Vivian Grey/Volume 4/Chapter 6.3

by Benjamin Disraeli

CHAPTER III.

 

The cavalcade proceeded for some time at a very brisk but irregular pace, until they arrived at a less wild and wooded part of the forest. The Prince of Little Lilliput reined in his steed as he entered a very broad avenue of purple beeches, at the end of which, though at a considerable distance, Vivian perceived the towers and turrets of a Gothic edifice glittering in the sunshine.

"Welcome to Turriparva!" said his Highness.

"I assure your Highness," said Vivian, "that I view with no unpleasant feeling, the prospect of a reception in any civilized mansion; for to say the truth, for the last eight-and-forty hours, Fortune has not favoured me either in my researches after a bed, or that which some think still more important than nightly repose."

"Is it so?" said the Prince; "Why, we should have thought by your home thrust this morning, that you were as fresh as the early lark. In good faith, it was a pretty stroke! And whence come you then, good Sir?"

"Know you a most insane and drunken idiot, who styles himself the Grand Duke of Schoss Johannisberger?"

"No, no!" said the Prince, staring in Vivian's face very earnestly, and then bursting into a loud fit of laughter; "No, no, it cannot be! hah! hah! hah! but it is though; and you have actually fallen among that mad crew. Hah! hah hah! a most excellent adventure! Arnelm! why, man, where art thou? ride up, ride up! Behold in the person of this gentleman a new victim to the overwhelming hospitality of our uncle of the Wines. And did they confer a title on you on the spot? Say, art thou Elector, or Palsgrave, or Baron; or, failing in thy devoirs, as once did our good cousin Arnelm, confess that thou wert ordained with becoming reverence, the Archprimate of Puddle-drink. Eh! Arnelm, is not that the style thou bearest at the Palace of the Wines?"

"So it would seem, your Highness. I think the title was conferred on me the same night that your Highness mistook the Grand Duke's proboscis for Oberon's Horn, and committed treason not yet pardoned."

"Hah! hah hah! good! good! good! thou hast us there. Truly a good memory is often as ready a friend as a sharp wit. Wit is not thy strong point, friend Arnelm; and yet it is strange, that in the sharp encounter of ready tongues and idle logomachies, thou hast sometimes the advantage. But, nevertheless, rest assured, good cousin Arnelm, that wit is not thy strong point."

"It is well for me that all are not of the same opinion as your Serene Highness," said the young Jagd Junker, somewhat nettled; for he prided himself peculiarly on his repartees.

The Prince was exceedingly diverted with Vivian's account of his last night's adventure; and our hero learnt from his Highness, that his late host was no less a personage than the cousin of the Prince of Little Lilliput, an old German Baron, who passed his time with some neighbours of congenial temperament, in hunting the wild boar in the morning, and speculating on the flavours of the fine Rhenish wines during the rest of the day. "He and his companions," continued the Prince, "will enable you to form a tolerably accurate idea of the character of the German nobility half a century ago. The debauch of last night was the usual carouse which crowned the exploits of each day when we were a boy. The revolution has rendered all these customs obsolete. Would that it had not sent some other things equally out of fashion!"

At this moment the Prince sounded his bugle, and the gates of the castle, which were not more than twenty yards distant, were immediately thrown open. The whole cavalcade set spurs to their steeds, and dashed at a full gallop over the hollow-sounding drawbridge, into the courtyard of the castle. A crowd of serving-men, in green liveries, instantly appeared; and Arnelm and Von Neuwied, jumping from their saddles, respectively held the stirrup and the bridle of the Prince as he dismounted.

"Where is Master Rodolph?" asked his Highness, with a loud voice.

