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 L I B RA I^Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVERS ITY 
 
 or ILLI NOIS 
 
 Vs/9^4-■f 
 
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 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://w\A/w.archive.org/details/fidesorbeautyofm01wrax
 
 FIDES 
 
 OR 
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 FIDES, 
 
 OR 
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE, 
 
 §ibapt£i) from tht §zxmvin. 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR LASCELLES WRAXALL, BART. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
 1366. 
 
 The right o, Iranslation is reserved
 
 LONDON 
 
 PRINTED BY RLVCDONAU) AND TUGWELL, BLENITETM HOUSE. 
 
 BLENHEIM STREET, OXFORD STREET.
 
 8S3 
 
 BOOK L, 
 
 FATHER GAEZWEILER. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Frau Braunschiedel, though usually tlie most 
 stoical of market women in all Mayence, began on 
 a particular occasion, about three o'clock in the 
 afternoon, to grow very restless. Something greatly 
 out of the general course of things must have hap- 
 pened to cause this phlegmatic dame to rise from 
 her stool, especially as it was in the afternoon of a 
 sultry day in September. She had, however, re- 
 ceived a hint that the apprentices were assembling 
 ' by the two fountains in the Market Place, with the 
 intention of falling on the students, her best cus- 
 tomers, who were just then in the college. 
 
 She was accustomed to stand before the Jesuits' 
 Church, to which the University was so near as to 
 enable her easily to distinguish, through the open 
 windows of the building, the voice of her old ac- 
 quaintance. Professor Nicholas Vogt. To tell the 
 plain truth, however, the good woman's anxiety 
 was caused less by her sympathy with the students 
 than her cares for her baskets. Becoming heated 
 
 B 2
 
 with the excitement, she mopped her forehead and 
 fat douhle chin with her apron, for she could now 
 phiinly distinguish the noise and the singing of the 
 advancing apprentices. 
 
 Armed with heavy cudgels, they now came up 
 the Schuster-gasse, and arranged themselves in 
 readiness for an attack on the devoted building. 
 Notwithstanding the breadth into which Mother 
 Braunschiedel expanded herself as a shield before 
 her stall, still she could not quite cover it. Her 
 baskets were scattered around her, partly by the 
 unavoidable pressure of the mob, partly through 
 mischief. Plums, pears, apricots, peaches, and 
 grapes were thrown into the gutter and trodden 
 under foot. 
 
 The dame suddenly found herself interrupted in 
 her abuse by the blow of a horsewhip : a graceful 
 young man stood before her, elegantly attired in a 
 fine beaver hat, a violet-coloured velvet coat, and 
 boots of polished leather. ^' What's the matter 
 here, dame?" he asked abruptly. 
 . " Ah, Baron, the students will be murdered by 
 the wild apprentices! Only hear that cry for help! 
 — it's Professor Vogt's voice — they're killing him!" 
 
 The young Baron rushed through the entrance- 
 gate of the building, whence he could hear doors 
 being broken in, and benches torn up, mingled with 
 cries, curses, shouts, and laughter. The spectators
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 5 
 
 assembled on the space before the building, who 
 were excessively excited by the sudden occurrence, 
 conversed eagerly about it, though very various 
 opinions were expressed on the subject. 
 
 " The like never before Avas known in Mayence! 
 What will the Elector say to it Avhen he returns 
 from Aschaffenburg ?" 
 
 " What can the old gentleman say?" exclaimed 
 another. " Times change. Formerly he would 
 go, like a pious man, to evening mass, with his 
 rosary, and now just ask Frau von Condenhove 
 what sort of rosary he uses!'' 
 
 '^ You know, though,'^ interrupted another, 
 " what's going on in Paris; how the Jacobins have 
 invented a new minuet for the king, and how His 
 Majesty, ten weeks ago, happened to dance a little 
 too far, and how smartly he was brought back 
 again. Ah! we apprentices have at last imported 
 something from Paris as well. The Court gentry 
 have long enough sent thither for their pleasures, 
 their fashions, their furniture, and their opinions — 
 little enough they served us by it.'' 
 
 " What ! served us?" cried a man who was 
 habited in the grey Court livery. ^' What madness! 
 it's we who have to serve — vou must be kind 
 enough to remember that some are born to com- 
 mand, others to obey." 
 
 " And yet, master serving-man, our neighbour's
 
 6 FIDES, OR 
 
 not so far wrong with his comparison," said a 
 bricklayer. '' This disturbance, this pocket revo- 
 lution, comes of dancing too, for the students de- 
 prived the apprentices of their partners, and then 
 kicked them out of the room." 
 
 *' Quite right, master!" said another; ^' our ap- 
 prentices moreover didn't take the law too hastily 
 into their own hands either — they first complained 
 to the police, but got no hearing." 
 
 " Bah, the Mayence police I — don't talk about 
 them, or you'll make me sick," said a carpenter. 
 ^' I informed them this morning that I couldn't keep 
 my journeymen at work. You know it's true, 
 Schonuttermaur ; the police knew all about the 
 matter long ago, and laughed at it. The Com- 
 missary Klingrubid even whispered in my ear, ^ Let 
 them go on, let them knock the dust out of the 
 Latinists' blue jackets, and flatten their three- 
 cornered hats for them, for they're always creating 
 disturbances.' " 
 
 ^^ Don't you understand how the matter really 
 is?" said a bystander. '^ The police have long been 
 annoyed that the students are under an especial 
 university jurisdiction, and they can't in conse- 
 quence lay hands on them ; but now they hope to 
 get a chance at them." 
 
 During the utterance of this speech, a stately 
 priest had been making his way tlirough the crowd,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 7 
 
 and now looked with astonishment under the broad 
 brim of the speaker's hat. However, he merely 
 smiled, and inquired into the cause of the disturb- 
 ance. 
 
 Everybody began to speak at once. Each one 
 seemed to be eager to be the first to inform this 
 man, whose piercing eye, aquiline nose, and well 
 formed features possessed no ordinary attraction. 
 The proud priest listened without paying any atten- 
 tion to the uncovered heads around him, and at 
 length said, in a tone loud enough to be heard by 
 all, though without addressing anyone in particular, 
 "So! so! I thought the disturbance was with the 
 Lutheran professors, for you know, my beloved 
 Mayennese, that you are about to lose your fair 
 Jesuits' church. Yes! the public library is to be 
 arranged in it. Hofrath Forster, the heathen, was 
 the author of this pretty proposition; and what 
 can he know of the holy masses and associations 
 of our glorious faith? Oh! I suppose you have 
 not already been deprived of churches enough!" 
 
 A violent murmur arose — " The heathens !" was 
 the cry. " Is that their gratitude for the ex- 
 cellent living they enjoy here ?" , 
 
 In a few minutes the young man, before intro- 
 duced on the scene, rushed out of the house, pur- 
 sued by several apprentices ; as he turned ^towards 
 the Schuster-gasse, and tried to break through the
 
 8 FIDES, OR 
 
 crowd, the priest arrested him with these words. 
 
 '^ In heaven's name, Herr von Wallbrun, how 
 did you become mixed up in this riot ? What a 
 state you are in ! " And he caught the young 
 man by the sleeve, and elevating his right arm in 
 a commanding manner^ kept the pursuers at bay. 
 
 The young Baron surveyed the surrounding 
 citizens with a haughty look, and instead of di- 
 rectly answering his questioner, smoothed his dis- 
 hevelled locks, and concealed his torn frill under 
 his embroidered waistcoat. 
 
 " Come !" said the priest, ^' I will accompany 
 you to your honoured mother's mansion; the ap- 
 prentices will be lying in wait for you, but under my 
 protection you will be in safety." 
 
 Just as he was leaving the spot he looked to- 
 wards Riedel, and said in a mild voice, 
 
 " The Government will not regard this affair with 
 indifference ; it sees in everything a revolutionary 
 infection, and the emigres urge it still more on 
 their attention. Your masters must not direct your 
 poor apprentices in this matter." He then departed, 
 without waiting for an answer. 
 
 Rie'del quickly took the hint, and after surveying 
 the surrounding masters with an important air, 
 silently retreated. 
 
 '' Who's that stately gentleman ?" inquired a 
 stranger.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 9 
 
 " That's Father Ignatius Garzweiler," was the 
 reply. 
 
 ^' Father ? He's a monk then, and yet wears a 
 secular dress." 
 
 " He holds a dispensation from the Elector," ex- 
 claimed another. ^^ He's a distinguished man." 
 
 ^^ Distinguished, what for ? " asked the stranger. 
 
 " Well ! I can't say exactly, but there's some- 
 thing very strange and remarkable about him." 
 
 ^'What! can't you say exactly?" exclaimed a 
 man in livery. ^^ I know all about him, sir ; for 
 he visits my gracious master nearly every day, and 
 I've often heard him tell how, when a young monk, 
 he used to live in this very building — you must 
 know, sir, that it was formerly a Jesuits' college. 
 However, when the Jesuits were expelled about 
 eighteen years ago, as far as my memory serves, 
 young Father Garzweiler went away for a long 
 time to Rome, and all sorts of places, and no more 
 was heard of him, till he arrived in Vienna some 
 eight years back, in the retinue of the Pope, when 
 he paid a visit to the Emperor Joseph. After that 
 Garzweiler returned here as an Augustine monk, 
 made himself famous by his preaching, became 
 confessor to the Elector, and conscience-keeper to 
 our most noble families. I assure you, sir, he's 
 a man well read both in books and in his fellow- 
 men. My master. Count von Walderdorff enter-
 
 10 FIDES, OR 
 
 tains great respect for him, and that's a proof he 
 must be somebody." 
 
 The person thus described had in the meantime 
 arrived in the street in which the convent of the 
 Walian nuns formerly stood, and had received 
 from the Baron an account of the late occurrence. 
 
 ** But how came you under the building, Baron?'' 
 *^ How did you become mixed up in this low brawl?" 
 he asked ironically. 
 
 " I heard Professor Yogt's voice, and I feared 
 he was in peril. He was really in the very midst 
 of the disturbance. He had gone to meet the 
 apprentices, thinking to overawe them by his office 
 and appearance, but fell into the hands of a dyer, 
 who seized him by the collar. I gave the fellow a 
 cut with my whip, and then " 
 
 " Your coat fully attests the colour of the dye," 
 said the father laughingly. 
 
 The young Baron remained silent at this repartee, 
 but his anger soon gave way before the natural 
 goodness of his disposition. 
 
 " Listen !" continued Garzweiler, " you have to 
 thank your versifying for this treatment ; for it 
 was poetry which drew you to Professor Latrora, 
 although I really consider yours an unpleasant in- 
 troduction to Parnassus, and trust it will be a fare- 
 well visit. When you. Baron, were at the noble 
 school, you were still quite free from this cacoethes
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 11 
 
 scrihendi: you first aoquired the taste, in Gottingen, 
 and since your return you have stood dreamily 
 between Poetry and Philosophy, not knowing which 
 to pay court to ; while, at the same time, you 
 possessed so fair an opportunity of entering the 
 service of the State. The Elector regards you 
 'avourably ; we have acquainted him with your 
 i^alents and acquirements " 
 
 " We ? AVhoni have I to thank under this col- 
 lective epithet?" 
 
 ^' I speak in the name of your numerous patrons ; 
 and as for mysdf, you know the Elector puts some 
 confidence in me." 
 
 '^ I thank you. Reverend Confessor, but pray let 
 us be silent about such matters for the pre- 
 sent " 
 
 *' For the present, Baron ? — why, you've passed 
 your twenty-fifth year." 
 
 " But I have lost more than one of those years 
 through illness," answered the Baron ; " that has 
 kept me back, and must I now on that account be 
 overhasty ? No ; Til first live and enjoy myself 
 ere I submit to the yoke of State service. I am 
 well aware you would gladly see the Court of 
 Mayence buckle on the armour of St. George, to 
 conquer that dragon the French Revolution ; and 
 you would, I daresay, be delighted to count me 
 among your esquires, that with my pen, at least, I
 
 12 
 
 might scotch this fiery serpent which threatens 
 destruction to both priest and noble/' 
 
 The father was about to give a smart reply, 
 when a young girl, of surpassing beauty, turned 
 the corner of the Lang-gasse. The Baron stood 
 mute with astonishment and delight. Garzweiler 
 stopped and spoke to the maiden. 
 
 " Ah ! Fides," he said, in a severe tone, "where 
 were you, my pious lily, last Sunday ?" 
 
 " My mother was unwell, and the doctor ordered 
 me not to leave her," said the fair girl, with a 
 slight blush. 
 
 " The doctor !" said Garzweiler, sternly ; '^ and 
 what have I commanded you ? Is this the obedi- 
 ence of a pious daughter? Your duty to the 
 Virgin is above all earthly devotion. Her alone 
 you must obey, and from her you might have 
 craved help for your sick mother. This must 
 never happen again, Fides. I could punish you, 
 but I will forgive you in consideration of your 
 general regularity." 
 
 Garzweiler said many other things besides, in a 
 tone of severe moridity, which, in the presence of 
 the young man, could only cause pain and shame 
 to a maiden like Fides. With the deepest indigna- 
 tion, she turned to lly, but the Baron restrained 
 her. These three persons, now standing together, 
 were probably the three handsomest to be found in
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 13 
 
 Mayence. Even an old woman, who was hobbling by, 
 stopped and exclaimed, '^ What a charming couple ! 
 and his reverence, the priest, is there too ; nothing 
 is wanting but the church. Well, may Heaven direct 
 it! How benevolent they'd be to the poor!" 
 
 The Baron quickly pulled out his purse to 
 reward the old woman for her prophecy. 
 
 In the meantime Fides had gone on, after receiv- 
 ings a sign from the priest, and, before the Baron 
 perceived it, had disappeared in the Stein-gasse. 
 
 ^* Where is she gone ? — who is she ?" he asked, 
 quickly. 
 
 " That is surely no question for Baron Wallbrun 
 to ask," answered Garzweiler, severely ; '^ she is a 
 citizen's daughter, and perfectly virtuous." 
 
 The Baron looked up at the neighbouring houses, 
 in the hope of seeing some one of whom he might 
 inquire her name. 
 
 " No impropriety. Baron," cried the priest ; " do 
 not forget yourself. The state your dress is in is 
 remarkable enough, but what would people think 
 of your conduct ?" 
 
 They entered the cattle-market. Before the 
 Baron's family mansion stood the carriage belong- 
 ing to Countess Condenhove. 
 
 " A lucky rencontre r cried Garzweiler. ^* Come, 
 here is an opportunity for you to profit by your 
 accident."
 
 14 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Baron, not to alarm his mother, wished to 
 change his clothes before entering her presence, 
 but the priest insisted upon his showing himself 
 before Frau von Condenhove in his present condi- 
 tion. 
 
 ^* Don't you understand ?" he said ; '^ we must 
 seek to gain the Elector's influence through his 
 cousin ?" 
 
 The Baroness-mother was seated on a sofa near 
 Frau von Condenhove, who was a handsome 
 woman, in the prime of life, with a voluptuous 
 figure and charming face. A pretty, fair-haired 
 girl sat at the window — the Baron's sister Cecilia, 
 his elder by two years. Baroness Wallbrun was 
 indeed horrified at her son's condition. The priest, 
 in relating the circumstance, spoke in exaggerated 
 terms of the Baron's noble behaviour, and as confi- 
 dently as if he had been an eye-witness of it. He 
 was a capital hand at depicting, and seemed only
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 15 
 
 to lay his colours on so thickly, that he might have 
 the opportunity of showing how cleverly he could 
 produce an effect. The grief the Baroness-raother 
 displayed on hearing that her son had been mal- 
 treated by mechanics with their common dirty 
 hands, bordered on the ridiculous. 
 
 "What an insult !" she cried repeatedly ; " what 
 a disgrace for our family! Prythee, tell me, child, 
 how you happened to be on the spot ?" 
 
 Garzweiler explained that the Baron had honoured 
 one of the professors with a visit, and had fallen 
 into the hands of the populace on his return. 
 
 " One of the professors !" cried his mother ; 
 *' you surely completed your studies at the Noble 
 Academy T^ 
 
 "But, Frau von Condenhove,'' said the fair- 
 haired girl at the window with a smile, " what will 
 the Elector say to our little Mayennese revolu- 
 tion r 
 
 " The Elector must obtain redress for us, my 
 dear Condenhove/' exclaimed the Baroness-mother; 
 " you must take my son's part, and retrieve the 
 honour of our family." 
 
 The priest concurred in this sentiment. 
 
 " The nobility and the emigres would," he feared, 
 "allow themselves to utter jests and inuendoes 
 which could only lead to a hostile meeting. This, 
 however, would be prevented were the Elector
 
 16 FIDES, OR 
 
 to distinguish the Baron by some personal mark of 
 his favour." 
 
 '^ Ye»/^ exclaimed his mother more than once, 
 ^^ such redress cannot be denied us ; only look at 
 my son's appearance !" 
 
 ^^ I think," replied Frau von Condenhove, ^Hhat 
 he looks quite charming," regarding the young 
 man at the same time with a smile of approval. 
 '^ This slight disorder in his dress improves his ap- 
 pearance. You are perfectly right, however, in say- 
 ing that the Elector must interfere. Such an occur- 
 rence must not be overlooked ; a feather will show 
 which way the wind blows — a straw will tell which 
 way the stream flows. For my part, I consider 
 this event, at such a moment, in the light of a great 
 misfortune. Indeed, ever since the French com- 
 menced their unhappy revolution, life has become 
 quite a burden. We intend, doubtless, to destroy 
 this revolution root and branch ; still, I fear that, 
 in effecting it, we shall lose the old cordiality with 
 which we have hitherto enjoyed life ; we shall re- 
 main mistrustful long after these distiu'bances have 
 passed away, and magnify the slightest event into 
 so great importance that we shall no longer know 
 how to distinguish between jest and earnest." 
 
 "Consider, in addition, that this misfortune should 
 liave arisen from a nation so light-minded and so 
 volatile as the French," said the priest, sarcastically.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 17 
 
 "A nation which formerly exhibited so much 
 refinement, that we used to receive everything 
 without question from it." 
 
 "By we you mean people of rank, I presume," 
 said Father Ignatius; "for the Kevolution has been 
 also received without question — that is to say, by the 
 mob." 
 
 " What does the rabble want with our Paris ?" 
 exclaimed the old lady angrily. 
 
 " Quite true," continued the priest ; " it is a 
 great misfortune that the love of imitating every- 
 thing French is adhered to in such distasteful 
 events." 
 
 " But how awkwardly the people imitates, my 
 good father," said the Baroness-mother; "did they 
 not begin last May a revolution in Warsaw? — in 
 Poland of all places !" 
 
 " Yes, it was certainly out of unison with the 
 French one," said Garzweiler, with a smile, " for 
 it was a revolution in favour of hereditary mon- 
 archy." 
 
 An embarrassing silence ensued, which was in- 
 terrupted by Cecilia's exclaiming, 
 
 " Our Mayennese have, leaving all this out of 
 the question, a great partiality for disturbances. 
 There is no faith, no confidence, nor manly honour 
 left in Mayence." 
 
 To which Garzweiler replied with a smile and a 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 FIDES, OR 
 
 quick look, ^' That is a reproach, Baroness, from 
 which I will not except some Austrian gentlemen 
 as well." 
 
 Frau von Condenhove, pleased to see how well 
 the shot had told, smiled her approbation to the 
 priest. 
 
 She then promised to do her best, and the Ba- 
 roness left the room leaning on her son's arm ; and 
 the priest, at a sign from her, also accompanied 
 them. 
 
 ^^ At last we are alone, dear Cecilia ! Pry thee, 
 tell me quickly, has Fritz, our black Fritz, been 
 here lately ?" 
 
 With this confidential question the Countess ap- 
 proached the young girl at the window. 
 
 ^^ Fritz!" replied the latter in a very excited 
 manner; *' call him Count Stadion, Capitular* Sta- 
 dion." 
 
 "Then he really has absented himself altogether? 
 I expected to find him here, for his dog was at the 
 door when I came in." 
 
 " That unlucky dog !" exclaimed Cecilia ; ^^ the 
 brute's affection will make me quite ridiculous. 
 Every passer-by sees the animal sitting there, and 
 looks up with a laugh." 
 
 " Don't torment yourself with such fancies, 
 
 * A member of the chapter.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 19 
 
 my dear Cecilia, but wait till I see Stadion." 
 
 ^' Oh ! would the faithless one were here !" cried 
 Cecilia, " with his honeyed tongue and iiatter- 
 ing words, that I might spurn him from me 
 thus !'' 
 
 With this she threw her little pet lap-dog into 
 the middle of the room, but when she saw him 
 creeping with his feathery paws beneath a table, 
 she sprung up and took him in her arms. She 
 fondled him with sweet words, pressed him re- 
 peatedly to her fair bosom, and at length lulled him 
 to sleep in her lap. 
 
 " Oh ! that\s the way you would serve him ?" 
 said Countess CondcBhove. 
 
 " Yes, that's the way I'd treat him !" said the 
 Baroness, inconsiderately. 
 
 *' By-the-bye, Cecilia,, do you know where he 
 spends his evenings since bis return from Vienna ?" 
 
 ^* Fritz ?'^ 
 
 " Capitular Stadion, I thought we were to say ] 
 at Forster's, in Madame Forster's society." 
 
 " Madame Forster ? Who is the person ?" 
 
 *^The wife of Hofrath Forster, the celebrated 
 traveller — the librarian, I mean." 
 
 " Oh ! that Madame Forster," said Cecilia, with 
 a loud though forced laugh. ^^ But you seem to 
 know her — is she pretty ?" 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 *' Oh! you have no reason to be frightened on 
 that score, my dear Cecilia. Their society is 
 widely different from your own. At their house you 
 can meet learned professors from the north of Ger- 
 many, who assemble there to drink tea and talk on 
 literary subjects. Madame Forster is the daughter 
 of the Gottingen Professor Heyne. Stadion studied 
 at that university, and ' il affiche le bel esprit.' No, 
 no, my dear, his is merely a literary sympathy ; 
 Madame Forster will do you no mischief. But 
 you really ought to make the acquaintance of this 
 has bleu !" 
 
 " Heavens ! know Madame Forster !" exclaimed 
 Cecilia with a smile of contempt. '' But how did 
 you, dearest Countess, make such an interesting 
 acquaintance ?" 
 
 '^ Forster gives my little boy Edward lessons in 
 Natural History, and I consequently often have 
 opportunities of meeting this interesting man. In 
 truth, dear Cecilia, he is remarkably engaging, 
 though not at all handsome ; but there's something 
 about him so different from other men — he has the 
 eyes and complexion of a sailor, although the chief at- 
 traction is caused by the ravages of the scurvy. What 
 fun it would be, dear Cecilia, were you to plague 
 Stadion by ensnaring Forster. Indeed it is now 
 the mode in Mayence to make the acquaintance of 
 literary men ; the Elector courts their society. In
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 21 
 
 truth, you could not play this faithless lover of 
 yours, who is so attached to literature, a better 
 trick than to take a celebrated author for your 
 admirer." 
 
 They were interrupted by the Baroness von 
 Wallbrun, who returned, accompanied by the priest. 
 
 ^^ Pray, listen !" she exclaimed. 
 
 A mass of apprentices was marching past, occupy- 
 ing the whole breadth of the street, swinging their 
 bludgeons and making a dreadful noise. The 
 horses in the carriage began to get restive, and the 
 countess seemed much alarmed. 
 
 ^^ Pray accompany me, father," she said. '^ I'll 
 hasten and write to the Elector, who Avill not re- 
 turn from Aschaffenburg till next Friday." 
 
 *^ Unhappily," remarked Garzweiler, *^ our 
 troops have not yet returned from Liege." 
 
 " Oh ! we have enough left to put down such a 
 rabble as this," cried the Countess ; ^' we only want 
 a commander." 
 
 With these words she took leave. The Baroness 
 reminded her before her departure once again about 
 her son, and the carriage was soon heard to roll 
 from the gates.
 
 22 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 As the carriage turned out of the cattle-market, 
 the horses were pulled into a quieter pace, so that 
 the persons inside might have an opportunity of 
 conversing. 
 
 ^^ You perfectly understand my meaning, I trust, 
 most gracious patroness 1" said Father Garzweiler. 
 '' You see that this occurrence, however unpleasant 
 it may be to the young Baron personally, will be 
 to us of great service, for it will make him alto- 
 gether ours. But our special care must be that 
 the young man obtain an office adapted to the 
 furtherance of our plans." 
 
 ^^ Quite right," said the Countess with great 
 satisfaction. '^ I have found the right person, 
 have I not, mon ami?'' 
 
 *^ Yes, if he is only right for our pui*pose," re- 
 marked Garzweiler. 
 
 " You mean to say, I suppose, father, if he is 
 inclined to share with us the confidence of the 
 Elector ? The young man, it is true, appears to 
 me very headstrong and haughty, and these young
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 2S 
 
 jurists, too, have ever pedantic notions as to what 
 they consider right ; but the change of air they 
 breathe at courts soon makes an alteration in them. 
 We must go to work very cleverly at first, if we 
 mean to use him as a key to those little political 
 secrets which the Elector has lately kept under 
 lock against us.'' 
 
 Garzweiler smiled. 
 
 *^ I do not know," he said, " whether there were 
 any blacksmiths among the apprentices who so 
 lately hammered the Baron into the key you wished 
 him to become ; but I have discovered, by mere 
 chance, an anvil on which I can weld him to any 
 shape or purpose I require. We happened to 
 meet to-day a young virtuous citizen-beauty with 
 whom the Baron is unacquainted, and whom he can 
 only reach through me." 
 
 " Ah ! it's getting interesting !" cried the Coun- 
 tess. " Come in, father, pray — you must tell me 
 all about it. So this affair with the girls only took 
 place to-day, dear friend ?" she asked gently, while 
 she half sat, half reclined on the sofa. 
 
 " Only just now," was the answer. " Heaven 
 arranged the matter as I was accompanying the 
 Baron, and gave me the proper inspiration to take 
 advantage of it." 
 
 " But a bourgeois' daughter, dear father — and 
 Baron Francis, who is so proud of his nobility I"
 
 24 FIDES, OR 
 
 ** Proud of his nobility, Coutitess," said the priest 
 smilingly, as he bent over his glass to enjoy the 
 bouquet of the wine. ''I should not like to call 
 him so in the Mayence acceptation of the term. 
 You know, too, his father inoculated hira with some 
 levellingideas. No, no, the young Baron is not at all 
 of the same stamp as his worthy mother. But, 
 honoured lady, in common life there are at times 
 wonderful events, occurrences as mysterious as 
 they are comical, and such a one has just hap- 
 pened to the young Baron ; for, at the very right 
 moment, he was belaboured by bouiyeois fists into 
 a state which made him fit to receive the im- 
 pression made by the bourgeois beauty. You 
 are, perhaps, aware, gracious Countess, that tinder 
 is brought to a state of inflammability by the 
 same process ? I trust to such sympathetic im- 
 pressions, and the continuance of an attachment 
 which has sprung up in such well-cultivated ground." 
 
 ^^^ What a cunning rogue you are, Father Igna- 
 tius !" said the lady laughingly ; ^' and now tell me 
 — who is this remarkable beauty — this magic being, 
 pointed out by Heaven itself?" 
 
 ^' Your grace will pardcm me !" answered Garz- 
 weiler ; *^ that must be regarded as a secret of the 
 confessional." 
 
 " All respect to the confessional," said the 
 Countess. ** But even secrets of confession have
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEiNCE. 25 
 
 their time for being told. I have sent for some 
 Rudesheimer of the vintage of 75 — perhaps with 
 that I may discover even deeper secrets." 
 
 Garzweiler did not allow this remark on one of 
 his foibles to pass unnoticed ; smart speeches were 
 uttered on both sides, in which, however, the 
 Countess did not remain so cool as her opponent, 
 and her woman's heart played her the trick of 
 persuading her to make an attempt on the priest's 
 confidence by flattering speeches. 
 
 " Another skirmish ! " she answered smilingly, 
 after a short pause, and offered him her hand. 
 " When shall we sign a treaty of everlasting peace, 
 my dear friend ?" 
 
 ^* You speak as if we were ever at war with 
 one another," he answered, as he kissed her hand. 
 
 " Well ! if we are not openly at war, we only 
 live in an armistice," she continued. "I cannot tell 
 what may cause you to be so reserved, so mistrust- 
 ful towards me. Come, be candid, tell me what 
 you have against me ?" 
 
 To this fair challenge Garzweiler replied, after 
 emptying his glass, " I do not quite understand 
 your grace. Does not my office, my profession 
 compel me to everlasting peace ? Still I am sorry 
 to see that you have lost the confidence of the 
 prince ; he has been warned against you by the 
 foreign, especially by the Prussian ambassadors.
 
 26 
 
 and he now keeps everything secret from you. 
 This has caused me to become mistrustful even of 
 myself. But even now I will not forsake you. 
 I have made sure of Baron Francis. In this I have 
 only acted for you." 
 
 *' This seems to me very dubious," remarked 
 the Countess, '^ and only reminds me the more 
 how much the Elector insults me by forgetting in 
 his dreadful politics our old intimacy, and the sacri- 
 fices I have made for him." 
 
 " Your ladyship seems to forget that the Elector 
 at present finds state politics even more attractive 
 than your love," remarked Garzweiler with a slight 
 sneer. ^^ At a certain stage of life a man wishes 
 to exchange a pleasure he has exhausted for another 
 more alluring. The old gentleman — forgive me, 
 his Grace the Elector, I would say — has now sunk 
 deep into politics." 
 
 Though the Countess was evidently much an- 
 noyed, she coolly replied, 
 
 " Well, then, I must devise some plan by which 
 to regain the Prince's confidence." 
 
 " Confidence ! I would advise your ladyship to 
 regard the insult he has shown you in a more 
 merry light," said Garzweiler, with a sarcastic 
 smile, as he took up his hat and stick. *' The 
 Elector likes to persuade himself he possesses great 
 influence and weight in the afiturs of Europe.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 27 
 
 Prussia and the emigres do their best to confirm 
 him in this belief, in order to obtain his assistance 
 for their schemes the more easily. In your place 
 I would only laugh at it. Countess — for if the old 
 Prince allows himself to be led away by his love for 
 politics, he will be more likely to forget the youth- 
 ful Frau von Terrette." 
 
 At this mention of a rival, to whom the Elector 
 had lately shown remarkable attention, the Countess's 
 anger grew still greater. She trembled with pas- 
 sion, and could only utter the words, 
 
 ^'Have you then determined to insult me in 
 every way this afternoon, you plotting Jesuit ?" 
 
 She pulled the bell violently. Father Garzweiler 
 bowed with all reverence, and moved smilingly 
 towards the door. A man-servant hurried in. 
 
 The Countess had recovered herself sufficiently 
 to see the danger of her first intention, namely, 
 ordering the priest to be turned out. She there- 
 fore walked proudly to the sofa, and said, 
 
 " Light the father out of the house, Jacob, and 
 then bring candles.'' 
 
 But after they had left the room, she walked up 
 and down in a hurried manner. At length she 
 threw herself into the nearest fauteuil. 
 
 '^ The impudent fellow !" she sighed, " to dare 
 me so ! But that's the consequence of having any- 
 thing to do with a priest."
 
 28 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 The wax candles spread a soft light through the 
 room, and the Countess's heart began to beat less 
 violently. It now occurred to her that she had 
 intended writing to the Elector, to inform him of 
 the events of the day. But she had no precise in- 
 formation as to the result of the affair, and could 
 not quite make up her mind as to what she should 
 say touching the Baron's accident. She also felt 
 that she was not in the proper vein to write to her 
 princely friend in the sportive manner he liked, nor 
 to give that merry turn to the matter which he 
 would expect from her. She therefore deferred 
 writing till the next day. Then, however, she 
 learned that the apprentices' disturbances wore a 
 much more serious aspect than they had at first 
 appeared to assume. 
 
 The Avild excesses Avere repeated on the succeed- 
 ing days. The apprentices assembled under the 
 flags of their different guilds, and marched through 
 all the streets to capture straggling students. They 
 placed scouts at the gates, that none might escape,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 29 
 
 and even hunted them out in their own homes. 
 Unluckily the town and citadel were quite left 
 without a garrison, as the Mayennese troops were 
 still in the principality of Liege, whither they had 
 been sent to suppress the disturbances which had 
 shortly before broken out there. 
 
 A small detachment still remained within the 
 fortification, and the whole outbreak could easily 
 have been put down by a troop of hussars, had 
 not garrison, ministry, and citizens appeared spell- 
 bound at the sight of the undisciplined strength 
 which had so unexpectedly broken through the 
 rusty and antiquated formalities of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The whole matter was quite a new spectacle* for 
 the careless Mayennese, though thoughtful men 
 might be found among the subordinate class of 
 employes and citizens, who considered the matter 
 as serious, and regarded it wdth terror as an un- 
 lucky omen for the future. They pondered what, 
 at the approach of an enemy (an event which 
 might any day happen, perhaps the revolutionary 
 French), would become of a town which, through 
 its internal disorders, did not know how to help 
 itself against a mere mechanics' tumult. 
 
 The daring of the apprentices after their first 
 successful attack on the university would not have 
 gone so far, had not their masters been at their
 
 30 FIDES, OR 
 
 backs, urging them on to further proceedings. 
 The priest's cunning though careless question had 
 not fallen to the ground, like Frau Braunschiedel's 
 fruit baskets, but had quickly passed from mouth 
 to mouth, as an intimation and challenge. The 
 guildmasters had quickly drawn up a protocol of 
 their original demands, which had been so often 
 refused them by the Government ; and Doctor 
 Hoffmann, a professor at the university, who was of 
 a fiery disposition, and known in certain circles 
 as a violent advocate of the rights of the people, 
 and an enthusiastic admirer of the French Revolu- 
 tion, had lent the deputation his counsel and his 
 pen. 
 
 Tlie authorities acted as they always do in 
 such a situation — they yielded everything, in ex- 
 pectation of the moment when they might recall 
 all they had guaranteed. In spite of their sacred 
 promises, they secretly sent to Darmstadt for 
 troops, which arrived on the third night. The 
 apprentices were suddenly roused from the deep 
 sleep of intoxication caused by wine and victory, 
 and carried off to prison ; the promises and re- 
 dress granted to the masters were quickly with- 
 drawn, and, to end the whole matter, the Elector, 
 who hastily returned from Aschaffenburg, promul- 
 gated thundering proclamations against outbreak 
 and rebellion.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 31 
 
 During these stormy days the young Baron, as 
 is naturally to be supposed, had not stirred out. 
 In this he had yielded partly to his mother's 
 anxious wishes, and partly to his own feelings, 
 which had kept him chained to his desk. A new 
 and wondrous emotion had been excited in his 
 bosom, and had quite taken possession of his facul- 
 ties. It appeared as if Garzweiler's sarcasms were 
 in some measure true, for if the insult which the 
 young Baron had received had not made him more 
 susceptible to the bewitching appearance of Fides, 
 still, in his dreamy disposition and solitude, he 
 resigned his whole soul to these new and lively 
 impressions. 
 
 In her anxiety for her darling, his mother em- 
 ployed every possible device, as soon as the Elector 
 had returned, and public peace had been restored, 
 to obtain befitting satisfaction for him. As luck 
 would have it, for the furtherance of her plans, 
 the nobles had felt themselves exposed in many 
 ways through the mechanics' disturbances ; since 
 not only were many of the most respected mem- 
 bers of the Government of noble birth, but at the 
 present season every bourgeois emeute was re- 
 garded as revolutionary, in the Parisian sense of 
 the word. It was therefore determined that they 
 should compensate themselves for the insults to 
 which they had been subjected, by a species of
 
 32 FIDES, OR 
 
 triumph, and display themselves in all the pride 
 of their exalted rank. For the promotion of their 
 views, a pageant much in vogue at the time in 
 Mayence was selected ; it was called a Pirut- 
 schade, and consisted in driving slowly in open 
 carriages, or pirutsches, through the town and the 
 public promenades ; and such a procession was ap- 
 pointed for the ensuing Sunday — for it was hoped 
 that by these means they would crush the unfortu- 
 nate rising of the people beneath the carriage 
 wheels. A particular mark of favour, it was 
 intended, should be shown on this occasion to 
 Baron Francis, who had not yet been honoured 
 with any diplomatic appointment. 
 
 The Elector had suffered himself to be enter- 
 tained by his chere amies recital of the Baron's 
 mishap ; and the Prussian Envoy Extraordinary, 
 who was visiting the influential lady at the time, 
 had been enlisted by her in favour of the young 
 man, and went on Sunday in his carriage to fetch 
 him. 
 
 The triumphal procession passed in a long cor- 
 tege of about forty carriages through the streets. 
 On all sides the windows were crowded with 
 spectators, and the streets tilled with a heaving 
 mass. The curious populace little thought at the 
 time what was the object of this grand demonstra- 
 tion.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 33 
 
 On the road home the Chancellor of State 
 Albini seated the young baron on his right hand in 
 his carriage, by special command of the Elector. 
 At tlie same time that he assured him of the 
 prince's favour, he added, 
 
 ** We are too much engaged at present with 
 measures aiFecting the welfare of Europe, in put- 
 ting the finishing stroke to the resolutions lately 
 passed at Pilnitz against France, or the Elector 
 would have commanded you to his presence. 
 However, you will be introduced privately at one 
 of his soirees ; so hold yourself in readiness for an 
 invitation in the ensuing week." 
 
 "Yes, yes,'^ the Chancellor continued; "you 
 are recommended to the Elector in such a manner 
 by your patrons, that you cannot be sufficiently on 
 your guard against them, lest you be made a de- 
 pendent on and a sport for intrigues. You are not 
 yet aware what fine webs we can spin in Mayence; 
 indeed many men wear them like Brussels lace, for 
 ornament, because they have been spun by ladies' 
 fingers/' 
 
 The disposition of the volatile statesman did 
 not, however, alter even in the most serious topics, 
 and his eye roved quickly from window to window, 
 that he might not leave a single fair beauty un- 
 saluted. " Look there!" he cried suddenly, as he 
 pointed with his fore-finger to the balcony of a 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 FIDES, OR 
 
 second-rate house; ^'there's sometliing young and 
 pretty for you — by Jove! — that's " 
 
 He kissed his hand several times — it was Fides, 
 who was seated between two elderly and ridicu- 
 lously overdressed females. 
 
 Francis noticed a movement of blushing fright 
 from the fair unknown as she recognised him. 
 The Chancellor's light manner caused him to feel a 
 sensation of bashfulness, for even after the carriage 
 had passed Albini turned round several times and 
 bowed towards the balcony. He then laughed and 
 exclaimed, '^Ha! ha! the modest angel has retired 
 from the balcony. I managed to drive the sweet 
 innocent away. I call that something delicious, 
 the first blush of maidenhood !'' 
 
 '* Who is she, then?'' inquired Francis, with more 
 haste than politeness. 
 
 '^ I used to know her name," answered Albini, 
 after reflecting a little while; '* the charming crea- 
 ture has often been spoken of in ray presence. 
 She's a daughter of a clerk in the — well — well — 
 it will occur to me presently — " 
 
 '^ Well, then, perhaps you know who lives in that 
 house?" exclaimed the Baron somewhat impatiently. 
 
 ''Oh! the beauty does not live there," said 
 Albini, with a laugh; " she's only there to see the 
 procession." 
 
 The Chancellor's lively attention was soon drawn
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 35 
 
 to another group, which was standing at the corner 
 of the cathedral close. It consisted of several 
 professors of the university — among others of Hoff- 
 mann, Metternich, Wedekind, &c They seemed 
 to be making merry about the persons in the car- 
 riages, and, as if on purpose to annoy the nobility, 
 had placed Dielter in the front rank, who displayed 
 himself to-day for the first time without powder in 
 his hair, and in the latest Parisian revolutionary 
 costume, through which he had collected the 
 astonished people around him. Albini saluted 
 the gentlemen very politely, but then whispered 
 the Baron : 
 
 " We must mind what we're about wdth these 
 tetes montees. I have my reasons for wishing you 
 to attach great weight to the professors whenever 
 you are in the Elector's presence, and as often as 
 he may speak to you about them. I wish though 
 they would be a little moderate, and not go so far 
 as this Dielter has done with his revolutionary 
 dress. What a sensation it will create! However, 
 thank Heaven! we shall not be shipwrecked through 
 the want of sufficient confidence." 
 
 d2
 
 36 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 Baron Francis returned from the Pirutschade in 
 a very excited temper. At first he had to bear 
 with the joy and questions of his mother; but on 
 the following day, when he again sought his quiet 
 study, he could not recall his former equanimity. 
 So much fiattering attention had been lavished on 
 him — the first men at Court had spoken politely to 
 him about his brilliant prospects : all this caused 
 him to feel quite giddy. 
 
 Francis belonged to that class of men who in 
 every change of scene or circumstance find some- 
 thing pleasing and satisfactory ; he w\as not suffi- 
 ciently excited by the ambition to command, and 
 yet was too proud to serve, and therefore he felt 
 himself happiest when in the personal enjoyment 
 of the comforts of life his soul was occupied with 
 noble and lofty objects. 
 
 To these latter Fides might now be added, al- 
 though disquieting and contradictory ideas about 
 her filled his thoughts. Somewhat of the Chan- 
 cellor's levity had seemed to enter his veins, in
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 37 
 
 spite of his first sensations of repugnance, and the 
 pure image of the maiden, through Albini's for- 
 wardness of manner, seemed to him to have fallen 
 from the high pinnacle on which he had set it, into 
 the vortex of ardent wishes and impassioned desire. 
 
 While under the influence of these sensations, 
 the young Baron was invited to one of the electoral 
 soirees. '^ The old gentleman," as it was customary 
 to call the Elector, after he had disproved his right 
 to the title of the '^ pious gentleman," which had 
 formerly been employed by the people, had returned 
 into the town from his palace ^^ the favourite." 
 The little chateau, with its pavilion, had been 
 enlarged by the demolition of the suspended Car- 
 thusian convent, and the pleasant gardens, which 
 were laid out in the French style, added to the 
 enjoyment of his solitude. A rich and charming 
 prospect could be enjoyed from this height, and 
 the capital, with its numerous towers and steeples, 
 lay beneath the prince's outstretched hand. 
 
 The Countess Condenhove proposed to him a 
 small evening party ; for the Elector liked these 
 little reunions, which were free from all formal 
 ceremony, and to which he used to invite artists 
 and literary men, who were excluded from all other 
 noble circles in Mayence. 
 
 The Countess, the old gentleman's cousin and 
 especial intinie, was invested at this court, when
 
 38 FIDES, OR 
 
 life was not enjoyable without the society of the 
 female sex, with the post of "Dame de Reception;" 
 and, in consequence of her office, made out the lists 
 of invitations, and through her desire to advance 
 her own designs, as well as the wishes of her noble 
 friend, brought together the strangest medley of 
 guests. On this occasion, in addition to the Baron, 
 two lately arrived French emigres were to be pre- 
 sent, who had come to swell the mass of exiles in 
 Mayence, and had brought letters of introduction 
 from the Comte d'Artois. In honour of these two 
 distinguished strangers, the Due de la Force and 
 Monsieur de Montleveau, the Countess only placed 
 two bourgeois on her list — the court physician 
 HofFmaiiu, and the librarian Forster. 
 
 The company assembled in one of the apartments 
 in the older part of the palace, waiting the Elector's 
 arrival, who resided in tlie St. Martin's Tower, 
 close to the Rhine, and united to the palace by a 
 covered way. Forster and Count Stadion were 
 leaning on a marble table, and conversing in a low 
 tone. 
 
 Fritz Stadion, who had been elected Capitular 
 in the spring, and was now thirty yeai's old, was a 
 handsome, dark-haired man, of easy appearance, 
 and preferred to wear, as on the present occasion, 
 a lay garb, which better displayed his line person 
 than his robe would do. He had studied at
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 39 
 
 Gottingen, and enjoyed the reputation of being a 
 clever and distinguished man, who Avas reported to 
 have a remarkable career awaiting him. With all 
 his openness of manner, he was said to possess 
 great political knowledge, and united to fine 
 power of discrimination the strangest taste for 
 far-fetched wit, curious comparisons, and rather 
 exaggerated imagery. However bitterly his free 
 intercourse with authors and artists might be 
 reproached by the Mayennese nobility, still his 
 influence at the Court of Vienna caused him to 
 possess much authority. He and Forster were 
 conversing about the latest news from Paris. 
 
 '' The flight of the king," remarked the latter, 
 '' has greatly strengthened the National Assembly. 
 The French now only require a foreign wjir, and 
 the German princes, in truth, seem thoughtless 
 enough to wish to begin one with them. We could 
 have remained quiet in Germany, and not known 
 a revolution for the next century, but a war will 
 quicken its approach by at least fifty years ; but the 
 German nobility are quite blinded by passion, and 
 urge the princes on to a war with France, which 
 will inevitably burden the people with taxation 
 and oppression, and widen the breach between the 
 higher and the lower class." 
 
