -"You must try." - -"I've had no experience. I am going on to fifty-three. As well ask me -to dance on the trapeze. It is not proper. It is downright indecent." - -"Then you must do without the wax moon." - -"I cannot do without the wax moon." - -"Then, there is no help for it, you must make love to and propose to the -fair Minna." - -"Friend," said the -Russian-imperial-professor-of-astronomy-of-the-University-of-Dorpat, as -he clasped Rollmann's hand. "You are experienced in the ways of the -world. I have lived in an observatory, and associated only with fixed -stars, revolving moons, and comets. Tell me how to do it, and I will -obey as a lamb." - -"You will have to sigh." - -"O! I can do that." - -"And ogle the lady." - -"Ogle!--when going fifty-three!" - -"Learn a few lines of poetry." - -"Yes, Milton's Paradise Lost. Go on." - -"Tell the young lady that your heart is consumed with love." - -"Consumed with love, yes, go on." - -"Squeeze her hand." - -"I cannot! That I cannot!" gasped Professor Maedler. "Look at my -whiskers. They are grey. There is a point beyond which I cannot go. -Rollmann, why may I not settle it all with the mother, and let you court -the young lady for me by proxy." - -"No, no, you must do it yourself." - -"I would not be jealous. Consider, I care nothing for the young girl. It -is the moon I want. That you shall not touch or breathe on." - -"My dear Maedler, you and I are sure to be invited to dine with the -family on Sunday. After dinner we will take a stroll in the garden. -During dinner mind and be attentive to Miss Minna, and feed her with -honeyed words. When we visit the garden I will tackle the mother, as -Mephistopheles engages Martha, and you, you gay Faust, will have to be -the gallant to Minna." - -"My good Rollmann! I dislike the simile. It offends me. Consider my age, -my whiskers, my position at the Dorpat University, my map of the moon in -four sheets, my paper on the occultation of Mars." - -"Pay attention to me, if you want your wax globe. Frau Witte, the -Councillor and I will sit drinking coffee in the arbour. You ask Minna -to show you the garden. When you are gone I will begin at once with the -mother, praise you, and say how comfortably you are provided for at -Dorpat, laud your good qualities, and bring her to understand that you -are a suitor for the hand of her daughter. Meanwhile press your cause -with ardour." - -"With ardour! I shall not be able to get up any warmth." - -"Think of the wax moon! direct your raptures to that." - -"This is all very well," said Maedler fretfully, "but you have forgotten -the main thing. I know you will make a mistake. You have asked for the -hand of the daughter, and said nothing about the moon." - -"Do not be concerned." - -"But I am concerned. It would be a pretty mischief if I got the -daughter's hand instead of the face of the moon." - -"I will manage that you have what you want. But the moon must not rise -over the matrimonial scene till the preliminaries are settled. I will -represent to the old lady what credit will accrue to her if her moon be -exhibited and lectured on at the Dorpat University by so distinguished -an astronomer as yourself. Then, be well assured, she will give you the -wax moon along with her daughter." - -"Very well, I will do what I can. Only, further, explain to me the whole -process, that I may learn it by heart. It seems to me as knotty to a -beginner as Euler's proof of the Binomial Theorem." - -"It is very easy. Pay attention. You must begin to talk about the -fascination which a domestic life exerts on you; you then say that the -sight of such an united household as that in which you find yourself -influences you profoundly." - -"I see. Causes a deflection in my perihelion. That deflection is -calculable, the force excited calculable, the position of the attractive -body estimable. I direct my telescope in the direction, and -discover--Minna. Put astronomically, I can understand it." - -"But you must _not_ put it astronomically to her. Paint in glowing tints -the charms of the domestic hearth--that is to say, of the stove. Touch -sadly on your forlorn condition, your unloved heart--are you paying -attention, or thinking of the moon?" - -"On the contrary, I was thinking of myself, from a planetary point of -view. I see, a wife is a satellite revolving round her man. I see it -all now. Jupiter has four." - -"Sigh; let the corners of your mouth droop. Throw, if you can, an -emotional vibration into your tones, and say that hitherto life has been -to you a school, where you have been set hard tasks; not a home. Here -shake your head slowly, drop a tear if you can, and say again, in a low -and thrilling voice, 'Not a home!' Now for the poetry. Till now, you -add, you have looked into the starry vault--" - -"It is not a vault at all." - -"Never mind; say this. Till now you have looked into the starry vault -for your heaven, and not dreamed that a heaven full of peaceful lights -was twinkling invitingly about your feet. That is poetical, is it not? -It must succeed." - -"Quite so, I should never have thought of it." - -"Then turn, and look into Miss Minna's eyes." - -"But suppose she is looking in another direction?" - -"She will not be. A lady is always ready to help a stumbling lover over -the impediments in the way of a declaration. She will have her eyes at -command, ready to meet yours." - -"Go on." - -"You will presently come to a rose tree. You must stop there and be -silent. Then you must admire the roses, and beg Miss Minna to present -you with one." - -"But I do not want any roses. What can I do with them? I am lodging at -an hotel." - -"Never mind, you _must_ want one. When she has picked and offered it--" - -"But perhaps she will not." - -"Fiddlesticks! Of course she will. Then take the rose, press your lips -to it, and burst forth into raptures." - -"Excuse me, how am I to do the raptures?" - -"Think of the wax moon, man. Exclaim, 'Oh that I might take the fair -Minna, fairer than this rose, to my heart, as I apply this flower to my -buttonhole!'" - -"Shall I say nothing about the wax moon?" - -"Not a word. Leave me to manage that." - -"Go on." - -"Then she will look down, confused, at the gravel, and stammer. Press -her for a Yes or No. Promise to destroy yourself if she says No. Take -her hand and squeeze it." - -"Must I squeeze it? About how much pressure to the square-foot should I -apply?" - -"Then say, 'Come, let us go to your parents, and obtain their blessing.' -The thing is done." - -"But suppose she were to say No?" - -Rollmann stamped with impatience. "I tell you she will not say No, now -that the theological candidate has dropped through." - -"Well," said Professor Maedler, "I must go along with it, now I have -made up my mind to it. But, on my word, as an exact reasoner, I had no -idea of the difficulties men have to go through to get married. Why, the -calculation of the deflections of the planets is nothing to it. And the -Grand Turk, like Jupiter, has more satellites than one!" - -A few months after the incident above recorded Professor Maedler -returned to Dorpat, not alone; with him was the Frau -Professorinn--Minna. Everything had gone off in the garden as Rollmann -had planned. - -The moon and Minna, or Minna and the moon, put it which way you will, -were secured. - -When the Professor arrived at Dorpat with his wife, the students gave -him an ovation after the German style, that is to say, they organized a -Fackel-zug, or torch-light procession. - -Three hundred young men, some wearing white caps, some green caps, some -red, and some purple, marched along the street headed by a band, bearing -torches of twisted tow steeped in tar, blazing and smoking, or, to be -more exact, smoking and blazing. Each corps was followed by a hired -droschky, in which sat the captain and stewards of the white, red, -green, or purple corps, with sashes of their respective colours. Behind -the last corps followed the elephants, two and two. By elephants is not -meant the greatest of quadrupeds, but the smallest esteemed of the -students, those who belong to no corps. - -The whole procession gathered before the house of the Professor, and -brandished their torches and cheered. Then the glass door opening on the -balcony was thrown back, and the Professor John Henry Maedler appeared -on the balcony leading forth his wife. The astronomer looked younger -than he had been known to look for the last twenty years. His whiskers -in the torchlight looked not grey, but red. The eyes, no longer blear -with star-gazing, watered with sentiment. His expression was no longer -that of a man troubled with integral calculus, but of a man in an -ecstasy. He waved his hand. Instantly the cheers subsided. "My -highly-worthy-and-ever-to-be-honoured sirs," began the Professor, "this -is a moment never to be forgotten. It sends a _fackel-zug_ of fiery -emotion through every artery and vein. -Highly-worthy-and-ever-to-be-honoured sirs, I am not so proud as to -suppose that this reception is accorded to me alone. It is an ovation -offered to my highly-beloved-and-evermore-to-be-beloved-and-respected -consort, Frau Minna Maedler, born Witte, the daughter of a distinguished -lady, who, like myself, has laboured on Selenography, and loved -Selenology. Highly-worthy-and-ever-to-be-respected sirs, when I announce -to you that I have returned to Dorpat to endow that -most-eminent-and-ever-to-become-more-eminent-University with one of the -most priceless treasures of art the world has ever seen, a monument of -infinite patience and exact observation; I mean a wax moon; I am sure I -need only allude to the fact to elicit your unbounded enthusiasm. But, -highly-worthy-and-ever-to-be-honoured sirs, allow me to assure you that -my expedition to Hanover has not resulted in a gain to the highly -eminent University of Dorpat only, but to me, individually as well. - -"That highly-eminent-and-evermore-to-become-more-eminent University is -now enriched through my agency with a moon of wax, but I--I, -sirs--excuse my emotion, I have also been enriched with a moon, not of -wax, but of honey. The wax moon, gentlemen, may it last undissolved as -long as the very-eminent-and-evermore-to-become-more-eminent University -of Dorpat lasts. The honey moon, gentlemen, with which I have been -blessed, I feel assured will expand into a lifetime, at least will last -also undissolved as long as Minna and I exist." - - - - -The Electress's Plot. - - -The Elector Frederick Christian of Saxony reigned only a few weeks, from -October 5th to December 13, 1763; in his forty-first year he died of -small-pox. He never had enjoyed rude health. The mother of the -unfortunate prince, Marie Josepha of Austria, was an exceedingly ugly, -but prolific lady, vastly proud of her Hapsburg descent. The three first -children followed each other with considerable punctuality, but the two -first, both sons, died early. Frederick Christian was the third. The -Electress, a few months before his birth, was hunting, when a deer that -had been struck, turned to her, dragging its broken legs behind it. This -produced a powerful impression on her mind; and when her son was born, -he was found to be a cripple in his legs. His head and arms were well -formed, but his spine was twisted, and his knees, according to the -English ambassador, Sir Charles Williams--were drawn up over his -stomach. He could not stand, and had to be lifted about from place to -place. At the age of five-and-twenty he had been married to Maria -Antonia, daughter of the Elector of Bavaria, afterwards the Emperor -Charles VII. - -His brother, Francis Xavier, was a sturdy fellow, like his father, and -the Electress mother tried very hard to get Frederick Christian to -resign his pretentions in favour of his brother, and take holy orders. -This he refused to do, and was then married to Maria Antonia, aged -twenty-three. Her mother had also been an Austrian princess, Amalia, and -also remarkable for her ugliness. The choice was not happy, it brought -about a marriage between cousins, and an union of blood that was -afflicted with ugliness and infirmity of body. - -Maria Antonia had not only inherited her mother's ugliness, but was -further disfigured with small-pox. She was small of stature, but of a -resolute will, and of unbounded ambition. English tourists liked her, -they said that she laid herself out to make the Court of Dresden -agreeable to them. Wraxall tells a good story of her, which shows a -certain frankness, not to say coarseness in her conversation--a story we -will not reproduce. - -She had already made her personality felt at the Bavarian Court. Shortly -after the death of her father, in imitation of Louisa Dorothea, Duchess -of Gotha, she had founded an "Order of Friendship, or the Society of the -Incas." The founding of the Order took place one fine spring day on a -gondola in the canal at Nymphenburg. Her brother, the Elector of -Bavaria, was instituted a member, the Prince of Fürstenberg was made -chancellor, and was given the custody of the seal of the confraternity -which had as its legend "La fidelité mêne." The badge of the Order was a -gold ring on the little finger of the left hand, with the inscription, -"L'ordre de l'amitié--Maria Antonia." Each member went by a name -descriptive of his character, or of that virtue he or she was supposed -to represent. Thus the chancellor was called "Le Solide." - -Sir Charles Williams says that on the very first night of her appearance -in Dresden she made an attempt to force herself into a position for -which she had no right; to the great annoyance of the King of Poland -(Augustus, Elector of Saxony). - -At Dresden, she favoured the arts, especially music and painting. She -became the patroness of the family Mengs. She sang, and played on the -piano, and indeed composed a couple of operas, "Thalestris" and "Il -trionfo della fidelita," and the former was actually put on the stage. -Sir Charles Williams in 1747 wrote that, in spite of her profession that -in her eyes no woman ought to meddle in the affairs of state, he -ventured to prophecy, she would rule the whole land in the name of her -unfortunate husband. - -Nor was he wrong. The moment that her father-in-law died, she put her -hand on the reins. She was not likely to meet with resistance from her -husband, he was not merely a cripple in body, but was contracted in his -intellect; he was amiable, but weak and ignorant. Sir Charles Williams -says that he once asked at table whether it was not possible to reach -England by land--_although_ it was an island. - -Frederick Christian began to