. 
 
 ,-JI I g: * ,-Jl I
 
 1 If". 
 
 
 i ir 
 
 rc^ :i >"", 
 -? r ( 
 
 r jr ^ji'-*,-ti'- 
 
 if ft d 
 
 **r v ?> 
 
 i j>o i 5 
 
 =<? ;;; 4f (-N 
 
 V 
 
 lir 
 
 'P U r
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Fnim tie Geimtn <//" 
 
 ('. F. VAN DER VELDE.
 
 SPECIMENS 
 
 OF 
 
 GERMAN ROMANCE. 
 
 SELECTED AND TRANSLATED FROM 
 
 VARIOUS AUTHORS. 
 
 P a n el 
 
 Q 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR OEO. B. WHITTAKEK, 
 
 AVE-MAHIA-I-AMK. 
 
 MDCCCXXVI. 
 
 1731
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 IT was in the year 1568, on the 17th of May, old 
 style, that Althea, the widow of Netz of Bogen- 
 dorf, sate in her apartments at Schweidnitz. The 
 mourning veil still flowed about her pale beauti- 
 ful face, while her blue eyes gazed through their 
 tears with melancholy tenderness on the only 
 pledge of a brief yet happy union, the four 
 years' old Henry, who sate upon her knees, and 
 in childish sport was trying to pull the golden 
 locks of his mother from under her widows' 
 cap. Before her stood her old uncle, Seifried 
 von Schindel, and, while he held the full goblet 
 in his hand, exhausted himself in consolations to 
 lessen the anguish of his beloved niece. With 
 good-humoured rebuke he exclaimed, " It is, no 
 VOL. i. B
 
 2 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 w". " 
 
 doubt, praise-worthy in your zeal to grieve for 
 the loss of your husband ; I myself can't bear 
 those widows, who, like green wood, weepj^. 
 one end, and burn at the other ; but even good 
 may be carried to excess, and this utter sur- 
 render of yourself to grief is as contrary to' 
 reason as it is to the word of God." 
 
 " How can I help it ?" said Althea, with calm ;' 
 and patient sorrow : " How can I help it, when 
 all that surrounds me is an inexhaustible source 
 of tears ? Do I see my husband's sword hang- 
 ing against the wall, I must weep do I hear his 
 war-horse neighing in the stable, I must weep 
 does my sight fall upon this fatherless child 
 alas !" tears stifled her words. 
 
 " A child who will soon be motherless too," 
 exclaimed her uncle, " if you go on thus de- 
 stroying your health by such unchristian want 
 of fortitude. Every thing has its season ; your 
 year of widowhood is past, and as you are no 
 longer entitled to wear black, so your mind too 
 must cast off the mourning in which it has beerf"*" 
 too closely enveloped, and you must begin again 
 to live for the world, to which, after all, you be-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 3 
 
 long. If you were a papist, you might bury your 
 grief in a cloister, for ought I should care; but 
 that won't do now; and, besides, you have im- 
 portant and sacred duties upon you. The pro- 
 perty that you have to preserve for the son of a 
 beloved husband requires a stout protector in 
 these stormy times. A woman's bringing up, too, 
 will not be sufficient for him, and you '11 not like 
 to let him go from you so soon ; therefore you 
 must give him a father who, with all love and 
 earnestness, will make an honourable knight out 
 of him. In a word, you must marry again." 
 
 " Spare me such language, uncle," cried Al- 
 thea, rising and putting down the child. 
 
 But with gentle violence he forced her back 
 into the chair again, saying, " It becomes youth 
 to listen to the well-meant admonitions of age, 
 even though it should not happen to relish them : 
 I keep to my position. You least of all have oc- 
 casion to complain of the want of wooers. There 
 is Hans Hund of Ingersdorf, Adam von Schwei- 
 nicher of Wenigmoknau ; then there is your 
 own cousin : all of whom would with pleasure 
 break their necks for a kind look from you, and
 
 4 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 are besides brave knights and in good circum- 
 stances." 
 
 " How can you, even in jest, propose to sacri- 
 fice me to these rude companions, who have no 
 enjoyment except in hunting, gambling, drink- 
 ing, and quarrelling ; and who would only make 
 me miss so much the more painfully the mild 
 pious disposition of my Henry ?" 
 
 " Why to be sure our knights are somewhat 
 tough and knotty, but so are our oaks, and they 
 afford a glorious wood for lasting. Mill-wheels 
 are not to be cut out of poplars. For the 
 rest, a shrewd handsome woman must know 
 how to tame a rake, and every one will re- 
 spect the female slipper when it is wielded 
 merely for a man's benefit." 
 
 " God deliver me from such a castigatory 
 office ; I should soon sink under it." 
 
 " Or if you long for a great fortune, you 
 have but to give the sign : I have observed 
 how Christopher Friend, whom you have drawn 
 hither, circles about you at a distance. He is a 
 brisk widower, who was rich from the first, and 
 to that has inherited much from his late wife,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 5 
 
 the Lauterbachin from Jauer. You would be 
 able to bury yourself under your gold bags." 
 
 " Shame on me if that could ever determine 
 my choice !" 
 
 " Nor has honour any thing to say against it. 
 Christopher's father is burgomaster of Schweid- 
 nitz, where he rules it bravely, almost like a 
 little king. The Friends belong to the Patri- 
 cians of the city, and are therefore nearly as 
 good as half nobles ; in Augsburg or Nurem- 
 berg they would be reckoned nobles, and ad- 
 missible to the tournay ; moreover they are 
 already allied to the family of Schindel by mar- 
 riage." 
 
 "If you love me, uncle ; cease to speak for 
 the sycophant. If, to save my son's life, I were 
 compelled to choose between this Christopher 
 and his brother the wild Francis, by heavens I 
 would choose the latter ! I do indeed fear the 
 bear that roars and rushes on me with uplifted 
 paws, but the gliding serpent is a horror to my 
 inmost soul." 
 
 " Well, the comparison is not particularly 
 flattering to either of the brothers," exclaimed
 
 O THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Schindel, laughing. But on the sudden he 
 was silent, for there was a knocking at the door, 
 and the two Friends entered the apartment. 
 
 " We come in our father's service, noble lady," 
 said Christopher, with a courteous inclination : 
 " He gives a ball and banquet the day after to- 
 morrow, and most kindly requests you to grace 
 the festival with your presence." 
 
 ** I have not yet put off the mourning weeds 
 for my husband ; at the same time I set as much 
 value by the intended honour as if it had been 
 in my power to accept it." 
 
 " Your year of widowhood is already over, 
 and my father would deem it a very worthy proof 
 of his kinswoman's friendship, if out of regard to 
 him she were to lay aside her mourning. Much 
 as it may become you, it is still only a useless 
 remembrance of a loss, the greatness of which 
 you feel but too deeply without that." 
 
 " My brother is in the right," roared Francis : 
 " Throw the black rags into the store-chest, and 
 trim yourself up again in the colours that suit 
 you so well. You must not think of leaving 
 life yet ; 'twould be pity of such a handsome
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 7 
 
 thing. Nor would we Schweidnitzers allow it, 
 and you are within our walls now, and under 
 our jurisdiction. Come along, then, to the 
 dance. We '11 waltz it bravely with each other ; 
 and if your cap should happen to get awry in 
 it, and point to the widower, there may be a 
 remedy for that too. My house-plague, besides, 
 is always ill ; and if she loves heaven better than 
 I do, there may chance to be a pair of you and 
 me." 
 
 " Your mouth is a sluice," exclaimed the old 
 Schindel, wrathfully, " which, once opened, 
 overwhelms every thing with its mire." 
 
 " Good God, Frank ! how can you indulge 
 in such unseemly language ?" cried Christopher ; 
 while Althea bent down to her child as if she 
 had heard nothing; Francis turned upon his 
 brother. 
 
 " Don't you play the governor, Kit ! In your 
 heart you mean just as I do, only you go wind- 
 ing about the porridge : but that 's not my 
 way, and therefore I say plainly, Cousin Al- 
 thea, I am horribly thirsty with you." 
 
 " There stand the flask and goblet," replied
 
 8 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Althea, shortly " help yourself;" and she 
 turned away with her boy to the window. 
 
 " You don't stand on much ceremony with 
 your kinsfolk," muttered Francis, going to the 
 table and filling up a bumper, while Christopher 
 went up to the widow. 
 
 " I hope you will not make me suffer for my 
 brother's rashness, but will give me a favour- 
 able answer." 
 
 " I have already told you the reason why I 
 must decline the invitation." 
 
 " And you really, then, will put off my father 
 with this poor excuse ?" 
 
 "Agree to go," whispered the uncle: "It 
 is a family festival, and all the Schindels of the 
 neighbourhood are invited. It is better not to 
 be singular and offend any one." 
 
 " I will come, 1 ' said Althea, after a moment's 
 hesitation. 
 
 " I have to thank you, Schindel, for this j/es," 
 returned Christopher, mortified : " The former 
 no was intended for me alone ; which cannot but 
 grieve me, however handsome the lips that pro- 
 nounced it. 1 '
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 9 
 
 He went ; and Francis, filling the goblet for 
 the third time, cried out after him, " The wine 
 is good ; I shall stop a little longer." 
 
 There was now a clattering on the stairs, as 
 if a whole troop were coming up, and in rushed 
 Althea's brother-in-law, Anselm of Netz, with 
 his Pylades, Frederick of Reichenbach, sur- 
 named Bieler. 
 
 " God be with you, fair sister-in-law," ex- 
 claimed the wild Netz, shaking Althea's white 
 hand with no very gentle cordiality. 
 
 " What brings you so soon again to the city ?" 
 returned Althea displeasedly, and drew back 
 her hand. 
 
 " Rasselwitz treats us to-day with a dozen 
 flasks of old Hungary, at Barthel Wallaces," 
 replied Netz : " You know that when once I get 
 into the old den I can 't set off again without 
 having seen you. God forgive you, lady, but 
 you must have bewitched me ; and I shall yet 
 denounce you to the council of Schweidnitz." 
 
 " How willingly would I undo the spell of 
 which you complain ! Truly, it gives me no 
 pleasure."
 
 10 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Tush ! you are not in earnest. We all know 
 that women like to be courted, that their value 
 may be the greater." 
 
 Here he began to whistle and clatter up and 
 down the room, when his eyes suddenly fell 
 upon Francis, who had not yet been able to 
 separate himself from the goblet. 
 
 " The devil ! you too, Friend ! What wind 
 has blown you hither ?" 
 
 " If any one should ask you," said Francis 
 roughly, " tell him you don't know." 
 
 " And how is it with your lucky horse- 
 swop ?" asked Netz, in a mocking tone : " Have 
 you settled with Rasselwitz ?" 
 
 " Long ago," replied Francis, dryly, and 
 poured out the drainings of the flask. 
 
 "It must be allowed," exclaimed Netz, with 
 a loud laugh " you know how to manage 
 things admirably. He has got the bay, 
 then?" 
 
 " If I were an ass! I was drunk at the time 
 I made the bargain, and therefore am bound to 
 nothing. 51 
 
 " Rasselwitz will show you that, my fine fel-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 11 
 
 low ! You have had his horse, and must keep 
 your word." 
 
 " He may fetch his mare, then, from the 
 hangman. The beast fell down with me at the 
 Bresslauer gate. I should deserve to be breeched 
 if I suffered myself to be cheated in this 
 manner." 
 
 " You '11 have a stout tussle of it with him. 
 In such matters he does not jest, and least of 
 all with you." 
 
 " Let him come, then, and fight it out with 
 me. I have already shown the Turks in Hun- 
 gary that I am not afraid. When I have got my 
 cold iron at my side, I am a match for a whole 
 stable-full of such younkers." 
 
 And with this he emptied the last goblet and 
 drained it, while Netz bit his lips, and draw- 
 ing Bieler aside, asked in a whisper, " If 
 they should not throw the braggart out of 
 window ?" To this the other replied by a friendly 
 nod of assent; but Althea, who had over- 
 heard the question, exclaimed, " For God's 
 sake do not trouble the quiet of this widowed 
 house !"
 
 153 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " And think, besides," said the old Schindel, 
 warningly, " that you are at Schweidnitz, in 
 his father's jurisdiction." At the same time he 
 went up to Francis, and observed, " I have 
 yet a visit to make to the old doctor Heiden- 
 reich, who has removed, and I do not know 
 his present quarters. Will you have the kind- 
 ness, cousin Friend, to show me the way thi- 
 ther?" 
 
 " Why not? 1 ' said Francis, seizing his cap; 
 " though I well know whence the request comes. 
 You want me away, that I may not get into a 
 row with these nobles here. Isn't it so ? Ay, 
 ay, Frank may be a wild companion, but he is 
 no fool. Well, you are a good old gentleman, 
 and for this time I'll comply with your wishes. 
 Good morning, lady Althea." 
 
 He went with the old Schindel to the door, 
 and then turned back again " What 1 have 
 said of Ilasselwitz you may boldly repeat to 
 him; I stand to my words." 
 
 The two went away together. Netz looked 
 indignantly after Francis, and exclaimed, "That 
 such a fellow should give himself so many airs,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 13 
 
 merely because he is rich and his father is a 
 burgomaster !" 
 
 " You should not have irritated him," re- 
 plied Althea, with mild rebuke : " Why do you 
 meddle with him, if he does not please you ?" 
 
 " You do not understand it, cousin. 'Tis in 
 the blood of me, I cannot let him rest in quiet. 
 Nothing is more delightful than jeering a cit, 
 who would fain play the noble, and has not the 
 stuff for it in him." 
 
 " Then you ought not to complain if he pays 
 you in your own coin. I cannot comprehend, 
 either, what satisfaction you men can find in 
 fleering and flouting at any one who, in your 
 opinion, is beneath you. If the person so 
 mocked is patient enough to bear it, your vic- 
 tory is easy and inglorious ; if he parries the 
 attack with similar weapons, then there arise 
 unnecessary quarrels : and in any case it shows 
 an unchristian want of charity, to hunt out the 
 foibles of a neighbour only to ridicule them for 
 your amusement." 
 
 *' The most lovely preacher that I ever 
 heard," said Bieler, gallantly.
 
 14 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " You defend the rascal most nobly," mut- 
 tered Netz. " If he were single I should sus- 
 pect something ; but as it is, I believe you do it 
 merely that you may always contradict me." 
 
 " To what subterfuges will the consciousness 
 of injustice turn itself rather than confess to 
 truth she is in the right !" 
 
 She was interrupted by a gentle knocking at 
 the door, and went hastily herself to open it, 
 when there entered a tall stately man, about 
 thirty years of age, in a plain knightly costume, 
 and decorated with the sable scarf of Austria. 
 Black locks hung about his clear forehead, 
 while power and gentleness spoke out from his 
 large dark eyes, that sparkled with friendly 
 glances at the handsome widow. 
 
 " Am I so fortunate as to greet in you the 
 wife of Henry von Netz ?" he asked, with a dig- 
 nified inclination to all present, which forced a 
 similar courtesy from the two wild nobles. 
 
 " I was so," replied Althea ; and a tear forced 
 itself from her eye. 
 
 " Was !" said the stranger, " and this habit ! 
 You are a widow, then ? Heavens ! So early
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 15 
 
 has my good Henry gone ! and, as the appear- 
 ance teaches me, from the bosom of a most happy 
 marriage. That does, indeed, grieve me!" 
 
 " You knew my husband ?" asked Althea, 
 drying her eyes. 
 
 " Knew him?" rejoined the stranger, in the 
 enthusiasm of recollection "We made our first 
 essay in arms together. Has he never talked 
 to you of Caspar the Sparrenberger, surnamed 
 Tausdorf?" 
 
 " Often, and with warm friendship. But he 
 deemed you dead." 
 
 " I joined the campaign against the Turks, 
 and lay dangerously wounded in Transylvania. 
 
 That is your son ?" he asked, in sudden 
 
 emotion; and lifting up the little Henry, he 
 kissed him heartily " His true eye betrays the 
 father." 
 
 He set the boy down again, and paced hastily 
 up and down the room to collect himself. 
 
 " We are both too much agitated," he re- 
 sumed, " to carry on this conversation any 
 longer. Permit me now to deliver a letter to 
 you, which your friend Sternberg, of Gitschin,
 
 16 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 requested me to take with me, when she un- 
 derstood that I was going to Schweidnitz." 
 
 " You know my Thekla, then ?" 
 
 " We are near neighbours and good friends. 
 My father lives at Tirschkokrig, not far from 
 Gitschin, and I was frequently with the Stern- 
 berg family. The lady Thekla has talked so 
 much of you, and so much in your praise, that 
 I knew, before I saw, you." 
 
 " I doubt whether she has shown me truly, 
 for friendship is a partial painter." 
 
 "Forgive me if I contradict you. Such, as 
 you now stand before me, has your beautiful 
 and friendly form long floated before my ima- 
 gination." 
 
 Althea cast down her eyes in confusion ; but 
 the little Henry relieved her from the answer 
 to this embarrassing discourse. He had grown 
 as weary of the conversation as the two gaping 
 nobles, and now began to twitch his mother's 
 gown, and teaze for his evening meal ; upon 
 which she said, " Excuse me if I retire for a 
 moment ; I will but satisfy the little tormentor 
 here, and read through my Thekla's letter,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 17 
 
 while, in the meantime, my brother-in-law, 
 Netz, will be happy to grow more intimately 
 acquainted with you. Hereafter I will at leisure 
 welcome you to Schweidnitz, and you shall tell 
 me all about our friends at Gitschin." 
 
 She left the room with her son. Tausdorf 
 looked after for awhile, and then seemed lost in 
 thought. After a short pause, Netz renewed 
 the conversation by saying, " You are a native 
 of Bohemia, then ?" 
 
 Tausdorf courteously replied, " My father 
 settled some years ago in the hereditary do- 
 mains of Austria as an imperial feodatory. I 
 have the honour to be a native of Silesia." 
 
 " Does any business call you back to your 
 native land ?" asked Netz, with increasing cor- 
 diality : " If I can serve you in any thing, you 
 have only to say so ; I know from my brother's 
 own mouth that you were his very good friend." 
 
 " I thank you for your kind proffers. For 
 the present I have only to commend myself to 
 your neighbourly good-will, for I think of set- 
 tling shortly in the vicinity of Schweidnitz." 
 
 " You will be heartily welcome to us, though 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 18 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 you will find but sorry comfort now in this 
 country." 
 
 Tausdorf was astonished. " How so?" 
 " Oh, the burghers have got the upper hand 
 of us nobles. Their wealth, their absurd privi- 
 leges, have made them arrogant. A pitiful 
 burgomaster of Schweidnitz will think himself 
 greater than the emperor; and as to us, the 
 whole mob of them look upon us with contempt. 
 They need us not, they fear us not, and where 
 they can do us any annoyance, they do it with 
 delight." 
 
 " The purse-pride of the citizens is, no 
 doubt, particularly disgusting ; but to be can- 
 did, we should not too severely judge the indus- 
 trious mechanic, the clever merchant, the dex- 
 terous artist, or the man of learning, even though 
 the consciousness and the satisfaction of their 
 hardly-earned property should lead them too 
 far. Our pride of birth, when carried to ex- 
 cess, is also a hateful vice ; and we have much 
 less to advance in its defence, because that on 
 which we pride ourselves is only inherited, and 
 not earned. For the rest, I have always thought
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 19 
 
 that in these eternal feuds between the nobles 
 and the citizens, the wrong was to be found on 
 both sides ; the right is always in the middle, 
 and both parties can attain it only by mutual 
 forbearance." 
 
 " There you judge wrongly of these Silesian 
 pedlers," exclaimed the wild Bieler: " If a 
 noble were only to yield a finger to them, they 
 would seize the whole man, and clap him into a 
 pepper-bag. No, no, you must keep a tight 
 hand over the people, and hardly let them 
 breathe, or there will one day be an end of our 
 old customs and sacred privileges." 
 
 " So thought the nobles before the unlucky 
 war of the peasants," said Tausdorf, " and Ger- 
 many was turned into a desert by it." 
 
 " Don't take it ill, Tausdorf," returned 
 Netz ; " in other respects you may be a brave 
 knight ; but if we were to follow your maxims, 
 we should all be forced to fly the cities." 
 
 Tausdorf shrugged up his shoulders at their 
 incorrigible stubbornness, when Rasselwitz 
 burst into the room, his face glowing with rage, 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 and asked furiously, " Is not Francis Friend 
 here ?' 
 
 " He was here a quarter of an hour ago," 
 replied Netz ; " perhaps you may yet find him 
 at doctor Heidenreich's.' 1 
 
 " I am in no humour to hunt after the rascal 
 any longer," roared Rasselwitz. " This is the 
 day whereon he promised to give up the horse 
 to me. I have already beat up his quarters, 
 but found him abroad, and the stable locked." 
 
 " He does not intend to give up the horse to 
 you. He has openly and loudly declared as 
 much here." 
 
 " We '11 soon see that," cried Rasselwitz fu- 
 riously. " I '11 ask his wife for the stable-key, 
 and if she refuses it, 1 11 break the door open, 
 and fetch out the animal by force. Will you 
 join me ?" 
 
 " Of course," replied Netz and Bieler. 
 
 " And you, Herrvon Tausdorf?" said Netz. 
 " A brave companion like you, will you not 
 run the hazard with us ?" 
 
 " I do not like such disputes," replied Tans-
 
 THE PAT1UCIANS. 21 
 
 clorf, gravely: " they too often degenerate 
 into frays, wherein more honour is to be lost 
 than gained. Besides, it seems to me that the 
 right is not on your side. If you really have any 
 well-grounded pretensions to the horse, an ap- 
 peal to the courts would be a better way of pro- 
 ceeding than this forcible violation of another's 
 property, which sets you in the class of feud- 
 makers and agitators." 
 
 " To the courts ? v shouted Rasselwitz, with 
 a wild laugh *' And the burgomaster is the 
 father of the perjured rascal that I am to com- 
 plain of! He would do me admirable justice, 
 no doubt ! No ! no ! we shall get on much 
 better with our hands. Come, comrades ; there 's 
 still enough of us for these pedlers." 
 
 They rushed out ; and Tausdorf, shaking his 
 head, exclaimed, " It is an evil spirit that is 
 prevailing in this country." 
 
 After a short time Althea returned with her 
 uncle, and presented the two guests to each 
 other, when the old man said, " I have already 
 heard so much worthy talk of you, Herr von 
 Tausdorf, that I heartily rejoice in your more
 
 22 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 intimate acquaintance. You are in the imperial 
 service ?" 
 
 " Captain in the emperor's life-guard, 11 re- 
 plied Tausclorf, with military dignity. 
 
 " As the Frau von Sternberg informs my 
 niece, you intend settling in our good Silesia. 
 I am glad to hear it, and whatever I can do 
 for you, either in act or counsel, I offer you 
 with great sincerity ; but it surprises me that 
 you should think of leaving Bohemia. I un- 
 derstand you are in favour with the emperor, 
 and, since the imperial diet at Prague has given 
 independence to the protestants, it must be com- 
 fortable living for them in the Bohemian terri- 
 tory." 
 
 " This favour little profits us Utraquists. In 
 reality the bull of Pius the Fourth is already re- 
 called. Strict catholics still hold us for sectaries 
 and half heretics : add to this, the new society of 
 Jesuits already lifts up its serpent-head, and 
 hisses out its threats at us. Onr religious free- 
 dom has almost come to an end." 
 
 "Yes, the Jesuits! the Jesuits!" exclaimed 
 Sclundel,, and for a while was silent ; then look-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 23 
 
 ing sadly at Tausdorf, he continued " So, you 
 are no thorough-paced Lutheran, Herr von 
 Tausdorf? only a Utraquist ?" 
 
 The latter bowed assentingly, and Schindel 
 added, as if to soften his first expression, " The 
 Utraquists too are honourable people." 
 
 " I hope so," replied Tausdorf, smiling at 
 the intolerance which lurked in the well-in- 
 tended affirmation. 
 
 " But keep that a secret here as long as it can 
 be done ; at least till the people know you bet- 
 ter. The town, as well as the whole country, 
 is zealously Lutheran." 
 
 " Pardon me ; in the field I have learnt nei- 
 ther simulation nor dissimulation, and I deem 
 them besides contrary to my honour as a knight. 
 He who, on account of the Utraquist, overlooks 
 the man in me, is only an object of my pity, 
 and I set little value on his opinion." 
 
 A tumult in the street interrupted this con- 
 versation. 
 
 " What is the matter below ?" said Schindel 
 to the servant, who just then brought in a fresh 
 flask of wine.
 
 24> THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " A violent fray," he replied, " in the house 
 of the widow Fox, in the market-place. Francis 
 Friend quarrelled with Rasselwitz about a bay 
 horse, and from words they drew their swords 
 upon each other. The police have already in- 
 terfered to put an end to the tumult." 
 
 " Gracious heavens !" cried Schindel, clasp- 
 ing his hands, " will this disorder never have 
 an end?" 
 
 " The crime," returned Tausdorf, " was 
 settled in this room by the violent young 
 nobles. I immediately suspected the evil that 
 would come of it, and warned them, but in vain." 
 
 " God reward you for the good intent," said 
 Schindel, and he proffered his hand to him with 
 unfeigned cordiality : " There is, indeed, a 
 necessity for rational people interfering in these 
 mad affairs, which are now unceasing between 
 the nobles and the citizens; one fray always 
 creates a multitude, and in the end both parties 
 will be ruined by them." 
 
 As he spoke the door was violently thrown 
 open, and in rushed the breathless Netz, sword 
 in hand.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 25 
 
 " For heaven's sake, what has happened ?" 
 cried Althea, anxiously. 
 
 " Under favour, sister, 1 ' panted Netz, sheath- 
 ing his sword : " Allow your servant to fetch 
 my horse directly. He will find it in the stable 
 at Barthel Wallaces. I must be off this hour 
 from Schweidnitz, or I am lost." 
 
 At a sign from his mistress the servant hur- 
 ried out. 
 
 " But what is really the matter?" asked 
 Schindel, pressingly : " You have no doubt 
 been again doing in your wrath what is not 
 right before God." 
 
 " We went," said Netz, binding his pocket- 
 handkerchief about his bleeding arm, " to fetch 
 the horse which Francis had promised Rassel- 
 witz. In the house we stumbled on him and 
 some fellows of his own stamp. From words 
 it soon came to blows. The fray grew hot; 
 my servant was flung into the well : still, how- 
 ever, we stood our ground fairly; but then 
 came the police upon us with the whole tribe of 
 city officers, and we were overwhelmed by num- 
 bers; Bieler was killed; Rasselwitz wounded
 
 26 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 and taken ; I saw that standing out would lead 
 to nothing but death or a dungeon, laid about 
 me like a boar at bay, and fortunately cut my 
 way through." 
 
 " Men, men! how will you answer for that 
 which you have done?" exclaimed Schindel, 
 sorrowfully. 
 
 " What ! are we to take any thing and every 
 thing of these citizens ? It may perhaps be Chris- 
 tian-like when one cheek is smitten to hold the 
 other ; but to strike again is human, and I do 
 not wish to be any thing better than a man." 
 
 " The son of the worthy intendant killed ! 
 and his murderer the son of the all-powerful 
 Erasmus !" exclaimed Schindel " It will be a 
 war of the Guelphs and Ghibellines !" 
 
 " Your horse stands below," said the ser- 
 vant, returning : " Your lad saved himself in 
 good time from his cold bath, and brought it 
 hither." 
 
 " My horse waits below too," cried Taus- 
 dorf, taking up his gloves and hat: " With 
 your permission, Herr von Netz, I will accom- 
 pany you beyond the boundaries. The irri-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 27 
 
 tated citizens may mean evil to you if they find 
 you yet within their jurisdiction." 
 
 " I accept your offer with thanks," replied 
 Netz, hurrying out. Tausdorf kissed Althea's 
 hand and said " I thank you heartily for your 
 friendly welcome ; it seemed to me as if my dear 
 native land greeted me with your lips, and I 
 only grieve that our first meeting should be so 
 brief and so unkindly interrupted ; but I pur- 
 pose repeating my visit, if the widow of my de- 
 ceased friend will allow it." 
 
 " You will always be welcome to me," replied 
 the beautiful widow, in embarrassment ; and the 
 hands, which had been joined seemed to grow 
 together, while her uncle called out from the 
 window, " Haste ! haste ! Netz is already 
 mounted, and the police are coming up the 
 streets from the market with a whole rabble of 
 armed citizens." 
 
 " Farewell !" said Tausdorf, hastily, and dis- 
 appeared; and Althea, darting to the window, 
 cried out after him to be careful of himself. 
 The armed multitude approached ; Netz, for- 
 getting his companion, gave his horse the spurs
 
 28 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 and galloped oft'. In the meantime Tausdorf 
 came out of the house, sprang lightly and nim- 
 bly into the saddle, and sent up a last friendly 
 greeting to the window. In the same moment 
 he was surrounded by the rabble. Several 
 rough hands seized his horse's reins, while 
 about him crowded a threatening array of pikes, 
 maces, and firelocks ; and a wild shout arose of 
 " Another of the murderers ! tear the scoun- 
 drel from his horse !" 
 
 " What would you with me ?" said Tausdorf, 
 sternly: " I have had no share in this un- 
 happy quarrel." 
 
 " Found together, bound together !" shouted 
 the rough rabble : " You must ornament the 
 town-jail." 
 
 With this the boldest amongst them seized 
 the knight's legs to pull him from the saddle. 
 