"So please your Serene Highness, I am here!" answered a very thin treble; and bustling through the surrounding crowd, came forward the owner of the voice. Master Rodolph was not above five feet high, but he was nearly as broad as he was long. Though more than middle-aged, an almost infantine smile played upon his broad fair face; to which his small turn-up nose, large green goggle eyes, and unmeaning mouth, gave no expression. His long hair hung over his shoulders, the flaxen locks in some places maturing into grey. In compliance with the taste of his master, this most unsportsman-like looking steward was clad in a green jerkin, on the right arm of which was embroidered a giant's head—the crest of the Little Lilliputs.

"Truly, Rodolph, we have received some scratch in the chace to-day, and need your assistance. The best of surgeons we assure you, Mr. Grey, if you require one:—and look you that the blue chamber be prepared for this gentleman; and we shall have need of our Cabinet this evening. See that all this be done, and inform Prince Maximilian that we would speak with him. And look you, Master Rodolph, there is one in this company,—what call you your servant's name, Sir?—Essper George! 'tis well: look you, Rodolph, see that our friend Essper George be well provided for. We know that we can trust him to your good care. And now, gen- tlemen, at sunset we meet in the Giants' Hall." So saying, his Highness bowed to the party; and taking Vivian by the arm, and followed by Arnelm and Von Neuwied, he ascended a staircase which opened into the court, and then mounted into a covered gallery which ran round the whole building. The interior wall of the gallery was alternately ornamented with stags' heads, or other trophies of the chace; and coats of arms blazoned in stucco. The Prince did the honours of the castle to Vivian with great courtesy The armoury, and the hall, the knight's chamber, and even the donjon-keep were all examined; and when Vivian had sufficiently admired the antiquity of the structure, and the beauty of the situation, the Prince, having proceeded down a long corridor, opened the door into a small chamber which he introduced to Vivian as his Cabinet. The furniture of this room was rather quaint, and not unpleasing. The wainscoat and ceiling were painted alike, of a very light green colour, and were richly carved and gilt. The walls were hung with dark green velvet, of which costly material were also the chairs, and a sofa, which was placed under a large and curiously cut looking-glass. The lower panes of the windows of this room were of stained glass, of the most vivid tints; but the upper panes were untinged, in order that the light should not be disturbed which fell through them upon two magnificent pictures; one a hunting-piece by Schneiders, and the other a portrait of an armed chieftain on horseback, by Lucas Cranach.

And now the door opened, and Master Rodolph entered, carrying in his hand a white wand, and bowing very reverently as he ushered in two servants bearing a cold collation. As he entered, it was with difficulty that he could settle his countenance into the due and requisite degree of gravity; and so often was the fat steward on the point of bursting into laughter, as he arranged the setting out of the refreshments on the table, that the Prince, with whom he was, at the same time, both a favourite and a butt, at last noticed his unusual and unmanageable risibility.

"Why, Rodolph, what ails thee? hast thou just discovered the point of some good saying of yesterday?"

The Steward could now contain his laughter no longer, and he gave vent to his emotion in a most treble "He! he! he!"

"Speak, man, in the name of St. Hubert, and on the word of as stout a huntsman as ever yet crossed horse. Speak, we say, what ails thee?"

"He! he he! in truth, a most comical knave! I beg your Serene Highness ten thousand most humble pardons, but in truth a more comical knave did I never see. How call you him? Essper George, I think, he! he! he! In truth, your Highness was right when you styled him a merry knave—in truth a most comical knave—he! he! he! a very funny knave! he he! he! He says, your Highness, that I'm like a snake in a consumption!—he! he! he!—in truth a most comical knave!"

"Well, Rodolph, as long as you do not quarrel with his jokes, they shall pass as true wit. But why comes not our son?—Have you bidden the Prince Maximilian to our presence?"

"In truth have I, your Highness; but he was engaged at the moment with Mr. Sievers, and therefore he could not immediately attend my bidding; nevertheless, he bade me deliver to your Serene Highness his dutiful affection; saying, that he would soon have the honour of bending his knee unto your Serene Highness."

"He never said any such nonsense. At least, if he did, he must be much changed since last we hunted."