reign on 5th October 1763, and immediately -orders were given for the increase of the army to 50,000 men. Maria -Antonia was bent on becoming a queen, and for this end she must get her -husband proclaimed like his father, King of Poland. She was allied to -all the Courts of Europe, her agreeable manners, her energy, gained her -friends in all quarters. She felt herself quite capable of wearing a -royal crown, and she wrote to all the courts to urge the claims of her -husband, the Elector, when--the unfortunate cripple was attacked by -small-pox, had a stroke, and died December 17th. Small-pox had carried -off his ancestor John George IV., and in that same century it occasioned -the death of his brother-in-law, Max Joseph of Bavaria, and of the -Emperor Joseph I. - -He left behind him four sons, his successor, Frederick Augustus, and the -three other princes, Charles, his mother's favourite, Anthony, and -Maximilian Joseph, the third of whom died the same year as his father. -He had also two daughters. - -The death of her husband was a severe blow to the ambition of the -Electress; her eldest son, Frederick Augustus, was under age, and the -reins of government were snatched from her hands and put into those of -the uncle of the young Elector, Xavier, who had been his mother's -favourite, and in favour of whom his elder brother had been urged to -resign his pretensions. Xavier was appointed administrator of Saxony, -and acted as such for five years. - -When, at the age of eighteen, Frederick Augustus III. assumed the power, -he endeavoured to fulfil his duties with great diligence and -conscientiousness, and allowed of no interference. He had, indeed, his -advisers, but these were men whom he selected for himself from among -those who had been well tried and who had proved themselves trusty. - -The Electress-mother had, during the administration of Prince Xavier, -exercised some little authority; she now suddenly found herself -deprived of every shred. Her son was too firm and self-determined to -admit of her interference. Moody and dissatisfied, she left Dresden and -went to Potsdam to Frederick II., in 1769, apparently to feel the way -towards the execution of a plan that was already forming in her restless -brain. She does not seem to have met with any encouragement, and she -then started for Italy, where she visited Rome in 1772, and sought Mengs -out, whose artistic talents had been fostered under her care. - -Under the administration of Prince Xavier, the Electress Dowager had -received an income of sixty thousand dollars; after her son had mounted -the throne, her appanage was doubled, more than doubled, for she was -granted 130,000 dollars, and in addition her son gave her a present of -500,000 dollars. This did not satisfy her, for she had no notion of -cutting her coat according to her cloth, she would everywhere maintain a -splendid court. Moreover, she was bitten with the fever of speculation. -The year before her son came of age and assumed the power, she had -erected a great cotton factory at Grossenhain, but as it brought her in -no revenue, and cost her money besides, she was glad to dispose of it in -1774. The visitor to Dresden almost certainly knows the Bavarian tavern -at the end of the bridge leading into Little Dresden. It is a tavern now -mediævalised, with panelled walls, bull's eye glass in the windows, old -German glass and pottery--even an old German kalendar hanging from the -walls, and with a couple of pretty Bavarian Kellnerins in costume, to -wait on the visitor. There also in the evening Bavarian minstrels -jodel, and play the zither. - -This Bavarian tavern was established by the Electress Mother, who -thought that the Saxons did not drink good or enough beer, and must be -supplied with that brewed in her native land. - -But this speculation also failed, and her capital of five hundred -thousand dollars was swallowed up to the last farthing, and to meet her -creditors she was obliged to pawn her diamond necklace and the rest of -her jewels. This happened in Genoa. When her allowance came in again she -redeemed her jewelry, but in 1775 had to pawn it again in Rome. Unable -to pay her debts, and in distress for money, she appealed repeatedly, -but in vain, to her son. - -Frederick Augustus was, like his father, of feeble constitution, and -moreover, as he himself complained later on in life, had been at once -spoiled and neglected in his youth; and he was unable through weakness -to ascend a height. He did not walk or ride, but went about in a -carriage. The January (1769) after he came to the Electoral crown, he -married Amelia Augusta of Zweibrücken, sister of Max Joseph, afterwards -first King of Bavaria. She was only seventeen at the time. - -The favourite son of his mother was Charles. This prince had been hearty -and in full possession of his limbs in his early age, but when he -reached the years of eleven or twelve, he became crippled and doubled up -like his father. Wraxal says that beside him Scarron would have passed -as a beauty. He was so feeble and paralysed that he could only be moved -about on a wheeled chair. He died in 1781. His elder brother, the -Elector, though not a vigorous man, was not a cripple. - -One of the attendant gentry on the Electress Mother, in Rome, was the -Marquis Aloysius Peter d'Agdolo, son of the Saxon Consul in Venice, -Colonel of the Lifeguard, and Adjutant General to Prince Xavier whilst -he was Administrator. - -Agdolo advised the Electress Mother to raise money to meet her -difficulties by selling to her son, the Elector, her claims on the -Bavarian inheritance. Her brother, Maximilian Joseph, was without -children; and the nearest male claimant to the Electoral Crown of -Bavaria was the Count Palatine of Sulzbach, only remotely connected. It -was, therefore, quite possible that Bavaria might fall to a sister. Now -on the death of her brother, the Dowager Electress of Saxony certainly -intended to advance her claims against any remote kinsman hailing -through a common ancestor two centuries ago. But whether she would be -able to enforce her claim was another matter. She might sell it to her -son, who would have the means of advancing his claim by force of arms -and gold. This was in 1776. Maria Antonia was delighted with the scheme -and at once hastened to Munich to put it in execution, taking with her -all her diamonds which she had managed to redeem from pawn. - -Whilst she was on her way to Munich, Agdolo was despatched to Dresden, -to open the negociation with her son, not only for the transference of -her rights on Bavaria, but also for the pawning of her diamonds, to her -son. - -She had urgent need of money, and in her extremity she conceived an -audacious scheme to enable her at the same time to get hold of the -money, and to retain her rights on Bavaria. The plan was this:--As soon -as she had got the full payment from the Elector for the resignation of -her claims in his favour, she had resolved suddenly to proclaim to the -world that he was no son at all of the late Elector Frederick -Christian--that he was a bastard, smuggled into the palace and passed -off as the son of the Elector, much as, according to Whig gossip, James -the Pretender was smuggled into the palace of James II. in a warming -pan, and passed off as of blood royal, when he was of base origin. - -Frederick Augustus thus declared to be no son of the House of Saxony, -the Electoral crown would come to her favourite son Charles, who was a -cripple. The Elector was not deformed--evidence against his origin; -Charles was doubled up and distorted--he was certainly the true son of -the late Elector, and the legitimate successor. - -If Maria Antonia should succeed--she would rule Saxony in the name, and -over the head of her unfortunate son Charles, and her rights on Bavaria -would not have been lost or made away with. - -Arrived in Munich, she confided the whole plan to her ladies-in-waiting. -She told them her hopes, her confidence in Agdolo, who was gone to -Dresden to negociate the sale, and who was thoroughly aware of her -intentions. - -Agdolo, as all the ladies knew, was a great rascal. He had been -pensioned by Prince Xavier with six hundred dollars per annum, and he -had what he received from the Electress Mother as her -gentleman-in-waiting. He was married to the Princess Lubomirska, widow -of Count Rutowska, had quarrelled with her, and they lived separate, but -he had no scruple to receive of an insulted wife an annual allowance. -All these sources of income were insufficient to meet his expenses; and -no one who knew him doubted for a moment that he would lend himself to -any intrigue which would promise him wealth and position. The plot of -the Dowager Electress was a risky one--but, should it succeed, his -fortune was assured. - -At Dresden he was well received by the Elector; and Frederick Augustus -at once accepted the proposition of his mother. He consented to purchase -Maria Antonia's resignation in his favour of her claims on the allodial -inheritance of the family on the extinction of the Bavarian Electoral -house in the male line, and to pay all her debts, and to find a sum -sufficient to redeem the diamonds, which were represented as still in -pawn at Rome. - -Maria Antonia and her confidant appeared to be on the eve of success, -when the plan was upset, from a quarter in which they had not dreamed of -danger. Among the ladies of the court of the Dowager Electress was one -whose name does not transpire, who seems to have entertained an ardent -passion for Agdolo. He, however, disregarded her, and paid his -attentions to another of the ladies. Rage and jealousy consumed the -heart of this slighted beauty, and when the Electress Mother confided to -her the plan she had formed, the lady-in-waiting saw that her -opportunity had arrived for the destruction of the man who had slighted -her charms. She managed to get hold of her mistress' keys and to make a -transcript of her papers, wherein the whole plan was detailed, also of -copies of her letters to Agdolo, and of the Marquis's letters to her. -When she had these, she at once despatched them--not to the Elector of -Saxony, but to Frederick II. at Berlin, who stood in close relations of -friendship with the Elector of Saxony. She had reckoned aright. Such -tidings, received through the Court of Prussia, would produce a far -deeper impression on Frederick Augustus, than if received from her -unknown and insignificant self. It is possible also that she may have -known of her mistress having been at Berlin and there thrown out hints -of something of the sort, so that Frederick II. would at once recognise -in this matured plan the outcome of the vague hints of mischief poured -out at Potsdam a few years before. - -All was going on well at Berlin. Adolphus von Zehmen, Electoral -Treasurer, had already started for Munich, furnished with the requisite -sums. He was empowered to receive the deed of relinquishment from the -Dowager Electress, and also her diamond necklace, which, in the -meantime, was to be brought by a special courier from Rome. Maria -Antonia, on her side, had constituted Councillor Hewald her -plenipotentiary; she wrote to say that he would transact all the -requisite negociation with the Treasurer Zehmen, and that the diamond -necklace had arrived and was in his hands. - -Agdolo received orders from the Electress Mother on no account to leave -Dresden till the middle of September, 1776, lest his departure should -arouse suspicion. - -The conduct of the Marquis was not in any way remarkable, he moved about -among old friends with perfect openness, often appeared in Court, and -was satisfied that he was perfectly safe. He was not in the least aware -that all his proceedings were watched and reported on, not by order of -the Elector, but of his own mistress, who received regular reports from -this emissary as to the behaviour and proceedings of the Marquis, so -that she was able to compare with this private report that sent her by -Agdolo, and so satisfy herself whether he was acting in her interest, or -playing a double game. - -This bit of cunning on her part, was not surprising, considering what a -man Agdolo was, and, as we shall see, it proved of great advantage to -her, but in a way she least expected. - -The Marchese d'Agdolo had paid his farewell visit to the Elector, and -received leave to depart. Frederick Augustus had not the remotest -suspicion that his mother was playing a crooked part, and he seemed -heartily satisfied with the negociation, and made the Marquis a present. - -On September 15, 1776, Agdolo was intending to start from Dresden, on -his return to Munich, and the evening before leaving he spent at the -house of a friend, Ferber, playing cards. Little did he suspect that -whilst he was winning one stake after another at the table, the greatest -stake of all was lost. That evening, whilst he was playing cards, a -courier arrived from Berlin, in all haste, and demanded to see the -Elector in person, instantly, as he had a communication of the utmost -importance to make from Frederick II. He was admitted without delay, and -the whole of his mother's plot was detailed before the astonished -Elector. - -"The originals of these transcripts," said the courier, "are in the -hands of the Marchese d'Agdolo, let him be arrested, and a comparison of -the documents made." - -The Privy Council was at once assembled, and the papers received from -Frederick II. were laid before it. The members voted unanimously that -the Marquis should be arrested, and General Schiebell was entrusted with -the execution of the decree. No surprise was occasioned by the entry of -General Schiebell into the house of Ferber. It was a place of resort of -the best society in Dresden; but when the General announced that he had -come to make an arrest, many cheeks lost their colour. - -"In the name of his Serene Highness the Elector," said the General, "I -make this man my prisoner," and he laid his hand on the shoulder of -Agdolo, who had served under him in the Seven Years' War. He was taken -at once to his own lodgings, where his desks and boxes--already packed -for departure--were opened, and all his papers removed. The same night, -under a strong guard, he was transported at 10 o'clock, to Königstein. -In that strong fortress and state prison, perched on an isolated -limestone crag, the rest of his life was to be spent in confinement. - -But the Marchese, like a crafty Italian, had made his preparations -against something of the sort; for among his papers was found a -communication addressed by him to the Elector, revealing the whole plot. -It was undated. If the search of his rooms and the discovery of his -papers had been made earlier, the Elector might have believed that the -man had really intended to betray his mistress, but, he had postponed -the delivery of the communication too late.