 " Respect to the imperial colours, ye citizens 
 of Schweidnitz !" exclaimed Tausdorf, and gave 
 his horse the spur and the curb at the same 
 time. The noble beast reared and struck 
 about him with his fore-hoofs, to the sore dis- 
 may of those who held the reins, and who im-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 29 
 
 mediately let them go ; and the knight, thun- 
 dering out to the mob to make way, now struck 
 the rowels into his horse's flanks. In an instant 
 two powerful plunges freed him from his ene- 
 mies. A loud cry of mingled joy and terror 
 echoed from Althea's window, while Tausdorf 
 sprang over the rabble that were rolling upon 
 each other in confusion, and rushed out of the 
 gates at full speed. 
 
 " God be praised !" said Althea, as she left 
 the window, exhausted by her feelings : " I was 
 in terror for the brave knight." 
 
 " In terror ? already in terror ?" asked her 
 uncle mockingly, and, going up to her, he 
 seized her hand " Look me fairly in the face, 
 niece/ ' 
 
 For a moment she cast her eyes down, then 
 raised them up to him with difficulty ; but the 
 effort to keep a steady gaze on her uncle's brow 
 kindled a rosy glow upon her own. He went 
 on, however, without mercy 
 
 " And now, niece, as plain an answer: if 
 this Bohemian should ever ask you to become 
 his wife, would you in that case declare your-
 
 #0 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 self as roughly as you have done this day to 
 your other suitors ?" 
 
 " You torment me," said Althea, with gentle 
 reproach. Her hand slipped from his, and she 
 fled out of the room. 
 
 " 'Tis a clear thing !" said the uncle to him- 
 self " Well, I have nothing to Say against it ; 
 the man pleases me I wish he were not a 
 UtraquistP 
 
 The lovely Agatha, the daughter of the city 
 messenger, Onophrius Goldmann, sat at the 
 window in her humble chamber. The spindle 
 rested in her hand ; on her lap lay an open vo- 
 lume of the songs and tales of the master-bards, 
 but her hazel eyes wandered from the book to 
 the darkening street, and her bosom heaved 
 beneath its drapery. " Twilight," she ex- 
 claimed, " twilight is already coming on, and 
 still my father does not return. O that no 
 accident has happened to Francis !" At this 
 moment, some one burst open the street door,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 31 
 
 and rushed into the chamber ; it was Francis 
 Friend. 
 
 " I have had a glorious row with the vaga- 
 bond nobles," he cried, embracing the maiden 
 roughly, " and the mad Netz has flayed my 
 arm, but I think I have paid him for it, in a 
 way that will make him remember me. Bind 
 up the wound, Agatha." 
 
 " Wicked man, v replied Agatha chidingly, 
 as she stripped off the sleeve through which 
 the blood was welling ; " you are always run- 
 ning wantonly into danger, and care not for the 
 anxiety which I suffer on your account." 
 
 " What, am I to let those vagabonds steal 
 the horse from my stable ? In the end they 'Jl 
 quarter themselves upon me, and drive me out 
 of house and home." 
 
 " You hate the nobles so violently, and yet 
 have married the daughter of a noble !" 
 
 " Unfortunately ! And I do believe it is on 
 that very account she is such an abomination to 
 me ; but I shan't be such a fool again. My 
 wife won't be much longer on her feet, and 
 when she is unharnessed, my next choice is
 
 32 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 soon settled ; a girl of low rank, when she is as 
 beautiful as my Agatha, is dearer to me than a 
 dozen countesses. 1 ' 
 
 " Flatterer, 1 ' murmured Agatha, winding her 
 arms about his neck, while her kisses burnt 
 upon his lips. 
 
 " Gracious Heaven !" cried a deep-base voice, 
 and the lovers started from each other in terror. 
 Onophrius Goldmann stood at the open door, 
 his left hand hid in his doublet, and supporting 
 himself with the right, for he was exhausted 
 almost to fainting ; but his eyes shot lightning 
 at the delinquents. Francis in vain sought to 
 recover from the shame of surprise to his usual 
 braving tone, and Agatha wrung her hands and 
 wept. 
 
 " So you have at last succeeded, master 
 Friend, in seducing my child," said the wretched 
 father. " May God reckon with you for it! 
 and you, obstinate girl, have I not warned, 
 prayed, threatened ? Did you not swear to me 
 to shun the man who makes you thus unhappy ? 
 How have you 1 deceived me ! a long time de- 
 ceived me, with your wicked artifices ; for, from
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 33 
 
 what I now see, your sin is not of to-day. These 
 are the consequences of the infernal love-songs 
 and romances, which ought to be utterly for- 
 bidden to women ; their place is at the hearth 
 and the spindle. The mad trash, invented by 
 the dry brains of the poetasters to tickle your 
 nobles, is for them poison. There it is they 
 learn to build up air-castles in the midst of 
 reality there it is that they find every passion 
 painted in fine colours, and, before they dream 
 of it, their honour is gone, and God deliver 
 us ! their eternal salvation also." 
 
 " I give you my word," at length stammered 
 Francis, " that Agatha's honour shall one day 
 be redeemed before the world." 
 
 " You!" cried Onophrius, " a husband! 
 Heaven have mercy on us ! Would you send 
 your wife after the murdered Netz, or, like 
 count Gleichen, get a dispensation at Rome for 
 a double wedlock ?" 
 
 " Not so rough, old man," exclaimed Francis 
 in a tone of menace ; " I don't like to hear 
 such language, nor does it become the servant 
 towards his master's son." 
 
 VOL. i. D
 
 34 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " That is the curse which rests upon the poor 
 and lowly, 1 ' exclaimed Onophrius, crawling to 
 the nearest chair, and sinking down upon it, 
 exhausted. " It is our curse that we are power- 
 less, and weaponless, and lawless, against the 
 great who wrong us, while, over and above 
 all, we must spill our blood for our tyrants. 
 Maimed in your defence, I return to my hovel, 
 find you in the arms of my seduced child, and 
 when my just anguish pours itself forth in 
 words, you meanly appeal to your father's rank, 
 and close my mouth by despicable threats." 
 
 " Maimed !" cried Friend in alarm, and Aga- 
 tha flew with loud lamentations to her father, 
 who, drawing his left arm from his doublet, 
 showed the stump, bound up in bloody cloths. 
 
 " Eternal mercy ! your hand !" shrieked Aga- 
 tha. 
 
 " It lies before the house of the widow Fox, 
 in the market," said Onophrius gloomily; 
 " Netz hewed it from the arm just before you 
 killed him." 
 
 " It grieves me ; but on my honour I will 
 make all good again."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 35 
 
 " That is more than you can do : though you 
 were to empty out all your gold-bags into this 
 room, yet would no hand grow again upon this 
 stump ; though you were to dress my child in bro- 
 cade, and adorn her with pearls and diamonds, 
 still she would be your strumpet, over whom I 
 must tear the grey locks from this aged head. 
 Gracious Heavens ! how little must you gentle- 
 men think of us poor people, that you fancy all 
 is to be satisfied with gold, all, life and limb, 
 honour and conscience ! Well ; God is just, 
 and will one day weigh you in even scales, and 
 find you too light for his heaven." 
 
 " Only let two eyes be closed first," protested 
 Francis, " and if I do not then take home your 
 Agatha as my wife, and make you a man of 
 consequence in the city, you may call me villain 
 in the public market-place." 
 
 " My good Francis," exclaimed Agatha, 
 affectionately, and gave him her hand, even be- 
 fore the eyes of her stern parent. 
 
 " If we both live," said Onophrius, with pe- 
 culiar emphasis, " if we both live, I will remind 
 you of your promise ; but I fear that we shall
 
 3D THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 not get so far; I fear that this day's tumult will 
 have wprse consequences than you imagine. 
 That Bieler has been killed is a sad misfortune. 
 The nobles will be mad, and I already begin to 
 shudder at the idea of the jail and the scaf- 
 fold." 
 
 " Is Bieler, then, really dead ?" asked Francis 
 anxiously, after a long silence. 
 
 " I saw him carried as a corpse to the Guild- 
 hall," replied Onophrius. " The thing, too, 
 happened naturally enough. As my left hand 
 flew off, I cut at his head with my right, and 
 you soon after made an end of him." 
 
 " Upon all this we '11 be silent to every one," 
 said Francis, who had again collected himself. 
 " For the rest, the whole business is of no great 
 consequence. I was acting in self-defence ; and 
 you were only doing your duty. If any ill have 
 grown out of it, Rasselwitz, who began the 
 strife by breaking into my house, must be the 
 sufferer." 
 
 " That won't satisfy the nobles,' 1 said Ono- 
 phrius, shaking his head. 
 
 " Let them bite away their anger upon their
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 37 
 
 nails," exclaimed Francis boastfully. " My 
 father is master here in Schweidnitz, and will 
 not let them hurt a hair upon my head. 1 ' 
 
 " Fow^ire safe, but //" replied Onophrius, 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " You stand and fall with me, old friend. If 
 I ever forget you, or what you have this day 
 done and suffered for me, may God forget me 
 in my dying hour V 
 
 " Amen!" murmured Onophrius with failing 
 voice, and, swooning with the loss of blood, he 
 dropped from his seat. 
 
 " He is dying !" sobbed Agatha, as she 
 caught her father in her arms. 
 
 " This is a day of evil," shouted Francis, 
 gazing for a moment on the mischief he had 
 wrought, and striking his forehead wildly with 
 his clenched hands, he dashed away. 
 
 It was two days after this when the tumult of 
 voices, the stamp of steeds, and the clatter of 
 iron, woke Althea from a morning sleep, which 
 had been troubled, yet beautified, by delightful 
 
 rt -f -v o i 
 a .1 i O 1
 
 38 T1IE PATRICIANS. 
 
 visions. In her thin night garments she has- 
 tened to the window, and saw the streets full 
 of horses, which were led by armed knights. 
 The clang of harness, in the meantime, re- 
 sounded up the stairs, and a party of knights 
 entered the room in complete armour and closed 
 vizors. The leader of them threw up his 
 beaver; it was the wild Netz. 
 
 " Under favour, sister, I bring you a whole 
 bevy of cousins, nobles, and good friends, who 
 are all dying with desire to kiss your fair hand, 
 and would, moreover, beg a breakfast of you." 
 
 " What brings you, gentlemen, so early to 
 Schweidnitz ?" asked Althea in alarm " in 
 such warlike guise too !" 
 
 " The lord bishop, Caspar, visits the city to- 
 day," replied Netz, to speak a few serious words, 
 as prince palatine*, with our council here, on 
 
 * The title of Prince Palatine is far from being a correct trans- 
 lation of the original, for which, indeed, we have no corresponding 
 phrase, the political organization of this country supplying no cor- 
 responding authority. In such a dilemma nothing is left to a 
 translator but to choose between two evils ; either to retain the 
 original term, or to adopt from his own language any word that 
 may convey something of a similar idea. Perhaps I have been 
 wrong in my choice. Certamen est de paupere regno.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 89 
 
 the score of Bieler's murder. Now, as we 
 know by experience that the citizens have hard 
 heads, and are easily excited to uproar and all 
 sorts of mischief, we have come to give the 
 proper weight to the bishop's words with our 
 steel, if need should be. The strongest party 
 of us have quartered themselves at Barthel 
 Wallach's, because we did not wish to fill your 
 house too full, and we have sent out a watch 
 to give us immediate notice of the bishop's 
 coming, till when we would rest with you, and 
 enjoy ourselves." 
 
 At his signal every vizor rattled up, and from 
 every helmet looked a well-known face, that 
 greeted Althea with respect, and amongst them 
 she recognised Tausdorf. 
 
 " How ! you here, Tausdorf?" she cried, 
 with a vivacity that confounded her own 
 self. 
 
 " That surprises you, does it not ?" exclaimed 
 Netz. " Troth, when he so bluntly refused to 
 join us in fetching the bay, I had no idea that he 
 would enter upon such an adventure as the pre- 
 sent one. But he offered himself of his own ac-
 
 40 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 cord, which indeed has made me wonder not a, 
 little." 
 
 " In that there is nothing for wonder," said 
 Tausdorf, gravely. " I have always remained 
 the same. With justice I refused to take part 
 in an action which I deemed illegal ; but I hold 
 it for my knightly duty to be in the saddle when 
 it is to defend the authorities of the land, and 
 support them in their sacred office against fac- 
 tions and those who would take the law into 
 their own hands." 
 
 " Let that be, my worthy countryman," said 
 Netz ; " we '11 not dispute about our principles. 
 It is enough for me that we have got you, that 
 you belong to us, and hold the pedlers in the 
 wrong." 
 
 " Not so unconditionally as you imagine. 
 The evil originated with the nobles. Whether 
 upon this the citizens too did not go beyond 
 their bounds, that must be inquired into by the 
 palatine, and punished accordingly. We nobles 
 are a party in the matter, and have therefore no 
 voice in the decision." 
 
 " In the name of Heaven, Tausdorf, whence
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 41 
 
 have you borrowed this lamb-like patience? 
 Did not the rascals wish to fling you into jail, 
 though you were more innocent of the whole 
 transaction than a new-born babe ? Did they 
 not seize your bridle, and try to pull you from 
 your horse ?" 
 
 " That was long ago forgiven and for- 
 gotten." 
 
 " Eh ! What ! The hounds must not venture 
 to fall upon a knight ! The bishop must obtain 
 for you a brilliant satisfaction." 
 
 " Satisfaction to the law, not to me. The 
 bishop has disputes of higher import to settle, 
 and I should be ashamed to trouble him with 
 this trifle. 11 
 
 " You are a brave knight !"" exclaimed the old 
 Schindel, who had been sent to them by Althca, 
 and, having entered unnoticed, had overheard 
 the conversation " Happy were our princi- 
 pality if all these gentlemen were like you ! 
 Then again might grow and flourish the tender 
 olive-tree of civil peace, which the hand of 
 Maximilian so lovingly planted, but at which 
 both the nobles and citizens arc pulling and
 
 42 THE 1'ATllICIANS. 
 
 dragging with equal violence, so that in the 
 end it is likely to perish, to the grief of all those 
 who mean it fairly with the land." 
 
 " The old man, 11 cried Netz to his compa- 
 nions, " will often say things that we do not like 
 to hear ; but one can't be angry with him, be- 
 cause he means it so well with us." 
 
 " And because, alas ! he is always right in his 
 rebukes, 11 added Schindel, as two servants en- 
 tered the room with flasks and goblets. 
 
 " God be thanked! 1 ' exclaimed Netz, and 
 immediately filled himself a goblet. " I was 
 beginning to feel faint about the stomach, and 
 then one is in poor plight for a fray. Fall to, 
 comrades. 1 ' 
 
 The knights complied, and each stood with 
 a goblet in his iron hand : " But, not to forget 
 the main point, 11 continued Netz ; " we have not 
 yet talked of who is to be our leader in this bu- 
 siness, which yet is necessary in case it should 
 come to blows. That must be settled directly 
 on the spot.' 1 
 
 " Why, who but yourself, brother Netz ?" 
 exclaimed Hans Ecke of Viehau : " You have
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 48 
 
 been riding about, and sending round your 
 messengers through the whole principality, till 
 you have whistled us all up to this expedi- 
 tion." 
 
 " No, I am not fit for it, 1 ' said Netz frankly ; 
 " I am a better hand at blows than at leading. 
 I should be for hammering away upon the mob 
 at once, and might do you a mischief. What 
 say you to it, old gentleman ?" he added, turn- 
 ing to Schindel. 
 
 " You must excuse me. I am about to settle 
 in quiet at Schweidnitz, and must not quarrel 
 with the council and the citizens ; but if my 
 opinion have any weight with you, elect Taus- 
 dorf. He has vigour and courage for it, and 
 moreover the requisite discretion, which you 
 shatter-brains are deficient in, one and all, and 
 which will be most especially needed in a matter 
 that is intrinsically evil. Besides, he is an im- 
 perial officer, whom you may all boldly follow 
 without casting a blot upon your nobility. 1 ' 
 
 " The old one must always give us a rap on 
 the knuckles," said Netz, laughing ; " he can't
 
 44 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 go less ; but in the main he seems to me to be 
 right ; therefore, whoever amongst you thinks 
 the same, let him draw his sword." 
 
 " Tausdorf shall be our leader!" shouted the 
 whole band of knights, and fifty swords glit- 
 tered in the air. In the same moment Netz's 
 'squire rushed in, exclaiming, " Two of the 
 bishop's equerries have dismounted before the 
 Guildhall ; he will be here himself in a quarter 
 of an hour." 
 
 " Halloah ! To horse ! To horse !" cried 
 Netz, rushing to the door with his drawn sword. 
 The rest were about to follow him with un- 
 sheathed weapons, when Tausdorf thundered 
 out, " Halt !" At the word the knights stood 
 still. 
 
 " Put up your swords before you mount," he 
 said, in a tone of stern command. 
 
 " Wherefore ?" asked Netz, returning an- 
 grily. 
 
 " You have chosen me for your leader in this 
 business," answered Tausdorf, with all the dig- 
 nity of command, " and it is your duty, therefore,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 45 
 
 to obey me ; but I am not bound to account to 
 you for every thing I may order. For this 
 time, however, I am content to tell you my mo- 
 tives. Should we ride with drawn swords, the 
 citizens and magistrates might take it for a 
 hostile incursion, or, if they are evilly disposed, 
 might merely pretend to do so, and oppose us 
 with arms, in which case, when the bishop en- 
 tered the city, he would find the civil war already 
 kindled, which it was the purpose of his coming 
 to avert. Will you answer for the bloodshed 
 that may arise from such a trifle ?" 
 
 Netz silently sheathed his sword ; his bro- 
 thers in arms followed his example. 
 
 " And now, with God, to horse, gentlemen," 
 added Tausdorf, kissed Althea's hand in silent 
 fervour, and strode out. The knights hastened 
 after him. 
 
 " What a man P exclaimed Althea, as in the 
 overflow of feeling she sank upon her uncle's 
 breast. 
 
 " You are right, niece," replied Schindel, 
 with emotion : " Let him be ten times an Utra- 
 quist, yet he is a noble, strong-minded man, and
 
 4-6 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 with pleasure should I one day lay your hand 
 in his. 
 
 The old burgomaster, Erasmus Friend, 
 paced up and down the large arched chamber 
 of his stately stone mansion, in his official in- 
 signia, his hands behind his back, and gloom 
 upon his wrinkled forehead. Just then crept 
 in the doctor of law, Esaias Heidenreich, a 
 thin little man, with a face of cunning. 
 
 " Well !" exclaimed the burgomaster, " have 
 you found it out ? What would the bishop ?" 
 
 " Just what I prophesied," replied the doc- 
 tor, shrugging his shoulders ; " he would inquire 
 into this bad business himself, and submit the 
 decision to the emperor." 
 
 " That is against our privileges," cried the 
 burgomaster, indignantly. " The penal juris- 
 diction belongs exclusively to our city in all 
 cases. 11 
 
 " I would not affirm that so unconditionally. 
 Besides, that is no longer the question. His
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 47 
 
 grace, the right reverend bishop, chooses to 
 look at the affair in his own way : the only point 
 then is quazritur whether you will submit to 
 the authority of the prince palatine, or not? 
 And upon this you must make up your mind 
 speedily, for in a few minutes he rides into our 
 good city." 
 
 " The priest need not be always poking his 
 nose into what is not his business. I won't 
 submit. 1 ' 
 
 " Will you then entirely break with the 
 noble old man, who entertains such favour- 
 able and tolerant opinions towards all Acatho- 
 licos? And if, after all, he should choose to 
 maintain his authority by force ?" 
 
 " Then I order our civil troops to mount, 
 and the corporation to be under arms. Within 
 my walls I am master, and no other." 
 
 " But whether the common weal will gain 
 any thing by the measure ? I must submit that 
 to your wisdom. Think of the evils which the 
 Smalcald league brought on us eighteen years 
 ago of the shameful contribution which the 
 town was forced to pay of the imprisonment
 
 48 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 which the consul dirigens, Furstenhau, had to 
 suffer in the White Tower, at Prague, and here 
 in the Hildebrand. This time, too, it may turn 
 out still worse. Your opposition may be construed 
 into open rebellion : what the penalty of that is, 
 you know as well as I do, and also that Schweid- 
 nitz is compassed about by enemies. The land- 
 nobles hate us violently, and the emperor's 
 wrath would find a thousand willing and lusty 
 hands." 
 
 " Should I now begin to be afraid of these 
 lordlings, in good truth I were neither worthy 
 nor able to fill this my place of honour. Only 
 let them come. We will so receive them, that 
 they shall think of the old Erasmus all their 
 life long." 
 
 " The lord bishop has just dismounted from 
 his horse before the Guildhall," announced the 
 city servant, Rudolph, while his teeth chattered. 
 " The council is already assembled, and all 
 wait for your worship." 
 
 " Ring out the alarm-bell, 1 " shouted Francis 
 Friend, following close upon his heels. " The 
 land-nobles have rode up to the market-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 49 
 
 place, in complete armour, near five hundred 
 strong." 
 
 " Have they committed any disturbance?" 
 asked Erasmus, hastily. 
 
 " No," replied Francis, " nor have they 
 even drawn a sword. They only stand in the 
 market-place, quite still and orderly, as is by 
 no means their way at other times ; if you ask 
 what they want, they give themselves out for 
 the retinue of the prince palatine." 
 
 " Who leads them?" inquired Erasmus with 
 smothered wrath. 
 
 " That I know not," replied Francis ; " they 
 have all got their visors down." 
 
 " I heard," said Heidenreich, " that their 
 leader is a certain Sparrenberger, surnamed 
 Tausdorf. He has lately come hither from Bo- 
 hemia, and intends settling in this country." 
 
 " Sparrenberger, surnamed Tausdorf," re- 
 peated Erasmus bitterly, taking out his memo- 
 randum-book and writing in it : " I shall recol- 
 lect the name again at a fitter season." 
 
 <c Shall I have the alarm rung?" asked 
 Francis urgently. 
 
 VOL. i. E
 
 OU THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Again the old Erasmus began to pace up and 
 down the chamber with long strides. The 
 passion for resistance struggled mightily with 
 the sense of its danger in the breast of the 
 vigorous despot. This was perceived by Hei- 
 denreieh, who approached him and said with 
 anxious warmth: " If the advice of an old 
 lawyer have yet any weight with you, and 
 one too who means it fairly with you and the 
 city, submit yourself for this once, master bur- 
 gomaster. That, which Francis proposes to 
 you, leads directly to feud with the emperor 
 and the empire, and ruins yourself, and your 
 family, and the town which is entrusted to your 
 providence." 
 
 " You will keep yourself quiet, Francis," at 
 length said the old man, after a heavy sigh of 
 self-control. He then turned to Heidenreich 
 " You will accompany me to the sessions." 
 
 With dignified pride he stalked out, and Hei- 
 denreich, following him, exclaimed, " Heaven 
 be praised !" while Francis stamped with his 
 feet, and rushed out after them like a maniac.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 51 
 
 The burgomaster, Erasmus Friend, had just 
 taken his place at the council-table amidst many 
 long pale faces, when the attendants in servile 
 haste and anxiety threw open the folding-doors, 
 and the bishop of Breslaw entered, Caspar von 
 Logau, a venerable and hale old man; with 
 him came the hauptmann of the principality, 
 Mathias von Logan. The members of the 
 council rose respectfully from their seats, while 
 Erasmus coldly advanced to the first authority 
 in Silesia. The bishop addressed him with dig- 
 nified earnestness : 
 
 " There have been evil doings in your city, 
 Mr. Burgomaster. I take it for granted you 
 have, as a first step, adopted fitting measures 
 that the state of facts may not be concealed, 
 and that the culprits may not escape punish- 
 ment by flight. 1 ' 
 
 " The beginner of the fray is arrested," re- 
 plied Erasmus, " and the body of the deceased 
 is in our care." 
 
 " Whom do you understand by the beginner 
 of the fray ?" asked the bishop, looking keenly 
 at Erasmus.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Rasselwitz," replied the burgomaster with 
 eagerness, " Rasselwitz, who broke into my 
 son's dwelling like a common robber." 
 
 " You will render up the prisoner to my de- 
 legate, which ought to have been done imme- 
 diately on his arrest. The body of Netz we 
 will presently view together, and then deliver it 
 over to his relations for burial." 
 
 " You seem, my lord bishop, as if you would 
 bring this case under the emperor's jurisdic- 
 tion : but, according to our privileges, the trial 
 and the sentence belong to us, and I must give 
 up nothing of the city's charter." 
 
 " There is danger in delay, and therefore we 
 will not waste the time in legal disputations. I 
 will answer for what I do, and the emperor 
 himself shall decide upon the competence of the 
 tribunal. Against this, I presume, you can have 
 nothing to object, Mr. Burgomaster." 
 
 " No !" replied Erasmus, with heavy heart 
 and suppressed indignation. 
 
 *' How is it with the answer on the part of 
 the citizens ?" continued the bishop, bringing 
 forth a roll of papers, from which he read
 
 THE PATRICIANS- 53 
 
 " According to the charge of the Bieler family, 
 there were present and active in the fray, your 
 son, Francis, the city-messenger, Onophrius 
 Goldmann, the city-servant, George Rudolph, 
 and a cutler's apprentice. All these too are, 
 of course, under arrest." 
 
 Erasmus was silent, for he felt his error, and 
 was too proud to justify it. 
 
 " No!" exclaimed the bishop. " Imme- 
 diately take measures for bringing them hither 
 under a secure guard. All do you hear me ? 
 ally not excepting your own son.' 1 
 
 The burgomaster was silent, and did not 
 stir, while in his breast rekindled the strife that 
 had scarcely been subdued. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen, am I to be obeyed ?" cried 
 the bishop, advancing with indignant majesty 
 to the sessions-table, by Erasmus' upper place. 
 
 At this there started out of the hall, as if actu- 
 ated by one spirit, the aldermen, Peter Treutler 
 and Balthasar Albrecht, to fulfil the commands 
 of the bishop, who continued to Erasmus 
 
 " I am almost displeased with you, Mr. Bur- 
 gomaster, and I hardly know what the em-
 
 54 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 peror, to whom I must communicate this un- 
 happy affair, will say to your proceedings. You 
 Lutherans are constantly harping upon the 
 holy Scriptures, and will be judged only after 
 their words. Well, then, have you not read 
 what the wise king Solomon says, ' Love jus- 
 tice, ye rulers of the earth, for injustice lays 
 waste all lands, and evil life overthrows the 
 seats of the mighty ?' But what is to be thought 
 of the equity of a judge, who imprisons the 
 party of the murdered, and suffers the assassins 
 to be at liberty, because his own son is at their 
 head ?' 
 
 This reproach touched exactly on the sore 
 place, and cut so much the deeper into the soul 
 of the proud elder ; he was just about to burst 
 forth in all the vigour of his mind, and with in- 
 dignant zeal for the authority of his office ; but 
 then doctor Heidenreich advanced to him and 
 whispered soothingly, " Since you have de- 
 termined to submit, do it with a good grace, 
 and make not a bad matter still worse by un- 
 seasonable passion." Upon this Erasmus col- 
 lected himself by a violent effort, champed
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 55 
 
 down the words which he had just been going 
 to hurl against the bishop, and, retreating to the 
 window, gazed indignantly at the nobles, who 
 kept watch on horseback before the Guildhall, 
 in close compact ranks, like so many colossuses 
 of iron. In the mean time, the bishop seated 
 himself in the burgomaster's arm-chair, reading 
 over his papers, while so profound a silence 
 reigned, that one might have heard the buzzing 
 of the flies in the room and the heavy breath- 
 ing of the anxious aldermen. 
 
 At length Treutler returned, followed by 
 Rasselwitz, his arm in a sling, the poor one- 
 handed Goldmann, and the rest of the ac- 
 cused. Armed city-mercenaries brought up 
 the rear. 
 
 The bishop rose from his seat to observe 
 the comers, and exclaimed to them authorita- 
 tively, " You are prisoners of the emperor and 
 king of Bohemia, and of his chief tribunal at 
 Prague. Give up your arms !"" 
 
 " We recognize only the assize at Schweid- 
 nitz as our judges in this matter," retorted the 
 wild Francis defyingly, in the name of all.
 
 56 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Is that the respect, Mr. Burgomaster/' 
 asked the irritated bishop " is that the respect 
 which you show to your prince and his laws ? I 
 had heard much of the arrogance of the pa- 
 tricians here, and of the Friend family in par- 
 ticular ; but this audacity even exceeds my ex- 
 pectations." 
 
 " Give up your sword, Frank," said Erasmus 
 with broken voice. 
 
 " Sacred heavens !" cried Francis, painfully 
 alarmed " do you yourself command it, fa- 
 ther ? Then, indeed, I must obey :" And he 
 unbuckled his sword, laid it on the council-table, 
 and returned to his companions, who followed 
 his example. The alderman Albrecht now an- 
 nounced that the body of Bieler was brought 
 into the custom-house below. 
 
 " We will inspect the corse and confront 
 with it the accused/ 1 said the bishop to Eras- 
 mus : " you will then separate all parties, and 
 bring them into safe custody. I give them over 
 to you you alone ; but you shall answer for 
 them to the emperor and myself with your 
 head.' 1
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 57 
 
 He went out with Matthias and Rasselwitz. 
 The council with their prisoners and retinue 
 followed ; only the burgomaster remained be- 
 hind, and grasped Heidenreich firmly by the 
 hand, so that the latter could not join the 
 cavalcade. 
 