"In truth, your Highness, I cannot aver upon my conscience as a faithful steward, that such were the precise words and exact phraseology of his Highness, the Prince Maximilian. But in the time of the good Prince, your father, whose memory be ever blessed, such were the words and style of message, which I was schooled and instructed by Mr. Von Lexicon, your Serene Highness's most honoured tutor, to bear unto the good Prince, your father, whose memory be ever blessed; when I had the great fortune of being your Serene Highness's most particular page, and it fell to my lot to have the pleasant duty of informing the good Prince, your father, whose memory be ever blessed——."

"Enough! enough! but Sievers is not Von Lexicon, and Maximilian, we trust, is——."

"Papa papa!—dearest papa!" shouted a young lad, as he dashed open the door; and rushing into the room, threw his arms round the Prince's neck.

"My darling!" said the father, forgetting at this moment of genuine feeling, the pompous plural in which he had hitherto spoken of himself. The Prince fondly kissed his child. The boy was about ten years of age, exquisitely handsome. Courage, not audacity, was imprinted printed on his noble features.

"Papa! may I hunt with you to-morrow?"

"What says Mr. Sievers?"

"Oh! Mr. Sievers says I am an excellent fellow; I assure you upon my honour he does. I heard you come home; but though I was dying to see you, I would not run out till I had finished my Roman History. I say, Papa! what a grand fellow Brutus was—what a grand thing it is to be a patriot! I intend to be a patriot myself, and to kill the Grand Duke of Reisenberg. Papa, who's that?"

"My friend, Max, Mr. Grey. Speak to him."

"I am very happy to see you at Turriparva, Sir," said the boy, bowing to Vivian with great dignity. "Have you been hunting with his Highness this morning?"

"I can hardly say I have."

"Max, I have received a slight wound to-day. Don't look alarmed—it is very slight. I only mention it, because had it not been for this gentleman, it is very probable you would never have seen your father again. He has saved my life!"

"Saved your life! saved my papa's life!" said the young Prince, seizing Vivian's hand—"Oh! Sir, what can I do for you! Mr. Sievers!" said the boy, with great eagerness, to a gentleman who entered the room—"Mr. Sievers! here is a young lord who has saved papa's life!"

Mr. Sievers was a very tall, thin man, perhaps about forty, with a clear sallow complexion, a high forehead, on which a few wrinkles were visible, very bright keen eyes, narrow arched brows, and a quantity of grey curling hair, which was combed back off his forehead, and fell down over his shoulders. He was instantly introduced to Vivian as the Prince's most particular friend; and then he listened, apparently with great interest, to his Highness' narrative of the morning's adventure; his danger, and his rescue. Young Maximilian never took his large, dark-blue eyes off his father while he was speaking; and when he had finished, the boy rushed to Vivian, and threw his arms round his neck. Vivian was delighted with the affection of the child, who whispered to him in a low voice—"I know what you are!"

"What, my young friend?"

"Ah! I know."

"But tell me!"

"You thought I shouldn't find out:—you're a—patriot!"

"I hope I am," said Vivian; "but travelling in a foreign country is hardly a proof of it. Perhaps you do not know that I am an Englishman."

"An Englishman!" said the child, with an air of great disappointment—"I thought you were a patriot! I am one. Do you know I'll tell you a secret. You must promise not to tell though. Promise—upon your word! Well then," said the urchin, whispering with great energy in Vivian's ear, through his hollow fist:—"I hate the Grand Duke of Reisenberg, and I mean to stab him to the heart;" so saying, the little Prince grated his teeth with an expression of the most bitter detestation.

"What the devil is the matter with the child!" thought Vivian; but at this moment his conversation with him was interrupted.

"Am I to believe this young gentleman, my dear Sievers," asked the Prince, "when he tells me that his conduct has met your approbation?"

"Your son, Prince," answered Mr. Sievers, "can only speak truth. His excellence is proved by my praising him to his face."