[17] - -A few days later, the Marchese received a sealed letter from the -Elector; and he was treated in his prison without undue severity; his -pension was not withdrawn; and the Elector seems never to have quite -made up his mind whether Agdolo really intended to make him aware of the -plot at the last minute, or to go on with the plan after his mistress's -orders. - -After some years, when Agdolo began to suffer in his chest, he was -allowed to go to the baths of Pirna, under a guard. His wife never -visited him in prison. She died, however, only two years later, in 1778, -at the age of fifty-six. Agdolo lived on for twenty-three years and a -half, and died August 27, 1800. All his papers were then sent to -Frederick Augustus III., who read them, dissolved into tears, and burnt -them. - -We must return for a moment to Munich. No sooner had the emissary of the -Electress Mother heard of the news of the arrest of Agdolo, than he -hastened to Munich with post horses as hard as he could fly over the -roads. Maria Antonia, when she heard the news, at once made fresh -dispositions. She sent word that same night to Hewald to make off, and -in another half hour he had disappeared with the diamonds. - -Next day the completion of the resignation of claims was to be made. The -Electress Mother requested the Treasurer Zehmen to go to the dwelling of -her Councillor Hewald, who, as we can understand, was not to be found -anywhere. Herr von Zehmen was much surprised and disconcerted, and the -Dowager Electress affected extreme indignation and distress, charging -her plenipotentiary with having robbed her of her diamonds, and bolted -with them. Then she took to her bed, and pretended to be dangerously -ill. Next day the news reached Zehmen of what had occurred at Dresden, -and with the news came his recall. She saw the treasurer before his -departure, and implored him to get both Agdolo and Hewald arrested and -punished, because, as she declared, they had between them fabricated a -wicked plot for her robbery and ruin. - -Hewald went to Frankfort with the jewels, where he was stopped and taken -by an officer of Frederick Augustus, and brought on Jan. 27, 1777, to -Dresden. He was sent to the Königstein, but was released in 1778. - -In 1777 died the Elector of Bavaria, but his sister was unable to obtain -any recognition of her claims; and she died 23rd April, 1780, without -any reconciliation with the eldest son. Next year died her favourite -son, the cripple, Charles. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[17] This is supposed to have been the contents of the packet addressed -to the Elector, the contents have never been revealed. - - - - -Suess Oppenheim. - - -On December the sixteenth, 1733, Charles Alexander, Duke of Würtemberg, -entered Stuttgart in state. It was a brilliant though brief winter day. -The sun streamed out of a cloudless heaven on the snowy roofs of the old -town, and the castle park trees frosted as though covered with jewels. -The streets were hung with tapestries, crimson drapery, and wreaths of -artificial flowers. Peasants in their quaint costume poured in from all -the country round to salute their new prince. From the old castle towers -floated the banners of the Duchy and the Empire--for Würtemberg three -stag-horns quartered with the Hohenstauffen black lions. The Duke was -not young: he was hard on fifty--an age when a man has got the better of -youthful impetuosity and regrets early indiscretions--an age at which, -if a man has stuff in him, he is at his best. - -The land of Würtemberg is a favoured and smiling land. At the period of -which we write, it was not so ample as the present kingdom, but -fruitful, favoured, and called the Garden of the Empire. For twenty -years this Duchy had been badly governed; the inhabitants had been -cruelly oppressed by the incompetent Duke Eberhardt Ludwig, or rather by -his favourites. The country was burdened with debt; the treasury was -exhausted. It had, as it were, lain under winter frost for twenty years -and more, and now though on a winter day laughed and bloomed with a -promise of spring. - -And every good Würtemberger had a right to be glad and proud of the new -duke, who had stormed Belgrade under Prince Eugene, and was held to be -one of the bravest, noblest minded, and most generous of the German -princes of his time. - -As he rode through the streets of Stuttgart all admired his stately -form, his rich fair hair flowing over his shoulders, his bright -commanding eye, and the pleasant smile on his lip; every Würtemberger -waved his hat, and shouted, and leaped with enthusiasm. Now at last the -Garden of Germany would blossom and be fruitful under so noble a duke. - -But in the same procession walked, not rode, another man whom none -regarded--a handsome man with dark brown hair and keen olive eyes, a -sallow complexion, and a finely moulded Greek nose. He had a broad -forehead and well arched brows. He was tall, and had something noble and -commanding in his person and manner. But his most remarkable feature was -the eye--bright, eager, ever restless. - -This man, whom the Würtembergers did not observe, was destined to play a -terrible and tragic part in their history--to be the evil genius of the -duke and of the land. His name was Joseph Suess Oppenheim. - -Joseph's mother, Michaela, a Jewess, had been a woman of extraordinary -beauty, the only child of the Rabbi Salomon of Frankfort. She had been -married when quite young to the Rabbi Isachar Suess Oppenheim, a singer. -Joseph was born at Heidelberg in 1692, and was her child by the Baron -George of Heydersdorf, a soldier who had distinguished himself in the -Turkish war, and with whom she carried on a guilty intrigue. From his -father Joseph Suess derived a dignified, almost military bearing, and -his personal beauty from his mother. - -The Baron's romance with the lovely Jewess came to an end in 1693, when -he held the castle of Heidelberg against the French. He surrendered -after a gallant defence; too soon, however, as the court-martial held on -him decided; and he was sentenced to death, but was pardoned by the -Emperor Leopold, with the loss of all his honours and offices, and he -was banished the Empire. - -Suess had a sister who married a rich Jew of Vienna, but followed her -mother in laxity of morals, and, after having wasted a good fortune in -extravagance, fell back on her mother and brother for a maintenance. He -had a brother who became a factor at the court of Darmstadt. They lived -on bad terms with each other, and were engaged in repeated lawsuits with -one another. This brother abjured Judaism, was baptised, and assumed the -name of Tauffenberg. Joseph Suess was connected, or nominally connected, -through Isachar, his reputed though not his real father, with the great -and wealthy Jewish family of Oppenheim. The branch established in Vienna -had become rich on contracts for the army, and had been ennobled. One -member failed because the Emperor Leopold I. owed him many millions of -dollars and was unable to pay. Joseph began life in the office of the -court bankers and army contractors of his family at Vienna. Here it was -that he obtained his first ideas of how money could be raised through -lotteries, monopolies, and imposts of all kinds. But though Joseph was -put on the road that led to wealth, in the Oppenheim house at Vienna, he -missed his chance there, and was dismissed for some misconduct or other, -the particulars of which we do not know. - -Then, in disgrace and distress, he came to Bavaria, where he served a -while as barber's assistant. Probably through the influence of some of -the Oppenheims, Joseph was introduced into the court of the family of -Thurn and Taxis, which had acquired vast wealth through the monopoly of -the post-office. Thence he made his way into an office of the palatine -court at Mannheim. - -This was a period in which the German princes were possessed with the -passion of imitating the splendour and extravagance of Louis XIV. -Everyone must have his Versailles, must crowd his court with -functionaries, and maintain armies in glittering and showy uniforms. - -Germany, to the present day, abounds in vast and magnificent palaces, -for the most part in wretched repair, if not ruinous. The houses of our -English nobility are nothing as compared in size with these palaces of -petty princes, counts, and barons. - -To build these mansions, and when built to fill them with officials and -servants, to keep up their armies, and to satisfy the greed of their -mistresses, these German princes needed a good deal of money, and were -ready to show favour to any man who could help them to obtain it--show -where to bore to tap fresh financial springs. All kinds of new methods -of taxation were had recourse to, arousing the bitter mockery of the -oppressed. The tobacco monopoly was called the nose-tax; it was felt to -be oppressive only by the snuff-takers and smokers; and perhaps the -stamp on paper only by those who wrote; but the boot and shoe stamp -imposed by one of the little princes touched everyone but those who went -barefoot. - -Joseph Suess introduced the stamp on paper into the palatinate. He did -not invent this duty, which had been imposed elsewhere; but he obtained -the concession of the impost, and sold it to a subfactor for 12,000 -florins, and with the money invested in a speculation in the coinage of -Hesse-Darmstadt. All the little German princes at this time had their -own coinage, down to trumpery little states of a few miles in diameter, -as Waldeck, Fulda, Hechingen, and Montfort; and Germany was full to -overflow of bad money, and barren of gold and silver. Suess, in his -peregrinations, had obtained a thorough insight into the mysteries of -this branch of business. He not only thoroughly understood the practical -part of the matter--the coinage--but also where the cheapest markets -were, in which to purchase the metals to be coined. Now that he had some -money at his command, he undertook to farm the coinage of -Hesse-Darmstadt; but almost immediately undersold it, with a profit to -himself of 9,000 florins. He took other contracts for the courts, and -soon realised a comfortable fortune. Even the Archbishop of Cologne -called in his aid, and contributed to enrich him, in his efforts to get -a little more for himself out of the subjects of his palatinate. In the -summer of 1732 Joseph Suess visited the Blackforest baths of Wildbad, -for the sake of the waters. At the same time Charles Alexander of -Würtemberg and his wife were also undergoing the same cure. Oppenheim's -pleasant manners, his handsome face, and his cleverness caught the fancy -of Charles Alexander, and he appointed him his agent and steward; and as -the Prince was then in want of money, Suess lent him a trifle of 2,000 -florins. Charles Alexander had not at this time any assurance that he -would ascend the ducal throne of Würtemberg, though it was probable.[18] -The reigning Duke, Eberhardt Louis, had, indeed, just lost his only son; -but it was not impossible that a posthumous grandson might be born. -Charles Alexander was first-cousin of the Duke. It is said that Suess on -this occasion foretold the future greatness of the Prince, and pretended -to extract his prophecy from the Cabala. It is certain that Charles -Alexander was very superstitious, and believed in astrology, and it is -by no means improbable that Suess practised on his credulity. He had at -his disposal plenty of means of learning whether the young Princess of -Würtemberg was likely soon to become a mother--her husband had died in -November--and he was very well aware that the old Duke was failing. The -loan made by Suess came acceptably to Prince Charles Alexander just as a -Jewish banker, Isaac Simon of Landau, with whom he had hitherto dealt, -had declined to make further advances. - -When the Prince returned to Belgrade, where he resided as stadtholder of -Servia, under the Emperor, he was fully convinced that he had -discovered in Suess an able, intelligent, and devoted servant. His wife -was a princess of Thurn and Taxis, and it is possible that Suess, who -had been for some time about that court at Ratisbon, had used her -influence, and his acquaintance with her family affairs, to push his -interests with the Prince, her husband. - -On October 31, 1733, died the old Duke Eberhardt Louis, and Charles -Alexander at once hastened from Belgrade to Vienna, where, in an -interview with the Emperor, without any consultation with the Estates, -or consideration for the treasury of Würtemberg, he promised Leopold a -contingent of 12,000 men to aid in the war against France. Then he went -on to Stuttgart. - -Poor Würtemberg groaned under the burdens that had been imposed on it; -the favourites had been allowed to do with it what they liked; and -Charles Alexander's first public declaration on entering his capital -was: "From henceforth I will reign over you immediately, and myself see -to the reform of every grievance, and put away from my people every -burden which has galled its shoulders. If my people cry to me, my ears -shall be open to hear their call. I will not endure the disorder which -has penetrated everywhere, into every department of the State; my own -hand shall sweep it away." - -And as a token of his sincerity he ordered every office-holder in Church -and State to put on paper and present to him a schedule of every payment -that had been made, by way of fee and bribe, to obtain his office. This -was published on December 28, 1733. The older and wiser heads were -shaken; the Duke, they said, was only heaping trouble on his shoulders; -let the past be buried. He replied, "I must get to the bottom of all -this iniquity. I must get inured to work." - -But the hero of Belgrade had all his life been more accustomed to the -saddle than the desk, and to command in battle--a much simpler -matter--than to rule in peace. The amount of grievances brought before -him, the innumerable scandals, peculations, bewildered him. The people -were wild with enthusiasm, but the entire bureaucracy was filled with -sullen and dogged opposition. - -Würtemberg enjoyed a constitution more liberal than any other German -principality. The old Duke Eberhardt with the Beard, who died in 1496, -by his will contrived for the good