 " Pray, my dear Forster, send for a composing 
 draught for your excitability," answered Stadion.
 
 40 FIDES, OR 
 
 '* You are doubly wrong — for, in the first place, 
 you must not count Austria among these foolish 
 princes, for she does not mean to act in earnest 
 against France, but only appears to do so, that, 
 through the Prussian eagerness for war, she may 
 gain the advantage in her propositions respecting 
 Poland and Turkey ; — but this is under the seal of 
 confidence, my friend. In the second place, 1 
 don*t belong to those noble donkeys who allow 
 themselves to be governed by the foxes, any more 
 than I would count them among the workmen of 
 Innovation." 
 
 The folding-doors were thrown open at this mo- 
 ment ; two heydukes were seen standing outside, 
 and the Elector presently entered the room. He 
 was dressed in a violet-coloured robe, with a black 
 border, wore a well-powdered peruke, and a dia- 
 mond cross on his breast. For his seventy years 
 the Elector seemed sufl[iciently lively, and moved 
 with quiet stateliness. Sharp features, an acpiiline 
 nose, and a voluptuous mouth characterised his 
 countenance as that of a man more worldly wise 
 than good-tempered. He surveyed the company 
 with a haughty look, for it was his manner to re- 
 move attention from his unimportant figure by the 
 animation of his large and piercing eye. The guests 
 arranged themselves in a semi-circle. The Elector, 
 in the first place, addressed Baron von AYallbrun.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 41 
 
 '' You have been well recommended to me, 
 Baron. At the present season we have need of 
 young heads filled with good old ideas. I have 
 been informed, too, that you studied at Gottingen, 
 and you must have met with well-read society 
 there. But Heinse tells me the youths there are 
 now wearing their pens to stumps in writing odes 
 to revolutionary France — 'tis perfectly shameful ! 
 — horribly low ! — but we will give your pen better 
 employment ; we intend " 
 
 Here he was interrupted by the Countess Con- 
 denhovCy who presented to him the Due de la Force 
 and Monsieur de Montleveau — for it had not pleased 
 her to see the baron noticed before these distin- 
 guished Frenchmen had been presented. The 
 Elector received both the emigres with much grace 
 and condescension. He addressed them in French, 
 lamenting the universal misfortune which had 
 driven them from their native country. 
 
 ^' But you will return in triumph, and that right 
 soon," he added, with a mysterious nod of the 
 head. " You will be restored to your fair land, 
 and recover your old possessions. The interval of 
 your banishment is, however, agreeable to us good 
 people of Mayence, as it affords us the company of 
 such p^leasant guests." 
 
 " Monseigneur," the Duke replied, '^ your words 
 cause us to inhale new life, uttered as they are in
 
 42 
 
 accents which remind us of Versailles, and give 
 our hearts fresh pulsation. If any spot could make 
 us forget France, it would be these pleasant banks 
 of the Ehine, which are worthy to adorn our 
 beloved country. Here we feel ourselves not 
 merely to be guests, but the children of a kind 
 father. Monseigneur will, I trust, allow us to use 
 this title to him — a title which offers the banished 
 nobility of France such sweet consolation — our 
 kind father I" 
 
 He then kissed the hand the Elector offered him, 
 and Monsieur de Montleveau afterwards raised it 
 to his lips with these words, 
 
 '^ This is the mighty hand which is predestined 
 to restore us to our country, by throwing the sword 
 into the scales of European politics !" 
 
 The Elector smiled with pleasure at this recog- 
 nition of his political influence. At one time it 
 would have delighted him to be told tliat no 
 woman's heart could withstand the fire of his eye ; 
 but now, since he had allowed himself, to the an- 
 noyance of the other Catholic powers, to be gained 
 over by Prussia to the Fiirstenbund, his senile 
 vanity was flattered at the idea of guiding European 
 policy. 
 
 ^' My Lord Duke/' he said, '' we will restol'e the 
 insulted kingly robes to France, but we cannot 
 give the Rhenish provinces to decorate them — we
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 43 
 
 Electors require them as fair ornaments for our own 
 mantles." 
 
 He uttered these words, which he fancied dis- 
 played his wit, in a loud tone, and looked with a 
 smile round the circle. He then continued in a 
 more friendly voice, 
 
 *^ Have you already — you have been here some 
 days, I believe, Monsieur le Due — have you visited 
 my ' Favourite ' ?" 
 
 ** Yes, Monseigneur," answered De la Force ; '^ I 
 had the honour of dining with her ladyship yes- 
 terday." 
 
 With these words he looked towards the Coun- 
 tess Condenhove with a polite smile. 
 
 A painful silence arose. The Elector regarded 
 the Frenchman at first with astonishment, as if not 
 understanding him ; but when he perceived the qui- 
 pro-quo, he walked towards the Countess with great 
 dignity, and conducted her into the adjoining room, 
 whence the tuning of violins could be distinguished, 
 and the rest of the company followed. 
 
 Iij the next room the Elector, taking General 
 von Hatzfeld by the hand, said in a loud voice, 
 
 '' Here is a harbinger of peace ! The General 
 has just returned from the Netherlands. Our 
 troops are on their march homewards ; they were 
 honoured with splendid festivals in Verviers before 
 their departure. Tell us about it. Count Hatzfeld !"
 
 44 FIDES, OR 
 
 " We were treated with all befitting distinction," 
 said the latter. *^ On our entrance into the town, 
 the fairest maidens presented us with laurel 
 wreaths, and songs were sung in our praise. It 
 did my heart good to see the bravery of the 
 Mayennese troops so publicly recognised. I verily 
 beheve it will make a great impression in Paris, 
 and cause many a rebellious soul to quake." 
 
 A great sensation was the result of these words, 
 and every one hastened to congratulate the Elector. 
 The old gentleman seemed excessively pleased, and 
 was most gracious. He talked a great deal, and 
 continually munched sugarplums, which he took 
 out of a bonbonniere, that he ever carried on his 
 person. 
 
 *'Our troops will arrive here in a few days, for the 
 Emperor has made all arrangements, and the de- 
 mands of the Lieogis will be satisfied. Had our 
 brave soldiers been here, we should not have had 
 this annoying affair with the students and " 
 
 He broke off disconcertedly, offered the Countess 
 his hand, and seated himself by her side on a. yel- 
 low satin sofa. Every guest took his place ; Ri- 
 ghini gave the signal, and a quartette from the 
 opera Armida was commenced. 
 
 Between the pieces of music, refreshments were 
 handed round, and the Elector amused himself by 
 talking to each guest in turn. A very different
 
 THE BEAUTY OF JIAYENCE. 45 
 
 conversation had commenced between the Baroness 
 Cecilia and the Count von Stadion. It was easily 
 to be seen, by the glowing cheeks of the Baroness, 
 her restlesss look, and the violent way in which 
 she flirted her fan, that she spared her faithful 
 lover no reproach. The Count, however, sat with 
 folded arms and crossed legs by her side, and only 
 answered her now and then in his laughing way, 
 
 " Your rosy lips, charming Cecilia, are rendered 
 still more beautiful by the words which fall from 
 them." 
 
 The opportunity the presence of the company 
 on this evening afforded the worldly-wise prelate, 
 seemed to him very favourable to keep in check 
 the Baroness's lively reproaches, to which he must 
 be at some time or other inevitably exposed. The 
 weighty occurrences of the times, his reflections as 
 to the prospects of the nation, and his own advan- 
 tage, had caused him, since his return from Vienna, to 
 feel vexed at the love passages with which he had 
 beguiled his leisure hours ; and tired of a lady in 
 whom he found no reciprocity of ideas or ambition, 
 he determined on this account not to afford Cecilia 
 any opportunity of renewing them. 
 
 The partiality displayed by a lay-prelate, as 
 was then often the case, caused no lasting obliga- 
 tion, however much the heart and senses might 
 have been captivated. The hand which is ex-
 
 46 FIDES, OR 
 
 tended by such a man, to sue for woman's favour 
 and love, is known to the desired objects to be one 
 which can enter into no lasting bond for life ; such 
 a hand demands only the gratification of the mo- 
 ment, and is often cruel enough to break off a con- 
 nexion which the fondest affection could alone 
 justify. This was the feeling predominant in 
 Cecilia's heart, which, in its full subjection to so 
 powerful an assailant, had taken nothing into 
 calculation but the happy continuance of the at- 
 tachment. 
 
 ^' So, between us. Count Stadion, the attachment 
 will be utterly and for ever " 
 
 Cecilia could not find the heart-rending word ; 
 or perhaps felt a superstitious dread to utter it, 
 until, in the violent manner in which she opened 
 and closed her fan, the silk between two of the 
 leaves became torn. 
 
 " Euptured like this !" she said in terror. " Yes, 
 yes, that is an omen pregnant of meaning — the fan 
 was your present. Count, and is now torn ; and if 
 you will accept it as a true sign of my feelings 
 towards you, I am glad — I will have it torn !" 
 
 These last words, which were uttered with a 
 feeling of aroused pride, happened to be spoken 
 during an adagio movement of the music, and 
 were heard through the whole room. xVll turned 
 and regarded the speaker, who, however, scarcely
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 47 
 
 remarked it in her excitement ; but Stadion 
 quickly uncrossed his legs, and assumed a position 
 less familiar than that in which he had till now 
 been sitting. 
 
 *' Why so loud, amiable Baroness ?'' he said, 
 rather sharply ; " why so violent ? I see, to my 
 sorrow, you no longer understand me ; and that 
 which I gave to cool you, only makes you the more 
 heated !" 
 
 With these words he took up the injured fan ; 
 but Cecilia snatched it away, and tried, as if for- 
 getful of the august society, to rise from her seat. 
 Stadion softly kept her back, and said, 
 
 ^* You are not now in a proper temper to under- 
 stand me — you only live in the rich fulness of your 
 heart, Cecilia, careless of the approaching dangers 
 which demand the entire attention of us men, 
 lay an embargo on our thoughts, and during the 
 last few weeks have rendered me incapable — '^ 
 
 " Of visiting anybody but Madame Forster !" 
 said Cecilia, forgetful of herself and her determina- 
 tion. 
 
 " I visit Hofrath Forster,'' answered the Count, 
 quietly ; ^' we make voyages on the map to the 
 South Seas, and gladden our hearts with those 
 island dwellers who lie free from cares beneath 
 the shadow of their bread-fruit trees, and who are 
 real sans-culottes, not through any revolution, but
 
 48 
 
 through the bounteous favours of their heavenly 
 climate. You must become acquainted with Forster, 
 Baroness — he is a man who can lead you to other 
 thoughts, whenever " 
 
 Countess Condenhove, who had not once taken 
 her eye off the couple, now came to them. 
 
 " I was very nearly bringing Forster with me to 
 introduce him to you, dear Cecilia ; he just now 
 inquired who you were, and, indeed, seemed quite 
 struck with your appearance." 
 
 Flattered by this stratagem on the part of the 
 Countess, Cecilia asked which was he, and dis- 
 played an exaggerated interest in him. 
 
 " That is he, playing with the hilt of his sword. 
 Do you see him ?" 
 
 " He has a very interesting countenance, and 
 very expressive features," remarked the Baroness. 
 
 " You've a capital eye. Baroness," said Stadion. 
 *' Don't you think. Countess, he possesses remark- 
 able firmness, and great self-possession for a bour- 
 geois ? " 
 
 " Very great indeed," she answered ; ** but, in 
 point of fact, he is not bourgeois. I asked him 
 myself whether he was related with that family — 
 you know which I mean, Cecilia — under the last 
 Elector, Emmerich Joseph, there was a von Forster, 
 chancellor in Mayence. He said not ; but that he 
 was related to a Scottish family — and I discovered
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 49 
 
 there is a Lord Forster there. But it is to be seen 
 in the first glimpse of the man that he is noble — 
 such a thing is in the blood, and cannot easily be 
 lost. At the same time, too, I find him very 
 amiable, and when he's interested in any subject, 
 his features are lit up, and he acquires something 
 remarkably attractive." 
 
 The doors leading to the supper-room were 
 thrown open, for these soirees were generally wound 
 up by a very delicate repast. The Elector looked 
 round for the Countess — Stadion offered Cecilia 
 his arm. 
 
 "Yes, you must make my friend's acquaintance," 
 he said. 
 
 " Friend !" she remarked, sarcastically ; "a 
 Forster Count Stadion's friend — in truth his wife 
 must be quite enchanting ! — a revolutionary en- 
 chantress !" 
 
 '^ Charmingly said !" exclaimed Stadion, a little 
 emphatically ; " you mean, I presume, an enchant- 
 ment which does away with all differences of rank. 
 In truth, Baroness, we must vex you a little when 
 we wish to enjoy your most delightful sallies !" 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 50 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 In the same week the saints' day of the Holy 
 Hildegarde came round, according to the Mayen- 
 nese calendar. It was the anniversary of the wife 
 of a subordinate official, Erasmus Lennig, an assis- 
 tant to the Vicegerency. 
 
 After her parents had left the house, the daugh- 
 ter began to prepare presents, to be offered on 
 their return in honour of the anniversary, as before 
 mass she did not dare to distract her pious mother's 
 thoughts with such worldly vanities. The familiar 
 old sitting-room, which was situated on the first 
 floor, had been, since early dawn, decorated with 
 bouquets, and the coverings of the sofa and chairs 
 removed ; a new cover, ornamented with flowers 
 worked in silk, had been spread ; a few pieces of 
 linery, such as lace and ribbons, had been laid on 
 the table ; and, to accompany them, a marchpane 
 cake, with preserved fruits, emblematic, in their 
 arrangement, of the day, and a few vases filled 
 with anemones, gilliflowers, and sweet-Willium,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 51 
 
 had been arranpjed around them. All this Fides 
 had managed with the assistance of the old maid- 
 servant. A side-table was then covered with 
 fruit, cakes, cold meats and bottles, besides innu- 
 merable glasses for the use of the friends who 
 were accustomed to drop in on such occasions as 
 the present, to offer their congratulations, and, in 
 the good Mayence fashion, destroy their appetite 
 for dinner by a substantial breakfast. When all 
 these arrangements had been completed. Fides, 
 then half pleased, half anxious, threw herself into 
 a leathern armchair by the side of the stool, and 
 regarded her handiwork with a smile. 
 
 Her parents' footsteps were soon heard on the 
 stairs. Erasmus Lennig opened the door for 
 his wife to enter the room, then followed her 
 quickly, and embraced with a hearty congratula- 
 tion. Then the daughter advanced and kissed her 
 mother, and, lastly, the servant curtsied and ad- 
 dressed her mistress with the usual form of compli- 
 ment. 
 
 A family scene of bourgeois merrymaking was 
 now displayed, and honest congratulations offered, 
 which the subject of them received with pious tran- 
 quillity. 
 
 The first visitor who made his appearance to 
 offer his congratulations was, to the surprise of all, 
 Father Garzweiler, and he spoke in a manner full 
 
 e2 
 
 Uir.VtRS.TV OF
 
 52 FIDES, OR 
 
 of unction, which caused Erasmus to smile, and 
 his wife to curtsy in much confusion. 
 
 In her heart Fides felt a repugnance against 
 this once so honoured priest, and, in consequence, 
 she stole out of the room, to which she did not 
 return until other guests arrived. Among these 
 she evinced the greatest partiality for Felix Blau, 
 a friend of her father's, a collegiate canon, and 
 professor of theology at the university — an amiable 
 and kind-looking man, of graceful demeanour, with 
 a pale and noble countenance, and beaming blue 
 eyes, which glowed with mildness and good hu- 
 mour ; his light brown hair lay in soft curls on his 
 shoulders, and, like Garzweiler, he was generally 
 attired in a lay garb. 
 
 The customary merriments of the day suffered a 
 little check from the presence of the Elector's con- 
 fessor ; the conversation in consequence turned on 
 more serious matters — such as the late events in 
 Paris, and the dangers to which Germany lay ex- 
 posed. 
 
 " These dangers," Blau gave it as his opinion, 
 " are perhaps only of our own making ; for don't we 
 notice all the artisans in ]\Iayence, and especially 
 in Coblentz, busily engaged in the fabrication of 
 warlike equipments for the emigres? There is, 
 besides, a widely diffused rumour tliat the congress 
 of the German powers at Pilnitz assented to the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 53 
 
 levying of emigre corps — will not this annoy the 
 French, and draw down their vengeance on our 
 heads ?" 
 
 Very few of the company, however, coincided 
 in this opinion. The greater part of the guests 
 were rather desirous that the German princes 
 should commence a crusade against France, and 
 quoted, as a reason, the late disturbances between 
 the students and the artisans, which, they thought, 
 were caused by the evil example of the French. 
 Austria and Prussia, they considered, would be 
 obliged to establish a cordon, as a line of defence 
 against this pestilence. 
 
 Blau smiled. 
 
 " These bourgeois theories," he then went on to 
 say, '' have their origin in our ovvn faults. I trust 
 Ave are yet able to discriminate between these 
 noble efforts of the French, by which the growth 
 of mankind is fostered, and those fits of cramp 
 which are so apt to accompany the development of 
 life in so irritable a nation. 
 
 '^ I only fear for our religion," interposed Ma- 
 dame Hildegarde. " I see that in the house ad- 
 joining the Dalberg Hotel they have removed the 
 revered image of the Virgin from its niche, and set 
 up a figure which, I suppose, is intended to repre- 
 sent their so much adored Liberty — is it not so, 
 Erasmus ?"
 
 54 
 
 " Pardon me, dear Madame Lennig," explained 
 Blau, " that is the statue of Philosophy. The 
 present proprietor of the mansion is an ardent ad- 
 mirer of the mighty Kant and his doctrines." 
 
 ^' I am sorry to see that this fashion of taking 
 down statues of the saints, and putting up in 
 their stead those of Voltaire, Crebillon, and such 
 like free-thinkers, is spreading in Mayence," said 
 the town-councillor Lexa, an intimate friend of 
 Lennig's; "the nobility began it, and now our citi- 
 zens are following their example witli Kant.'' 
 
 "Do you consider him, then, Avorse than the 
 others?" asked Garzweiler with a smile. " How- 
 ever that may be, I lately heard the wonderful as- 
 sertion that the followers of Kant are the Jacobins 
 of Germany." 
 
 As he regarded Professor Blau sarcastically 
 while making this remark, the latter replied, 
 
 "Well, be it so; we will also have our revolution 
 — a scientific one, which will cause no blood, but 
 much ink, to flow, and as the Jacobins demand a 
 monarchy on the broadest constitutional basis, so 
 we followers of Kant speak of a religion within the 
 bounds of reason." 
 
 " I do not quite understand this new philosophy 
 which now causes such ^furore in Germany," con- 
 tinued Garzweiler; "my profession debars me from 
 such studies, although I have felt the greatest con-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 55 
 
 fidence in these new and overwhelming theories, 
 ever since our worth}^ Blau has expounded Catholic 
 dogmas on Kantian principles." 
 
 '^But does our most gracious Elector know of it? 
 — and what does he say to it ?" asked Lexa. 
 
 Garzweiler, with a friendly nod of his head to- 
 wards the inquirer, replied, 
 
 **His Grace the Elector often entertains scruples, 
 it is true, for timid statesmen whisper serious 
 doubts in his ear." 
 
 Our jovial friends, though engaged in such ani- 
 mated discourse and argument, did not neglect the 
 bottles and the various tasty condiments, and so re- 
 ceived the priest's remarks with indifference. Fides 
 alone paid' unremitting attention to all he said, and, 
 though busied in filling the glasses, and handing 
 round the dishes, reserved a watchful ear and eye 
 for Garzweiler. The father's sarcastic smile, his 
 tone and assents to every opinion, however con- 
 trary, did not at all please her, and her repugnance 
 to him increased with every succeeding moment. 
 She felt a childish terror as often as she approached 
 him, and was even so uncivil as to pretend not to 
 hear his laudatory speeches in her busy employment. 
 At last, however, he stopped her in a corner of the 
 room with the whispered inquiry whether she had 
 known the young man in whose company she had 
 lately met him.
 
 56 
 
 " I take no notice of young men of rank," she 
 answered somewhat sharply. 
 
 "That is just what I like to hear/' replied Garz- 
 weiler ; " 1 should be only too glad to be able to 
 say that the young Baron did not know my pious 
 daughter's name; but he insisted on being informed 
 who you were, my dear Fides, and I always feel a 
 sorrow when two young people of unequal rank 
 are attracted to one another. The present sea- 
 son, in which Liberty and Equality are painted in 
 such glowing colours, is especially dangerous for 
 young and noble temperaments. They are so will- 
 ing to convince themselves that a union of heart 
 and soul will render their life happy, and raise 
 them above all those foolish and unjust ideas dif- 
 fused in the world relative to the horrors of an un- 
 equal marriage. It were better if two such hearts, 
 whose fair dreams it is such a pity to destroy, never 
 met. Pray, my child, pray that heaven may pre- 
 serve you from all self-conceit at those happy gifts 
 and privileges bestowed on you, and of which the 
 daughters of nobles are so seldom found worthy." 
 
 Fides listened with downcast eyes and suffused 
 cheeks, while Garzweiler's smilinf^ jrlance rested on 
 her forehead and temples, as if he wished to dis- 
 cover all the entrancing visions which rose up in 
 her mind. That she had such visions he felt con- 
 vinced, but the terror with which she so quickly
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 57 
 
 turned away from liim seemed very strange. 
 
 *^ Apropos, Herr Lennig," exclaimed Garzweiler, 
 as he turned again to the company, ^^ you must be 
 intimately acquainted with the young Baron Wall- 
 brun — was not his father in the same office with 
 yourself?" 
 
 "Quite true, reverend father," he replied, rather 
 warmed by the wine, and proud of the reminiscence; 
 "that gentleman was head of the office, and he was, 
 I may venture to affirm, a friend of mine. As he 
 often had various matters which he was glad to 
 transact at home, I used to go nearly daily to his 
 house. He always compelled me to bring my 
 meerschaum, and we smoked together what his 
 lady-wife used to call a *pipe abominable.' This 
 lady was, even at that time, quite different from 
 her husband ; she added to her own share the 
 pride of rank her husband was so glad to drop, and 
 used to honour me with a double doze." 
 
 The company laughed, and took advantage of 
 the opportunity to drink to the health of the worthy 
 Baroness. 
 
 " But what were you about to say of the young 
 Baron ?" asked Erasmus. 
 
 " Oh, yes!" said Garzweiler, with a smile; " Baron 
 Francis is a noble and amiable young man ; he has 
 few of his mother's prejudices, and seems to take 
 more after his father. He loves the arts, and I
 
 58 FIDES, OR 
 
 may say is more susceptible to the charms of beauty 
 and tenderness than to the pride consequent on his 
 noble birth. May Heaven, then, the better protect 
 him against the revolutionary theories of the pre- 
 sent day!" 
 
 *'I do not know the Baron from this point of 
 view," replied Erasmus. ** I have not seen him 
 since his return from Gottingen ; indeed he seems 
 to have forgotten how often I tossed him, when a 
 boy, on ray knee, and made lashes for his whips 
 out of the official red tape; and now, I hear, he is 
 going to enter into office?" 
 
 " Quite true; the Elector has taken him into his 
 cabinet. This is a special favour on the part of 
 his Grace, and I trust the young man will not dis- 
 credit my recommendation." 
 
 ^^ Indeed! So the young Baron has to thank you 
 — the report was that the Countess Condenhove — " 
 
 ^' Is also a mighty patroness of his, 'tis true," 
 continued Garzweiler, " and has greatly supported 
 me in this business. I, in my mere capacity of 
 conscience-keeper to his Grace, do not willingly 
 mix myself up in secular matters, but the Elector 
 regards state affiurs as matters of conscience, and 
 in consequence it was my duty to find a young 
 man who was both honourable and trustworthy." 
 
 " Certainly, reverend father!" cried Erasmus 
 expressively, " especially so, in the present time,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 59 
 
 and at our court of Mayeuce. Let us drink a 
 glass, my dear friends, to the prosperous career of 
 the son of that defunct noble and honest man. 
 Baron von Wallbrun; may the young man ever be 
 triumphant when exposed to the dangers of levity 
 and the temptations of flattery!" 
 
 All seized their glasses. Garzweiler turned, how- 
 ever, first to Fides, and after offering her a tall 
 drinking glass, hobnobbed with her with the pious 
 remark, '' Let us remember so worthy a young 
 man in our daily prayers!" 
 
 As the noise of the glasses resounded through 
 
 the room, a young man in a boatman's dress 
 
 entered in haste. *^Aha!" he cried directly, 
 
 " that's intended for my dear aunt!" He then 
 
 seized a glass, and, after filling it, walked solemnly 
 
 to Madame Lennig, with the following sharply 
 
 intoned words; — 
 
 " I heard the merry peal ring out 
 From all the churches round about: 
 I asked the reason : folks did say, 
 It is St. Hildegarde's day. 
 May Hildegarde ever live !" 
 
 He thought for a proper rhyme, but as none oc- 
 curred to him, he shouted out Hurrah! and saluted 
 the company by pitching his hat into the air, and 
 catching it again on his head as it descended, 
 without spilling a drop of the wine. After this lie 
 wiped his mouth, and kissed Madame Lennig on
 
 60 
 
 both cheeks. *^ Fifty more days like this," he ex- 
 claimed. " You are my only aunt on the mother's 
 side — would she were here to-day ! God be gracious 
 to her! " 
 
 He then bowed to the guests, as he offered each 
 severally his hand. ^' Good day, dear uncle ! good 
 day, cousin! good day, professor!" to each of 
 which greetings was returned, " A good day, Jean 
 Baptiste." 
 
 He was a well-built man, with a handsome sun- 
 burnt face, well rounded chin, a mouth filled with 
 white teeth, and a head covered with tangled locks. 
 
 '^ Sing us a merry song. Fides!" Erasmus then 
 said. ^^ Something of our friend Eighini's, for no- 
 thing do I delight in so much as the natural and 
 still so skilful compositions of this maestro." 
 
 Fides, who had been till now engaged in a confi- 
 dential communication with Jean Baptiste, raised 
 the lid of the piano; the latter said good-bye. 
 
 Garzweiler spoke his adieus with equal rapidity, 
 and on the stairs called to the young boatman. 
 
 ^' You please me, Jean Baptiste!" he said to him 
 at the door; ^Hhere is' something so determined 
 and straightforward about you, and we want such 
 persons now, especially if they can keep a secret. 
 Come to my house to-morrow morning ; perhaps I 
 can find you something that will just suit you." 
 
 *^ Done with you, your reverence," exclaimed
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 61 
 
 Jean Baptiste ; " you have only to command my 
 services." 
 
 Garzweiler tapped him on the shoulder, and 
 nodded expressively; then, turning to the kitchen, 
 he said quickly and gently to Barbara, '^ I have 
 been told you are a faithful and pious servant. 
 That is right. A small sum of money has been 
 placed in my hands by some good souls, for the 
 relief of trustworthy servants, especially those who 
 wish to lay up money for their old age. Come to 
 me, you seem a worthy object!" 
 
 Barbara, frightened and disconcerted, untied and 
 refastened her apron, and sought for proper words, 
 but only found the priest's extended hand, which 
 she raised to her lips and kissed. 
 
 '^ But you must be silent!" continued Garzweiler, 
 with a portentous shake of his finger. " Your 
 master might regard my presents in a bad light, 
 as if I considered your wages too small. You 
 understand — not a word! our good deeds must be 
 kept concealed." 
 
 Barbara wept from emotion. " You neglect 
 none of your morning masses!" he asked sternly. 
 
 ^^ Never, your reverence!" 
 
 "That is right! you can come to me some day 
 after mass. Remain pious and honest, and it will 
 fare well with you."
 
 62 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 Garzweiler proceeded on his way to the Hotel de 
 Dienheira, a nobleman's mansion, which was at the 
 time inhabited by Herr von Bettendorf. The steps 
 leading up to the mansion were not, as was cus- 
 tomary at other noblemen's houses, covered with 
 lazy servants, who allowed no one to pass without 
 malicious remarks, but by a mass of beggars who 
 were encamped before the locked door, laughing 
 and noisy, till they observed the father approach- 
 ing, before whom they bowed with pitiable looks 
 and gestures. 
 
 ^^ You must wait," said Garzweiler, addressing 
 the beggars with haughty condescension, " but 
 not make such a noise as you were just doing. 
 Do you not consider that you must disturb your 
 benefactor, that pious gentleman who is now en- 
 gaged in his morning devotions, and reading his 
 Book of Hours?" 
 
 An old servant had in the meantime opened 
 the door, after Garzweiler had given a signal by
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 63 
 
 knocking three times. The priest then entered 
 the house. 
 
 Garzweiler received the old servant's report 
 about his master, and rushed with passionate haste 
 up the stairs. He hurried through several apart- 
 ments, which, in spite of their handsome furniture, 
 seemed strangely disordered: The priest passed 
 hastily through the rooms, Und at length an aged 
 Capuchin monk came towards him with anxious 
 looks and cringing demeanour. 
 
 ^' Is he still in bed ?" asked Garzweiler of the 
 monk. 
 
 The Capuchin, with a shrug of compassion, thrust 
 his checked pocket-handkerchief into the right 
 sleeve of his gown, and stood with his arms crossed 
 on his breast, as if in a posture of supplication. 
 
 ^^ Good morning, . my spiritual adviser ! — good 
 morning, my little father !" cried a man, in a 
 childish voice, from the sleeping apartment. Garz- 
 weiler advanced as far as the threshold. *^ Stop 
 outside ! — stop outside !'' cried the man in bed. 
 
 *' Must I always find the creature in his straw ?" 
 said Garzweiler, with suppressed passion. ^^ What 
 did you promise me so faithfully yesterday ?'' 
 
 " Why do you always come so early, my little 
 father ?" 
 
 " I will not permit such language to be used to 
 me, Herr von Bettendorf,'' said Garzweiler, im-
 
 64 
 
 periously. ^^ I have not come to play childish 
 tricks with you. Get up directly, it's nearly 
 noon." 
 
 " No, no, I'm really not well ; be reasonable, 
 holy father." 
 
 *' The cowhide, Father Terrutius, it is hanging 
 in the garderoheT 
 
 " Miserere Deus !" ^oaned the Capuchin, as he 
 folded his hands as if in prayer. 
 
 ^' He ! he ! he !" giggled the person threatened, 
 as he pulled the bed-clothes over his head. 
 
 Garzweiler stormed into the room, pulled away 
 the silk-covered plumeau, and then handed the 
 Capuchin the leather whip, with the command ^' to 
 worry the sloth from his nest." He hurriedly left 
 the room, in order not to be present at the scene. 
 As all remained quiet after his. departure, he cried 
 angrily : 
 
 " Do you mean to chastise him or not, father?" 
 
 '^ ril pull your iron-grey beard out by the roots, 
 Terruti, you cursed Capuchin !" Bettendorf said, 
 threateningly, but laughing at the same time. 
 
 At the first blows which fell, Garzweiler exclaimed 
 with passion, 
 
 ^' You're merely hitting the mattress. Is that 
 your obedience to your spiritual superior ?" 
 
 "Miserere Deus!" again groaned the Capuchin, 
 and appeared, from the sound of the blows, to hit
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. Q5 
 
 the person in bed, who sprung up, screaming, and 
 crying for assistance ; . and a tall, full figure, bear- 
 ing a dressing-gown, came rushing out of the room, 
 and took refuge in a cupboard. The fugitive pos- 
 sessed a noble and regular physiognomy, which 
 gave signs of good birth, but, at the same time, 
 wore an expression of weak intellect. 
 
 *^ Quick, then ! put on your dressing-gown,^' ex- 
 claimed Garzweiler, as he turned away till this had 
 been effected, by the assistance of the Capuchin, 
 when he saluted Bettendorf with reverence, and 
 said, with quiet dignity, " You wish to be elected 
 into the Chapter, Herr von Bettendorf, that is to 
 say, you wish to give your assistance in advising 
 and furthering the spiritual and temporal welfare 
 of the land ; you wish to rise to the dignity of be- 
 coming one of the nearest, supporters of our most 
 gracious Archbishop and Elector, to obtain the 
 position of member of the representative chamber 
 of the Mayennese people. You wish all this, Herr 
 von Bettendorf, you, who have to be daily driven 
 by blows from your bed — your stye, I might 
 almost say. I run backwards and forwards all 
 day for your sake, exerting myself for you with 
 my patrons, pledge my word for your efficacy with 
 the prince, the canons, with all, in fact, who have 
 a vote to give you, and yet you still continue your 
 old debasing habits, and cannot display sufficient 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 6(j FIDES, OR 
 
 courage to keep up at least the appearance of a 
 rational being." 
 
 ^' Well, my dear father, how far have we got?" 
 asked Bettendorf, with great satisfaction. ^' I 
 notice by your manner, my dear friend, that you 
 have something pleasant to tell me — now, haven't 
 
 you?" 
 
 '' Here I hold something I have at length wrung 
 from the Elector !" said Garzweiler, as he pro- 
 duced a printed paper ; *' it is a sealed attestation, 
 in which his grace recognizes the sufficient amount 
 of sense and morality in you requisite for a canonry. 
 But, in your present condition, I cannot treat with 
 you, Herr von Bettendorf. Father Terrutius, 
 pray take him with you — you will be responsible 
 to me for his personal cleanliness. I am going to 
 distribute alms in your name, that you may be in 
 better odour in the town than you diffuse around 
 you. After this proceeding, we will converse on 
 weighty matters." 
 
 '^Then the Elector has not forgotten that his 
 mother was a von Bettendorf ! But, come, out 
 with it, shall I be really elected to a canonry, dear 
 father ?" 
 
 ^' I have considerable hopes on the subject — on 
 condition, however, that you promise ever to give 
 your vote in the way recommended to you." 
 
 On the ground-floor Garzweiler opened the door
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 67 
 
 of a little room with a private key, took a leathern 
 bag, filled with small coin, out of an oaken secre- 
 taire, and then walked quietly to an open window 
 in front of the house, and regarded the beggars on 
 the steps through the Venetian blinds. He then 
 opened the house door rather violently, and dis- 
 tributed his bounty among them with pious exhor- 
 tations. 
 
 *^ Go to the eleven o'clock mass, and pray for 
 the welfare of your benefactor," he said. " The 
 pious man has been lying for hours in his chapel, 
 and begging Heaven for enlightenment. They are 
 determined to elect him into the Chapter, and this 
 terrifies him. But it would be a great blessing for 
 Mayence were he to accept the charge, for he is 
 a virtuous man, and well-disposed to charity. '^ 
 
 The several recipients of his bounty retired from 
 his presence with a humble, '^ Jesus Christ be 
 praised !'' 
 
 A woman in a black dress and clean widow's 
 cap had been, during this time, untiring in her 
 endeavours to gain the front rank, but had always 
 been passed over by the priest, so that she re- 
 mained the last. Garzweiler searched in the baff, 
 as if he could not find the proper piece of money, 
 and at length bade her come into the house. 
 While he was collecting some small change, he 
 asked her carelessly who she was. 
 
 f2
 
 68 FIDES, OR 
 
 '^ Oh ! you must know, reverend father. The 
 widow of Chorister Steiglehner, a poor woman very 
 badly off." 
 
 *^ Indeed ! Is fortune-telling such an unprofit- 
 able trade in Mayence ?" he inquired. 
 
 She regarded him with terror, not supposing 
 that he had learned this information while listening 
 at the window to the beggar's malicious jibes on 
 her profession. A transient blush covered her pale 
 features, which shewed traces of former beauty ; 
 she then cast her eyes down. 
 
 ^^ Oh ! I know that, and many other things be- 
 sides," continued Garzweiler. ** I can see by your 
 face that you are ashamed of a profession which is 
 only based on deception or pure imagination, and that 
 I regard as a good sign. You must leave such ways 
 off, Madame Steiglehner, or I shall be compelled 
 to commence ecclesiastical proceedings against 
 you." 
 
 " The times are so bad, reverend sir," answered 
 the woman with considerable determination. ^^ We 
 were accustomed to a different way of living, in- 
 deed we were well off as long as Ecclesiastical Coun- 
 cillor Pattberg " 
 
 She stopped and laughed rather disconcertedly. 
 Garzweiler, however, did not appear to remark it, 
 but asked tranquilly, 
 
 " Was Pattberg, then, a friend of yours?"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 69 
 
 ^^ Yes ; till he was removed to Eichfeld as Ec- 
 clesiastical Inspector, he was our constant friend 
 and patron. That was a happy time for us, and 
 such a life cannot easily be forgotten ; but now 
 that we are in distress, who will give us anything ? 
 And I must earn money somehow.'^ 
 
 " You say ' us ' — are you not alone, then ?" 
 
 " No, I have one daughter." 
 
 " She must be still young ?'^ 
 
 " She's now — wait a minute — Pattberg left this 
 town — I mean, she is twenty-three years of age — '^ 
 
 ^^ And what occupation does she follow ?'' 
 
 ^' Needlework, your reverence.'' 
 
 " Then you must be able to live on that," said 
 Garzweiler, "and the small pension you have. But I 
 know how it is, the dark art and fortune-telling 
 are very seductive, and it is not the mere money 
 you gain by it — you smile ? But you ought not 
 to do so, for through that your trade is made more 
 damnable, and I a councillor, especially appointed 
 by His Grace the Elector, dare not suffer such ruin 
 and temptation to pass unnoticed. This is the old 
 serpent of pride, which is twined round the tree of 
 knowledge. You must promise me — but no, I am 
 aware of the old saying, promising is one thing, and 
 performing another — but wait, I have a holy idea. 
 As we must ever try to make the evil subservient 
 to the good, and you have doubtless attained con-
 
 70 FIDES, OR 
 
 siderable quickness and proficiency in this damn- 
 able card laying, I, perhaps, may be able to give 
 this skill of yours a great and worthy direction, 
 through which you can do penance for your past 
 misdeeds, and by degrees unlearn your sinful trade. 
 We have a bitter season before us, and men who 
 will attempt the overthrow of religion and state 
 are crawling about darkly — indeed you have pro- 
 bably met with such persons while pursuing your 
 wicked profession, for the evil-minded are always 
 superstitious. Such frightful plots can only be met 
 by others equally dark. You can materially assist 
 me in such good works ; but can you be silent ?'' 
 '^ Oh ! your reverence !'' 
 
 This exclamation of the woman's was accom- 
 panied by a most mysterious look, and a sort of 
 contemptuous smile, as if she would say, ^' How 
 many secrets have I not already kept ?" 
 
 '^ I see," said Garzweiler, with great seriousness, 
 ^' that you are sensible of the value of silence as 
 to your dealings with me — you know my power !" 
 The woman repeated her confirmatory gestures, 
 after which Garzweiler continued gently, 
 
 '' Your cards must follow the direction I give 
 them. You will receive from me the necessary in- 
 formation about persons who may come to consult 
 you, and will hear what to foretell them. Do you 
 understand me, and consider yourself capable ?"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 71 
 
 The woman tiirevf herself at the priest's feet 
 and kissed them. He suffered her to remain in 
 that position for some time, and looked down on 
 her with his hands raised in a posture of prayer. 
 
 " Where do you live ?" he inquired. 
 
 ^' Near the Herring Fountain," was the reply. 
 
 ^^ That is too distant for my purposes,'' continued 
 Garzweiler ; " you must remove from there, and 
 look out for a lodging in the Mitternacht's Strasse ; 
 and if there is none unoccupied, you must pay 
 some one to leave ; that can easily be arranged — at 
 my expense of course. The gardens of those 
 houses join the one belonging to this mansion, so 
 we shall the easier be able to meet, as I come here 
 every day at the same hour. After a time I shall 
 be enabled to offer other means of support, so that 
 you may confidently look forward to a quiet and 
 happy old age." 
 
 With these last words, Garzweiler looked for 
 some more money, which he gave the woman, and 
 then dismissed her, with the command that, as soon 
 as she had found a new lodging, she was to come 
 to him, and receive his further orders. He then 
 asked the old servants if anyone had inquired forhim. 
 
 " The servant of the reading-room is waiting 
 to see your reverence," was the reply ; and the 
 father, after ordering him to be sent up, re-entered 
 the room.
 
 72 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTEK VIIL 
 
 An extraordinary-looking little man made his ap- 
 pearance, dressed in good clothes, which, however, 
 it was evident, had never been made for him, but 
 were the gifts of his several patrons. 
 
 '' To-day we must be as quick as we can, 
 Makowitzki," said the priest, addressing his 
 visitor. 
 
 " Quick !" said the little man, as he threw his 
 head violently back ; '^ well, then, I will do my 
 best to speak concisely and ambiguously." 
 
 *' Concisely and clearly would be better, my dear 
 Makowitzki." 
 
 ^' Impossible, reverend father," he answered ; 
 *' that would be entirely in opposition to my 
 innate faculties ; for all the professors assure 
 me that I am the very man to write descriptive 
 poetry." 
 
 ^^ Well, has anything fresh happened ? — have you 
 anything to tell me ?" 
 
 "Oh! I have wonderful news for you! — quite 
 treasonable speeches, worthy father !"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 73 
 
 ^^ Well, then, speak, Makowitzki." 
 
 " Then to proceed. I sat in my accustomed 
 spot — but you remember, I trust, the various lo- 
 calities of the Eeading Society ? " 
 
 " Pray continue to keep to particulars,^' ex- 
 claimed Garzweiler, with a smile ; " but forget 
 nothing. Well, did anyone mount the table to 
 read the Moniteur to the company? — were any 
 speeches held in favour of the French Eevolution, 
 or any vivats given for the Jacobins ?'' 
 
 " I'll say nothing against the vivats," exclaimed 
 the little man, with most comical contortions ; "I 
 am interested in them, and will not act with in- 
 justice. True it is, much wine is poured down 
 the semi-Eepublican throats of many of the mem- 
 bers, in honour of this new turn of affairs ; but 
 the bottles are my perquisites, and so you see I am 
 a party interested." 
 
 " Come, favour me with any observations you 
 have made — but concisely." 
 
 a Yery well, worthy father. Where were we ? 
 — oh ! at the French Eevolution — quite right. 
 Well, I said whatever good the French might 
 have intended, still they had no right to gain it by 
 a revolution. The Jesuits formerly acted in the 
 same manner, when with wicked means — well, 
 well, I notice your angry look, reverend father, 
 and will be silent on that subject. But in truth.
 
 74 FIDES, OR 
 
 all respect is trodden under foot in the club — jou 
 ought to have been present to hear how dreadfully 
 they abused the Elector." 
 
 *^ Did they attack the Chancellor Albini as well?" 
 asked Garzweiler. 
 
 " The Chancellor ! — oh ! dear no — they rather 
 admire him, especially the university professors." 
 
 ^^ I should be better pleased to hear they found 
 fault with him as well," said the priest to himself ; 
 *^ it were better — that is, it would sooner work. 
 Well, Makowitzki, and then " 
 
 '^ What do you mean, reverend father ? — do you 
 allude to my remarks ? — there they are — I wrote 
 them down on a piece of paper, according to your 
 advice." 
 
 Makowitzki took a paper out of his coat pocket, 
 spectacles out of his waistcoat, and then read : 
 
 *^ As to the Elector, he is ruining the country — 
 he wishes to play the great lord, seeks to gain the 
 reputation of being the protector of the French 
 king and nobles ; as chancellor of the empire he 
 piles up debts on debts, instead of assisting his 
 miserable subjects in Eichfeld and Spessart ; from 
 pure vanity he sent his troops into the Liegois, to 
 enslave anew a people oppressed by a bad prince- 
 bishop, although the people's cause is so just." 
 
 ^^ Who are at present the boldest speakers in the 
 society ?"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 75 
 
 " Professor Joseph Hoffmann, especially — he said 
 lately'' — here Makowitzki continued reading — 
 " * The Elector has not only spent half a million of 
 thalers — the savings of the defunct Emmerich 
 Joseph — sold estates, seized on the money of the 
 Commons, wasted the yearly revenues of the 
 country, but owes another half million. Of all 
 this sum not a farthing has been spent for bene- 
 volent institutions, for war, or lost through mis- 
 fortunes — no, all has been squandered in ridiculous 
 state, and on worthless parasites and favourites.' 
 You can easily imagine, reverend father, who is 
 meant in the last paragraph, and in what manner 
 he expressed himself," continued Makowitzki, 
 with a smile ; " but it cannot be described on 
 paper." 
 
 He stood on tip-toe, in order to whisper some- 
 thing into the priest's ear, and accompanied the 
 movement with gestures expressive of disapproval. 
 
 '^ Hoffmann there ? — and who are the other 
 braggarts ?" 
 
 " They are principally, besides this Hoffmann, 
 the Professors Metternich and Blau — though the 
 latter expresses himself in a more friendly and con- 
 cihatory spirit — Doctor Wedekin and " 
 
 '' Forster ?" 
 