The young Maximilian, when Mr. Sievers had ceased speaking, stood blushing, with his eyes fixed on the ground; and the delighted parent catching his child up in his arms, embraced him with unaffected fondness.

"And now, all this time Master Rodolph is waiting for his patient. By St. Hubert, you can none of you think me very ill! Your pardon, Mr. Grey, for leaving you. My friend Sievers will, I am sure, be delighted to make you feel at ease at Turriparva. Max, come with me!"

Vivian found in Mr. Sievers a very interesting companion; nothing of the pedant, and much of the philosopher. Their conversation was of course chiefly on topics of local interest, anecdotes of the castle and the country, of Vivian's friends the drunken Johannisberger and his crew, and such matters; but there was a keenness of satire in some of Mr. Seivers's observations which was highly amusing. and enough passed to make Vivian desire opportunities of conversing with him at greater length, and on subjects of greater interest.

They were at present disturbed by Essper George entering the room to inform Vivian that his luggage had arrived from the village; and that the blue-chamber was now prepared for his presence.

"We shall meet, I suppose, in the Hall, Mr. Sievers?"

'No, I shall not dine there. If you remain at Turriparva, which I trust you will, I shall be happy to see you in my room. If it have no other inducement to gain it the honour of your visit, it has here, at least, the recommendation of singularity; there is, at any rate, no other chamber like it in this good castle."

The business of the toilet is sooner performed for a hunting party in a German forest, than for a state dinner at Château Desir; and Vivian was ready long before he was summoned.

"His Serene Highness has commenced his progress towards the hall," announced Essper George to Vivian, in a very treble voice, and bowing with great ceremony as he offered to lead the way, with a long white wand waving in his right hand.

"I shall attend his Highness," said his master; "but before I do, if that white wand be not immediately laid aside, it will be broken about your back."

"Broken about my back! what, the wand of office of your Highness' steward! Master Rodolph says that, in truth, a steward is but half himself who hath not his wand. Methinks when his rod of office is wanting, his Highness of Lilliput's steward is but unequally divided. In truth he is stout enough to be Aaron's wand. that swallowed up all the rest. But has your Nobleness really any serious objection to my carrying a wand? It gives such an air! I really thought your Highness could have no serious objection. It cost me a good hour's talking with Master Rodolph to gain his permission. mI was obliged to swear that he was a foot taller than myself, ere he would consent; and then only on the condition that my wand should be full twelve inches shorter than his own. The more's the pity," continued Essper: "it spoils the sport, and makes me seem but half a steward after all. By the honour of my mother! it shall go hard with me if I do not pick the pith of his rush this night! Twelve inches shorter! you must have a conscience, Master Rodolph!

"Come, come, silence! and no more of this frippery."

"No, your Highness, not a word, not a word:—but twelve inches, your Highness—twelve inches shorter, what do you think of that? Twelve inches shorter than Master Rodolph's—Master Rodolph, forsooth!—Master Treble—Paunch! If he had as much brains in his head, as he has something else in his body, why then, your Highness——"

"No more, no more!"

"Not a word, not a word, your Highness! Not a word should your Highness ever have heard, but for the confounded folly of this goggle-eyed gander of a steward:—twelve inches, in good truth!—Why, twelve inches, your Highness—twelve inches is no trifle—twelve inches is a size—twelve inches is only six shorter than the Grand Duke of Schoss Johannisberger's nose."

"It matters little, Essper, for I shall tolerate no such absurdities."

"Your Highness is the best judge—it isn't for me to differ witn your Highness. I am not arguing for the wand; I am only saying, your Highness, that if that overgrown anchovy, whom they call Master Rodolph, had shown a little more sense upon the occasion, why then I should have had a better opinion of his judgment; as it is, the day he can tell me the morrow row of Easter eve, I'll make a house-steward of a Michaelmas goose."