government of his land by providing -checks against despotic rule by the dukes his successors. On the -strength of this testament the Estates deposed his successor. The -provisions of this will were ratified in the Capitulation of Tübingen, -in 1514, and every duke on assuming the reins of government was required -to swear to observe the capitulation. Duke Charles Alexander took the -oath without perhaps very closely examining it, and found out after it -was taken that he was hampered in various ways, and was incapacitated -from raising the body of men with which he had undertaken to furnish the -Emperor, independent of the consent of the Parliament. It may here be -said that there was no hereditary house of nobles in Würtemberg; the -policy of the former dukes had been to drive the hereditary petty -nobles out of the country, and to create in their place a clique of -court officials absolutely dependent on themselves. By the constitution, -no standing army was to be maintained, and no troops raised without the -consent of the Estates; the tenure of property was guaranteed by the -State, all serfage was abolished, and no taxes could be imposed or -monopolies created without the consent of the Estates. - -The Estates consisted of fourteen prelates, pastors invested with -dignities which entitled them to sit in the House, and seventy -deputies--some elected by the constituencies, others holders of certain -offices, who sat _ex officio_. The Estates had great power; indeed the -Duke could do little but ask its consent to the measures he proposed, -and to swallow humble pie at refusal. It not only imposed the taxes, but -the collectors were directly responsible to the Estates for what was -collected, and paid into its hands the sum gathered. Moreover, any -agreement entered into between the Duke and another prince was invalid -unless ratified by the Estates. - -When Duke Charles Alexander, who had been accustomed to the despotic -command of an army as field-marshal, found how his hands were tied and -how he was surrounded by impediments to free action on all sides, he was -very angry, and quarrelled with the Ministers who had presented the -capitulation to him for signature. He declared that the paper presented -for him to sign had not been read to him in full, or had the obnoxious -passages folded under that he should not see them, or that they had been -added after his signature had been affixed. - -He became irritable, not knowing how to keep his promise with the -Emperor, and disgusted to find himself a ruler without real authority. - -Now, as it was inconvenient to call the Assembly together on every -occasion when something was wanted, a permanent committee sat in -Stuttgart, consisting of two parts. This committee acted for the Estates -and were responsible to it. - -Wanting advice and help, unwilling to seek that of the reliable -Ministers--and there were some honest and patriotic--the Duke asked -Joseph Suess to assist him, and Suess was only too delighted to show him -a way out of his difficulties. The redress of grievances was thrust -aside, abuses were left uncorrected, and the Duke's attention was turned -towards two main objects--the establishment of a standing army, and the -upsetting of the old constitution. - -Würtemberg was then a state whose limits were not very extensive, nor -did they lie within a ring fence. The imperial cities of Reutlingen, -Ulm, Heilsbronn, Weil, and Gmünd were free. It might not be convenient -for the Emperor to pay with hard cash for the troops the Duke had -promised to furnish, but he might allow of the incorporation of these -independent and wealthy cities in the duchy. Moreover, it was a feature -of the times for the princes to seek to conquer fresh districts and -incorporate them. France had recently snatched away Mompelgard from -Würtemberg, and Charles Alexander recovered it. The duchy had suffered -so severely from having been overrun by French troops that the Estates -acquiesced, though reluctantly, in the Duke's proposal that a standing -army should be maintained. Having obtained this concession, Suess -instructed him how to make it a means of acquiring money, by calling men -to arms who would be thankful to purchase their discharge. The army soon -numbered 18,000 soldiers. His general-in-chief was Remchingen, a man who -had served with him in the Imperial army and was devoted to his -interests. The Duke placed his army under officers who were none of them -Würtembergers. At the head of an army officered by his own creatures, -the Duke hoped to carry his next purpose--the abrogation of the -capitulation, and the conversion of the State from a constitutional to a -despotic monarchy. Suess now became the Duke's most confidential -adviser, and, guided by him, Charles Alexander got rid of all his -Ministers and courtiers who would not become the assistants in this -policy, and filled their places with creatures of his own, chief of whom -was a fellow named Hallwachs. In order to paralyse the Assembly the Duke -did not summon it to meet, and managed to pack the committee with men in -his interest; for, curiously enough, the committee was not elected by -the delegates, but itself elected into the vacancies created in it. By -means of the committee the Duke imposed on the country in 1736 a double -tax, and the grant of a thirtieth of all the fruits; and this was to -last "as long as the necessities of the case required it." - -Suess himself was careful to keep in the background. He accepted no -office about court, became Minister of no branch of the State; but every -Minister and officer was nominated by him and devoted to him. Towards -these creatures of his own he behaved with rudeness and arrogance, so -that they feared him almost more than the Duke. If the least opposition -was manifested, Suess threatened the gallows or the block, forfeiture of -goods, and banishment; and as the Duke subscribed every order Suess -brought him, it was well known that his threats were not idle. - -Suess employed Weissensee, a pastor, the prelate of Hirsau, as his court -spy. This worthless man brought to the favourite every whisper that -passed within his hearing among the courtiers of the Duke, everything -that was said in the committee, and advised whether the adhesion of this -or that man was doubtful. - -Suess so completely enveloped the Duke in the threads of the web he spun -about him, that Charles Alexander followed his advice blindly, and did -nothing without consulting him. - -In 1734 Suess farmed the coinage of Würtemberg, with great profit to -himself, and, having got it into his own hands, kept it there to the -end. But there is this to be said for his coinage, that it was far -better than that of all the other states of Germany; so that the -Würtemberg silver was sought throughout Germany. There was nothing -fraudulent in this transaction, and though at his trial the matter was -closely investigated, no evidence of his having exceeded what was just -could be produced against him. - -It was quite another matter with the "Land Commission," a -well-intentioned institution with which the Duke began his reign. -Charles Alexander was overwhelmed with the evidence sent in to him of -bribery under the late Duke, and, unable to investigate the cases -himself, he appointed commissioners to do so, and of course these -commissioners were nominated by Suess. The commission not only examined -into evidence of bribery in the purchase of offices, but also into -peculation and neglect of duty in the discharge of offices. Those -against whom evidence was strong were sentenced to pay a heavy fine, but -were not necessarily deprived. Those, on the other hand, who had -acquired their offices honourably and had discharged their functions -conscientiously were harassed by repeated trials, terrified with -threats, and were forced to purchase their discharge at a sum fixed -according to an arbitrary tariff. Those who proved stubborn, or did not -see at what the commissioners aimed, were subjected to false witnesses, -found guilty, and fined. These fines amounted in some instances to -£2,000. - -After the commission had exhausted the bureaucracy, and money was still -needed, private individuals became the prey of their inquisitorial and -extortive action. - -Any citizen who was reported to be rich was summoned before the tribunal -to give an account of the manner in which he had obtained his wealth; -his private affairs were investigated, his books examined, and his trial -protracted till he was glad to purchase his dismissal for a sum -calculated according to his income as revealed to the prying eyes of the -inquisitors. - -But as this did not suffice to fill the empty treasury, recurrence was -had to the old abuse which the Land Commission had been instituted to -inquire into and correct. Every office was sold, and to increase the -revenue from this source fresh offices were created, fresh titles -invented, and all were sold for ready money. Every office in Church as -well as State was bought; indeed, a sort of auction was held at every -vacancy, and the office was knocked down to the highest bidder. - -This sort of commerce had been bad enough under the late Duke, but it -became fourfold as bad now under the redresser of abuses, for what had -before been inchoate was now organised by Suess into a system. - -Not only were the offices sold, but after they had been entered upon, -the tenant was expected to pay a second sum, entitled the gratuity, -which was to go, it was announced, towards a sustentation fund for -widows and orphans and the aged. It is needless to say that none of this -money ever reached widows, orphans, or aged. - -A special bureau of gratuities was organised by decree of the Duke, and -filled with men appointed by Suess, who paid into his hands the sums -received; and he, after having sifted them, and retained what he thought -fit, shook the rest into the ducal treasury. This bureau was founded by -ducal rescript in 1736. - -Side by side with the Office of Gratuities came the Fiscal Office into -being, whose function it was to revise the magisterial and judicial -proceedings of the courts of justice. This also was filled by Suess with -his creatures. The ground given to the world for its establishment was -the correction of judicial errors and injustices committed by the courts -of law. It was the final court of revision, before which every decision -went before it was carried into effect. Legal proceedings, moreover, -were long and costly, and the Fiscal Court undertook to interfere when -any suit threatened to be unduly protracted to the prejudice of justice. -But the practical working of the Fiscal Court was something very -different. It interfered with the course of justice, reversing -judgments, not according to equity, but according to the bribes paid -into the hands of the board. In a very short time the sources of justice -were completely poisoned by it, and no crime, however great and however -clearly established, led to chastisement if sufficient money were paid -into the hands of the court of revision. The whole country was overrun -with spies, who denounced as guilty of imaginary crimes those who were -rich, and such never escaped without leaving some of their gold sticking -to the hands of the fiscal counsellors. - -As usual with Joseph Suess, he endeavoured to keep officially clear of -this court, as he had of the Office of Gratuities, and of all others. -But the Duke nominated him assistant counsellor. Suess protested, and -endeavoured to shirk the honour; but as the Duke refused to release him, -he took care never once to attend the court, and when the proceedings -and judgments were sent him for his signature he always sent them back -unsigned; and he never was easy till relieved of the unacceptable title. -For Suess was a clever rogue. In every transaction that was public, and -of which documentary evidence was producible that he had been mixed up -with it, he acted with integrity; but whenever he engaged on a -proceeding which might render him liable to be tried in the event of -his falling into disfavour, he kept himself in the background and acted -through his agents; so that when, eventually, he was tried for his -treasonable and fraudulent conduct, documentary evidence incriminating -him was wholly wanting. - -After the death of the Duke, it was estimated from the records of the -two courts that they had in the year 1736-7 squeezed sixty-five thousand -pounds out of the small and poor duchy. - -Suess had constituted himself jeweller to the Duke, who had a fancy for -precious stones, but knew nothing of their relative values. When Suess -offered him a jewel he was unable to resist the temptation of buying it, -and very little of the money of the Bureau of Gratuities ever reached -him; he took the value out in stones at Suess' estimation. When some of -his intimates ventured to suggest that the Jew was deceiving him as to -the worth of the stones, Duke Charles Alexander shrugged his shoulders -and said with a laugh, "It may be so, but I can't do without that -coujon" (_cochon_).[19] . At the beginning of 1736 a new edict for wards -was issued by the Duke, probably on Suess' suggestion, whereby he -constituted a chancery which should act as guardian to all orphans under -age, managing their property for them, and was accountable to none but -the Duke for the way in which it dealt with the trust. Then a commission -was instituted to take charge of all charitable bequests in the duchy; -and by this means Suess got the fingering of property to the amount of -two hundred thousand pounds, for which the State paid to the Charities -at the rate of three per cent. - -Then came the imposition of duties and taxes. Salt was taxed, -playing-cards, groceries, leather, tobacco, carriages, even the sweeping -of chimneys. A gazette was issued containing decrees of the Duke and -official appointments, and every officer and holder of any place, -however insignificant, under Government was compelled to subscribe to -this weekly paper, the profits of which came to the Duke and his -adviser. Then came a property and income tax; then in quick succession -one tormenting edict after another, irritating and disturbing the -people, and all meaning one thing--money. - -Lotteries were established by order of the Duke. Suess paid the Duke -£300 for one, and pocketed the profits, which were considerable. At the -court balls and masquerades Suess had his roulette tables in an -adjoining room, and what fell to the _croupier_ went into his -pocket.