 "No, Forster is seldom present when these 
 wild speeches are made ; he comes at a quieter
 
 76 FIDES, OR 
 
 hour, and reads the newspapers and magazines. 
 But after that many employes arrive, and then the 
 discussion commences, and there is excessive ap- 
 plause given to every revolutionary speech." 
 
 '^ Do you know what you had better do, 
 Makowitzki ? — make a list of all those who speak 
 at all violently, not only about the revolution, 
 but our Mayennese affairs as well. In this way, 
 Makowitzki, I afford you an opportunity of doing 
 the Church and State good service. And pay atten- 
 tion — these Protestant Professors may eventu- 
 ally prove the secret advisers and tempters to 
 revolutionary movements. Protestantism in its 
 very birth is an insurrection, a violent separation 
 from Rome — our holy metropolis. You yourself, 
 Makowitzki, I trust, never neglect mass or confes- 
 sion?" 
 
 " I am still old Electoral, reverend father," 
 said the mannikin, with comical looks of assent. 
 ^' Do you know what I mean by this epithet ? I 
 remember the time when His Grace the Elector 
 used to join in vespers and processions, and that 
 time the whole noble world went to church. But 
 now-a-days nothing but fashionable furniture from 
 Paris is regarded, heathen goddesses in alabaster 
 or stucco are purchased, and chere amies kept, who 
 are not so cold or so polished as these images ; 
 merry French songs are heard, and the works of
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 77 
 
 that godless Voltaire are read — in short, just so our 
 court behaves at present. This I call in contra- 
 distinction new Electoral ; but I " 
 
 " Makowitzki !" exclaimed Garzweiler, in angry 
 astonishment — '^ you who ought to watch over the 
 speeches of the godless, allow yourself " 
 
 " Pray absolve me, father ! I feel perfect re- 
 pentance and sorrow." 
 
 He made the sign of a cross three times on his 
 chest, and at the same time bowed his knee. 
 
 *^ Go now, Makowitzki," said Garzweiler, with 
 earnestness, *' and as penance say three Paters and 
 three Credos to-morrow morning at the altar of the 
 Holy Ignatius, in the Jesuit's Church, or, rather, 
 the University Church, as it is now called." 
 
 Makowitzki stretched out his right hand, but 
 with his left drew a paper from his pocket. Garz- 
 weiler asked him what it was. 
 
 ^^ My penance reminds me of your gracious pro- 
 mise," he said ; " you vouchsafed to liquidate my 
 debts by degrees, and here I have a bill which 
 very much annoys me." 
 
 " What ! something else already ? — and so long 
 a bill, too ! " remarked the priest, as he extended 
 his hand to take the folded paper. 
 
 Before Garzweiler could cast an eye on the 
 amount of the bill, Makowitzki had retired from 
 the room with a profusion of bows. Garzweiler
 
 78 FIDES, OR 
 
 looked up thoughtfully, shook his head twice, and 
 said to himself, in a tone of vexation, 
 
 ^' Is the fellow a rogue or a fool ? — they are all 
 a dirty mean set. Pah ! that I am compelled to 
 have any dealings with such fellows !"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 79 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The return of the Mayennese troops from the 
 Netherlands brought new life into the town ; the 
 new promenade was now more visited than even 
 at the water season ; the citizens pressed into the 
 ball-room at the Yauxhall Gardens, and a carrousel, 
 which recalled the memory of old knightly sports, 
 was erected for the nobility in a space formed by 
 four poplar trees. From Yauxhall and the Rotunda 
 a good view of the camp and the merry-makings in 
 it could be enjoyed. The idea that the troops, 
 before their entrance into the town, should bivouac 
 for a week, originated with the pleasure-seeking 
 Countess von Condenhove, but was eagerly seized 
 on by the Elector, as it excited him to a fancy of 
 his own political importance. 
 
 In the middle of the camp a large tent was 
 erected, in anticipation of the visits of the nobility, 
 and the great flag with the Mayennese arms floated 
 over its round and parti-coloured summit. In the 
 morning, or whenever the noble officers were in- 
 vited to dinner at the palace, the citizens were
 
 80 FIDES, OR 
 
 admitted into the camp. In the afternoon, how- 
 ever, admission was only granted to the nobility, 
 and it was the fashion to drive every day to the 
 camp, as the Elector was pleased to see it, and 
 regarded it as an honour done to his political 
 views, and zeal for his martial plans. 
 
 On the day we are writing of, the young noble 
 officers gave what was called a dejeuner dinatoire. 
 The long allee swarmed with people ; the mist had 
 been rather late that morning in dispersing, and 
 had moistened the dusty ground ; only round the 
 tops of the hills behind Biberich a few clouds could 
 be seen, which were soon lost in the forest-crowned 
 valleys and hazy distance of the Eheingau. The 
 green river was like a mirror. A blue sky shone 
 above the white tents, and the flags and pendants 
 of the camp fluttered in the lively eastern breeze. 
 The Rhine was also crowded with boats employed 
 in fetching persons from the opposite bank, or 
 engaged by pleasure-parties. 
 
 The numerous equipages soon began to arrive 
 from the town, with the servants all dressed in 
 gala liveries. Everyone then turned towards the 
 carriages ; the men bowed with uncovered heads, 
 the women touched the ground three times with 
 their short petticoats, while, however, in the rear 
 rank some one or other would utter a witty 
 remark, which would be universally laughed at.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 81 
 
 In this way, after the carriage of the Chamberhiin, 
 Count von Exthal, had passed, the court up- 
 holsterer, Norpel, imitated the peculiar manner 
 this gentleman had of returning the citizens' 
 salutes, namely, by never bowing his powdered 
 head, but by twice raising and lowering his bushy 
 eyebrows. 
 
 Just at this moment the Countess Condenhove 
 drove past. By her side was seated the Due de la 
 Force, and Monsieur de Montleveau occupied the 
 opposite seat. 
 
 ^^Two more Frenchmen !" cried Carpenter Rie- 
 del. ^' I should like to know how many of this 
 cattle we have already in Mayence ? 'Tis a 
 haughty and arrogant pack, full of presumption !" 
 
 '^ I think we citizens will soon have to boast of 
 our Frenchmen too," remarked a good-looking 
 woman in widows' weeds ; " for everybody at pre- 
 sent is mad for equality." 
 
 '^ God protect us from everything French !'' 
 
 '* The one in front was a handsome stately man," 
 remarked the widow ; to which the upholsterer 
 replied with a knowing look, 
 
 " That's a certain Monsieur de Montleveau." 
 
 "What!" cried the widow, '' was that M'nsieu 
 Voulezvous, of whom everybody is talking, and on 
 whom the Condenhove is said to look pleasantly. 
 Oh ! I'll believe it now." 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 FIDES, OR 
 
 Some still more biting jest ensued, till a cannon 
 fired in the camp commanded silence. All re- 
 mained standing, and looked back ; the court run- 
 ner trotted by with a short and quick step, dressed 
 in a red livery, with his staff in his hand. After 
 a while a detachment of the Horse Guards fol- 
 lowed, under the command of Lieutenant-General 
 von Pfirdt, as Capitaine-en-Chef. Six apple-grey 
 horses, ornamented with silver trappings, and 
 plumes on their heads, drew the gilded and heavy 
 state carriage, in which the Elector sat. A de- 
 tachment of the same regiment of Horse Guards, 
 commanded by Captain Baron von Eeddwitz, 
 brought up the procession ; shot on shot fell in the 
 camp, and the populace closed on the rear of the 
 procession as far as the very entrance gates. 
 
 In the camp, everything had been arranged with 
 proper ceremony : the different military bands 
 played noisy marches ; the drums rolled, and at 
 intervals a cannon was fired. A company was 
 drawn up in rank and file as a guard of honour, 
 the rest of the troops cooked their food, and be- 
 haved in a manner calculated to give a representa- 
 tion of camp life, with the exception that they 
 were all in gala uniform. Polished and pipeclayed, 
 from the woollen bound queue down to the broad 
 leather straps on their gaiters, they all held them- 
 selves as stiff as puppets, in accordance with the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 83 
 
 then prevailing fashion of the Imperial armies. 
 Every motion and exercise in the service was per- 
 formed with theatrical postures, and their ma- 
 noeuvres and ceremonies were in precisely the same 
 taste ; for the captain of the guard of honour not 
 being nobly born, had to give up his command to 
 two young lieutenants, both scions of nobility, who 
 took their seats at one of the tables in the smaller 
 tents. 
 
 The Elector seemed to be very merry and talka- 
 tive, and the conversation was carried on in French, 
 in honour of the numerous emigres who had been 
 invited. The prince spoke in laudatory terms of 
 the appearance and excellent discipline of the 
 troops. 
 
 *^ Dear General Hatzfeldt," said the Elector to 
 the Commander-in-Chief, who was a brother of the 
 Countess, " you have made your first glorious 
 campaign, and I thank you for the pledges you 
 have given us for our safety in Mayence. And 
 now I will drink the health of all those who fought 
 so bravely at Bilsen and Hasselt. Long live our 
 heroes !" 
 
 After the thunder of the accompanying salvo, 
 Count Hatzfeldt obtained permission to return 
 thanks in the name of the army. 
 
 '^ We have just returned from the prelude to 
 many mighty events," he said in French — " from 
 
 G 2
 
 84 FIDES, OR 
 
 a trial of German weapons ; and we look forward 
 with confidence, and as tried men, to the moment 
 when we shall march to annihilate these Jacobins, 
 if the warning misfortune of the Liegois patriots 
 has not put an end to their giddiness. May the 
 laurels we have won on the pleasant banks of the 
 Yesdre be a cheering spectacle to the King and 
 nobles of France ! '' 
 
 The Elector nodded with pleasure, as he vio- 
 lently munched some bonbons, not noticing the 
 sarcastic smiles interchanged among the French- 
 men. 
 
 In the midst of the general excitement, the 
 Elector rose and left the camp, accompanied by 
 the higher members of his suite. The remainder 
 of the company became now still louder and 
 noisier, till towards evening they retreated in a 
 body to the Carrousel, where several ladies had 
 assembled. Here reigned, as was especially the 
 case in the higher circles, the then fashionable tone 
 of flattering attention and polished gallantry under 
 which liaisons were concealed or lascivious senti- 
 ments kept within bounds. The sarcastic verses 
 of Voltaire, the rhymes of Grecourt, full of doubles 
 entendres, were declaimed with a gracious wave of 
 the hand and well-balanced figure. 
 
 Merry music could be distinguished from Vaux- 
 hall, and several gentlemen, old and young,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 85 
 
 slightly flushed with wine, stole away thither from 
 the Carrousel, to survey with their lorgnettes the 
 blooming bourgeois maidens, and permit them- 
 selves more unrestrained licence. Among others, 
 Monsieur de Montleveau, w^ho had allowed his 
 friend the Duke to return alone with the Countess, 
 betook himself thither and seized Baron Francis by 
 the arm, who was just leaving the Carrousel, and 
 puzzling his brain with the idea whether his charm- 
 ing apparition might not be there. 
 
 *^ You have some charming maidens in Ma- 
 yence !" said Montleveau. " I do not knoAV what 
 your opinion may be. Monsieur le Baron, but for 
 me a naive bourgeois girl possesses great piquancy. 
 I am, in fact, going to Yauxhall to make some 
 agreeable acquaintance." 
 
 '^ You ! A man who has so many favours to 
 boast of at the hands of our first ladies !" 
 
 '^ Bah !" continued Montleveau, " they are mere 
 copies of French originals, puffed up with great 
 pretensions. I am studying the German character, 
 and these bourgeois girls have originality and fresh- 
 ness, and require no slavish attentions at our 
 hands. Your Mayennese, pretty as they are, unite 
 French liveliness to German bonhomie. But is 
 it really true, baron, that the bourgeois of Mayence 
 have such a dislike for us emigres ? We surely 
 give them plenty of work."
 
 8G 
 
 Francis, horribly bored by the Frenchman's 
 society, replied, 
 
 ^^ At least, the brutality of a few emigres has 
 caused a great dislike towards all. You must be 
 careful, Monsieur de Montleveau, that in your 
 choice of subjects for study your taste be not at 
 variance with that of our boatmen and artisans !" 
 
 The emigre expressed himself disdainfully, quite 
 confident, as it seemed, in his own personal at- 
 tractions and courage. They had entered the 
 garden, and, in the merry mass of people, came 
 across a stately-looking man, who bowed to the 
 Baron in a reverential manner. 
 
 '^Ah! it's my good Monsieur Lennig!" exclaimed 
 Francis, and stopped to get rid of the Frenchman. 
 
 The company in the gardens was composed of 
 tradesmen, the better class of artisans. Court 
 servants, professors, and employes, native and 
 foreign boatmen, Avho all moved about with the 
 merriment peculiar to the Ehenish provinces, and 
 lield together according to their rank and acquaint- 
 ance. The young boatman, Jean Baptiste, had 
 found out Lennig's table. 
 
 "' Good day, my late Jean Baptiste !" called a 
 neighbour to him. 
 
 '^ Why late, godpapa ?" asked Jean Baptiste. 
 
 " I've not seen you for such a length of time — I 
 thought you must be dead !'*
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 87 
 
 ^* Oh ! nonsense ! I've got to earn my daily 
 bread !'' 
 
 *' Well, while you are looking out for the bread, 
 you may as well look for wine at the same time. 
 Come over here and pledge us ! — here's wine for 
 your 
 
 ^* The wine is ever so much better than the 
 times. Commerce is now very bad in Mayence. 
 My father ought to have bred me up for a Frank- 
 fort merchant or a Mayence canon." 
 
 ^^ For a canonry you would require what you 
 have not got, the sixteen quarterings, dear Jean 
 Baptiste !" Lennig reminded him. 
 
 ^^ Oh ! those, uncle, Fd have managed to get 
 afterwards," replied the boatman. '^ As canon, I 
 should have had plenty of time and opportunity 
 among the noble families." 
 
 A laugh rewarded the impudent boatman. 
 Fides, who did not understand him, said taunt- 
 ingly : 
 
 *^ Why, then you might have been Elector, 
 cousin !" 
 
 '' Why not ?" was the reply. '^ A peruke would 
 not spoil my personal appearance, and I can shew 
 as good a pair of eyes as our old one. You, my pretty 
 cousin, I would make my Countess Condenhove — 
 for we are sisters' children, too ; and then you 
 would have a famous income, wear your neck bare
 
 88 
 
 down to your bosom, and chatter French like a 
 magpie !^' 
 
 More and more laughing listeners drew round 
 Jean Baptiste, who was notorious for possessing a 
 bold tongue, and for being daring in his profession. 
 At a sign from her father, Fides retired from the 
 circle, and looked for her acquaintances, whom she 
 found amusing themselves with swinging. 
 
 Here Fides displayed the freshness and healthi- 
 ness of her natural disposition. For her the swing 
 could not be raised too high ; in her swift flights 
 her heart felt itself free from the pious warnings of 
 her mother and all her household cares. In such 
 contrasts the range of her disposition could be 
 properly seen, and might be valued, perhaps, like 
 the voice of a singer, as to how far it might rise 
 above, or sink below, the middle tones of social 
 intercourse, and still remain strong and pure. In 
 truth, whether Fides was regarded kneeling at 
 mass or floating in the dance, she always seemed 
 to be in the position peculiarly adapted for her. 
 
 Fides was recognized by Baron Francis while 
 swinging in her white dress between two dark- 
 green nut-trees, and he approached so near, that 
 Fides, in her fear of swinging against him, jumped 
 out of the seat as she descended. The Baron 
 advanced with a bow ; the girls, abashed at the 
 presence of a young and handsome gentleman, re-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 89 
 
 treated one after another to the table, which was 
 covered with refreshments, and from which their 
 mothers had just risen, to join the merry throng. 
 The Baron took a seat among them, with the confi- 
 dence his rank gave him, and commenced a conver- 
 sation in a cordial but respectful manner. Fides 
 took up a plate, and offered him grapes as a re- 
 freshment, and he took her hand and kissed it in 
 thanks, at which she blushed deeply. 
 
 The then prevailing tone of conversation, which, 
 among the higher classes, w^as polished, was, among 
 the lower, naive and open. In the former, while 
 the morals, especially at ecclesiastical courts, were 
 rotten to the core, external decency of behaviour 
 was much regarded. Among the people, on the 
 other hand, a merry joke was not disliked. 
 
 On this account, it did not seem strange to the 
 laughing girls that the yonng man, on his very first 
 acquaintance with them, and while plucking grape 
 after grape from a splendid bunch, compared charm- 
 ing maidens with well-grown vines, and made a 
 transition from the sweet red grapes to kisses 
 which might be plucked from their ruddy lips. 
 
 As he spoke, he looked at Fides with a conscious 
 smile, who, in her bashfulness, had taken hold of 
 one of the ropes of the swing, and bent backwards 
 and forwards with the motion. 
 
 "Very well,'' she answered quickly, '^ we'll count
 
 90 FIDES, OR 
 
 for grapes, if you will represent the fox in the 
 fable, Baron von Wallbrun." 
 
 *' Is it so ?" said Francis with a laugh ; *' you 
 mean the fox, I presume, who found the grapes 
 were sour because he could not reach them ? I 
 will play the fox, if you like, but I cannot be sup- 
 posed to consider the luscious grapes sour till I 
 have made one spring to reach them/^ 
 
 He stood up, and approached her, but she 
 quickly seated herself in the swing, while crying, as 
 if alarmed, 
 
 '^ Do not try — you see the grapes hang high." 
 
 After a few pulls at her swing, the Baron 
 said, 
 
 *^ You have the advantage of me, charming fay ; 
 you know me, and attack me with your malicious 
 remarks ; but I cannot defend myself, as I am not 
 acquainted with your name." 
 
 ^' My name is Fides," was the hasty reply. 
 
 ^^ Fides? — a well-sounding and expressive name. 
 It signifies confidence, agreement, faith. In truth, 
 since I met you — you must remember the occasion 
 — I have felt and borne in my heart the significance 
 of your name." 
 
 " As Latin scholars tell me, my name expresses 
 belief," replied Fides, meaningly, as she leaped from 
 the swing ; ^' yes, belief above all." 
 
 '^ Yes, belief also — reliance and faith in all their
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 91 
 
 branches. Certainly ; but this significant name 
 reminds me of another — to what surname is this 
 delicate appellation attached ?'' 
 
 "That/' she replied, "possesses no high value 
 in Mayence, at least for a young Baron. It wants 
 the little word * von ' to make it pass current, and 
 this, says my father, weighs heavier than the 
 longest name. No, Fides — Fides is my riddle." 
 
 She spoke this hastily, and disappeared from his 
 view like a malicious sprite. 
 
 "Fides! Fides !" cried the terrified and discon- 
 certed maidens. 
 
 Francis alone remained behind. A slight feel- 
 ing of annoyance was at first mingled with his 
 pleasure at again seeing Fides, but he soon felt 
 greater astonishment at the fiery nature of so young 
 a girl, whom, according to Garzweiler's speech on 
 their first meeting, he had regarded as a pious and 
 simple creature. She certainly did appear some- 
 what forward, the spoilt child of sensible and well- 
 circumstanced parents, but the enticing riddle she 
 had given him to solve had spread a magic web 
 around him.
 
 92 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Fides sought her father, and took him by the arm; 
 all the fountains of her heart were bursting, and a 
 thousand thoughts danced in her head, like ephe- 
 merae in the setting sun. Her companions were 
 now all forgotten. She drew him softly to the 
 swinging-ground, as if to give the young Baron an 
 opportunity of learning her surname. But the 
 person she sought was no longer there. '* Where 
 can he have wandered ? " was the secret ques- 
 tion of her heart, while she drew her happy 
 father along with her into every corner of the 
 garden. 
 
 "What are you going to do, little restless one?" 
 asked Erasmus smilingly. 
 
 " I am looking for a place, father, where I can 
 ask you secretly if you think — the French Revolution 
 will ever reach Mayence ?" 
 
 " God protect us from it, my child," he replied 
 very seriously ; " but how did you happen on this 
 idea?" 
 
 *^ But why not, father ? Why do you say ^ God
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 93 
 
 protect us from it?' . It is only the court and the 
 nobility who abuse the Eevolution ; your friends, 
 father, are delighted with every new event at Paris. 
 I do not understand why, but yesterday evening, 
 while that good and friendly Professor Blau was at 
 our house, he blessed the new prospects. Well, 
 you know he's a priest and an author as well." 
 
 " Well," said Erasmus, with a laugh, " he's got 
 his own reasons, which are not compatible with the 
 present order of things.'^ 
 
 Fides laid her finger on her lip and smiled ; 
 then continued, as if moved — 
 
 " Oh ! father, this very revolution is intended to 
 smooth all the inequalities of life, and make all 
 men brethren, as the Scriptures command them to 
 be. See, father, this revolution may perhaps be 
 only the harbinger of love, and come to bid the 
 mountains disappear before the advent of her mis- 
 tress." 
 
 '^ My child !" exclaimed Erasmus in astonish- 
 ment, "I do not at all understand you, for you 
 speak all at once like a fast-day preacher. But 
 suppose the mountains will not move ? and then 
 the valleys, would they not lose their lovely ver- 
 dure when filled by the wild overthrow ? No ; 
 let us stand by what is really good^ instead of 
 wishing for better, which can only be obtained by 
 destruction."
 
 94 FIDES, OR 
 
 *^But if it must happen at some day or other, 
 father, we ought to go with the stream, and lose 
 no time in making all necessary preparations." 
 
 ^^ Girl ! what has possessed you?" said Erasmus, 
 laughingly. '' I must lock you up, or you'll be 
 deserting me to join the Jacobins. But go to your 
 mother. I must go and hear what the dispute in 
 the Arbour can be about." 
 
 There were several professors and employes 
 seated in it, and all appeared flushed with wine. 
 Professor Hoffmann, a man of a hot head and 
 energetic character, was engaged on his favourite 
 topic — the excessive expenditure of the Court, and 
 was complaining that emigres and mistresses 
 swallowed up all the prosperity of Mayence. 
 
 Metternich, the Professor of Mathematics at the 
 University, gave it as his opinion : 
 
 " This will all be changed. It is rumoured 
 that the French Government has sent despatches 
 to the Courts of Cologne, Treves, and Mayence, 
 demanding the extradition of the emigres, and the 
 suspension of all warlike preparations ; and, in case 
 of refusal, threatening them with a declaration of 
 war." 
 
 " It is also stated that Dalborg intends to re- 
 sign the Coadjutorship," remarked HoiFmann ; '^ at 
 least, it is spoken of at Court, that he is to be- 
 come Coadjutor in Wiirzburg, and an Austrian
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 95 
 
 prince take his place here, and pay our debts." 
 
 " Quiet, quiet, gentlemen, pray !" said Waldu- 
 mar, a Councillor of the Superior Court, and Pro- 
 fessor of the University. " Let us leave politics 
 to the great men. Why do we envy the nobility 
 and higher class of ecclesiastics their ambition, 
 their passions, and their influence in the world, 
 which is only gained by so much toil. There is no 
 want of some office or other for a bourgeois which 
 supports its possessor, and even furnishes a mode- 
 rate superfluity, the enjoyment of which is en- 
 hanced by the charms of a family circle. Now 
 and then we are either advanced or obtain a higher 
 salary or gratification ; and if our children grow 
 up an honour to our declining years, what more 
 can we desire ? Are we not the persons most to 
 be envied ?" 
 
 The company regarded one another with smiles, 
 till Hofi"mann said, 
 
 " There's a real bourgeois of the Holy Eoman 
 Empire for you ! and indeed he's worth envying, 
 for the race, however long it may last, is not to be 
 found in its original purity, and he may live to 
 find himself regarded as a curiosity. On that ac- 
 count, long life to him !" 
 
 All laughed and hobnobbed. Even Lennig, 
 who was standing near them, and listening to the 
 conversation, was obliged to join in the toast ; and
 
 96 FIDES, OR 
 
 as there was no empty glass was obliged to drink 
 from the bottle. 
 
 " As the rest of the wine now belongs to me, let 
 me drink prosperity to your witty tongues, especially 
 those of the new Mayennese Professors at the Uni- 
 versity. As to the many sharp things and ready 
 gibes you have uttered, you must give the credit 
 of their success to our good wine, which loosens 
 your tongues, and, after that, to the Elector, who 
 suffers them to wag so freely. Easy circumstances, 
 and the comforts which are to be enjoyed in May- 
 ence, can, it appears, become oppressive, especially 
 to those who have not heretofore been accustomed 
 to them ; and for this reason we must seek some 
 subject of abuse to render this pleasant life palat- 
 able. Is it not then very kind of these strangers 
 in Mayence to join us in our grumbling and in our 
 prosperity ? and even they surpass us in scur- 
 rilous language. I can perfectly understand the 
 reason — they are better paid than we Mayennese, 
 and further advanced in cultivation and scientific 
 knowledge — which, by-the-bye, is the reason of 
 their being invited to settle in this place. With 
 these Avords, then, I empty the bottle. May our 
 Mayence long llourish, and may Heaven grant 
 that our pleasant cup be not too soon exhausted, 
 and be replenished from the sour cask of affliction 
 and want ! "
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 97 
 
 Lennig finished his drauglit, and retired angrily. 
 After his departure the company gave way to sar- 
 castic shouts of laughter. 
 
 Erasmus walked hurriedly in the excitement 
 caused by his ill-humour, and as he made his way 
 through the crowd he felt that the external tumult 
 assuaged his inward emotion. Just at this moment 
 he saw, in the very midst of the crowd, Jean Bap- 
 tiste, who was holding a well-dressed Frenchman 
 at arm's length, and shaking him violently. 
 
 ''' Seadog's whelp !" he heard him cry. ^^ Make 
 ready for unloading — ranks closed !" 
 
 A lane Avas soon formed. 
 
 *^ Here's Monsieur Youlezvous for you!" ex- 
 claimed the powerful young man, as he threw the 
 emigre to the man who stood next him ; ^' here's 
 Monsieur Youlezvous !" With this repeated cry, 
 one tossed him to the other, as goods are carried 
 from shipboard on to the quay ; and the last man 
 lifted the unhappy gentleman by sheer strength 
 over the palings of the garden. Peals of laughter 
 accompanied the Frenchman's undignified retreat. 
 
 '' Then he's been obliged to emigrate again !" 
 exclaimed Jean Baptiste, as he stroked his thick 
 black locks. 
 
 An explanation of the circumstance was now 
 given to Lennig. It appeared that the Frenchman 
 had so long and impudently regarded Fides, who 
 
 VOL. I. " H
 
 98 
 
 was standing at a little distance from the table, 
 that she had turned her back on him in anger. 
 He seemed to have mistaken this for prudery, or 
 coquettish affectation, had sprung to her side, and, 
 trusting to his rank and his ignorance of the lan- 
 guage, had very brusquely kissed her. 
 
 The twilight was breaking over them, and 
 Erasmus collected his party in readiness to leave 
 the garden. They went, engaged in merry dis- 
 course, over the long distance to the Umbach. 
 Fides, however, had become somewhat thoughtful, 
 and walked apart, sunk in deep reflection. The 
 image of the young nobleman seemed to accom- 
 pany her ; but she, to no purpose, looked round for 
 the reality.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 99 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Baron Francis could not so soon forget his meet- 
 ing with Fides ; the echo of her name sounded at 
 times in his ear from the books and papers with 
 which he was occupied ; his very fancy summoned 
 her charming appearance before him, and her plea- 
 sant words repeatedly engaged his thoughts. 
 
 He thought dreamingiy on the riddle she had 
 given him to solve, without considering what his 
 purposes really were. He intended no liaison with 
 her, examples of which were so often presented in 
 Mayence by priest and layman ; still less a con- 
 nexion by marriage, which would have been even 
 stranger to the arrogant pretensions of the Ma- 
 yennese nobility. 
 
 The riddle he tried to solve while his hair was 
 being dressed before going to the palace, for the 
 Elector had commanded the presence of the minis- 
 ters immediately after morning mass. Francis 
 made all sorts of plans for its discovery, without 
 suspecting that Garzweiler, who had been tlie first 
 to cause the riddle, was busily employed in pre- 
 
 II 2
 
 100 FIDES, OR 
 
 paring its solution, of course with the pious resolve 
 of laying a trap to catch him at the same time. 
 
 Francis was engaged in a lower room of the old 
 palace, where the archives of the German Empire, 
 which it was the special duty of the Elector, in his 
 capacity of Chancellor of the Empire, to take care 
 of, were deposited in fireproof vaulted rooms. 
 Above these vaults, on the first floor, were 
 the business offices of the Countess Condenhove, 
 as chief directress of the household, the last of 
 which had a door opening into the covered way 
 built, by the Elector's command, to unite the St. 
 Martin's Tower with the old wing of the palace. 
 In this building was kept the prince's rich library, 
 under the care of Heinse, the famous romance 
 writer ; and in it too was situated the handsome 
 palace chapel, in which the old gentleman used to 
 perform mass every morning at seven o'clock, 
 which was only attended by the Countess Conden- 
 hove and the prince's other favourite, the charm- 
 ing Frau von Ferretti. Both these delightful 
 women, who knew their princely friend so inti- 
 mately in his lay capacity, saw him in this 
 brilliant chapel engaged in an ecclesiastical office, 
 for which he had lost none of his former adroitness. 
 Perhaps, too, it was a species of priestly coquetry, 
 on his part, to perform these duties in the presence 
 of his two youthful friends when dressed in the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 101 
 
 richly-embroidered mass robes and richly-laced 
 surplice ; and at the ^^ Domine Vobiscum " to be 
 enabled to spread out his arms towards both at 
 once. But neither the Latin assurance, "the 
 Lord be with you," nor the archiepiscopal blessing 
 conferred at the conclusion of mass, could render 
 the hearts of his two favourites well disposed to one 
 another ; for the two rivals did not yield to such 
 soft impressions as the red velvet cushions on which 
 they knelt, in an apparently amicable manner, by 
 each other's side. 
 
 After mass the Countess retired to her own 
 room, where she gave reception to various officers 
 who brought her information, or to whom she 
 wished to give her commands. The groom of the 
 chamber then laid before her all the letters which 
 had been delivered for the prince, either from the 
 post or the town, an arrangement she had herself 
 lately made, when she found that the Elector began 
 to keep things secret from her. 
 
 "Mon Dieu!" she sighed, so loudly that the 
 groom could hear her, '^ the number increases 
 every day. I cannot imagine, for my part, why 
 the Elector begs me to keep a list of all the letters 
 that arrive — here are state affairs among them. 
 Wait a minute or two, Bibersheimer.'' 
 
 She retired into her cabinet, and, seated at her 
 mahogany escritoire, rapidly examined the ad-
 
 102 FIDES, OR 
 
 dresses and seals, tried to open some of the letters in 
 a manner that would escape detection, and locked 
 away tw^o, about which she seemed doubtful, in 
 her desk. 
 
 ^' There were nine letters, your Grace," remarked 
 the servant, as he received them back. 
 
 ^^ Quite true," she replied, carelessly ; ^^ the two 
 missing I will myself deliver to the Elector. By- 
 the-by, you are a very decent servant, that you 
 show by your attention to orders. I shall probably 
 Jiave important matters to intrust you with, and 
 may have an opportunity to call you to mind." 
 
 Bibersheimer bowed and retired. In the pass- 
 age Garzweiler was awaiting his return. 
 
 ^^ She has again kept two back," the old 
 servant muttered. 
 
 '^ Quite right, my friend !" whispered the priest, 
 Avhile passing the letters backwards and forwards 
 through his fingers. ^' The correspondence she 
 has retained is from Berlin, and is of great conse- 
 (juence. Oh ! she'll deliver them herself, you say, 
 Bibersheimer? Well, it will be all right, I dare- 
 say. Always do your duty, good old man !" 
 
 He then sent in his name to the Countess. She 
 had not seen him since her quarrel with him at her 
 own residence. 
 
 '^ You, Father Ignatius ?" she exclaimed, with a 
 sarcastic smile.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 103 
 
 *^ You seem astonished, gracious lady ! Have 
 we not matter of greater importance to discuss 
 than being angry with one another about a few 
 intemperate speeches ?" 
 
 She looked at him, as if she wished to see into 
 his very soul ; then offered him her hand, which he 
 kissed with reverence. 
 
 '^You've some good news, Garzweiler?" said 
 the Countess, anxiously. 
 
 •^ I have a variety, but I must wait for Bishop 
 Hildebrandj who is going to the Conference. A 
 Te Deum is to be held to-morrow, in honour of our 
 victory over the Liegois Patriots, and I wish to 
 know whether the Elector intends confessing.'' 
 
 " He does so," said the Countess. ^' He in- 
 formed me of it before mass. There may be some- 
 thing or other which you may consider it necessary 
 for him to assent to before granting him absolution. 
 We must try " 
 
 *^To instil something good into him in this 
 manner," said Garzweiler. 
 
 ^^Why do you smile so roguishly, Father Ig- 
 natius ?" asked the lady. 
 
 "Not roguishly, gracious lady. I only agree 
 with you in regretting that this is the only method 
 left open to us. The only chance left us is to take 
 advantage when he confesses his weaknesses. Do 
 you now see, most gracious Countess, how neces-
 
 104 
 
 sary it is that we should understand each other ? 
 By the way, have any letters arrived from Berlin?" 
 
 ^^Two. Bibersheimer has just carried them away." 
 
 Garzweiler smiled. 
 
 " From Vienna," he continued, " I have re- 
 ceived information that the Emperor Leopold has 
 entered into arrangements with those parties who 
 surround the King of Prussia with Pietists. You, 
 gracious lady, I believe, wish to form an acquaint- 
 ance with the Countess von Lichtenau ?" 
 
 " I ?" cried the Countess. ^' I wish such a 
 thing ! This is another of your insinuations ! 
 What can you be thinking of ? I wish to make 
 the acquaintance of this French-horn player's 
 daughter !" 
 
 ^^ Formerly perhaps not !" replied Garzweiler ; 
 ^^ but Mamselle Enke is now, as Countess Lich- 
 tenau, the first person in the Empire. She is 
 
 the king's , and her son's title is Count de la 
 
 Mark. In short, do you only wish what is purely 
 moral ? But we, I think, are engaged in politics, 
 and our best plan is to go straight to the fountain- 
 head — to this Lichtenau. Li truth. Countess, as 
 long as we possess nothing by which to separate 
 the Elector from Prussia, and bind him firmly to 
 Austria, in spite of my warning scruples as to this 
 union of the Catholic metropolitan of Germany 
 and the head of Protestantism "
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 105 
 
 " Scruples ! They will have no weight with the 
 Elector!" cried the Countess, with a laugh; ^'they 
 will not deceive him. There you are right ; they 
 will aiFect him as little as I believe you to be an 
 honest and upright man." 
 
 *^ Pray do not insult me, Countess," exclaimed 
 Garzweiler, seriously. '^ My hatred of Protestant- 
 ism is sincere and lasting, and this separation from 
 Rome I regard as a second deluge. Do not smile ; 
 you misunderstand me — I am speaking of a politi- 
 cal deluge. I will not go so far as to say that 
 truth and religion can only exist through Eome, 
 for I do not believe it, though you might wish me 
 to say so." 
 
 ^^I don't quite understand you," said the 
 Countess ; ** you speak too philosophically for me. 
 But, to return to matters more nearly affecting 
 ourselves, we must search for other devices when 
 religion loses her hold on the Elector. How far 
 have you got with the young Baron ?" 
 
 The cunning priest, who put little trust in this 
 seeming confidence on the part of the Countess, 
 smiled at this question, which he had long been 
 expecting. 
 
 '' I despair of ever being able to make a propo- 
 sition to him, which might only outrage his feelings, 
 for he has but lately made solemn promises to the 
 Elector of alle^fiance and silence ; and shall I at
 
 106 FIDES, OR 
 
 • 
 
 such a moment expect him to impart to us the 
 correspondence and secrets of the cabinet ?" 
 
 " Oh ! heavens ! have all your stratagems really 
 failed in their effort, father ? AYell, then, I must 
 take him in hand. I am sure I can manage 
 him.'' 
 
 " Honoured lady, I must strike my flag to 
 you.'' 
 
 *' You, hater of love as you are, shall yet 
 learn what power Cupid possesses in politics," she 
 exclaimed, carried away by her own idea. 
 
 ^* Certainly, with a young man like Baron Wall- 
 brun," said Garzweiler, searchingly. 
 
 ^^ I will ensnare him by what you most fear — his 
 enthusiasm." 
 
 " You, Countess! Oh ! yes, a very good thought 
 — you possess sufiicient charms." 
 
 " We — we will, I say — I and a wealthy " 
 
 She was silent through her fear of betraying her- 
 self ; but Garzweiler completed the sentence with 
 the drily-spoken word, *^ marriage ?" 
 
 The Countess blushed deeply, but, quickly re- 
 covering herself, exclaimed, 
 
 ^* Ha ! no bad idea ! Do you know a f[,ood jjartie 
 for him?" 
 
 " Is there no Hatzfelds left ?" replied Garzweiler 
 with a scornful smile. 
 
 Just as the lady, in her anger, was about to an-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 107 
 
 swer him sharply, they were interrupted by the 
 Suffragan Heinus, and the Privy-Councillor of 
 State, Yon Muller, who had just left the Elector's 
 presence, and wished to pay the Countess a visit. 
 
 The Countess begged to apolgize for being com- 
 pelled to leave them for a short time, as she had 
 a little business to transact with her Father Con- 
 fessor, and then accompanied Garzweiler into her 
 boudoir. They soon returned again, and the Coun- 
 tess said, 
 
 " The extraordinary council of to-day must be 
 owing to some very weighty matter ?" 
 
 Heinus was silent, as if he had not heard her 
 question, but Muller replied with a courteous bow, 
 
 "Yesterday evening's post from Paris brought 
 us the fine constitution the good King Louis was 
 compelled to swear to on the 14th of this month. 
 The Legislative Assembly is the first to infringe it 
 by its decrees against the emigres J^ 
 
 Garzweiler laughingly interrupted him by saying, 
 as he rose to take leave, 
 
 "Our boatmen seem to know ajl about these de- 
 mands, for they have begun discharging cargo al- 
 ready, as they term it." 
 
 " Garzweiler !" the Countess exclaimed in terror. 
 " Father Ignatius, have you already heard of this 
 occurrence ? I must entreat you to keep it a 
 secret from the Elector — let us not cause him any
 
 108 
 
 annoyance. I have already, on that account, 
 written to the police to order them to take no fur- 
 ther steps in the matter." 
 
 " 1 know very well what a favourite custom it 
 is in Mayence to hush up disagreeable events," said 
 Garzweiler, in a sharp tone, as he retired to look 
 for Baron Francis. 
 
 The latter sat, in expectation of a summons to 
 the council, in his accustomed room in the old 
 palace, engaged in copying a parchment document, 
 while the forefinger of his left hand rested on the 
 customary formula ** In fidem, etc.," which his heart 
 translated ^' To Fides," and love's spring seemed to 
 bloom in the discoloured parchment. While pur- 
 suing this fanciful idea, he was startled by the 
 priest's gentle entrance. 
 
 '^ The council is postponed. Baron," he said, in 
 a friendly tone of intimacy. " I have just left the 
 Elector, who is suffering from headache, and has 
 sent for Dr. Hoffmann." 
 
 He seated himself in a fauteuil, and told him all 
 the news he had heard in the city, in order — as if 
 accidentally — to direct the conversation to Montle- 
 veau's accident. 
 
 " I warned him," said Francis, laughingly, and 
 Garzweiler laughed with him. '' Apropos of 
 Yauxhall," he then exclaimed, '' I remember now 
 what I came to tell you of. I wanted to let you
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 109 
 
 know that you have made an old friend of your 
 deceased father's very happy ; he takes an honour- 
 able interest in your future fate, admires your 
 talent, your statesman-like views, and prophesies for 
 you a distinguished career — even a more distin- 
 guised one than your father's." 
 
 ^* Erasmus Lennig," said Francis with a smile. 
 
 *' You have guessed rightly ; a very little while 
 ago he was complaining he no longer had the honour 
 of your acquaintance ; but now that you have con- 
 versed with him, do you not intend to visit him ? 
 — or will you allow him to pay his respects to you ?" 
 
 *' Ah ! the good man has too many fancies 
 about Germany for me," answered Francis, disdain- 
 fully ; ^' and he speaks about the Elector and the 
 court more freely in my presence than befits his 
 station." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly. Baron — we often find 
 among subordinate ofiicials many who forget the 
 saying, ' Ne sutor ultra crepidam,' but I thought 
 you might visit him for your deceased father's 
 sake. He is, besides, an obedient subject of the 
 Elector, in spite of the many few speakers now so 
 prevalent in Mayence, and is a declared enemy to 
 the revolutionary faction. I wish Lennig had a 
 son for whom you could do something." 
 
 ^' No, he has no children — I asked him," re- 
 marked the Baron.
 
 110 FIDES, OR 
 
 ^^ Pardon me, Baron, he has " 
 
 " Yes, yes, you're right, father, he has a daugh- 
 ter. I remember now, he told me so/' said 
 Francis. 
 
 " But she is his all — the beauteous Fides is his 
 pride, his " 
 
 "What! Fides, Lennig's daughter?" exclaimed 
 the Baron, turning slightly pale and rising from 
 his seat. 
 
 Garzweiler clasped his hands with a shake of 
 the head, and burst into a loud laugh ; the Baron 
 retreated in surprise. 
 
 " There you have the clever ecclesiastic exposed 
 in all his nakedness !" exclaimed Garzweiler, still 
 laughing good-humouredly. "I began to reflect 
 when I noticed your astonishment ; yoti surely re- 
 member the repugnance I showed to tell you the 
 surname of the apparition ; and now I have let it 
 fall so carelessly. You see, therefore, that cunning 
 and devising are of no service to me. Well ! well ! 
 the misfortune is not irremediable. In the first 
 moment I only thought of the light intrigues of 
 our younger, and, sorry I am to say it, elder noble- 
 men in Mayence ; but I know your noble hearts, 
 your virtuous sentiments, and, may I add, your 
 poetical temperament." 
 
 He walked once or twice up and down the 
 room, then stopped before the writing-table, and
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. Ill 
 
 asked the young man, as if wishing to turn the 
 conversation, 
 
 "What documents have you before you, my 
 dear Baron ?" 
 
 Francis cursorily informed him of the contents 
 of the parchment ; but it was easy to see that the 
 young man had been inwardly moved by the priest's 
 words. 
 
 " Old documents," continued Garzweiler, " bear 
 the same reference to the official acts of the pre- 
 sent day that history does to the newspapers. I, 
 for my part, should feel great interest in the pre- 
 sent state of matters, as I should be enabled to 
 make my observations about the future. Were I 
 in your place, Baron, I should lay up a collection 
 of copies of the more important notes and corre- 
 spondence which now pass through your hands. , 
 What recollections they would be for future years, 
 when the proceedings of the Cabinet become historic 
 facts ; you would be able to enjoy their component 
 parts — like preserved fruits." 
 
 " That is no bad thought, worthy father," said 
 Francis. " You are quite right ; in observing the 
 past, we are too often apt to neglect the pre- 
 sent." 
 
 " Very true," replied Garzweiler, with an affec- 
 tation of indifference ; " you have the fairest op- 
 portunities of doing what I advise — for I believe
 
 112 FIDES, OR 
 
 the Elector imparts to you all his diplomatic ar- 
 rangements." 
 
 " He shews me great confidence ; but whether 
 all his correspondence " 
 
 " Doubtlessly," said Garzweiler in a tone of assur- 
 ance. ^^ I offered him my head as a pledge for 
 you ; but that. Baron, was a trifle, for I am so 
 intimately acquainted with your character — be- 
 sides, you have a plain proof of his confidence in 
 you, by his leaving you frequently alone in his 
 Cabinet, where his most secret papers lie in the 
 left-hand drawer of his writing-table, — but this you 
 perhaps know as well as I. The Elector generally 
 reads me the most important notes, although I do 
 not feel the slightest interest in such matters ; but 
 he lives and moves in them, and is becoming as 
 scrupulous in his politics as he formerly was in his 
 morality." 
 
 *' Your proposal pleases me much," remarked 
 Francis ; '^ but I must beg the Elector's permis- 
 sion before I can venture to take copies of such 
 weighty diplomatic papers." 
 
 ^' I would not advise you to do so, dear Baron, 
 for a man who asks his road too often is sure, in 
 the end, to go the longest way round." 
 
 "Then Fd rather let the matter rest." 
 
 " Dear Baron," said Garzweiler laughingly, '' in 
 medio virtus. Fray accept one piece of advice,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 113 
 
 which may be useful to you in your diplomatic 
 career, from a man who has regarded life in all its 
 varied phases — seek to become independent as 
 soon as you can, even when in service. Obedience 
 is well, but let it be measured by your own value. 
 See now ! there is only one way of distinguishing 
 a free and noble-minded man from a mere servile 
 follower — that the former, even in the service of 
 his prince, remains ever master of his own actions 
 and manner of thinking. Make a commencement, 
 then, to acquire such noble independence through 
 this splendid collection of copies — a time will 
 surely come when you will feel grateful for my 
 advice. Now I am only speaking for your in- 
 terest, and leave my own quite out of sight.'' 
 