The Giants' Hall was a Gothic chamber of imposing appearance. The oaken rafters of the curiously carved roof rested on the grim heads of gigantic figures of the same material. These statues extended the length of the hall on each side; they were elaborately sculptured and highly polished, and each one held in its outstretched arm a blazing and aromatic torch. Above them, small windows of painted glass admitted a light which was no longer necessary at the banquet to which I am now about to introduce the reader. Over the great entrance doors was a gallery, from which a band of trumpeters, arrayed in ample robes of flowing scarlet, sent forth many a festive and martial strain. More than fifty individuals, all wearing hunting-dresses of green cloth on which the giant's head was carefully emblazoned, were already seated in the hall when Vivian entered. He was conducted to the upper part of the chamber, and a seat was allotted him on the left hand of the Prince. His Highness had not arrived, but a chair of state, placed under a crimson canopy, denoted the style of its absent owner; and a stool, covered with velvet of the same regal colour and glistening with gold lace, announced that the presence of Prince Maximilian was expected. While Vivian was musing in astonishment at the evident affectation of royal pomp which pervaded the whole establishment of the Prince of Little Lilliput, the trumpeters in the gallery suddenly commenced a triumphant flourish. All rose as the princely procession entered the hall. First came Master Rodolph, twirling his white wand with the practised pride of a drum-major, and looking as pompous as a turkey-cock in a storm. Six footmen in splendid liveries, two by two, immediately followed him. A page heralded the Prince Maximilian, and then came the Serene father; the Jagd Junker, and four or five other gentlemen of the court formed the suite.

His Highness ascended the throne, Prince Maximilian was on his right, and Vivian had the high honour of the left hand; the Jagd Junker seated himself next to our hero. The table was profusely covered, chiefly with the sports of the forest, and the celebrated wild boar was not forgotten. Few minutes had elapsed ere Vivian perceived that his Highness was always served on bended knee. Surprised at this custom, which even the mightiest and most despotic monarchs seldom exact, and still more surprised at the contrast which all this state afforded to the natural ease and affable amiability of the Prince, Vivian ventured to ask his neighbour Arnelm whether the banquet of to-day was in celebration of any particular event of general or individual interest.

"By no means," said the Jagd Junker; "this is the usual style of the Prince's daily meal, except that to-day there is perhaps rather less state and fewer guests than usual; in consequecne of many of our fellow subjects having left us with the purpose of attending a great hunting party, which is now being held in the dominions of his Highness's cousin, the Duke of Micromegas."

When the more necessary, but, as most hold, the less-delightful part of banquetting was over, and the numerous serving-men had removed the more numerous dishes of wild boar, red deer, kid, and winged game; a stiff Calvinistic-looking personage rose, and delivered a long, and most grateful grace, to which the sturdy huntsmen listened with a due mixture of piety and impa- tience. When his starch Reverence, who in his black coat looked, among the huntsmen very like, as Essper George observed, a black-bird among a set of moulting canaries, had finished,—an old man, with long snow-white hair, and a beard of the same colour, rose from his seat; and with a glass in his hand, bowing first to his Highness with great respect, and then to his companions with an air of condescension, gave in a stout voice, "The Prince!" A loud shout was immediately raised, and all quaffed with rapture the health of a ruler whom evidently they adored. Master Rodolph now brought forward an immense silver goblet, full of some crafty compound, from its odour doubtless delicious. The Prince held the goblet by its two massy handles, and then said in a loud voice:—

"My friends! the Giant's Head! and he who sneers at its frown, may he rue its bristles!"