[20] - -At last his sun declined. The Duke became more and more engrossed in his -ideas of upsetting the constitution by means of his army, and listened -more to his general, Remchingen, than to Suess. He entered into a -compact with the elector of Bavaria and with the Bishops of Würzburg and -Bamberg to send him troops to assist him in his great project, and, as a -price for this assistance, promised to introduce the Roman Catholic -religion into Würtemberg. - -The enemies of Suess, finding that he was losing hold of the Duke, took -advantage of a precious stone which the Jew had sold him for a thousand -pounds, and which proved to be worth only four hundred, to open the eyes -of Charles Alexander to the character of the man who had exercised such -unbounded influence over him. Suess, finding his power slipping from -him, resolved to quit the country. The Duke stopped him. Suess offered -five thousand pounds for permission to depart; it was refused. Charles -Alexander was aware that Suess knew too many court secrets to be allowed -to quit the country. Moreover, the necessities of the Duke made him feel -that he might still need the ingenuity of Suess to help him to raise -money. As a means of retaining him he granted him a so-called -"absolutorium"--a rescript which made him responsible to no one for any -of his actions in the past or in the future. Furnished with this -document, the Jew consented to remain, and then the Duke required of him -a loan of four thousand pounds for the expenses of a journey he -meditated to Danzig to consult a physician about a foot from which he -suffered. The "absolutorium" was signed in February 1737. - -On March 12 following, Charles Alexander started on his journey from -Stuttgart, but went no farther than his palace at Ludwigsburg. - -Although the utmost secrecy had been maintained, it had nevertheless -transpired that the constitution was to be upset as soon as the Duke had -left the country. He had given sealed orders to his general, Remchingen, -to this effect. The Bavarian and Würtemberg troops, to the number of -19,000 men, were already on the march. The Würtemberg army was entirely -officered by the Duke's own men. Orders had been issued to forbid the -Stuttgart Civil Guard from exercising and assembling, and ordering that -a general disarmament of the Civil Guard and of the peasants and -citizens should be enforced immediately the Duke had crossed the -frontier. All the fortresses in the duchy had been provided with -abundance of ammunition and ordnance. - -At Ludwigsburg the Duke halted to consult an astrologer as to the -prospect of his undertaking. Suess laughed contemptuously at the -pretences of this man, and, pointing to a cannon, said to Charles -Alexander, "This is your best telescope." - -The sealed orders were to be opened on the 13th, and on that day the -stroke was to be dealt. Already Ludwigsburg was full of Würzburg -soldiers. A courier of the Duke with a letter had, in a drunken -squabble, been deprived of the dispatch; this was opened and shown to -the Assembly, which assembled in all haste and alarm. It revealed the -plot. At once some of the notables hastened to Ludwigsburg to have an -interview with their prince. He received them roughly, and dismissed -them without disavowing his intentions. The consternation became -general. The day was stormy; clouds were whirled across the sky, then -came a drift of hail, then a gleam of sun. At Ludwigsburg, the wind blew -in whole ranges of windows, shivering the glass. The alarm-bells rang in -the church towers, for fire had broken out in the village of Eglosheim. - -The Assembly sent another deputation to Ludwigsburg, consisting of -their oldest and most respected members. They did not arrive till late, -and unable to obtain access through the front gates, crept round by the -kitchen entrance, and presented themselves unexpectedly before the Duke -at ten o'clock at night, as he was retiring to rest from a ball that had -been given. Dancing was still going on in one of the wings, and the -strains of music entered the chamber when the old notables of -Würtemberg, men of venerable age and high character, forced their way -into the Duke's presence. - -Charles Alexander had but just come away from the ball-room, seated -himself in an arm-chair, and drunk a powerful medicine presented him by -his chamberlain, Neuffer, in a silver bowl. Neuffer belonged to a family -which had long been influential in Würtemberg, honourable and patriotic. -Scarce had the Duke swallowed this draught when the deputation appeared. -He became livid with fury, and though the interview took place with -closed doors the servants without heard a violent altercation, and the -Duke's voice raised as if he were vehemently excited. Presently the -doors opened and the deputation came forth, greatly agitated, one of the -old men in his hurry forgetting to take his cap away with him. Scarcely -were they gone when Neuffer dismissed the servants, and himself went to -a further wing of the palace. - -The Duke, still excited, suddenly felt himself unwell, ran into the -antechamber, found no one there, staggered into a third, then a fourth -room, tore open a window, and shouted into the great court for help; -but his voice was drowned by the band in the illumined ball-room, -playing a valse. Then giddiness came over the Duke, and he fell to the -ground. The first to arrive was Neuffer, and he found him insensible. He -drew his knife and lanced him. Blood flowed. The Duke opened his eyes -and gasped, "What is the matter with me? I am dying!" He was placed in -an armchair, and died instantly. - -That night not a window in Stuttgart had shown light. The town was as a -city of the dead. Everyone was in alarm as to what would ensue on the -morrow, but in secret arms were being distributed among the citizens and -guilds. They would fight for their constitution. Suddenly, at midnight, -the news spread that the Duke was dead. At once the streets were full of -people, laughing, shouting, throwing themselves into each other's arms, -and before another hour the windows were illuminated with countless -candles.[21] - -Not a moment was lost. Duke Charles Rudolf of Würtemberg-Neuenstadt was -invested with the regency, and on March 19, General Remchingen was -arrested and deprived of his office. - -For once Suess' cleverness failed him. Relying on his "absolutorium," he -did not fly the country the moment he heard of the death of the Duke. He -waited till he could place his valuables in safety. He waited just too -long, for he was arrested and confined to his house. Then he did manage -to escape, and got the start of his enemies by an hour, but was -recognised and stopped by a Würtemberg officer, and reconducted to -Stuttgart, where he was almost torn to pieces by the infuriated -populace, and with difficulty rescued from their hands. On March 19, he -was sent to the fortress of Hohenneuffen; but thence he almost succeeded -in effecting his escape by bribing the guards with the diamonds he had -secreted about his person. - -At first Suess bore his imprisonment with dignity. He was confident, in -the first place, that the "absolutorium" would not be impeached, and in -the second, that there was no documentary evidence discoverable which -could incriminate him. But as his imprisonment was protracted, and as he -saw that the country demanded a victim for the wrongs it had suffered, -his confidence and self-respect left him. Nevertheless, it was not till -the last that he was convinced that his life as well as his ill-gotten -gains would be taken from him, and then he became a despicable figure, -entreating mercy, and eagerly seeking to incriminate others in the hopes -of saving his own wretched life thereby. - -There were plenty of others as guilty as Suess--nay, more so, for they -were natives of Würtemberg, and he an alien in blood and religion. But -these others had relations and friends to intercede for them, and all -felt that Suess was the man to be made a scape-goat of, because he was -friendless. - -The mode of his execution was barbarous. His trial had been protracted -for eleven months; at length, on February 4, 1738, he was led forth to -execution--to be hung in an iron cage. This cage had been made in 1596, -and stood eight feet high, and was four feet in diameter. It was -composed of seventeen bars and fourteen cross-bars, and was circular. -The gallows was thirty-five feet high. The wretched man was first -strangled in the cage, hung up in it like a dead bird, and then the cage -with him in it was hoisted up to the full height of the gallows-tree. -His wealth was confiscated. - -Hallwachs and the other rascals who had been confederated with him in -plundering their country were banished, but were allowed to depart with -all their plunder. - -Remchingen also escaped; when arrested, he managed to get rid of all -compromising papers, which were given by him to a chimney-sweep sent to -him down the chimney by some of the agents of the Bishop of Würzburg. - -Such is the tragic story of the life of Suess Oppenheim, a man of no -ordinary abilities, remarkable shrewdness, but without a spark of -principle. But the chief tragedy is to be found in the deterioration of -the character of Duke Charles Alexander, who, as Austrian field-marshal -and governor of Servia, had been the soul of honour, generous and -beloved; who entered on his duchy not only promising good government, -but heartily desiring to rule well for his people's good; and who in -less than four years had forfeited the love and respect of his subjects, -and died meditating an act which would have branded him as -perjured--died without having executed one of his good purposes, and so -hated by the people who had cheered him on his entry into the capital, -that, by general consent, the mode of his death was not too curiously -and closely inquired into. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[18] There was some idea of a younger brother being elected. - -[19] In three years Suess gained a profit of 20,000 florins out of the -sale of jewellery alone. - -[20] The Duke, at Suess's instigation, wrote to the Emperor to get the -Jew factotum ennobled, but was refused. - -[21] On the following night a confectioner set up a transparency -exhibiting the Devil carrying off the Duke. - - - - -Ignatius Fessler. - - -On December 15th, 1839, in his eighty-fourth year, died Ignatius -Fessler, Lutheran Bishop, at St. Petersburg, a man who had gone through -several phases of religious belief and unbelief, a Hungarian by birth, a -Roman Catholic by education, a Capuchin friar, then a deist, almost, if -not quite, an atheist, professor of Oriental languages in the university -of Lemberg, finally Lutheran Bishop in Finland. - -He was principally remarkable as having been largely instrumental in -producing one of the most salutary reforms of the Emperor Joseph II. - -His autobiography published by him in 1824, when he was seventy years -old, affords a curious picture of the way in which Joseph carried out -those reforms, and enables us to see how it was that they roused so much -opposition, and in so many cases failed to effect the good that was -designed. - -Fessler, in his autobiography, paints himself in as bright colours as he -can lay on, but it is impossible not to see that he was a man of little -principle, selfish and heartless. - -The autobiography is so curious, and the experiences of Fessler so -varied, the times in which he lived so eventful, and the book itself so -little known, that a short account of his career may perhaps interest, -and must be new to the generality of readers. - -Ignatius Fessler was the son of parents in a humble walk of life -resident in Hungary, but Germans by extraction. Ignatius was born in the -year 1754, and as the first child, was dedicated by his mother to God. -It was usual at that time for such children to be dressed in -ecclesiastical habits. Ignatius as soon as he could walk was invested in -a black cassock. His earliest reading was in the lives of the saints and -martyrs, but at his first Communion his mother gave him a Bible. That -book and Thomas à Kempis were her only literature. Long-continued -prayer, daily reading of religious books, and no others, moulded the -opening mind of her child. Exactly the same process goes on in countless -peasant houses in Catholic Austria and Germany and Switzerland at the -present day. No such education, no such walling off of the mind from -secular influences is possible in England or France. The first -enthusiasm of the child was to become a saint, his highest ambition to -be a hermit or a martyr. At the age of seven he was given to be -instructed by a Jesuit father, and was shortly after admitted to -communion. At the age of nine Ignatius could read and speak Latin, and -then he read with avidity Cardinal Bona's _Manductio ad Coelum_. His -education was in the hands of the Carmelites at Raab. Dr. Fessler -records his affectionate remembrance of his master, Father Raphael. -Ignatius lounged, and was lazy. "Boy!" said the Father, "have done with -lounging or you will live to be no good, but the laughing stock of old -women. Look at me aged seventy, full of life and vigour, that comes of -not being a lounger when a boy." From the Carmelite school Ignatius -passed into that of the Jesuits. His advance was rapid; but his reading -was still in Mystical Theology and his aim the attainment of the -contemplative, ecstatic life of devotion. So he reached his seventeenth -year. - -Then his mother took him to Buda, to visit his uncle who was lecturer on -Philosophy in the Capuchin Convent. The boy declared his desire to -become a Franciscan. His mother and uncle gave their ready consent, and -he entered on his noviciate, under the name of Francis Innocent. "The -name Innocent became me well--really, at that time, I did not know the -difference between the sexes." - -In 1774, when aged twenty, he took the oaths constituting him a friar. -All the fathers in the convent approved, except one old man, Peregrinus, -who remonstrated gravely, declaring that he foresaw that Fessler would -bring trouble on the fraternity. Father Peregrinus was right, Fessler -was one to whom the life and rules and aim of the Order could never be -congenial. He had an eager, hungry mind, an insatiable craving for -knowledge, and a passion for books. The Capuchins were, and still are, -recruited from the lowest of the people, ignorant peasants with a -traditional contempt for learning, and their teachers embued with the -shallowest smattering of knowledge. Fessler, being devoid of means, -could not enter one of the