 " What do you say ?" remarked the Baron, 
 struck with his words. " You have also an interest 
 in my doing so ?" 
 
 *^ Certainly ; when I advised you to this step I 
 had some slight thought of my own advantage. 
 To tell the truth, there are various State matters 
 which I do not clearly understand, and to which 
 the Elector often recurs when at confession. In 
 matters of morality, I trust I possess a clear per- 
 ception ; but in politics The Elector, however, 
 
 often regards his political movements in reference 
 to the good or evil arising from them to his sub- 
 jects ; in short, looks at them in a moral point 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 114 ^ FIDES, OR 
 
 of view, and is frequently in doubt about them. 
 In these circumstances I thought of you. You can 
 explain many points to me, and give me the power 
 of advising the Elector with a clear and conscious 
 perception of them ; for whenever I examine your 
 quotations from diplomatic papers many scruples 
 will occur to me, which the prince has laid before 
 me in the confessional, and to satisfy which I was 
 often compelled to beg for time. Even just now, 
 as I left the Elector, mention was made of a French 
 despatch regarding the emigres — you will hear of 
 it in the Council ; I have already been informed 
 of it. The Elector seems very anxious about the 
 French demands, and is very likely to bring them 
 forward at confession this afternoon. What great 
 influence you, my young and noble friend, will 
 gain through me for the good and righteous cause!'' 
 
 Francis gave the priest his hand saying, as he 
 took leave, ^' What a pleasant conversation I have 
 to thank you for !" 
 
 " Nothing which did not arise from yourself, 
 my dear Baron," said Garzweiler ; '' they were 
 merely closely-allied subjects, and that parchment 
 on the table connects them all. 'Tis a deed in 
 Fidem : and we have only spoken of documents 
 and Fides Lennig. I have not been so cheerful or 
 happily disposed for a long time ; but of course, 
 Baron, our conversation remains a secret between 
 ourselves."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 115 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The priest had his own cunning reasons for the 
 cheerful disposition in which he had taken leave of 
 the young Baron ; but it only lasted during his 
 walk across the Place before the palace. 
 
 He returned home about midday. Exhausted by 
 his exertions to keep up his haughty carriage and 
 lofty demeanour in the streets, he breathed out his 
 fatigue beneath the shelter of his own porch, till, 
 on hearing his old housekeeper, Ursula, coming 
 towards him, he quickly recovered himself. Cleanly 
 in person, as all his dependants were obliged to be, 
 she knelt before him with folded hands, and begged 
 his apostolic blessing. She said, 
 
 ^' Your reverence will be satisfied with the par- 
 tridges, for I know now how many Ave Marias I 
 can pray before they are done nice and brown ; but 
 for all that, I am not worthy to serve you — bless 
 me, that I may become so.'* 
 
 Garzweiler generally implanted and fostered the 
 growth of such reverence in his dependants, for 
 he considered it an absolute necessity to refresh 
 
 I 2
 
 116 FIDES, OR 
 
 himself by such honours, for the torture he felt at 
 his own humility towards men of rank. In his 
 present humour, however, he murmured over his 
 hands stretched out to bless her, '^ God has blessed 
 you with folly, you dear old animal ; and your 
 stupidity is your good fortune. '^ 
 
 ^' Yes, we have need of good fortune and bless- 
 ings,'^ sighed Ursula, wiping her tearless eyes with 
 her white apron ; and then continued hastily, " I 
 bought two famous capons at market, and a 
 splendid haunch of venison — you can invite your 
 reverend friends.'^ 
 
 Garzweiler mounted the stairs without giving 
 her any reply. 
 
 " Will your reverence drink Rauenthaler or Bur- 
 gundy with your dinner ?" 
 
 Ursula still received no answer, and hastened on 
 before to open the door for him. 
 
 ^^ There is a letter come, too, from Oestrich," 
 she continued. 
 
 "A letter from Oestrich !" he cried, with sudden 
 cheerfulness ; but quickly added, in a severe tone, 
 '^ who told you it came from Oestrich ?" 
 
 ^^ It's the same pretty handwriting as the other, 
 and smells of mignonette," was the reply. While 
 Garzweiler, in pleasing excitement, was hurrying 
 towards his study, she added, *' I want some money 
 to buy fruit, your reverence."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 117 
 
 Full of thought on other things, he gave her the 
 key of his secretoire, and locked the door of his 
 study after him. 
 
 Ursula sprung all at once, with the agility of a 
 young woman, to the desk, and turned her head 
 with a cunning look towards the door ; she then 
 took two or three thalers from a drawer, which she 
 hid in her hosom, and afterwards took up some 
 small change from a basket. Then slamming the 
 secretoire, she locked it, and showed the priest the 
 change, on handing him the key. 
 
 " This letter must have been delivered yester- 
 day," scolded Garzweiler ; *' you grow more for- 
 getful every day. Bring up the dinner, and a 
 bottle of Burgundy." 
 
 Ursula hurried out of the room, and while going 
 downstairs, she muttered, " Of course it came yes- 
 terday ; but yesterday wasn't Saturday, and I 
 couldn't ask for market money. How impatient he 
 always is for these letters from Oestrich. I wonder 
 whom they come from ; but I'll warrant I find out 
 some of these days, for the old rogue seems to 
 loose his senses when he reads them. At what 
 other time would he trust me with the key of 
 his desk, if I didn't take advantage of such mo- 
 ments ?" 
 
 Garzweiler, in the meanwhile, was leaning on 
 the window sill, reading a lengthy letter, partly
 
 118 
 
 to himself, partly aloud. After some domestic 
 news, the letter went on thus — 
 
 " Nazi managed to toddle across the whole 
 room by himself yesterday ; you can imagine what 
 rejoicing there was about it. With extended arms 
 I enticed my tottering darling to come on ; and as 
 he waddled toward me, half pleased and half 
 frightened, I kept moving further back from him. 
 He stretched his little round arms to me, and 
 managed to advance on his dear little legs, till he 
 stumbled and fell into my expecting lap. At first 
 my cherub was going to cry at his fall, but when 
 he found himself safe in my arms, he crowed with 
 pleasure. 1 tossed him up in the air with delight, 
 and he kicked about in high glee. What a pity 
 it was my dear husband was not at home to enjoy 
 the scene, for Nazi has not dared to make the 
 attempt since ! Pray visit us again soon, dear 
 uncle, and join in our delight. What a time it is 
 since you were last at Oestrich ; and the vintage 
 is now so pleasant. We could not, it is true, show 
 you a vineyard of our own, but grapes you should 
 have, and those the very best. If we only had the 
 money, my husband could now buy a famous piece 
 of ground which the Baroness von Wallbrun offers 
 for sale, as it lies too far from her other property. 
 But now, adieu ! Pray come soon to see us, and 
 share in our happiness.'^
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 119 
 
 Garzweiler paused — he was deeply affected — with 
 the letter in his hand ; he walked hastily up and 
 down the room, and at last he spoke, as if led away 
 by the determination he had formed. 
 
 " Yes, I will come. Away with all high-soaring 
 plans, with their tortuous and lying politics, with 
 all the hypocrisy of pompous servitude ! What 
 care I for revolutions and Kome^s authority ? 
 With thee, Gertrude, and thy children, will I live. 
 Thy hearth shall be my altar; in the Trinity, 
 nature, family, affection, will I believe, and spend 
 my days in a blessed retreat with them. But I 
 will be known," he continued, after walking several 
 times violently up and down the room; "no longer 
 will I be called uncle ! No ; I will call thee my 
 daughter, and will see my grandchildren sporting 
 round me." 
 
 In terror at his own vehemence, he gently folded 
 up the letter, and as he hid it in his pocket, held 
 his breath to hear if any one was listening, and 
 then opened the door, walking with a firm step, 
 and looked out into the corridor ; but no one had 
 overheard him. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE FIRST.
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 MADAME THERESE.
 
 123 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In one of the newly-built houses opposite the uni- 
 versity, sat Madame Therese Forster in a fauteuil 
 at the drawing-room window. A few books had 
 been collected on the little work-table at which 
 Madame Forster was seated; her knitting-work was 
 also on it, and a half-finished child's sock. She 
 was still dressed in a morning- wrapper, though the 
 afternoon was far advanced. In truth, the phy- 
 sician was sitting near her, with his hand on her 
 pulse. He first finished a prescription he was 
 writing, and then continued to give her some ad- 
 vice — counselling her, among other things, to go out 
 the next day, and to continue doing so for the rest 
 of the month, to accustom her susceptible chest 
 by the mild and still October air to the severity of 
 winter. 
 
 With a liveliness peculiar to herself, and a glance 
 through the window into the large garden opposite, 
 Madame Forster inquired, 
 
 ** Is it so absolutely necessary that I should go in 
 pursuit of fresh air ? Count Schonborn is so gra-
 
 124 FIDES, OR 
 
 cious as to allow me the finest air from his garden 
 in abuixlance."' 
 
 " Indeed ! that, while enjoying it, you might be 
 able to enjoy your reading too," said Wedekind, 
 in a rather discontented tone ; " but cannot such a 
 clever woman as yourself perceive the difference, 
 whether a weak chest inhales its proper modicum 
 of fresh air, while reading or while in motion ? 
 Ah ! these books about you, and the passionate ex- 
 citement you display in everything '^ 
 
 He raised his forefinger as if threatening her, 
 and turned to leave. 
 
 ^^Pray set your mind at rest, doctor," said 
 Therese, laughingly ; " Til walk frequently and 
 much in the open air, and read something very in- 
 flated at the same time — as, for instance, declama- 
 tions about Liberty and Equality, which can be 
 bought so good and cheap just at present. Dear 
 doctor, I am sure you can have nothing to say 
 against such reading, for I know that physicians 
 are not willing to refuse their patients what they 
 are themselves so fond of eating and drinking." 
 
 Wedekind shook his head with a smile, and bowed 
 to take leave. 
 
 Therese sank in deep reflection into her fauteuil, 
 with her head supported on her arm. In the midst 
 of her thoughts, she heard a loud knock at the 
 door, and Baron Francis entered the room.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 125 
 
 " You have been ill, dearest madame," he said, 
 while noticing the change in her. 
 
 *^ Ah !" she said, ^^ I might be ill and get well 
 again, or even die, before you would come and see 
 me, Baron.'' 
 
 '' Oh ! no," he replied, and offered her his hand 
 as if to ask for forgiveness. 
 
 " This time I was only attacked by a slight 
 fever," she said with a smile, and pointed to a 
 chair ; " but you appear very happy to-day ?'' 
 
 " Oh ! yes ; only guess where I have been 
 dining," he asked, as he leaned forward and 
 looked into her eyes. 
 
 Madame Therese, enlivened by the young man^s 
 fresh and happy manner, humoured the jest, and 
 guessed from the palace downwards, through a list 
 of the first families. 
 
 ^^ None of these," he said with a laugh ; '* you 
 must think of a pewter plate." 
 
 *'Ah! ye gods !" she exclaimed, "that is another 
 proof of my shortness of vision. I ought to have seen 
 at the very first glance that you had been dining 
 with Fides, for I have not found you so cheerful 
 for a long time. Then you already stand on such 
 friendly terms with her ?" 
 
 " In truth," he replied with a bashful smile, " I 
 hardly know myself how I happened to accept this
 
 126 FIDES, OR 
 
 invitation. My mother is at present on her estate 
 in the Kheingau, near Oestrich." 
 
 ^^ And so you thought for once you would try a 
 bourgeois table ?" continued Madame Therese, 
 maliciously. 
 
 ^' The honour was properly intended for my de- 
 ceased father's son !" said the Baron with a smile. 
 
 '" Tell me how Papa Lennig behaves on your 
 visits r 
 
 *^ Oh ! the good man always receives me 
 solemnly, as the son of his old and kind friend ; he 
 seems to know nothing of my meetings with Fides. 
 Do you really think she has not told him of 
 them r 
 
 '^ I believe so," said Madame Therese. 
 
 ^' You believe so ! But Fides did not appear so 
 indifferent " 
 
 ^^ No, dear Baron, you must not regard her 
 silence as indifference — on the contrary, we women 
 understand this better. Your meetings with her 
 are the first wonder-working images placed in 
 the holy of holies of the maiden's heart, and, like 
 high mysteries, are concealed by a veil. Oh ! how 
 happy would she feel, could she but speak about 
 them. But whenever she opens her lips, and 
 seeks for words to express them, she is terrified at 
 finding no peculiar language in which to describe 
 her feelings, and she can give them no better
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 127 
 
 clothing than any other e very-day occurrence, and 
 for this reason she keeps them concealed, to save 
 them from profanation. But do you not think this 
 is one of my visionary days? And Madame 
 Lennig " 
 
 *' Is a very pious, but, for all that, very sensible 
 woman," replied the Baron, ^' if she had not such 
 servile ways with her. The father is much more 
 at his ease ; we conversed about matters of business, 
 Germany " 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! you rogue !" said Madame Forster, 
 laughingly, as she held up her finger at him. 
 
 **No,no,dear madame, this time I speak seriously. 
 About politics he certainly entertains wondrous 
 notions, and I do not understand exactly what 
 he means by the * German nation !' We have, as 
 you know, an Emperor, who receives from his 
 empire 13,884 florins, which is about as much as 
 his authority is worth; eight Electors, one hundred 
 spiritual and temporal Princes, ninety Counts, and 
 about one thousand five hundred knights, possessed 
 of feudal rights within their own territories. What, 
 then, is the ^ German nation ?' But I like to hear 
 him talk about Mayence ; he tells me many anec- 
 dotes of my father, and throws a light on many 
 events now nearly forgotten." 
 
 Another knock was now heard at the door, and 
 Therese stood up restlessly.
 
 128 FIDES, OR 
 
 "Pray do not forget my husband," she said. 
 " Go up to his study, Baron, and persuade him to 
 come down with you." 
 
 The Baron hastened up-stairs.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 129 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Therese turned with fixed attention towards the 
 door, as if she wished to discover her visitor by his 
 step. She was right in her conjecture, and ad- 
 vanced to the middle of the room to meet him. A 
 young man entered the room, carefully dressed, 
 but of ordinary appearance, and with a face blanched 
 by the close atmosphere of a study. 
 
 ^^ Ferdinand ! " she said, welcoming him with 
 an exclamation which seemed less loud than cor- 
 dial. 
 
 He seized her extended hand and looked smil- 
 ingly into her face; they stood thus for a short space, 
 as if they could understand one another without 
 speaking. 
 
 *' I am quite recovered," Madame Forster said. 
 
 ^' My sorrow is now like a mist which melts be- 
 fore the sun into dewy pearls !" exclaimed Huber, 
 as he knelt down and pressed Therese's hot hand 
 on his forehead, either to make the dark mist 
 apparent to her, or, more probably, by his prostra- 
 tion, to wrestle with his inward emotion. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 FIDES, OR 
 
 Therese raised him gently from his suppliant 
 posture; he quickly extended .his arms towards 
 her, but just as quicldy she turned away with a 
 motion of her hand, and resumed her seat at the 
 window. He seated himself by her side. Both 
 hurriedly discussed the events of the last eight 
 days, which Madame Therese had been compelled 
 to pass in bed. 
 
 A deep and inward connection between the 
 lady and gentleman was evident in all they said or 
 did. The word '' friendship " w^as not, perhaps, 
 rich enough to describe such a sympathy, or was, 
 perhaps, too often profaned to seem worthy of it. 
 At least this union of two highly-favoured and 
 well-educated persons was far from resembling 
 those connections between prelates and ladies in 
 the Mayence of that day, which men honoured with 
 the name of friendship. 
 
 The tender bond had been connected uncon- 
 sciously and imperceptibly between them. Huber, 
 led away by the remarkable personal attractions of 
 Forster and his wife, as well as by the literary at- 
 mosphere they had created round themselves, had 
 become one of the family in a very short space of 
 time. The young man's friendship took a very 
 unusual road to Therese's heart, for he did not 
 display the mere homage of a courtier to all that 
 was admirable in this remarkable woman, but the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 131 
 
 honourable sympathy of a sensible man who did 
 his utmost to make an easy home for Forster and 
 his wife. Therese possessed a very slight know- 
 ledge of domestic affairs, and felt too much embar- 
 rassing delicacy to enter into any understanding on 
 the subject with her husband, who regarded money 
 as too trivial a matter to demand any consideration 
 in its expenditure ; and so, in spite of their very 
 competent income, one domestic trouble followed 
 on the other. This state of things could not loner 
 escape the notice of their intimate friend^ and the 
 Secretary of the Embassy had sufficient diplomatic 
 skill to be able to assist without insulting. He 
 gained the wife's tenderest confidence while dis- 
 playing her husband's weak side to her in a sym- 
 pathizing and advising manner. In this w^ay he 
 gained, without intention or reflection, a remark- 
 able victory over the wife's feelings of delicacy in 
 household matters^ which she displayed towards 
 her husband, and he was greatly favoured in it by 
 being of the same age as Therese, who regarded 
 him as a brother. It did Huber's heart good to 
 see his friend happy and free from care, and, at 
 the same time^ to evince his gratitude towards a 
 family in whose circle he enjoyed such agreeable 
 society, while Forster's forgetfulness, and Therese's 
 delicacy towards her husband, favoured his di- 
 plomacy. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 
 
 ^^ How strangely things happen, dear Huber," 
 said Madame Forster ; ^* at first, as a girl, I felt 
 an affection for the great traveller before I had 
 ever seen him ; but when he, the celebrated man, 
 at whom all were amazed, was introduced into our 
 family circle, I soon felt I should belong to him, 
 till, with the naiveness he so charmingly describes 
 as existing among the South Sea Islanders, he asked 
 my hand. See, dear Huber, this hand which 
 manages afi'airs so badly in the quiet household, 
 disturbed and disarranged as it is by the inordinate 
 wants of the circumnavigator. My unfitness for 
 managing may cause a horrible misfortune. No, 
 no, I am not the woman to render a noble-minded 
 man like Forster happy. God ! — God !" 
 
 With the passion she displayed in every action, 
 she threw herself on the sofa and wrung her hands. 
 
 Huber, affected by this sudden change, tried to 
 restore his weeping friend to her former calmness. 
 He spoke sensibly and kindly to her, and more by 
 assent than by contradiction, induced her to re- 
 turn to her seat at the window. Here she sat 
 some time in silence, with her handkerchief pressed 
 to her eyes ; and Huber, trusting in the buoyancy 
 of her heart, did not disturb her. 
 
 " Do not misunderstand me, my friend?" she then 
 exclaimed. ^^ Do not despise me, dear Huber, but 
 assist me in making George happy."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 133 
 
 She offered him her hand without looking at 
 him, and then continued — 
 
 ^* 'Tis a pity I am so little conversant with all 
 it behoves a wife to know ; but consider, dear 
 Huber, how I was brought up. My mother was 
 for many years suffering and melancholy, and I 
 was left to myself from my earliest hours. The 
 garden of the house at Gottingen, allotted for my 
 playground, was so desolate and neglected, that the 
 air and the sky possessed more attractions for me 
 than the study of the nature of pot-herbs. In the 
 corner of the room, however, when I was com- 
 pelled to play by myself, I forgot my doll and 
 earthenware tea-service in listening whenever Herder 
 read Kiopstock's '^Messiah" at my mother's work- 
 table, or our friend Balle translated Homer to her. 
 The lively conversation which Count Stolberg * 
 and others enjoyed with my father and mother, 
 gave me sufficient occupation. I was only twelve 
 years old when my mother died ; my father, sor- 
 rowing and spiritless, only smiled when I fastened 
 myself to his side and read him little stories or 
 travels ; his second wife, though an affectionate 
 friend to me, was still no mother. After my con- 
 firmation, I accompanied her into society, and 
 amused myself with the astonishment I excited in 
 the young men by my independent manner of 
 thinking, my forward remarks and careless de-
 
 134 FIDES, OR 
 
 raeanour, when I ought to have modestly listened 
 and learned how to make a pudding ; and when 
 Forster took me to his heart — the maiden who 
 so enthusiastically admired him — and I accom- 
 panied him to his house in Poland, then I glowed 
 with the fire of his genius, without reflecting that 
 my cold heart might freeze him ; and, in Mayence 
 — dear Huber, my George's comprehensive spirit, 
 his high mind, his golden character — must we not 
 admire them ?" 
 
 In strange excitement, and as if fearing internal 
 contradiction, she leaned her head back on the 
 arm which Huber had placed on the back of her 
 chair, and looked up in his face with a painful 
 smile. 
 
 ^^ Ah ! our Forster is a splendid man !" ex- 
 claimed Huber, with a slightly wandering expres- 
 sion in his voice and look. 
 
 "Huber," continued Therese, rising from her 
 seat, " promise me this one thing in the hour of 
 our confidence ; let it be the oblation for my re- 
 covery — second me in making George happy. 
 Huber, pray assist me !" 
 
 She offered him her hand as if demanding his 
 promise; he seized it with avidity, and while press- 
 ing it with fervour to his lips, assured her, 
 
 " I consecrate my whole person jind powers to 
 your service. Whatever may happen to you, where-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 135 
 
 ever heaven or your heart may lead you, I will 
 follow you — let it be the duty of my life to belong 
 to you — may God " 
 
 " Some one is coming ! '' cried Therese, as she 
 suddenly took up her knitting. 
 
 Huber crossed his hands behind his back, and 
 walked up and down the room.
 
 136 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FoRSTER entered the room with Baron Francis, en- 
 gaged in a conversation as to some curiosities from 
 the South Seas on which his young friend had re- 
 quested information. Huber quickly joined them, 
 while Therese, contrary to her usual custom, took 
 no part in the discussion. A feeling of constraint 
 at her husband's presence, a shame of which she 
 did not clearly know the cause, induced her to pay 
 unremitting attention to her preparations at the 
 tea-table, when, otherwise, she would have been 
 the first to join in the conversation. 
 
 Forster, though generally silent, and often pre- 
 occupied, appeared only to wait an idea to be ex- 
 pressed in order to speak easily, clearly, and con- 
 nectedly. The French Revolution had lately ap- 
 peared on the horizon of his visionary sympathy. 
 While in Paris during the preceding year, he had 
 been a witness of its first quickening movements, 
 and the impression then made on him long held 
 possession of his mind after he had seen its later 
 and more dreadful development. His friend
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 137 
 
 Huber did not, however, share in these transports. 
 Both, therefore, gladly avoided the topic when to- 
 gether, and preferred to converse on literary sub- 
 jects. 
 
 On this day, however. Baron Francis turned the 
 conversation on politics, which had now gained as 
 much attraction for him as poetry had lately done. 
 Francis might congratulate himself on having, in a 
 town so full of levity as Mayence, entered a circle so 
 retired as Forster's ; and this had happened entirely 
 through Frau von Condenhove, who had been ac- 
 customed to give little literary soirees, which the 
 Elector often attended. These reunions Avere quite 
 in accordance with her princely friend's taste, and 
 were, at the same time, intended to represent the 
 celebrated literary coterie which had formerly 
 been collected in Paris round Madame Geoffrin, a 
 Defiknt and a I'Espinasse ; and it was specially at 
 these that the. Baron had been aroused to a feeling 
 of interest in Forster. His wife he, however, at first, 
 regarded as a daughter of Heyne's, whom he had 
 known in Gottingen, until in his repeated visits to 
 her house she displayed herself in her true character 
 of a talented and amiable woman. 
 
 A few friends dropped in, as was the usual 
 custom, about tea time — Councillor Sommering, 
 the Hesse Cassel and Hanoverian charges d'affaires 
 as well as several professors. The conversation
 
 138 
 
 soon turned on the causes of the French Eevolu- 
 tion, which quickly awakened the attention of 
 all Harnier expressed his fears for Mayence, and 
 he considered it perfectly in accordance with the 
 Pilnitz conference that the Emperor of Austria 
 and the King of Prussia had forbidden the emigres 
 from enrolling recruits, and making warlike pre- 
 paration in their territories ; and, on that account, 
 it appeared to him a matter of very serious reflec- 
 tion that the Elector of Mayence showed the French 
 exiles such indulgence, especially at the present 
 feeling of the lawgiving assembly in Paris. The 
 French decrees against the emigres and abjuring 
 priests were greatly blamed, and Harnier expressed 
 himself very strongly on the subject in sharp and 
 witty remarks, and tried, by his polite imjjromptus, 
 to vie w4th the somewhat arrogant and aristo- 
 cratic opinions of Herr von Humber. 
 
 Sommering, a man of pleasant appearance, in 
 his exterior remarkably vivacious and continually 
 restless, and who, even in his language, betrayed 
 the scientific and reflecting man, always adhered 
 to a certain mean of political judgment ; and 
 while regarding the revolution as a great phenome- 
 non, was only discontented with the violent acts 
 to which it had given rise. Baron Francis, on the 
 other hand, was naturally impregnated by the 
 political atmosphere which enveloped his prince ;
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 130 
 
 and though the youngest in company, in his con- 
 sciousness of knowing the secrets of the Mayennese 
 Cabinet, he gave his opinion at times rather too 
 decidedly and exclusively, without caring for the 
 astonishment with which Sommering regarded him. 
 Forster's zeal increased when he saw himself de- 
 serted by all. 
 
 They were interrupted by Stadion's entrance 
 into the room. 
 
 ^' Ah ! would I had known you were here," he 
 exclaimed on observing Francis. '^ I have just come 
 from the Schonborn Palace opposite. Baroness 
 Cecilia was there too ; we walked together for some 
 time in the garden, and looked up here. She 
 would have been delighted to inspect your collec- 
 tion, Herr von Forster, but I could not induce her 
 to come in with me, for I fancy she is afraid that 
 Madame Forster " 
 
 '' Oh ! she is a most amiable lady," exclaimed 
 Forster with animation ; '^ a lady full of soul, dear 
 Therese. Her long eyelashes, dark eyes, and 
 mouth " 
 
 ^' Madame Therese, what do you say to this ?" 
 interrupted Stadion ; *^ see how his countenance 
 becomes the mirror of his soul ! How quickly the 
 lady's name has brought his political zeal to a (pu- 
 escent state !" 
 
 '* Oh ! I know all about that, Count," said The-
 
 140 FIDES, OR 
 
 rese, with a cheerful smile, while she handed Sta- 
 dion a cup. ^' I know my husband's success with 
 the fair sex, and how his susceptible heart is in- 
 clined to raise a tender intimacy to the height of 
 visionary friendship." 
 
 '' That is a charming indulgence on your part," 
 exclaimed Sommering. '' Were I not already en- 
 gaged to be married " 
 
 "Are you engaged, Professor?" 
 
 "Yes, Count, you may congratulate him," ex- 
 plained Therese. " Is it not time at six-and-thirty 
 years of age ?" 
 
 " Very good," exclaimed Stadion ; "now you 
 have an opportunity of studying the fairest branch 
 of the tree of knowledge. Pray accept my sincerest 
 congratulations." 
 
 Sommering thanked him, but returned wdth 
 his amiable pertinacity to the point at which he 
 had been interrupted. 
 
 " Yes, were I not engaged to be married, I said 
 just now, but plenty of agreeable men are still left 
 here. I think, gentlemen, we must now allow 
 Madame Forster to be left in the lurch by her hus- 
 band, for all his success with the ladies. What's 
 your opinion. Monsieur the Secretary of Lega- 
 tion?" 
 
 This malicious remark was intended for Huber, 
 but it was spoken in too sharp a tone to be re-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 141 
 
 garded as a mere jest, and was perhaps the ex- 
 pression of some secret dissatisaction. 
 
 " Oh ! my wife and I understand one another ; 
 and I am certain that Therese entertains the same 
 feelings as myself. I am never happier, my dear 
 Sommering, than when I think my Therese suffi- 
 ciently cheerful to love everything that is dear and 
 good, wherever she may meet with it. I am, how- 
 ever, certain that she loves me more than any one 
 else — that she could love no man as her husband 
 more than myself, and that she is convinced that 
 with no other could she be happy, under the cir- 
 cumstances in which we are placed." 
 
 A painful silence now seemed to oppress all the 
 company. Francis alone received this explanation 
 as the pure and uncontrolled overflow of a loving 
 heart. The silence would have become very em- 
 barrassing, had not Huber, at the right moment, 
 and with great nonchalance, fetched a book which 
 was lying under his hat, and offered it to 
 Forster's notice. It was the first part of the 
 secret memoirs of the well-known French author 
 Duclos, translated by Huber himself, and published 
 with his remarks. The first volume had just ar- 
 rived from the publisher's at Berlin, and Huber 
 was compelled to give an account of its contents. 
 The evening was spent in the customary cheerful 
 manner, wliile Soumiering took considerable pait
 
 142 FIDES, OR 
 
 in the conversation, as if anxious to sink in oblivion 
 his unsuccessful jest or over-hasty suspicions. 
 
 These evenings spent at Forster's had something 
 in them very attractive for the young Baron ; he 
 appeared ever willingly at their house, and, for a 
 time, very continuously. These hours of mutual 
 conversation took the place of his own studies in the 
 realms of poetry and philosophy, by the sympathy they 
 roused in him for the mighty movements in France. 
 Besides he had found in Madame Forster a confidante 
 such as no other woman in Mayence could have been. 
 Madame Therese, herself engaged in a struggle be- 
 tween duty and affection, regarded all questions of 
 the heart with a peculiar warmth. The prejudices 
 of his education contradicted, his own fresh feelings 
 agreed with this persuasive woman. Without en- 
 tering into any explanation, Therese and Francis 
 had a common struggle to undergo — the one with 
 the duties of marriage, the other with the prejudices 
 of his rank. 
 
 Had Francis continued merely an associate of 
 prelates and nobles, he would have most probably 
 fallen a prey to the constitutional levity of the 
 town ; as it would not have been difficult for him 
 to find ever fresh gratifications for his passions 
 among the fair Mayennese of both higher and lower 
 ]-ank. In one point, too, Therese's influence over 
 the young Baron was especially beneficial to him ;
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MxVYENCE. 143 
 
 for, just as she was inclined to raise love to the 
 rank of empress of her life, so she would never con- 
 sent to its being degraded to a slave of sensual 
 gratification. 
 
 With his heart full of such earnest and visionary 
 feelings, Francis repeated his visits to Lennig's 
 house. The first had been paid just after Garz- 
 weiler's malicious confidence, and he had hastened 
 thither with the petulance caused by his youth and 
 rank; but the bourgeois decorum with which he was 
 countered slightly repelled him. 
 
 Fides met hini with the sure tact of a pure and 
 loving maiden heart. She displayed none of that 
 petulance with which she had repressed the young 
 Baron's politeness at the swinging-ground in Yaux- 
 hall, and which, in truth, she had only assumed to 
 hide her inward feelings from the notice of her 
 companions. Her present modesty and friendly 
 seriousness were unafiected, but she displayed no 
 coquetry, either to betray her silent afiection or 
 challenge her lover's impetuosity. 
 
 Of the four persons of whom the family con- 
 sisted (for the servant was also numbered as a 
 member of it), three could at once explain to them- 
 selves the cause of the Baron's unexpected visit. 
 Barbara guessed, imme<liately on opening the door, 
 who the handsome cavalier must be ; Erasmus was 
 charmed at his kind recollection of him ; and Fides
 
 144 FIDES, OR 
 
 devined who it was by the palpitation of her heart. 
 The mother alone knew nothing, but she was 
 cheered by observing her husband's proud satisfac- 
 tion as soon as the completion of her profuse curt- 
 seys allowed her to look at him. 
 
 Francis, after repeated visits, felt satisfied even 
 with the bourgeois fare which Erasmus set before 
 him, as a requital for the friendship he had received 
 at his father's hands. And, to tell the truth, the 
 invitation to dinner which, in Madame Forster's 
 presence, the Baron attributed to Lennig, had 
 really been desired by and emanated from himself, 
 although he did not like to confess the fact, as he 
 had not entirely got rid of his aristocratic ideas, 
 even while breathing a bourgeois atmosphere. 
 When he was in the company of his equals in rank, 
 he thought with repugnance on his visits to 
 Lennig, and would not have liked to hear them 
 mentioned ; and though he regarded Fides with 
 those deep and pure sentiments which the free 
 power of beauty inspires, he could not refrain at 
 the same time from smiling at her father's official 
 gravity and enthusiasm for the German nation, 
 which Francis could never regard otherwise than 
 as the hundred great and small principalities. 
 
 After the Baron's visits had been frequently re- 
 peated, the beating of Fides's heart grew calmer ; 
 she behaved less reservedly to him, not to appear
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 145 
 
 more intimate, but not to be compelled so an- 
 ziously to conceal her inward blessedness. Francis, 
 while sitting with Lennig over a glass of wine, lis- 
 tened with delight to her playing and singing ; she 
 possessed great talents for music, and had received 
 a more careful education at the school of the Italian 
 nuns than was usual for girls of her rank, as the 
 sisters who taught her had for a long time flattered 
 themselves with the hope of gaining the rich mai- 
 den for their conventual society. Even at that 
 time Fides had joined in the mass and vesper 
 singing on saint days, and was now receiving in- 
 struction in Eighini's excellent classes. Francis 
 loved music, and while enjoying wine and song he 
 felt a poetic enthusiasm which caused him to for- 
 get himself, and declaim poetry or passages from 
 dramatic pieces. He gave way to his natural tem- 
 per at such moments, and shewed himself as a jovial 
 and hearty student. It was easy to see that a free 
 and noble soul was warm within him, which in 
 happy hours dissipated the hazy atmosphere of his 
 prejudices. In such moments of excitement Father 
 Lennig became merry as well — sang ^^ Gaudeamus 
 igitur," or waltzed once or twice round the room 
 with the ^'Mother," assuring them that at one 
 time no one could dance a minuet so daintily as 
 his Hildegarde. 
 
 Francis took advantage of such oppoi'tunities 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 
 
 to turn the conversation on the living spirits of 
 German poetry ; he related anecdotes he had heard 
 at Gottingen and Weimar, of Burger and Klop- 
 stock, Schiller and Goethe. In the house of a sub- 
 ordinate official in Mayence little, or scarcely any- 
 thing, was known of this literary movement in the 
 north of Germany, or rather all houses were 
 shut against the entry of these books, since the 
 Elector had summoned Lutheran professors to 
 the university, and thus roused the jealousy of 
 the priests. The monks were heard from their 
 pulpits condemning to everlasting Humes these 
 godless freethinkers whose works were the only 
 spice of mental enjoyment to be found on the 
 tables of the prelates and courtiers. But now, 
 Avhile hearing them quoted by the Baron, Lennig 
 clapped his hands, especially at some scenes out 
 of '^ Gotz von Berlichingen," and gave it as his 
 opinion that ^'that man must have been a true Ger- 
 man.'*' Fides shuddered at Burger's *' Lenore," or 
 sank in reflection at such fidelity even to the grave. 
 The pious mother folded her hands at some pas- 
 sages from Klopstock's '^ Messiah," and thought that 
 '' this man could express himself better than even 
 Father Bertulf Weye, that learned Franciscan, who, 
 at times of remarkable solemnity, preached in the 
 cathedral. The few books which formed the 
 family library were now left untouched. ^^Tho
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 147 
 
 Curious Antiquary in the Four Quarters of the 
 Globe " possessed no attraction ; '^ The Children of 
 Htenion and Genoveva," ^' The Horned Siegfried," 
 and " Kobinson Crusoe," appeared to have lost 
 their interest ; and Father Martin von Cocheni's 
 '^ Legends of the Saints," Madame Lennig's property 
 before her marriage, stood in slight favour with 
 Erasmus, and quite disgusted Fides. 
 
 In this manner, in the midst of the cares and 
 anxieties of an approaching state convulsion, the 
 quiet walls of a Mayennese bourgeois house were 
 decorated with the fresh blossoms and buds of a 
 poetical spring. On these fragrant branches Fides 
 lulled her dreaming heart to rest, and soon Francis, 
 the Magician and Creator of these new joys, 
 revelled more and more in the balmy bowers which 
 he had summoned into existence in the abode of 
 this Catholic family. 
 
 l2
 
 148 
 
 CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 But the hours of thoughtfulness too soon arrived. 
 Erasmus, with his knowledge of the world, could 
 not long remain in error as to the reason of the 
 Baron's frequent visits, and the secret interest his 
 child felt in their young visitor was no longer 
 hidden from him. He reflected what he had best 
 do, and found it a matter of serious consideration 
 whether to express his anxieties openly, or interfere 
 by forbidding the Ikron his house. It appeared 
 to him that his child was giving way to these sweet 
 sensations unconsciously, and he thought it the 
 better course to mix some bitterness in her cup of 
 happiness without allowing her to notice it. As if 
 not wishing it to have any peculiar application, but 
 with friendly seriousness, he reminded her of her 
 bourgeois birth. 
 
 Fides found that her father's warnings had raised 
 the first struggle in her virgin bosom ; she could 
 not consider him unjust in his views, for every- 
 thing was exactly as he had stated in Mayence. 
 But then an astoundhig change was impending
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 149 
 
 over the whole world. As Professor Blau prophe- 
 sied so agreeably for her, her youth no longer be- 
 longed to these unjust days; her heart beat towards 
 an approaching future, the happy enjoyment of 
 which seemed predestined for her. 
 
 Fides, however, would not contradict her father ; 
 she determined to listen to him cheerfully, and 
 allow him to be right, till the day came when she 
 might dare to say, " See, dearest father, how things 
 now are in the world, and tell me who was in the 
 right?" for hers was the happy inexperience of a timid 
 child, who does not doubt that a new era can, like 
 a rosebud, in one single night burst into full bloom ! 
 
 In this disposition, as often as her father was 
 engaged at his office, she spent her time more will- 
 ingly than she had ever before done in her 
 maidenly-kept garret room, where her birth-day 
 presents and prayer-book were arranged on a three- 
 legged table beneath a crucifix whose brazen arms 
 were decorated with boxwood cuttings from the 
 last Palm Sunday. Above her bed hung a Virgin 
 with the Child, and below this the portraits of the 
 Calendar Saints were framed, which she had re- 
 ceived through Garzweiler from the Conventual 
 Society of the Virgin ; above her pillow she had 
 placed the Holy Constantia. 
 
 To this cell Fides delighted to retire when- 
 ever the happy or sentimental feeling of her childish
 
 150 FIDES, OR 
 
 heart became too ovei'powering for her. The 
 dreams and hopes which filled her soul were in 
 the fairest bud, and a wide future lay extended be- 
 fore them ; although the carnations and roses which 
 stood in the sunny window of this virgin hermitage 
 were faded, and required bringing into the room 
 for protection against the wintry blasts. 
 
 One afternoon Fides was standing before her 
 looking-glass, which hung high and obliquely over 
 her washing-table, and fastened on with pleasure 
 a garnet necklace which Francis had purchased at 
 the autumn fair, and presented through her father 
 to her : she was ever pleased to wear this orna- 
 ment. On turning her head, she saw the old ser- 
 vant's head stretched through the half-open door, 
 and reflected in the glass. Fides angrily said, 
 
 '^ Is it right of you to be continually watching 
 me ? — what business have you to listen ?" 
 
 Barbara, who at first smiled very mysteriously, 
 appeared suddenly quite affected. Proud of the 
 confidential footing on which she stood with Garz- 
 weiler, she had only waited to be questioned, in 
 order to break her oppressive promise of silence in 
 favour of Fides, but all at once at the displeasure 
 Fides displayed on uttering the word ^^ listening/' 
 the old woman's conscience seemed to prick her, 
 and a feeling of acting wrongly was awakened in 
 her. She was just going to fall on her knees and
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 151 
 
 confess all, when hurried steps sounded on the 
 stairs, and Francis stretched his head through the 
 opening of the door exactly as Barbara had lately 
 done. 
 
 Fides screamed in terror, and the old woman 
 hastened to make her escape. The Baron gently 
 entered the room, as if attracted by the magic and 
 mystery pervading this virgin cell. 
 
 " No, no ! pray stay outside ! — pray do not 
 enter !" Fides implored him, deeply blushing, and 
 extending her hand as if to repel him. 
 
 Francis, however, entered and seized her hands. 
 ^^ Ah !" he entreated, " let me inhale this atmo- 
 sphere for only one moment." 
 
 ^^ Be merciful. Baron ; have compassion on me, 
 and leave me directly," entreated Fides, in a voice 
 half choked with sobs. 
 
 ^' Forgive me, dear Fides," implored the Baron, 
 "I will not be importunate. Your mother told 
 me I should find you here if I came up. But I 
 will leave you directly, dear Fides, only say you 
 forgive me !" 
 
 Fides looked up ; she observed the hand extended 
 in supplication, which she gently took while say- 
 ing, 
 
 *^ But pray leave me, Baron ! — Francis !" 
 
 With these words her eyes were fixed on his. He 
 spread his arms out towards her, and she sprang
 
 152 
 
 up to fly from him ; but all at once she lay clasped 
 in those very arms from which she would lain have 
 fled. For a moment she rested on his bosom with 
 exquisite pleasure, till his lips touched her fore- 
 head ; then she withdrew herself from his embrace 
 and left the room. The Baron followed her in 
 silence at she entered the keeping-room and 
 sat down with her mother ; but the conversation 
 could not be long sustained. Both himself and 
 Fides could not collect themselves in the sudden 
 reaction they felt. 
 
 " My husband is very much behind his usual 
 time to-day," said Madame Lennig, not knowing 
 very well what to talk about. 
 
 *^ Give him my compliments," said the Baron as 
 he rose. ^^ I am compelled to go to Court this 
 evening." 
 
 The mother expressed her sorrow, and as she 
 opened the window^to look if her husband was com- 
 ing, and heard the bells ringing at St. Emmeram's, 
 she recommended her daughter to go to vespers. 
 Francis offered to accompany her to the corner of 
 the street, and Fides, who seemed to have some- 
 thing on her heart, quickly put on her silk sbawl ; 
 but as she stepped to the housedoor, and looked 
 into the street, she blushingly exclaimed, 
 
 " No, Baron ; I cannot walk with you." 
 
 " Dear, strange creature," he said with a smile ;
 
 THE P.KAUTY OF MAYENCE. 153 
 
 '^ but now I notice, for the first time, how well 
 those garnets become you — pray wear them more 
 frequently, dear Fides." • 
 
 Just at this moment two officers came round the 
 corner, Count von Boschi and Lieutenant Count 
 Herzan. They occupied the middle of the street, 
 and as a respectably-dressed howgeois was in their 
 way, Boschi pushed him so violently out of the 
 road, that he fell against the wall of a house ; he, 
 however, quickly collected himself, and pulled off 
 his hat with a reverential bow. 
 
 ^' Good evening, Baron Cory don," said Herzan 
 to the young Baron as he passed, though without 
 stopping. 
 
 ^' Ha ! a tempting Daphne !" remarked Boschi. 
 
 Fides had hurriedly retired into the house. 
 The Baron now for the first time remarked, as he 
 left the steps, that the citizen walked lamely. 
 
 ** You have hurt yourself, my good man ?" he 
 said to him, in a sympathising tone. 
 
 " Well, your honour," the man replied, " I 
 ought to have paid proper attention ; for we 
 know that military gentlemen have assumed a 
 right to the middle of the street. We forgot it, 
 though, during their absence in the Licgois cam- 
 paign." 
 
 Francis returned home, in a very bitter temper, 
 in order to dress himself for Court. He threw the
 
 154 FIDES, OR 
 
 suit he was wearing far from him, but he could not 
 divest himself of his bad humour at the same time; 
 and even under the Palace chandeliers his heart 
 remained distracted and lacerated. 
 
 After passing a restless night, Francis did not 
 feel a whit more at ease. He tormented himself 
 with the question whether he ought not to demand 
 of the two officers an explanation of their conduct ; 
 though, after deliberation, his better sense opposed 
 such a step, for, according to all the privileges of 
 their rank, the two Counts had not insulted him 
 personally — tlieir tone and looks had rather ex- 
 pressed applause at seeing him on so prosperous a 
 pursuit. But it was exactly their malicious smiles 
 about the purport of his visits — the suspicions 
 which they had displayed in the regard of Fides — 
 which so deeply offended our young friend. But 
 on the other hand, he was quickly busied with the 
 thought that if he wished to offer a justification of 
 his visits by challenging them, he would make him- 
 self ridiculous in the eyes of the two Counts, and 
 of the Mayennese Court circles ; and, in the end, the 
 notice which such an affair of honour would attract 
 to Fides appeared to liim more serious than the 
 light opinion of the two young officers, spoken 
 thoughtlessly, and which probably their levity had 
 caused them to forget long since.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 15^ 
 
 In the midst of his reverie he received an invita- 
 tion to a festive dinner from the new Capitular von 
 Bettendorf. 
 