The toast was welcomed with a loud cry of triumph. When the noise had subsided, the Jagd Junker rose; and prefacing the intended pledge by a few observations, as remarkable for the delicacy of their sentiments as the elegance of their expression, he gave, pointing to Vivian, "The Guest! and may the Prince never want a stout arm at a strong push!" The sentiment was again echoed by the lusty voices of all present, and particularly by his Highness. As Vivian shortly returned thanks and modestly apologized for the German of a foreigner, he could not refrain from remembering the last time when he was placed in the same situation. It was when the treacherous Earl of Courtown had drank success to Mr. Vivian Grey's maiden speech in a bumper of claret, at the political orgies of Château Desir. Could he really, in very fact, be the same individual as the bold, dashing, fearless youth, who then organized the crazy councils of those ambitious, imbecile greybeards? What was he then? What had happened since? What was he now? He turned from the comparison with feelings of sickening disgust, and it was with difficulty that his countenance could assume the due degree of hilarity which befitted the present occasion.

"Truly, Mr. Grey," said the Prince; "your German would pass current at Weimar. Arnelm, good cousin Arnelm, we must trouble thy affectionate duty to marshal and regulate the drinking devoirs of our kind subjects to-night; for by the advice of our trusty surgeon, Master Rodolph, of much fame, we shall refrain this night from our accustomed potations, and betake ourselves to the solitude of our Cabinet—a solitude in good sooth, unless we can persuade you to accompany us, kind Sir," said the Prince, turning to Mr. Grey. "Methinks eight-and-forty hours without rest, and a good part spent in the mad walls of our cousin of Johannisberger, are hardly the best preparatives for a drinking bout. Unless, after Oberon's horn, ye may fairly be considered to be in practice. Nevertheless, I advise the Cabinet and a cup of Rodolph's coffee. What sayest thou?" Vivian acceded to the Prince's proposition with eager pleasure; and accompanied by Prince Maximilian, and preceded by the little Steward, who, surrounded by his serving-men, very much resembled a planet eclipsed by his satellites, they left the Hall.

"'Tis almost a pity to shut out the moon on such a night," said the Prince, as he drew a large green velvet curtain from the windows of the Cabinet.

"'Tis certainly a magnificent night!" said Vivian; "How fine the effect of the light is upon the picture of the warrior. I declare the horse seems quite living, and its fierce rider actually frowns upon us."

"He may well frown," said the Prince of Little Lilliput, in a voice of deep melancholy; and he hastily redrew the curtain. In a moment he started from the chair on which he had just seated himself, and again admitted the moonlight. "Am I really afraid of an old picture? No, no, it has not yet come to that."

This was uttered in a very distinct voice, and of course excited the astonishment of Vivian; who, however, had too much discretion to evince his surprise, or to take any measure by which his curiosity might be satisfied.

His companion seemed instantly conscious of the seeming singularity of his expression.

"You are surprised at my words, good Sir," said his Highness, as he paced very rapidly up and down the small chamber; "you are surprised at my words; but, Sir, my ancestor's brow was guarded by a diadem!"

"Which was then well won, Prince, and is now worthily worn."

"By whom? where? how?" asked the Prince, in a very rapid voice. "Maximilian," continued his Highness, in a more subdued tone; Maximilian, my own love, leave us—go to Mr. Sievers—God bless you, my only boy—good night!"

"Good night, dearest Papa, and down with the Grand Duke of Reisenburg!"

"He echoes the foolish zeal of my fond followers," said the Prince, as his son left the room. "The idle parade to which their illegal loyalty still clings—my own manners, the relics of former days—habits will not change like stations—all these have deceived you, Sir. You have mistaken me for a monarch; I should be one. A curse light on me the hour I can mention it without a burning blush. Oh, shame!—shame on the blood of my father's son! Can my mouth own that I once was one? Yes, Sir! you see before you the most injured, the least enviable of human beings—I am a Mediatised Prince!"