 " Now, thou prince of peace !" he exclaimed, 
 gnashing his teeth " had I not done better 
 by causing the alarm to be rung ?" 
 
 " If you are convinced that such a measure 
 will tend to the general weal," replied Hei- 
 denreich, " you may take it still. I would have 
 you weigh, however, that five hundred warriors 
 are drawn up yonder, well armed, and ready to 
 support the bishop's orders. The result of the 
 fray is uncertain, and even if we were to con- 
 quer, what would be the fate of all of us ?" 
 
 " Ah ! these nobles !" cried Erasmus furi- 
 ously. " Well ! some opportunity of revenge 
 will yet offer itself, and, by God and his holy 
 Gospel, I will seize it by the forelock it shall 
 not escape me."
 
 58 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 On the Friday after George, in the year 
 1571, sate Francis Friend, with broken spirits, 
 in the Hildebrand of Schweidnitz, his constant 
 quarters since the time of his arrest. It was 
 already late in the evening, and a melancholy 
 lamp partially illumined the sad chamber. The 
 long durance had subdued the wild refractory 
 mood of the prisoner : even the wine no longer 
 relished. He leaned with his head in his hands 
 upon the table by the side of the full flask, and 
 took all the pains imaginable not to think, that 
 he might escape from the recollections and fore- 
 bodings which tormented him. The door now 
 gently opened, and doctor Heidenreich, creep- 
 ing in, roused him out of his gloomy medi- 
 tation. 
 
 " Your worshipful father sends me to you, 
 master Friend. You fate seems to be approach- 
 ing its decision ; and I am come, therefore, 
 once again to speak to you alone about this 
 awkward business of yours." 
 
 " Make me no long prefaces, master doctor," 
 cried Francis, starting up wildly, " but speak 
 it out plainly. My sentence is pronounced ; I
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 59 
 
 am to die. Well, then, I am content. I have 
 often before this looked death boldly in the 
 face, and would rather perish at once than pine 
 away any longer in this damned hole." 
 
 " Always so hasty and impetuous !" said 
 Heidenreich, and sate down quietly by his side. 
 " The question is not yet of the final sentence ; 
 but, as a preliminary measure, the rack, in all its 
 degrees, is adjudged to Onophrius Goldmann, 
 and to that they proceed this very night. The 
 delegates of the council will also be present. It 
 is, therefore, above all things requisite to know 
 for certain how deeply you are implicated in the 
 Bieler murder, that the necessary precautions 
 may be taken. Your answers at the examina- 
 tion have by no means satisfied the lords com- 
 missioners, nor, to be candid, myself either. 
 Now, therefore, I come to put to you a couple 
 of questions, which you must answer me, but 
 honestly as a son to a father ; for, look you, I 
 am to defend you when the examination is over, 
 so that I should be considered, injure, as your 
 physician and confessor, to whom you must speak 
 the truth if you wish to be radically healed.
 
 GO THE 1'ATRICIANS. 
 
 First, then, tell me, did you in the fray actually 
 strike Bieler upon the head with your sword ?" 
 
 " There you ask more than I can answer," 
 replied Francis with vexation. " The row was 
 all wildness and confusion ; I was half drunk too, 
 and rage made my intoxication still madder. 
 I came up roundly to my opponent; but whe- 
 ther I hit Bieler, or whether I did not hit him, 
 that the devil knows best." 
 
 " You 'don't answer me honestly," said Hei- 
 denreich with lifted finger, " and thus without 
 occasion impede my colloquy. You must not, 
 therefore, take it ill, if I put my second ques- 
 tion as though I were already convinced of 
 your guilt. Did Goldmann see you strike 
 Bieler ? or at least does he pretend to have 
 seen it ?" 
 
 " He chattered something of the sort to me 
 a little after the fray," replied Francis in con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " That 's an awkward circumstance. How 
 in other respects do you stand with the man ?" 
 
 " Well, I think." 
 
 " There was a talk in the city of your in-
 
 11IE PATRICIANS. 61 
 
 triguing with his daughter, and having pro- 
 mised her marriage when your wife should die ?" 
 
 " Likely enough. In need or in pleasure 
 men make all sorts of promises that they are 
 not inclined to keep afterwards." 
 
 " Well, as in the meantime your wife is 
 really dead, we might try with this bait to stop 
 the mOuth of Onophrius, so that he may leave 
 you out of question altogether when ,he is put 
 to the rack. I will go to the old man 'di- 
 rectly and reason the matter with him. If I can 
 make it clear to him that your misfortune will 
 do him no service, he may, perhaps, take good 
 advice. Meanwhile don' 1 ! let the time in prison 
 hang heavy on your hands, and be of stout 
 heart. I hope to God that I shall this once 
 also draw you out of your anxiety and suffering. 
 
 " Could not you save Goldmann too ?" asked 
 Francis good-naturedly : " It would grieve me 
 for the poor devil if he should have to pay the 
 piper. 1 ' 
 
 " That would be rather difficult. Some vic- 
 tim the nobles must have, and you may rejoice 
 if they will be satisfied with the old messenger.
 
 62 THE PATRICIAN'S. 
 
 However, I will see what is to be done for him, 
 if lie stand the torture without confession. 
 God be with you !" 
 
 He went, and Francis continued sitting 
 gloomily at the table. The peril, which with 
 every moment approached nearer and nearer to 
 him, straightened his breast sorely. His con- 
 fidence in the all-powerful protection ofiiis fa- 
 ther had already sunk to a very low ebb, and the 
 comfort left him by the doctor did not go a great 
 way either. " The infernal bay !" he mut- 
 tered at last, glad to have found something on 
 which he could lay the consequences of his own 
 action " the infernal bay !" and he relapsed 
 into a long melancholy silence. 
 
 Suddenly there arose below a loud noise and 
 trampling; halberds [clattered against each 
 other; doors were opened and^shut; and then 
 again a deep awful stillness prevailed. 
 
 " What is the matter below ?" he anxiously 
 asked the jailer, who then brought in his supper 
 to him. 
 
 " Logan Oppersdorf and the other commis- 
 sioners have just arrived, together with several
 
 THE PATRICIANS. C3 
 
 gentlemen of the council. Goldmann leads up 
 the dance to-day!" 
 
 " God support the poor fellow !" groaned the 
 agonized Francis, and ran about the chamber, 
 goaded by all the pangs of hell. Quick foot- 
 steps were heard approaching the door: it 
 flew open, and in burst Agatha with dishevelled 
 locks, despair upon her pale, tearless face, and 
 flung herself at the feet of her lover. 
 
 " Save, save my unhappy father !" she cried, 
 in tones that rent the heart. 
 
 " Collect yourself, my poor girl," said Francis, 
 and raised up the wretched creature: " what 
 would you from me ?" 
 
 " The dreadful tale has reached even my 
 hovel !" she exclaimed shuddering : " this night 
 my father is to be put upon the rack. He is 
 old and feeble ; he will sink under the torture, 
 and confess to deeds of which his soul knows 
 nothing : therefore help, Frank, help, before it 
 is too late. Your hand plunged us into this 
 abyss ; your hand must snatch us from it. You 
 have solemnly sworn it to us, and must redeem
 
 6| THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 your word, that God may one day not forget 
 you in your dying hour." 
 
 " Leave us alone," said Francis to the jailer; 
 and when the latter had gone, he exclaimed to 
 Agatha, " What would you have of me ? You 
 ask help of one who is himself most helpless. 
 Would I be here, if I had the influence which 
 you attribute to me ?" 
 
 " Your father is all-powerful in this city," 
 cried Agatha, wringing her hands. " It is a 
 trifle for him to help the man who is now to 
 suffer for having saved your life." 
 
 " My father's hands are bound by the bishop 
 and the furious nobles. Could he govern at 
 his pleasure, he had surely saved his own son 
 from the grief and shame of a prison. But I 
 have done what I could, and your father's cause 
 is commended to good hands." 
 
 " I will believe it," said Agatha, suppressing 
 her feelings, " though I find you terribly cold 
 to a sorrow that concerns you so nearly." 
 
 She was henceforth silent, leaning her head 
 on the shoulder of Francis, who embraced her
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 65 
 
 in indescribable anxiety, while the silence of 
 death prevailed in the dungeon. On a sudden, 
 through the nightly stillness broke a hollow 
 shriek from the lower chambers. Francis had 
 a foreboding of what it meant, and shuddered ; 
 Agatha listened intently to the groans, which 
 with every moment sounded sharper and more 
 agonized. 
 
 " Eternal mercy!" she suddenly cried in wild 
 horror; " that is my father's voice !" 
 
 " Perhaps we deceive ourselves," said Francis, 
 endeavouring to soothe her. 
 
 " That is my father's voice," screamed 
 Agatha ; " I should know it amidst thousands. 
 It must be the pangs of hell that can extort such 
 cries from the iron old man. Gracious heavens ! 
 And I hear his shrieks and cannot help him!" 
 
 " Cease," cried Francis, beside himself; " you 
 torture yourself and me with more bitter cruelty 
 than any he can suffer on the rack ; and you 
 torture us in vain, for by the Almighty I cannot 
 help, though with my own blood 1 would pur- 
 chase his !" 
 
 Agatha fixed her eyes upon him with a cold 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 GO THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 piercing gaze of inquiry, and said, " Are you in 
 earnest, Frank? Would you really purchase 
 his life with your own ? Well then, call in the 
 jailers ; let the judges be requested to suspend 
 awhile the torture : confess yourself the assassin 
 of Netz, and my father is saved." 
 
 " And I lost !" exclaimed Francis. " You 
 ask of me more than is reasonable !" 
 
 " I was not in earnest," said Agatha con- 
 temptuously. " I knew beforehand that your own 
 wretched life was dearer to you than any thing 
 else, and I merely wished to shame the boaster 
 who affected a magnanimity to which his mi- 
 serable heart can never elevate itself. Father, 
 I cannot save you ; this man will not I can 
 do nothing, therefore, but pray for you in the 
 hour of your suffering, that the All-merciful may 
 comfort your soul and preserve it from despair." 
 And she sank upon her knees ; her lips moved 
 softly, and her eyes, turned up to heaven, over- 
 flowed with gentle tears, while the cries of 
 agony from below grew fainter and fainter, and 
 at length were silent altogether. 
 
 The maiden arose and stood again before
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 67 
 
 the trembling Francis ; with awful calmness 
 she said, " A horrid light is beginning to dawn 
 upon me. It seems to me as if my poor father 
 suffered for your crime, the wild vengeance of 
 the nobles absolutely exacting blood in atone- 
 ment for the blood which has been spilt. It 
 seems, too, as if you were well content to buy 
 yourself free with this expiatory sacrifice. Once 
 again, therefore, I conjure you, Francis, exert 
 yourself for us. If you could not rescue your 
 saviour from the pangs of the rack, at least 
 preserve his life. Save it not merely for me, 
 save it for yourself! For I swear to you, by the 
 agonies of this dreadful hour, if my father 
 perishes, you too are lost ! I will bend all the 
 energies of my soul to your destruction ; I will 
 steal after you through life as your evil demon, 
 till at last I reach you and hurl the lightnings 
 of vengeance upon your guilty head !" 
 
 She rushed out. 
 
 " This is a night of hell !"" groaned Francis, 
 and dropt back, as if annihilated, into his seat. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 It was about the same time of the year, that 
 Althea was sitting in her chamber by the open 
 window, through which played the gentle spring- 
 breezes. Her little Henry drew about the 
 room, on a wheeled platform, a stately knight } 
 proudly mounted, in the full equipments of the 
 tournay, Tausdorfs present to him from Nu- 
 remberg. With this he kept up an intolerable 
 clatter, but his mother did not heed him. Be- 
 fore her stood the embroidery frame, in which 
 she had stretched a scarf, but she did not work; 
 and, lost in fairy visions, she listened to the 
 humming of the bees that swarmed in the 
 blossoms of an apple-tree before her window. 
 Then on a sudden echoed the sweet song of 
 the nightingale from the topmost branch, and 
 Althea's bosom swelled in gentle heavings ; her 
 eyes became moist, she folded her hands, and 
 with pious looks to heaven, exclaimed mourn- 
 fully, " Forgive me, Eternal Benevolence! if 
 this feeling be a sin against the memory of my 
 Henry." 
 
 " Where now does Herr Tausdorf tarry ?" 
 interrupted the child. " He promised to be 
 here early to-day ."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 09 
 
 " Was the speech of innocence an answer to 
 my prayer ?" whispered Althea ; and, beckoning 
 the child to her, she took him on her lap, 
 caressed him with fervour, and softly asked 
 him, " Are you then fond of Herr Tausdorf, 
 dear boy? 1 ' 
 
 " Yes, indeed, from my very heart," replied the 
 little one. " He is always so kind to me, brings 
 me pretty things, and has often let me ride upon 
 his gray horse. I love him more than uncle 
 Netz and all the other knights who visit you. 
 He does not swear and curse so terribly as 
 they do, nor drink such monstrous quantities of 
 wine. I have never either seen him drunk, like 
 uncle Netz, who often cuts a vile figure with 
 the fiery face and glassy eyes. Then he is 
 always so kind and sedate ; and I do not know 
 how he manages it, but when he bids or forbids 
 me any thing, I cannot help obeying him, how- 
 ever great my inclination to be froward." 
 
 " But you are fond of uncle Schindel ?" said 
 Althea, to conceal her delight in the child's 
 answer. 
 
 " Oh yes ! but then he is a little too old for 
 me. I always think of him as of my grand-
 
 70 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 father : while Herr Tausdorf is still so handsome, 
 and full of life and energy. It is so I fancy my 
 father must have looked. Oh, if Herr Tausdorf 
 were my father ! I would follow him at his nod, 
 and love him almost as much as yourself, dear 
 mother." 
 
 " Sweet boy!" cried Althea transported, and 
 hid her burning forehead in the golden locks 
 of the child. 
 
 Three slow, orderly raps were given at the 
 door, but occupied with other matters, she 
 paid no attention to them ; at last in walked 
 Christopher Friend, in splendid doublet and 
 rich pantaloons of sky-blue velvet, slashed with 
 green, and trussed with gold points, and a broad 
 collar about his neck of real Brabant lace. 
 With great courteousness and much dignity, he 
 waved his richly feathered cap in salutation. 
 The first glance, that Althea cast upon his 
 crafty knavish face, extinguished every spark 
 of joy in her breast, and with icy coldness she 
 asked what was Master Friend's pleasure? 
 
 " Noble lady, I have lived long enough in 
 the dreary state of widowhood to know all its 
 inconveniences, and to desire a change. I
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 71 
 
 want a wife of good person, good birth, and 
 gentle manners; and, considering the great 
 wealth with which the Lord has blest me, I 
 believe myself well worthy of such a one. 
 Worthiest Althea, my choice has fallen upon 
 you. It has, indeed, cost me no little eloquence 
 to wring from my father his consent to this 
 match, of which he would not hear at first, on 
 account of the violent quarrels between the 
 nobility and citizens and the mutual bitterness 
 that has grown out of them. At last, however, 
 I succeeded in bending his obstinacy, and chiefly 
 through the faithful picture of your excellent 
 virtues; and here I am, with his blessing, to 
 woo solemnly for your fair hand." 
 
 " I value your courtship as I ought," replied 
 Althea, hastily ; " but with my conviction that 
 we are in no respect suited to each other, I 
 answer with a candid wo." 
 
 " No!" 1 " 1 repeated Christopher, dropping from 
 the clouds. " With such proposals, it is the 
 custom, although the lady have a negative in 
 her pocket, at least to ask time for considera-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 tion, from mere courtesy. Your no, therefore, 
 is almost too candid." 
 
 " I could not prevail upon myself to let you 
 believe in the possibility of our union, even for 
 a moment'" 
 
 " I should think, though, that the petty estate 
 which you hold at Bogendorf in your widow's 
 right can be no reason for your rejecting so 
 splendid an establishment thus scurvily." 
 
 " Then you thought to buy me of my poverty? 
 Another sign how little we are suited to each 
 other, for I have never regarded wealth." 
 
 " That shows your fancy for the Bohemian 
 ragamuffin!" retorted Christopher, whose wrath 
 had burst every curb of manners. " I always 
 wished to persuade myself out of the idea of your 
 caring for the vagabond, but now it is on the 
 sudden clear to me that I am sacrificed for him." 
 
 " Have the goodness yourself to repeat your 
 aspersions to him," cried Althea warmly ; " but 
 this room you will quit instantly." 
 
 " Why should we mutually incense each 
 other without occasion?" said Christopher,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. <3 
 
 quickly composed again, and courteous. " You 
 have rejected my love, which must, indeed, 
 grieve me ; but, at least, you cannot prevent 
 me from wooing your friendship ; and rest as- 
 sured I will show you mine so thoroughly, that 
 you shall yet one day rue your harshness." 
 
 He bowed himself profoundly, and departed. 
 
 " That is an abominable man," said the little 
 Henry. " Had you married him, I do believe 
 I should have run away from you." 
 
 " My horizon grows more and more cloudy," 
 sighed Althea. " I fear there will be no stay- 
 ing for me much longer in the old Schweidnitz, 
 for the hatred of these Friends is terrible, from 
 their wealth and their enormous power." 
 
 " Oh, if they ill-treat you, 1 ' cried the little 
 one warmly, " only call Tausdorf to your help, 
 he 1 !! soon send them about their business ! And 
 I too am a nobleman : let me once be capable of 
 bearing arms, and I '11 maul this rabble of citi- 
 zens that it shall do your heart good to see it." 
 
 Althea hastily set down the little nettle which 
 began to sting thus early, and asked in anger, 
 " Did you ever hear such words from me or
 
 74 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 from the knight Tausdorf, whose name is always 
 in your mouth ?" 
 
 " No," stammered the terrified child, already 
 struggling with his tears; " but uncle Netz, 
 and the rest of the knights, call the Schweid- 
 nitzers by no other name when they talk of them." 
 
 " Have these then so suddenly become your 
 models? Formerly you were of a different 
 opinion ; but shame upon you for so soon for- 
 getting the lessons of your mother. What have 
 I told you of the different classes in the world?" 
 
 " They are all established by God," repeated 
 the boy, amidst a flood of tears, " and therefore 
 the high should never despise the low, for he 
 is his brother." 
 
 " And what did I say to you of the citizens 
 and peasants?" 
 
 " They are for the whole more useful and 
 indispensable than the noble, who in reviling 
 them disgraces himself." 
 
 " You, then, have disgraced the nobility 
 which you are so proud of. Go to your own 
 room, and reflect with yourself seriously upon 
 your injustice, and pray to God to forgive you
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 75 
 
 such want of charity. That you may have 
 leisure for this, you shall neither play nor eat 
 till the evening." 
 
 " Dear mother !" said the little one im- 
 ploringly, and raised his folded hands. 
 
 " I am fixed," she replied with great earnest- 
 ness ; and the poor boy left the room slowly 
 and with loud sobbings. 
 
 " God grant me strength to banish this evil 
 spirit, the last in the pure mind of my child," 
 prayed Althea fervently, as her brother-in-law, 
 Netz, rushed into the room with wild unceasing 
 laughter. Vexed at this interruption of her 
 better thoughts, she exclaimed, " What have 
 you been about now?" 
 
 " Oh, I have been enjoying a fine piece of 
 sport. Since we were here with the bishop, your 
 cits have had a little respect for us, because 
 they see that we hang together manfully. So 
 we touch them up now and then, till they are 
 ready to run against the walls from terror/' 
 
 " Alas ! I have already heard much of this 
 kind of exploits, but in truth they do you little 
 honour. 1 ' 
 
 Netz, passing over the remark, continued :
 
 76 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 "Just now I amused myself with riding on my 
 war-horse into a publican's house, and even 
 into the tap-room on the ground floor. The old 
 witch of a hostess crept forward immediately, 
 and, quaking and trembling, begged of me to 
 dismount ; but I cut as furious a grimace as 
 I could, and roared out, ' Pity on the noble 
 blood that has been spilt ! let any one of the 
 Schweidnitzers come abroad, be he who he 
 may, and he shall have a warm reception ; 
 ten of us have sworn to avenge the murder.' 
 Zounds ! you should have seen how the old one's 
 knees tottered, and three citizens, who had been 
 sitting behind the table, crept into a corner with 
 their cups. Then turning round my horse, I 
 dashed out, while the windows clattered again." 
 
 " And you would palm off this adventure 
 upon me for a chivalrous achievement ?" said 
 Althea with cold mockery. 
 
 " How perverse you are," replied Netz ; " it 
 was only a little joke of mine with the rabble. 
 They '11 tell it again in the city, which will be 
 in a proper fright ; and, whenever a chuff 
 creeps out of his hole from necessity, it will 
 be with fear and trembling.""
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 77 
 
 " What would you say, brother, if one of the 
 people were to ride into your hall, as you did 
 with those honest men, who had in nowise 
 offended you ?" 
 
 " God confound him ! I would hang him up 
 by the legs." 
 
 " Would it have been wrong, then, if the 
 citizens had taken courage, and done as much 
 to you F 
 
 " Zounds ! that 's a different thing," said 
 Netz, stroking his whiskers. 
 
 " How, different ? Perhaps the citizens of 
 Schweidnitz are your serfs, without any rights 
 against their master ?" 
 
 " You catechize me too closely," replied Netz, 
 confused, " tell me rather to come to some- 
 thing else what is the matter between you 
 and Christopher Friend ? As I was riding up 
 the streets to your house, he met me, tricked 
 out wonderfully, but with a face more horrible 
 even than that I made in the tap-room. What 
 did the money-bag want with you?' 
 
 " He asked my hand," returned Althea, going 
 on calmly with her embroidery.
 
 78 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " And you sent him off with the willow ? By 
 my word as a knight, that does you honour, 
 for the pitiful scoundrel has gold enough to 
 buy half the principality; and there is many 
 an honest woman, before this, has made herself 
 over to the devil, for the sake of wretched 
 mammon. You have not only acted like a 
 noble lady, but like a prudent woman, who 
 well weighs every thing. It was not out of 
 love that he sought your hand, but to make 
 peace between his kin and the nobility through 
 you, and afterwards you would have found 
 his house a hell." 
 
 " What evil thoughts does hatred put into 
 the minds of men ! I did not dream a syllable 
 of any such secondary objects, but refused him 
 simply because I felt no inclination for him." 
 
 " Nay, that of itself is a poor reason, with 
 which you have already put off many honour- 
 able men, and even lusty knights too. Don't 
 you intend to marry again at all ?" 
 
 Althea turned away in silence to get another 
 ball of silk from her work-basket, and at the same 
 time to hide the colour which this question had
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 79 
 
 brought upon her cheek. Netz, having long 
 listened for a reply, exclaimed, " I understand ! 
 no answer is often a very decided one. Now 
 I am at home. You intend sure enough to 
 marry, and I already know the bridegroom. 
 Shall I name him to you?" 
 
 " Spare me your thoughtless gossiping," said 
 Althea, with anger, that did not seem to be too 
 seriously intended. 
 
 " You defy me ? Well, then, I should be a 
 fool to spare you any longer. The lucky 
 chosen one is called "" 
 
 At this moment Tausdorf entered the room. 
 " When one talks of the wolf," added Netz, 
 laughing, " he is already looking over the hedge. 
 That is my man." 
 
 " Oh, you are the most intolerable tattler that 
 I know of!" said Althea, rising, and offering 
 her hand to Tausdorf with a confused smile. 
 
 " Intolerable !" muttered Netz ; " that again 
 is somewhat strong, as indeed your phrases to- 
 wards me generally are. You think I don't 
 understand without rough language ; yet in 
 truth you ought to handle me quite tenderly,
 
 80 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 and thank God that I look at the matter on the 
 merry side : were I disposed to take it up se- 
 riously, and quarrel with my fortunate rival, 
 you might sooner be a widow than a bride, or 
 else have to cry your bright eyes red over the 
 corpse of your poor brother-in-law. But com- 
 pose yourself; it shall not be so bad as that 
 I have at last learnt to see that you are in 
 the right with your negative. Every creature 
 of the field would be mated with its like. Now 
 you are as tender as the sensitive plant in 
 the park green-house ; you would be touched 
 only lightly with the finger-tips ; while I love 
 to grasp with my whole hand, and don't always 
 even draw the gauntlet off first. In any case, 
 we should make a strange couple. It is better, 
 therefore, that the whole business should be 
 let alone, and, if I can yield you to any one 
 without grudging, it is TO Tausdorf, who seems 
 to have been made by Heaven expressly for 
 your wilfulness; and who, moreover, is such 
 a lusty knight. Your hands, then, my dear 
 friends : In the name and in the spirit of my 
 good brother Henry, I give and pledge you to
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 81 
 
 each other, and you shall exchange the troth- 
 rings before my eyes." 
 
 " I pray you at length be silent," said AI- 
 thea, whose confusion was at its height ; and 
 with unfeigned emotion she added, " it has not 
 yet entered into Herr von Tausdorf s head to 
 be a suitor for my hand." 
 
 " So, then, I have again missed my aim ! 
 That you will never make me believe. It is 
 only a sort of feint, that your womanly affecta- 
 tion would yet use as a parting farewell. Strike 
 at the very core of it with your good sword, 
 Tausdorf; I will be your faithful brother in 
 arms." 
 
 " I could only accuse myself, if I had not 
 understood this noble heart," said the knight 
 tenderly, kissing Althea's hand. " But this 
 letter of my father's will show you that I have 
 understood it, my dear friend ; still, I owed it 
 to your repose and my honour to shut up 
 the ardent longing in my own breast, until every 
 barrier was forced that lay in the path of my 
 happiness. That is done. The weightiest ob- 
 stacle was the difference of our creeds : but 
 
 VOL. i. G
 
 82 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 rational arguments and filial entreaties have 
 subdued my father's strictness of belief, and he 
 now participates in my wishes, and sends us his 
 paternal blessing." 
 
 With trembling hand Althea took the letter 
 and read it, while her eyes sparkled with joy. 
 
 " Strange that the old gentleman should 
 make objections for a little difference in reli- 
 gion !" said Netz : " Why, if Althea cared 
 about priestly feuds, she might with better 
 reason object to your Utraquism. But I see 
 it well, it is in this case just as if a fair maiden 
 were smitten with a Moor. Love levels all, and 
 before him there is neither creed nor com- 
 plexion."" 
 
 "The Moor returns his thanks," replied 
 Tausdorf laughing, and followed Althea to the 
 window, where she stood with folded hands in 
 deep thought. 
 
 " Have I understood your heart ?" he asked 
 gently and tenderly. 
 
 " Only too well," she murmured; " and yet 
 in this decisive moment an anxious doubt falls 
 on me, whether I do right in listening to it,
 
 THK PATRICIAN'S. 83 
 
 and whether it is compatible with my duties 
 towards my child." 
 
 " Fire and fury, sister !" shouted Netz, im- 
 patiently, " I believe you are still coquetting it : 
 by my faith ! even the best women can't leave 
 that alone. I fancy when you one day come to 
 the gates of heaven, you '11 stand courtesying 
 to St. Peter, and protesting that you don't 
 think it polite to enter, till he hales you in 
 by force. What new difficulty have you been 
 spinning and weaving on the instant ?" 
 
 " My little Henry," lisped Althea, with 
 downcast eyes. 
 
 " Whose interest, you think, is against this 
 marriage?" said Netz, laughing: " Now that, 
 in good truth, is a little out of reason, for to 
 me it seems as if it would exactly tend to his 
 advantage. But I '11 do as though I believed 
 you in it. Where is the boy ?" 
 
 " A prisoner in his room till bed-time. 1 ' 
 
 " The devil ! Yours is a strict government ! 
 But wherefore '?" 
 
 " He spoke contemptuously of the respect- 
 able state of citizenship."
 
 84 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 O j'f Death and hell! By that I see the blood of 
 our family flows in him And 'tis therefore you 
 have imprisoned the noble fellow ! Zounds ! I 
 can fancy, then, how you would have managed 
 me, if you had given me your fair hand in mar- 
 riage : I should never again have got out of 
 the cellar into daylight. No, that won't do; 
 I'll not stand it. I am the boy's uncle, and 
 have also a word to say in his education." 
 
 He rushed out, but at the door was met 
 by the old Herr von Schindel, to whom he 
 exclaimed, " Your niece has grown restive, 
 and positively won't enter the stall of matri- 
 mony ; do you teach her better I go for 
 help :" 
 
 With two springs he was up the stairs and at 
 Henry's door, while Schindel entered to the 
 lovers. 
 
 " Do you then doubt my having a father's 
 feeling for Althea's child ?" said Tausdorf to 
 the widow, deeply mortified. 
 
 " It is not that alone," she stammered ; " it 
 seems to me as if a second marriage would be 
 a treachery to my first husband ; and that one 
 
 will of
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 85 
 
 day, in a better world, I should not be able to 
 come before his eyes, if I contracted a fresh 
 union here below. 1 ' 
 
 " Fie ! fie ! niece," cried Schindel, gravely ; 
 " so good a Christian, and so little versed in 
 the Bible ? Have you not read in the holy 
 scriptures, what sort of answer was given to 
 a similar doubt, and who gave that answer ? 
 " there will no one marry, nor be given in 
 marriage?" and your departed lord will thank 
 Tausdorf, with a brother's love, for having made 
 his Althea happy in the time of her earthly 
 pilgrimage, when he himself was no longer 
 able." 
 