cultured Orders, the Benedictines or the -Jesuits. Moreover, the Franciscan is, by his vow, without property, he -must live by begging, a rule fatal to self-respect, and fostering -idleness. S. Francis, the founder, was a scion of a mercantile class, -and the beggary which he imposed on his Order, was due to his revolt -against the money-greed of his class. But it has been a fruitful source -of mischief. It deters men with any sense of personal dignity from -entering the Order, and it invites into it the idle and the ignorant. -The Franciscan Order has been a fruitful nursery of heresies, schisms -and scandals. Now old Father Peregrinus had sufficient insight into -human nature to see and judge that a man of pride, intellectual power, -and culture of mind, would be as a fish on dry land in the Capuchin -fraternity. He was not listened to. Fessler was too young to know -himself, and the fathers too eager to secure a man of promise and -ability. - -"The guardian, Coelestine, an amiable man, took a liking to me. He -taught me to play chess, and he played more readily with me than with -any of the rest, which, not a little, puffed up my self-esteem. The -librarian, Leonidas, was an old, learned, obliging man, dearly loving -his flowers. I fetched the water for him to his flower-beds, and he -showed me his gratitude by letting me have the run of the library." - -The library was not extensive, the books nearly all theological, and the -volume which Fessler was most attracted by was Barbanson's "Ways of -Divine Love." - -In 1775, Fessler made the acquaintance of a Calvinist Baron, who lent -him Fleury's "Ecclesiastical History." This opened the young man's eyes -to the fact that the Church was not perfect, that the world outside the -Church was not utterly graceless. He read his New Testament over seven -times in that year. Then his Calvinist friend lent him Muratori's -"Treatise on the Mystical Devotions of the Monks." His confidence was -shaken. He no longer saw in the Church the ideal of purity and perfect -infallibility; he saw that Mystical Theology was a geography of cloud -castles. What profit was there in it? To what end did the friars live? -To grow cabbages, make snuff-boxes, cardboard cases, which they -painted--these were their practical labours; the rest of their time was -spent in prayer and meditation. - -Then the young friar got hold of Hofmann-Waldau's poems, and the -sensuousness of their pictures inflamed his imagination at the very time -when religious ecstasy ceased to attract him. - -What the result might have been, Fessler says, he trembles to think, had -he not been fortified by Seneca. It is curious to note, and -characteristic of the man, that he was saved from demoralisation, not by -the New Testament, which did not touch his heart, but by Seneca's moral -axioms, which convinced his reason. The Franciscans are allowed great -liberty. They run over the country collecting alms, they visit whom they -will, and to a man without principle, such liberty offers dangerous -occasions. - -Fessler now resolved to leave an Order which was odious to him. -"Somewhat tranquillized by Seneca, I now determined to shake myself -loose from the trammels of the cloister, without causing scandal. The -most easy way to do this was for me to take Orders, and get a cure of -souls or a chaplaincy to a nobleman." He had no vocation for the -ministry; he looked to it merely as a means of escape from uncongenial -surroundings. On signifying his desire to become a priest, he was -transferred to Gross Wardein, there to pass the requisite course of -studies. At Wardein he gained the favour of the bishop and some of the -canons, who lent him books on the ecclesiastical and political history -of his native land. He also made acquaintance with some families in the -town, a lady with two daughters, with the elder of whom he fell in love. -He had, however, sufficient decency not to declare his passion. It was -otherwise with a young Calvinist tailor's widow, Sophie; she replied to -his declaration very sensibly by a letter, which, he declares, produced -a lasting effect upon him. - -In 1776 he was removed to Schwächat to go through a course of Moral -Theology. His disgust at his enforced studies, which he regarded as the -thrashing of empty husks, increased. He was angry at his removal from -the friends he had made at Wardein. Vexation, irritation, doubt, threw -him into a fever, and he was transferred to the convent in the suburbs -of Vienna, where he could be under better medical care. The physician -who attended him soon saw that his patient's malady was mental. Fessler -opened his heart to him, and begged for the loan of books more feeding -to the brain than the mystical rubbish in the convent library. The -doctor advised him to visit him, when discharged as cured from the -convent infirmary, instead of at once returning to Schwächat. This he -did, and the doctor introduced him to two men of eminence and influence, -Von Eybel and the prelate Rautenstrauch, a Benedictine abbot, the -director of the Theological Faculties in the Austrian Monarchy. This -latter promised Fessler to assist him in his studies, and urged him to -study Greek and Hebrew, also to widen the circle of his reading, to make -acquaintance with law, history, with natural science and geography, and -undertook to provide him with the requisite books. - -On his return to Schwächat, Fessler appealed to the Provincial against -his Master of Studies whom he pronounced to be an incompetent pedant. At -his request he was moved to Wiener-Neustadt. There he found the lecturer -on Ecclesiastical Studies as superficial as the man from whom he had -escaped. This man did not object to Fessler pursuing his Greek and -Hebrew studies, nor to his taking from the library what books he liked. - -The young candidate now borrowed and devoured deistical works, Hobbes, -Tindal, Edelmann, and the Wolfenbüttel Fragments. He had to be careful -not to let these books be seen, accordingly he hid them under the floor -in the choir. After midnight, when matins had been sung, instead of -returning to bed with the rest, he remained, on the plea of devotion, in -the church, seated on the altar steps, reading deistical works by the -light of the sanctuary lamp, which he pulled down to a proper level. He -now completely lost his faith, not in Christianity only, but in natural -religion as well. Nevertheless, he did not desist from his purpose of -seeking orders. He was ordained deacon in 1778, and priest in 1779. "On -the Sunday after Corpus Christi, I celebrated without faith, without -unction, my first mass, in the presence of my mother, her brother, and -the rest of my family. They all received the communion from my hand, -bathed in tears of emotion. I, who administered to them, was frozen in -unbelief." - -The cure of souls he desired was not given him, no chaplaincy was -offered him. His prospect of escape seemed no better than before. He -became very impatient, and made himself troublesome in his convent. As -might have been suspected, he became restive under the priestly -obligations, as he had been under the monastic rule. It is curious that, -late in life, when Fessler wrote his memoirs, he showed himself blind to -the unworthiness of his conduct in taking on him the most sacred -responsibilities to God and the Church, when he disbelieved in both. He -is, however, careful to assure us that though without faith in his -functions, he executed them punctually, hearing confessions, preaching -and saying mass. But his conduct is so odious, his after callousness so -conspicuous, that it is difficult to feel the smallest conviction of his -conscientiousness at any time of his life. - -As he made himself disagreeable to his superiors at Neustadt, he was -transferred to Mödling. There he made acquaintance with a Herr Von -Molinari and was much at his house, where he met a young Countess -Louise. "I cannot describe her stately form, her arching brows, the -expression of her large blue eyes, the delicacy of her mouth, the music -of her tones, the exquisite harmony that exists in all her movements, -and what affects me more than all--she speaks Latin easily, and only -reads serious books." So wrote Fessler in a letter at the time. He read -Ovid's Metamorphoses with her in the morning, and walked with her in the -evening. When, at the end of October, the family went to Vienna, "the -absence of that noble soul," he wrote, "filled me with the most poignant -grief." The Molinari family were bitten with Jansenism, and hoped to -bring the young Capuchin to their views. Next year, in the spring of -1781, they returned to Mödling. - -"This year passed like the former; in the convent I was a model of -obedience, in the school a master of scholastic theology: in Molinari's -family a humble disciple of Jansen, in the morning a worshipper of the -muse of Louise, in the evening an agreeable social companion,"--in -heart--an unbeliever in Christianity. - -A letter written to an uncle on March 12th, 1782, must be quoted -verbatim, containing as it does a startling discovery, which gave him -the opportunity so long desired, of breaking with the Order:-- - -"Since the 23rd February, I sing without intermission after David, in my -inmost heart, 'Praise and Glory be to God, who has delivered my enemies -into my hand!' Listen to the wonderful way in which this has happened. -On the night of the 23rd to 24th of February, after eleven o'clock, I -was roused from sleep by a lay-brother. 'Take your crucifix,' said he -'and follow me.' - -"'Whither?' I asked, panic struck. - -"'Whither I am about to lead you.' - -"'What am I to do?' - -"'I will tell you, when you are on the spot.' - -"'Without knowing whither I go, and for what purpose, go I will not.' - -"'The Guardian has given the order; by virtue of holy obedience you are -bound to follow whither I lead.' - -"As soon as holy obedience is involved, no resistance can be offered. -Full of terror, I took my crucifix and followed the lay-brother, who -went before with a dark lantern. Passing the cell of one of my fellow -scholars, I slipped in, shook him out of sleep, and whispered in Latin -twice in his ear, 'I am carried off, God knows whither. If I do not -appear to-morrow, communicate with Rautenstrauch.' - -"Our way led through the kitchen, and beyond it through a couple of -chambers; on opening the last, the brother said, 'Seven steps down.' My -heart contracted, I thought I was doomed to see the last of day-light. -We entered a narrow passage, in which I saw, half way down it, on the -right, a little altar, on the left some doors fastened with padlocks. My -guide unlocked one of these, and said, 'Here is a dying man, Brother -Nicomede, a Hungarian, who knows little German, give him your spiritual -assistance. I will wait here. When he is dead, call me.' - -"Before me lay an old man on his pallet, in a worn-out habit, on a straw -palliasse, under a blanket; his hood covered his grey head, a snow-white -beard reached to his girdle. Beside the bedstead was an old -straw-covered chair, a dirty table, on which was a lamp burning. I spoke -a few words to the dying man, who had almost lost his speech; he gave me -a sign that he understood me. There was no possibility of a confession. -I spoke to him about love to God, contrition for sin, and hope in the -mercy of heaven; and when he squeezed my hand in token of inward -emotion, I pronounced over him the General Absolution. The rest of the -while I was with him, I uttered slowly, and at intervals, words of -comfort and hope of eternal blessedness. About three o'clock, after a -death agony of a quarter-of-an-hour, he had passed out of the reach of -trouble. - -"Before I called the lay-brother, I looked round the prison, and then -swore over the corpse to inform the Emperor of these horrors. Then I -summoned the lay-brother, and said, coldly, 'Brother Nicomede is gone.' - -"'A good thing for him, too,' answered my guide, in a tone equally -indifferent. - -"'How long has he been here?' - -"'Two and fifty years.' - -"'He has been severely punished for his fault.' - -"'Yes, yes. He has never been ill before. He had a stroke yesterday, -when I brought him his meal.' - -"'What is the altar for in the passage?' - -"'One of the fathers says mass there on all festivals for the lions, and -communicates them. Do you see, there is a little window in each of the -doors, which is then opened, and through it the lions make their -confession, hear mass, and receive communion.' - -"'Have you many lions here?' - -"'Four, two priests and two lay-brothers to be attended on.' - -"'How long have they been here?' - -"'One for fifty, another for forty-two, the third for fifteen, and the -last for nine years.' - -"'Why are they here?' - -"'I don't know.' - -"'Why are they called lions?' - -"'Because I am called the lion-ward.' - -"I deemed it expedient to ask no more questions. I got the lion-ward to -light me to my cell, and there in calmness considered what to do. - -"Next day, or rather, that same day, Feb. 24th, I wrote in full all that -had occurred, in a letter addressed to the Emperor, with my signature -attached. Shortly after my arrival in Vienna I had made the acquaintance -of a Bohemian secular student named Bokorny, a trusty man. On the -morning of Feb. 25th, I made him swear to give my letter to the Emperor, -and keep silence as to my proceeding. - -"At 8 o'clock he was with my letter in the Couriers' lobby of the -palace, where there is usually a crowd of persons with petitions -awaiting the Emperor. Joseph took my paper from my messenger, glanced -hastily at it, put it apart from the rest of the petitions, and let my -messenger go, after he had cautioned him most seriously to hold his -tongue. - -"The blow is fallen; what will be the result--whether anything will come -of it, I do not yet know." - -For many months no notice was taken of the letter. It was not possible -for the Emperor to take action at once, for a few days later Pius VI. -arrived in Vienna on a visit to Joseph. - -Joseph II. was an enthusiastic reformer; he had the liveliest regard for -Frederick the Great, and tried to copy him, but, as Frederick said, -Joseph always began where he ought to leave off. He had no sooner become -Emperor (1780) than he began a multitude of reforms, with headlong -impetuosity. He supposed that every abuse was to be rooted up by an -exercise of despotic power, and that his subjects would hail freedom and -enlightenment with enthusiasm. Regardless of the power of hereditary -association, he arbitrarily upset existing institutions, in the -conviction that he was promoting the welfare of his subjects. He -emancipated the Jews, and proclaimed liberty of worship to all religious -bodies except the Deists, whom he condemned to receive five-and-twenty -strokes of the cane. He abolished the use of torture, and reorganised -the courts of justice. - -The Pope, alarmed at the reforming spirit of Joseph, and the innovations -he was introducing into the management of the Church, crossed the Alps -with the hope that in a personal interview he might moderate the -Emperor's zeal. He arrived only a few days after Joseph had received the -letter of Ignatius Fessler, which was calculated to spur him to enact -still more sweeping reforms, and to steel his heart against the papal -blandishments. Nothing could have come to his hands more opportunely. - -In Vienna, in St. Stephen's, the Pope held a pontifical mass. The -Emperor did not honour it by his presence. By order of Joseph, the back -door of the papal lodging was walled up, that Pius might receive no -visitors unknown to the Emperor, and guards were placed at the entrance, -to scrutinize those who sought the presence of the Pope. Joseph lost -dignity by studied discourtesy; and Kaunitz, his minister, was allowed -to be insulting. The latter received the Pope when he visited him, in -his dressing-gown, and instead of kissing his hand, shook it heartily. -Pius, after spending five weeks in Vienna without affecting anything, -was constrained to depart. - -Fessler saw him thrice, once, when the Pope said mass in the Capuchin -Church, he stood only three paces from him. "Never did faith and -unbelief, Jansenism and Deism, struggle for the mastery in me more -furiously than then; tears flowed from my eyes, excited by my emotion, -and at the end of the mass, I felt convinced that I had seen either a -man as full of the burning love of God as a seraph, or the most -accomplished actor in the world." Of the sincerity and piety of Pius VI. -there can be no question. He was a good man, but not an able man. "At -the conclusion he turned to us young priests, asked of each his name, -length of time in the Order, and priesthood, about our studies, and -exhorted us, in a fatherly tone, to be stout stones in the wall of the -house of Israel, in times of trouble present and to come." - -Before Pius departed, he gave his blessing to the people from the -balcony of the Jesuit Church. "The Pope was seated on a throne under a -gold-embroidered canopy. Fifty thousand persons must have been assembled -below. Windows were full of heads, every roof crowded. The Pope wore his -triple-crowned tiara, and was attended by three cardinals and two -bishops in full pontificals. He intoned the form of absolution, in -far-reaching voice, which was taken up by the court choir of four -hundred voices. When this was done, Pius rose from his throne, the tiara -was removed from his head, he stepped forward, raised eyes and arms to -heaven, and in a pure ecstasy of devotion poured forth a fervent prayer. -Only sighs and sobs broke occasionally the perfect silence which -reigned among the vast throng of kneeling persons in the great square. -The Pope seemed rather to be raised in ecstasy from his feet, than to -stand. The prayer lasted long, and the bishops put their hands to stay -up his arms; it was like Moses on the mountain top, with the rod of God -in his hand, supported by Aaron and Hur, as he prayed for his people -striving below with Amalek. At last this second Moses let his arms fall, -he raised his right hand, and blessed the people in the name of the -Triune God. At the Amen, the cannon of the Freiung boomed, and were -answered by all the artillery on the fortifications of the city." - -The Pope was gone, and still no notice taken of the petition. Molinari -spoke to Fessler, who was very hot about reform, and had drawn up a -scheme for the readjustment of the Church in the Empire, which he sent -to some of the ministers of the Emperor. "My friend," said Molinari, "to -pull down and to rebuild, to destroy and to re-create, are serious -matters, only to be taken in hand by one who has an earnest vocation, -and not to be made a means for self-seeking." - -Fessler admits that there was truth in the reproach, he was desirous of -pushing himself into notice, and he cared for the matter of "the lions," -only because he thought they would serve his selfish purpose. Joseph now -issued an order that no member of a monastic order was to be admitted to -a benefice who had not passed an examination before the teachers of the -Seminaries. The superiors of the Capuchins forbade their candidates -going into these examinations. Fessler stirred up revolt, and he and -some others, acting under his advice, demanded to be admitted to -examination. His superior then informed him that he was not intended by -the Order to take a cure of souls, he was about to be appointed lecturer -on Philosophy in one of the convents in Hungary. In order to prevent his -removal, and to force the Order to an open rupture with him, Fessler had -recourse to a most unseemly and ungenerous act. Whilst in Vienna, he had -made the acquaintance of an unmarried lady, the Baroness E. He had -assisted her in her studies, giving her instructions usually by letter. -His acquaintance, Von Eybel, had written a book or tract, which had made -a great stir, entitled, "Who is the Pope?" Fessler wrote another, -entitled, "Who is the Emperor?" He sent a copy to the publisher, but -retained the original MS. Fessler now wrote under a feigned name, and in -a disguised hand, a letter to Father Maximus, guardian of the convent, -charging himself with carrying on a guilty correspondence with the -Baroness E., and with the composition of an inflammatory and -anti-religious pamphlet, "Who is the Emperor?" Maximus at once visited -the Baroness, and showed her the letter. The lady in great indignation -produced the entire correspondence, and handed the letters to him. -Maximus put them in the hands of the Lector of the convent, who visited -Fessler, and asked him if he acknowledged the authorship of "these -scandalous letters." - -"Scandalous, they are not," answered Fessler. - -"_Impius, cum in profundum venerit, contemnit_," roared the friar. "They -are not only scandalous, but impious. Look at this letter on platonic -love. Is that a fit letter for such as you to write to a lady?" - -In consequence of these letters, and the MS. of the pamphlet being found -upon him, Fessler was denounced to the Consistorial Court of the -Archbishop. He was summoned before it at the beginning of August, when -he was forced to admit he had been wont to kiss the lady to whom he -wrote on platonic love, and the Consistory suspended him from the -exercise of his priestly functions for a month. - -"I and the Lector returned to the convent silent, as if strangers. When -we arrived, the friars were at table. I do not know how I got to my -place; but after I had drunk my goblet of wine, all was clearer about -me. I seemed to hear the voice of Horace calling to me from heaven, -_Perfer et obdura!_ and in a moment my self-respect revived, and I -looked with scorn on the seventy friars hungrily eating their dinner." - -Of his own despicable conduct, that he had richly deserved his -punishment, Fessler never seems to have arrived at the perception. He -was, indeed, a very pitiful creature, arousing disgust and contempt in a -well-ordered mind; and his Memoirs only deserve notice because of the -curious insight they afford into the inner life of convents, and because -he was the means of bringing great scandals to light, and in assisting -Joseph II. in his work of reform. - -At the beginning of September, 1782, Fessler was the means of bringing a -fresh scandal before the eyes of the Emperor. During the preceding year, -a saddler in Schwächat had lost his wife, and was left, not only a -widower, but childless. His niece now kept house for him, and was much -afraid lest her uncle should marry again, and that thus she should not -become his heir. She consulted a Capuchin, Father Brictius. Fessler had -been in the Schwächat convent, and knew the man. Soon after, the niece -assured her uncle that the ghost of her aunt had appeared to her, and -told her she was suffering in Purgatory. For her release, she must have -ten masses said, and some wax candles burnt. The saddler was content to -have his old woman "laid" at this price. But, after the tenth mass, the -niece declared she had seen her aunt again, and that the spirit had -appeared to her in the presence of Father Brictius, and told her, that -what troubled her most of all was the suspicion she was under, that her -husband purposed marrying again; and she assured him, that were he so to -do, he would lose his soul, in token whereof, she laid her hand on the -cover of the niece's prayer-book, and left the impression burnt into it. - -Father Brictius carried the scorched book all round the neighbourhood, -the marks of thumb and five fingers were clearly to be seen, burnt into -the wooden cover. Great was the excitement, and on all sides masses for -souls were in demand. Some foolish pastors even preached on the marvel. - -It happened that a Viennese boy was apprenticed to a tinker at -Schwächat; and the boy came home every Saturday evening, to spend the -day with his parents, at Vienna. He generally brought Fessler some -little presents or messages from his friends at Schwächat. One day, the -boy complained to Fessler that he had been severely beaten by his -master. On being asked the reason, he replied, that he had been engaged -with the tinker making an iron hand, and that he had spoiled it. Shortly -after this, the rumour of the miraculous hand laid on the prayer-book, -reached the convent. Fessler put the circumstances together, and -suspected he was on the track of a fraud. He went at once to one of the -ministers of the Emperor, and told him what he knew. - -An imperial commission was issued, the tinker, the saddler's niece, and -Father Brictius, were arrested, cross-questioned, and finally, confessed -the trick. The tinker was sent to prison for some months, the woman, for -some weeks, and the Franciscan was first imprisoned, and then banished -the country. An account of the fraud was issued, by Government -authority, and every parish priest was ordered to read it to his -parishioners from the pulpit. - -The Capuchins at Vienna, after this, were more impatient than before to -send Fessler to Hungary, and he was forced to appeal to the Emperor to -prevent his removal. - -Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, in the beginning of October--seven months -after Fessler had sent the Emperor an account of the prison in the -convent, and when he despaired of notice being taken of it--some -imperial commissioners visited the convent, and demanded in the name of -the Emperor to be shown all over it. At the head of the Commission was -Hägelin, to whom Fessler had told his suspicions about the iron hand. - -The commissioners visited all the cells, and the infirmary, then asked -the Guardian thrice on his honour, and in the name of the Emperor, -whether there was a prison in the convent. Thrice the Guardian replied -that there was not. "Let us now visit the kitchen," said Hägelin, and in -spite of the protests and excuses of the Guardian, he insisted on being -taken there. Beyond the kitchen was the wash-house. The commissioners -went further, and found a small locked door. They insisted on its being -opened. Then the Guardian turned pale and nearly fainted. The door was -thrown open, the cells were unlocked, and the lay brothers ordered to -bring the prisoners into the refectory. There the commissioners remained -alone with the unfortunates to take down their depositions. It was found -that three, Fathers Florentine, and Paternus, and the lay brother, -Nemesian, were out of their minds. The "lion-ward" was summoned to -answer for them. From his account, it transpired that Nemesian had gone -out of his mind through religious enthusiasm; he was aged seventy-one, -and had been fifty years in the dungeon. Father Florentine was aged -seventy-three, he had been in confinement for forty-two years for boxing -the Guardian's ears in a fit of temper. Father Paternus was locked up -because he used to leave his convent without permission, and when -rebuked would not give up his independent conduct. He had been fifteen -years in prison. His confinement had bereft him of his senses. As the -remaining two were in full possession of their faculties, the -"lion-ward" was now dismissed. The lay brother Barnabas said he had been -a shopkeeper's servant in Vienna, he had fallen in love with his -master's daughter. As his master refused to have him as his son-in-law, -out of despair he had gone into the Capuchin Order. During his -noviciate, the master died; the master of the novices stopped the letter -informing him of this, and he took the vows, to discover, when too late, -that the girl loved him, and was ready to take him. In his mad rage, he -flung his rosary at the feet of the Guardian, declaring he would never -confess to, or receive the communion from the hands of a father of this -accursed Order. He had been nine years in prison, and was thirty-eight -years old. - -Father Thuribius had been caught reading Wieland, Gellert, Rabener, &c.; -they had been taken from him. He got hold of other copies, they were -taken away a second time. A third time he procured them, and when -discovered, fought with his fists for their retention. He had been -repeatedly given the cat o' nine tails, and had been locked up five -months and ten days. His age was twenty-eight. - -The commissioners at once suspended the Provincial and the Guardian till -further notice, and the five unfortunates were handed over to the care -of the Brothers of Charity. - -That same day, throughout the entire monarchy, every monastery and -nunnery was visited by imperial commissioners. - -At the same time, the Emperor Joseph issued an order that Fessler was on -no account to be allowed to leave Vienna, and that he took him under his -imperial protection against all the devices of his monastic enemies. - -"Now came the sentence on the Guardian and the Provincial from the -Emperor. They were more severely punished than perhaps they really -deserved. I felt for their sufferings more keenly, because I was well -aware that I had been moved to report against them by any other motive -rather than humanity; and even the consequences of my revelation, the -setting at liberty of a not inconsiderable number of unfortunate monks -and nuns throughout