Vivian had resided too long in Germany to be ignorant of the meaning of this title; with which, as most probably few of my readers are acquainted, I may be allowed for a moment to disturb the tête-à-tête in the Cabinet—merely, as a wordy and windy orator preliminarily protests, when he is about to bore the house with an harangue of five hours—merely to say, "just one single word." A mediatised Prince is an unhappy victim of those Congresses, which, among other good and evil, purged with great effect the ancient German political system. By the regulations then determined on, that country was freed at one fell swoop from the vexatious and harassing dominion of the various petty Princes who exercised absolute sovereignties over little nations of fifty thousand souls. These independent sovereigns became subjects; and either swelled, by their mediatization, the territories of some already powerful potentate, or transmuted into a state of importance some more fortunate petty ruler than themselves; whose independence, through the exertions of political intrigue or family influence, had been preserved inviolate. In most instances, the concurrence of these little rulers in their worldly degradation was obtained by a lavish grant of official emoluments or increase of territorial possessions, and the mediatised prince, instead of being an impoverished and uninfluential sovereign, became a wealthy and powerful subject. But so dominant in the heart of man is the love of independent dominion, that even with these temptations, few of the petty princes could have been induced to have parted with their cherished sceptres, had they not been conscious, that in case of contumacy, the resolutions of a Diet would have been enforced by the armies of an Emperor. As it is, few of them have yet given up the outward and visible signs of regal sway. The throne is still preserved, and the tiara still revered. They seldom frequent the Courts of their sovereigns, and scarcely condescend to notice the attentions of their fellow nobility. Most of them expend their increased revenues in maintaining the splendour of their little courts at their ancient capitals; or in swelling the ranks of their retainers at their solitary forest castles.

The Prince of Little Lilliput was the first mediatised sovereign that Vivian had ever met. At another time, and under other circumstances, he might have smiled at the idle parade and useless pomp which he had this day witnessed; or moralized on that weakness of human nature which seemed to consider the inconvenient appendages of a throne, as the great end for which power was to be coveted: but at the present moment he only saw a kind, and, as he believed, estimable individual disquieted and distressed. It was painful to witness the agitation of the Prince; and Vivian felt it necessary to make some observations, which from his manner expressed much, though in fact they meant nothing.

"Sir," said his Highness; "your sympathy consoles me. Do not imagine that I can misunderstand it—it does you honour. You add, by this, to the many favours you have already conferred on me, by saving my life and accepting my hospitality. I trust, I sincerely hope, that your departure hence will be postponed to the last possible moment. Your conversation and your company, have made me pass a more cheerful day than I am accustomed to. All here love me; but with the exception of Sievers, I have no companion; and although I esteem his principles and his talents, there is no congeniality in our tastes, or in our tempers. As for the rest, a more devoted band cannot be conceived; but they think only of one thing—the lost dignity of their ruler; and although this concentration of their thoughts on one subject may gratify my pride, it does not elevate my spirits. But this is a subject on which in future we will not converse. One of the curses of my unhappy lot is, that a thousand circumstances daily occur which prevent me forgetting it."

The Prince rose from the table, and pressing with his right hand on part of the wall, the door of a small closet sprung open. The interior was lined with crimson velvet. He took out of it a cushion of the same regal material, on which reposed, in solitary magnificence, a golden coronet of antique workmanship.

"The crown of my fathers!" said his Highness, as he placed the treasure, with great reverence, on the table; "won by fifty battles and lost without a blow! Yet, in my youth I was deemed no dastard: and I have shed more blood for my country in one day, than he who claims to be my suzerain, in the whole of his long career of undeserved prosperity. Ay! this, this is the curse—the ancestor of my present sovereign was that warrior's serf!" The Prince pointed to the grim chieftain, whose stout helmet Vivian now perceived was encircled by a crown, exactly similar to the one which was now lying before him. "Had I been the subject—had I been obliged to acknowledge the sway of a Cæsar, I might have endured it with resignation:—had I been forced to yield to the legions of an Emperor, a noble resistance might have consoled me for the clanking of my chains; but to sink without a struggle, the victim of political intrigue—to become the bondsman of one who was my father's slave; for such was Reisenburg—even in my own remembrance, our unsuccessful rival. This, this was too bad; it rankles in my heart; and unless I can be revenged, I shall sink under it. To have lost my dominions would have been nothing. But revenge I will have! It is yet in my power to gain for an enslaved people, the liberty I have myself lost. Yes! the enlightened spirit of the age shall yet shake the quavering councils of the Reisenburg cabal. I will, in truth I have already seconded the just, the unanswerable, demands of an oppressed and insulted people; and ere six months are over, I trust to see the convocation of a free and representative council, in the capital of the petty monarch to whom I have been betrayed. The chief of Reisenburg has, in his eagerness to gain his grand ducal crown, somewhat overstepped the mark.