 " Heaven reward you for these words, my 
 dear uncle," exclaimed Tausdorf joyfully, 
 grasping the old knight's hand, when Netz 
 burst in, the little Henry in his arms, and setting 
 him between the lovers, on the ground, cried, 
 " Stand here, boy, and decide : your mother is 
 going to marry again ; whom would you like to 
 have for your father-in-law ? n 
 
 With a loud cry of joy the child sprang up 
 to Tausdorf, and clasped his knees, looking up 
 to him with a sweet smile of affection.
 
 86 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " My son !"" exclaimed Tausdorf, in emotion ; 
 and he lifted up the little one in his arms, and 
 kissed him warmly. 
 
 " Then join your mother's hand with his," 
 continued Netz. The boy stretched out his 
 hand after Althea's, and said, in a sweet sooth- 
 ing tone, " Dear mother !" She remained, how- 
 ever, timidly at the window, and did not move; 
 upon this Tausdorf carried to her the little 
 Henry, who seized her arm with gentle violence, 
 and joined the feebly-resisting hand with the 
 extended right-hand of the lover, at the same 
 time exclaiming, " Always so ! always so F and 
 covering the two hands with kisses. 
 
 " My Henry !" stammered Althea, and in- 
 clined her face to his. 
 
 " Is he not our Henry ?" asked Tausdorf, 
 hastily putting down the child, and with his 
 arms clasping the tender body of Althea. 
 
 *' In the name of Heaven P she replied, 
 scarcely audible, while his lips sank upon hers. 
 
 " What Heaven does is well done !" said the 
 old Schindel, with folded hands. 
 
 Netz shouted out aloud, " Victoria ! n In the 
 next moment he passed his mailed hand across
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 his eyes, and, unmanned by keen and sudden 
 agony, rushed out of the apartment. 
 
 Eight days after the Whitsuntide of the 
 same year, the morning twilight lit up the 
 horizon with a dusky red, and painted vdth 
 blood the walls of the Hildebrand, in which 
 Francis was still quietly slumbering on his 
 couch. Before him stood the old Heidenreich, 
 who seized his hand, and called upon his name 
 to wake him. At the call he started up wildly, 
 and inquired peevishly and sleepily why the 
 old man disturbed him at such an hour ? " Sleep 
 is precisely the best thing that one can enjoy 
 in a dungeon." 
 
 " I bring you weighty, and in some sort 
 pleasant, news. That I come with it thus 
 early is to prepare you for the events of the 
 morning. Yesterday arrived the emperor's 
 final sentence your life is saved. The im- 
 prisonment which you have already suffered will 
 be reckoned in part of your incurred penance ; 
 and, mense Septembris anni currentis, you may 
 expect your freedom."
 
 88 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Am I to rot then so long in a dun- 
 geon ? That is an unjust severity, as I neither 
 confessed the fact, nor have been convicted 
 of it; and one may easily see that the em- 
 peror deems himself the first nobleman in the 
 principality, by his siding thus with the lord- 
 lings." 
 
 " Not yet contented ? Thank God, on the 
 contrary, that the sentence has turned out so 
 exceedingly mild. I can assure you, when the 
 sentence was read in the sessions-room, the 
 impertinent alderman. Treutler, observed, Dat 
 vemam corvis vexat censura columbag ! You were 
 heavily accused : had not Onophrius been 
 silent on the rack, had not your father subdued 
 his old pride, and made most suppliant petitions 
 to the emperor himself, and, lastly, had I not 
 managed your cause in a veritable masterpiece 
 of defence, you would have had a serious busi- 
 ness of it to-day." 
 
 " And how has it gone with the old Gold- 
 mann?" asked Francis anxiously. 
 
 " Faith," replied Heidenreich, shrugging his 
 shoulders, " his head will be off in an hour."" 
 " Gracious heavens !" cried Francis, starting
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 89 
 
 up from his couch, " it is not possible ! The 
 old man acted only in his office ; and if he did 
 kill Bieler, his life cannot be touched for it." 
 
 " The imperial council have seen the affair 
 in a different light," replied Heidenreich coldly. 
 " They think his office had been to separate 
 and arrest both parties, you as well as Rassel- 
 witz ; and not, out of partiality to the burgo- 
 master's son, to kill his adversary." 
 
 " But I entreated you for the poor man ! 
 and you, too, promised." 
 
 " I did to the utmost of rny power whatever 
 could be done, and as far as it could be done 
 without your injury: your father, too, the samei 
 Thrice did the council apply to the emperor in 
 Goldmann's behalf, and the last time was dis- 
 missed ignominiously for their pains, and for- 
 bidden farther interference. Defendant was 
 not to be saved. Some one must have killed 
 Bieler: Goldmann confessed upon the rack 
 that he had struck at the young man's head ; 
 about you he was honestly silent, and thus, 
 therefore, devoted himself for an atonement." 
 
 " Horrible P' cried Francis, and paced about
 
 90 THli PATRICIANS. 
 
 the room, wringing his hands. On a sudden 
 the clang of the funeral bells vibrated hol- 
 lowly and slowly from the tower of the guild- 
 hall; when, in obedience to the signal, from 
 every turret throughout the city, the metal 
 heralds lifted up their solemn voices, producing 
 a singularly sad and awful echo in the silence 
 of the morning twilight. 
 
 " What means this tolling of the bells so 
 early ?" asked Francis, with a fearful foreboding. 
 
 " It is the funeral toll of the poor Gold- 
 mann," replied Heidenreich, leaning himself 
 against the window. " To show publicly that 
 the council deems the imperial sentence too 
 severe, it has allowed this last honour to the 
 condemned ; the body, too, will be followed by 
 the whole college to the burial-ground of our 
 Lady im Walde." 
 
 " A melancholy kindness!" exclaimed Francis, 
 shuddering ; and after awhile he added, " first 
 the hand, then the rack, and at last the head. 
 Oh, it is horrible !" 
 
 " See, there comes the procession!" cried 
 Heidenreich from the window ; and in spite of
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 91 
 
 the horror that seized him at the news, Francis 
 yet felt himself irresistibly attracted to look 
 on that which he dreaded. Just then the old 
 Onophrius was passing before the window. 
 Free and unfettered, he walked with calm con- 
 fidence between the city soldiers who accom- 
 panied him, while no marks of the fear of death 
 were to be seen upon his venerable, pale, 
 cheerful countenance ; and a garland of white 
 roses adorned his silver locks, which were 
 fluttered by the morning breeze. 
 
 Loud weeping was heard from the assembled 
 people ; even the iron Francis sobbed bitterly. 
 At this moment the old man lifted up his eyes 
 and maimed arm to him, and cried out with a 
 strong voice, " I have forgiven you all ! Only 
 make good as much as you are yet able, and 
 you shall not find me amongst your accusers 
 before the judgment-seat of God." With this 
 he went on cheerfully to the place of execution, 
 while Francis howled and pressed -his face 
 against the iron grating of the window. 
 
 The sufferer's head had fallen. The noise 
 of the people returning from the burial, and
 
 92 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 the sudden silence of the bells, awoke Francis 
 from his mental lethargy. He looked up, and 
 found himself alone. 
 
 " I{ was an evil hour !" he cried, rousing him- 
 self; " God be praised that it is over. How ! 
 not yet torture enough ?" he added the instant 
 after, seeing Agatha, who just then closed the 
 prison door behind her. 
 
 In deep mourning, with hollow eyes staring 
 out of a pale, meagre face ; in her hand the 
 garland of white roses which her father had 
 worn on his last travel, she stood for a long 
 time at the door, a threatening Nemesis. She 
 then glided nearer with a light step, and planted 
 herself close before the terrified Francis, whose 
 hair began to stand on end. 
 
 " My father is no more," she murmured in 
 the tones of death. " I have even now seen 
 him to his final place of rest, and am come 
 hither to execute his last commission. He has 
 been silent : he has died to save you ; and he 
 has saved you that you may restore to his only 
 child the honour of which you robbed her by 
 crafty seduction. In his last farewell he said,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 93 
 
 * I will believe that, with the best inclination, 
 Francis had it not in his power to rescue me ; 
 but let him take you home as his wedded wife, 
 which is his duty, and which he has promised 
 me with deep oaths : thus he will at least have 
 made good as much as he was able, and my 
 shadow is reconciled.' Now, then, I am here 
 to remind you of your oath." 
 
 With infinite confusion Francis stammered 
 out, " Yes, that, dearest Agatha for the 
 present, at least, that cannot be done. I do 
 not depend upon myself alone." 
 
 " You are a widower, and childless," said 
 Agatha, with great composure. 
 
 " But my proud stern father will never con- 
 sent to such an alliance,' 1 objected Francis. 
 
 " You have long been of age and wealthy, 
 and therefore independent," said Agatha, in 
 the former unimpassioned tone; " give me 
 better reasons for your perjury." 
 
 " I suppose I can't be married to you in the 
 Hildebrand !" cried Francis, with the angry im- 
 patience of mental agony. 
 
 " Oh father! what you have asked of me
 
 94 THK PATRICIANS. 
 
 is hard," sighed Agatha, struggling with her 
 feelings ; " but I must obey." And, as in 
 that dreadful night, she flung herself before 
 Francis, and embracing his knees, besought 
 him " Give me your hand, and with it give me 
 back my honour." 
 
 " Let go of me, woman !" he cried, tearing 
 himself with violence from the kneeling Agatha. 
 " By heavens, I cannot do what you desire !" 
 
 " You cannot ?" she returned in a terrible 
 tone, and rose up ; " You swear by Heaven that 
 you cannot? You are right. What does a 
 perjury, more or less, signify to you ? It is quite 
 well so, perhaps better than if I had softened 
 you for the moment. Now then I may confess 
 it to you : it was only obedience to the martyr 
 that compelled me to this measure. I had 
 other intentions with you ; but my father's com- 
 mand tied up my hands, which your utter un- 
 worthiness has again unfettered. Think of 
 what I told you in the night of torture. My 
 father has now really died for you you have 
 rejected the atonement which he offered you 
 through me, and vengeance can now take her
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 95 
 
 course, softly, slowly, and securely. May this 
 thought scare sleep from your bed and drop 
 wormwood into the cup of your joy, till you one 
 day see me again adorned with this blood- 
 besprinkled garland, as your bride for the life 
 yonder in the torments that have no end." 
 
 She glided out of the room ; Francis stood 
 there for a long time as if petrified, when, col- 
 lecting himself, he called out for the guard. 
 
 " Goldmann's daughter," he said to the city 
 servitor, who then entered, " has been uttering 
 dangerous threats out of rage for the execution 
 of her father. Every thing is to be feared from 
 her malice, fire and murder, poison and up- 
 roar ! for who knows what abettors she may have 
 already gained by her strumpet artifices ? Ar- 
 rest her, therefore, immediately, and announce 
 it to the council. I take upon myself all re- 
 sponsibility with my father.* 1 
 
 The servitor ran off'; but in a little time 
 returned with information that Agatha, after 
 quitting the Hildebrand, had disappeared so 
 quickly, that no one knew which way to follow 
 her ; her dwelling was quite deserted, and it was
 
 96 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 probable she had turned her back upon the 
 city. 
 
 " That's bad," said Francis thoughtfully ; 
 but his old, daring recklessness soon returned, 
 and he exclaimed, " What does it signify ? the 
 malicious wench will take good care, I should 
 hope, not to come back to a city in which my 
 father governs : no one yet ever died of mere 
 threats, and I doubt not to reconcile to my con- 
 science the not having allowed the daughter of 
 the beheaded city messenger to talk herself 
 into the honourable family of the Friends." 
 
 It was in the beginning of the July 1572, 
 that Althea sate at a splendid dinner-table with 
 her uncle Schindel, her brother-in-law Netz, 
 and a few ladies of distinction ; but the rich 
 dishes seemed to be there merely for show, for 
 the sun was already low in the west, and still 
 the meal had not yet begun. 
 
 " Your betrothed stays long," said Netz,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 97 
 
 gaping, and tapping with his knife upon the 
 silver goblet before him. " He was to have 
 been with us about the middle of the day, and 
 now the evening will soon be here. You must 
 break him in better for the holy state of matri- 
 mony." 
 
 " His protracted absence begins to alarm 
 me," replied Althea. " I trust no accident has 
 happened to him on his long journey." 
 
 " Who would begin fearing the worst so 
 soon?" admonished Schindel. " Recollect, 
 niece, how much he had to do at Tirschkokrig, 
 and Prague, and Vienna. Such a change of 
 habitation for life brings with it a heap of busi- 
 ness. The explanations with a beloved father, 
 whom one would not pain, the quitting of the 
 service of a powerful master, who unwillingly 
 parts with the true servant all these are things 
 that are not easily got over. It is very possible 
 that he may yet have to stay a day or two 
 over." 
 
 " Well, God be thanked !" cried Netz " He 
 has been a year in Bohemia, and so has had 
 time to manage his removal to Silesia." 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Only a year?" sighed Althea; " to me the 
 time has seemed much longer." 
 
 " Not a complete year yet," interrupted 
 Schindel. " It was in the September of the 
 foregoing year that Francis Friend was released 
 from his confinement, and it was the very day 
 before that Tausdorf went to Bohemia.' 1 
 
 " Don't mention a word to me about these 
 Friends," growled Netz, dashing the goblet on 
 the table. " You drive the gall into my sto- 
 mach, and then the wine does not prosper with 
 me. It will stick with me all my life long, that 
 this villain, who alone was cause of the mischief, 
 should have crept, with a whole skin, from 
 under the sword of the executioner !" 
 
 " It must have been because they could prove 
 nothing against him in respect to Bieler's 
 death," objected Schindel, " or else the em- 
 peror had made a severe example of him also." 
 
 " I have ever heard," said Netz, " that in 
 such investigations all depends upon the man- 
 ner of questioning ; and the judge, if he rightly 
 understands it, can interrogate a rogue into an 
 honest man, and an honest man into a rogue.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 99 
 
 With me Francis will always be Bieler's mur- 
 derer, and if I had not given my knightly word 
 and hand to the lord bishop to let the matter 
 rest, I would yet call him to account for it." 
 
 " Still Tausdorf comes not!'' interrupted 
 Althea with affectionate anxiety. 
 
 " And in the mean time," said Schindel, 
 " we have lost the guests who were invited for 
 his reception. Rasselwitz and Seidlitz were to 
 be gone for an hour only, and neither of them 
 is returned yet." 
 
 " I wish Rasselwitz may not be dangling 
 after the fair Netherlander," replied Netz, " and 
 have forgotten Tausdorf and his welcome!" 
 
 " You must always be wagging your tongue 
 at me," cried Rasselwitz, who just then entered, 
 and had caught the last words. 
 
 " Well, and do I lie ?" asked Netz : " Are 
 you not led in a string by the fair stranger ?" 
 
 " Would to Heaven she only thought it worth 
 her while to lead me ! but at present she cares 
 little about me." 
 
 " And yet you are always dangling after her, 
 and paying court to her when and how she
 
 100 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 pleases. What a great fool should I be if I 
 were to suffer myself to be so trotted about, and 
 all to no purpose ! Love's pay must follow 
 love's service, or else I care nothing for love, or 
 all the women of the earth." 
 
 " Time brings roses. I don't yet give up all 
 hope." 
 
 "Holloa, gentlemen !" cried Schindel ; " this 
 is a conversation for the tavern when you can 
 no longer tell Hungary from Rhenish. How 
 can you think of amusing the noble ladies 
 here present with your courtesans ?"* 
 
 " You are in a gross error, Herr von Schin- 
 del," said Netz warmly. " The lady, of whom 
 we speak, by no means belongs to that loose 
 craft. Since she has lodged with the Dutch 
 nurseryman at the Park, she has led so still and 
 retired a life, that she may well be set up as a 
 model for other women. Besides, the splen- 
 dour of her clothes and furniture betokens great 
 wealth, as her dignified manners are a sign of 
 her high birth. 1 ' 
 
 " And yet lodges at the Park?" retorted 
 Schindel ; " and allows the young men free ac-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 101 
 
 cess to her ? That is strange ! But who is she, 
 and what would she here ? It does not at all 
 please me, when a handsome female wanders 
 about the world in this way without protec- 
 tion." 
 
 " Thus much she has confessed to me," said 
 Rasselwitz ; " her abode here has a mighty ob- 
 ject ; but what that object is she does not as yet 
 hold me fit to be entrusted with." 
 
 " If the girl should have some evil design to- 
 wards you ?" said Schindel thoughtfully. " We 
 have many a warning-tale from the olden time 
 of young libertines having been allured by some 
 beautiful unknown, and, when at last they fan- 
 cied themselves at the goal of their wishes, they 
 grasped in their arms a hellish monster. At all 
 events you will do well to be cautious with your 
 new acquaintance." 
 
 He was interrupted by the slow approach 
 of footsteps. Supported by Seidlitz, Tausdorf 
 tottered into the room, and with a friendly 
 smile upon his pale features, stretched out his 
 arms towards Althea, who instantly hastened to 
 the man of her affections, exclaiming, " Gra-
 
 102 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 cious Heavens! what has happened to you, 
 Tausdorf?" 
 
 " A slight accident, not worth talking of. As 
 I was entering the town-gate my horse shied 
 and would not go forward, and, when I at- 
 tempted to force him on, he reared so high 
 that he fell over with me." 
 
 " And you have been wounded by the dread- 
 ful fall?" 
 
 " Oh, no. I did, indeed, strike my head 
 against the pavement in falling, but my hat 
 broke the force of the blow." 
 
 " Has your horse ever shown such vice be- 
 fore ?" asked Schindel. 
 
 " No," replied Tausdorf. " You know my 
 old gray : he was the most docile beast that I 
 ever rode." 
 
 " Then this accident strikes me as something 
 singular," rejoined Schindel, " as if it were an 
 omen intended by Providence to warn you of 
 some great evil at hand."" 
 
 " Don't say that with so much earnestness, 
 my good uncle," exclaimed Tausdorf, laughing, 
 " or you will terrify my Althea unnecessarily ;
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 103 
 
 and if she should fall sick upon it, the mischief 
 which my bay's restiveness is supposed to pro- 
 phesy would then have really come to pass." 
 
 " I should like you as well again if you had 
 a little more faith," replied Schindel angrily. 
 " Animals have often a sharper insight into the 
 realm of spirits than your overwise men. Think 
 on Balaam's awful history. It would not be the 
 first time that a horse shied when he was bear- 
 ing his master to his ruin. Who knows whe- 
 ther it is well that you have just now rode into 
 the town ?" 
 
 " Herr von Schindel is the faithful Eckart, 
 and warns every one," cried Rasselwitz with 
 forced laughter, and seized the goblet to wash 
 down his anxiety, while Netz exclaimed 
 " Are we not at last, then, to sit down regularly, 
 and fetch up our lost dinner-time ?" 
 
 " Do so, good cousin, and take my place," 
 replied Tausdorf, who since Schindel's last 
 words had grown unusually grave and gloomy : 
 " My honoured guests will easily excuse me if 
 I leave them for my bed : I should make a sorry
 
 104 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 host to-day, for my head is somewhat stunned 
 and dizzy from the fall, and repose will be the 
 best thing for me." 
 
 He bowed, and left the company. The faith- 
 ful Althea anxiously followed him. 
 
 " A tedious melancholy feast for a welcome," 
 muttered Netz. 
 
 The guests looked at each other with dis- 
 turbed countenance. A painful silence spread 
 over the whole party, and the old Schindel put 
 his finger to his nose, and said, " I keep to it 
 still ; this adventure is a very doubtful omen : 
 God turn all to the best!" 
 
 The two brothers, Christopher and Francis, 
 had come to see the splendid aloe, which was 
 at the Dutch nurseryman's in the park, and was 
 then unfolding all the glory of its blossoms. 
 Both were not a little astonished at meeting 
 here, for at other times the way of the one was
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 105 
 
 regularly not that of the other. Bareheaded, 
 and with all the respect due to the rich Patri- 
 cians, the gardener opened to them the door of 
 the particular green-house, in which stood the 
 giant plant. From the midst of enormous 
 prickly leaves the stem rose up like a tree, to 
 almost three times a man's height ; from that 
 again a multitude of branches had sprouted 
 perpendicularly, each of which bore a multitude 
 of colossal flower-tufts, so that many thousand 
 flowers showed themselves together, offering to 
 the astonished eye the appearance of an im- 
 mense nosegay. 
 
 " This splendid aloe, called also Agave Ame- 
 ricana,'"' said the gardener, haranguing in a mo- 
 notonous tone, and repeating the same thing 
 for the hundredth time, " this splendid aloe 
 has come to Germany from the new world 
 through Spain; it reaches a very great age, 
 sometimes a hundred years, flowers only once 
 in its long vegetable life, but that once, as we 
 see here, with such an extravagant prodigality 
 of its best strength and noblest juices, that it 
 thereby draws on its own death, perishing en-
 
 106 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 tirely after it has completed its time of bloom- 
 ing : on this account it is a great rarity, when- 
 ever we can get to this wonderful sight in our 
 climate, which in fact is not over favourable to 
 this miraculous and beautiful plant." 
 
 The brothers had soon satiated themselves 
 with looking at this wonder-work of nature, and 
 had scarcely paid any attention to the gar- 
 dener's set speech. At last Christopher said, 
 
 " This aloe must have brought you many a 
 fair half-crown, master gardener ?" 
 
 But Francis had long been peeping between 
 the leaves after a handsome female, who sate at 
 the end of the green-house under a blooming 
 oleander, and seemed to be reading diligently 
 in an old manuscript. Her brows ;were sha- 
 dowed by white ostrich feathers that rose from 
 a bonnet of the same colour ; her auburn locks 
 rolled down in luxuriant abundance upon a 
 closely-fitting dress of purple velvet, girdled by 
 a rich gold band ; while a chain of gold-chased 
 emeralds heaved up and down upon the laced 
 kerchief which veiled her fair voluptuous bosom. 
 
 "Master, who is that handsome woman?* 1 '
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 107 
 
 said Francis to the gardener, in a low eager 
 tone. 
 
 " Bona van der Noot," whispered the man 
 in reply; " the widow of a rich Netherlander, 
 who for four weeks has lodged in the upper 
 floor of my house." 
 
 " The widow of a rich Netherlander?" asked 
 Christopher, who now began to look after her, 
 and in whom, to the natural delight in a beau- 
 tiful figure, awoke also the calculating spirit of 
 the man of wealth, desirous of heaping up still 
 more to his collected money-bags " Have the 
 kindness, master, to help us to a nearer inti- 
 macy." 
 
 " She has once for all forbidden such things," 
 replied the gardener ; " but what would I not 
 do to please you, Mr. Christopher ?" 
 
 And going up to the fair stranger, he said 
 respectfully, " Permit me, noble lady, to give 
 way to the wishes of these gentlemen, and pre- 
 sent to you the sons of our worshipful burgo- 
 master. 1 " 
 
 " You are acting contrary to our agreement.
 
 108 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 master," replied Bona, with gentle reproach. 
 " My society has so little worth, and I feel so 
 little desire to form new acquaintances, that 
 neither party will thank you much for your 
 mediation." 
 
 In the meantime Francis and Christopher 
 had approached with profound inclinations ; in 
 doing this the former had got a full view of 
 her, when he suddenly stood still with open 
 mouth and staring eyes, and no sooner had he 
 heard her voice, than he cried out at once, 
 " That is Agatha, or the Devil !" 
 
 " What ails you now, brother ?" cried Chris- 
 topher in alarm ; and Bona anxiously asked the 
 gardener whether the young man had not 
 sometimes paroxysms of madness. 
 
 " No ; it cannot be she, however ;" stammered 
 Francis, retreating in confusion. " The rich 
 clothes, the cheerful countenance no, that can- 
 not be the pale, haggard spectre that tormented 
 me so cruelly in the Hildebrand and now, 
 too, the beautiful long auburn locks with the 
 auburn eye-brows! Agatha had dark brown
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 109 
 
 hair. Pardon me, noble lady, my mistake and 
 rudeness ; your great likeness to a girl, whom I 
 knew only too well, had deceived me." 
 
 " Sir," replied Bona proudly, " you must 
 yourself allow that this assimilation to some old 
 flame of yours cannot be particularly flattering 
 to me. To spare myself any farther such un- 
 pleasantnesses, nothing remains for me but to 
 withdraw, and leave it to your own reflection 
 whether it became you to insult an unblemished 
 female, who sought the hospitality of your 
 father's town." 
 
 She walked away with great dignity. 
 
 " God confound you !" cried Christopher to 
 his brother. " This is now the second time 
 that your madness has come between me and 
 my object, when I was trying to weave a love 
 affair. Had it not been for your senseless fray 
 with Rasselwitz, I should have had leisure and 
 opportunity to win the widow. It was your 
 fault alone that the banquet was put off, from 
 which I had promised myself so much. The 
 refusal too, which the silly woman gave me in 
 the end, I owe to the fear of your relationship.
 
 110 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 No one would willingly have any thing to do 
 with you, for wherever you come you make mis- 
 chief, and that not merely from natural awk- 
 wardness, but from evil intentions. If, there- 
 fore, you frighten away my bird this time, I 
 shall believe you do it on purpose, and have 
 good reasons of your own for preventing my 
 second marriage ; in which case I shall speak a 
 word in earnest with our father, and you will 
 gain nothing by your tricks," 
 
 Thus scolding and grumbling, he went off, 
 and the gardener went with him. Francis, 
 however, had not listened to his lecture, but 
 remained there gloomily, and with the sheath of 
 his sword beheaded the valuable foreign plants 
 that stood in their clay vases, in rows, upon a 
 range of steps. At last he cried, " I was mis- 
 taken; but the likeness was surprising and 
 really terrible. A horrid shuddering came over 
 me as the well-known features menaced me 
 from out the strange form ; I felt as if some evjl 
 spirit stretched out his claws after me from the 
 beautiful face. The devil take conscience ! It 
 has often embittered my life, and now, since the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. Ill 
 
 affair in the Hildebrand, it will no longer let 
 me have any real satisfaction." 
 
 There was a sudden rustling behind the 
 glass door, through which Bona had disap- 
 peared, and to which Francis had turned his 
 back. Glancing round fearfully to the place 
 whence the noise came, he saw the magic image 
 of the fair stranger, and he shook and shud- 
 dered as if in the frosts of fever. "Heaven be 
 merciful to me !" he cried, clapped his hands 
 before his eyes, and rushed out through another 
 door into the garden. 
 
 No sooner had Francis left the green-house 
 than Bona entered it through the side-door. 
 For some time she looked after him as he ran 
 along the principal alley of the garden, while 
 her beautiful eyes sparkled with silent wrath, 
 her right hand pressed itself violently on her 
 throbbing bosom, as if she wished to keep down 
 its heavings by force, and thoughts of evil 
 seemed to furrow her lovely forehead. At this 
 instant came tripping along from a side walk the 
 knight, Rasselwitz, in all his bravery, as with 
 hope and desire on his face he bent his way
 
 112 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 towards the green-house. The moment Bona 
 perceived him, the furrows smoothed themselves 
 upon her brow, her eyes lost their fierceness, a 
 gentle longing spread over her features, and she 
 flung herself in a picturesque attitude on the 
 garden-seat beneath the oleander. Rasselwitz 
 entering, said in the softest tone, " I owe it to 
 my good fortune, noble lady, that I find you 
 here in this confidential loneliness, and can 
 paint the feelings which glow towards you in 
 my heart, without being interrupted by trou- 
 blesome witnesses." 
 
 With angelic kindness Bona presented her 
 hand to him, and drew him down beside her, 
 gently murmuring, <l You have often before 
 protested your love to me, Herr von Rassel- 
 witz, and I would willingly believe in it, but 
 mens' hearts are more treacherous than the 
 treacherous waves of the sea : Who would trust 
 to them? who would answer to me for the 
 continuance of the inclination which you fancy 
 you feel for me perhaps really feel at the pre- 
 sent moment ?" 
 
 Rasselwitz felt himself transported into the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 113 
 
 third heaven by this accost, for she had never 
 addressed him so before ; and kissing her hand 
 with fervour, he cried, " O that you would 
 honour me so far, beautiful Bona, as to demand 
 of me some proof of my sincerity !" 
 
 " Take care that I don't keep you to your 
 word," replied Bona with a lovely smile. " I 
 might ask something of serious difficulty, and 
 you would then come off with disgrace." 
 
 " No, fair lady ; you don't escape me so this 
 time," protested Rasselwitz with great anima- 
 tion. " You must rather allow me to keep you 
 to your word. Demand any proof of my love, 
 as hard and earnest as you can devise, and, if I 
 deny it to you, banish me from your presence 
 for ever." 
 
 " Do you know the man who just now left 
 the garden ?" asked Bona with apparent calm- 
 ness. 
 
 " Why should I not T replied Rasselwitz. 
 " It was Francis Friend, the wild son of the 
 old burgomaster." 
 
 " Challenge him for life or death," said Bona, 
 " and I am yours." 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Rasselwitz stared at the blood-thirsty beauty, 
 and at length said with a confused smile, " You 
 must be jesting, noble lady ? What good could 
 you get by egging us on to murder each other ?" 
 
 " There are many gates through which ha- 
 tred may enter the human breast," replied Bona 
 with piercing looks ; " and, if that be true which 
 has been told me, you also cannot possibly be a 
 friend to this Francis." 
 
 " By heavens ! I detest him as my worst sins, 
 but I cannot challenge him." 
 
 Upon this Bona started up and demanded 
 with a look of scorn and contempt, " Do you 
 want the courage for it ?" 
 