 The election of this object of compassion into the 
 Cathedral Chapter had at length been happily 
 effected, and he had now to give his feast of initia- 
 tion. 
 
 Bettendorf was generally close and niggardly, 
 but the joy he felt at his election caused him on 
 this occasion to pay no regard to expense ; and in 
 truth his new benefices from the knightly founda- 
 tion of St. Albans were considerable enough to 
 encourage him to such a step. 
 
 Bettendorf's haughtiest opponents declined the 
 invitation, and Baron Francis only accepted it with 
 repugnance, and through fear of displeasing the 
 Elector by a refusal. He expected to spend no 
 very pleasant day. To his astonishment, however, 
 he found the suite of rooms very tastefully ar- 
 ranged ; and the agreeable impression made on 
 him by the surprise was only dispelled by the per- 
 sonal appearance of his host, for Bettendorf did 
 not know how to conduct himself in his new robes, 
 nor within the freshly ornamented walls of his man- 
 sion. Garzweiler had prompted him with a few 
 modest and reverend forms of salutation, which, 
 however, were so opposed to Bettendorf's usual 
 manner of thinking, that he either did not employ
 
 156 
 
 them at all, or else confused them one with the 
 other. 
 
 '^ Yes, yes," he replied to several who offered 
 him their congratulations, ^'I am very happy at 
 being elected, for now I shall be enabled to do my 
 friends good service. The prosperity of my native 
 land is entrusted to my hands, and lies next my 
 heart. (In fact, it rises and goes to bed with me. 
 I think it must lie very comfortably.) And you, 
 Father Ferrutti," he turned and said to the Capu- 
 chin, ^^ I tell you, you shall play the ^ Veni Crea- 
 tor Spiritus' for me every morning — do you hear?" 
 
 With these words, in utter forgetfulness of his 
 new dignity, he pulled the terrified monk by his 
 grey beard. 
 
 The Cathedral Dean, a fine and very polite little 
 man, at length arrived, and seated himself at the 
 head of the long table ; at his side sat the Chan- 
 cellor Albini, and the Minister of Finance von Sec- 
 kendorff. The Capuchin also took his place at 
 the other extremity of the table. The expenditure 
 on kitchen and cellar was something uncommon 
 for even so luxurious a town as Mavence, and the 
 guests shewed that they knew how to appreciate 
 it, by enjoying the dainties till late in the evening. 
 
 After dinner the merriment of the company was 
 continued in the adjoining apartment while coffee 
 and chasse were being enjoyed ; jokes from the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 157 
 
 clergy, double-entendres from the officers, more or 
 less cleverly veiled, were bandied like hon-hons in 
 their variegated papers. 
 
 " Gentlemen," cried General von Pfirdt, '^ can 
 any of you still recognise this string ?'' 
 
 While speaking thus, he rolled a long string of 
 red and white beads round his thumbs. 
 
 "A rosary ! a rosary !" exclaimed the greater part 
 of the company. 
 
 " Eight," continued Pfirdt, '^ though I hardly 
 expected to find so much religious knowledge among 
 such a godless set." 
 
 The paternoster cord was passed from hand to 
 hand. It consisted of several larger and smaller 
 coral beads, strung together on twisted silk. 
 Between the so-called '' Commandments," several 
 golden ornaments were fastened, consisting 
 of a heart, two little hands, and two feet, repre- 
 senting the five wounds, and to the end of it 
 was appended a little cross made of gold and 
 enamel. 
 
 " That is a recherche and a valuable ornament ; 
 does it belong to you?" inquired Seckendorfil 
 
 *^ I found it yesterday at Frau von Bocholz's 
 house," replied the General. '' I remember seeing 
 your fathers, young gentlemen, some sixteen or 
 seventeen years ago, wearing just such rosaries as 
 this. That pious time appears to me at present
 
 158 FIDES, OR 
 
 almost incredible, and you can form no idea how 
 much the court and its attendants suffered at that 
 time from piety. In good society it was then the 
 first business of the morning to learn from the 
 Court Master of the Ceremonies in what church the 
 Elector would attend evening mass, and every day 
 his jmecUeu, with its red coverings and velvet 
 cushions, would be carried thither. The next 
 point was to obtain a place as near as possible to 
 his chair, and for this purpose seats were occupied 
 early in the day, and ladies and gentlemen might 
 be seen there on their knees, busily telling their 
 rosaries. Prayer-books and crucifixes then belonged 
 to the objects of luxury, to the ornaments of the 
 boudoir, the gifts of love and friendship. The pro- 
 cessions were then ornamented with court suits, 
 uniforms, and gala clothes, all piously following the 
 electoral canopy. Well, well, every season has its 
 difi'erent tastes, and yesterday the amiable Frau von 
 Bocholz laughed as heartily at the sight of this 
 rosary as her father, of gracious memory, would 
 have prayed over it. 
 
 In vain did the Dean make signs to the bold 
 speakers to exercise more moderation. The excuse 
 was, "there are no Protestants present," and who- 
 ever had anything witty to relate could not resist 
 the desire of imparting it.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 159 
 
 During the General's speech, the Cornet Count 
 von Boschi gave evidence of a most excited wish 
 to gain the ear of the company. Himself and 
 Count Herzan nodded impressively to one another, 
 while regarding Francis in a very malicious man- 
 ner. 
 
 ^^ I have a pendant to your rosary,'' Boschi 
 cried, as he held a garnet necklace in the air. 
 "Your rosary, with its pious purposes, reminds me 
 of my love amulet. Yours may be, perhaps, the 
 more valuable of the two, but it belongs to a long- 
 forgotten time ; while mine is still warm from the 
 heaving bosom of beauty." 
 
 Francis, on hearing this, pressed forward, and 
 his eye flashed lire, his lips trembled from inward 
 excitement, when he recognized his own gift to 
 Fides. 
 
 Several of the company inquired what it was, 
 and Boschi continued — 
 
 ** As I was passing the Convent of the Italian 
 Nuns this morning, this angel of whom I am speak- 
 ing appeared at the entrance gate. We had often 
 gone thither for the sake of seeing her — had we not, 
 Herzan ? — and we knew where the charming girl 
 lived, for we had seen her standing on the steps of 
 her own house, and had convinced ourselves that 
 the visits of noble young gentlemen were not dis-
 
 160 
 
 agreeable to her, so I did not fail to take advantage 
 of the favourable opportunity, as a soldier must 
 ever be ready at a moment's notice. I saluted the 
 dear little creature, made her a few polite speeches, 
 and begged her to grant me a few moments of her 
 sweet company. She blushed and tried to escape. 
 I stopped the way, and asked her who had given 
 her the pretty necklace, which at the same time I 
 caught hold of, though only for the sake of touching 
 her ivory neck. She made a movement in retreat, 
 and the necklace broke and remained in my hand. 
 Voila r/iistoire.'' 
 
 '' Who is the fair unknown, then ?" inquired 
 Albini. 
 
 " She is a Mademoiselle Lennig," replied Boschi; 
 "her father " 
 
 "Ah! Lennig! Just so!" exclaimed the Chancellor. 
 "That is the same girl. Baron von Wallbrun, whom 
 you remember I " 
 
 But the latter had already half received, half 
 snatched the garnet necklace, which he so well 
 knew, from Boschi's hand. 
 
 " I will return it to the right owner," he said in 
 explanation, as he put the necklace into his pocket, 
 not without betraying his passion in the tone he 
 employed. 
 
 " I cannot allow that, Baron/' exclaimed Boschi, 
 as he drew near him ; "it is my property — they
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 161 
 
 are my spoils of war," to which Francis, in a voice 
 trembling with passion, replied : 
 
 *^ I know not, Count, whether your knightly 
 ancestors obtained their property in the same way, 
 by stopping modest maidens in the public streets ; 
 however that may be, in the present day such a 
 course is not reputable. I know the father through 
 his connection with our family, and as I have busi- 
 ness to transact Avith him, I will offer him an 
 apology in your name." 
 
 " To the devil with all apologies !" cried Boschi. 
 " I know why you put the necklace in your pocket 
 — to prevent it becoming the subject of improper 
 boasts." 
 
 " Oh ! no — that you might not lose the price 
 you paid for this love gift,'^ exclaimed the other. 
 
 Francis turned to leave the room with a look of 
 contempt. 
 
 Boschi hurried after him, but Garzweiler stopped 
 him, as he said, very politely, 
 
 ^^ Pardon me, Count, but pray do not deprive 
 such worthy company as the present of your sweet 
 society." 
 
 Others of the company now interposed, and 
 sought to pacify Boschi. The Dean requested 
 Count Herzan to accompany his friend home. 
 
 " And be careful," whispered Albini, '^ that he 
 takes no further steps in the matter. Numerous 
 
 VOL. I. a\I
 
 162 FIDES, OR 
 
 complaints have been lately made about the im- 
 proper conduct of the emigres, which have caused 
 the Elector great annoyance. Let us give the 
 Mayennese no bad examples in our persons."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 163 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 On the next morning Francis sat again in his 
 study, in a still more melancholy humour than on 
 the preceding occasion. The garnet necklace was 
 laid near the silver cfiocolatiere, in which his 
 breakfast was growing cold ; he had slept very 
 badly, partly through his passion at Boschi's im- 
 pertinent behaviour to Fides, and partly through 
 his anxiety as to how the afiftiir would end, for he 
 expected every moment to receive a challenge from 
 the young Count. He reflected on the arrange- 
 ments he should have to make in the prospect of a 
 fatal termination to the duel. The necklace he 
 intended himself to return, for it appeared to him 
 as if, in his dispute with Boschi, he had slightly 
 denied his intimacy with the dear girl, or repudiated 
 any connection with her, by making his acquaintance 
 with the father a pretext for his interference. 
 However, he excused it through a tender care for 
 Fides's reputation ; but still he fancied he had not 
 behaved at all chivalrously on the occasion, and 
 hoped to make a full reparation, at least to his 
 
 M 2
 
 164 FIDES, OR 
 
 own feelings, by his visit. He then sat down to 
 write to his mother, and intended to leave the 
 letter in his second's hands, to be delivered only in 
 case of his death; for see her he dare not, epecially 
 when he thought of the circumstances which had 
 led to the dispute. 
 
 While engaged in such reflections he heard 
 footsteps in the corridor, and rose to receive the 
 officer whose visit he expected with a look of great 
 indifference. Garzweiler entered the room. 
 
 "It is you, father ? " the Baron asked, in a 
 slight tone of astonishment. 
 
 *' 'Tis I, Baron — a messenger of peace. You 
 expected the bearer of a cartel." 
 
 " Who told you so ?" exclaimed Francis, much 
 annoyed. 
 
 " Who ?" said Father Ignatius with a smile — 
 " your bold demeanour, my friend ; you were 
 standing as if prepared for carte and tierce. 
 But pray cast no shadow over the peace, and 
 remember that ^ le jeu ne vaut ]j^s ^^^ chandelle.' 
 I have just come from his Grace the Elector, in 
 whose presence the whole affair has been definitely 
 settled. The prince was quite angry with Boschi, 
 and, as I think, rightly so. The complaints wdiich 
 are continually sent in from the town about the 
 brutal conduct of the soldiery, both officers and 
 privates, have caused the Elector much sorrow.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 165 
 
 Let me tell you an anecdote of the Major of 
 Engineers, Eickemeyer, perhaps the only sensible 
 man engaged in the whole campaign." 
 
 ** The Elector, you were going to say," remarked 
 the Baron, pressingly. 
 
 " Will emit an order from his cabinet, addressed 
 to the Ministry of War, advising the garrison of 
 Mayence to proper behaviour, and ordering all 
 troublesome fellows to be sent to the fortress of 
 Konigstein, or to Erfurt." 
 
 ^^ But what has that to do with my quarrel with 
 Boschi ?" 
 
 " You may infer from it. Baron, how important 
 the Elector considers it, that your dispute should 
 not proceed any further — that the occurrence with 
 Boschi and the insult to Lennig's daughter shouhl 
 not obtain any notoriety. Count Boschi has been 
 ordered to AschafFenburg, and given under the 
 charge of the commandant of that place." 
 
 *^ Well, and does he intend to obey?" 
 
 " He will leave the town in an hour's time." 
 
 ** What ! before I have chastised the daring 
 hand which touched these garnets." 
 
 '^ The sharp and reproachful words with which 
 you visited the Count's behaviour will be to him as 
 good a chastisement as any sword or shot wound : 
 leave him to the enjoyment of his punishment. 
 You have also done enough for Fides's reputation.
 
 166 
 
 since yon have stepped forward as her champion 
 in a manner and with a courage rarely displayed 
 in Mayence. But apropos, I must warn you that 
 the Countess Condenhove is aware of your connec- 
 tion with Fides, I would say your affection for the 
 sweet child, which she has represented according 
 to her own taste and ideas of love. She formerly 
 fancied that she had heard of a bourgeois liaison on 
 your part ; and though I always assured her to the 
 contrary, pray be on your guard against the 
 amiable lady's intrigues/' 
 
 After some further conversation, in which Garz- 
 weiler did not spare the Countess, as he moved to 
 leave, he very cleverly, and as if by accident, in- 
 troduced a second apropos^ the real intention of 
 his visit. 
 
 A couple of days before, a packet addressed to 
 the Elector had been brought by a special mes- 
 senger ; the Countess and Garzweiler had, from 
 their different posts of observation, recognized the 
 Prussian seal, and remarked that the contents had 
 greatly annoyed the Elector ; but never had the 
 old gentleman been so mysteriously secret as about 
 this packet, and the cunning priest hoped to find 
 out all about it through the Baron. 
 
 ^' I am rather in a painful position," he said, in 
 a confidential and mysterious manner. "The 
 Elector intends to hold a conscience conference
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 167 
 
 with me this afternoon, over the late important 
 letters from the Berlin Cabinet. You know which 
 I mean, Baron, or have they been kept a secret 
 from you ?" 
 
 ^' To which do you allude, father?'^ 
 
 '* Which ! only one packet has lately arrived. 
 Hm ! — but indeed I do not know whether I am 
 justified in speaking openly with you on the sub- 
 ject. Pardon me, dear Baron, but if the Elector 
 still keeps the said note from your knowledge, he 
 has probably reasons for doing so, and I must re- 
 spect them." 
 
 " Oh ! your reverence,'^ said Francis, with a 
 smile, '^ if you mean old Count Herzberg's plan — 
 there, you can see nothing is concealed from me !" 
 
 ^^ Aha ! that is difierent," replied Garzweiler, 
 very politely. " You must not be angry at my 
 little display of mistrust. So now, to speak in 
 confidence, in matters so weighty and so un- 
 pleasant to the Elector personally, I had gladly 
 called you to my counsel, my kind pilot through 
 the shallows of a princely heart ; but I must con- 
 fess to you that his Grace only gave me an outline 
 of his plan, as you so rightly term it, only in- 
 formed me of the chief question, without entering 
 into the particular details or reasons. But you 
 cannot have had sufficient time to take a copy of it?" 
 
 The impatience which Garzweiler had in vain
 
 1 68 FIDES, OR 
 
 attempted to conceal by this lengthy explanation 
 was increased by the entrance of the hairdresser. 
 Francis, however, replied, 
 
 ^* The memorial is too lengthy in its details, and 
 the Elector suffers it too rarely out of his posses- 
 sion to allow me a chance of copying it ; however, 
 at the time it was read to the Council I kept the 
 chief points in my memory, in order to examine it 
 at my leisure. You can look at the remarks I 
 made while I am dressing, and we can talk over 
 the matter on the road, for I must go to the 
 palace." 
 
 The Baron opened a drawer in his secretaire, 
 and took out an elegantly-bound book, inscribed 
 with the word " Album," in gold letters ; the last 
 leaves that had been written he laid before the 
 father, and then hurried with the hairdresser into 
 the dressing-room. 
 
 Garzweiler eagerly perused the papers ; his man- 
 ner betrayed how weighty and unexpected their 
 contents were to him. He took a note-book from his 
 pocket, in which he wrote a few hurried remarks, 
 and the care which the Baron generally evinced 
 at his toilette gave the father full time to look 
 through the album. A letter from the reigning 
 Duke of Brunswick to the King of Prussia, lately 
 copied, was equally new to him, and merited some 
 hurriedly-taken extracts.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 169 
 
 " But, my noble young friend," exclaimed Garz- 
 weiler, while Francis again locked the book away, 
 " what do you say to this proposition of old Count 
 Herzburg ? Heavens I what a propositian this is 
 h for a Prussian — a German King — to make ! In- 
 stead of fighting against the revolution, Prussia 
 proposes to unite with Jacobin France against 
 Austria, for the destruction of the imperial power. 
 I call it infamous !" 
 
 "How zealously you speak!" said the Baron, 
 with a smile. " One might fancy the matter were 
 quite new to you. I can, however, assure you 
 that the King of Prussia received this proposition 
 very ungraciously." 
 
 " Then it the more astonishes me that he should 
 impart it to his confederates." 
 
 " I will explain this to you as we go along," 
 said Francis, as he turned to leave the room. Garz- 
 weiler reminded him of the necklace which still 
 lay on the table, and offered his services for its 
 restoration. 
 
 " No hero," he said, jestingly, " can be the 
 narrator of his own deeds. Let me march before 
 you with the trumpet or the barrel-organ — be 
 your Homer, or your street singer !" 
 
 Francis gave him the necklace with a gay laugh, 
 and went towards the palace.
 
 170 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 As soon as Garzweiler had taken leave of the 
 Baron, he hastened to deliver the necklace. He 
 found only Madame Lennig in the sitting-room, 
 who rose up at his entrance in a very reverential 
 manner. 
 
 He inquired for Fides, and Madame Lennig 
 summoned her daughter in a loud voice from her 
 dear little cell, where she was again occupied. 
 Garzweiler gave her the necklace with a mysterious 
 smile, and all the redness of the garnets seemed to 
 fly into the maiden\s cheek. 
 
 " See, Fides," he said with emotion, " what 
 miraculous dispensations are still to be met with 
 on the earth ; but you are wondering how I be- 
 came possessed of this ornament, which was so im- 
 pudently ravished from you ?" 
 
 The mother folded her hands in astonish- 
 ment, and shewed a pious belief in this interposi- 
 tion from on high. Fides, however, was un- 
 willing to inquire what the father so maliciously 
 kept secret — how he had acquired possession of her
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 171 
 
 beloved necklace ; and, as Ker joy at its recovery- 
 was balanced by her ill-will to the restorer, she 
 did not utter a word. 
 
 *' My Erasmus will now be pacified," said Ma- 
 dame Hildegarde. ^' You ought to have seen my 
 husband when Fides, in a half fainting state, en- 
 tered the room, and related what had happened to 
 her. Good gracious ! my daughter is good-looking, 
 and I am sure the young Count had no bad inten- 
 tions ; although I must allow it makes a great dif- 
 ference whether it is an officer or a reverend father 
 who chucks a girl under the chin.'' 
 
 In the meantime Lennig returned, accompanied 
 by Professor Blau. He was in a state of excessive 
 excitement, and the presence of Garzweiler annoyed 
 him still more, so that he did not at first notice 
 that the necklace had been returned, till, as he laid 
 down his hat, his wife whispered something in his 
 ear. 
 
 ^' What !" he exclaimed, " are those really your 
 garnets, my dear child ? But how on earth did 
 they get into your hands, reverend father? I 
 have been running from pillar to post all the morn- 
 ing, and on my return I find the necklace in your 
 possession. I owe you many thanks — but my 
 wife was talking of a miracle " 
 
 *' The words I employed were, ^ It has been a 
 miraculous dispensation,' " said Garzweiler, in a
 
 172 FIDES, OR 
 
 tone of vexjition. ^' The garnets had disappeared 
 — they have returned again. You can set your 
 mind altogether at rest, Monsieur Lennig. The 
 Count's impertinence has been punished, and the 
 matter arranged " 
 
 '^ But I must ask — how, and through whose in- 
 terposition ?" exclaimed Lennig. 
 
 Garzweiler smiled most mysteriously, and ap- 
 peared to reflect, when Francis unexpectedly en- 
 tered the roomx. He had been graciously dismissed 
 by the Elector after an audience of short duration, 
 and hurried, with his heart full of hope, after the 
 father, in the expectation of finding Fides cheerful 
 and contented. 
 
 " See, then," exclaimed Garzweiler, taking ad- 
 vantage of the interruption, ^* the strangeness of 
 the circumstances is enhanced, for here comes the 
 recap turer of the ornament." 
 
 The Father then, in a few hurried words, gave 
 an account of the occurrence at the dinner, wherein 
 he praised the Baron's conduct. Garzweiler was 
 too much excited at the moment to be able to 
 exercise his usual discretion. 
 
 " Well, and now !" interrupted Lennig violently, 
 without allowing the Baron to speak — ^' and now ? 
 You are silent ; is your theology, then, at an end ? 
 Then I must inform you what will be the result of 
 these proceedings — a challenge will ensue, a com-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 173 
 
 bat and public scandal — ray daughter's name will 
 be at the point of two young noblemen's swords, 
 and on the envenomed tongues of the envious. 
 God in Heaven ! are these your miracles, father ? 
 But be silent ; I will not listen to a word from you 
 now — I know what you would say. But this I 
 did not expect from you. Baron ; forgive me, but 
 you must yourself feel that we — I would say that 
 you, for a time, must spare us the honour of your 
 visits." 
 
 '' Erasmus ! — husband ! " exclaimed the mother, 
 trembling and pale ; ''I beseech you, in God's 
 holy name ! Oh ! Baron, pray stop a mo- 
 ment ! " 
 
 But Francis, who had entered so unexpectedly 
 in the midst of the conversation, and, between 
 Lennig's violent outbreak and Garzweiler's speech, 
 had not been able to edge in a word, left the room 
 proudly and in silence. Fides tottered after him 
 some short distance, but fell back into the leather 
 arm-chair. 
 
 Erasmus went up to her, and as he stroked her 
 pallid cheek, said in a melting and cordial tone, 
 
 " Collect yourself, my dear child. See, you 
 have now arrived at the years of maturity, and 
 have this day drawn the common lot appertaining 
 to it, to struggle and to suffer ; but be comforted, 
 your father supports you, and will ever be your
 
 174 FIDES, OR 
 
 defender. Go to your mother, pray ; she is still 
 so terrified/' 
 
 He left the room with Blau. 
 
 ^^ I will dine with you to-day," he said, as they 
 reached the street. '' My soup has been too 
 highly spiced for me to-day, and, besides, I should 
 have to kick the Father Confessor out. I wonder 
 what he's stopping for ?" 
 
 " You are quite right," answered Blau, ^^ espe- 
 cially as regards becoming my guest to-day ; but do 
 not spoil your appetite by thinking on such trifles." 
 
 ^^ Do not call it a trifle, Felix, when my innocent 
 child has been dragged under the carding wheels 
 of Mayennese levity. But what so roused me 
 was that I saw through that man — that ecclesias- 
 tical councillor! Listen, friend : when Garzweiler 
 regarded my daughter at the Baron's entrance, 
 and told her — yes, only her — all the young hero had 
 done for her sake, I remembered, strangely enough, 
 his first visit on the morning of my w^ife's anniver- 
 sary — you must recollect the day — when, with 
 just the same deceitful look, he drank Avith my 
 Fides to the Baron's prosperous career. However, 
 the priest has put me on my guard, for the Baron's 
 frequent visits lately, the quickly-ripening beauty 
 of my child, her youthfulness, friend — a charming, 
 lovely, blessed youthfulness, in which I should feel 
 the greatest pride on e;irth under other circum-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE, 175 
 
 stances But I believe this priest is concealed 
 
 behind the scenes, and pulls the strings of some 
 intrigue, though I cannot say exactly what. You 
 first drew my attention to this hypocrite, and you 
 know the practices of such clerical gentry, of whom 
 not one possesses a heart like Felix Blau's. I must 
 try and find out, too, whether the Baron did not 
 first visit my house through Garzweiler's scheming; 
 for it occurs to me that Francis, on my first meet- 
 ing with him at Yauxhall, asked me if I had any 
 children. He did not know anything of my being 
 blessed with a daughter, and yet he had already 
 met my Fides, as she lately told me, and that, too, 
 in this very Garzweiler's company ; the Baron 
 consequently knew Fides without being aware that 
 she was my daughter. Well, friend, is it not per- 
 fectly clear to you ?" 
 
 *' Well, dear Erasmus, is it not all the same in 
 the end r 
 
 ^'The devil it is!" continued Lennig, vehemently. 
 " When a priest is in love I understand what he 
 wants; but when he plays the pander, he must 
 have other plans, and in our case they may be 
 directed against Baron Francis, who is a favourite 
 of the Elector's. Oh ! my dear friend, you ought 
 to know Mayence. See, Felix, I must discover all 
 this." 
 
 " Erasmus, old fellow, you are beside yourself,"
 
 176 FIDES, OR 
 
 said Blau, laughingly ; '' but here we are, let us 
 enter/' 
 
 They entered the Professor's abode. In the 
 ante-room the Professor's housekeeper was stand- 
 ing behind an ironing-table, busied in sprinkling 
 some clothes just brought in from drying. She 
 was a pretty and pleasing young woman, of some 
 twenty years of age, remarkably cleanly, and 
 dressed with a certain negligence. A light hand- 
 kerchief was loosely bound over her rounded 
 shoulders, on which her full locks rested, and a 
 bunch of keys hung from her girdle. 
 
 ^' Wait an instant, Catharine," said Blau, very 
 cheerfully. ^' Do you see, friend Erasmus, that 
 you have just entered a species of heaven? Here, 
 in the ante-room, is my Petra with the keys ; you 
 must excuse me for makjng such arrangements, 
 but you know that, through my book against the 
 infallibility of Eome, I have fallen into disgrace 
 with Peter ; he refuses to open heaven's gates for 
 me, and on that account I must have a Petra. I 
 have entrusted her with all the power of the keys, 
 but taken on my own shoulders the responsibility 
 for all errors ; so that my Petra has good grounds 
 for laying claim to infallibility as well ; but now 
 just go on into the next room, while I give the 
 necessary orders." 
 
 At the door she cried aloud, and in a respectful
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 177 
 
 tone, ^* All shall be done as you ordered, Herr 
 Professor.'' 
 
 Blau hurried away to join his guest. 
 
 Erasmus returned home in a much more cheerful 
 disposition from his bachelor friend's dinner-table, 
 and found both wife and daughter quiet in all but 
 their fears for him and his bad humour. But as 
 soon as they looked in his expanded face they took 
 courage, and related to him all that Father Garz- 
 weiler had imparted to them about the occurrence. 
 These communications, still warm from their 
 source, caused Erasmus to feel a slight embarrass- 
 ment, and his wife and daughter had now good 
 cause to blame his behaviour towards the Baron ; 
 nor did Madame Hildegarde neglect the op- 
 portunity of scolding him, half in jest, and half 
 in earnest. While doing so she patted his back 
 with the palm of her hand, and to conclude read 
 him a sermon in her pious way, in which she 
 warned him against his proneness to anger. 
 
 Fides interrupted her by saying to her father, 
 
 " Do you know what I did ? I begged the 
 father to offer my most grateful thanks to the 
 Baron. 1 trust you think I acted rightly." 
 
 *' You ought to have left that to me. Fides," he 
 replied, " as it was for my sake that the Baron 
 behaved so courageously." 
 
 VOL. 1. N
 
 178 FIDES, OR 
 
 '* For your sake, father ?" she asked, but quickly 
 added, with a transient blush, " but as you forgot 
 to send him your thanks, I did so for you." 
 
 " Well, well, what's done cannot be undone," he 
 replied, ^' and your thanks are better than none at 
 all." 
 
 In his heart, however, Erasmus was well pleased 
 at having thus caused a discontinuance of the 
 Baron's visits ; for a manifest and doubtlessly 
 mutual affection had begun to spring up between 
 him and Fides, and, in spite of the excellent 
 opinion he entertained of the Baron's principles, 
 the sensible man could only calculate on an inter- 
 nal or external misfortune from such a connec- 
 tion. 
 
 In the meantime the parents of Fides had caused 
 a greater and more lasting uneasiness in another 
 circle. The Countess Condenhove had heard from 
 the Elector all the circumstances attending the 
 feast. The old gentleman regarded the matter with- 
 out any further consideration, as a love aifair of 
 the young Baron's, in the accustomed Mayennese 
 interpretation, without being exactly pleased at its 
 bourgeois tendency. 
 
 The Countess, however, did not look at the 
 subject in the same humorous light as her princely 
 friend, for it too decidedly thwarted a secret plan 
 of her own, in the management of which the rest-
 
 TITE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 179 
 
 less lady had not remained inactive. This plan 
 had precisely the tendency which Garzweiler, in 
 his dispute with her, had so immediately pursued, 
 when she triumphantly said that she would take 
 Baron Francis in hand, to show what power Cupid 
 had over a young enthusiast in politics. With the 
 word " marriage " Garzweiler had expressed her 
 most secret thoughts, but the Countess had not 
 given np her project on account of its being dis- 
 covered. She was the more confirmed in her 
 plans the more she balanced them, and considered 
 a distinguished young man, of such fair prospects 
 as Baron Wallbrun, worth gaining for her family, 
 if she couldn't bring him over to her political 
 views. A pretty and amiably coquettish niece 
 was .therefore selected to enchain the young man ; 
 the daughter of a brother of the late General von 
 Condenhove, who had taken up his abode in the 
 neighbourhood of Juliers. This charming young 
 woman had already received an invitation to spend 
 the winter in Mayence, and, to remove all ap- 
 pearance of design, her elder sister was invited to 
 accompany her. But now the Countess saw her 
 fair plan threatened with failure, if not already 
 undermined, and, full of anxious thought, she de- 
 termined on, and as quickly rejected, various pro- 
 jects she formed. At first she thought of sending 
 for Fides, to examine her, and see what would be 
 
 N 2
 
 180 
 
 the best way of annihilating her opposition ; then 
 she thought it more advisable to threaten Lennig, 
 Avho she considered must be a consenting party to 
 the attachment, with the Electoral anger, if he 
 did not immediately put an end to the annoying 
 business; then, again, she made up her mind to 
 advise the Baron — as a friend warn him against 
 Garzweiler, and terrify him with the displeasure of 
 his princely patron. 
 
 The last idea she gave up at once, as it did not 
 appear at all in unison with her design of gaining 
 the young man for her niece. 
 
 But the fortune which attends intrigues has also 
 its variations, and consequently the advantage that 
 Garzweiler had won was quickly regained by the 
 Countess, through an unexpected event. This 
 happened coincidentally with the arrival of her two 
 nieces, who drew up before her mansion one rainy 
 evening, in an old and battered calesche. 
 
 When the Countess, on the morning following 
 their arrival, after the customary seven o'clock 
 mass in the palace chapel, wished to inform the 
 Elector of the presence of her visitors, she found 
 him highly enraged at a note he had received from 
 the Austrian Anbassador in Mayence. He con- 
 ducted his alarmed friend to the sacristy, ordered 
 the mass servant to withdraw, and then said very 
 sharply,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 181 
 
 " Only think, Countess, what treachery is going 
 on around me ! It is really shameful; but we must 
 discover the guilty parties. Yon Schlick has ob- 
 tained knowledge of a very important communica- 
 tion made to me by the Prussian Cabinet. He 
 regards it as an insult to him, throws in my teeth the 
 interests of Austria and the dangers to which the 
 German Empire is exposed, and while demanding 
 satisfaction, reserves any further explanation on his 
 part. What do you say to this ?" 
 
 *^ What did the note from the Prussian Court 
 contain ?" she inquired quickly ; but as the Prince 
 did not answer the question, but only regarded 
 her with widely opened eyes, expressive of great 
 doubt, she continued, in a tone full of grief, " I 
 am not to know that, I suppose you mean by your 
 looks. Pardon my asking the question, gracious 
 Prince. Oh ! now I am very glad I know nothing 
 of the matter ; however painful and insulting I felt 
 it no longer to possess your unlimited confidence, 
 I am delighted at it now, for I cannot be exposed 
 to any suspicions of having acted incautiously ; and 
 if ever your grace had just reasons for distrusting 
 your most intimate friends, I am now justified, 
 though I never deserved such treatment at your 
 hands, that I can swear to you on the altar ! I 
 have not merited it, in return for all the sacrifices 
 I have made for you, and must only conclude that
 
 182 FIDES, OR 
 
 you put no confidence in my head because you 
 found my heart so weak I" 
 
 She had, while speaking these words, sunk into 
 a red velvet tabouret, and covered her face with 
 her handkerchief. The scene quite took the Elector 
 by surprise, and, in consequence, he replied, while 
 displaying a little confusion, 
 
 ^^ Let us leave all that out of the question, my 
 dear Sophia; we are talking of politics, which ought 
 to have no connection with friendship and love. But 
 I will tell you, dear Sophia, how the whole matter 
 stands. I must have a traitor in my immediate 
 neighbourhood, and you must assist me in detecting 
 him. Old Count Herzberg has laid a plan before 
 the King of Prussia, which has for its object his 
 coalition with revolutionary France against Austria, 
 and he feels quite outraged by it. The memorial 
 was sent me in strict confidence, and do you know 
 why he acted thus ? It is really a most unlucky 
 circumstance. And then who can the rascal be 
 through whom the secret has oozed out? I thought 
 of Miiller, for I am well aware how gladly they 
 would receive him as an ally at Vienna ; but if he 
 has done it, I will trounce him for it. AVhat is your 
 opinion, Countess, on the subject? You always 
 possessed an excellent head.'' 
 
 The Countess remained for some time silently 
 engaged in reiiection, as she could not reconcile
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 183 
 
 her thoughts with what she wished to say. Her 
 suspicions fell on Francis, and she fancied a colhi- 
 sion between Garzweiler and Fides, through which 
 Francis had been deceived, and she felt convinced 
 that the priest was the real traitor. For this 
 reason her woman's heart quickly perceived in 
 what way she could employ this lucky event to 
 enchain the Baron, tear him from the woman he 
 loved, and bind him firmly to her own interests. 
 She said, at length, as if reluctantly, 
 
 ^^ Garzweiler, I know, often visits Count Schlick." 
 
 "Garzweiler! as if I spoke on political subjects 
 with him!" exclaimed the Prince, disdainfully ; " he 
 is ignorant of the whole affair ; only two or three 
 persons knew anything about it, and consequently 
 the traitor will be easily detected ; but, at present, 
 I am too excited, and must be careful, lest I go 
 incautiously to work." 
 
 " Grant me a couple of days for reflection," en- 
 treated the Countess ; " but we must not talk on 
 the matter, it must remain private." 
 
 The Elector agreed with her views, and they inter- 
 changed a few words of reconcilation and renewed 
 confidence. 
 
 The Countess in her heart was much delighted 
 at the unexpected turn which matters had taken. 
 Her firm carriage, flushed countenance, and tri- 
 umphant smile, when Bibersheimer, with clouded
 
 184 FIDES, OK 
 
 looks, again handed her the letters that had ar- 
 rived, showed how certain the Countess considered 
 her victory, as she sought her apartments through 
 the covered way.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF iMAYENCE. 185 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Countess sent to request Francis's company in 
 the afternoon ; but as he had gone out on a shooting 
 expedition, she employed it in introducing her 
 nieces to the Elector. 
 
 The old gentleman received the two ladies very 
 graciously, made them some flattering speeches in 
 the somewhat florid style of the day, and praised 
 their simple and unornamented appearance. 
 
 This praise was mingled with a little malice, for 
 the Elector was fond of dress, and took especial 
 notice whether the ladies who attended court were 
 attired with all proper care. The present modest 
 dresses of the two girls were arranged according 
 to the Countess's advice, w^ho immediately said in 
 reply to the Prince's remark, 
 
 " It is a fortunate thing for my nieces that they 
 please your grace in their simplicity ; they have 
 just arrived from their rusticity at Juliers, and 
 their freedom from pretension is not the result of 
 coquetry, but of their limited circumstances. The 
 society of Mayence, however, will not be so indulgent
 
 186 FIDES, OR 
 
 as your grace, and the poor girls, with all their love 
 of gaiety, will be obliged to live in great retire- 
 ment. 
 
 *^ Well, well," said the Electer, laughingly, *^ we 
 shall be able to find dresses and ornaments for two 
 so amiable young ladies, who will really do them 
 honour by wearing them." 
 
 He then conducted the Countess into a bay 
 window, and conversed with her on the subject 
 which at present so employed his thoughts and her 
 conjectures, as to who the traitor was. 
 
 The next morning the Countess was seated with 
 hertwo nieces in the boudoir. Voltaire's " Henriade" 
 lay open before them ; the girls had been reading 
 aloud, and their aunt was not quite satisfied with 
 them. 
 
 '' You are somewhat better, Agnes," she said 
 to the elder of the sisters ; *' but your accent, Jose- 
 phine, is much toojjivnonce. You must take some 
 lessons from Le Jeune, who is an excellent master ; 
 and pray try to have much conversation with Mon- 
 sieur de Montleveau, for he speaks French perfectly. 
 How could you establish a success at the Mayence 
 Court without being mistress of the French lan- 
 guage ? And tlie Elector wished you to read to 
 him above all things. He's very particular, I can 
 tell you, for he is indisputably the best French 
 scholar among all the princes of Germany ; besides,
 
 TUE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 187 
 
 we have only been reading the " Henriade," but 
 when it comes to the graces of the ^^ Pucelle," the 
 tales and merry songs of Grecourt, which the Elector 
 so admires — oh ! you would not do at all for it !" 
 
 " His Excellency the Admiral von Kinkel," a 
 servant announced. 
 
 The Countess was at home to him, and ordered 
 her two nieces to entertain him for a time in the 
 reception-room. 
 
 The Countess seated herself at her desk, but 
 seemed too excited to be able to express her 
 thoughts on paper. A servant entered the room, 
 and stated that a young boatman was at the door, 
 who wished to speak with her ladyship. The 
 Countess cast a glance into the street, and she saw 
 no signs of Francis's arrival ; she ordered the ser- 
 vant to shew the fellow in. She seemed agreeably 
 surprised by the young man's fresh and handsome 
 appearance, and asked his name, 
 
 ^^ I am generally called plain Jean Baptiste," was 
 the reply. 
 
 ** Ecclesiastical Councillor Garzweiler has taken 
 opportunities of recommending you to the first 
 families in the town, and his good opinion has always 
 special weight with me," she said with a smile ; 
 " I am therefore glad to see you. You are said 
 to have built a new pleasure-boat, which is in con- 
 stant demand. Are you in the father's service ?"
 
 188 FIDES, OR 
 
 '* No, gracious Countess/' replied Jean Baptiste ; 
 *^ he has only been once a fare of mine — to Oest- 
 rich." 
 
 *^ To the clergyman Chambion's ?" 
 
 *^ I don't know, your Grace. He got out of the 
 boat, and I remained behind." 
 
 ** Ah ! I see you can keep your own counsel, 
 and that I like in you. Do you happen to know, 
 by chance, whether the Baroness Wallbrun was at 
 the time on her estate ?" 
 
 '' She was not, your Grace. She had already left." 
 
 ^* See, there! You learned that, I suppose, while 
 stopping in the boat, my dear Jean Baptiste, al- 
 though the estate is much further from the landing- 
 place than the rectory is ?" 
 
 '* I learned that by accident, gracious Countess," 
 said Jean Baptiste, with a smile — " from the ferry- 
 master in Oestrich, who wishes to purchase a vine- 
 yard from the Baroness." 
 
 The Countess made some more inquiries about 
 Garzweiler, and was confirmed in her previous 
 opinion, by the handsome boatman's unsatisfactory 
 replies, that Garzweiler employed him as an agent 
 or spy ; but this did not at all displease her, for 
 she confided in her own cleverness, and hoped to 
 gain some news from the cautious young man, and 
 make some remarks in his presence which should 
 reach Garzweiler's ears through him. She intend-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 189 
 
 edj on this mild and pleasant November day, to go 
 with her nieces by water to the neighbouring 
 Petersau ; and although for all such parties the 
 Electoral pleasure-boats were constantly at her 
 service, she had lately heard so much about the 
 handsome boatman, that she was curious to make 
 his acquaintance and discover his secrets. For 
 this reason she engaged him for the afternoon, to 
 be in waiting at the Rhein Stairs, near the St. 
 Martin's Tower. 
 
 At this moment Baron Francis entered the room. 
 The Countess received him in an earnest and 
 solemn manner, which the Baron quickly noticed. 
 
 '^ You never let us see you, Herr von Wallbrun," 
 she said; *'we are obliged to summon you like a 
 spirit whenever we require your presence. I have 
 something very serious to talk with you about, 
 and I trust to your honour to keep our conversa- 
 tion strictly secret. What is your opinion of Garz- 
 weiler? You know him better than I do. Do 
 you think him capable of betraying the Elector ?" 
 
 " My God ! Countess !" exclaimed Francis in 
 terror. 
 
 " Perhaps I used too strong an expression," con- 
 tinued the Countess. " Let me put the question 
 in another form — Could Garzweiler be capable of 
 serving the Austrian Ambassador at the expense 
 of his exalted patron the Elector ?"
 
 190 FIDES, OR 
 
 "No, I cannot believe that, gracious lady/' 
 answered Francis with determination. " Are there 
 any grounds for such a suspicion ?" 
 
 " I am very sorry to say there are, Baron. 
 The Elector is quite furious, and I should not like 
 to be the person detected ; but this remains a 
 secret between us.'' 
 
 She offered him her delicately shaped hand, on 
 which Francis pressed with his lips his solemn 
 promise of secrecy. She then imparted to him, 
 with a strongly marked expression of horror in her 
 demeanour and tone, the whole occurrence which 
 had caused so much disturbance, and assured him 
 she had found great difficulty in restraining the 
 Elector from taking hasty and decisive steps in the 
 matter. "I have already obtained information that 
 Garweiler is in constant communication with the 
 Austrian Ambassador," she concluded. 
 
 " I would not pledge myself to a contradiction 
 of it," replied Francis, rather impatiently ; '^ but I 
 must confess that I have not hitherto paid much 
 attention to such matters." 
 
 " Well, then, we can assume with tolerable cer- 
 tainty that Garzweiler has given some information 
 to Count Schlick ; the question now is, whence he 
 derived it — how did he obtain knowledge of the 
 exact contents of that secret memorial ?"
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 191 
 
 " From the Elector, I snppose." 
 
 " God forbid, dear Baron ! from him he has 
 learned nothing. Nor has he done so for a long 
 time, ever since the Prince was warned against his 
 Father Confessor Garzweiler as a convicted in- 
 triguant. 
 
 " What, Countess !" said the Baron, over- 
 whelmed with confusion, and rising from his chair. 
 "The Elector never consults with his confessor 
 about his political scruples !'^ 
 
 " Oh, my God !" exclaimed the Countess, as she 
 also rose, " what a strange feeling affected me ! 
 No, my dear Baron, the Elector never consults 
 with him. But I see, my dear friend, that 
 the matter affects you nearly. You grow paler 
 and paler. In truth, you have cause ; your ques- 
 tion as to the Prince's political scruples has 
 suddenly unveiled to me all this man's villainy. 
 Through this deception he has led you astray — has 
 persuaded you " 
 
 " Countess, how can you entertain such an 
 opinioa^of me ?" said the Baron, with that con- 
 fused pride which, supported on the consciousness 
 of our integrity, still reproaches us with an incon- 
 siderate action. 
 
 " I think," was her reply, '* that you are a man 
 of honour, but a young one, and have been de-
 
 192 FIDES, OR 
 
 ceived by a cunning priest. But set your mind at 
 rest, dear Baron." 
 
 ^' No, gracious lady, no !" exclaimed the Baron, 
 '^ you drive me to the verge of desperation. I 
 cannot support it. I dare not." 
 
 ^* You are a child, and behave as if conscious of 
 your fault," whispered the Countess, with increas- 
 ing friendliness of manner ; " but, nonsense, my 
 dear friend. What an opinion you must have of 
 me ! The whole affair is merely a bagatelle, 
 which, however, in unjust or malicious hands 
 might be applied to inHict some injury on you, or 
 lead to your destruction. Basta ! the affair is 
 settled. I will take on myself the Elector's anger. 
 Come with me into the next room, and I will in- 
 troduce you to my nieces.'^ 
 
 She offered him her hand, which he took in great 
 confusion, and he stooped to imprint a kiss on her 
 delicate hand. The Countess regarded him for 
 some time smilingly. 
 
 '' No," she then said ; " in such a mood as you 
 are now in, I cannot put you to any good purpose. 
 You must be cheerful, merry, dear Francis ; trust 
 in me as your friend." 
 
 At the door of the apartment she stopped once 
 again with the words, 
 
 ^^ Your reconciliation with your amiable sister 
 has caused me real pleasure. Her warm heart
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 193 
 
 requires a friend, and I am very p^lad to see that 
 she evinces a partiality for Forster's society, for he 
 is a man who will employ her thoughts, if not her 
 heart." 
 