"Besides myself, there are no less than three other powerful princes, whose dominions have been devoted to the formation of his servile Duchy. We are all animated by the same spirit,—all intent upon the same end. We have all used, and are using, our influence as powerful nobles, to gain for our fellow-subjects their withheld rights,—rights which belong to them as men, not merely as Germans. Within this week I have forwarded to the Residence a memorial subscribed by myself, my relatives, the other princes, and a powerful body of discontented nobles; requesting the immediate grant of a constitution similar to those of Wirtemburg and Bavaria. My companions in misfortune are inspirited by my joining them. Had I been wise, I should have joined them sooner; but until this moment, I have been the dupe of the artful conduct of an unprincipled Minister My eyes, however, are now open. The Grand Duke and his crafty counsellor, whose name shall not profane my lips, already tremble. Part of the people, emboldened by our representations, have already refused to answer an unconstitutional taxation. I have no doubt that he must yield. Whatever may be the inclination of the Courts of Vienna or St. Petersburg, rest assured that the liberty of Germany will meet with no opponent except political intrigue; and that Metternich is too well acquainted with the spirit which is now only slumbering in the bosom of the German nation, to run the slightest risk of exciting it by the presence of foreign legions. No, no! that mode of treatment may do very well for Naples, or Poland, or Spain; but the moment that a Croat or a Cossack shall encamp upon the Rhine or the Elbe, for the purpose of supporting the unadulterated tyranny of their new-fangled Grand Dukes, that moment Germany becomes a great and united nation. The greatest enemy of the prosperity of Germany is the natural disposition of her sons; but that disposition, while it does now, and may for ever, hinder us from being a great people, will at the same time infallibly prevent us from ever becoming a degraded one."

At this moment, this moment of pleasing anticipation of public virtue and private revenge, Master Rodolph entered, and prevented Vivian from gaining any details of the history of his host. The little round steward informed his master that a horseman had just arrived, bearing for his Highness a dispatch of importance, which he insisted upon delivering into the Prince's own hands.

"Whence comes he?" asked his Highness.

"In truth, your Serene Highness, that were hard to say,—inasmuch as the messenger refuses to inform us."

"Admit him."

A man whose jaded looks proved that he had travelled far that day, was soon ushered into the room; and bowing to the Prince, delivered to him, in silence, a letter.

"From whom comes this?" asked the Prince.

"It will itself inform your Highness," was the only answer.

"My friend, you are a trusty messenger, and have been well trained. Rodolph, look that this gentleman be well lodged and attended."

"I thank your Highness," said the messenger, "but I do not tarry here. I wait no answer, and my only purpose in seeing you was to perform my commission to the letter, by delivering this paper into your own hands."

"As you please, Sir; you must be the best judge of your own time; but we like not strangers to leave our gates while our drawbridge is yet echoing with their entrance steps."

The Prince and Vivian were again alone.

Astonishment and agitation were very visible on his Highness' countenance as he dashed his eye over the letter. At length he folded it up, put it into his breast-pocket, and tried to resume conversation; but the effort was both evident and unsuccessful. In another moment the letter was again taken out, and again read with not less emotion than accompanied its first perusal.

“I fear I have wearied you, Mr. Grey," said his Highness; "It was inconsiderate in me not to remember that you require repose."

Vivian was not sorry to have an opportunity of retiring, so he quickly took the hint, and wished his Highness agreeable dreams.