 " Only you dare ask me that," replied Ras- 
 selwitz, starting up in his turn ; " and to you 
 only could I give a cool answer. I have never 
 shunned the game of swords ; but my knightly 
 word binds me ; I pledged it to the prince pala- 
 tine on the settling of that awkward business 
 the other day, and, if the monster does not begin 
 again himself, he will have quiet for me as long 
 as he lives " 
 
 " Does not then the wish of your beloved
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 115 
 
 weigh more with you than this promise ?" asked 
 Bona in soul-melting tones; and, laying her 
 hand upon his shoulder, she gazed on him with 
 a look that glowed through his pulses and gave 
 wings to them. 
 
 " You have not understood me, noble lady," 
 replied Rasselwitz earnestly. " We are talking 
 here of my knightly word, on which depends 
 my honour, and consequently my earthly being. 
 If this adamantine chain were to hold no longer, 
 what tie in the world could be relied on ?" 
 
 " A clever brain would know how to manage 
 a quarrel, and yet throw the appearance of the 
 first aggression upon his adversary. Rough and 
 violent as this Friend appears to me, it must be 
 easy to irritate him to unseemly language and 
 vulgar action, and then you fight only in self- 
 defence, which the bishop cannot take amiss.* 1 
 
 " That would be bad work, lady, with which 
 I cannot meddle. To evade a promise is to 
 break a promise, and I am an honourable Sile- 
 sian." 
 
 " Well answered," cried Bona with loud 
 laughter, and reseated herself. " Take your
 
 116 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 place again by my side, Heir von Rasselwitz ; it 
 was not so evilly intended. I excuse you from 
 the combat for life and death, to which you seem 
 to have so little inclination, and do you, on the 
 other hand, excuse me for the future from your 
 love-protests which you cannot prove. You 
 have stood the first trial badly ; I spare you the 
 others." 
 
 " How ! Your strange instigation was no 
 more than a trial ?" 
 
 " And a very badly contrived one too. How 
 could I expect that you would believe me, in 
 this deadly hatred against a man whom I saw 
 to-day for the first time in my life, and who 
 could not have ever injured me ? me, a Ne- 
 therlandress, who have lived but a few weeks 
 at Schweidnitz ? You would have caught me 
 finely, and put me into an awkward plight, had 
 you made as if you were willing to comply with 
 my desire. I must then have prayed you, for 
 God's sake, to let poor Friend live, and you 
 would have had the pleasure of laughing at me 
 soundly for my unsuccessful project.'* 
 
 " Fool that I am ! and yet I rejoice from my
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 117 
 
 heart that it was only a joke. I could not, how- 
 ever, suspect you of such a trick." 
 
 " Did you have a long merry-making on 
 Monday at the widow^s ?" asked Bona, with a 
 careless transition of the subject. 
 
 " Unfortunately, no ; the bridegroom, whom 
 we expected, had an accident with his horse, 
 and arrived late only to go to bed directly. 
 This untuned us all, and we separated at an 
 early hour." 
 
 " I have already heard much of this bride- 
 groom ; but tell me more about him ; he is said 
 to be a handsome man." 
 
 " A perfect model of manly beauty !" 
 
 11 That is saying much ; yet since a man of 
 your appearance allows it, why it must needs 
 be so. Brave ? that is understood of itself ; 
 but I suppose just as hot and violent, just as 
 easy to be irritated, which you gentlemen often 
 wish to pass upon us for courage ?" 
 
 " Nothing less. He is coolness and reflection 
 personified, and on that account seems as if born 
 to be a general. If he had not been the leader 
 of the nobles on that decisive day which freed
 
 118 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 me from arrest, it had unavoidably come to a 
 battle in the city ; the upshot was uncertain, and 
 in any case Bieler's murderers had escaped 
 punishment." 
 
 A flash of anger quivered through Bona's 
 beautiful features, and the little pearl-teeth 
 within her rosy lips were ground together 
 firmly. But the external calm was soon re- 
 gained, and she asked with her former indif- 
 ference, " Is this mirror of virtue and honour 
 quite faithful to his Althea ?" 
 
 " It is perilous to answer for any thing of this 
 sort; but in his case I would almost venture 
 it. He dwells on his bride with infinite affec- 
 tion." 
 
 " That proves nothing ; you men may love 
 warmly, and yet be false withal. Will you do 
 me a favour, Herr von Rasselwitz ?" 
 
 " Command me ; I fly.* 1 
 
 " Always supposing it is not for life and 
 death," interposed Bona with light mockery. 
 " But I have a desire to become personally ac- 
 quainted with this Tausdorf, who is so much 
 talked of. Besides I want to inquire of him
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 119 
 
 after a relation, who lives at Prague. Bring 
 him hither with the first opportunity." 
 
 " It is asking much," said Rasselwitz jest- 
 ingly, " to expect that I should myself intro- 
 duce to you so dangerous a rival ; but I build 
 upon his fore-praised fidelity." 
 
 " If, however, you cannot, or like not, it is 
 of no consequence. It was only a passing 
 whim, which I can just as lightly give up 
 again," 
 
 " By no means ; and it is precisely to-morrow 
 morning that your wish can be most easily ac- 
 complished, for the lady Althea then goes to 
 Bogendorf, whence she does not return till the 
 day afterwards, and she leaves Tausdorf behind 
 that he may have leisure to recover from his 
 fall. The singular plant, which is shown in 
 this garden, shall be the bait to bring him. He 
 will come to admire a blooming aloe, and will 
 be agreeably surprised when the floweret of 
 beauty unfolds to him the splendour of its 
 colours.' 1 
 
 He imprinted a fiery kiss upon Bona's hand 
 and departed. The maiden looked after him
 
 120 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 with a bitter smile, then rose up, and walked 
 slowly into the green-house, where stood the 
 aloe, which she considered for a long time, and 
 at length said, " Yes, proud aloe, you are the 
 image of my revenge. Your blossom requires 
 years to break from the bud, but it does at last 
 break forth in vigour that will not be restrained ; 
 and though you perish in the very moment of 
 perfection, you have yet gained your object ; 
 he who has done that has lived long enough." 
 
 Beamless, yet with splendid glow, hung the 
 evening sun, like a bright burning ruby in the 
 horizon over the violet-coloured mountains. 
 Purple clouds, edged with gold, shot a glory 
 about it, while the whole western heavens 
 shone in a sea of flame, and the blaze melted 
 away farther on into a lovely sea-green, which 
 again in the east was lost in the dark blue of 
 night. Before the aloe, whose flowers seemed 
 to burn in the evening red, stood Tausdorf,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 121 
 
 sunk in its contemplation." The plant is to 
 be envied," he said to Rasselwitz ; " he dies 
 well, who, like it, dies at the moment of reach- 
 ing the pinnacle of strength and beauty; and I 
 could almost wish that such a death might one 
 day be to myself." 
 
 " How earnestly and gravely you take every 
 thing," replied Rasselwitz " nay gloomily too ! 
 For my part, it is precisely when I got to the 
 pinnacle that I should feel most eager to live 
 on, because it is then that life is gayest When 
 one is gone, the best pleasure is over ; and in 
 good truth we shall always be dead long enough 
 afterwards." 
 
 " In the ten years of experience, which I have 
 beyond you, lies the difference of our views. 
 Throughout nature nothing stands still. He 
 who does not go forward goes backward. From 
 the summit the road only leads down again, and 
 every retracing of our steps has something dis- 
 consolate about it, which I would willingly buy 
 off with a few years of existence." 
 
 He turned about to depart, but Rasselwitz 
 held him back: " I cannot let you go thus;
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 you may, perhaps, have got over your acci- 
 dent, but you still look pale, and the evening 
 wind blows cursedly cool from the mountains. 
 Let us first, therefore, if agreeable to you, 
 empty a flask of tokay against the bad air, and 
 then I will myself accompany you home again.' 1 
 
 " You gentlemen can't do without the wine- 
 cup," said Tausdorf jestingly. " If, however, 
 it is really to be but a single flask, I am con- 
 tented." 
 
 They went accordingly into the larger green- 
 house, where at the end, under an oleander- 
 tree, a little table was neatly set out, covered 
 with a crimson silk cloth. Upon this was a dish 
 of foreign salad between two handsome flasks 
 with handles, semi-transparent and edged with 
 silver, and two glass goblets, ready filled, in 
 which the tokay sparkled like blood in the last 
 rays of the setting sun. By the table sat Bona 
 in all the fulness of her charms, seeming to en- 
 joy with silent transport the splendour of the 
 evening heavens, whose crimson fire gave all 
 the glory of a seraph to her head and face. 
 
 " We interrupt here," said Tausdorf to Ras-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 123 
 
 selwitz, struck by her appearance, " and must 
 seek some other place." 
 
 " You do not interrupt me, gentlemen," said 
 Bona, rising with graceful kindness. " A wo- 
 man, who knows how to maintain her female 
 dignity, has no occasion to be afraid of men. 
 But perhaps you wish to have a private con- 
 versation with your companion, in which case I 
 give way to you, although I should have will- 
 ingly enjoyed this splendid evening for a quarter 
 of an hour longer." 
 
 " You love then the charms of nature ?" 
 asked Tausdorf, whose sympathy had been won 
 by the first words of the stranger, and who now 
 thought no more of going. 
 
 " What being of head and heart but must 
 love them ? v replied Bona warmly. " Nature 
 ever reflects herself, and yet is ever new, nor 
 has any mortal hitherto succeeded in imitating 
 the least of her wonders : so has she gone on 
 for centuries, silent and beautiful, clear and 
 sublime, benevolent in creating and maintaining 
 as in destroying." 
 
 "Nature," said Tausdorf with warmth, " has
 
 124 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 always seemed to me like a perfect woman in 
 the arms of the all-powerful in the arms of a 
 beneficent master and loving husband." 
 
 " You are probably married, sir knight," 
 observed Bona roguishly, " by this image in 
 particular striking your fancy ?" 
 
 " Not yet," replied Tausdorf, colouring. 
 
 " But already promised and bound by in- 
 dissoluble chains," interrupted Rasselwitz, to 
 whom this brief conversation grew much too 
 animated. " You have become so rapidly ac- 
 quainted with the knight, fair Bona, that I 
 must hasten to inform you, you are talking with 
 the Herr Sparrenberger von Tausdorf, the be- 
 trothed of the Frau von Netz ; and now take 
 your place, my old friend, that the noble wine 
 may not grow vapid, and pledge me to the 
 health of your fair intended." 
 
 " I regret to-day, for the first time, that I 
 have for ever renounced wine," said Bona, 
 while the knights touched their glasses. " A 
 toast to the health of so noble a lady would be 
 well in place now." 
 
 " You know my Althea ?" asked Tausdorf.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 125 
 
 " No," replied Bona with lovely frankness ; 
 " but I have heard so much good of you, sir 
 knight, that I believe you could have chosen 
 none but a noble being for the companion of 
 your life." 
 
 " Pray, lady," said Rasselwitz, breaking in 
 upon them with vexation, " did you not tell 
 me to-day that you had a relation in Prague, of 
 whom you had long heard nothing ? Herr Taus- 
 dorf lived there a considerable time, and per- 
 haps will be able to give you satisfaction." 
 
 " I thank you, dear Rasselwitz, for remind- 
 ing me of it," replied Bona ; "but it has already 
 grown dark," she continued, looking round ; 
 " we had better order a light at the gardener's." 
 
 " Admirable !" muttered Rasselwitz ; " she 
 sends me away that she may be alone with him 
 in the dark ;" and he hurried off with the 
 speed of an arrow, to be back so much the 
 sooner. In Tausdorf the same idea was stir- 
 ring ; but when he secretly asked himself the 
 question, whether he did or did not like it, he 
 could obtain no decided answer. 
 
 After all, the fears of the one and the ima-
 
 126 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 ginings of the other were alike idle. The fair 
 Bona kept at her old distance from Tausdorf, 
 and entered into the most indifferent talk in the 
 world with him, inquiring after a multitude of 
 Prague ladies, whom he, indeed, knew by name, 
 but of whom he could give no farther informa- 
 tion. In addition to this, as Tausdorf could 
 hear, she was playing with the silver lids of the 
 wine-flagons, as the hands are accustomed to do 
 when the mind is absent. This was all but an 
 annoyance to the knight, and if he had not 
 found some pleasure in listening to the melo- 
 dious voice of the questioner, he would have ex- 
 perienced a real tediousness even in the fami- 
 liar darkness and in the neighbourhood of such 
 a captivating creature. 
 
 At length Rasselwitz appeared with the gar- 
 dener, who hung a large mirror-lamp of Vene- 
 tian glass upon a branch of the oleander, and 
 again retired. The glasses were filled afresh, 
 while Bona wound about the good Tausdorf 
 with the finest arts of conversation, and con- 
 trived to flatter him so sweetly, and at the same 
 time to inspire him with such respect, that he
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 127 
 
 was unable to break from the magic circle, 
 although his correctness of feeling warned him 
 betimes to fly from the danger before he was 
 lost in it. 
 
 During this delightful talk, the wine, like a 
 balmy oil, glided down the knights' throats, 
 sweet and powerful ; but its effects were mani- 
 fested in the two with a very striking difference. 
 While Rasselwitz grew continually sulkier and 
 charier of his words, and at last became down- 
 right sleepy, Tausdorf 's spirits were more and 
 more awakened and joyful. A flippant co- 
 quetry, at other times hateful to him and foreign 
 to his disposition, now prevailed in his manners 
 to the fair stranger, who knew how to turn the 
 well-polished diamond of her spirit so nimbly to 
 and fro, that from its hundred points the flashes 
 struck blindingly upon Tausdorf's eyes, and 
 flung into shadow the image of the lovely, but 
 simple and grave Althea. To complete the 
 impression which she had visibly made upon 
 him, the Circe, at a fitting turn of the con- 
 versation, took up a harp which lay beside her, 
 and sang, accompanying herself a lullaby to 
 her heart, than which nothing could be sweeter
 
 128 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 or more alluring. While now Tausdorf kindled 
 more and more at her burning looks, the soft 
 tones of her song, instead of the heart which 
 should have been lulled, soothed the good Ras- 
 selwitz into a sound slumber. The knight con- 
 sidered the sleeper with approving eyes, and 
 then cast them, full of voluptuous desire, on the 
 fair stranger. 
 
 " Cease, beautiful siren !" he exclaimed at 
 last, seizing her white hand, and holding it 
 firmly upon the strings ; " your magic song 
 disturbs me in my gazing on you. A woman, 
 created for love, as you are, cannot lull her 
 heart to sleep without committing a deadly sin 
 against my sex." 
 
 With a heavenly smile, in which, however, 
 lurked a strange glance, Bona looked at him, 
 and her hand returned a gentle pressure. Then 
 casting a look of inquiry at the sleeping Rassel- 
 witz, she on a sudden sighed out softly and 
 anxiously " Oh, heavens !" 
 
 " What is the matter, noble lady ?" cried 
 Tausdorf, starting up, and caught her in his 
 arms as she fell. 
 
 ' A sickly oppression which will soon pass
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 129 
 
 over," stammered Bona, while her bosom heaved 
 mightily against his breast. " Help me up to 
 my chamber, dear Tausdorf." 
 
 Alarmed, anxious, thrilled through by strange 
 forebodings, he obeyed her mandate ; and half 
 gliding, half carried, the lady reached her 
 room with the knight. A dull lamp burnt on 
 a table by the bed, around which flowed cur- 
 tains of green silk, flinging a secret mysterious 
 shadow. He let her down softly on the couch, 
 and would have withdrawn, to call the maid to 
 her assistance, but she raised herself up again, 
 and winding her fair arms about his neck, mur- 
 mured softly " Dear man !" and her kisses 
 quivered on his lips like a kindling flash of 
 lightning. 
 
 " Fairest creature !" he stammered, in the 
 double intoxication of wine and passion. Wildly 
 throbbed his pulses as if they would burst their 
 veins, and the lamp went out. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 130 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 It was towards the morning when T ausdorf 
 awoke from a heavy slumber. When on open- 
 ing his eyes he found the sleeping Bona by his 
 side, his recollection returned with the consci- 
 ousness, and he sprang up in horror. 
 
 " Then it was not merely a wild dream," he 
 exclaimed painfully. " How could I so forget 
 myself! Never shall I forgive myself this 
 error !" 
 
 He paced up and down the room with vehe- 
 mence for a time, and then paused before the 
 fair sleeper. 
 
 " The sin is beautiful which has seduced me 
 from the right path ; but that does not excuse a 
 man from whom principles are to be expected, 
 and who has taken upon himself important du- 
 ties. Poor Althea ! is this the reward of your 
 love and truth ? I never could have believed 
 that to be possible which now rises to my re- 
 volted senses in disgusting reality. Ah ! let no 
 one boast of his virtue ! It is often the prey of 
 the most involuntary accident ! Of accident ? 
 Was indeed all that happened to me yester- 
 day no more than accident ? I can answer for
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 131 
 
 myself my soul was pure when I entered this 
 house ; and not till I was allured by the siren's 
 song, and the voluptuous spirits of the wine had 
 painted her fair form in glowing colours, not 
 till then was the evil passion kindled in me. 
 Could a few glasses have changed me so much ? 
 Could they have lighted up the wild glow that 
 raged in my veins, and the dregs of which still 
 lie heavy on my head and heart ? The ad- 
 vances too of the stranger and her feigned sick- 
 ness, which tightened the noose about my 
 neck, at the bottom of all this is some secret 
 plan which I must unravel." 
 
 He left the room quickly, and soon returned 
 with horror in his looks, and in his hands two 
 half-full goblets, which he placed on the table 
 by the bed, and had already raised his arm to 
 wake the sleeper. At this moment the first 
 sunbeams flamed through the darkness of the 
 green curtains, and cast a warm glow upon her 
 lovely features. Bona opened her eyes, which 
 immediately sought and found her beloved, and 
 rested upon him with bewitching tenderness ; 
 but she soon perceived the cold disdain that 
 
 K 2
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 flashed from his, and she started up from the 
 bed in terror. 
 
 " For heaven's sake," she exclaimed, " what 
 has happened to you ? What do you mean by 
 these fierce looks ?" 
 
 " To ask you how we so soon became familiar 
 with each other how you so soon succeeded 
 in seducing an honourable knight into dis- 
 graceful infidelity towards the mistress of his 
 heart." 
 
 " This is a common injustice of you men to 
 lay on the weaker sex the blame of the evil 
 caused by your sensuality, that you may after- 
 wards despise your victim, and so have a pre- 
 tence for denying all satisfaction." 
 
 " You are right, but it does not apply here. 
 We will not, however, say any more about 
 which of us is the victim; only I must know 
 whether some hellish arts were not employed 
 in the adventures of last night, and therefore 
 you must give me an account of these goblets." 
 
 " Gracious heavens ! I am lost i" exclaimed 
 Bona, without looking at the goblets, and clasp- 
 ing her hands together. Tausdorfwent on:
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 "This, with the white sediment at the bot- 
 tom, stood before Rasselwitz, who still lies mo- 
 tionless on the seat, bound up in a death-like 
 slumber. This, with the black dregs, I emp- 
 tied, and I can now well explain the ebullition 
 which threw me into your arms. Strumpet! 
 have we drank poison at your hands ?" 
 
 The beautiful sinner started up proudly, 
 glanced at the knight with noble anger, and 
 exclaimed, " Contemptible suspicion!" and 
 snatched at the goblet with intent to empty it ; 
 but Tausdorf put back her hand 
 
 " No ! I would not place any soul before the 
 judgment-seat ere the Creator calls for it." 
 
 He took the goblet from the table, and having 
 flung it out of the window, walked up and down 
 the room in silence ; Bona wept. 
 
 " You would drink of it ?" he continued. 
 " There iyas then no poison in the goblet ? But 
 what else ? For, by heaven, all is not right with 
 this wine." 
 
 Bona hid her face in the pillows of the bed, 
 and was silent. 
 
 " A love-draught, perhaps, for the chosen
 
 134 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 victim of your desires, and an opiate for the 
 troublesome witness is it not so ?" 
 
 Bona started as if a blow had struck her 
 heart, and was still silent. 
 
 " In the name of heaven, woman, what made 
 you seek out me in particular ? You are fair 
 enough, unfortunately, to be able to dispense 
 with such means with thousands of my sex. 
 Why must you fling into my breast the scor- 
 pion which must poison the peace of my fu- 
 ture days ?" 
 
 " I loved you, as I now abhor you, 1 ' was hol- 
 lowly murmured from beneath the pillows. 
 
 " Profane not the sacred word," retorted 
 Tausdorf indignantly ; " I cannot, besides, rest 
 contented with this answer. What you did 
 yesterday, the way in which you prepared and 
 accomplished it, the danger to which you ex- 
 posed yourself if discovered, all this points to 
 something very different. You had some great, 
 and, as my warning angel tells me, some terrible, 
 design upon me, and that it is which you must 
 confess this very hour/' 
 
 At this Bona started up with wild looks, and
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 135 
 
 her long auburn locks hung down in disorder, 
 like so many living snakes, about her fair pale 
 face, and gave it the convulsed appearance of a 
 raging Medusa. " Kill me," she cried, defy- 
 ingly, " or accuse me at the tribunal as a poi- 
 soner I am silent." 
 
 Tausdorf could not refrain from shuddering 
 as her figure stood up thus before him, like 
 some horrid spectre, that figure which but a 
 few hours since had appeared so kind and 
 graceful: he turned away from her, and at 
 length said 
 
 " You understand us German knights badly, 
 in thinking us capable of such wretched mea- 
 sures. If you do not choose to unburthen 
 your heart by a frank confession of your evil 
 intentions, persist then in your obduracy. I 
 leave you to your conscience ; and however late 
 may come the moment in which you hear its 
 voice, yet the moment will come. If in such 
 an hour you repent of the evil you have already 
 done me, and of that which you yet purpose, 
 may heaven not remember against you your 
 heavy sin in abusing the fair body it has given
 
 136 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 you abusing it as a bait for vice, and to the 
 destruction of the souls of your fellow-crea- 
 tures. I for my part forgive you now as be- 
 comes a Christian ; but we never see each other 
 again." 
 
 He went. With the rolling eyes of a lioness, 
 whose prey has escaped, Bona watched after 
 him. 
 
 " So then, this sin has been in vain. I have 
 not even earned the fruits of the evil harvest. 
 My machines have been in play to no pur- 
 pose. The awkward footsteps of this rough 
 man have crushed to pieces the artificial wheel- 
 work. Let it go. I meant it better with you 
 than you deserved. The assailant has always 
 the advantage, because he can choose time and 
 place. If you will not be set upon my victim, 
 he must be set upon you, that self-defence may 
 force the sword of vengeance into your hand. 
 May you both perish in it f 
 
 The old gardener thrust his head in at the 
 door with a crafty, inquiring laugh. Bona 
 called out to him " I am alone, Sylvester. 
 What is Rasselwitz doing ?"
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 137 
 
 " Awake at last! 1 ' replied the gardener, 
 coming into the room. " He complained of 
 head-ache, begged of me to excuse him to you, 
 and tottered off. But in his place some one 
 else has come again Mr. Christopher Friend, 
 splendidly tricked out, and dressed in sky-blue 
 velvet, waits below in the green-house, and 
 begs for a morning audience." 
 
 " So early ?" asked Bona, surprised. " What 
 can he want ?" 
 
 " He inquired of me so circumstantially about 
 your fortune," replied the gardener, " and 
 looked withal so smart and gay, and made such 
 little twinkling eyes, that I think in a short time 
 you may expect proposals of marriage." 
 
 Bona smiled scornfully. After a brief con- 
 sideration she replied " He does indeed mis- 
 take, but he comes in good time. Beg of him 
 to excuse me till I am dressed." 
 
 " Number three, in so short a period !" said 
 the gardener smirking. " If this goes on, you'll 
 soon draw after you the core of the Schweid- 
 nitz male population, as Punch does the child- 
 ren with his trumpet"
 
 138 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Think you so?" rejoined Bona, with self- 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " And yet," continued the old man, " you 
 don't altogether understand it. You entice the 
 birds in a masterly way, but you forget to pluck 
 them, which yet is the principal part of the 
 business. With the exception of the easy fool 
 of a Spaniard, your love-affairs have brought 
 you in marvellously little. The handsome pa- 
 gan courtesans of the old time were much wiser. 
 Though you may not exactly wish to build py- 
 ramids of the oblations of your adorers, yet a 
 comfortable house for a refuge to your old age 
 is in truth not to be despised." 
 
 " I hope never to be old to need it," said 
 Bona hastily. 
 
 " But don't reckon without your host," re- 
 joined the gardener. " The quantum of wealth 
 from the new world, left you by Don Alonzo, 
 has melted away confoundedly in the old world, 
 as must naturally be the case with your passion 
 for appearing as a rich heiress. If this is to 
 last long, you will be forced to sell the rich 
 jewels with which you blind the eyes of people.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 139 
 
 What then is to become of you if you do not 
 betimes think of some new acquisition ?" 
 
 " He who follows much at once," replied 
 Bona, " attains nothing. I follow one object 
 only, but that one I follow so stedfastly, with 
 such inflexible purpose, that I must gain it, and 
 when I have gained it, I need nothing more in 
 this world." 
 
 " And this one ?" asked the gardener with 
 sly importunity. 
 
 " I pay you as my servant, not as my con- 
 fessor," replied Bona with angry pride, and 
 pointed to the door. 
 
 " Good troth, a princess has been spoiled in 
 you," muttered the old man ; " but there is no 
 helping one who will not be advised." 
 
 So saying he went. Bona laid her hand upon 
 her forehead, and looked down gloomily in 
 earnest meditation. 
 
 " The poison of Althea's refusal is still ran- 
 kling in this Christopher," she said, after a long 
 pause, " and the brothers are not friends. If 
 the one were to perish through the other, that 
 might at last reach the stony heart of Eras-
 
 140 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 mus, and, conquered or conquer, still my vic- 
 tims would fall. The vindictive spirit of his 
 adversaries is my pledge for that. Francis, 
 think of your reckoning on the other side. The 
 avenger of blood is already breathing within 
 these walls." 
 
 She went up to a great mirror between the 
 windows to arrange her hair. The sun, veiled 
 in mist, cast a red light through the panes, and 
 shone in wondrous way upon the fair and angry 
 features, so that they seemed to glow with an 
 inward fire. At the first look in the glass Bona 
 started back in horror. 
 
 " Are the old tales of my childhood coming 
 back upon me ?" she exclaimed with fixed gaze. 
 " It was, indeed, as if an evil spirit grinned at 
 me from the mirror." 
 
 But by degrees she came to her recollection, 
 and began to chide her folly with a laugh, 
 though her lips were still quivering " Fool, it 
 was yourself. Revenge never beautifies a fe- 
 male face ; that I might have well known." 
 
 And with firm step the strong-minded woman 
 went up again to the glass, and looked in it
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 141 
 
 defyingly, as if to challenge forth the monster 
 that was hid behind its crystal. Although her 
 hands trembled in arranging her locks, she yet 
 accomplished the task with her eyes stedfastly 
 fixed upon the mirror. 
 
 " Now, then," she cried with a horrid laugh, 
 " I am armed. Hold yourselves in readiness, 
 my beloved ! The Norna is sitting at her task, 
 and with sharp-edged swords weaves the bloody 
 web of the decisive combat. Up ! to complete 
 the work !" 
 
 She turned hastily to the door, which even 
 then opened. Christopher Friend, whose tender 
 impatience would not suffer him to remain any 
 longer below, walked in, and with a sweet smile 
 the beautiful fury stepped forward to meet him. 
 
 In Althea's rooms at Tausdorf, silent and 
 anxious, expecting the return of his intended 
 bride. Meantime, at a little table, sat Henry, 
 looking over a large volume of copper-plates,
 
 142 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 which, according to its title, depicted " The 
 strange Forms of the Metamorphoses of the in- 
 genious heathen Poet, Ovid." 
 
 " The insupportable Latin !" cried the boy, 
 stamping with his feet ; and then jumping up 
 to Tausdorf with the folio, he said, " Pray, now, 
 help me out of this difficulty. The stupid pic- 
 tures are so singular that it makes one quite 
 curious to learn what they mean ; and when one 
 looks after the explanation, the fool of an en- 
 graver has written Latin underneath." 
 
 " Do not find fault with the engraver," said 
 Tausdorf; " he with justice believed that such 
 pictures were not fit for a boy who does not yet 
 understand Latin." 
 
 " But you told us lately that you understood 
 it a little," persevered the boy, " so translate 
 me the subscription. I should like to know what 
 the mad picture means. Only look, now, there 
 stands a stately knight in a circle of dead men's 
 bones and strange signs, holding a goblet in his 
 hand, and a beautiful woman touches him with 
 a wand, and a mist spreads over the country, 
 and the knight has already got a horrid snoiit>
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 143 
 
 as if he were just being changed into an abo- 
 minable beast, and below is written : 
 
 In turpes abiere feras quicunque biberunt 
 Dulcia Circsea pocula mixtu manu. 
 
 " Pray, now, tell me what it means ?" 
 And Tausclorf, confused, translated it : " All 
 were turned into vile brutes who drank of the 
 sweet cup that was mixed by the hand of 
 Circe." 
 
 " Now I am as wise as before," rejoined the 
 boy. " Who was this Circe ? She is right 
 handsome here in the picture ; but then she 
 looks at the poor knights with such hateful 
 eyes that I can't bear her." 
 