 " You have caused his visiting at our house to 
 become a possibility, gracious lady," he replied, 
 with a conscious smile. 
 
 " Well, well, you know that prejudices must be 
 treated like children." 
 
 They entered the small reception-room, where 
 the Admiral quickly advanced to meet the Coun- 
 tess, and, while kissing her hand, paid her some 
 compliments on her good looks. During the time 
 which she occupied in introducing Baron Francis 
 to her nieces, and in causing a conversation to 
 commence between him and Josephine about the 
 silky-haired lapdog which the Countess was fond- 
 ling in her arms, Baron Kinkel resumed his seat by 
 Agnes's side. 
 
 The Countess had taken up a position between 
 the two couples, and turned her pretty niece round 
 on all sides, like a fine stone, on every facet of 
 which the jeweller allows the light to play before 
 an intending purchaser. 
 
 Francis at first declined her invitation to join 
 the party in the course of the afternoon ; but the 
 Countess would not accept any of his excuses, but 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 194 FIDES, OR 
 
 insisted on his accompanying them, and he conse- 
 quently returned home to make the necessary 
 change in his costume.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 195 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Francis obtained sufficient mastery over himself, 
 when he reached his home, to write her a very 
 cheerful note, wherein he offered a very slight ex- 
 cuse for his being kept away, and reserved all apo- 
 logies till a future meeting. 
 
 After he had sent off this note, immediately 
 before the time fixed for their departure, he felt 
 himself a free man, and thought, with great cheer- 
 fulness of temper, about the amiable Josephine, 
 and he ccftifessed to himself that he was making a 
 severe sacrifice to his obstinacy in giving up the 
 enjoyment of such pleasant hours in her company. 
 In consequence he felt great satisfaction at his 
 sister's inviting him, during the course of the after- 
 noon, to conduct her to Forster's, as she wished to 
 examine his interesting collection; for this reminded 
 him of Madame Forster, to whom he had so much 
 of importance to communicate. 
 
 Cecilia, during her mother's absence, had fre- 
 quently visited Frau von Condenhove, and on 
 several evenings had met Forster at her house, 
 
 2
 
 196 FIDES, OR 
 
 whom the Countess had invited with a malicious 
 intent ; for it seemed an innate faculty of this rest- 
 less lady to draw into the meshes of her intrigues 
 everyone of her acquaintances without distinction. 
 
 When Francis entered his sister's boudoir, he 
 found Garzweiler engaged in busy conversation 
 with her. At the sight of the priest the blood 
 rushed into the Baron's cheek. 
 
 *^ Aha !" he exclaimed quickly, *^ you are the 
 very person I wished to see. Have you any more 
 political scruples of the Elector which require re- 
 moval ? Leave us a moment, Cecilia." 
 
 ^* I see clearly that you have been in Countess 
 Condenhove's company," said the priest with per- 
 fect composure. *^ She has dished you up a cabinet 
 secret, it seems. I will, however, acquaint you 
 with another secret, which has all the charm of 
 novelty. Do you know that the Elector's state 
 letters pass through the Countess's hands before 
 reaching the cabinet ?" 
 
 The Baron regarded the father with the greatest 
 surprise, as he continued — 
 
 " Yes, Baron, this is an excellent and wise ar- 
 rangement, which has been in existence ever since 
 His Grace the Elector withdrew his confidence from 
 her — his political confidence, I mean. Perhaps the 
 clever lady is acquainted with the necessary pro- 
 cess to throw her into tlie condition which Mesmer,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 197 
 
 the thaumaturge of our unbelieving age, has dis- 
 covered and introduced into France. I refer to 
 the condition in which a person can read a letter 
 through the envelope by merely laying it on the 
 heart. Monsieur de Montleveau probably under- 
 stands the proper manipulations." 
 
 *^ Were you less malicious, I should be more apt 
 to believe you,'' said Francis. 
 
 " Yet I can convince you, whenever you please, 
 of the truth of my assertion. Baron," continued 
 Garzweiler. 
 
 "Heaven only knows what reliance I should place 
 in your statement!" cried Francis, walking violently 
 up and down the room. " How, then, am I to de- 
 cide which is the more honourable, the Countess or 
 yourself. Each boasts of the Elector's confidence, 
 and each exposes the other's schemes behind his 
 back ; and, even on the supposition that you speak 
 the truth. Ecclesiastical Councillor, dare you keep 
 this a secret from the Elector ?" 
 
 To this Garzweiler replied with a smile, 
 
 " Do you not know that only palatable dishes 
 must be set before a prince, or else he will be dis- 
 posed to reject them ? You are young, my friend, 
 and although I entertain no doubt that you have 
 thoroughly studied State jurisprudence, still that 
 of Courts can only be acquired by practice. The 
 Countess will be delighted to give you lessons in
 
 198 • FIDES, OR 
 
 it, but take care of yourself, for she has designs on 
 you. Pray come in, gracious Baroness !" he ex- 
 claimed, as he turned to the door, which Cecilia 
 had slightly opened, to hear what was going on. 
 ^' We are having no angry discussion, Baroness, 
 we are only a little restless as to our belief or 
 superstition. Aprojws of superstition, have you yet 
 visited the mysterious fortune-teller who has cap- 
 tivated all hearts in Mayence ?" 
 
 " This is the first occasion of my hearing her 
 mentioned.^' 
 
 ^' Yes, this Pythoness has seated herself on her 
 tripod, behind the Mitternacht-gasse. She is said 
 to be peculiarly successful in her prophecies of 
 good marriages. Is it not ridiculous, Baroness? 
 But I see you are impatient." 
 
 They began to move, and Garzweiler accom- 
 panied them. 
 
 '' I have a request to make of Forster," he 
 stated ; ^^ and for that reason you can introduce 
 me at his house." 
 
 On the road he whispered to the Baron, 
 
 ^* There can of course be no further ques- 
 tion between us as to Cabinet secrets ; but still do 
 not, on that account, give up the collection you 
 have commenced — you will thank me for it at some 
 future time." 
 
 They only met Huber at Forster's, and were
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 199 
 
 received with the greatest empressement. Garz- 
 weiler alleged, as the reason for his visit, a request 
 he had to make Madame Therese ; and he asked 
 her for some of her father's works, which he could 
 not procure in Mayence — among others especially 
 mentioning his edition of " Epictetus ;" and he 
 managed to introduce so many remarks about 
 Heyne's literary services, and the great benefits 
 rendered by the Protestant professors to Germany, 
 that he made the most pleasing impression on the 
 Forsters. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Cecilia did not succeed in her 
 attempt to summon up the right tone of conversa- 
 tion with Madame Therese, and she sought refuge 
 from the embarrassment arising from her failure by 
 expressing a lively interest in Forster's curiosities, 
 which were arranged in an upper room. He con- 
 ducted her upstairs, and opened his books of dried 
 plants, and his drawers tilled with fossils, shells, 
 and various implements and manufactures of the 
 savages; but Cecilia only cast a hasty and un- 
 sympathising glance upon them. But in her heart 
 she wished she had collected them in their native 
 home, while enjoying Forster's sweet society. 
 
 Forster began to explain some of the curiosities 
 to her ; but she interrupted him by taking a seat 
 on the sofa, and saying, 
 
 " Oh ! how much those anecdotes you related
 
 200 FIDES, OR 
 
 from your strange and eventful life have occupied 
 my thoughts during the last few days. How in- 
 teresting all the circumstances of your career have 
 been ! You, a boy of eight years of age, accom- 
 panied your father through the inhospitable 
 steppes of Russia, and even at that time com- 
 menced the study of botany. When scarcely seven- 
 teen, you, as well as your father, accompanied the 
 celebrated Cook on his voyage round the world, 
 and afterwards visited Paris and the Netherlands, 
 in the hope of obtaining a situation for your father. 
 Do you not remark, mon ami, how well I remem- 
 ber it all ?" she continued, as she looked at him 
 affectionately. ^' And then what interesting ac- 
 quaintances you gained both in France and Ger- 
 many ! At length you accepted a situation at the 
 Noble Academy in Cassel, where the Landgrave 
 so greatly esteemed you (I can believe it), and in 
 the same manner the King of Poland, who after- 
 wards summoned you to Wilna. Did you not say 
 you married while settled there ? Do you know 
 this Poland is still slightly perceptible in your wife ? 
 Soon after your marriage you were summoned by 
 our Elector to Mayence — is not this place plea- 
 santer than Wilna, my friend ? Do you not feel 
 happy here ?" 
 
 She caught hold of his hand, as if inviting him 
 to take a seat by her side.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 201 
 
 '^ You are well aware," said Forster with some 
 emotion, ^^ that from my youth up, both in boy- 
 hood and in manly estate, I spent a life which was 
 oppressive to me, and which weakened all my 
 powers of mind and body." 
 
 '^ But you are happy ?" said Cecilia, quickly, 
 as she pressed more closely to him, and, laying 
 her hand on his shoulder, looked affectionately in 
 his face. 
 
 " I do not know what you understand by the word 
 * happiness.' To be happy appears in this sublu- 
 nary world to signify a condition in which labour 
 and rest, exertion and fatigue, desire and its satis- 
 faction, pleasure and pain, sorrow and joy, are alter- 
 nately changing ; and in which the blissful moments 
 of enjoyment are sufficiently strong to urge us to 
 fresh activity, and advance us, for the duration of 
 our life, to the highest possible development of all 
 our mental and moral faculties." 
 
 " Ah I what rough demands you make on life !" 
 exclaimed Cecilia. " Then love remains quite ex- 
 cluded ? — is any mortal happiness to be found 
 without it ? Dare I speak my mind, dear Forster? 
 It appears to me that Nature is only a refuge for 
 those whom society rejects, or who feel themselves 
 deceived in their love ; but this I am certain is not 
 your case, dear Forster. Your wife — come, tell 
 me something of your Therese."
 
 202 FIDES, OR 
 
 "You have seen her," replied Forster, with 
 increasing warmth. " My Therese is interesting 
 without being pretty ; she has enjoyed the rare 
 good fortune of conducting her education under the 
 sole guidance of her own exalted sentiment, and is, 
 therefore, free, in the purest sense of the word, and 
 is nature itself in all her feelings and actions. Her 
 heart is open to every impression of the beautiful 
 and good, her acquirements are extended and of 
 the greatest variety, her spirits grow lively in so- 
 ciety and sparkle in the merry interchange of wit ; 
 the value she sets on the world, mankind, and ex- 
 istence is true, and quite congenial to my own 
 feelings; and this endows her with courage and de- 
 termination to undergo all fatigue, for the sake of 
 the joy she feels at making me happy, or rather at 
 cheering me in my unfortunate circumstances. She 
 also properly appreciates the minor pleasures of life, 
 the joys of social intercourse, on which so many de- 
 pend. She knows how to enjoy them, but can give 
 them up without a sigh, when she feels that by 
 doing so she can secure happiness and tranquillity 
 to a heart to which she is all in all." 
 
 " My God !" exclaimed Cecilia, as she sprung 
 up from the sofa, " what more do you want, then ? 
 You possess a perfect jewel in your wife. No, I 
 will not keep you a moment longer from the en-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 203 
 
 joyment of her sweet society. Come, come, what 
 could I be to you ?" 
 
 She hurried out of the room, and Forster looked 
 after her in astonishment. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND BOOK.
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 FRAU VON CONDENHOVE.
 
 207 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The winter, which had been rather a severe one, 
 at the close of Februal'y was broken up by some 
 mild showers, and March was ushered in by fresh 
 easterly winds and fleeting clouds. 
 
 At this season, when the first glimmering rays of 
 the spring sun flutter playfully athwart the clouds 
 and disport along the mountain slopes, and over 
 shrubs just bursting into new life, a strange restless- 
 ness pervades man as he looks forward to the long 
 and lively days of merry summer; and not only 
 leaves and buds, but plans and hopes, unfold them- 
 selves, and expectations grow with the lengthening 
 days. With a lively imagination we delight in fore- 
 stalling the spicy breezes of the summer-tide, and 
 have a foretaste of the joys of harvest. 
 
 To this natural restlessness was added a political 
 one, at the time we are writing of. The important 
 news of the Emperor Leopold's demise, which took 
 place on the first of March, had reached Mayence 
 two days before this ; for the Elector, as Imperial
 
 208 FIDES, OR 
 
 Arch-Chancellor, was informed, as quickly as 
 possible, of the decease of a German Emperor. 
 In consequence, every one at Court or in office 
 was on the qui vive on account of the elec- 
 tion and coronation of the new Emperor Francis, 
 for it was the duty of the Arch-Chancellor to give 
 the German courts official notice of the Emperor's 
 decease, and to take the initiatory steps for the 
 election and coronation. 
 
 The rumour had already spread that, after the 
 coronation in Frankfort, the two great powers and 
 the lesser royalties would come over to Mayence to 
 hold some very important conferences, and there 
 was much talk of brilliant fetes intended to accom- 
 pany the event. It can readily be imagined what 
 running abont and talking there now wus in Ma- 
 yence. 
 
 In consequence, the floating bridge, where they 
 so gladly inhaled on sultry summer evenings the 
 fresh atmosphere of the beautiful river, was now 
 visited by members even of the liaut ton. Many, too, 
 ran thither to hear the solemn knell which tolled 
 every morning and evening from all the steeples of 
 the town and neighbouring villages, in memory of 
 the Emperor. 
 
 Forster and his wife, accompanied by their friend 
 Huber, took their customary evening walk toward 
 the bridge. Therese leant on Huber's arm, and he
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 209 
 
 was speaking of the French Envoy extraordinary 
 who had arrived on the preceding day. 
 
 *^ An arch- Jacobin/' he said, " about whom the 
 elector long ago received secret information from 
 Paris.'' 
 
 " His arrival is quite opportune," said Therese 
 somewhat sharply. *' The people of Mayence have 
 now-a-days only pleasure, the speculators only 
 profit in view. We poor people, who feel a sink- 
 ing of the heart when we scan the probable issue, 
 can now employ ourselves in solving the riddle of 
 this mysterious Jacobin Ambassador's arrival — 
 wh'at he wants, how the old lord will receive him, 
 if he will be able to hold his ground in Mayence, 
 and so on." 
 
 ^' What he wants?" said Huber ; " to warn the 
 Elector, the cher papa of the French exiles, of his 
 serious position as regards France, and make him 
 understand his own interests. It will give the matter 
 a very threatening aspect if the Elector receive him 
 badly, as I am inclined to fear." 
 
 Just at this moment the full peal of bells boomed 
 on their ears, and interrupted their conversation. 
 Forster also felt desirous to leave the bridge, as the 
 east wind was too keen for him. He complained 
 how careful he was obliged to be just in the spring, 
 for fear of catching cold, and expressed his inten- 
 tion of consulting the Privy-Councillor Hoftmann on 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 
 
 the morrow or the day after. Huber advised bim 
 to call in rather than on this gentleman, as bis 
 man-servant was notorious for seldom admitting a 
 visitor without being tirst feed. 
 
 Between the two guard-houses at the end of the 
 bridge they met Baron Francis, who had just come 
 from table, and who complained of the excessive work 
 be bad to do, and still appeared much taken up by 
 the importance of the present business and the im- 
 pending election. Forster proposed to bim, as 
 a sort of relaxation, that they should enter upon their 
 concerted campaign; but, as the Baron seemed rather 
 undetermined, Huber asked what it was, to which 
 Forster replied, 
 
 " T have advised the Baron, in these stormy 
 times, to dive a little into the depths of the people, 
 like a young whale into the open sea." 
 
 ''But to resort to the pot-houses, and go among 
 people of a town where we are known !" Francis 
 objected. 
 
 ** What have you to be afraid of ?" exclaimed 
 Stadion. ** Are not the Mayennese sufficiently 
 servile towards people of our stamp ? Besides, 
 you have the best possible society when in Forster's 
 company." 
 
 ■ Yielding to Madame Forster's persuasions, the 
 Baron at last consented to try the experiment, and 
 himself and Forster separated from the others on
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 211 
 
 the Place before the ^^ Three Crowns/' and, after 
 "wrapping themselves in their cloaks, rattled along 
 over the Markt-gasse. Forster hummed a student's 
 song, in which the Baron, in recollection of his 
 carousing days at Gottingen, heartily joined. They 
 stopped before the old and curious house, ^' To the 
 Sign of the Basket," which retires a little from the 
 street, and has a small open space in front of it. 
 In the twilight and in the transient rays of the moon 
 the old building looked still more picturesque. 
 Close to a low archway rose a pinnacled tower or- 
 namented with a statue of the Virgin between the 
 narrow and pointed windows. Through the gate- 
 way was heard a sound of voices singing, and 
 Forster drew his young friend with him into the 
 house. At the extremity of the Gothic porch, a 
 cross wall, with three low arches resting on pillars, 
 divided the neat court-yard which led to the tavern, 
 from the long and gloomy passage to the brewery, 
 from which, under the light of restless lanterns, 
 the dull hammering of casks gave the key to the 
 confused singing of the persons collected behind the 
 dusky windows of the guest-room. 
 
 The hostelry seemed much frequented ; journey- 
 men and soldiers of the Hatzfeld Eegiment passed 
 in and out, and the entry of our fashionable friends 
 was scarcely noticed as they moved to a semicir- 
 cular table in the farthest corner of the room. The 
 
 p2
 
 212 FIDES, OR 
 
 landlord sprang towards them with low bows. 
 Forster, however, told the man to leave off his 
 bowing, and bring them some good beer. 
 
 Some citizens were conversing at the upper end 
 of the table with a stranger they had brought with 
 them, and who was praising the beer. 
 
 ^' Well," was the reply, " it is good enough for 
 Mayence, for we are in the heart of the wine coun- 
 try." 
 
 ** I like nothing better than a glass of beer," ob- 
 served the stranger. *^ I come from the Palatinate 
 where the best is to be had — if we were not 
 plagued with those cursed Star Brewers." 
 
 ^* Star Brewers ?" was the inquiry ; and the tra- 
 veller complained bitterly of the lords of the manor, 
 who, with their stars like little tyrants of the soil, 
 made their profit by the high prices of beer. " I 
 had time enough to look a little around me in 
 Munich," he said; "things are nicely managed 
 there between monks and mistresses, while the 
 country is left to the tyranny of ministers and land 
 bailiffs. Though the Elector of Bavaria is not the 
 only lord who governs in this way, it is melancholy 
 to see how bad Germany's plight is now-a-days ; 
 and wherever there happens to be agood little prince, 
 he is sure to have so small a territory, that only a 
 few enjoy the rare happiness, and a traveller is 
 (quickly over the borders. I hear, too, that you
 
 THE BEAUTY OF xMAYENCE. 213 
 
 are not quite satisfied with your Elector, although 
 my deceased father often told me what a devout 
 ruler he was." 
 
 "Was! certainly!" continued one of the citizens; 
 " but nothing lasts long in fashion with him — his 
 piety went first to the deuce, and now the money is 
 flying after it in every direction. He has dissolved 
 the rich monasteries, and has now appointed ex- 
 pensive Lutheran professors at the university in 
 their stead. Had we then no learned professors of 
 our own left in the country ? — and were not our 
 ancestors on the right road to salvation without 
 these new schools ?" 
 
 The Baron touched Forster laughingly with his 
 foot. 
 
 " What have you heard in your travels about 
 war ?" asked the landlord, as he advanced to the 
 table. 
 
 " There is much talk about it," answered the 
 traveller ; " but your Mayence is in a very strange 
 condition at present — the numberless French exiles 
 are making preparations as if war were going to 
 break out to-morrow, and yet your fortifications 
 are at a stand-still." 
 
 " Well, well," said the landlord, " we shan't re- 
 quire much fortifying ; the French will take care 
 not to run their heads against our walls." 
 
 " Ha ! ha !" laughed the stranger, " the Jaco-
 
 214 FIDES, OR 
 
 bins have tolerably hard heads, and your works 
 are not built so very strong." 
 
 '^ Pah !" exclaimed the landlord, " the Jacobins 
 have reckoned without their host. The King of 
 Prussia, not usually a favourite of mine, received 
 the French Ambassador, Monsieur de Segur, as 
 they call him, famously. Do you know what he 
 said to him? I have it mainly from the chaplain 
 to the garrison, Vicar Pauli, and he had it from 
 G-eneral Hatzfeld, who heard it at first hand from 
 the Elector himself. ^ Do not attack Austria,' the 
 King exclaimed to him vehemently ; ^ leave 
 Germany in peace, and I will not declare war 
 against you.' Was not that a noble speech ? And 
 our Elector will receive the newly-arrived French 
 Ambassador in the same way." 
 
 "We have^a good support in Darmstadt," said 
 one of the citizens ; '^ with that court we have an 
 oifensive and defensive alliance. You know, of 
 course, what that is ? — when one's sick, the other 
 must hold the basin ; and so when we had our 
 student revolution last March, they quickly sent us 
 troops from their onion land." 
 
 ''And what is still more to the point," inter- 
 rupted another, " our rich and powerful nobility 
 must support Mayence." 
 
 At these words Forster gave the Baron a nudge.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 215 
 
 " Why SO, then ?" asked the traveller. On which 
 the citizen continued, 
 
 " ^layence, you see, and our whole Electoral 
 state, has no nobility of its own, but all the men 
 of rank who reside here are nobles of the empire, 
 and stand under Emperor and empire.'' 
 
 ^^ Oh ! \vhat a pity !" said the stranger. '' Then 
 they draw their revenues from their distant here- 
 ditary estates and feudal tenures, and you know 
 what the Scriptures say, * Where my treasure is, 
 there will my heart be also !'" 
 
 ** And besides," said the landlord, in explana- 
 tion, " many of the nobles receive rents and tithes 
 from the archbishopric, and fair Court pensions of 
 four to six thousand florins, have a brilliant court, 
 bring their second sons into good preferment, stand 
 here higher than anyAvhere else in honour and repu- 
 tation, and so forth. Besides that, again, the most 
 noble and high-born clergy are bound closely to 
 Mayence, for it is their chief seat." 
 
 " And I will maintain my proposition again and 
 again," asserted the above-mentioned citizen, with 
 zeal. *^ Noble is noble, and must behave nobly. 
 When men of rank forsake their land and peoj)le 
 in the time of need, they lose their respect, and 
 fall like rotten fruit from their own family tree. 
 Am I riofht or not ?"
 
 216 FIDES, OR 
 
 At this moment a rough boatman, seated behind 
 the stove, sung, 
 
 " Here's to the well-paid Mayennese, 
 Who, losing hat and hose, 
 Sat down beneath the walnut-trees, 
 Lamenting o'er his woes." 
 
 "What does that mean, miserable hound?" cried 
 a Brigadier, who was present, as he rushed toward 
 the boatman. The latter quickly emptied his clay- 
 pipe, and said, 
 
 " You wouldn't let me finish my song. This 
 man of Mayence, of whom I was singing, was glad 
 when night came, after the battle of Eossbach, and 
 so, too, was the whole Imperial army. It is a very 
 nice song of old Glinn's, and was printed long be- 
 fore our soldiers displayed their courage in the 
 Liegois land. But as for being a hound, he that 
 barked is one, not I !'' 
 
 " Rascal !" shouted the soldier, as he drew his 
 sabre ; but the boatman seized his raised arm with 
 dexterity and force, the landlord sprang towards 
 them, and a row soon commenced, in the midst of 
 which our two friends laughingly left the room.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 217 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 " We hit upon a public tavern of the lower order," 
 remarked Forster, on the road home. " In a wine- 
 house we should have met citizens of a higher 
 class." 
 
 ''' Well, we do not go away without some fun," 
 said Baron Francis, with a smile, ** and that is 
 worth something after our chancery business. 
 
 They soon stood before the Baron's residence 
 on the Thier-markt. Forster promised his young 
 friend better entertainment in the Reading Society, 
 and offered his services to introduce him there ; 
 but this Francis decidedly declined. 
 
 *' The Elector," he remarked, '^ has his eye upon 
 the daily meetings of these learned enthusiasts and 
 discontented employes, and although Albini has 
 kept him quiet up to the present moment, yet the 
 newspapers, pamphlets, and letters, which the 
 director of the society delivers for inspection to 
 the Cabinet, have greatly incensed him. He re- 
 ceives, too — I cannot find out from whom — secret 
 communications about everything which occurs, or
 
 218 FIDES, OR 
 
 is spoken there. Severe measures will shortly be 
 taken against the Eeacling Society, and how would 
 the Prince regard it were I to inhale the revolu- 
 tionarj- atmosphere ?" 
 
 Forster was obliged to allow that the Baron's 
 precaution was justifiable ; but his confidential 
 communication caused him great surprise. On the 
 road home his feelings revolted that the President, 
 whatever his motive might be, should misemploy 
 the common property of all the members to betray 
 the soul of the society ; and in consequence he de- 
 termined that his first step on the next day should 
 be to give the members information of the fact, 
 even though it were to act like a firebrand when 
 thrown among their inflammable tempers. 
 
 It may be supposed that the Countess Conden- 
 hove did not remain a stranger to the general 
 restlessness which prevailed in the Cabinet and the 
 town ; for she was not only on the most intimate 
 terms with the Prince, but at the same time held 
 an appointment at a Court where in the course of 
 a few months the visits of such exalted personages 
 Avere expected. 
 
 These prospects, with which the old gentleman 
 flattered himself, without any settled promise from 
 the German Courts, had already brought him into 
 the best of all humours. He looked forward to their 
 visits as a triumph offered to his political skill — as
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 219 
 
 a homage rendered to his European influence ; and 
 it seemed that these high and mighty potentates, 
 these first ministers of kings, wreathed a crown of 
 honour round the head of the wise Nestor in 
 politics — so, at least, Frederick Charles regarded 
 it in his own mind — and therefore required some 
 one to whom he could, witli secret pride, give vent 
 to these pleasurahle emotions. Such a person was 
 the Countess Condenhove, his confidante, who 
 knew him, too, in his other foibles, and with whom 
 he had for many a year discussed matters of 
 secresy. In consequence, the vain lady saw her- 
 self suddenly restored to his full and entire confi- 
 dence as heretofore. The first overture to this 
 end was the tender scene in the Court Chapel, 
 when the Countess, after the discovery of the 
 priest's treacherous communications to the Austrian 
 Ambassador, had seized the nick of time to assail 
 her princely friend with tears and reproaches. But 
 now she shared with him in all his moments of re- 
 hixation. She heard of everything, and gave her 
 opinion in every matter ; and as her exalted friend, 
 in his restless and excited condition, felt the want 
 of a few soirees in the old style, the Countess com- 
 menced re-issuing her invitations. 
 
 But she was not satisfied with this friendly 
 sympathy ; the busy lady calculated that, in the 
 coming season, there would be considerable ex-
 
 220 FIDES, OPw 
 
 penditure. The coronation, the feasts at the re- 
 ception of the monarchs, and the entertainment of 
 such exalted guests, must force the Chapter, 
 generally so close-fisted to the Elector's appeals, to 
 yield to circumstances, and vote the necessary 
 funds to cover these expenses ; and all the favour- 
 ites of the Elector, who had for some time been in 
 a very fading condition, refreshed themselves in 
 the golden breeze which preceded a new spring- 
 tide in the Exchequer. 
 
 Our young friend. Baron Francis, whose re- 
 markable personal attractions and promising pros- 
 pects were taken into consideration by the 
 Countess, had during the winter been a constant 
 visitor at her house, and had paid great attention 
 to Josephine, without, however, absolutely coming 
 to a declaration of love. The Countess was sorry 
 to see that his intimacy did not wax closer with 
 the frequency of his visits, and left nothing un- 
 tried, without letting it be noticed, which might 
 favour the mutual approaches she so much desired ; 
 and as her own sensations and experiences in love 
 had at no time drawn largely on fancy, or been of a 
 dreamy character, the young couple found no want 
 of hours for a confidential tete-a-tete, as she took 
 into calculation the feelings of youth, and the 
 temptations of the opportunity. But it was in 
 this that she committed her greatest mistake ; for
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 221 
 
 Josephine's dazzling loveliness, her graceful figure, 
 bewitching eyes, the singular buoyancy of her 
 spirits, her bizarre conceits — in short, this oasis of 
 drawing-room brilliancy rose in the midst of a 
 wilderness of the heart ; and this desert swallowed 
 up all the conquests which she had made in the 
 reception-room. Here Francis would give himself 
 up entirely heart and soul to Josephine's enchant- 
 ment, and received at her hands more flattering 
 marks of distinction than any other who paid his 
 homage to her ; while he hoped that the charming 
 empress of his thoughts would, in moments of con- 
 fidence, lay aside the sceptre and ally herself to his 
 heart, and his naturally serious disposition. But 
 for this purpose the youthful Countess was not 
 over and above qualified ; her lustre had no 
 warmth, and while she felt astonished that she did 
 not rule with the same magic here, he felt painfully 
 that this power of hers did not reach to the very 
 depths of his soul. As long as he was witty, they 
 were mutually attracted, but as soon as he became 
 sentimental, he felt himself deserted ; and when- 
 ever, through awakened feelings, he struck a 
 tender and agreeable chord, he found no echo in 
 her cold and prudish heart. 
 
 The Countess learned, through Josephine's 
 humorous remarks, this changeable humour of the 
 Baron's, which was inexplicable to her, though not
 
 222 FIDES, OR 
 
 calculated to endanger the success of her designs. 
 The maiden's cheerful temper and winning attrac- 
 tions had more value in her eyes than the Baron's 
 fancies, or eccentricities, as she called them. She 
 laughed at Josephine's jests when she rallied her 
 ^^ serious lover," instead of explaining to her what 
 she still required to enchain him, and they both 
 felt no misgivings about this very trifling anxiety. 
 Josephine lived on in her happy confidence, and 
 the Countess was deceived by her own calculations, 
 as she knew that her niece loved the Baron, that 
 is, preferred him to other young men ; and as she 
 saw that the Baron himself, when at her house, was 
 only taken up with Josephine, she set her smiling 
 hopes on some pressure from without, which should 
 overcome the little misunderstandings that, as 
 she thought, one fiery embrace must fully dis- 
 pel. 
 
 Now the time appeared to her fully arrived to 
 bring this pressure about. She had often amused 
 the Elector with a description of the passion which 
 the young pair evinced for one another, and gladly 
 seized the present moment to explain to him that 
 both were one in heart and plans for the future, 
 and that it only required a fitting appointment for 
 Francis, and an adequate portion for lier niece, to 
 make the most charming pair in Mayence also the 
 happiest. This happiness she intended to place
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 223 
 
 in the Elector's hands, and by his instrumentality to 
 press the Baron to a declaration ; for she calculated 
 that Francis could not decline such a distinguishing 
 mark of favour from his prince, which he could 
 only accept in the sense in which it ^vould be given 
 him, to promote his alliance with Josephine von 
 Condenhove. 
 
 Francis now frequently met, in the Countess's 
 reception-room, the Admiral, assiduous in his atten- 
 tions to Agnes, and the young Domicellar von Ben- 
 ningen, who devoted himself to Josephine. 
 
 The Admiral was a polite man, who felt pleasure 
 in ladies' society, and must have always one in par- 
 ticular with whom he could talk of himself, his own 
 affairs and feelings, a confidence which, with his 
 usual tact, he ripened into a mysterious attachment. 
 Such an intimacy possesses great attraction for 
 women ; and Agnes, in her way, was not a bit less 
 a coquette than her sister. If Josephine, with her 
 personal advantages, was ambitious to please most 
 men, Agnes clung rather to that one who was 
 loudest in recognising her mental gifts. The former 
 delighted in shedding her own lustre on society, 
 the latter preferred shining with reflected light. 
 On the other hand, Josephine was more guarded in 
 her conduct than Agnes, whose somewhat determined 
 character set at naught those forms which serve to 
 ward off the unjust sentence the world is too apt to
 
 224 
 
 pass upon the closer intimacies of society. Countess 
 Josephine allowed herself most freedom with Domi- 
 cellar von Benningen, who was amusing and ma- 
 liciously witty, as hunchbacks generally are. He 
 understood and occupied himself in ladies' work, and 
 devoted considerable time to it, and young ladies 
 felt no restraint towards him, as not only his clerical 
 position, but his personal appearance, protected 
 them from all suspicion of an attachment to him ; 
 while, on the other hand, they were not always 
 protected from his bold and somewhat licentious 
 tongue. 
 
 A lively conversation was being carried on about 
 Amor the lapdog ; and Josephine insisted, wdth all 
 seriousness, that some day or other he would be 
 metamorphosed into a man. But into what sort 
 of man was the question ; and many a guess was 
 ' ventured. Francis gave it as his opinion . that, as 
 the animal had, up to the present time, evinced the 
 greatest partiality for Herr von Benningen, he 
 would certainly be changed into a Domicellar, if 
 not into a Capitular. 
 
 '^I hope so," said Josephine, ^4or in such away 
 lie would remain most true to his natural ami- 
 ability." 
 
 . This last joke appeared to have given Agnes a 
 humorous idea, for, as at this moment the Countess 
 arrived from Court, and the Admiral saluted her,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 225 
 
 she rose and commenced a close conversation with 
 Francis. The Countess related, among other 
 Court news, how angry the Elector still continued 
 at an Arch-Jacobin's being sent him on the part of 
 France, and that he could not yet make up his 
 mind to grant him a reception. 
 
 In the course of the conversation, Agnes took 
 the Baron on one side, and disclosed to him what 
 was passing in her mind. 
 
 ** You surely know that the nineteenth of this 
 month is Josephine's anniversary ?" she said. " In 
 addition to the handsome presents she will receive, 
 we will arrange a good jest, in which you must 
 assist me. The dog Amor, I have just thought, 
 shall undergo his metamorphosis on that morning. 
 " I will get a doll ready beforehand in the dress of a 
 Domicellar, in a lay court costume. The high 
 shoulders and pigeon breast will indicate the right 
 man easily enough. I will remove the dog privily 
 on that morning, and lay the doll in the basket ; 
 and so, when my sister awakes, and calls her Amor 
 to no purpose, she will notice the transformation 
 in the basket, which must be explained by some 
 neat verses, and these you must write for me. 
 Baron." 
 
 Francis laughed, and found the idea charming, 
 but begged to decline writing the verses ; but it 
 was precisely this that the Countess most wanted, 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 FIDES, OR 
 
 for she thought in this manner to give the silent 
 admirer an opportunity of indirectly avowing his 
 sentiments, and in consequence she persisted in her 
 wish. 
 
 Francis, at length, promised to perform his part, 
 so far as lay in his power. 
 
 " You have an excellent opportunity for being 
 amiable. Only mind we receive the verses in 
 time." 
 
 Francis nodded assent with a smile.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 227 
 
 CHAPTER IIT. 
 
 The promise the young Baron had given did not 
 occupy his thoughts very greatly. The coronation 
 of the Emperor, which first set his pen in motion, 
 gave an impetus to his fancy, and excited in him 
 many a silent wish. A couple of days were spent 
 in this way, and when the pressure of business in 
 the Electoral Cabinet had slightly relaxed, he found 
 some private matters waiting his attention. 
 
 The Baroness-mother, who fully agreed with 
 Countess Condenhove as to the marriage project, 
 insisted, at the commencement of spring, on giving 
 up the estate in the Eheingau, which she had 
 managed to the present time, to her son, whose 
 property it was, although, through the Baron's 
 manifest irresolution, and in accordance with the 
 Countess's express wish, she did not dare bring up 
 any mention of the marriage affair, and, therefore, 
 made the pretext of the completion of the business, 
 which required some legal forms, and the signature 
 of the real proprietors of the estate. A balancing 
 of the several tithes and rent charges collected 
 
 q2
 
 228 FIDES, OR 
 
 from the estates was now necessary to adapt the 
 matter for a legal conclusion, and for this work the 
 Baroness had long looked round for a skilful and 
 experienced man, who would regard her proper 
 interests. Francis thought directly on Erasmus 
 Lennig, but he felt a great difficulty in mentioning 
 his name. The image of the charming Fides 
 returned upon these thoughts with fresh liveliness 
 to his heart, which, up to the present, had been 
 filled with so many other, as it seemed to him, 
 worthless objects. That evening rose before him 
 in a magic vapour, on which he had surprised 
 Fides in her maiden chamber, when his foot had 
 invaded this sanctuary, where he felt as if he had 
 sealed an eternal compact with the rapid kiss he had 
 pressed on her forehead. Besides, he had not seen 
 Fides during the whole long winter, for he had 
 learned, shortly after the altercation about the 
 necklace, that she was no longer in Mayence. 
 Where was she at present, and for what reason had 
 she left the town ? 
 
 These questions and recollections at length 
 gained the victory over his confusion or false 
 pride. He mentioned Lennig to his mother, whom 
 she remembered as a friend of his deceased father's ; 
 she sent for him, and Erasmus willingly presented 
 himself at her house, after which the preparations 
 and the necessary extracts from the registers were
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 229 
 
 brought to such a state of progression in Francis's 
 study, that the business could be ended in a few 
 days by a journey to Oestrich. 
 
 Francis, before leaving for Hattenheim, spent an 
 evening at Forster's. Of the usual intimes he met 
 only Stadion and Sommering. Huber, Madame 
 Therese complained, was hindered from joining 
 them by some business of his ambassador's. 
 Forster said he felt rather unwell, and expressed 
 his annoyance at his physician not calling on him, 
 in spite of repeated messages. 
 
 '^ Why will you have none but this distinguished 
 man ?" said Madame Forster — '^ my doctor, Wede- 
 kind, is full of attention and care." 
 
 *^ I made the Privy Councillor's acquaintance at 
 the Elector's, v/hen, after my first arrival in Ma- 
 yence, I had no friends, and dined for the first time 
 at court. I took an opportunity of speaking to 
 him about my health, and he gave me some very 
 kind advice." 
 
 '' You are speaking of the Elector's physician in 
 ordinary ?" inquired Stadion. ^' He is well known 
 to be very inattentive, but the fault does not 
 lie only in the old man's careless temper ; at 
 the same time he is meanly greedy, and under- 
 takes, through covetousness, too many patients 
 and literary labours." 
 
 Forster expressed his intention of visiting him,
 
 230 * FIDES, OR 
 
 and having a look into his nest, as he said he 
 would be able to recognise the bird by his feathers. 
 
 When Francis and Madame Forster were at 
 length alone, they sat for awhile silent and deep in 
 thought, till the Lady Forster, in her desire to 
 commence a conversation, said, 
 
 *^You, Baron, intend to marry shortly?" 
 
 Francis shook his head, and then said, in a lively 
 manner, 
 
 *^ Ah ! I despair of getting a wife when I feel so 
 painfully that I do not possess a real friend ; but 
 you shall teach me how to deserve a wife — a wife 
 like Therese Forster." 
 
 " Ah ! dearest Baron," said Therese with a 
 smile, *^ every one must employ his own heart 
 in the search for love. We often wander in a 
 clover field, but the four-leaved trefoil is only 
 found by the person whom fortune favours. I 
 dare not help you in your search. So then you have 
 not progressed so far — at least, your last conscious 
 expressions cause me to form such an opinion — " 
 
 '^ To which you assume such a frosty look," said 
 the Baron. 
 
 •^ Well, my dear friend," exclaimed Therese, 
 " your happiness and my interests are widely sepa- 
 rated. The marriage I referred to is very proper 
 in every way, and may turn out very happily for 
 you, and with my whole heart I wish it may. But
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 231 
 
 your former perhaps improper penchant awakened 
 a much greater interest in me, for it had a worhl 
 of prejudice against it. I saw in it love — a young 
 love and an old world ; and I hoped to see whether 
 love or the world was the stronger. But now I 
 see or only expect happiness in a quiet or settled 
 state ; we turn away, and perhaps in turning lose a 
 ' companion in arms.' " 
 
 This last remark was breathed out so softly that 
 it was not heard. Francis was silently thoughtful, 
 perhaps through a slight feeling of irritation. 
 
 " I do not know your two objects of adoration 
 by sight," continued Therese ; " are they at all 
 alike in personal appearance ? — you have already 
 pictured to me their mental peculiarities." 
 
 With considerable dryness Francis replied, 
 
 " Shall 1 give you a description according to 
 the hue and cry ? Fides is the handsomer, Jose- 
 phine more piquante ; the former is tall and noble, 
 the latter graceful and gracious — the one floats 
 along, the other trips like a fairy. Both have a 
 complexion equally clear and pure, but Josephine's 
 hazel eyes have the rare accompaniment of lustrous 
 black hair; while Fides, with her fair locks, has 
 deep black eyes. Each possesses a pleasant mouth ; 
 but Josephine's lips are sharp — those of Fides, on 
 the contrary, full." 
 
 Therese interrupted him with a smile.
 
 282 
 
 ^^ Pardon me, dear friend," she said in excuse. 
 " Dare I tell you what I think of the feelings of 
 your heart ? With Fides you would — with Jose- 
 phine you could — but with which must you ? 
 True love, my friend, feels a magnetic attraction 
 to an object, whether it has black or blue eyes — a 
 necessary sympathy for a particular soul under a 
 particular form. But as long as you are compelled, 
 and remain faint-hearted, instead of being at- 
 tracted, so long '' 
 
 '' But, my God ! whose fault is it why I am not 
 attracted ?" cried Francis with impatience. 
 
 ^^ Perhaps only yours, my dear Baron," was 
 Therese^s serious reply. '^ The tenor of your life 
 is a very divided one, and your notions of your 
 rank have been strangely entangled with purely 
 human considerations or inclinations ; you waver 
 to and fro, a mere rocking-stone on the boundary 
 of society — possibly, too, of time. The age we 
 live in is an imfortunate one — an age of half sepa- 
 ration and new combinations. You, my friend, 
 seem to me a true son of the times, susceptible to 
 both aristocratic and revolutionary ideas ; but 
 every age has its martyrs, and the present has its 
 victims of vacillation. What might I advise you ? 
 
 Forster now re-entered the room. He turned 
 the conversation to scientific matters, without re- 
 marking that in the Baron he had a very distracted
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 233 
 
 and inattentive listener. Francis quickly took 
 leave in a reflecting spirit, which haunted liim the 
 next morning on his journey to Hattenheira, after 
 a night spent in busy thought on the advice Ther^se 
 had offered him. 
 
 Forster also spent a very restless night, and, in 
 consequence, he determined on paying a personal 
 visit to his physician, instead of again sending for 
 him, and meeting with the same ill-success which 
 had attended his former summons. 
 
 Privy-Councillor Hoffmann, as physician in or- 
 dinary to the Elector, inhabited a suite of pleasant 
 rooms in the old wing of the palace. 
 
 In the physician's anteroom Forster found an 
 old man-servant in a threadbare grey livery, wear- 
 ing a long tightly rolled queue, and broad buckles 
 in his shoes. His copper countenance and little 
 deep-set eyes glistened from a conversation he had 
 been carrying on with Garzweiler's old house- 
 keeper, who did not appear to be nearly so deaf 
 as she was at home, and was now dressed in great 
 state. The servant led her into a closet, and then 
 asked Forster what his business might be, and, 
 after hearing it, declared that the Privy-Councillor 
 could receive nobody during the morning. 
 
 Forster begged him to announce his name, and 
 inquired when he could speak with the Privy- 
 Councillor.
 
 234 FIDES, OR 
 
 " I dare not enter the room," declared the old 
 man, while, with excessive indifference, he hegan 
 arranging the furniture. 
 
 Forster, who at first regarded this as discourte- 
 ousness or the vagaries of a favourite servant, in- 
 dulged by a good-tempered master, insisted for 
 some time on being announced ; but the grey-coat 
 only looked at him with a vacant stare, and silently 
 shook his head, so that Forster saw no other alter- 
 native left him than to leave the room proudly. 
 He consequently turned to go, but the old servant 
 quickly followed him, and whispered, 
 
 " See, Hofrath — I, for your sake, would even 
 put up with another box of the ears ; but it's such 
 a short time since I made the attempt for a strange 
 gentleman — look, my left ear must be quite red — 
 the patient, of course, paid me for the blow. If I were 
 to venture as much for you, 1 should be obliged 
 to turn my right ear when announcing you, for two 
 blows on the same ear in such quick succession 
 would be too much." 
 
 Forster looked at the hypocrite sharply, and now 
 remembered Ruber's remark that the servant was 
 accessible to a bribe ; and as it interested him to 
 observe the rascal, and at the same time he enter- 
 tained a great desire to speak with his master, he 
 pulled out his purse and offered grey-coat a French 
 dollar. The old fellow left the room, and soon after
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 235 
 
 Opened the door with a very pitiful face, and, hold- 
 ing his hand pressed on his right ear. 
 
 Hoffmann, who was a septuagenarian of tall 
 and powerful stature and a cheerful look, received 
 Forster with courteous politeness. His rooms, over- 
 crowded with books, natural productions, works 
 of art, models, and so forth, showed their occu- 
 pier to be a man engaged in the pursuit of very 
 opposite studies ; in addition to medicine, mathe- 
 matics, telegraphy, a variety of languages, &c. This 
 confusion was the more remarkable, as so splendid 
 a view over the Ehine could be enjoyed from the 
 windows. 
 