the Austrian Empire, could not set my conscience at -rest. Only the orders made by the Emperor rendering it impossible to -repeat such abuses, brought me any satisfaction. The monastic prisons -were everywhere destroyed. Transgression of rules was henceforth to be -punished only by short periods of seclusion, and cases of insanity were -to be sent to the Brothers of Charity, who managed the asylums." - -If Joseph II. had but possessed commonsense as well as enthusiasm, he -would have left his mark deeper on his country than he did. - -Fessler laid before him the schedule of studies in the Franciscan -Convents. Joseph then issued an order (6th April, 1782), absolutely -prohibiting the course of studies in the cloisters. When Fessler saw -that the Guardian of his convent was transgressing the decree, he -appealed against him to the Emperor, and had him dismissed. Next year -Joseph required all the students of the Capuchin Order to enter the -seminaries, and pass thence through the Universities. But, -unfortunately, Joseph had taken a step to alienate from him the bishops -and secular clergy, as well as the monks and friars. He arbitrarily -closed all the diocesan seminaries, and created seminaries of his own -for the candidates for Orders, to which he appointed the professors, -thus entirely removing the education of the clergy from the hands of the -Church. When the Bishop of Goritz expressed his dissatisfaction, Joseph -suppressed his see and banished him. The professors he appointed to the -universities, to the chairs which were attended by candidates for -Orders, were in many cases free-thinkers and rationalists. The professor -of Biblical Exegesis at Vienna was an ex-Jesuit, Monsperger, "His -religious system," says Fessler, who attended his course, "was simply -this,--a wise enjoyment of life, submission to the inevitable, and -prudence of conduct. That was all. He had no other idea of Church than a -reciprocal bond of rights and duties. In his lectures he whittled all -the supernatural out of the Old Testament, and taught his pupils to -regard the book as a collection of myths, romance, and contradictions. -His lectures brought me back from my trifling with Jansenism to the -point I had been at four years before under the teaching of Hobbes, -Tindal, and the Wolfenbüttel Fragments. I resolved to doubt everything -supernatural and divine, without actually denying such thing.--Strange! -I resolved to disbelieve, when I never had believed." - -On Feb. 6th, 1784, he received the Emperor's appointment to the -professorships of Biblical Exegesis and Oriental languages in the -University of Lemberg. On the 20th Feb., on the eve of starting for -Lemberg, for ever to cast off the hated habit of S. Francis, and to -shake off, as much as he dare, the trammels of the priesthood, Fessler -was in his cell at midnight, counting the money he had received for his -journey. "To the right of me, on the table was a dagger, given me as a -parting present by the court secretary, Grossinger. I was thinking of -retiring to rest, when my cell door was burst open, and in rushed Father -Sergius, a great meat-knife in his hand, shouting, _Moriere -hoeretice!_ he struck at my breast. In an instant I seized my dagger, -parried the blow, and wounded my assailant in the hand. He let the knife -fall and ran away. I roused the Guardian, told him what had occurred, -and advised what was to be done. Sergius, armed with two similar knives, -had locked himself into his cell. At the command of the Guardian six -lay-brothers burst open the door, and beat the knives from his hands -with sticks, then dragged him off to the punishment-cell, where they -placed him under watch. Next morning I went with the Guardian, as I had -advised, to the president of the Spiritual Commission, the Baron von -Kresel, to inform him that Father Sergius had gone raving mad, and to -ask that he might be committed to the custody of the Brothers of Mercy. -This was at once granted; and I left the Guardian to instruct the -fanatic how to comport himself in the hospital as a lunatic, so as not -to bring his superiors into further difficulties." - -The first acquaintance Fessler made in Lemberg, was a renegade -Franciscan friar, who had been appointed Professor of Physic, "He was a -man of unbounded ambition and avarice, a political fanatic, and a -complete atheist." Joseph afterwards appointed this man to be mitred -abbot of Zazvár. He died on the scaffold in 1795, executed for high -treason. - -The seminarists of the Catholic and of the Uniat Churches as well as the -pupils from the religious Orders were obliged to attend Fessler's -lectures. These were on the lines of these of Monsperger. Some of the -clergy in charge of the Seminarists were so uneasy at Fessler's teaching -that they stood up at his lectures and disputed his assertions; but -Fessler boasts that after a couple of months he got the young men round -to his views, and they groaned, hooted and stamped down the -remonstrants. He published at this time two works, _Institutiones -linguarum orientalium_, and a Hebrew anthology for the use of the -students. In the latter he laid down certain canons for the -interpretation of the Old Testament, by means of which everything -miraculous might be explained away. - -It was really intolerable that the candidates for orders should be -forcibly taught to disbelieve everything their Church required them to -hold. In his inspection of the monasteries, in the suppression of many, -Joseph acted with justice, and the conscience of the people approved, -but in this matter of the education of the clergy he violated the -principles of common justice, and the consequence was such wide-spread -irritation, that Joseph for a moment seemed inclined to give way. That -Joseph knew the rationalism of Fessler is certain. The latter gives a -conversation he had with the Emperor, in which they discussed the -"Ruah," the Spirit of God, which moved on the face of the waters, as -said in the first chapter of Genesis. Fessler told him that he -considered "the expression to be a Hebrew superlative, and to mean no -more than that a violent gale was blowing. Possibly," he added, "Moses -may have thought of the Schiva in the Hindoo Trimurti; for he was reared -in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, who were an Ethiopic race, which was -in turn an Indian colony." Dr. Fessler's Ethnology was faulty, whatever -may be thought of his Theology. - -After having given this explanation to the Emperor, Fessler boldly asked -him for a bishopric--he who loathed his priesthood and disbelieved in -revealed religion! - -Joseph did not give him a mitre, but made him Professor of Doctrinal -Theology and Catholic Polemics as well as of Biblical Exegesis. This did -not satisfy the ambitious soul of Fessler, he was bent on a mitre. He -waited with growing impatience. He sent his books to Joseph. He did his -utmost to force himself into his notice. But the desired mitre did not -come. - -Fessler complains that scandalous stories circulated about him whilst at -Lemberg, and these possibly may have reached the imperial ears. He -asserts, and no doubt with perfect truth, that these were unfounded. He -had made himself bitter enemies, and they would not scruple to defame -him. He boasts that at Lemberg he contracted no Platonic alliances; he -had no _attachements de coeur_ there at all. - -The Emperor seemed to have forgotten him, to have cast aside his useful -tool. Filled with the bitterness of defeated ambition, in 1788 he wrote -a drama, entitled James II., a covert attack on his protector, Joseph -II., whom he represented as falling away in his enthusiasm for reform, -and succumbing to the gathering hostility of Obscurantists and Jesuits. - -This was not the case, but Joseph was in trouble with his refractory -subjects in the Low Countries, who would not have his seminaries and -professors, who subscribed for the support of the ousted teachers, and -rioted at the introduction of the new professors to the University of -Louvain. - -The play was put into rehearsal, but the police interfered, and it was -forbidden. Fessler either feared or was warned that he was about to be -arrested, and he escaped over the frontier into Prussian Silesia. Joseph -II. died in 1790, broken in spirit by his failures. - -Fessler, after his escape from Austria, became a salaried reader and -secretary to the Count of Carolath, whose wife was a princess of -Saxe-Meiningen. - -After a while he married a young woman of the middle class; he seems to -have doubted whether they would be happy together, after he had -proposed, accordingly he wrote her a long epistle, in the most pedantic -and dictorial style, informing her of what his requirements were, and -warning her to withdraw from the contemplated union, if she were not -sure she would come up to the level of the perfect wife. The poor -creature no doubt wondered at the marvellous love letter, but had no -hesitation in saying she would do her duty up to her lights. The result -was not happy. They led together a cat-and-dog life for ten years. She -was a homely person without intellectual parts, and he was essentially a -book-worm. He admits that he did not shine in society, and leaves it to -be understood that the loss was on the side of inappreciative society, -but we can not help suspecting that he was opinionated, sour, and -uncouth. All these qualities were intensified in the narrow circle of -home. After ten years of misery he divorced his wife on the ground of -mutual incompatibility. For a livelihood he took up Freemasonry, and -went about founding lodges. There were three rogues at that period who -worked Freemasonry for their own ends, the Darmstadt Court Chaplain, -Starck, a Baron von Hundt, and a certain Becker, who called himself -Johnson, and pretended to be a delegate from the mysterious, unknown -head of the Society in Aberdeen. They called themselves Masons of the -Strict Observance, but were mere swindlers. - -After a while, Freemasonry lost its attractions for Fessler, probably it -ceased to pay, and then he left Breslau, and wandered into Prussia. He -wrote a novel called "Marcus Aurelius," glorifying that emperor, for -whom he entertained great veneration, and did other literary work, which -brought him in a little money. Then he married again, a young, beautiful -and gifted woman, with a small property. He was very happy in his -choice, but less happy in the speculation in which he invested her money -and that of her sisters. It failed, and they were reduced to extreme -poverty. What became of the sisters we do not know. Fessler with his -wife and children went into Russia, and sponged for some time on the -Moravian Brothers, who treated him with great kindness, and lent him -money, "Which," he says, in his autobiography, "I have not yet been able -to pay back altogether." - -He lost some of his children. Distress, pecuniary embarrassments, and -sickness, softened his heart, and perhaps with that was combined a -perception that if he could get a pastorate he would be provided -for;[22] this led to a conversion, which looks very much as if it were -copied from the famous conversion of St. Augustine. It possibly was, to -some extent, sincere; he recovered faith in God, and joined the Lutheran -community. Then he had his case and attainments brought under the notice -of the Czar, who was, at the time, as Fessler probably knew, engaged in -a scheme for organising the Lutheran bodies in Finland into a Church -under Episcopal government. He chose Fessler to be bishop of Saratow, -and had him consecrated by the Swedish bishops, "Who," says Fessler, -"like the Anglican bishops, have preserved the Apostolic succession." He -makes much of this point, a curious instance of the revival in his mind -of old ideas imbibed in his time of Catholicity. . According to his own -account, he was a bishop quite on the Apostolic model, and worked very -hard to bring his diocese into order. His ordination was in 1820. In -1833, the Saratow consistory was dissolved, and he retired to St. -Petersburg, where he was appointed general superintendent of the -Lutheran community in the capital. He married a third time, but says -very little of the last wife. He concludes with this estimate of his own -character, which is hardly that at which a reader of his autobiography -would arrive. "Earnestness and cheerfulness, rapid decision, and -unbending determination, manly firmness and childlike -trueheartedness--these are the ever recurring fundamental -characteristics of my nature. Add to these a gentle mysticism, to -surround the others with colour and unite them in harmony. Sometimes it -may be that dissonances occur, it may be true that occasionally I -thunder with powerful lungs in my house, as if I were about to wreck and -shatter everything, but that is called forth only by what is wrong. In -my inmost being calm, peace, and untroubled cheerfulness reign supreme. -Discontent, wrath, venom and gall, have not embittered one moment of my -life."[23] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[22] He had, however, just received a pension from the Czar, so that he -was relieved from abject poverty. - -[23] "Of myself," he says, "I must confess that I have heard great and -famous preachers, true Bourdaloues, Massillons, Zollikofers, &c, in -Vienna, Carolath, Breslau, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Hanover, and have -been pleased with the contents, arrangement, and delivery of their -sermons; but never once have I felt my heart stirred with religious -emotion. On the contrary, on the 25th March, 1782, when Pius VI. said -mass in the Capuchin Church, and on the 31st March, when he blessed the -people, I trembled on the edge of conviction and religious faith, and -was only held back by my inability to distinguish between religion and -the Church system. Still more now does the Sermon on the Mount move me, -and for the last 23 years the divine liturgical prayer in John xvii., -does not fail to stir my very soul." - - -THE END. - -_S. Cowan & Co., Printers, Perth._ - - - - -ADVERTISEMENTS - - -MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST OF NEW AND FORTHCOMING WORKS. - - -_By the Author of_ "DONOVAN," "WE TWO," _&c._ - - - Derrick Vaughan, Novelist. By EDNA LYALL. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. - _Twenty-fourth Thousand._ - - - Our English Villages: their Story and their Antiquities. By P. H. - DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.R.H.S., Rector of Barkham, Berks. 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