 " She was a wicked enchantress of the old 
 heathen time," said Tausdorf. " To all voy- 
 agers who visited her island, she offered a rich 
 draught, and when they drank of it, she touched 
 them with her magic rod, and they became 
 beasts." 
 
 " But why did the foolish people drink of it ?" 
 " They knew not the evil consequences," re- 
 plied Tausdorf, leaning his heavy head in his 
 hand, " or they had not done so."
 
 144 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Ah ! they should have been more on their 
 guard with strange cunning women," rejoined 
 Henry. " You certainly would not have drank 
 of it, Herr Tausdorf!" 
 
 " Who knows, my child ?'"* said Tausdorf, the 
 innocent remark going to his heart : " Perhaps 
 I might." 
 
 " Wicked witch ! " cried the boy, and threat- 
 ened the picture with his fist. " But did she 
 not at last find her master?" 
 
 " Oh yes," said Tausdorf, turning over the 
 leaf. On this Ulysses was depicted, holding 
 his sword to the breast of the enchantress, with- 
 out fear of her powerful wand, or of the devil- 
 masks that surrounded him, grinning and me- 
 nacing." 
 
 " Heaven be praised !" cried Henry ; " there's 
 a German subscription again. He read, 
 
 " Ulysses compels her to disenchant his 
 companions." 
 
 " That's right!" he cried " who was 
 Ulysses ?" 
 
 " A Greek hero," replied Tausdorf. " The 
 heathen god, Mercury, had supplied him with
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 145 
 
 a herb, called moty, that protected him against 
 the enchantment." 
 
 " Or he too had been metamorphosed ?" 
 asked Henry with vexation. 
 
 " No doubt, 11 replied the knight mournfully. 
 " He, whom God does not uphold in the hour 
 of temptation, falls, and falls deeply." 
 
 " But it is not all really true ?" added the boy, 
 after some reflection. 
 
 " There is a good wholesome truth in the 
 story, 11 returned Tausdorf ; " only the painter 
 has veiled it in images. The beautiful, wicked 
 Circe is intended to prefigure the human pas- 
 sions, the impulse of the senses. Whoever 
 empties her cup, she robs him of reason, and 
 makes him like the beasts in the wood. Recol- 
 lect, Henry, how you were wrath, not long 
 ago, with your play-fellow for some trifle, and 
 screamed, and struck about you, and would not 
 be satisfied, then you had become a little wild 
 beast in your anger." 
 
 " I will not do so again," said Henry, ashamed 
 and kissed the knight's hand. 
 
 " But what is the meaning of the herb moly, 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 14C THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 which protected the great hero from this en- 
 chantress ?" 
 
 " It is religion," replied Tausdorf, embracing 
 the boy in deep emotion. " If in every purpose 
 you remember that God looks on ; if you ask 
 yourself whether it would be acceptable to him ; 
 and if in the slightest doubt of this you aban- 
 don it, then you have got the right talisman 
 against sin." 
 
 " I will be truly good, Herr Tausdorf; I 
 will, indeed," said the boy, and gently rested 
 his auburn head against the knight's breast, 
 when the sound of horses' feet was heard be- 
 fore the window. 
 
 " That is my mother !" he shouted, wiping 
 away his tears, and running out of the room. 
 Tausdorf started from his seat " Air ! the child 
 has made me warm with his questions. It is hard 
 to teach good to others, when one has to accuse 
 one's self of evil. Oh Circe ! Circe !" 
 
 Again he looked at the picture of Ulysses. 
 
 " With armed hand the hero broke the 
 mighty spell which held his companions pri- 
 soners. He did his duty. Have I too done
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 147 
 
 mine ? I have redeemed myself from the magic 
 circle, but is that enough ? Should I not have 
 taken the power of evil from this woman, who 
 seems to have come here to weave the meshes 
 for some net of mischief, heaven only knows 
 what ? If I did not choose to denounce the 
 creature, should I not at least have called the 
 attention of the council to her, that no one 
 might come to harm ? Yet no. In what she has 
 done she has only wronged myself. The ill 
 that my denunciation might cause her would 
 be revenge, and that does not become a man 
 towards frail woman. Let her do as she pleases, 
 we are all in God's hand." 
 
 " My dear friend !" exclaimed Althea, who 
 then entered, and immediately let go of Henry's 
 hand to fly into the arms of her intended hus- 
 band. The old Schindel followed. Tausdorf 
 hastened to welcome him with the knightly 
 pledge, that he might not have at once to meet 
 the look of his bride, towards whom he knew 
 his heart was not perfectly at ease. 
 
 " Are you quite recovered ?" asked Althea
 
 148 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 affectionately ; " you look pale, as if you had 
 slept but little last night." 
 
 This innocent appeal to the past night co- 
 vered poor Tausdorf with a burning blush, 
 which, as an estimable rarity in a man of his 
 age, gave a double charm to his features. He 
 turned away, however, to hide the treacherous 
 colour, and Schindel addressed his niece : 
 
 " Will it please you, niece, to give me an an- 
 swer ? The poor fool waits below in the corner 
 of the street, and stays for permission to come 
 up." 
 
 " You love to torment people, uncle. I have 
 a deadly aversion to this family, and of all of 
 them, the avaricious, spiteful Christopher is 
 the most abhorrent to me." 
 
 " Shame ! shame, niece ! What good Chris- 
 tian would recollect an injury so long ? Know 
 you not from the Scriptures, that you are to 
 forgive your brother seventy times, ajid again 
 seven times seventy ?" 
 
 " It is not that alone ; but a secret dread pos- 
 sesses me whenever the creeper comes near me. 
 iLi m *i<"n: x?
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 149 
 
 I always feel as if my evil angel stood at my 
 side, ready to plunge me into destruction." 
 
 " Psha ! Superstitious fancies, which do not 
 become so sensible a woman. Your intended 
 shall decide." 
 
 " Well," cried Althea ; " decide, dear Taus- 
 dorf. You know that a year ago Christopher 
 Friend solicited my hand and was rejected. 
 Now I may add, what I before concealed ; 
 in the vexation of his disappointment, he spoke 
 of you most unbecomingly. But he now per- 
 ceives his injustice, and seeks for a recon- 
 ciliation.''' 
 
 " Forgive, and you shall be forgiven," said 
 Tausdorf good-naturedly. 
 
 " My own words !" cried Schindel. 
 
 " Oh, for that," said Althea impatiently, " I 
 am as prompt as willing; but he requires a 
 formal reconciliation, and as the seal of it would 
 have our presence at his banquet to-morrow ; 
 this I deem as superfluous as it would be dis- 
 agreeable to me." 
 
 " Who says A must say B too," retorted 
 Schindel. " Christopher will not believe in the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 sincerity of your forgiveness, and thinks that 
 you scorn him if you refuse to appear at his 
 banquet You owe some compliance, besides, 
 to his rich and powerful family, to which in ad- 
 dition you are allied." 
 
 " Still the untiring peacemaker and me- 
 diator ! and inexhaustible in arguments, where 
 the point is to reconcile the nobility and citi- 
 zens !'' 
 
 " I can't help it, niece, since, as a nobleman 
 and a proprietor at Schweidnitz, I have become 
 a sort of doubtful thing, and don't well know 
 whether I am a bird or a mouse. I am com- 
 pelled, therefore, to speak in the way of recon- 
 ciliation on both sides, lest a feud should break 
 out, and it should eventually fare with me as 
 with the flittermouse in the fable. May I call 
 up the petitioner ?" 
 
 " Call him in God's name, uncle," said Taus- 
 dorf : " I read my Althea's yes in her lovely 
 and peaceful countenance." 
 
 " Excellently spoken !" cried the uncle, and 
 hurried out. 
 
 " Heaven grant that we may never repent
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 151 
 
 this yes" said Althea with heavy heart. " I only 
 wish the wild Francis were not of the party !"" 
 
 " Why is he so terrible to you ?" asked Taus- 
 dorf, smiling. 
 
 " Because he is so rough, so fond of frays 
 and drinking, and because he detests the nobles 
 so irreconcilably. Since too he has been forced 
 to submit to the long imprisonment, on account 
 of the late unlucky affair, there is no managing 
 with him." 
 
 " I have never seen him ; but I should not 
 like to subscribe to the damnatory sentence 
 pronounced against him by the nobles of our 
 acquaintance. Hot-headed men are frequently 
 the best. As I have heard from good au- 
 thority, this Francis fought bravely against 
 the Turks, and I find it natural and pardon- 
 able that a soldier should not willingly suffer 
 himself to be played upon. His late misfortune 
 grieved me much. As he was absolved after 
 all, he certainly did not belong to Bieler's mur- 
 derers ; and to suffer a year's undeserved im- 
 prisonment must embitter even the heart of a 
 lamb.' 1
 
 152 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Heaven grant that you may never come in 
 contact with this lamb ; you would find in him 
 a furious wolf. I tremble at the thoughts of it, 
 for I think fire and water could not meet more 
 hostilely than your dispositions. Your person 
 would show him a true mirror of what he ought 
 to be and is not ; that would shame him, and 
 shame exasperates vulgar minds. His rough- 
 ness and your cultivation, his furious violence 
 and your noble calmness, his inclination to every 
 excess and your purity " 
 
 " Still ! still !" interrupted Tausdorf, ashamed, 
 and gently pressing his hand upon the lips of 
 the animated eulogist. *' Do not forget that I 
 also am no more than a frail man, and that ex- 
 aggerated praise from an estimable mouth can 
 corrupt even better than I am." 
 
 " Come along," cried Schindel, dragging in 
 the sky-blue Christopher. 
 
 With a pitiful sinner-face he approached 
 Tausdorf, and timidly stretched out his hand 
 to him. 
 
 " All is forgotten and forgiven," cried the 
 knight, shaking him by the hand ; " only as a
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 153 
 
 first proof of friendship, do me the favour not 
 to speak a single syllable of the past." 
 
 " You are too good, sir," replied Christopher, 
 smiling ; " but I will not fail to requite so great 
 a favour to the best of my power." 
 
 He then went to Althea, and, kissing her 
 hand, said " You owe me some reparation, no- 
 ble lady, for the banquet which was put off four 
 years ago on account of that murderous history. 
 I may, therefore, the more boldly presume that 
 you will this time favour me with your inva- 
 luable company at a feast, which, please God, I 
 intend giving to-morrow, at Barthel Wallace's, 
 for my own house is just undergoing a thorough 
 repair." 
 
 " Will your brother, Francis, be there ?" 
 asked Althea hastily. 
 
 " Heaven forbid!" rejoined Christopher; 
 " We do not want this quarreller and roarer. 
 I have taken good care not to invite him. At 
 first I feared that he might intrude himself, un- 
 asked ; but to my great delight I have learnt 
 that he goes on this day to a drinking-party at 
 Freiburg, so that we are quite safe from him.
 
 154 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 I have asked but a small party, a few quiet 
 nobles, and two or three honest citizens of the 
 first class. After the cloth is taken off, we'll 
 have a little dance amongst ourselves. 1 ' 
 
 " We will come,"" said Althea with lightened 
 heart. 
 
 " Excellent !" cried Christopher, rubbing his 
 hands, while a singular piercing glance of tri- 
 umph fell from his eyes upon the fair widow, 
 who immediately changed colour. " Now I 
 can set about the preparations for my feast 
 with a right joyful heart. I thank my dear 
 friends for their courtesy, and commend myself 
 to their recollection." 
 
 He made a profound bow and departed, ac- 
 companied out by Schindel and Tausdorf ; but 
 Althea looked after them anxiously, and sighed 
 " Oh that I could recall my word !" 
 
 The morrow of the 27th of July was come. 
 In Barthel Wallach's great room on the ground
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 155 
 
 floor, just before the entrance, sat Christopher 
 Friend with his guests at the epicurean ban- 
 quet, while the upper seat was graced by the 
 betrothed pair. The first course was removed ; 
 the strong dark Hungary went unremittingly 
 about the table in the great cups; and while 
 the females, according to the good old custom, 
 seemed only to kiss the goblet, the men drained 
 it frequently till their faces glowed, and many 
 a broad jest cast the reflection of this red upon 
 the delicate cheeks of the ladies. Tausdorf 
 only sat still and wrapt up in himself, and with 
 his fork scratched letters on the pewter-dish 
 before him. 
 
 " What ails you ?" said the mild Althea 
 sportively, and passed her white hand across 
 his eyes. " You are not yourself, and cannot 
 plead in excuse that your thoughts are absent 
 with the object of your passion, for she sits by 
 you in her honoured person, and you trouble 
 yourself but little about her." 
 
 " My good Althea !" sighed Tausdorf, and 
 with a mournful smile kissed the hand that 
 caressed him.
 
 156 THE 1'ATRICIANS. 
 
 " And what are you graving so earnestly upon 
 the plate ? I must see it, and woe betide you if 
 it should be the name of a fortunate rival. 1 ' 
 
 She bent down more closely to read what he 
 had written. 
 
 " Memento mori ! For God's sake, how is 
 it that you are seized on a sudden with these 
 death-thoughts at a pleasure-banquet?" 
 
 " It is a way of mine to think on death in 
 the midst of enjoyment. I deem it pardonable 
 at least, as in return one can blend with death 
 the thought of the eternal joy that waits us in 
 the world beyond." 
 
 " My worthy Herr von Tausdorf," interrupted 
 Christopher with a disagreeable laugh, " I do 
 not doubt your oratorical powers, or your piety, 
 and am convinced that you could, if you pleased, 
 make an excellent funeral sermon extempore ; 
 but that would be too dull an entertainment 
 with the full goblet : therefore take up the glass 
 before you, and pledge me as fairly as I pledge 
 you to the health of your noble bride." 
 
 Tausdorf seized the goblet, but again lost 
 himself in a sea of thought, and forgot to 
 pledge.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 157 
 
 " Well, dreamer," said the intended bride 
 with good-humoured reproach, " do you hesi- 
 tate to drink the health of your Althea ?" 
 
 He raised the cup mechanically, drank, and 
 set it down again. Schindel, who sat near him, 
 was surprised. 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Tausdorf ? I 
 never saw you thus before ?" 
 
 " I do not comprehend myself. An anxiety 
 has possessed me, as if I were to commit a 
 murder. It must have been so that the poor 
 king, Saul, felt when the evil spirit was upon 
 him. I am ashamed of this childish feeling, 
 and yet I can so little master it, that I shudder 
 every time the door opens, thinking that some 
 great misfortune must enter under a dreadful 
 form." 
 
 " All this comes only of thick blood," replied 
 Schindel ; " you must be bled." 
 
 As he spoke the word, the door was flung 
 open, and Francis Friend burst into the room 
 with his usual impetuosity. 
 
 " Ah, woe !" cried Althea. 
 
 Schindel clasped his hands in terror, while
 
 158 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Christopher asked piteously, " Why, whence 
 do you come, brother? I thought you were 
 long ago at Freiburg, and enjoying yourself?' 1 
 
 *< He is a fool," replied Francis, " who hunts 
 after pleasure miles off, when he knows where 
 to find it at once. I heard yesterday of your 
 present feasting, upon which I thought directly 
 of surprising you, and put off mine." 
 
 " Well, all that 's true," said Christopher ; 
 " you have surprised us all, and most agreeably : 
 so let us draw together. Set yourself here at 
 my right hand, and enjoy with us the meat and 
 drink that God has sent us." 
 
 " Spare all this idle talk," cried Francis, 
 " I'll find out a good place for myself;" and he 
 carried his chair to the upper part of the room, 
 seating himself between Tausdorf and Schindel, 
 and saying to the former, " I see by your place 
 near my cousin that you are the knight Taus- 
 dorf. I'm glad to have an opportunity of 
 knowing you, for though I do not in general 
 care much about the nobles, you please me 
 well. There is a command and intelligence 
 about you such as one does not usually see in
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 159 
 
 your knights. For the rest, I am the wild 
 Frank Friend, of whom no doubt you have 
 heard all manner of stories, and more bad than 
 good. In troth, I am a mad companion, but I 
 mean it fairly with him who means it fairly with 
 me, and I now heartily wish you joy of your 
 marriage with my handsome cousin Althea 
 here." 
 
 Tausdorf returned a fitting compliment, while 
 Schindel, who had got behind Althea's chair, 
 whispered to her, " The bear does not seem in 
 one of his worst bear-moods to-day. Heaven 
 help us farther." 
 
 In the mean time the second course was 
 served up. Francis ate little, but stuck so 
 much the more diligently to the wine, and kept 
 up a constant talk with Tausdorf, in a tone of 
 frank importunity, which did not sit amiss upon 
 him. Soon the conversation turned upon the 
 Turkish war ; and he was ready to leap out of 
 his skin for joy on finding that Tausdorf had 
 served against the infidels in Transylvania, at 
 the very time he had been fighting with them in 
 Hungary.
 
 160 
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Heaven confound me !" he cried, while his 
 face glowed with drinking ; and holding up the 
 goblet "Why, you please me better and better, 
 comrade, and therefore we '11 now pledge each 
 other in a brave draught, and swear eternal 
 friendship and brotherhood." 
 
 Tausdorf hesitated at this unexpected pro- 
 posal, and was about to decline it courteously, 
 when Althea pressed his hand under the table, 
 and in low brief words requested him to accede 
 for her sake ; upon which he took up the crystal 
 goblet, and Francis did the same to pledge 
 him ; but in the moment that the glasses touched, 
 both rang hollowly, and burst with a sharp 
 jarring sound, which echoed lamentably through 
 the wide hall, while the noble wine poured 
 down in streams upon the floor, to the indigna- 
 tion of the avaricious Christopher, who called 
 out, " You are, and always will be, Frank the 
 clumsy, and do nothing like rational people ; 
 all with noise and fury. You have broken now 
 my beautiful crystal cups with your rough 
 pledging." 
 
 " Yes, every thing is to be laid to me,"
 
 THE/PATRICIANS. 161 
 
 growled Francis : " I pledged ray goblet as 
 neatly as possible; it was not till afterwards 
 that both broke, and how that chanced, the 
 devil only knows." 
 
 " It is not your brother's fault," said Taus- 
 dorf, drying the wine from his doublet. ' I do 
 not myself understand how it happened." 
 
 " We have examples," observed Schindel 
 thoughtfully, " that empty glasses have broken 
 upon people calling out loudly in the same key 
 to which they were tuned; but these goblets 
 were full, and all was still in the room. God 
 grant that this accident may not prognosticate 
 the rupture of your new-formed friendship as 
 early as the glasses !" 
 
 " No fear of rupture," cried Francis, shaking 
 Tausdorf's hand cordially. " We must both 
 agree to that first, but our hearts have been 
 amalgamated and hardened together in the same 
 war-fire, and will hold together for life and 
 death." 
 
 " Gentlemen," said the butler, entering with 
 a respectful bow, " there are some well- 
 dressed personages masks, standing with- 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 out, before the door, who would ask of the 
 honourable company through me whether they 
 may come in to amuse you with song and dance, 
 and other allowable pleasantries." 
 
 " They are welcome,"" cried the restless 
 Francis, starting up. " This tedious sitting at 
 table has long been abominable to me.' 1 
 
 He ran to the door and opened it. Three 
 gipsies danced in, playing with pipe, triangle, 
 and tambourine : these were followed by three 
 females in black clothes, slashed with red, and 
 wearing black masks. 
 
 " Trim wenches, brother," said Francis, with 
 eager look, to Tausdorf, upon whose chair he 
 was leaning. "So slim, and at the same time 
 so full ! By heavens ! it makes one wish to 
 become a gipsy for the pleasure of possessing 
 them." 
 
 " This masking is not to my taste," replied 
 Tausdorf. " The burning eyes that sparkle 
 from the fixed black faces have to me some- 
 thing almost supernatural. The open brow, 
 and an open heart whether in joy or grief, are 
 what I love."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 163 
 
 " I understand you, my poor knight," said 
 Francis mockingly. " You are already in the 
 cage, and dare no longer take any pleasure in a 
 handsome face, at least not show it, lest your 
 lady wife should be angry, and hold a criminal 
 court upon her faithless shepherd." 
 
 " Do you know any of the party?" asked 
 Althea, to interrupt this conversation. 
 
 " Not I," answered Francis. " The devil 
 knows where stupid Kit has picked up the hand- 
 some wenches ; but my acquaintance with them 
 shall soon be made, and then I'll let you know 
 more about them." 
 
 With this he would have forced himself upon 
 the masks, but the gipsy with the triangle, an 
 old gray-beard, waved him back, and gave the 
 women a sign to begin their revels. The music 
 immediately struck up, and the three gipsies 
 commenced a wild fantastic dance, in which the 
 twines of their round well-formed arms, the 
 turnings and bendings of their slim, delicate 
 figures, the springing and agility of their feet, 
 were shown oft' in full perfection. One of them, 
 whose auburn hair was adorned with coloured 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 ribbons and Bohemian stones, particularly di- 
 stinguished herself by the gracefulness of her 
 movements ; and Francis, after having looked on 
 for some time, tore open his doublet, exclaiming, 
 " Zounds ! what a figure ! It warms an honest 
 fellow who has got a few bottles of Tokay in 
 him." 
 
 " This mad springing may please you," said 
 Althea contemptuously; " it is just calculated 
 for the taste of a drunkard ; but to me it seems 
 like the wild dance of fiends about a lost soul. 
 It grates me to see that a woman can so far 
 forget the female dignity as to expose herself 
 thus." 
 
 " Heaven deliver me from a tribunal where 
 you preside," said Francis laughing ; " why, it 
 must be worse than that of the emperor at 
 Prague. Your virtue is of so fierce a nature, 
 there 's no reasoning with it. That which is to 
 please must be a little free : your decorum and 
 modesty are the most tedious things on the face 
 of the earth." 
 
 The trio was at an end. The gipsies fanned 
 themselves with their motley-coloured handker-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 165 
 
 chiefs, but they would not move their masks, 
 and on that account rejected the wine which was 
 proffered to them by the master of the feast. 
 
 " These girls seem to be buttoned up to their 
 chins," said Francis, " but for all that I'll have 
 a peep behind their black masks, or die for it. 
 Above all, I must try the fair-haired witch." 
 And in the delirium of the moment, he dashed 
 his goblet through the window, and leaped 
 upon a chair, shouting " Huzza ! huzza ! away 
 with the tables ; we have had enough of eating, 
 and will dance you one till the floor shakes, and 
 the rafters crack again." 
 
 " Man ! are you alone here ?" exclaimed 
 Tausdorf indignantly ; but in his frenzy, Francis 
 heard him not, and, springing from the chair 
 over the table with a neck-breaking leap, 
 alighted again just before the mask with the 
 auburn hair. 
 
 " Take away, 11 said Christopher with vexa- 
 tion. " When once he breaks out, there is no 
 managing with him." 
 
 The tables were removed, the seats placed 
 close to the walls, and the guests made room
 
 166 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 for the dancers. Passing over the usual forms 
 of courtesy, Francis seized his chosen one with 
 a rude grasp, and shouted to the musicians, 
 " A waltz ! a waltz ! but quick ! quick !" 
 
 The music began, and the feet of the dancers 
 kept pace with its rapidity. The space about 
 them grew wider and wider, for the spectators 
 could hardly get their feet out of the way 
 in time from the stamping of the intoxicated 
 Francis, who kept clapping his hands, and 
 shouting, " Faster ! faster ! I can stand it, and 
 so can she." At last the piper stopped from want 
 of breath ; in a little time too the triangle was 
 unable to follow ; and now only the tambourine 
 gave a fit measure to this bacchanalian revel. 
 
 " And this is called pleasure ?" said Althea 
 to Tausdorf, who had retreated to a bow- 
 window. 
 
 
 
 " Where the soul is incapable of enjoyment," 
 he replied, " pleasure must be sensual, or the 
 vulgar mind would have no joy on earth what- 
 ever." 
 
 At last the sprightly bacchanal was exhaust- 
 ed, and danced off with his female into the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 167 
 
 next room. There he threw himself into a 
 chair, forced his companion into the seat be- 
 side him, and panted out, " You dance as 
 gracefully as lightly, and only so much the 
 more stimulate my desire to see your face. It 
 certainly won't have to be ashamed of the feet. 
 Come, take off the damnable Moor's visor." 
 
 "It is not yet time," replied the gipsy in a 
 low tone, that sounded still more hollowly from 
 the mask. 
 
 " Not yet ?" said Francis, with a rough 
 grasp of her hand ; " but soon ? to-day ?" 
 
 " If all goes as it should, perhaps," was the 
 answer. 
 
 " Then I must have patience, however little 
 I am used to it ; so let us, in the mean time, 
 have a friendly chat together. You are so 
 sparing of words. I only wish your tongue 
 had half the nimbleness of your feet." 
 
 " I am not fond of talking," replied the 
 gipsy with cutting coldness; "there is little 
 pleasure in it." 
 
 " And yet you are a woman," cried Francis, 
 merrily. " For Heaven's sake, how could you
 
 168 THE PATRICIAN*. 
 
 have so degenerated ? Only think, if every one 
 were to be as you are, what a poor sort of en- 
 tertainment we should have in the world." 
 
 " The world would gain by it," retorted the 
 mask. " How much foolish, how much evil, talk 
 would be spared ! How much falsehood and 
 deceit! How much perjury !" 
 
 " Oh, this is dull gossip," exclaimed Francis, 
 struck by her words. " Rather tell me my for- 
 tune ; you have visited us as a gipsy, and 
 should keep up the character."" 
 
 " Do not ask it," she replied, in a warning 
 tone: " you might hear something that would 
 not please you." 
 
 " Yes, if I were fool enough to believe such 
 nonsense. Prophesy away, and be it at my 
 peril. Here is my hand." 
 
 The gipsy hastily seized it. Her bosom 
 heaved violently, and her eyes darted piercing 
 looks from out the mask. At length she said, 
 " These lines do not please me ; you are like 
 to use your sword this very day." 
 
 " That would be the devil," cried Francis ; 
 and looked about with an air of defiance, as if
 
 THE PATKICIANS. 169 
 
 seeking for his adversary. " But I have no 
 objection : to my mind the best of a feast is 
 wanting if there is not something of a row to 
 wind it up." 
 
 " So much for the future," said the gipsy, re- 
 leasing his hand. " The past you will be con- 
 tented to leave alone." 
 
 " By no means,"" exclaimed Francis. " Of 
 the future you can lie as much as you please, 
 because no one can peep behind the curtain ; 
 but in the past your art is put to the proof of 
 fire, and if it does not come well out of it, I 
 shall mock you soundly." 
 
 Again the gipsy took his hand, examined it ; 
 but shuddered and retreated, saying, " For the 
 last time I warn you."" 
 
 " That, by my troth, sounds like earnest," 
 cried Francis, mockingly. " But go on, at my 
 peril." 
 
 " You have murder on your soul !" said a 
 voice hollowly from beneath the mask. 
 
 Francis drew back, shuddering, but in the 
 next moment he collected himself, as he replied, 
 " In the Turkish war I helped more than one
 
 170 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 infidel to hell ; but I pride myself upon it, and 
 do not reckon it for a murder." 
 
 " I speak of that which happened four years 
 since, and of which you were acquitted at the 
 royal tribune of Prague." 
 
 Francis uttered a cry of terror, and would 
 have started up, but the gipsy grasped his 
 hand firmly, and he sank back upon his seat as 
 if paralysed. 
 
 " Properly speaking," continued the gipsy, 
 " you have two souls to answer for above. 
 An honest old man was sacrificed for your 
 safety. You deceived him by an oath to marry 
 his daughter, whom you had seduced: justice 
 gave way before the son 'of the all-powerful 
 patrician, and, to save vice, innocence went out 
 to die." 
 
 Francis sate pale and motionless. The fumes 
 of the wine were for a short time dissipated by 
 strong horror ; and, though he saw that nothing 
 would do here save bold denial either in wrath 
 or ridicule, yet he was not sufficiently master 
 of his tongue ; and the moment in which im- 
 pudence would have been in place passed by
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 171 
 
 unemployed. The music from the next room 
 sounded merrily, as if in mockery of his an- 
 guish. At length he stammered out with dif- 
 ficulty, " Avenging Nemesis, who are you ?" 
 
 " You may, perhaps, learn to-day," replied 
 the gipsy, "as I have already given you to 
 hope. But that you may not send me to the 
 stake for a witch," she added, passing over to 
 a tone of jest, " I must confess that I had my 
 information from a sure hand. The stately 
 knight yonder, who is conversing so familiarly 
 at the window with that handsome lady, told the 
 strange tale a little time ago to a noble Hunga- 
 rian. I listened to him unseen, and heard him 
 calling you a pitiful boy, who did not know 
 when death became a man more than life." 
 
 With the passion thus excited, returned in- 
 toxication also in the wild brain of Francis. 
 His face became a dark red. He started from 
 his seat, and snatching up his sword from the 
 corner, girded it on with trembling hands, as 
 he exclaimed, " For the first time I have 
 trusted a noble, but never again. And the 
 scoundrel caught me so with his knightly bear-
 
 172 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 ing and open manners, was so frank and friendly 
 with me, and yet attacked my honour behind 
 my back like a hired murderer! Perhaps at 
 the very moment he drank to our brotherhood, 
 he was plotting to rake up old forgotten stories 
 from their oblivion, that he might capitally 
 denounce me to the furious emperor, with 
 whom he has so much weight. Now it is clear 
 why the goblets . broke in pledging. But, by 
 the infernal hosts, I will do myself right upon 
 this hypocrite !" 
 