 Forster explained his sufferings. 
 
 "It all arises from your old complaint, the 
 scurvy V^ exclaimed Hoffmann, paying little at- 
 tention to him, and engaged with one thing and the 
 other. 
 
 After some conversation on political matters, 
 Hoffmann handed Forster the prescription, and 
 then arranged a diet-table for him. 
 
 "I set a great value on you," he said, in con- 
 tinuation, "for it is possible to enjoy a sensible 
 conversation with you. Our Mayennese, both high 
 and low, are colossal, really transcendental in their 
 ignorance ; and I am very happy to meet a man 
 like yourself." 
 
 " And still, the announcement of my name cost
 
 236 FIDES, OR 
 
 your servant a box in the ears," said Forster with 
 a smile. 
 
 ^^ What?'' cried Hoffmann. "He said so, did 
 he ? Wait, boy !" 
 
 He ran to get his Malacca cane, which he swung 
 threateningly, though without calling his servant. 
 
 '' Yes, he deserves that," said Forster. " Favour 
 him with a taste of your cane." 
 
 " Do you doubt for a moment that he will 
 get it ?" cried the doctor. " Yes, he'll have his 
 reward, by Hippocrates ; not in your presence, 
 though !" 
 
 And as he put the stick into the corner he com- 
 plained, *^ My Francis is a shameful boy — a worth- 
 less boy. I wish I could get rid of him." 
 
 Forster took leave, and Hoffmann insisted on ac- 
 companying him into the anteroom. 
 
 " Come again soon," he said ; " at present, to 
 my great sorrow, I am compelled to wait on the 
 Elector. The old gentleman has annoyed himself 
 again about the pamphlets and newspapers which 
 the directors of the reading-room have sent for his 
 inspection." 
 
 " Adieu, dear Hofrath," said the physician, with 
 great politeness; and, as soon as Forster had left 
 the room, followed by the man-servant, Hoffmann 
 quickly opened a cupboard and took out the box 
 in which the servant had deposited Forster's crown-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 237 
 
 piece as a worthy companion to the other waifs of 
 the antechamber. 
 
 Hoffmann shook the money out of it, and 
 counted it up ; but while he was thus engaged 
 the servant re-entered the room, and immediately, 
 on noticing his master's occupation, sprang towards 
 him and seized him by the arm, to drag him away 
 from his treasure. Hoffinann quickly snatched a 
 handful of the money, and the servant caught hold 
 of his hand. In this manner they pulled one an- 
 other backwards and forwards, Hoffmann crying 
 the while, 
 
 " Boy, boy, I advise you, for your own good, not 
 to forget that I am your master. ^ Thou shalt 
 honour thy father and mother, &c.' — of course you 
 know the rest. And I am now your father, boy." 
 
 "And this money-box is my mother,'' cried the 
 servant. " I won't allow you to rob my hive as 
 you did once before.*' 
 
 " Your hive, eh ?" said his master, angrily ; 
 " for whose benefit did I give you leave to an- 
 nounce persons only for the consideration of a fee ? 
 — was it for yourself, yourself alone, boy ?" 
 
 AVith these words he attempted to strike his 
 servant with his unoccupied hand, in return for 
 which the latter seized hold of his master's wig in 
 such a violent manner that the powder flew 
 amund. In his anger Hoff'raann caught hold of
 
 238 FIDES, OR 
 
 his '' boy's " long pigtail, and through the pur- 
 chase he got by it, twisted his head so firmly on 
 one side, that his face was turned in the direction 
 of the closet, out of which old Ursula at this mo- 
 ment made her appearance, terrified at the noise 
 and scolding. The two contending parties im- 
 mediately loosened their hold of one another ; but 
 Hofi"mann still kept the money tightly clutched in 
 his hand. 
 
 " What do you want ?" he asked, assuming a 
 haughty demeanour and a dignified tone. '' Who 
 are you, old person ?" 
 
 " Ah ! 1 heard my Francis crying out in trouble, 
 and wished " 
 
 "And wished to spring to my aid !" exclaimed 
 Francis ; " what a spirit you have got, my angel 1 
 But now I may as well be hanged for a sheep as a 
 lamb. Yes, Privy-Councillor Hofi'mann, you must 
 know that this person is Ursula Susannah Rudel- 
 bach, my betrothed — that's who she is.'' 
 
 "What, boy, you wish to marry?" asked Hoff- 
 mann, quite perplexed. 
 
 "Yes; we only pray for your consent — our 
 hearts and hands have long been agreeable." 
 
 With these words the so-called " boy " took the 
 old woman by the hand, and dragged her in front 
 of the Privy-Councillor. 
 
 "Who is she, then? — where does she come
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 239 
 
 from ?" asked the physician. " I know nothing of 
 her." 
 
 *^ She is a native of this town, and manages the 
 household of that pious gentleman, the Ecclesiastical 
 Councillor Garzweiler," answered Francis. 
 
 " Aha !" said Hoffmann, with a laugh ; ** then 
 you have a beehive, too, I suppose, like my Francis, 
 there ? — and you want to marry ? Go along with 
 you for an old fool ! I know all about it — don't 
 call it marriage — do not speak to me of a union 
 of hearts — all you want is a union of money- 
 boxes." 
 
 The physician stalked out of the room in a very 
 dignified manner.
 
 240 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 The business which had summoned Baron Francis 
 to his estate at Hattenheim brought him into a 
 close connection with the ferrymaster Cratz, in the 
 neighbouring village of Oestrich ; for the Baroness 
 mother had come to an agreement with him about 
 the sale of the piece of vineyard. Cratz occupied 
 a pleasant cottage not far from the bank of the 
 river, situated on a little acclivity. 
 
 While the Baron and the ferrymaster were seated 
 together and enjoying a bottle of wine, which, in 
 the cheerful Ehenish custom, was placed on the 
 table, the wife joined in the conversation — a 
 pretty, graceful young woman, whose features ap- 
 peared to the Baron strangely familiar ; eyes full of 
 soul, an aquiline nose, and noble figure. When 
 the business arrangements were completed, and 
 Francis drank to the prosperity of the little Nazi, 
 and wished the future proprietor many successful 
 vintages, the lively disposition of the Rhenish 
 woman was shown in the one graceful motion with 
 which she swung her boy in the air, to offer the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 241 
 
 Baron his little hand. The party separated with 
 the greatest contentment. 
 
 Francis felt great inward emotion as he walked 
 in Lennig's company along the allee of fruit and 
 nut-trees, on which the buds were commencing to 
 expand into bloom. He began to speak of the 
 happiness of the quiet family he had just left. 
 
 *^ Nature and love," he exclaimed, ^^ alone secure 
 the truth and happiness of our existence. Nature, 
 while she rules us irresistibly, accustoms us to her 
 eternal laws, whose bondage, however, is sweet, 
 and rewards us for our obedience with the inap- 
 preciable happiness of tranquillity and truth ; and 
 the more closely we allow ourselves to be held in 
 her arms, the more freely we rule in the un- 
 bounded empire of Love, where everything is 
 dependent on ourselves ; and what we create and 
 bestow is as immeasurable as that which we first 
 received as the price of our obedience. What, in 
 comparison with them, is this diplomatic drudgery ? 
 Yes, I will take refuge here in the sweet summer 
 months from what is in our society called * good 
 manners,' w^hich never find so pure an echo in 
 the soul as that which may be noticed in the 
 cottage we have just left, and which formerly, at 
 your house, dear Lennig — I " 
 
 This abruptly-ended speech, which had slipped 
 unawares from the Baron, caused a little embar- 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 242 FIDES, OR 
 
 rassment to both. Their former intimacy had been 
 unexpectedly referred to, and each felt the present 
 to be an excellent moment for an explanation. 
 Erasmus first broke the silence by praying the 
 Baron to pardon him for his former uncourteous 
 behaviour, and accused Garzweiler of the cause of 
 the misunderstanding and of his own bad temper. 
 
 " You did not, then, intend to banish me from 
 your house ?" asked the Baron, with a smile ; " for 
 in the fulness of my heart I dare now confess to 
 you that I did not go there merely for your sake, 
 but for that of your amiable daughter. But how 
 shall I name this emotion, which seemed to me so 
 obscure, and about which I entered into no ex- 
 planations with you ?" 
 
 *' What demanded explanation, Baron Francis?" 
 remarked Erasmus. ^^ Your silence caused at least 
 no opposition, and your conduct on visiting us was 
 ever kept within the limits of propriety. But see. 
 Baron, my Fides was a child; nature and youth 
 lay closer to her heart than the customs of bourgeois 
 life, which her father knows how to honour and 
 respect." 
 
 '^ Dear sir," said Francis, after a pause, *' to 
 these unfortunate customs there is wanting, in ad- 
 dition, a refuge and an asylum beyond the bounds 
 raised by differences of rank, whither purely humim 
 love may ily for shelter, where it would find a re-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 243 
 
 cognition, a value set on its blessed happiness, 
 and remain unwarned and unattacked by the other 
 relations and pretensions of social life. Why should 
 a purely human attribute, which is common to botli 
 high and low, be found only in a higher or lower 
 union? Why should not on one occasion high and 
 low be united and equalize one another? Why is 
 there no allowance made to a pure self-satisfying 
 existence in the hearts of those who stand under 
 the arrogant rule of social prejudices? Why should 
 it be ever persecuted and disturbed?" 
 
 '^ That is just what I wished to say. Baron," re- 
 plied Lennig. ^^ And will you have the cruel pre- 
 judices of your rank? On this defiance the quiet 
 happiness of a family is in the end wrecked and 
 broken up ; for at the slightest movement the op- 
 pressed heart is sorely wounded, or sheds its last 
 life-drop. Who could master such prejudices? 
 Perhaps the coming time may do so ; but your 
 asylum, as you term it, amounts to nothing. To 
 speak the truth, I am not quite clear as to what 
 you washed by it. But were there to be really, in 
 some corner of civil life, a recognized and valid 
 refuge for the pure love which is incompatible with 
 the circumstances of station, it would withdraw 
 the noblest powers from social life, just as in 
 the first centuries of Christianity men of deep and 
 resolute purpose sought the deserts and turned 
 
 R 2
 
 244 FIDES, OR 
 
 hermits. No, Baron, a life of action is our lot on 
 earth, and we must accommodate ourselves to cir- 
 cumstances, whether for better or worse." 
 
 After a short pause, Erasmus added, " You 
 have felt the truth of this already, and are about 
 to complete an alliance for life which possesses con- 
 sideration in the circle in which you move, and 
 which can bring you happiness." 
 
 The Baron assumed a gloomy look, and made a 
 motion of repugnance. He then said, in a gentler 
 tone, 
 
 '^ I have such strange feelings, dear Lennig ; 
 this calm atmosphere, this mysterious quickening 
 of bush and tree, these broken clouds through 
 which the sun every now and then casts a transient 
 beam on the teeming landscape, as a mother's eye 
 looks through the opening of the curtain on her 
 wakening child — all this sets me in unison with the 
 pleasant feelings of spring, which appears to me 
 not a mere annual spring, but that of a whole life. 
 What a blessed stillness for examining one's self! 
 what a country to form the prospect! what a 
 river for communication with the world, are here 
 united! As owner of this paradise, I now yield 
 for the first time to those feelings of desire which 
 impelled our forefather Adam when he discovered 
 ' it was not good to be alone.' But, give me your 
 hand, dear Lennig, as a pledge that my confidence
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 245 
 
 in you will not be betrayed. The one to whom you 
 referred is not my righjt Eve ; she seems further 
 removed from me since I have been here, and be- 
 comes more and more estranged to my heart since 
 it beats so cordially in my new home. I cannot 
 fancy her in actual connexion with my happy 
 estate, as the soul of this landscape, and I greatly 
 doubt whether she would feel cheerful here. Nature 
 and love, do not desert me in such a moment! All 
 the gifts and blessings which Heaven pours with a 
 bounteous hand on this spot of earth would vanish 
 at the appearance of that restless being; a rosebud 
 might nestle in her glossy locks, and she would 
 destroy it to inhale its odour; a lily spread its 
 gold dust over the brooch which ornaments her 
 fair bosom, and her laughing lips would blow it 
 away from the portrait of her grandmother. No, 
 no! this is not her sphere. Her eye sparkles with 
 delight under the chandelier of the court ball- 
 room; her little ear swells at the grateful homage 
 poured into it by fops. Dear Lennig! a feeling 
 of sorrow possesses me at these thoughts. I do 
 not wish to leave this place, for a gentle voice 
 whispers in my ear — * Here you will find a refuge 
 from annoyance, and doubt, from shame and 
 servitude.' " 
 
 He was silent, and began to move more quick- 
 ly. Erasmus, while walking at the young man's
 
 246 
 
 side, regarded him mth emotion and surprise. 
 
 "Why did you send, your daughter from 
 Mayence ?" asked the Baron, as he suddenly 
 stopped, wishing by one great effort to escape from 
 his feelings of sadness. 
 
 ^' Sent her away, Baron? — no, I did not do so. 
 My sister-in-law at Alzenau was seriously ill, and 
 desired, as she had no children of her own, to have 
 her god-child to attend on her. 1 took my Fides 
 over Hanau thither, half gladly, half in sorrow; for 
 my child it was curative to awaken from her dream 
 and improve herself in the serious duties of life, 
 and at the same time there were some hopes of a 
 decent inheritance, a little estate situated on the 
 fertile banks of the Maine ; but still, at the same 
 time, I felt pained at losing my daughter, for she 
 is a part of my daily happiness ; in truth, the 
 winter has appeared very long to me, although it 
 brought me round very charming letters, and from 
 them I gained, for the first time, a right insight 
 into my child's character. Heaven alone knows 
 whence the girl has obtained all her thoughts and 
 expressions, though your books. Baron, did a great 
 deal towards it, I am well aware." 
 
 *^ Oh ! no, dear Lennig !" objected Francis, 
 ^^ the books did not effect it ; but the human heart 
 has within itself sources which spring from un- 
 fathomable depths. The accidents of life may
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 247 
 
 cause them to flow irregularly, but books and 
 education are only adapted to clear them and give 
 them a good and useful setting. I should much 
 like to read those letters, if it were permissible/' 
 
 " Well, perhaps it may be managed some day, 
 Baron. My Fides has made extracts from your 
 books, and from some I sent to Alzenau for her ; 
 'tis a collection, an album, as the fashion terms it." 
 
 They had now arrived at the entrance to the 
 garden, where they saw the Baroness-mother advanc- 
 ing to meet them between the high hedges which 
 led to the house.
 
 248 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The business had now been brought to such a 
 state of forwardness that Lennig was enabled to 
 return to Mayence, but Francis still remained be- 
 hind. His mornings were occupied in arrange- 
 ments on the estate. The ferrymaster's pleasing 
 wife again crossed the young man's recollection, 
 for he had heard her husband call her Gertrude, 
 and the Almanac, which at the present time was in 
 great request in the preparation of leaves, &c., 
 brought this name to his notice on the Saturday 
 before " Lsetare." In the orangery there were 
 many pretty and fragrant flowers. Francis cut a 
 large nosegay, and lounged- away with his dogs 
 and gun, as if going shooting, on the road to 
 Oestrich. 
 
 Before the house the ferryman's wife was play- 
 ing with her little Nazi. She received the Baron's 
 nosegay and congratulations with all the propriety 
 requisite to be observed in the presence of a young 
 man of rank, and she assumed a sort of quiet 
 dignity in her behaviour to the Baron. Her boy
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 249 
 
 stretched out his hand for the flowers, and she held 
 the fragrant nosegay so close to his snub little 
 nose that he was compelled to sneeze, when she 
 became again the laughing, happy mother. She 
 bade her little boy give his hand in thanks, and 
 then flew with him down to the ferry, where her 
 husband was busied in unloading a barge ; he, too, 
 must smell the nice flowers, and join with her in 
 laughing at Nazi's sneezing. 
 
 In the course of the conversation the Baron 
 remarked to her that her features seemed familiar 
 to him, and with a fleeting blush she replied, 
 
 ^' I am said to bear a great resemblance to an 
 uncle of mine, a clergyman, my mother's brother." 
 
 "Were you born in Mayence?" inquired 
 Francis. 
 
 " No, 1 was born and educated in the country, 
 in the neigbourhood Amorbach." 
 
 " Amorbach !" exclaimed the Baron, not through 
 any feeling of surprise, but because it reminded 
 him of the lap-dog Amor, and in consequence he 
 made a knot in his pocket-handkerchief, to remind 
 him of the promised verses, while Gertrude con- 
 tinued, 
 
 *^ Afterwards I lived with my mother, when I 
 first became acquainted with my husband, and not 
 long after my marriage he led me from the banks 
 of the Maine to those of the Khine; so you see that
 
 250 FIDES, OR 
 
 I have ever lived by the side of the fairest streams, 
 and I am truly pleased to see that my dear old 
 Maine preserves its yellow colour as far as 
 Oestrich." 
 
 Francis did not wish to appear inquisitive, for 
 he remarked, by her hasty way of speaking and 
 her sportive avoidance of her uncle's name, that she 
 was unwilling to reveal it. However, she did not 
 attempt to conceal the fact that she had to thank 
 her uncle for all her little comforts, and also stated 
 that he now and then paid them a visit, and ex- 
 pressed his satisfaction at their domestic happi- 
 ness. 
 
 " It is a pleasing sight," remarked Francis, " to 
 observe a clergyman in his connection wdth a 
 family to which he is related, or with which he 
 stands on an intimate footing — as such a tie 
 renders these unmarried gentlemen milder and 
 more sensible of that mortal felicity from which 
 they themselves are compelled to refrain." 
 
 ^^ There you are quite right, Baron/' cried 
 Madame Cratz, with vivacity. " When I often- 
 times think, especially since the birth of my Nazi, 
 what a priest must suffer from the want of wife 
 and child, all his comfort, and the high reverence 
 paid him, do not appear to me enviable. He is 
 deficient in the perception of true joys and real 
 cares ; no family sports around his homestead to
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 251 
 
 alleviate his sorrow ; and his pleasures fade away, 
 without yielding their fragrance to others.'' 
 
 " What you have remarked is so true," replied 
 Francis, " that the majority of the clergy feel the 
 same; and many of them, who cannot debar them- 
 selves the enjoyment of this felicity, seek it on for- 
 bidden paths." 
 
 Gertrude blushed ; after a pause she said with 
 downcast eyes, 
 
 *^ Do you approve of such a course, Baron ?" 
 
 ^* It is perhaps excusable," he replied, " though 
 certainly not justifiable. No man ought to desire 
 or be compelled against his will to renounce that 
 which is shared by all his brother men. If he does 
 so, he is sure to have his revenge — and on whom, 
 or on what ?" 
 
 " I agree with you," said the excited woman ; 
 ^' no man ought to seek joys in which he dare not 
 publicly participate. They are like flowers shut 
 up in a sick-room ; they change their fragrance 
 into poison for the heart. But now I must express 
 my astonishment that you, who reside in Mayence, 
 and must be accustomed to look with indulgence 
 on many naughty things which take place there, 
 should entertain the same opinion as myself ; while 
 my good and honest husband often tries to find an 
 excuse for them. No ; you have quite confirmed 
 me in my former opinion. And then imagine a
 
 252 FIDES, OR 
 
 child, a daughter, what her feelings must be on 
 discovering that her father is a priest !" 
 
 She blushed as she uttered these words, but 
 continued with greater animation, 
 
 " By heavens ! Baron, I would rather a blind 
 beggar were my father, and be compelled to lead 
 him from village to village, than stand before an 
 Abbot, who should fill my lap with gold, and have 
 the power to say, * Take it, Gertrude, without 
 fear, 'tis a present from thy father.' Oh ! I should 
 sink to the earth beneath his hands outstretched to 
 bless me." 
 
 The young sportsman walked with feelings of 
 delight through the wood. Below him lay extend- 
 ed the ruddy sunset ; the larks sang merrily above 
 his head, and the cheerfulness of the surrounding 
 nation filled his heart with fresh courage. On re- 
 turning from shooting, he remembered the verses 
 he had promised Countess Agnes for her sister's 
 anniversary, which would occur the next day but 
 one, and on which a doll dressed like a Domicellar 
 was to be placed in the dog's basket, and a well- 
 adapted piece of poetry was to express Amor's 
 metamorphosis into the new character. The Baron 
 slept over his poetic ideas ; and when he seated 
 himself the next morning at an early hour before
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 253 
 
 his desk, he dashed off easily and laughingly the 
 following lines ; — 
 
 AMOR LOQUITUR 
 
 Fate this day has kindly granted 
 All for which thy heart hath panted ; 
 As lap-dog I was laid to rest, 
 And woke next morn a parson dressed 
 
 A change most wrong and full of sin, 
 To narrow coat from silken skin ; 
 Those paws thou once so fondly view'd 
 Are now bestockinged and beshoe'd ; 
 And were I on thy lap to bound 
 My wig would spread its powder round. 
 
 I only feel one joy on earth. 
 That this day also saw thy birth ; 
 And now my thoughts no farther range 
 Than what success attends the change. 
 
 All, all, I ask in this fond hour 
 Is, what avails my former power ? 
 Dare I now kiss that ruddy lip, 
 Whence Jove himself might nectar sip 1 
 Dare I now toy the live -long day, 
 And press that form where once I lay ? 
 
 Yes, Heaven sure this new birth gave. 
 To make me still thy constant slave ; 
 And if, as dog, I was thy pet, 
 I trust, as man, to be so yet ! 
 
 To accompany these verses he wrote a very polite 
 letter to Josephine, filled with congratulations to
 
 254 FIDES, OR 
 
 her, and sorrow at his being prevented by busi- 
 ness from personally partaking in the pleasures of 
 the day. After sealing this letter, but leaving the 
 verses in a blank envelope, he enclosed them in a 
 large box, with the finest and most fragrant flowers 
 he could cull in the orangery, and sent them 
 through a mounted messenger to Mayence, ad- 
 dressed to the Countess Agnes von Condenhove. 
 
 While Francis was drinking deeply of the happi- 
 ness to which a contemplative life at his country 
 residence administered, his friend Forster had been 
 raising in Mayence a lively excitement among the 
 members of the Heading Society. Although he had 
 determined, when taking leave of the Baron, on 
 giving the society notice that the director laid 
 pamphlets and newspapers before the Electoral 
 Cabinet, the next morning he entertained doubts 
 as to the propriety of such a step ; he reflected 
 that he would be compelled to give up the name of 
 his authority, which might cause the Baron great 
 annoyance with the Elector, and even cost him his 
 situation, as a punishment for his breach of confi- 
 dence. After a severe struggle between his feelings 
 of duty and a regard for his friend, Forster gave 
 up his resolution. 
 
 But now he had received the same information 
 from the mouth of the Privy-Councillor Hoifmann 
 — a man towards whom he felt less delicacy. He
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 255 
 
 left the palace in a very unusual state of excite- 
 ment, which was probably caused by the settlement 
 of those doubts with which he had been so long 
 struggling, and hurried straight to the Heading 
 Society. It was an hour at which the newly-arrived 
 papers were laid on the table, and when a numerous 
 party was sure to be present. 
 
 The first who met him at the door with a cordial 
 greeting was Hofi'mann, the Professor of Physics 
 at the University, a tete montee, possessing a very 
 violent character, and animated with lively feelings 
 of justice, but as little cautious or hesitating in his 
 opinions as he was delicate or choice in his amusing 
 way of expressing them. On hearing Forster's 
 communication he stormed into the large reading- 
 room, and, after ringing the bell, informed the 
 attentive and anxious readers that those journals, 
 newspapers, and pamphlets which, up to the pre- 
 sent time, had frequently been missed, and supposed 
 to have been lost through the post, had been kept 
 back by the Director Hartleben, and delivered to the 
 Electoral Cabinet. This explanation surprised the 
 hearers so greatly, that, after a continued silence, 
 as many expressions of doubt as of dissatisfaction 
 could be heard. 
 
 '^ Whence is this accusation derived ?" asked 
 some friend of Hartleben's. 
 
 " I assert it," exclaimed Hofimann, *' till Hart-
 
 256 FIDES, OR 
 
 leben impugns its veracity. Has he already 
 arrived ?" 
 
 Some of the members hurried to call him, when 
 he advanced, with a paper impressed with a great 
 seal in his hand, and authoritatively commanded 
 peace. A deep silence ensued. 
 
 "Is it true, professor," cried Hoffmann, as he 
 advanced, " that you " 
 
 With a solemn gesture Hartleben said, 
 
 " I know what you intend to' ask. Professor 
 Hoffmann, and I hold the reply here in my 
 hand." 
 
 He then read a rescript addressed to the Vice- 
 gerent's office, by which several therein-mentioned 
 journals were interdicted, all pamphlets subjected 
 to the inspection of the Censor, and the reception of 
 all newspapers from France forbidden, under the 
 penalty of a severe fine. The Director had scarce 
 arrived at the date and the words, "Given from the 
 Electoral — " when Hoffmann interrupted him by 
 bursting into a loud laugh, and crying, " That is a 
 confirmation of the truth of my accusation." 
 
 Hartleben's friends were silent from conviction, 
 others of the company from surprise. During this 
 panic Hoffmann thundered out his accusation 
 against the Director, who, though at first ap- 
 parently confused, soon took the word with quiet 
 dignity.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 257 
 
 " Thus it is, gentlemen : they were papers which 
 the Government found it absolutely necessary to 
 interdict, as they excited the temperaments of 
 their readers, and openly preached revolution.'' 
 
 *' Has not the society itself to determine on the 
 admission or non-admission of newspapers?" in- 
 quired Hoffmann. 
 
 " Has, then, Professor Hoffmann himself kept 
 this rule so very conscientioustly ?" asked the 
 Director in turn. " Has not the society also to 
 determine what papers should be laid on the table? 
 And yet one member and the other publicly lay on 
 it papers, pamphlets, nay, even private letters, 
 which have not been ordered by the society. We 
 have secret friends of the Propaganda among us, 
 who make it their business to spread about false 
 news, by which they terrify the people, and en- 
 circle Insurrection with a glorious halo." 
 
 " What a fine nose you must possess. Dean !" 
 exclaimed Hoffmann ; *^ to such a nose must surely 
 be united an irresistible desire to ' fetch and 
 carry.' " 
 
 ** Why did you, then, transmit these obnoxious 
 papers to the Cabinet ?" inquired Professor Blau. 
 
 '^ His Grace the Elector has, up to the present 
 time, displayed a noble and generous disposition 
 towards us. Neither the press nor our conversa- 
 tion was watched ; no one has been prosecuted for 
 
 VOL I. s
 
 258 FIDES, OPw 
 
 bold speaking, though scores of such persons may 
 be found in Mayence. But have we repaid such 
 noble liberality either with gratitude or respect ? 
 I answer, No ! Secret meetings, or, to speak 
 more correctly, a nightly club, is held here, and 
 members of it have been introducing their revolu- 
 tionary ideas into our ever well-minded society." 
 
 These remarks were followed by a noisy debate. 
 An evening meeting was proposed, to which all the 
 members absent at the present moment should be 
 invited, in order to determine on the further steps 
 to be taken. The servant, Makowitzki, was there- 
 fore sent into the town, with a hastily drawn up 
 form of invitation ; but he preferred on his awn 
 account going first to Garzweiler, and giving him 
 information of the remarkable event which had just 
 happened. However, he passed by his own home 
 to fetch a still unpaid baker's bill, which he intended 
 to give the father as a supplement to his other im- 
 portant news.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF xMAYENCE. 259 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The next morning, at an early hour, Professor Hoff- 
 mann made his appearance at Forster's, to conduct 
 him to a meeting of a few friends. He told him 
 that there had been considerable disturbance in the 
 assembly on the preceding evening, and that the 
 old Reading Society had been dissolved 
 
 '^ Storms are sometimes very beneficial,'^ he 
 added ; " we have had for a considerable space of 
 time very dirty weather, and the mixture of mem- 
 bers was above all bounds perturbed, but now the 
 Electoral lightning has caused a separation of the 
 elements. Sartorius, the bookseller, will give us a 
 room and stuff to read. We have become smaller in 
 numbers, and consequently purer, and, above all, 
 the fugitive rabble of emigres will be kept at a dis- 
 tance." 
 
 Forster declined taking any part in the proceed- 
 ing. 
 
 ^^ What !" cried Hoffmann, " you refuse to join 
 us ? Are you not the motive power of the whole 
 transformation, and you wish to withdraw yourself
 
 260 FIDES, OR 
 
 from our gratitude and confidence? My heart tells 
 me you will be the soul of our club." 
 
 *^ Club !" exclaimed Forster in surprise, as he 
 gradually escaped from his friend's closer embrace, 
 *^ a club in Mayence ?" 
 
 " Well, well, as you please — only come !'' 
 
 With these words Hoffmann drew his friend out 
 of the room, and hurried with him across the Thier- 
 markt. 
 
 The propositions which Sartorius brought forward 
 for the foundation of a new Eeading Society were 
 very reasonable, and were carried unanimously, but 
 the speeches of several present threw a new light 
 on the society itself. It was arranged that lectures 
 should be delivered on the events of the day, about 
 the weightiest questions of the state and civil 
 society, while it was urged that all must hold 
 themselves in readiness at any moment to receive 
 the French Revolution in Mayence. This expecta- 
 tion was confidently expressed from the first, how- 
 ever carefully the initiated kept their plans secret, 
 from regard for many then present ; but Forster 
 saw through this movement of the revolutionary 
 elements, and observed the first commencement of 
 an association like those clubs which he had seen 
 in active operation during his stay in Paris. He 
 therefore rose to speak, which all present, indeed, 
 seemed to expect.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 261 
 
 ^^ If all the signs are not deceptive, something is 
 brewing in various parts of Germany, which will 
 not be in perfect harmony with the servile docility 
 of the nation. But this causes me but little plea- 
 sure, for I must confess to you, gentlemen, I do 
 not consider it to be yet Germany's turn to be con- 
 vulsed by a revolution. Our Fatherland has borne 
 the expenses of the reformation, as Holland and 
 England also did, each in its proper turn, and 
 purchased with a bloody series of wars that step 
 which it advanced in moral and civil liberty. And 
 now this matter regards us closely, and I wish from 
 my heart we may be enabled to warm ourselves at 
 the fire France has kindled without burning our 
 fingers." 
 
 As the speaker noticed sour hisses, expressive of 
 discontent, he continued — 
 
 '^ Do not believe that I disapprove of the 
 revolution in itself. I recognize its importance in 
 the great circle of human destinies, and am con- 
 vinced that it must not only arrive at a climax, 
 but give our ideas and capabilities a new develop- 
 ment, our minds a new direction." 
 
 Professor Blau now rose to address the meet- 
 ing. " Bravely spoken, Hofrath Forster ! " he 
 exclaimed, with his mild and attractive smile. 
 **But who have more to learn in this matter of 
 revolution than^ve Germans? Where is another
 
 262 FIDES, OR 
 
 people to be found so rich in noble powers (al- 
 though no one lives in the enjoyment of them) 
 as the Germans? And still, are we not in every 
 wav as weak on our lepjs as children ? As these 
 crawl from chair to chair, from the knees of the 
 father to those of the grandfather, so the German 
 nation is accustomed to look for support to the 
 lesser and greater thrones built up everywhere 
 among them. But what columns are these to 
 support the nation, and shall we expose these 
 weather-beaten pillars to the raging storm of the 
 revolution? Our new Emperor is still an uncrowned 
 boy, of whom I will say nothing. The King of 
 Prussia — will he find a better prop in his sym- 
 bolical books, or in his mistresses? Or perhaps 
 his noble officers will support him, among whom a 
 contempt for all morality and civil rights rages 
 like a contagious pestilence. Or what do you say 
 to Charles Theodore in Munich, that brittle cake 
 kneaded by the hands of monks and women, 
 who sell all the state offices, even the Professor- 
 ships at Heidelberg, and do penance for it by 
 persecuting the protestants and philosophers? Or 
 what do you expect from the reigning Duke of 
 Brunswick, that general rendered so eminent by 
 the battle of Kloster Campen ? It is true he is 
 constantly practising himself in laying siege and 
 making conquests — of the notorious Bramoni,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 263 
 
 Mademoiselle Hartfeld, and so on ; and then the 
 Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, who treats his regiments 
 like cornfields, that he may ever have a good crop 
 ready for sale ; who detests the revolution, and 
 still does not devote a farthing to the assistance of 
 those who have suffered by it ! ^ Where the treasure 
 is there will the heart be also,' and we may feel 
 assured that at the first rumour of danger the 
 Landgrave will sooner desert his people than his 
 exchequer. I will not descend tlirough 4he little 
 reigning courts in Franconia and Suabia, who, in 
 their personal and political unimportance, puff 
 themselves up by the possession of their own 
 gallows and Court Councillors. But whichever 
 way I look, traces of the worm are visible in the 
 German thrones. Who of us has seen the Alps 
 illuminated by the setting sun? They bear a 
 glorious glow in the distance, but on approaching 
 them it changes to a clay corpse-like hue. Now 
 look, my friends, beyond the high mountain chain 
 of the Fatherland. The moment is approaching 
 when their purple summits will also assume a 
 cadaverous hue ; where — where shall we find a 
 resting-place, when the boiling caldron of the 
 French Revolution foams over our frontiers ?" 
 
 This speech received stormy applause, while 
 Blau reseated himself somewhat pale and cough- 
 ing.
 
 264 FIDES, OR 
 
 "Well, then," cried Professor Hoffmann, "it is 
 carried unanimously that the noble German Nation 
 requires a new form of Government, and that it is 
 servility alone, among the higher regions, the 
 servility of slaves, in the lower of misfortune, 
 which presses so heavily on our glorious Father- 
 land. It is therefore absolutely necessary that a new 
 Government should spring from the people itself. 
 You understand me ! " 
 
 He then took Forster by the arm, and drew him 
 into a side-room. At this moment several of the 
 company cried out laughingly, 
 
 " Well, Professor Dielter, what have you to 
 say to all this ? You seem so remarkably 
 serious.'^ 
 
 " I am thinking," replied Dielter w4th great 
 gravity, " of something Swift wrote before our 
 time. He says, ' It was an excellent arrangement 
 of our ancestors that persons who like to talk much 
 and without contradiction, find three wooden edi- 
 fices erected for them ; two, indeed, at the public 
 expense. These are — the pulpit, the gallows, and 
 the stage.' Now, as the clergy will not yield their 
 pulpits to such mighty orators as yourselves, and 
 on the stage you would play to empty benches, 
 you see which is left open to you." 
 
 A peal of laughter was raised round the green 
 finch-coloured coat. In the meantime, Hoflmann
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 265 
 
 sat confidentially by Forster's side, and whispered 
 in his ear, 
 
 " There existed formerly in Mayence a Society 
 of the Illuminati, which was, however, dissolved 
 some six years ago, and the majority of the mem- 
 bers were Emmericians. Afterwards, in the place 
 of this Illuminati association, a branch of the 
 widely-extending Propaganda was planted here, 
 which remained a European mystery till the out- 
 break of the French Revolution. You have heard 
 probably of the so-called ^ German Union.' The 
 chief meeting-place of this association was Mayence, 
 and its tendency was a universal republic, the anni- 
 hilation of monarchy, and dissolution of Christianity. 
 We do not wish to connect such destructive views 
 as these with our ' German Union,' and we have 
 remained till the present moment undetected. 
 What do you say, my dear Forster ? — will you join 
 
 us r 
 
 Forster declined. " I agree with you in believing 
 that a new governing power must be created for our 
 Fatherland; but whether the French Revolution isin- 
 tended to be the midwife of futurity, I know not, nor 
 will I have act or part in it. It is possible that cir- 
 cumstances may arise to mix us up in it, and then, my 
 dear Professor, we must put our shoulder to the 
 wheel, and serve the public welfare with that 
 courage which will spring from our confidence that
 
 266 FIDES, OR 
 
 Heaven wills it so. You must remember we do not 
 make events, but events are the originators of our 
 actions."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 267 
 
 CHAPTER yil. 
 
 In such diiferent ways did Forster and Baron 
 Francis spend a March week — the one so ill at ease, 
 the other in such good spirits ; but an event of 
 importance was soon about to call their common 
 attention. 
 
 Some few days after the Countess Josephine^s 
 anniversary, Francis returned to Mayence upon 
 the expiration of his leave of absence. As soon 
 as he arrived at the bridge of boats, he noticed a 
 strange tumult and concourse of persons at the 
 palace gates ; he ordered his coachman to drive 
 along the road leading towards it, and, on. 
 turning the corner and seeing Forster, he got out 
 and took him by the arm. From him he learned 
 that the newly-arrived French ambassador was 
 going to his first solemn audience, as the Elector 
 had at length consented to receive the hateful 
 Jacobin. Monsieur de Villars had been in Ma- 
 yence since the seventh of March, and it was now 
 the twenty-second. 
 
 Our two friends wandered through the rapidly-
 
 268 
 
 collecting groups, in order to observe the temper of 
 the people and the impression the event made on 
 them. The greater part stood with that staring 
 curiosity which is only engrossed by a strange and 
 much-talked-of sight, but which pays no attention 
 to the deeper results which may accrue from it. 
 Forster, however, remarked many of his acquaint- 
 ances from the Reading Society, all much busied 
 in explaining something to the more respectable 
 citizens, and persuading them to take some step 
 they appeared disinclined to. Several, it was 
 evident, were gained over and pressed into the 
 front ranks, while others gave way, and some, 
 indeed, retired altogether. Francis fixed his eye 
 on the French emigres, and paid special attention 
 to the passionate haste with which they collected 
 in considerable numbers at the entrance of the 
 palace. With the exception of these movements, 
 which took place as noiselessly as possible, there 
 reigned on the palace p/a^^ a silence not generally 
 customary among the Mayennese, and which ap- 
 peared like a foreboding of some great occurrence. 
 The persons assembled wrapped themselves in their 
 cloaks and coqueluches, for the mild weather had 
 suddenly broken up, and at the present moment 
 heavy storm-clouds brooded over the mountains of 
 the Rheingau. The ambassador at length appeared 
 in his state carriage. Through the windows Mon-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 269 
 
 sieur de Villars might be distinguished, dressed in 
 his gala uniform, and his scarf across his shoulder ; 
 his countenance was narrow and impressive, and 
 was rendered still longer through the toupet he 
 wore. The mob gave way on all sides, so that 
 those busy gentlemen stood exposed to view, who 
 seemed to have agreed among themselves to take 
 their hats off and salute the French ambassador as 
 he passed. Monsieur de Yillars bowed his thanks 
 right and left, and the friendly manner he assumed 
 seemed to make an excellent impression on the 
 bystanders, for the mob began to move, and, in- 
 deed, pressed after his carriage. A loud disturb- 
 ance could soon be distinguished in the palace 
 court, and a powerful voice, which Francis recog- 
 nised to belong to Jean Baptiste, was heard crying, 
 
 '^ May you have as much ill-luck as there are 
 days in the year, you runaway vagabonds V* 
 
 Loud laughter and whistling accompanied this 
 impudent malediction. "What's the matter? — 
 what's taking place now?'' asked the persons who re- 
 mained behind. All pressed forward to see what 
 was going on ; the murmuring was renewed, and 
 some of the mob threw over the heads of the rest 
 whatever they could pick up available at their 
 feet. At length they were informed of the origin 
 of the disturbance. The emigres had collected 
 at the foot of the great stairs, in order to mock
 
 270 FIDES, OR 
 
 the ambassador as he descended from his carriage, 
 and this had excited the anger of the peaceable 
 citizens. 
 
 In the meantime, the ambassador's carriage, after 
 depositing Monsieur de Villars, had been slowly 
 turned round, and the emigres now deserted the 
 spot in shoals. The mob, regarding this as a 
 sign of their discomfiture, followed after them with 
 shouts of triumph. 
 
 Forster and Francis moved slowly along, much 
 astonished at the sudden and feverish temper of the 
 multitude. 
 
 ^*It will now all depend," Francis gave it as his 
 opinion, '^ on how the Elector receives the ambassa- 
 dor, and treats him during his stay. Whose eye can 
 tell what is attached to the wheel of this state 
 carriage ? " 
 
 Forster informed the Baron, in a few concise 
 sentences, of what had happened during his absence 
 in the Reading Society, and gave him, at the same 
 time, an insight into the views and sentiments 
 which prevailed among many of the professors 
 and employes, 
 
 Francis, through Forster's conversation, had be- 
 come gradually interested in every manifestation of 
 the public opinion. Our friend was in the best 
 humour to explain the several local causes of the 
 revolutionary movements in Holland and Brabant,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 271 
 
 in Hungary, Poland, and Sweden, in Liege and 
 France, when the young Baron^s attention was 
 attracted by some fascinating nods from the ladies, 
 who were still standing at a window of the Coun- 
 tess Condenhove's mansion, and awaiting the re- 
 turn of the French ambassador. 
 
 It was not disagreeable to the young man to be 
 remarked in his travelling-dress, as if he had only 
 just returned. He hastened into the house, and 
 was received with some tender reproaches at his 
 absence from the anniversary festival. The joke 
 caused by Amor's metamorphosis was then narrated, 
 and when Countess Josephine hurried to fetch the 
 doll in the Domicellar's dress, it caused the Baron 
 intense delight to see Herr von Beningen so well 
 taken off, and rendered so easy of recognition by 
 the presence of the humped-back. Countess Agnes, 
 for her part, praised the dog's sense, while assuring 
 them he perfectly entered into the joke of his 
 transformation, and since that time could not 
 endure the Domicellar. 
 
 *'Only see, Baron!" Agnes exclaimed, as she tor- 
 mented the dog by holding the doll out to him, 
 and at length gave it as a prey to his teeth and 
 paws. 
 
 After a little while the Countess Condenhove 
 called Josephine, as if by accident, into the boudoir, 
 and Agnes proceeded to say.
 
 272 FIDES, OR 
 
 " You can now see, without the necessity of any 
 transformation, how amiable my sister can be, even 
 when suffering from an insult ; for, although it is 
 probable. Baron, you could not have carried out 
 the subject I gave you relative to Amor's meta- 
 morphosis in a wittier manner, you certainly 
 might have acted with greater delicacy. In con- 
 fidence, my dear Wallbrun, your verses were 
 charming, but they have wounded Josephine's 
 feelings in a very sensible manner ; and, although 
 I fancied at times that Josephine had made a ten- 
 der impression on your heart, I now see that 
 only a man who did not feel the slightest spark of 
 affection for her could put such thoughts and 
 w^ishes into the mouth of the metamorphosed Amor." 
 
 And when Francis, through a feeling of shame, 
 uttered no reply, Agnes further said, 
 
 "You have done my sister great injustice in 
 judging of her through her trivial and coquettish 
 actions, although I do not always approve of them ; 
 but you are the more to blame — you have raised a 
 grievous struggle in an affectionate heart, which 
 you never understood." 
 
 '^ My God, Countess !" exclaimed Francis; but 
 Agnes, with a motion commanding silence, con- 
 tinued — 
 
 " You will comprehend it better, dear Baron, 
 when I tell you that these insulting verses re-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 273 
 
 vealed to my sister her most hidden feelings to- 
 wards you at a moment when she was brought to 
 the consciousness how little her attachment was 
 requited. Only consider what a horror it must 
 be to arouse a noble soul from its sweetest dreams, 
 and tell it it has lost the object of its blissful visions 
 in the moment of reality. But you are silent, and 
 therefore grant I am right !*' 
 
 " Both right and wrong/' answered Francis with 
 sensibility. ^'A man who loves, I will allow, would 
 not compose such verses ; although a man might 
 do so who sought love, and only found, or thought 
 he found, a heart which such verses could not 
 offend." 
 
 "Baron," interrupted Agnes, "I entreat you never 
 let our poor Josephine suspect that you entertained 
 such thoughts of her, though, as I trust, they are 
 only transitory. I hope you will feel ashamed of such 
 unworthy sentiments. One thing I must, however, 
 command you to remember, never mention these 
 verses to Josephine in a tone of repentance or com- 
 passion ; let my sister undergo, unassisted, the 
 struggle with her noble heart — only through tender 
 and forbearing attention towards her can you do 
 silent penance for your sins, which the good crea- 
 ture, T am sorry to say, regards with a too indul- 
 gent eye." 
 
 The effect which this conversation had on the 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 FIDES, OR 
 
 young Baron was as overwhelming as it was 
 probably intended to be, for it appeared to his un- 
 suspicious heart that Josephine's character, which 
 he had so long misunderstood, now assumed a new 
 aspect, and seemed, like so many jewels, to set off 
 her secret affection for him. In this confusion of 
 his thoughts, he gave vent to his feelings by 
 seizing and kissing Josephine's hand, which she 
 seemed half disinclined to yield, as he said in a 
 whisper, 
 
 '' I shall bless my petulant joke if it has the 
 effect of curing Josephine's levity and my faults."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 275 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Just at this moment a carriage stopped at the 
 door, from which the Admiral, in his court suit, 
 descended, and Countess Agnes advanced a little 
 way towards the door to meet him. 
 