 " You will do well," said the gipsy, still 
 firmly grasping his hand ; "but if it imports 
 you to accomplish your revenge, don't begin 
 the feud here. All would take part against 
 you, and he would be warned. Entice him 
 out, and then let your swords decide in the 
 battle-ordeal." 
 
 " That is hard," exclaimed Francis ; " hard 
 that I am to speak the scoundrel fair, when I 
 should like to fall upon him at once, tooth and 
 nail. But you are right. I am called the wild 
 Frank, and, as I should not dare to tell the 
 real cause, I should be thought by every one
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 173 
 
 in the wrong. I'll look out, therefore, for a 
 quiet spot where I may right myself without 
 any interruption or disturbance. But where 
 shall I find you afterwards to thank you for 
 your information ?" 
 
 " When all is done, you will see me again, 
 unmasked," replied the gipsy with peculiar 
 emphasis. " My word upon it ! I shall keep 
 that word better than many a man his oath !" 
 
 " You are a strange being," cried Francis, 
 struck by the word as if by a secret blow from 
 a dagger. For several moments he stared at 
 her fixedly and thoughtfully with large and 
 drunken eyes, and then stammered, " I don't 
 altogether know what to make of you. Some- 
 times you appear so familiar to me that my hair 
 stands on end ; at others, you sit by me like my 
 evil conscience, and torture me at your own 
 good-will. Again, you seem to be a sort of 
 fiend, who would tempt me to some sin, and then 
 laugh me to scorn when I had done your plea- 
 sure. If I had not so muchTokay in my brain, I 
 should be able to unravel all this, and find out 
 upon what footing we were. But that won't do
 
 174 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 now, and so let my first resolution abide, in the 
 devil's name ! Chalk your soles well, Tausdorf ; 
 I fetch you to a merry dance of death. 1 ' 
 
 He hurried back into the ball-room. 
 
 " I am almost sorry that I must hound on 
 this beast against the noble Tausdorf; but no 
 choice was left me. He may defend himself. 
 On one side blind wrath and drunkenness; on 
 the other, sober courage. It cannot fail. Good 
 night, Francis !" 
 
 In the meanwhile Althea and Tausdorf were 
 gliding round in the graceful * German dance, 
 and about them stood the guests, looking with 
 delight on the pair that seemed to be made for 
 each other. Christopher, indeed, eyed them 
 maliciously, and at times cast a troubled glance 
 at the side-chamber. At last Francis came 
 
 * This German dance is the Waltz, though it certainly has no 
 claim to the title, being neither more nor less than the English 
 Lavolta, so constantly referred to by the old dramatists. But our 
 German neighbours are remarkable for the organ of appropriation, 
 and not less so for the organ of impudence. The one leads them 
 to steal, and the other to deny or abuse articles stolen. There is a 
 very pretty instance of this in Kotzebue, who cut down the comedy 
 of the Jealous Wife into a farce, and protested that the other three 
 acts were good for nothing.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 175 
 
 out, death in his looks: his worthy brother 
 immediately beckoned to him, and proffered a 
 full goblet, which he seized and hastily swal- 
 lowed. 
 
 " I have drunk this glass to the devil's bro- 
 therhood !" he whispered to Christopher, and 
 then mixed amongst the spectators. 
 
 Schindel, who had overheard him, exclaimed 
 to Christopher, " What means the libertine by 
 those impious words ?" 
 
 " The heathen god, Bacchus, can best tell 
 that," replied Christopher, while with a quiet 
 laugh he filled the goblet again. " To explain 
 what a drunkard means one must be drunk 
 one's self, and I, thank God, have kept myself 
 sober, to be able to see that all goes on right." 
 
 " That last glass was one too much," said 
 Schindel reproachfully. " You should not have 
 given him any thing more to drink. If now he 
 should do any mischief in his drunkenness ?" 
 
 " I know my brother better. When he is 
 half drunk, he is always ready to quarrel ; but 
 with a full lading he soon grows sleepy, and 
 one gets a respite from him. I gave him the 
 glass purposely as a sleeping draught."
 
 176 THE PATllICIANS. 
 
 " I have no faith in your expedient," said 
 Schindel, looking for his cap ; " and, as the 
 sun is setting, you must allow me to take my 
 leave." 
 
 " Not yet, not yet, cousin," entreated Chris- 
 topher, trying to persuade the old knight to 
 sit down again. "I'll not let you go till we have 
 emptied this flask of Tokay to the bottom." 
 
 " I must put it off till another time : your 
 brother's face does not please me again to-day, 
 and better prevented than lamented. Do you 
 see and get him to bed." 
 
 During this, the betrothed pair had finished 
 their dance, and, observing Schindel's farewell, 
 took it for a signal to follow, and bade adieu 
 to their host accordingly. Francis came up to 
 them : " What means this breaking-up, old 
 man ? It is bad enough that you leave us so 
 early, but it would be a downright wrong to rob 
 us of such sprightly dancers." 
 
 " We must, indeed, go," anxiously insisted 
 Althea, perceiving the state of Francis. " I 
 have a messenger to send to-day to our steward 
 at Bogendorf, and it is on business that admits 
 of no delay ."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 177 
 
 " Well, if you go, the best of the pleasure 
 goes, 1 ' said Francis gallantly. " I had rather 
 not stay either, and will pay an hour's visit to 
 the bowling-green : they bowl there to-day for 
 a bacon-hog. Come with me, brother Taus- 
 dorf ; it is still far from evening, and you have 
 not got a messenger to send to Bogendorf." 
 
 " I am no player, 1 ' said the knight, excusing 
 himself, 
 
 " Nor I, brother, 11 replied Francis, and took 
 Tausdorf 's arm familiarly in his ; " at least I 
 don't love this push-pin work. It is another 
 thing when one can stake life and limb upon the 
 hazard ; then, indeed, I am for you. But we "11 not 
 bowl, only look on and see how the poor devils 
 fag themselves for a paltry stake. Come along. 11 
 
 " Do as he wishes, to avoid strife," whispered 
 Althea ; " but get away from him as soon as 
 you can." 
 
 " So be it then," said Tausdorf to Francis, 
 and shook hands with Althea. In the mean 
 time, Schindel had taken his leave of the other 
 guests, and now first perceived what was going 
 on. Alarmed, he drew Tausdorf to the win- 
 
 VOL. i, N
 
 178 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 dow : " You are not going to walk with 
 Francis ?" 
 
 " Why not?" replied the knight calmly : 
 " He has asked me in a friendly manner, and 
 Althea, too, wishes it." 
 
 " For God's sake don't get too familiar with 
 the drunkard ; above all, go not with him alone. 
 He has no good intentions to-day." 
 
 " You carry your foresight too far, dear un- 
 cle," returned Tausdorf, girding on his sword ; 
 " Francis is an honest soldier, and, I can plainly 
 see, well inclined to me. It is impossible he 
 should have any design against me. Besides, I 
 have already promised him my company, and 
 therefore it must be so at all events." 
 
 " I have spoken and discharged my con- 
 science," cried Schindel. " God avert all 
 accidents!" 
 
 " Come then, brother, come," urged Francis, 
 pulling the knight's arm. 
 
 " Adieu, dear Althea," said Tausdorf, and 
 again shook the hand of his intended bride, 
 who looked at him with a loving farewell. On 
 a sudden the tears burst from her eyes, and, for-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 179 
 
 getful of those about them, she fell upon his 
 neck. 
 
 " Farewell 1" she cried, with stifled voice : 
 " God grant that I may see you again !" 
 
 " Without doubt before evening," said 
 Francis laughing, and hurried out his com- 
 panion. 
 
 " I don't like his going, 1 ' observed Schindel, 
 as he took his niece's arm and led her away. 
 
 " They are gone then!" said Christopher to 
 himself : " As for the rest, that will come in 
 time too." 
 
 Tausdorf and Francis went out together 
 towards the Peter's-thor, the city gate, fol- 
 lowed at a distance by Martin Heubert, Taus- 
 dorf 's boy, and his page, Schmidt, who had 
 waited for their master at the door of the 
 banqueting-house. In the heart of Francis 
 fermented the poison which the gipsy had 
 poured into it, but he still restrained his wrath, 
 and walked in silence by the side of Tausdorf. 
 In this way they came to the Park, between the 
 two gates the Peter's-thor and Nieder-thor, 
 in the way to the bowling-green, when Taus- 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 < 
 
 dorf, tired of the silent walk, and with the 
 view of showing a friendly sympathy with 
 Francis, said to him, " You are a soldier like 
 myself, Frank ; you too, therefore, must have 
 found that the pains and dangers of a cam- 
 paign are often less than the evils with which 
 life threatens us in the profoundest peace. As 
 I hear, you have gone through much misfor- 
 tune, and at last come off triumphantly !" 
 
 These well intended, but unlucky, words 
 made the crater overflow. The drunken Fran- 
 cis, prepared as he was by an evil hand, could 
 see nothing in them but the bitterest scorn, and 
 became mad with wrath. For a while he was 
 silent, because he did not know with what lan- 
 guage to hurl his contempt and rage in the 
 face of his adversary. At last he thundered 
 out, " Yes, indeed! And, as they tell me, you 
 have so acted that an honest man cannot drink 
 out of the same cup with you." 
 
 Surprised by this insult, which came upon 
 him like a lightning flash from a clear sky, 
 Tausdorf started back. With an awful stern- 
 ness he asked, " How could you drink to our
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 181 
 
 eternal friendship but a few hours since, if you 
 knew this of me ? In truth, you must be worse 
 than I am in your opinion. But now you will 
 say who it is that has spread this slander against 
 me?" 
 
 " I had it from a good friend," retorted 
 Francis defyingly. 
 
 " You will name him to me this very hour, 
 and on this very spot !" cried Tausdorf, with 
 flashing eyes. 
 
 The drunkard gazed on the knight, who 
 stood before him like an angry Mars ; and it 
 seemed to him for a moment in his intoxication 
 as if he had gone too far. 
 
 " I will tell you at a fitter time," he stam- 
 mered out : " I have it from a woman." 
 
 The contradiction between this and the earlier 
 statement enraged Tausdorf still more. 
 
 " Do not stir !" he called out to his people, 
 and led Francis impetuously a few steps farther. 
 
 "Now, name the slanderer! 1 ' 
 
 Instead of reply Francis grasped at him, but 
 with gigantic strength the latter caught his op- 
 ponent by the breast and flung him to the 
 ground, where he held him fast.
 
 182 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " If you are an honourable nobleman,'' 
 groaned Francis under him, " let me betake 
 myself to my sword." 
 
 Tausdorf hastily let him loose, and went back 
 a few paces. The latter sprang up, frantic with 
 rage, and tore his sword from the scabbard ; 
 and, looking after the knight's people furiously, 
 cried out, " Don't let your servants help !" 
 
 Tausdorf called to them in Bohemian, 
 " Whichever of you moves a hand, my sword 
 strikes him !" 
 
 " Draw ! M roared Francis, with foaming mouth. 
 
 " Only in self-defence," said Tausdorf, and 
 held out his blade. 
 
 Francis pressed upon him with furious blows. 
 He merely defended himself. During this the 
 auburn-haired gipsy looked over the wall of the 
 garden ; she was now without a mask, and her 
 face betrayed agony and repentance. 
 
 " Why don't you part them?" she cried to 
 Tausdorf's people, wringing her hands. 
 
 " It is forbidden to us," replied the faithful 
 Martin sadly. 
 
 Tausdorf cast a glance from the combat to 
 the place whence the well-known voice came ;
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 183 
 
 and, taking advantage of this, Francis lunged 
 fiercely at his heart, but the thrust did not 
 succeed. 
 
 " My life, then, is intended ?" cried Tausdorf 
 indignantly, and he cut his adversary over the 
 right hand. As the arm sank, his sword went 
 into the breast of Francis, who fell to earth. 
 
 " Gracious Heavens ! such was not my pur- 
 pose," exclaimed Tausdorf, when he saw the 
 blood flowing ; and, sheathing his sword, he 
 gazed for a while with looks of compassion on 
 his fallen adversary. Then turning to his ser- 
 vant, he bade him hasten for his carriage: " I 
 feel myself too weak for long and speedy riding, 
 and this brooks no delay." 
 
 Heubert and Schmidt hurried back to the 
 town. 
 
 " By God's holy word it was not my pur- 
 pose !" repeated Tausdorf ; and sighing " Poor 
 Althea !" he followed his people. 
 
 While this was passing, the gipsy had quitted 
 the wall, opened a little gate in it, and ap- 
 proached Francis, who lay in death-throes on 
 the ground. Having come up to him, she shook
 
 184 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 the auburn locks from her head, and the long 
 brown hair fell about her face as she put on a 
 withered coronet of roses. 
 
 " Do you know me, Francis ? Do you know 
 this bridal ornament?" she asked, with a mix- 
 ture of grief and anger. 
 
 " Agatha!" sighed Francis; and with dif- 
 ficulty turned away his head, that he might not 
 see the fearful apparition. 
 
 " I have revenged your crime," she ex- 
 claimed, " and by a greater crime. But there 
 is no joy in vengeance ; the grave knows no 
 hatred, and I forgive you. Your guilt is 
 atoned ; and you may appear confidently before 
 the throne of Heaven. Pray for me yonder, 
 that I too may be forgiven when I have ended 
 here in penitence and agony !" 
 
 She rushed away. Again he sighed ! Again ! 
 and his soul fleeted with the last beams of the 
 setting sun, and darkness and the silence of eve 
 were upon the blood-besprinkled earth.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 185 
 
 Althea was reclining in the window and im- 
 patiently expecting the knight's return, when 
 at length she saw Martin and Schmidt come 
 running breathlessly through the Peter's-gate. 
 An evil foreboding thrilled through her bosom. 
 She called out to them, " What now ? Has 
 any accident happened ?" 
 
 " We are to fetch our master's carriage im- 
 mediately, 1 " replied Heubert ; " you will learn 
 the rest by and by." 
 
 " Gracious Heavens ! What is the meaning 
 of this ?" she exclaimed, and leaning out of the 
 window to look after Tausdorf, she saw him 
 coming, pale and in disorder. 
 
 " Something dreadful has occurred I have 
 never seen him thus before." 
 
 She hurried down, but Tausdorf was already 
 at the street door, and, seizing his hand with 
 increasing anxiety, she said, " Dear friend, 
 what has happened to you ?" 
 
 " My poor Althea ! You were right with 
 your foreboding when we parted. Such as I 
 left you I never shall see you again, for then 
 no murder was upon my soul I"
 
 186 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Good Heavens ! Francis Friend !" cried 
 Althea, whose terror divined the truth at once. 
 
 " He lies in the Park, killed by my sword !" 
 
 " You are lost, then, if you do not instantly 
 fly from Schweidnitz. You should not have 
 returned, for moments here are of more worth 
 than gold." 
 
 " My people are putting to the horses," re- 
 plied Tausdorf, and went with Althea into the 
 court, where Schmidt was just drawing out the 
 carriage from the coach-house, and Martin was 
 cursing in the stable because he could not find 
 the harness. 
 
 " This is too long about," said Althea ; " be- 
 sides you will go more slowly in your carriage, 
 and not be able to use the footpaths. Let them 
 saddle my palfrey for you." 
 
 " The creature is good, but too slight. He'll 
 not stand out a hard ride." 
 
 " Let him, then, drop under you, so as you 
 but reach your goal. Only hasten, for Hea- 
 ven's sake, before the deed is spread abroad !"" 
 
 " Then saddle the palfrey," said Tausdorf to 
 his servant ; " and lead him on before to the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 187 
 
 Striegauer gate. I will come straight after 
 you." 
 
 The servant obeyed. 
 
 " But how was it possible," said Althea, 
 " that with all your coolness and moderation, 
 you could suffer yourself to be provoked by the 
 wretched drunkard to this rash act, the con- 
 sequences of which are so evident?" 
 
 " Woman," replied Tausdorf, with gloomy 
 looks, " were an angel from heaven to come 
 down in a corporeal form, he could not remain 
 in peace if the evil-minded seriously set about 
 involving him in quarrels ! Believe me on my 
 knightly word, I was forced to draw the sword. 
 My life and honour were both at stake ; and if 
 I am no longer to defend these with my knightly 
 hand, I may bid adieu to the world, and creep 
 into a cloister. The thrust did, indeed, go 
 deeper than it should, but who, in the heat of 
 battle, can command his steel ? God be my 
 judge r 
 
 The palfrey was saddled and brought out. 
 Tausdorf again bade Althea farewell, pressed 
 her to his heart with the convulsive energy of
 
 188 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 grief, and rushed away. With slow steps she 
 reascended the stairs, and placed herself again 
 in the stone seat in the window. The tears 
 flowed hotly down her cheeks, while her anxious 
 heart swelled her bosom with strong and fre- 
 quent heavings. 
 
 She had sate thus for some time, when with 
 anxious speed her uncle entered the apartment. 
 
 " Have you heard it, niece ? Francis Friend 
 has been found dead in the Park, not far from 
 the bowling-green, and report names our Taus- 
 dorf for his murderer." 
 
 " Alas ! alas!" sobbed Althea ; " this misfor- 
 tune will cost me too my life." 
 
 " Gracious Heavens ! It is true, then ? But 
 the unlucky man has fled ? for, if they catch 
 him here, he is lost. He might rather hope to 
 find mercy from the Spanish inquisition, or 
 from the prince of darkness himself, than from 
 the old Erasmus." 
 
 " He has fled upon my palfrey, and if he only 
 gets a good start of them I deem him saved."" 
 
 " God grant it ! but as I hurried hither the 
 prefects of the quarter were running about like
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 189 
 
 mad. To a certainty they will raise a hue and 
 cry after him. Has he been long gone ?" 
 
 Althea remained without answering, for the 
 hurried trot of many horses had caused her to 
 look out of the window. A party of the city 
 police were riding by, well armed and with 
 speed, over the market-place to the Striegauer 
 gate. 
 
 " Gracious Heavens ! Too soon ! n sighed the 
 
 O 
 
 poor Althea, and sank in a swoon to the ground. 
 
 The night had come on, and the moon threw 
 her first beams over the silent country. Taus- 
 dorf just then rode his panting horse into Salz- 
 brunn, with many a glance behind to see if he 
 could yet discover any of his pursuers. Unfor- 
 tunately he heard from the town the snorting 
 and the tramp of many horses. 
 
 " Hold out but this once, poor beast !" he ex- 
 claimed to his horse, and again plunged the 
 spurs into his bleeding flanks. But the weary 
 animal made only a few weak efforts, and fell
 
 190 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 back again into his short trot, interrupted by 
 frequent stumbles, while the sound of horses' 
 feet kept constantly nearing. 
 
 "It is then a struggle for life or death !" 
 cried Tausdorf ; drew his sword, and his left 
 hand grasped his holster-pistols. 
 
 " Stop, murderer, stop !" cried the first horse- 
 man, springing forward. " You are our pri- 
 soner. Follow us to Schweidnitz." 
 
 " Keep yourselves out of harm's way, good 
 people," cried Tausdorf, turning round his 
 horse : "I am well armed, and have nothing 
 to do with you." 
 
 " You have slain the son of our burgomaster, 
 and are therefore forfeited to our criminal law," 
 retorted two of the marshalmen, waving their 
 swords, while the others came up and surrounded 
 the knight. 
 
 " Surrender!" exclaimed the chief of them, 
 " that we may not have to use force, by which 
 you are sure to come off worst." 
 
 " Not alive !" cried Tausdorf. " I am here 
 in the Fiirstentein territory, and to the Fur- 
 stentein tribunal will I surrender myself, that
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 191 
 
 the Oberlandeshauptmann may try me for my 
 deed. To the sentence of the court of Schweid- 
 nitz I never will submit." 
 
 " By no means," replied the marshal. " Where 
 you have committed the crime, there must 
 you be judged. Therefore, yield yourself im- 
 mediately, or I '11 have you rode down, and the 
 damage is your own." 
 
 In the meantime the tumult, the cry of mur- 
 der, and the loud parley, had brought the pea- 
 sants of Saltzbrunn thither. They came with 
 poles and spears, and stared at the parties, 
 whom they surrounded. 
 
 " Help us to seize the murderer !" cried the 
 marshalman, who had but little inclination to 
 venture on the single man with his whole troop. 
 
 " Not at all," replied the village magistrate. 
 " You are here, gentlemen, upon the imperial 
 fief of Saltzbrunn; and, as I understand, the 
 knight is willing to give himself up to our 
 tribunal. That is law, and so it must be. In 
 the meantime I answer for the prisoner till I 
 have informed our gracious mistress, the Lady
 
 192 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 of Hochberg, and afterwards right will be done 
 to all parties." 
 
 " That I should have to dispute thus with 
 a village magistrate about obeying the com- 
 mands of the council at Schweidnitz P ex- 
 claimed the marshal indignantly. " Peasants, 
 I again warn you to help us seize the murderer, 
 as good and true neighbours. You expose your- 
 selves to a heavy responsibility if he escapes 
 us through your fault ; while, on the contrary, 
 I promise you a rich reward for your services 
 from the noble council." 
 
 " Here 's an opportunity of gaining some- 
 thing," whispered one peasant to the other ; and 
 soon the whole party cried out in chorus, with 
 lifted poles, " Surrender yourself, Sir knight." 
 
 " For God's sake, do not compel me to 
 murder P' said Tausdorf earnestly, and waved 
 his sword. 
 
 " Forwards !" commanded the marshal, and 
 rushed with his horsemen upon Tausdorf; who 
 instantly fired his pistol, but the ball only struck 
 one of the horses. The knight now used his
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 193 
 
 sword gallantly, but his enemies were too 
 powerful, and his steed was too much exhausted 
 for him to wheel about amongst them with the 
 skill and tricks of horsemanship. During this, 
 too, the peasants had come on with courage, 
 and struck at him from a distance with their 
 long poles. The opposition of the honest 
 magistrate was lost, amidst this murderous up- 
 roar. At last a pole struck Tausdorf "s head : 
 he fell senseless from his horse, and the crowd 
 rushed upon him with rude shouts of scorn and 
 laughter. Bound with disgraceful bonds, they 
 set him upon a horse, and the police returned 
 in triumph with him to Schweidnitz. 
 
 In the hour of midnight the council was 
 collected in the senate-house at Schweidnitz. 
 The two tall candles which stood on the tahle 
 lighted the high and gloomy Sessions'-room but 
 sparingly. The council had collected in single 
 groups, and conversed in low and troubled 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 whispers. Alone, and with his hands behind 
 his back, as was his custom, paced Erasmus, 
 up and down, slow and silent ; but on his old 
 and venerable face the storm of the most violent 
 passions was throwing up its waves. 
 
 " Tausdorf is just brought in and placed in 
 the Hildebrand," announced the Marshal Cle- 
 ment Kernichen. 
 
 " God be praised !" said Erasmus, with a 
 dreadful look towards heaven, and went to his 
 seat. 
 
 " Ad loca, gentlemen !" he exclaimed to the 
 counsellors; and when they had taken their 
 places, he said with proud dignity, " The mur- 
 derer is in our power ; it is time, then, for us 
 to do our duty. Let double watches be placed 
 at the door. These will remain closed against 
 every one till justice is satisfied. At the break 
 of day the judges shall hold a criminal court ; 
 and as the murdered person was my son, Doctor 
 Jacob Grenwitz will preside in my place. I 
 do not conceal from you, colleagues, that the 
 criminal has a strong party here, and that all 
 the nobles will be on his side. Therefore,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 195 
 
 that justice may have its course, unchecked of 
 human fears, I herewith declare the town in 
 danger, and the council permanent. The horse- 
 police shall be collectively summoned, and mount 
 guard before the Sessions'-house completely 
 armed ; the gens d'armes shall be at their alarm- 
 posts ; the various guilds be warned to hold 
 themselves in readiness with their weapons, that 
 they may come forward at the first sound of the 
 alarm-bell. Put all this into execution imme- 
 diately, Mr. Marshalman, and then return to 
 our sessions to report progress and receive our 
 farther orders." 
 
 " God deliver us ! how will all this end ?" 
 sighed Kernichen, and left the room ; in which 
 a deadly silence prevailed, as each of the council 
 was sufficiently occupied with his own thoughts, 
 and yet hesitated to impart them to another. 
 In the midst of this the city-serjeant, Rudolph, 
 announced Doctor Heidenreich, who wished to 
 speak in private with the burgomaster. 
 
 " In the little room by the judges' chamber," 
 said Erasmus, whither he went himself. The 
 doctor was already waiting for him, and by his
 
 196 
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 dress it might be seen that he had just jumped 
 out of bed, and flung them on in a hurry. 
 
 " Let my hurry excuse the carelessness of 
 my attire, Mr. Burgomaster; necessity knows 
 no law. A report runs through the town, that 
 Tausdorf has been seized at Saltzbrunn by 
 your servants, and now lies a prisoner in the 
 Hildebrand." 
 
 " Such is the truth/' replied Erasmus calmly. 
 " That is a great misfortune for the town," 
 sighed Heidenreich. 
 
 " Are you out of your senses? If you have 
 nothing more rational to bring forward, you 
 had better have remained in bed and slept off 
 your wonderful dreams." 
 
 " Mr. Burgomaster!" cried Heidenreich 
 firmly, and seized the old man's hand ; " you 
 know me for an honest citizen of this town, and 
 a true friend to your family. The last, in par- 
 ticular, I should think I proved to you not very 
 long ago. I, therefore, of all others, may well 
 speak out to you boldly and plainly; and now 
 entreat you, by the ancient honour of your office, 
 do not this time give way to your love of
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 197 
 
 vengeance, however alluring may seem the op- 
 portunity." 
 
 " What are you dreaming of?" cried Eras- 
 mus, tearing away his hand from him. " Do I 
 intend sitting in judgment myself on the mur- 
 derer of my own son ? Doctor Grenwitz will 
 preside, in my place, over the criminal tribunal. 1 " 
 
 " Through whose mouth he will only echo 
 your sentence ! I must pray you to take off the 
 mask before so old and faithful an acquaintance. 
 You wish to destroy Tausdorf. That you have 
 more than one reason for wishing it is plain to 
 me ; that in so doing you will preserve the forms 
 of law is no more than I expect from your pru- 
 dence ; but you are wrong in the main point. 
 The criminal jurisdiction over this man does 
 not belong to the town." 
 
 " How ! Does not the emperor Wenceslaus' 
 charter of 1384 give us full authority and power 
 to seek, take, judge and execute, with imperial 
 privilege, all offenders, when and in whatever 
 place they may be found, and for whatever 
 offences ?"
 
 198 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " The charter applies to thieves and robbers 
 that may be apprehended within your juris- 
 diction. You cannot apply it to a nobleman 
 and officer of his imperial majesty, whom you 
 have arrested, contrary to all right, in the 
 Fiirstentein territory, and against the decree of 
 king Wladislaus and the Convention of forty- 
 five." 
 
 " Tausdorf is a vagabond Bohemian and 
 adventurer, with whom there is no occasion for 
 using much ceremony." 
 
 " By no means, Mr. Burgomaster ; I have 
 inquired narrowly into the matter. He is a 
 native Silesian vassal. The father was pos- 
 sessed and settled in the hereditary princi- 
 pality, and the son is about to purchase an estate 
 in Bogendorf. This affair comes under the 
 jurisdiction of the prince palatine." 
 
 " That he may again do us such excellent 
 justice as in the case ofBieler's murder? or 
 as in those violent assaults which the nobles, 
 since that time, have indulged in against the 
 citizens? No; once I have given way to the
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 199 
 
 arrogance of the priest, but never again so long 
 as I am burgomaster in Schweidnitz." 
 
 " If, then, you could hope to obtain strict 
 justice from the lord bishop, you would leave 
 the farther proceedings to him ?" 
 
 Erasmus was about to answer at once, but 
 again bethought himself, and said wrathfully, 
 " You are an old fox, with whom one must not 
 use too many words, lest you should turn them 
 into snares. It does not become a counsellor 
 to talk of what he would do if things stood 
 otherwise. Enough if we know what we have 
 to do * rebus sic stantibus.' We owe an account 
 of our proceedings only to the emperor, next 
 under God ; and we will account for them when 
 it is demanded of us, either on earth, or before 
 the Eternal judgment-seat." 
 
 " You have spoken a word of deep import, 
 Mr. Burgomaster : God grant that you may be 
 able one day to stand by it. I would only once 
 again impress this upon you ; Tausdorf is uni- 
 versally beloved; all will take part with him and 
 against you ; and if you were as right in your
 
 200 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 proceeding, as, by Heavens ! you are wrong, 
 you would still plunge this town into unutter- 
 able grief and ruin." 
 
 " Fiat justitia et pereat mundus /" cried the 
 burgomaster, and left him. 
 
 The first gray of morning contended strangely 
 with the yellow light of the candles in the room 
 wherein the judges had assembled to hold a 
 criminal court. The city serjeant was just lead- 
 ing out Martin Heubert, Tausdorf 's boy, whom 
 they had been interrogating, and the town- 
 advocate, Kernicher, entered with Melchior 
 Lange and Paul Reimann, who had been view- 
 ing the wounds of the body. The advocate 
 laid before the chief-judge, in silence, the book 
 in which was entered the result of his inquiry. 
 Behind him came Tausdorf in chains, sur- 
 rounded by gens-d'armes ; his face was pale, 
 and his clothes soiled and torn by the vio- 
 lence at Saltzbrunn, but still he bore himself 
 with knightly dignity. The procurator arose and
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 201 
 
 lifted up the accusation of blood against him ; 
 and he was summoned once and again twice 
 after the ancient custom. Upon this the ex- 
 amination began, and Tausdorf related the un- 
 fortunate affair frankly and honestly as it had 
 really happened. 
 