 " You are a prophetess, my clever Countess !" 
 he exclaimed, on entering the room. 
 
 Inquiries were made as to the how and the 
 what, and he continued, after taking a chair, 
 
 '*As my sjnrituelle little friend predicted, his 
 Grace the Elector received the French ambas- 
 sador with marked discourteousness. On his arrival 
 there was not a soul to show him whither to go or 
 to receive him — the stairs and the corridors were 
 quite deserted. Monsieur de Yillars walked through 
 all the passages to find the right door, and you 
 may imagine his passion when he at length acci- 
 dentally stumbled on the entrance, and found the 
 splendid throne-room quite filled with persons, civil 
 and military, courtiers and clergy, the members of 
 the several embassies, all, as it were, invited to be 
 witnesses of his humiliation. But not a look nor 
 
 T 2
 
 276 FIDES, OR 
 
 a gesture displayed the Frenchman's passion — a 
 slight paleness appeared around his sharply- 
 chiselled lips, and he walked to the Elector's 
 throne, round which the highest employes were 
 collected, as if he were come to seat himself upon 
 it. Monsieur de Villars spoke calmly, politely, 
 and with dignity ; but I should have liked to mark 
 down the passages in which, after a slight pause, 
 he inserted a few sarcastic thorns quickly gathered 
 in the empty corridors among the flowers of the 
 speech he had quickly wreathed together. The 
 Elector replied shortly and coldly, and dismissed 
 the Jacobin, only imagine ! without giving him 
 the customary invitation to dinner." 
 
 It was easy to see, from the speaker's shake of 
 the head and gestures of compassion, how little 
 satisfied he felt at the Elector's passionate policy. 
 The Countess, however, would not allow his view 
 to be correct, but thought it her duty to justify 
 the conduct of her princely friend. 
 
 '' You quite seem to forget. Admiral," she said, 
 with vivacity, '^ what the Elector owes to the 
 policy of Austria and Prussia. I can tell you, in 
 confidence, that martial preparations are being 
 made in Berlin, and that the Prince von Hohen- 
 lohe and the Duke of Brunswick had drawn up 
 and mentally agreed on the plan of the campaign. 
 We w^ere speaking lately, if you remember, of the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 277 
 
 note sent to the present French minister, the war- 
 desirous Diimouriez. Before all, Austria insists on 
 the restoration of the French monarchy, on the 
 same basis as before the sitting of the twenty-third 
 of June, 1789 ; the reinstation of the nobility and 
 clergy in their property, and the restitution of all 
 those regal and feudal rights of which the German 
 princes in Alsace have been plundered. You see 
 that the Elector keeps in sight this position of the 
 European cabinets, and it was only yesterday that 
 he said with great propriety, ' He stood, both geo- 
 graphically and politically, at the extreme point of 
 Germany, when opposed to France.' Baron Wall- 
 brun, I believe you also heard this energetic remark 
 of the Prince's?" 
 
 ** With sorrow I confess it. Countess," replied 
 Francis. 
 
 " Why with sorrow ?" 
 
 ^* Because, in the event of a mishap, the point is 
 apt to break off first." 
 
 At this moment the Domicellar von Benningen 
 danced into the room, and told them that he had 
 been a witness of a splendid piece of fun in the 
 street. *^ I was passing," he proceeded to say, **the 
 corner of Itapallo's house, where that urducky 
 French ambassador has taken up his abode. As 
 many as fifty emigres were standing there round a 
 knife-grinder, whom they had ordered tliere pre-
 
 278 FIDES, OR 
 
 viously, and were having their swords and sabres 
 sharpened. I had not been long looking on, and 
 conversing with some of the more excited emigres, 
 while laughing in my sleeve at this childish de- 
 monstration, when the ambassador came driving 
 home from court. I saw that, on observing the 
 crowd, he whispered something to his coachman, 
 who immediately, with a grin, turned, his team 
 into the midst of them, by which some of the 
 emujves were pushed on one side, and the grind- 
 stone overturned by the axle of one of the wheels. 
 Monsieur de Yillars entered the house, but could 
 scarcely have arrived upstairs, when the great 
 tricolour flag, with the national arms, was expanded 
 over the knifegrinder's head, as if desirous to take 
 the vagabonds under its gracious protection. You 
 ought to have seen the anger of these gentlemen, 
 as they tried to cut the flag into ribbons with their 
 swords, with a multitude of capers, cliassez-croisezs, 
 and steps ; but the pompous flag was every time 
 raised above their reach by a gust of wind, as if 
 ridiculing the jumping boys. The surrounding mob 
 laughed at and jeered the enraged dancers. Oh ! 
 it Avas a splendid joke I" 
 
 The Countess very seriously reproved the Domi- 
 cellar's sentiments. 
 
 ^' Were you less childish yourself, Herr von 
 Benningen," she said, ^' you would have better
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYEXCE. 279 
 
 appreciated and revered this noble display of 
 
 couraire.'* 
 
 But Benningen only laughed, and jumped about 
 in his careless way with the dog, till he was inter- 
 rupted by Monsieur de Montleveau, who saluted 
 the company gloomily and carelessly, and threw 
 himself into a chair, apparently much vexed. 
 
 ^^Aha!" cried Benningen, in his extraordinary 
 French, ^' I see you are tired, Monsieur de Mont- 
 leveau. Your leaps, your tricolour bounds, have 
 probably exhausted you !" 
 
 ^'Eead your breviary. Monsieur de Benningen !" 
 replied the Frenchman, with a look of contempt ; 
 and then broke out into most violent expressions 
 of abuse against Mayence and the bourgeois 
 canaille, into w^hom the demon of Jacobinism had 
 passed. 
 
 They suffered him to proceed without inter- 
 ruption, but when he accused the nobility of 
 Mayence of being partially well affected to the 
 revolution, Francis interrupted him calmly, though 
 feeling greatly annoyed. 
 
 ^^ It would not be astonishing, sir, were we to 
 find this revolution less hateful, after being in close 
 intimacy with its enemies and exiles. But I must 
 defend our Mayennese. A man is not necessarily 
 a partisan of revolution because he will not suffer 
 in cold blood the impertinencies of his arrogant
 
 280 FIDES, OR 
 
 guests, or finds many of their antipatliies ridiculous. 
 Tlie citizens of Mayence are good-tempered, even 
 servile, and are not apt to turn a stranger out of 
 their gardens, unless he behaves improperly." 
 
 This allusion to Montleveau's former mishap in 
 Yauxhall abashed the Frenchman, and he forgot 
 himself so far as to make an attack on the whole 
 German nobility ; but Francis bowed to the ladies, 
 and, after kissing Josephine's hand, left the room 
 with a haughty demeanour. 
 
 " You spoke like a little angel. Baron !" cried 
 Benningen after him, in German. 
 
 The first groundwork of a club had really been 
 laid in a little back room, to which the persons 
 in the secret gradually introduced fresh partisans. 
 Even in the public reading-room, however, the 
 conferences about questions of the day were be- 
 coming more lively and daring. The many causes 
 of disquietude arising in the spring season were 
 merged here into a great political discussion ; the 
 Electoral veto was placed on certain journals, and the 
 restriction on newspapers had excited uneasiness even 
 among the quieter citizens, who, in their content- 
 ment with tlieir own position, and their comfortable 
 mode of life in Mayence, still liked to hear about
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 281 
 
 foreign disturbjinces, and, as they expressed them- 
 selves, to advance with the times ; and that which 
 these citizens and employes had merely examined 
 for the transient satisfaction of their curiosity, had 
 now been drawn by the Electoral restrictions into 
 the circle of their hopes and fears. 
 
 In reality, these restrictions on the newspapers 
 were not accompanied by any further measures 
 to support them against the excitement they had 
 caused in certain circles. But the members of the 
 dissatisfied party w^ere not at all clear or decided 
 in their plans. In the situation of Germany and 
 Mayence they found many things which justly 
 demanded censure, and also felt that the French 
 Eevolution had given the world many great and 
 noble ideas; but how to denounce their oppressions, 
 and give clear scope to the prevalent opinions, 
 still remained a serious and complicated task ; and 
 if one or two daring heads thought on a convulsion 
 of the present system through the assistance of the 
 French, still the people were not inlluenced by 
 these sentiments. 
 
 "■ How many are we in number, then — we 
 physical force men, I mean, my dear Hoffmann ?" 
 suid the smiling Professor Blau, in the course of 
 an animated consultation in the club-room. " I 
 must laugh when I call myself one. We still 
 possess, above the few good and many miserable
 
 282 
 
 Princes in Germany, one very powerful ruler of the 
 people. I don't refer to the Emperor, but political 
 obedience." 
 
 " Is it so ?" said Hoffmann, with a laugh. ^' For 
 what must we wait, then ?" 
 
 '^ I know not," replied Blau ; " but I think 
 when the bird is at his proper growth he breaks 
 his shell from the inside. Our Princes, too, when 
 they get scent of a Jacobin, may perhaps fly — only 
 for a joke, though, to see how w^e could get on 
 without them. In short, ive are in a position of 
 expectation, and must not suffer our lamps to go 
 out, like sleeping boys who are surprised by the 
 advent of their bride — Liberty." 
 
 In this manner many exceptionable and danger- 
 ous ideas were brought to light in the conferences 
 of the initiated ; and much disquietude prevailed in 
 the still infantile Mavennese club. The members had 
 secretly entered into a correspondence with the 
 French ambassador, and had to deal with an agree- 
 able but clever man. Monsieur de Yillars met our 
 Mayennese with all politeness, and evinced a lively 
 sympathy in their public and personal circumstances; 
 while he suffered them to gain, on one side or the 
 other, a glance at the interests of France, though 
 without making any conjectures or pretensions to 
 their support. In consequence, they met him with 
 open-heartedness and well-disposed confidence,
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 283 
 
 through which he made himself acquainted with 
 the feelings of the people, and the wishes and 
 power of the friends of France. 
 
 All communication with the ambassador was 
 naturally managed with great care, for his resi- 
 dence was surrounded by paid watchers of the 
 emigres, who did not suffer a single step or move 
 he made to pass unnoticed. The ambassador felt 
 special interest in discovering the circumstances of 
 life in which the men who belonged to this secret 
 alliance moved; but many things remained enigmas 
 to him for a length of time, which the clever man 
 could not solve ; for these men bore in a greater 
 or less degree traces of their peculiar German 
 views, which were afterwards swallowed up in, or 
 dissipated by, the French Revolution. Many suf- 
 fered from attacks of sentimentality, and embel- 
 lished their political discourse with tender extracts 
 from Werter or Siegwart ; others swore nothing 
 surpassed Lavater's physiognomy, and recommend- 
 ed persons to the ambassador on the security of 
 their noses and mouths. Dielter, whom Yillars 
 had first of all received into his intimacy on 
 account of his French costume, was still quite 
 inexplicable to him from the strange vagaries of 
 his genius. Professor Hoffmann was enthusiastic 
 in his wishes to found a universal state of happi- 
 ness, and suffered at times from stormy feelings of
 
 284 FIDES, OR 
 
 friendship and admiration ; but the ambassador 
 soon honoured him with his chief confidence, for, 
 in spite of the unmeasured violence of the expres- 
 sions he employed, he was compelled to recognise, 
 with a feeling of respect, tliough not always able 
 to hide *his smiles, the honest sincerity and 
 unhesitatiui]: truth of the enthusiast. 
 
 Late on the evening we are writing of, in a 
 violent storm of rain, Hoffmann went again Avith 
 some of his friends to Villar's mansion. They had 
 put on students' cloaks^ and fastened on beards, to 
 prevent their being recognised. At the entrance 
 to the house a paid spy pressed close to them as 
 they stood under the pale light of a street lamp, 
 but Hoffmann felled him to the ground with a blow 
 of his fist. 
 
 Villars received his guests with pleasant smiles, 
 and with fine Bordeaux in the original bottles ; his 
 secretary, an Alsacian, waited on the company, 
 played the interpreter when the ambassador's 
 slight knowledge of German, or the French of the 
 Mayennese, did not sufficiently explain their mean- 
 ing, and went backwards and forwards to make 
 notes of all that was spoken in an adjacent room. 
 Wedekind was not present on this evening, but 
 Hoffmann, Avhose excitement had not yet calmed 
 down, soon began to speak about the communica- 
 tion he had received from him, and made merry
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 285 
 
 about the Elector's wise system of economy. 
 
 *^ Who knows of what service it may be ?" ex- 
 claimed Stumme, in his usual rough voice. 
 
 ^' Oh ! yes," said Hoffmann. *' Perhaps, like Cor- 
 nelia, the mother of the Gracchi, who, when asked 
 to show her jewels, pointed to her two sons, our 
 old gentleman intends to point to his countless 
 nobility and courtiers and exclaim, ' Behold my 
 fortifications !' And, indeed, why should he not ? 
 The Mayennese nobility is as rugged and inacces- 
 sible as we may wish any citadel to be, and the 
 court surpasses in the odour of morality the very 
 foulest trenches." 
 
 *^ Ha ! ha !" laughed Villars — ^' et les lunettes — 
 what do you term them in fortification ?" 
 
 " Oh ! yes," exclaimed Hoffmann ; '' the lunettes 
 are those eye-glasses through which the arrogant 
 pack of churchmen and gentlemen of the bed- 
 chamber stare in every honest woman's face ; but 
 what most pleases me in all this is our experienced 
 prince's confidence, who fancies his fortress more 
 impregnable, en neglige, than the Countess Con- 
 denhove, Frau von Teretti, and Frau von Strauss 
 in full dress ; for the latter, however well they 
 might be fortified, could soon be breached." 
 
 The company laughed and drank. In the course 
 of the conversation Yillars inquiredfor Wedekind, and 
 why he had fallen into disgrace with the Elector.
 
 286 FIDES, OR 
 
 ** I am collecting," he added, " a little gallery 
 of portraits of my friends in Mayence, for I have 
 nothing else to occupy my time, as you all know ; 
 and the Elector will not even give my jaws the 
 exercise of their proper functions. But every era can 
 be understood only from the persons living contem- 
 poraneously with it, as every disease is easiest to 
 be studied in the persons suffering from it. The 
 aristocrats bellow that a revolution is always effected 
 by discontented persons and rogues. But, bah ! a 
 revolution only breaks out on the suffering or cor- 
 rupted members of the state, whereby the latter 
 often help to the restoration of new health Avhile 
 dying away themselves. But why has Wedekind 
 fallen into disgrace ?'^ 
 
 '' ril tell you," said Hoffmann. '' My friend's 
 family belongs to Muhlheim by Cologne, and when 
 summoned to this court as second physician in 
 ordinary, he was on the best possible terms with 
 Privy-Councillor Hoffmann, till the special favour 
 shewn him by the Elector, who was often accom- 
 panied on his travels by my friend, made the 
 egotist Hoffmann jealous and anxious, and in con- 
 sequence he united himself with the Countess Con- 
 denhove, to bring about Wedekind's fall. One day 
 he declared at Aschaffenburg that the manuscript of 
 a publication tlien in the press, and which could 
 only be of value to Wedekind, had been stolen
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 287 
 
 from him. This accusation was sufficient to cause 
 especial inquiry, while, at the same time, Wedekind 
 was suspended from his post and dismissed from 
 court ; and although he still held his professorship, 
 he could not perform his duties without annoyance, 
 for the examining judge, Herr von Linden, an ally 
 of the Countess Condenhove, entered on the charge 
 only at those hours when he knew that Wedekind 
 was engaged with his lectures, and so constantly 
 summoned him from his desk. The students sent 
 deputations to the Elector, begging the cessation 
 of such disturbances, but they could effect nothing. 
 Now, my injured friend has applied to our eminent 
 jurisconsult. Putter of Gottingen, for his opinion 
 on the matter, and received very lately preliminary 
 information that the examination will be annulled, 
 as contrary to the Imperial judicial proceedings. 
 They appear to have some news of this at Court, 
 and wish now to prevent Wedekind's application to 
 the Imperial Chamber ; for a few days ago, State 
 Councillor Miiller called on my friend, and offered 
 him the first professorial chair in Erfurt, with the 
 title of Privy-Councillor attached to it, if he would 
 consent to a settlement of the question without a 
 public explanation ; but our Wedekind gave as his 
 answer that he would have nothing * privy ' either 
 in his title or his justification.'' 
 
 " Bravo !" exclaimed the ambassador; ^^ the Ger-
 
 288 FIDES, OR 
 
 mans are an honest people, and deserve to obtain 
 civil liberty. That is what I said yesterday to 
 Professor Metternich. Is he not teacher of the 
 mathematics? I know him to be as abrupt and 
 /Crabbed as a theorem of Euclid, but is he as certain? 
 Is he a native of Mayence ?" 
 
 '^ Oh ! no," replied Stumme. '^ I remember, as 
 well as if it had only happened to-day, how he came 
 hither from Treves in a torn peasant's jacket, and 
 his shoes fastened with a piece of string. He 
 visited the Normal School through a letter of re- 
 commendation from Count Wallendorf, and was 
 afterwards appointed teacher at the parish school 
 of St. Quintin, but, through disputes with the citi- 
 zens, he was compelled to leave Mayence. How- 
 ever, he returned some time after, and wormed his 
 way as an accountant." 
 
 " Ah ! bah ! torn shoes are no disgrace if the 
 head is sound. But is he not a professor ?" 
 
 ^^ Yes, the Elector sent him to Gottingen to 
 complete his education under Kustner and Lichten- 
 berg," interrupted Hoffmann; ^'he is an honourable 
 and deserving man, and I have known him for a 
 considerable length of time, through meeting him 
 in our secret society. He has laid down the prin- 
 ciple to hate all courts, and ever in consequence 
 busies himself in acquiring discourteous manners." 
 
 In this way the ambassador by degrees became
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 289 
 
 fully acquainted with the people he had to dealwith — 
 their peculiarities, their prejudices, their reasons 
 for action and endeavours were all revealed to him. 
 Sportively, and as if for mere amusement, he 
 heaved the lead by which to sound the depth of 
 water in Mayence, for the progress of the revolution, 
 and had ensnared all the members of the club in 
 his net, even before it had risen from its gloomy 
 depths. 
 
 It was just striking midnight when the conspi- 
 rators left the house, and spread themselves with 
 great caution in the deserted streets, in which the 
 lamps had already been extinguished by the cold 
 and wet winds. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 290 FIDES, OR 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 During this time Baron Frands passed the last 
 cheerful week of March in a very happy manner. 
 He had heard, it is true, of a secret movement 
 among the friends of the Revolution at Forster's 
 house, and dark rumours reached even to the 
 court, though without causing any apprehension, 
 and this easy temperament in the higher circles 
 naturally had an influence on our young friend. 
 The far-seeing policy of his prince, the contemptu- 
 ous pride of his peers, ever inspired him with fresh 
 confidence, when Forster's great views, or the 
 weighty anxieties expressed by Count Stadion, had 
 at all afiected him. Forster observed this vacilla- 
 tion and change in his young friend, whom he had 
 attracted to himself with so much love, and he did 
 not regard it as weakness of character, but rather 
 as a sign of an versatile and still unsettled spirit, 
 which is susceptible to all the contrasts and ten- 
 dencies of life. 
 
 But many other things seemed at the present 
 season to distract the Baron's attention, for the
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 291 
 
 conferences and preparations in the Cabinet drew 
 his notice to the approaching Imperial Coronation. 
 There had been considerable delay in sending the 
 mandates of election, on account of the old gentle- 
 man's ill health, or rather, as it seemed, on account 
 of his not being able to make up his mind on whom 
 this much-desired honour should devolve, with the 
 greatest advantage for his own private schemes. 
 The parchment letters had all been prepared up to 
 the insertion of the names of the envoys who 
 should take charge of them, and the Coronation 
 festivities would occur within three months. T^e 
 magistracy of the city in which the election would 
 be held, was to receive information of the precise 
 day from the Electoral Cabinet, that quarters 
 might be arranged for the Electors and their suites, 
 and preparations made for the public requirements. 
 Francis wished to enjoy a nearer share in the great 
 event, at least as a favoured spectator, as he saw 
 no possibility of appearing in the character of par- 
 ticipator. 
 
 The pleasant spring weather performed its part 
 in arousing and increasing his enthusiasm, whenever 
 he rode, as was his frequent custom, along the 
 banks of the Rhine, or through verduring fields 
 and blossoming trees to the neighbouring villages. 
 
 While under the presence of such inward excite- 
 ment, he constantly visited the Countess Condeu- 
 
 u 2
 
 292 FIDES, OR 
 
 hove's soirees. This clever woman gave his fancy 
 and expectation full employment, and was not de- 
 ceived in the calculation she made, that the Baron's 
 present exaltation of temper would do more to win 
 him for her niece than those tete-a-tetes which she 
 now was enabled to prevent. 
 
 The Countess now considered the time to be at 
 hand when she should gain the Elector over to her 
 plans as to Josephine's marriage and portion ; and, 
 indeed, circumstances peculiarly favoured her, for 
 the old gentleman was suffering from an attack of 
 podagra, and she was his companion for nearly 
 half the day. The court and state councils were 
 held in the sick-room, and, during their continua- 
 tion, his chere amie returned home, to attend to 
 her own affairs. When shorter audiences inter- 
 vened, she either remained by her exalted friend's 
 side, or entered an adjoining room during the in- 
 terruption. 
 
 The physician in ordinary had allowed his patient 
 to leave his bed, but had confined him to a tall, 
 easy chair on castors, with a rest for his suffering 
 foot. It was a warm April day, alternating in 
 shower and sunshine ; the wind played in the 
 heavy silken curtains of the open window, or 
 rustled in the blooming orange trees, which had 
 been brought from the greenhouse and arranged 
 between the mirrors. The Prince sat in the middle
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 293 
 
 of the room at a mahogany table, on which stood a 
 water-bottle and his honboniiiere, among books and 
 papers ; the Countess had placed her tabouret close 
 to his chair, against which she rested her neck, as 
 her own seat was somewhat lower. She was 
 dressed simply but tastefully ; her hair was fragrant 
 with the pomade the Prince most liked to smell, 
 and her dress was cut low in the bosom, though a 
 silk scarf lay by her side, to be assumed when a 
 stranger was announced. 
 
 What a wondrous contrast was presented between 
 the two friends ! A soft archiepiscopal talac, orna- 
 mented with a large diamond cross, close to a 
 swelling silk female dress, and the golden medal- 
 lion, on the two sides of which the portraits of the 
 deceased husband and the still living friend smiled 
 with such consciousness. Above the glistening 
 marble of her fair shoulders the grey head of the 
 Prince shook palsiedly, with its widely open eyes, 
 aquiline nose, and firmly compressed lips. From 
 those wrinkles on his brow malicious reminiscences 
 looked out, and two deep furrows, which extended 
 from the nose to the chin, bounded the territory of 
 the lips, from whose soft ruddiness the pristine 
 traces of lasciviousness had not wholly disap- 
 peared. 
 
 While leaning on the right elbow of his chair, 
 Frederick Charles looked over the lady's shoulder
 
 294 FIDES, OR 
 
 into the book, from which she was reading to 
 him. It was Souvet de Coudray's lately published 
 romance, '^ Les Amours de Fauhlas,'' a many- 
 volumed story, which was eagerly devoured in 
 the higher circles. 
 
 The Countess read on, and the old gentleman 
 laughed with delight. '' How charmingly writ- 
 ten ! — how pleasingly described," he would cry, 
 at half-veiled lascivious scenes ; adding, when 
 the immoral connections existing among the 
 higher classes were represented, '' but how true 
 that is, Sophia ! " 
 
 ^' Heiner informs me that Souvet de Coudray is 
 a member of the convention," remarked the Elector. 
 *^ I am sure that he must belong to the Court 
 party, for no one could write so cleverly — I would 
 almost say so nobly, and be at the same time a 
 raging republican. Such tasteful poetry can only 
 exist and be appreciated at courts, for there alone 
 the sources of the poet's imagination gush forth, or 
 the laurels of his reputation display their cultiva- 
 tion. In a season of Liberty and Equality the 
 Muses degenerate into fish-fags." 
 
 The Suffragan Heiner was at this moment an- 
 nounced, and the Countess retired into the adjoin- 
 ing room. The Prince received him with conde- 
 scending friendliness of manner. 
 
 ^' Bishop of Vallona," he addressed him, ^'I wish
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 295 
 
 to impress a matter of importance on your mind, 
 on which the Yicegerency must consult. We have 
 made our estimates touching the expenses of the 
 Imperial Coronation, and the visit of the Great 
 Powers to our Court ; and although we intend to 
 cover the heavier disbursements by the sale of 
 some crown lands, and by means of a loan, still 
 we cannot entirely spare our faithful subjects from 
 a fresh impost. Now, you must be aware that the 
 civil and the moral world only exist by giving and 
 taking, and as we cannot spare the mortal part, 
 we, for our happiness, possess the immortal, which 
 we can give in exchange ; and, in consequence, I 
 thought we would proclaim, before the promulga- 
 tion of our tax decree, a full and perfect indul- 
 gence, and an eight-day season of devotion for the 
 preservation of peace, and the protection of the 
 German Empire. For the sermons on the Sundays 
 we will select some fitting text, exhorting the 
 people to unity against the foes of religion and the 
 empire, and at the same time something may be 
 hinted about making sacrifices for the universal 
 welfare. Thus, you see, our proclamation of an 
 impost will be regarded in reference to its higher 
 purpose ; and we must, therefore, consider over 
 the best method to render the approaching season 
 of public devotion as efficacious as possible." 
 Heiner had listened to this princely exhortation
 
 296 FIDES, OR 
 
 with quiet bows, and in the first feeling of his 
 bourgeois heart inquired whether the calculated 
 impost could not be raised through voluntary con- 
 tributions of the nobility and clergy, in order to 
 spare the peasantry, who were already oppressed 
 by such numerous taxes. 
 
 The Elector, however, shook his head in lively 
 condemnation. *^What can you be thinking about? 
 Do you then forget that I am bound to have the 
 assent of the chapter in all my financial operations? 
 And I should never be able to carry a measure 
 which should have the effect of laying an impost 
 on yourselves and the nobility ; but each man is 
 naturally anxious for his peers, and it is very 
 praiseworthy on your part not to forget the poor 
 peasantry." 
 
 He made this remark with a sarcastic reference 
 to the suffragan's origin ; for the old gentleman 
 Avas not free from a spice of satire, which, strange 
 to say, only gave witness of its presence when 
 those he most liked were near him, and perhaps it 
 was a malice by which he added some bitterness 
 to his favours, or a feeling of chagrin at his weak 
 predilections, which caused him to spare his chere 
 amie, the Condenhove, less than any others. He 
 had ever advanced Heiner, a man who was useful 
 to him througli the energy of his character, and 
 had rewarded him with rich benefices ; but as he
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 297 
 
 knew how much the suffragan loved money, and 
 what care he had for his poor relations, he in con- 
 sequence remarked with a smile, 
 
 " Besides, of course, the collegiate livings must 
 contribute their quota — among others, St. Victor's, 
 Our Virgin's, St. John's in Mayence, and St. Paul's 
 in Worms." 
 
 These were the benefices which Heiner held. 
 The suffragan was silent at this sarcasm, and men- 
 tioned some other pressing matters of business. 
 After being graciously dismissed, he returned once 
 again, and began to speak of the Zucci divorce. 
 *' Baron von Wallbrun interests himself greatly in 
 the matter," he said, *^ but I have explained to 
 him that it would be impossible to obtain a dispen- 
 sation from Kome which should allow Madame 
 Zucci to enter on a fresh marriage. Your Grace, 
 I trust, will kindly support my views, in case the 
 Baron—" 
 
 " Certainly," exclaimed the Elector, " it is not 
 to be done. We cannot, through regard for feel- 
 ings of the heart, happiness of families, welfare of 
 children, and all that sort of thing, disobey the 
 decrees of our Church. What can the Baron be 
 thinking of? I feel sorry though for it, for 
 Enkeoneger is remarkably serviceable ; the repara- 
 tions on the fortress, which I have commanded, 
 will be effected entirely in pursuance of his plans :
 
 298 FIDES, OR 
 
 only what is absolutely necessary — nothing else«— 
 all for economy and the welfare of the country! 
 He understands his business very well indeed, and 
 I should like him to enjoy domestic happiness. 
 Well, well, he is a soldier, was in the Liegois 
 campaign; a soldier makes a bold attack, and 
 he'll soon discover the right way of obtaining hap- 
 piness/' 
 
 When the Countess re-appeared, after the suffra- 
 gan's departure, she said, 
 
 *' So I hear that your finance plan is arranged?'* 
 
 " Yes, there it lies," replied the Elector; ** it 
 made Seckendorff warm enough. See, we intend to 
 sell Nussbaum and Benigheim, with all their appur- 
 tenances. To the 150,000 Horins we shall acquire 
 by the sale we intend to join a small loan, raised, 
 if necessary, on commune lands, and decree an 
 extraordinary impost ; and in this way we shall 
 manage to get a little in advance of the expensive 
 season which awaits us." 
 
 *^ Well, and the chapter?" asked the Countess 
 anxiously. 
 
 '^ I have sounded it," he said smilingly, ^' and 
 now know which of the members feel most inclina- 
 tion to oppose me. They are coming to me pre- 
 sently; I have a salve in readiness, dear Sophie, with 
 which, I trust, to render them sufficiently pliant.'^ 
 
 The Countess now reminded him, in her cheer-
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 299 
 
 fill and merry way, of his promise to her nieces. 
 *'Hm! hm!" the Prince coughed in his satirical 
 manner, and then added, " Madame la Comtesse 
 has listened, and wishes " 
 
 ** Wei), well, I wish to profit by your universal 
 indulgence,^' she said boldly and Avith a laugh. 
 
 *^Yes, yes! I know your creed. But on what 
 terms do you stand with Baron Francis? Has he 
 made a declaration?'' 
 
 *' Not in set terms, but the tenderest afiection 
 evidently exists between the happy couple. I set 
 a very high value on the Baron's delicate silence, 
 and am convinced that he only awaits from the 
 favour of his Prince an appointment suitable for 
 the husband of a Countess Condenhove. Jose- 
 phine, through her brilliant qualities, is adapted for 
 an ecclesiastical court, and the Baron feels too 
 plainly that up to the present time he has only 
 been able to share a country gentleman's lot with 
 the niece of the Elector of Mayence." 
 
 *^ Certainly, you are quite right," answered the 
 Prince, after some consideration; ^^ I have already 
 arranged a plan in my mind. Let him be sent for 
 presently, and do you settle yourself the amount 
 of Josephine's portion, and tell me what you con- 
 sider a fitting sum. I know, Sophie, you are a 
 reasonable being, and are acquainted with the 
 capabilities of our exchequer."
 
 300 FIDES, OR 
 
 The Countess kissed the Prince's hand with a 
 mien of delighted surprise. 
 
 "Aha! our cousin is now contented!" he said, 
 with a smile full of malice; "but I know that 
 whenever my dove picks my hand with its ruddy 
 beak, it is sure to have found a golden barleycorn." 
 
 While uttering this jest, he attempted to extend 
 his toying hand towards her, but was again pre- 
 vented by a violent twinge, which caused him to 
 groan with pain. 
 
 The Cathedral Dean was announced, and the 
 Countess retired to summon Baron Francis.
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 301 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 The Elector ordered his valet de cJiamhre to roll 
 his fauteuil nearer to the window, and remove the 
 books lying about. Chairs were arranged, and the 
 Dean, on entering, was received by the Elector with 
 gracious nods, and invited to seat himself. The 
 Elector complained of his pains, and added, jest- 
 ingly, " Leopold^s death has affected me even down 
 to the toes, dear Fechenbach!" 
 
 " Your Grace ever evinced great partiality for 
 the deceased Emperor " 
 
 " I did not mean that exactly," continued the 
 old gentleman, "though it is true. Certainly so! 
 but just remember the many sessions in the matter 
 of the new election, the coronation, and so on. 
 In confidence, dear Fechenbach, be it said, the new 
 election causes me extraordinary anxiety. You 
 know it is highly probable that a Congress of 
 Princes will be held here afterwards. I will not 
 speak of the great expenses which must be entailed 
 on us through it, for we must find means to satisfy 
 them. Mayence owes it to itself to behave in a
 
 302 FIDES, OR 
 
 manner worthy of so great an honour ; it will be 
 for us an ever, memorable event, for here the des- 
 tinies of Europe will be settled; but I was not 
 referring to that, but the consequent line of policy 
 which will be taken. The weight of the cabinets 
 presses on Mayence ; my foot is hampered beneath 
 it, and what will you say, dear Fechenbach, if I 
 put your head beneath it as well?" 
 
 ^' Your Grace !'' exclaimed the Dean, rather in 
 doubt as to the meaning of the jest. 
 
 ^* Listen ; if ever a talented man was required at 
 an election meeting at Frankfort, it is so on the 
 present occasion, for in that place must everything 
 be prepared, which we shall afterwards conclude 
 here, against France and for the world. For this 
 purpose I have chosen you, Dean. At one time 
 rank and fortune had the preference, but now we 
 stand in need of clear perception and talent, and I 
 consider myself fortunate in finding all united in my 
 friend Fechenbach." 
 
 The Dean, who had anticipated something of the 
 sort, accepted the appointment with grateful ac- 
 quiescence, through which, however, the sharp- 
 sighted Prince saw an internal satisfaction glow ; 
 for the cheerful and gracious manner in which the 
 expected honour had been offered quite took the 
 Dean by surprise. He sought for proper words, 
 which, through their modesty, should outbalance
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 303 
 
 the Elector's condescending expressions ; but the 
 latter quickly continued : 
 
 " No, dear Fechenbach, no ill-timed modesty ; 
 we live in a season when all men's noble powers 
 must join in a bond of union against outbreak and 
 sedition." 
 
 The Dean bowed, and offered his thanks to the 
 Elector, who, after some explanation as to the pre- 
 parations which he had to make for his embassy, 
 dismissed him with the wish that the appointment 
 should for a time be kept secret. 
 
 " For the enemies," he added, ^^ whom my com- 
 mission would raise up against you could easily 
 form an opposition against the proposals I shall 
 have to make to the chapter, as to raising money 
 for our immense expenses ; and, besides, I shall 
 require your entire support to be enabled to carry 
 them through." 
 
 During this audience three of the Capitulars and 
 Baron Francis had assembled in the ante-room. The 
 Elector received the three Ecclesiastics, and pointed 
 to the chairs which had been arranged for them. 
 
 '^ You find here a person fast bound to his 
 room," he said, cheerfully, " who is engaged in 
 making preparations to send his friends on a 
 journey." 
 
 " In this we recognise your Grace's generous 
 manner of granting your friends that which you
 
 304 FIDES, OR 
 
 are compelled to deny yourself," replied Count 
 WalderdorfF, who betrayed by a smile that he 
 noticed the equivoke contained in his words while 
 uttering them. 
 
 The other two gentlemen merely bowed, in 
 acquiescence with the answer of their spokesman. 
 The Elector, who felt annoyed at Walderdorflfs 
 smiles, quickly passed over the introductory re- 
 marks, and then said proudly, 
 
 ^' I shall entrust the first electoral mandate to 
 your hands. Count von WalderdorfF; you will go 
 to Vienna, Prague, and Munich. You," he said, 
 as he turned to Baron von Harf zu Dreiborn, 
 *^will proceed in the same capacity to Dresden and 
 Berlin ; and you, Herr von Warsberg, to Hanover, 
 Bonn, and Coblenz. I require persons on this 
 occasion who can properly represent me ; you are 
 all aware what an imposing position my policy 
 assumes in the cabinets of Europe; the great 
 Powers will hold a conference in Mayence, although 
 it is no great matter of congratulation to me that 
 I am old enough to play the Nestor among the 
 princes. You, gentlemen, must assist me in dis- 
 playing my power, and must cause our Mayence, 
 even before the Congress is held, to be respected 
 through the grandeur of your appearance at the 
 several courts. You understand, therefore, that you 
 must make the most brilliant display that is possi-
 
 » THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 305 
 
 ble; your suite, your secretary, and copyists you 
 will select yourselves, and may thus have an 
 opportunity of doing something for any bourgeois 
 you wish to reward for his dependence or attach- 
 ment. I will take every measure that you want 
 nothing which can render your expedition both 
 agreeable and brilliant. Your commissions of 
 appointment are in preparation, and the several 
 courts have graciously accepted my apologies for 
 the delay in sending the mandates, which was 
 occasioned by my illness, but now all haste is 
 requisite." 
 
 It was easy to notice in this chapter-trinity 
 what proud satisfaction they felt at their election, 
 which they displayed in their smiles to one another. 
 Count von Walderdorff preserved his equanimity, 
 however, and spoke sensibly and clearly of the 
 various circumstances in which he would be mixed, 
 up in consequence of this embassy. The others 
 made several inquiries as to the duration of their 
 mission, the number of their retinue, and so on, 
 and then took leave with expressions of gratitude, 
 and assurances of devotion, to which the Elector 
 replied, 
 
 "You will prove to me, by the presents you 
 bring back, how effectively you represented my 
 power at the several courts ; but spare nothing — 
 our golden Mayence must on this occasion glisten. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 
 
 Of course it will cause a deep gap in our finances, 
 but our land owes it to itself to shun no expendi- 
 ture; afterwards we must recruit our exchequer by 
 the practice of severe economy." 
 
 After the gentlemen had retired the Countess 
 again presented herself with a laugh. 
 
 '^ You have chosen the right persons," she 
 exclaimed." 
 
 " I think so," answered the prince with a nod. 
 " I have said so many fine things to them, that 
 they will not have the conscience to oppose my 
 applications for money in the chapter, and for 
 their own sake they will use their utmost exertions 
 to gain me a majority." 
 
 ^^ And what a disturbance it will cause in the 
 town !" said the pretty woman with a laugh ; ^* till 
 these gentlemen have driven round to all their 
 acquaintances, and expanded their peacocks' tails ; 
 and the running about and politeness of the gra- 
 tulants, and of those who wish to join their re- 
 tinue." 
 
 " They will have no want of followers, and those 
 people of rank, too," said the old gentleman. 
 
 '' Certainly not," exclaimed the Countess. 
 " Harf zu Dreiborn has, for instance, a washer- 
 woman whose brother is said to write a very 
 good hand, so the secret of the embassy can re- 
 main in the family."
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 307 
 
 The Elector laughed, and the lady reminded 
 him that Francis was waiting in the anteroom. 
 " ril stay in the adjoining room, to be able to 
 make my appearance if necessary. Perhaps, too," 
 she added with a smile, " I shall not present my- 
 self alone.'* 
 
 The Prince received the Baron very graciously. 
 
 ** I have not summoned you this time for any 
 matter of business," he said, '^ but for something 
 extraneous." 
 
 With a certain half confused appearance of 
 reflection, the Prince then expressed his satisfac- 
 tion at the Baron's earnestness and quiet zeal, as 
 well as his whole conduct. He said it had been 
 for some time his intention to advance him, but, 
 in consequence of the amount of pressing expenses 
 on his hands, he would not be able to offer him 
 any pension. He then added, 
 
 •^ At last I have found something for you, which 
 will at least afford you pleasure. I have been in- 
 formed that the approaching coronation interests 
 you, and I can easily understand it ; for it is at 
 the same time a political and poetical spectacle, 
 and, consequently, possesses double attraction for 
 a young man like yourself. I will, therefore, aj)- 
 point you one of my secretaries, with the title of 
 Government Councillor : and vou shall also enter 
 into the number of my Gentlemen of the Bed-
 
 308 FIDES, OR 
 
 chamber, and in both capacities follow in my suite 
 to Frankfort. I trust this will be agreeable to 
 you ?'' 
 
 What a surprise for our young friend ! He did 
 not at first find words to express his gratitude, and 
 so bent his knee to his prince, who ofiered him his 
 hand to kiss, and interrupted his movement with 
 the words, 
 
 *^ That is sufiicient, dear Baron. I gain no ac- 
 quisition in you for my cabinet, but am only happy 
 at having offered you such a station as will enable 
 you to make an acquisition for your own heart ; 
 for I am told you have displayed a tender feeling 
 for Countess Josephine, and I can also tell you she 
 does not regard you with indifference." 
 
 This communication confounded the Baron ; the 
 flattery contained in the Prince's words caused 
 him to neglect all the serious considerations and 
 reflections which, at another time, would have 
 gained admission to his heart ; his temper, besides, 
 had been too highly exalted by the preceding ad- 
 vancement to allow him to make a quiet examina- 
 tion of his feelings. When the Elector ceased 
 speaking with a look of expectation, he explained 
 the impression made on him by Josephine's charms, 
 and used such glowing language through the vio- 
 lence of his feelings, that the Elector began to 
 smile maliciously. •*
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 309 
 
 " A young man like yourself, Government Coun- 
 cillor," he then said, *^ who, while possessing such 
 pretensions, is so captivated by the charms of a 
 young lady, cannot be free from wishes, even if 
 his courage fail him ; but I feel sure a cavalier like 
 yourself can feel no want of that. Yes, yes, the 
 Countess is the fairest ornament of our court, which 
 is embellished by the presence of many lovely 
 ladies. Last winter she sparkled as the most bril- 
 liant constellation at our balls, and I often noticed 
 a young Baron who did not seem indifferent to her 
 beauty ; and, now that your star is in the ascend- 
 ant, you can, as far as I am concerned, enter 
 among the planets, as the Mars to this Venus ; and 
 if you like to have me as Jupiter in this conjunc- 
 tion — but I am not so well versed in mythology, 
 dear Baron, as to be able to say whether Jupiter, 
 in his youth a dangerous Cicisbeo, in his old days 
 assumed the office of proctor. Ha ! ha ! what do 
 you say ?" 
 
 The Prince laughed so loudly at his own witty 
 conceit, that the whole room re-echoed ; and when 
 the highly flattered Baron explained that an im- 
 perative sign with his ambrosial eyebrows was 
 generally added to the functions of the mighty 
 Jupiter, the old gentleman exclaimed with plea- 
 sure, 
 
 " As far as my eyebrows are concerned, and if
 
 310 
 
 nothing else is necessary, I can play the part of 
 Jupiter." 
 
 He rang his silver hand-bell, and asked the ser- 
 vant if the Countess were perchance still in the 
 palace ? 
 
 *^ Her G-race, the Countess Josephine, has just 
 driven up to fetch her Grace the Countess," was the 
 reply. 
 
 '^ Beg them both to come to me," commanded 
 the Elector ; and then continued, with clasped 
 hands, after the servant had left the room, " there 
 we have it ! Heaven itself interposes in the 
 matter!" 
 
 It is easily to be imagined in what a confusion 
 and whirlpool of sensations our young friend ap- 
 proached the ladies. The Elector presented him 
 as Government Councillor and Gentleman of the 
 Bedchamber, and Francis received their united 
 congratulations. 
 
 '^ But much higher affairs are in progress," said 
 the amused Prince with a laugh, " things which 
 belong to, and of which the scene is laid in heaven. 
 Here we have a remarkable constellation. You, 
 cousin, must represent the Earth, for all the planets 
 are advancing to a heavenly alliance. See, Mars 
 wishes to enter into conjunction with Venus, and 
 old Jupiter makes signs of approbation with his
 
 THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 311 
 
 eyebrows. Ha ! ha ! our gracious cousin is rather 
 perplexed ; we must explain our meaning by an 
 acted charade. Up, then, noble Mars, and ad- 
 vance to Venus ! Countess Earth, take your place 
 here." 
 
 Francis, who was quite excited by his prince's 
 gracious humour, felt as if he were on a stage, 
 therefore felt every inclination to meet his wishes. 
 Delighted, and led away by Josephine's enchanting 
 blushes, he advanced with a declaration of love, 
 which, however, quickly passed from the court 
 tone to one which really sprung from the heart. 
 The downcast eyes of the Countess and a slight 
 tremor showed that she did not remain unaffected. 
 Francis knelt at her feet like a shepherd on the 
 stage ; Josephine bent over him to raise him, and 
 quickly found herself clasped closely in his arms ; 
 Jupiter and Terra exchanged looks full of mean- 
 ing. 
 
 ^^ How charmingly all this has been arranged !" 
 exclaimed the Elector ; ^^ I wish all happiness may 
 attend such a brilliant betrothal." 
 
 The Countess led the couple before the prince, 
 who raised himself in his arm-chair to bless them ; 
 but, as he extended his trembling hand, a violent 
 twinge in his foot made him forget the words, so 
 prophetic and full of emotion, which he had wished
 
 312 FIDES, OR THE BEAUTY OF MAYENCE. 
 
 to employ, and the high-priest groaned as a bene- 
 diction, 
 
 " Oh ! the devil !" 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : PRINTED BY MACDONALD AND TUGWELL, BLENHEIM HOUSE.