 " Francis Friend," he said in conclusion, 
 " enticed me to the place where the misfortune 
 occurred, reviled me, and at last fell upon me 
 with his naked sword. Hereupon I defended 
 myself as a soldier, to save my honour, my body, 
 my life, and that which then happened I was 
 forced to do. I understand not the law, and 
 therefore be not precipitate, but allow me an 
 advocate to conduct my cause : I will reward 
 him richly." 
 
 The chief judge rang his bell. " The pro- 
 curator, Hans Reimann !" he exclaimed to the 
 serjeant who answered the summons. The latter 
 went out, and the procurator appeared. 
 
 " We have given you to the accused as his 
 defender," said the judge. " Consult with him." 
 
 " Your pardon, gentlemen," replied the pro-
 
 202 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 curator; " I have no inclination for the task. 
 Francis Friend was always on a good footing 
 with me : and besides, I should not like to plead 
 for a manifest assassin." 
 
 " The council will be hardly satisfied with 
 this. Such defence belongs to your office, and 
 you cannot refuse it without giving up the office 
 itself. But come with me to the gentlemen of 
 the council; you may have their answer from 
 themselves." 
 
 He went away with the procurator. The 
 silence of expectation prevailed through the 
 room. Tausdorf went to the window, leaned 
 upon the breast-work, and, gazing upon the 
 dark gray clouds, which had already received 
 golden edges from the rising sun, he sighed 
 " Althea!" 
 
 At last the two returned. 
 
 " You submit, then?" said the judge to the 
 procurator, as they retired. 
 
 *' What one must, one must !" replied the 
 procurator. 
 
 Tausdorf went up to him, and said with
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 203 
 
 friendly dignity, " I pray you, sir, conduct my 
 defence truly ; I do not understand this matter, 
 and will reward your labour. If the business 
 were the ordering of a battle, I should know 
 better what I was about." 
 
 " Say on, then," replied the procurator, 
 gaping : " how am I to defend you ?"" 
 
 " In God's name P' cried Tausdorf angrily, 
 " how should I, who have been devoted to arms 
 from my youth, teach you what you are to say 
 for me before the tribunal ? The little Latin 
 which I learnt at Gitschin is of no use here. 
 But you are a studied man, well informed in the 
 law, and must best know what will conduce to 
 my advantage." 
 
 " It will all be of no use," muttered the 
 procurator ; " but relate the tale to me cir- 
 cumstantially, that I may thoroughly compre- 
 hend it/' 
 
 Again poor Tausdorf undertook the sad 
 labour of narrating the tale of blood. The 
 procurator listened to him, gaping, and then 
 briefly repeated what he had heard to the tri- 
 bunal, concluding with, " You have now heard
 
 204 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Tausdorf 's statement of the affair, gentlemen, 
 and I submit it to your decision."" 
 
 " Is that your whole defence ?" cried the 
 knight indignantly, while this statement was 
 being protocolled. " May our Saviour one day 
 speak for your sins before the judgment-seat of 
 God, as you have spoken for me in this hour 
 before the tribunal of man !" 
 
 " Have you any thing else to advance ?" said 
 the judge to the accused and his defender ; and 
 as they were silent, he rang the bell, saying, 
 " The audit is closed. Let the knight be con- 
 veyed back again to the Hildebrand," he added 
 to the serjeant, who then entered. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Tausdorf, with manly 
 firmness, " I do not believe that you have a 
 right to pronounce judgment on me ; but if you 
 do hold yourselves so empowered, I warn you 
 honestly, when you give your votes, to keep 
 your conscience and your dying hour before 
 your eyes. It is an easy thing for you to slay 
 me, for I am in your power ; but innocent blood 
 cries with a thousand voices to Heaven, and 
 God is just."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 205 
 
 He went away with his guard, followed by 
 his model of a defender, and the judges laid 
 their heads together in anxious whisperings. 
 
 In the meantime the day had fully broken, 
 and a bright July sun shone upon the over- 
 watched faces of the council, who were still 
 collected in the Sessions'-chamber, and had 
 reclined themselves against the windows to 
 prevent their going to sleep. The iron old 
 Erasmus alone sat at the green table with bright 
 wakeful eyes, and played with the golden medal 
 appended to his chain of honour. By his side 
 stood the vice-consul, Christopher Drescher, 
 behind a chair, which he rocked to and fro 
 impatiently. 
 
 " The judges must have come to a decision 
 by this time, 11 said Erasmus, as if to himself. 
 
 "If they only come to a right one," replied 
 Drescher emphatically. 
 
 " No fear of that ; although parties may at
 
 206* THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 times run high amongst ourselves, yet against 
 the outward enemy we all stand as one man ; 
 and if Then we are at the goal, brother." 
 
 " I only wish you had not forced poor Rei- 
 mann to defend him. If he should happen to 
 bring forward things which we can't answer ?" 
 
 " Some defender Tausdorf could not but 
 have ; the forms of the law demanded so much, 
 and to forms we must strictly adhere on this 
 occasion. Between ourselves, too, could you 
 in all Schweidnitz have hunted out a worse 
 advocate than this Reimann ?" 
 
 " You have seen farther than I have," cried 
 the vice-consul, after a pause : " Concede" 
 
 A servant now brought in a letter to the bur- 
 gomaster, which he opened and read 
 
 " An Intercessionale in favour of the prisoner 
 by the Herr von Schindel, resident of this place, 
 and now laid up with the gout," said Erasmus 
 to the council. " The petitioner presumes to 
 defend the accused, uncalled for, and to impugn 
 the competency of our tribunal. Ad acta /" 
 
 " The Frau von Netz, too, waits below in 
 great trouble/' added the servitor, " and im-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 207 
 
 plores, in Heaven's name, a secret audience of 
 your excellency." 
 
 " The proud nobles can now stoop them- 
 selves to entreaties," exclaimed the burgo- 
 master triumphantly; " but it's all of no use." 
 
 He went out. The poor Althea stood there, 
 her face in a veil wet with tears, and she ap- 
 proached him with clasped and uplifted hands. 
 
 " Will it please you to walk in ?" asked Eras- 
 mus with cold politeness, and opened the door 
 of the little audience-chamber. 
 
 She tottered after him. He placed a chair f 
 motioned to her to sit down, and placed himself 
 opposite. 
 
 " What is your pleasure, noble lady ?" he 
 asked, after a short time, during which she was 
 unable to speak from sobbing. " Our time is 
 peculiarly valuable to-day." 
 
 " Mercy !" at length cried the poor peti- 
 tioner in the most moving tones of anguish ; 
 " Mercy for my intended husband !" 
 
 " That is with God !" replied Erasmus. " In 
 my weighty office I recognize but the duty of 
 justice. If such a crime were to remain un-
 
 208 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 punished, I should have to account hereafter 
 to the Highest for the innocent victims, which 
 might in future be sacrificed to the arrogance 
 of the nobles." 
 
 " I do not pray for the absolution of the un- 
 fortunate one; I only pray that the business 
 may be brought before the bishop or the em- 
 peror, and I offer to be his security till then 
 with my whole property." 
 
 " The murder has been committed within 
 our jurisdiction, and must be punished by our 
 tribunal." 
 
 " And do you call it a murder that Tausdorf, 
 to defend his own life, slew your son against his 
 will?" 
 
 " It is not for us two to decide upon this 
 point, Frau von Netz ; for I am the father of 
 the murdered, and you are the intended of the 
 murderer. The judges will settle it upon their 
 oaths." 
 
 " Mr. Burgomaster, we are alone ; I would 
 not by Heavens I would not, offend you ; but 
 the terrors of death give me courage for the 
 question; can money save Tausdorf? My
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 209 
 
 uncle, von Schinclel, is rich ; we have friends 
 amongst the nobles of the country. Fix the 
 sum." 
 
 " If you were not a woman," exclaimed the 
 burgomaster furiously ; " if you were not a wo- 
 man, you should fare ill with this twofold insult, 
 to the dignity of my office, and to my heart as 
 a father. Gold for blood ! That is one of the 
 maxims of you nobles, when the question, is of a 
 citizen's life. But the Polish times are over, when 
 the high-born murderer had only to fling the 
 price of blood upon the corse of the murdered, 
 and thus remain free from all retribution. When 
 the nobleman of Siegwitz shot the citizen's 
 daughter, his drinking companions thought that 
 such a girl might well be paid for; but the 
 council there did not think so, and the head of 
 the assassin fell." 
 
 " Oh my heart !" sighed Althea, and stood 
 for a time struck with grief and horror at ihese 
 words of wrath ; then on a sudden, collecting 
 her spirits, she flung herself before the burgo- 
 master and embraced his knees. 
 
 " Mercy !" she cried, and lifted up her beau- 
 
 VOL. i. p
 
 210 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 tiful blue eyes to the inexorable one with 
 so much fervour, that in spite of his iron re- 
 solution an unpleasant feeling oppressed his 
 heart, and he was leaning down to her with pity, 
 when the marshal entered to announce that the 
 judges had presented themselves to the council 
 and waited for the worshipful burgomaster. 
 At this the old evil spirit returned in him. He 
 started up with vehemence, and sought to dis- 
 engage Althea's hands from his knees. 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, what will you do?" 
 cried the unhappy victim. 
 
 " My duty !" replied the man of the stony 
 heart, and walked away with firm and echoing 
 steps. 
 
 The sufferer breathed a deep and piercing 
 sigh, as if in that moment the tender thread of 
 her life was broken, and her head fell in a kind 
 swoon upon the seat of the chair before which 
 she had been kneeling. 
 
 The criminal court had laid its sentence be- 
 fore the council. Its adoption and immediate
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 execution were unanimously resolved upon, the 
 judges were again collected in their sessions' 
 chamber, and the pale, fettered Tausdorf stood 
 before them with his guard, while the chief of 
 the court read thus : 
 
 " As the noble and honourable Kaspar 
 Sparrenberger, surnamed Tausdorf, hath stab- 
 bed, and thus brought from life to death the 
 in like manner noble and honourable Francis 
 Friend, and as this deed is open and mani- 
 fest, and he himself cannot, and does not, 
 deny it, therefore the imperial town-court of 
 Schweidnitz adjudges that Tausdorf, notwith- 
 standing his defence, has forfeited his life for 
 such murder, and consequently, according to 
 the law and custom of the land, shall be exe- 
 cuted with the sword." 
 
 With this the provost took up a white- 
 peeled willow wand which lay before him on 
 the table, broke it in two, and throwing the 
 pieces at the feet of the condemned, cried, 
 
 " The sentence is spoken, 
 The staff is broken."
 
 212 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " You must die, and the Lord have mercy 
 on your soul!" exclaimed the provosts, and 
 overturned their seats with a heavy clatter. 
 
 " I appeal from this unjust sentence to the 
 prince palatine of Silesia and the emperor," 
 cried Tausdorf in a loud voice unshaken by this 
 horrid ceremony. 
 
 " Such appeal cannot be made according to 
 our privileges and customs," replied the chief 
 provost. " The execution follows here upon 
 the heels of the sentence." 
 
 " Then I appeal to the tribunal of God," said 
 Tausdorf, without losing his presence of mind 
 " to the tribunal of God, before which we 
 must one day all meet again. When am I to 
 
 " In two hours." 
 
 " You are very quick, you gentlemen of 
 Schweidnitz. But I suppose I may see my 
 bride again ?" 
 
 " The council has forbidden it, as well on 
 account of the loss of time connected with it as 
 of the unavoidable lamentation and disturb- 
 ance."
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 213 
 
 " Ay, indeed ! You gentlemen have true 
 hangmen's hearts, with room therein for bar- 
 barity as well as injustice. Yet I hope the 
 time will be just sufficient to prepare me fit- 
 tingly for my departure. I wish to confess 
 first, and receive the holy sacrament. Have 
 the goodness to send me a priest of my per- 
 suasion, and afterwards a notary to draw up my 
 last will." 
 
 " Both shall be done," replied the provost, 
 and made a sign to the city-marshal, who went 
 out. 
 
 " Moreover I was put into a bad plight in my 
 arrest at Salzbrunn by your runners, and their 
 rabble,' 1 continued Tausdorf, surveying his 
 person indignantly ; " and it is not fitting that a 
 knight should die publicly in so unworthy a 
 state, as a mockery to your people ; therefore 
 send to the Frau von Netz, that she may for- 
 ward to me my red velvet suit of ceremony for 
 my last travel." 
 
 " It shall be done according to your desire," 
 said the chief provost, confounded by the proud 
 calmness of the condemned.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " The chaplain is ready for you below, Herr 
 von Tausdorf, in my little room below the cus- 
 tom-house," announced the city-marshal. 
 
 " Then I must first reconcile myself with my 
 enemies according to the duty of a Christian. I 
 pray you, therefore, gentlemen, to forgive me 
 for having through my unlucky deed given you 
 occasion for the sin of injustice. On my part I 
 willingly and freely pardon you my death. God 
 favour you with an early repentance ! May my 
 blood be the last which shall flow in this un- 
 happy feud betwixt the nobility and citizens." 
 
 He departed with the city-marshal ; the gens- 
 d^rmes followed. The provosts looked at each 
 other sadly troubled, and from the provost- 
 chief escaped the exclamation, " The business 
 will not be over with the head that is to fall 
 here. Heaven turn all to the best !" 
 
 The burgomaster had for a short time be- 
 taken himself to his house to give orders for
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 215 
 
 the burial of his son. He had just dismissed the 
 church-servants, and looked from the bow-win- 
 dow of his audience-chamber with silent an- 
 guish on the black-mantled undertakers who 
 were carrying out Francis's coffin to the custom- 
 house, where the body still lay, when doctor 
 Heidenreich came in unsummoned. Erasmus 
 received him with angry exclamations. 
 
 " So, you will not cease to torment me ? I 
 thought that the contested point had been suf- 
 ficiently discussed between us last night ; as to 
 any change, that is past all question now, since 
 the sentence has been pronounced." 
 
 " I know it," said Heidenreich, troubled. 
 " You have condemned Tausdorf to the sword !" 
 
 " Not J," interrupted Erasmus vehemently ; 
 " but the provost's court at Schweidnitz. The 
 council has, indeed, approved the sentence ; but 
 in regard to that personal interest which I take 
 in the affair, I did not even deem it proper to 
 subscribe my name." 
 
 " I neither ask of you generosity nor favour. 
 But I demand justice of you for your own sake ; 
 you are on the point of committing a crying act
 
 216 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 of injustice, and of thereby rending the honour- 
 able garland that a long active life has wound 
 about your brows. Your sentence is not only 
 against all equity, but against the laws." 
 
 " Against the laws? Mr. Doctor, put a 
 guard upon your tongue, that it may not bring 
 your body into trouble." 
 
 IK?' I have heard the murderous story from 
 Tausdorf's servant. Your son was killed by 
 the accused in his just defence. Does not the 
 penal code of Charles the Fifth expressly state, 
 that if any one falls upon, assaults, or strikes 
 another with deadly weapons, and the person so 
 attacked cannot] escape without risk and jeo- 
 pardy to his body, life, honour, or good report, he 
 may then peril life and limb in his just defence 
 without incurring any punishment and if, 
 moreover, he kills the aggressor, he is not to 
 be, therefore, deemed guilty, nor is he bound 
 to delay with his defence till he is struck, al- 
 though otherwise against written laws and 
 usages ?" 
 
 " You have long been known to me as a 
 shrewd advocate, 1 ' answered Erasmus with
 
 THK PATRICIANS. 217 
 
 mockery ; " but the Carolina* has not yet been 
 formally published to us, and above all things 
 the act of self-defence should have been proved. 
 The mouth of my poor son is shut, the declara- 
 tion of the accused and of his servant proves 
 nothing."" 
 
 " There was also a page of Tausdorf 's pre- 
 sent ; and a woman saw the battle from the gar- 
 den-wall. In the testimony of three witnesses 
 consists truth." 
 
 " The witnesses of whom you speak,' 1 replied 
 the burgomaster, confused, " did not present 
 themselves for examination. It was, besides, 
 for the judges to decide whether their exami- 
 nation was requisite." 
 
 " But I think, Mr. Burgomaster, it was for 
 your own honour to seek out these witnesses, 
 and to defer the execution of the sentence till 
 then, that it might not be said you wished to 
 destroy the accused from a wretched spirit of 
 revenge. 11 
 
 " I am weary of your insolence ; instantly 
 
 * The Carolina is a criminal law published by Charles the Fifth, 
 called Lex Carolina, or simply as here Carolina.
 
 218 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 take yourself out of my four walls, Mr. Doctor, 
 or I shall give you lodgings in the Hildebrand 
 as a malcontent and fomenter of discord ; they 
 are just now vacant." 
 
 " You thrust your better angel from your 
 side, 1 ' replied Heidenreich sadly. " I have not 
 spoken out of favour to the accused, whom I 
 do not know, but from old friendship to your- 
 self. You will not listen to me, and I wash my 
 hands in innocence. But I tell you a day will 
 come when you will think of my words and of 
 this hour with repentance, alas, too late !" 
 
 He left the room. Erasmus went to the win- 
 dow to cool the angry glow upon his face in the 
 fresh air, when he saw the gouty Schindel, who 
 was being carried in a chair by servants towards 
 the burgomaster's house. 
 
 " Nothing was wanting but the old gossip 
 with his tedious conciliatory efforts," exclaimed 
 Erasmus, and running out he gave the servant 
 strict orders to show the door to Schindel. 
 
 The servant went, and when the burgomaster 
 returned to his room, the preacher Samuel, of 
 St. Mary's church, a gloomy zealot, forced him-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 219 
 
 self upon him to condole with the powerful 
 regent on the death of his son. With infinite 
 unction he groaned out, " If, worthy sir, it is 
 sad, mournful, pitiable, and most grievous to 
 lose a dear, beloved child by a natural death, 
 how much more sad, mournful, pitiable, and 
 grievous must it be for a father when a health- 
 ful son is snatched from him through God"s 
 severe, though wise and gracious dispensation, 
 by so sudden, violent, and horrid a death, with- 
 out first having time to confess and repent 
 his errors, so that in the full flower of his sins 
 he is hurried away before the eternal judg- 
 ment-seat !" 
 
 " For God's sake, comfort better, Mr. 
 Preacher," cried Erasmus angrily : " You pour 
 aqua-fortis instead of balsam into the wounds 
 of a father's heart." 
 
 " The heart of man is an obstinate thing," 
 replied the preacher; " it must be utterly torn 
 and crushed that it may become truly sensible 
 of the consolation of the Gospel ; and if you will 
 only allow me a short time, I will undertake so 
 to work upon you, that you shall with pleasure 
 kiss the hand which has struck you thus hardly,
 
 220 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 and, like a true Christian, shall attune a re- 
 j oicing Hosannah on the grave of your mur- 
 dered son." 
 
 During this harangue the brow of Erasmus 
 grew mightily wrinkled, and he was about to 
 answer the wretched comforter in no very 
 friendly way, when the door opened, and Althea 
 entered, leading her boy. 
 
 " This is not to be borne !" he exclaimed to 
 her. " We have nothing more to say to each 
 other, Frau von Netz, and I consider it highly 
 indecent that you should force yourself upon 
 me in this way, unannounced, only to burthen 
 me with entreaties, which my oath forbids my 
 hearkening to." 
 
 " Misfortune has its peculiar privileges," re- 
 plied Althea in a faint and tuneless voice ; " I 
 was prepared for all harshness when I resolved 
 to come here, and you can treat me as seems 
 good and proper to yourself ; but you must hear 
 me once again ; I will not stir from this spot 
 first." 
 
 " Speak, then, that I may at last get quit of 
 this torment." 
 
 " My intended husband is condemned to die.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 221 
 
 I will no longer contend with you whether he 
 has deserved death, or whether you have a 
 right to inflict it ; but the power of pardon he- 
 longs incontestably to the emperor. I, there- 
 fore, only implore you to defer the execution of 
 the sentence till the return of a messenger 
 whom I will despatch to Vienna with my sup- 
 plication. That cannot militate against your 
 office. On the contrary, it would become you 
 not to anticipate the clemency of your master in 
 a business wherein you must yourself confess 
 you are a party. In the meantime let the con- 
 demned remain in your power, and if the em- 
 peror pronounces the dreadful NO, we must sub- 
 mit to what cannot be avoided." 
 
 " Let the Herr von Tausdorf live, dear bur- 
 gomaster, 1 " said the little Henry, at other times 
 so defying, but now in tears, and kissed- the 
 hand of Erasmus with humility. " I am a father- 
 less orphan, and he would be so good a father 
 to me !" 
 
 But the burgomaster withdrew his hand 
 from the child, and eyed now him, now Althea, 
 with piercing glances.
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Take our share in Bogendorf for the brief 
 respite," cried Althea, observing the inveteracy 
 in the eyes of Erasmus. " I will readily make 
 it over to you this very day, and support myself 
 and my son by the labour of my hands, if by 
 that I can only purchase the slightest hope for 
 the safety of the man whom my soul loves." 
 
 " You are a fair and a wise lady, Frau von 
 Netz," said the burgomaster at last ; " but the 
 old Erasmus is yet too wise for you. You will 
 not find in him the fool you seek." 
 
 " Let mercy prevail !" cried Althea in de- 
 spair, and embraced his knees with wild energy. 
 " Let mercy prevail, as you would that God 
 should one day be merciful to you !" 
 
 " Back !" exclaimed the burgomaster indig- 
 nantly, and pushed her from him. " My son is 
 dead. Neither your wealth nor your tears can 
 make him alive again. Blood demands blood, 
 and Tausdorf must die !" 
 
 " Not another word of supplication," cried 
 the little Henry to his mother, who was ex- 
 hausted by her agony ; " tis a pity you offered 
 any to the wicked man. Has not uncle Netz
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 228 
 
 told you a hundred times that the rich burgo- 
 master is as cold and as hard as the dollars of 
 which he is always boasting so much ? Come, 
 mother ; we cannot beg the good man free, and 
 therefore we will weep for him as long as we 
 have eyes. But this house is not worthy of 
 your tears ;" and then turning to Erasmus, he 
 said, with a dignity and spirit beyond his years, 
 " You have heavily vexed and offended the 
 Frau von Netz, Mr. Burgomaster, and it is the 
 duty of a good son to avenge every insult which 
 his mother has had to endure. At present my 
 arm is not strong enough for my inclination ; 
 but, please God, I shall grow every day larger 
 and stouter, and I think to be able to wield 
 the sword shortly. For this time I denounce 
 feud against you, and whatever may come of 
 it, murder or fire, I shall have set my honour 
 above your impeachment." 
 
 He pulled away his mother with him, and 
 Erasmus said to the preacher, " Do you hear 
 how the young snake can hiss already ? But 
 follow the lady, if you will be so good, comfort 
 her by virtue of your holy office, and exhort
 
 224' THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 her to betake herself to her own house, that she 
 may not excite the people by her lamentations 
 in the streets, and force me to send her home 
 by a couple of gens-d'armes." 
 
 " Well advised !" replied the preacher, and 
 hastened after Althea, whom he found at the 
 street-door, her head leaning against one of 
 the stone columns of the portal, while Henry 
 stroked her hand consolingly, and wet it with 
 his tears. 
 
 " Submit yourself to the will of Heaven, 1 ' he 
 began ; " and this must be the easier to you 
 when you weigh the justice of the sentence 
 pronounced upon the culprit, who was once 
 dear to you. Such assassins and bloodhounds 
 must be forfeit to the executioner as a warning 
 to others, and for their own well-earned punish- 
 ment. Had not the council done justice in this 
 way, I had never endured to abide in the town ; 
 and, if I could not have walked out, I should 
 have crept out, with wife and children, from 
 this pit of murder, in which no honest man 
 could have been secure of his life any longer." 
 
 Althea lifted up to him her heavy eyes, that
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 225 
 
 were red and swollen with weeping, and merely 
 saying, " May God comfort you as you have 
 comforted me !" she sunk back into her old po- 
 sition. Still, however, the preacher continued 
 in the same strain for a time ; but when he per- 
 ceived that the sufferer no longer even listened 
 to his splendid grounds of consolation, he sud- 
 denly broke off, and removed himself, with a 
 look in which was couched an anathema. 
 
 In the mean time Christopher Friend came 
 out of the street-door and gazed tenderly on 
 Althea. 
 
 " Poor lady !" he at last said with a voice 
 of as much pity as he could force into it 
 " No doubt you would go up to my father 
 to implore him for the life of your betrothed ; 
 or you have already been with him, and re- 
 ceived an unfavourable answer. Yes ! I could 
 have told you that before. You would more 
 easily move the lions of granite that rest upon 
 these columns than my father in this neck- 
 breaking business. Would that I were the 
 reigning burgomaster in his place, to be able to 
 serve you, for I am not very angry with your 
 
 VOL, I, Q
 
 226 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 Tausdorf. My late brother was an evil man, 
 who probably ^brought this affair upon himself; 
 and it is a pity that so brave a knight should, 
 on his account, fall under the hands of the exe- 
 cutioner. I have, indeed, some influence with 
 my father, especially since I am his only son ; 
 and, if I were to run the risk of his anger and 
 put in a good word, I might at least, perhaps, 
 gain you a short delay, and time gained, all is 
 gained." 
 
 " Comfort often comes from where it is least 
 expected," stammered Althea, looking at him 
 with anxious doubt. " You, Mr. Christopher, 
 you have a heart for my sorrows ?" 
 
 t( What man of my years would not have a 
 heart for so fair a lady ?" replied Christopher, 
 smiling ; " but it is only death that can be had 
 for nothing ; life is expensive. Time presses, 
 and therefore I will open my mind to you briefly. 
 Herr Tausdorf is lost to you for ever ; if his life 
 even should be saved, which I hold for a 
 half impossibility, still he would not get off 
 without a long imprisonment and perpetual 
 exile from this country. Therefore give me
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 your fair hand, for which I have already sued 
 without success, and I will try what influence 
 I have over my father's heart." 
 
 Althea started back in horror, and laid her 
 right hand thoughtfully upon her forehead, 
 her left upon her poor heart, in which anguish 
 was working convulsively. But the inward 
 struggle was soon over, and with the calmness 
 of resignation she turned towards her ungene- 
 rous wooer. 
 
 " It would, indeed, be hard for me," she 
 said, " to follow a man who makes a trade of his 
 humanity, and to give this boy a father whom he 
 could not respect ; still I would make even this 
 .sacrifice for him I love, if I could believe that 
 he would accept it. But I am convinced that 
 he would sooner die a thousand times than let 
 me slowly pine away under the tortures of a 
 wretched marriage. Therefore let him and me 
 perish, in God's name ; I can never be yours." 
 
 She took her child by the hand, and departed 
 slowly with him up the street, towards the 
 market-place. 
 
 " Again nothing!" grumbled Christopher to
 
 228 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 himself; " the Netherlandress, too, won't have 
 me now. Had I known that it would have 
 been the same here, I hardly think that I should 
 have helped to play this trick. But a woman 
 would, at any time, talk over God himself, and 
 make him sin against his own commandments. 
 How have I burthened my conscience, and at 
 least one-half to no purpose ! The Devil take 
 all women ! If it were not for the housekeeping, 
 and the tricks of servants, I would not ask 
 after them, but remain a widower all my life 
 long. In the unmarried state one can lay out 
 so much upon one's self, and save into the bar- 
 gain ; and when at last I have buried my father 
 who can't hold out much longer with his con. 
 stant passions I shall be a substantial man, 
 and laugh at every one. Good Heavens !" 
 
 With this cry he broke off his noble soli- 
 loquy ; for before him, on a sudden, stood the 
 town-executioner, in his red cloak of office, 
 and, from his thin yellow face, the dark eyes 
 gleamed on Christopher with a savage joy ap- 
 propriate to this day of horror. All this was 
 in itself quite natural, but Christopher's con-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 science smote him hardly at the sight, and he 
 felt as if the hideous being had taken the 
 trouble to come there only on his account. 
 
 " Is the worshipful burgomaster above ?" 
 asked the executioner, with infinite courteous- 
 ness and his hat off to the son of his superior. 
 From sheer fright, Christopher was unable 
 to reply ; he simply pointed to the steps, stam- 
 mered out, " Above 1" and, creeping out of the 
 street-door by him with as much speed as if 
 he felt the sword at his neck, he hurried off. 
 
 In the city- marshal's room, below the cus- 
 tom-house, the noble Tausdorf was still kneel- 
 ing before the chaplain, who administered the 
 sacrament to him, and blessed him for death. 
 The priest then retired, but his clerk, instead 
 of following, barred the door behind him again, 
 advanced to Tausdorf, who just then was rising 
 from the ground, and asked, in a familiar voice, 
 " Do you know me ?" 
 
 " Rasselwitz !" cried Tausdorf, surprised.
 
 230 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " You have crept in, thus disguised, to bid me 
 farewell for this world. That is bravely done 
 of you, and I thank you heartily for your 
 love." 
 
 " I have something more important in my 
 thoughts," replied Rasselwitz quickly and 
 softly. " I would save you. Wrap my black cloak 
 about you, take the cap in your hand, follow the 
 chaplain as his clerk through the gens-d'armes; 
 he is still talking without to the city-marshal. 
 The holy man is in the secret, and goes from 
 here to the farthest end of the Striegauer 
 suburb to a sick person, and thence you may 
 easily escape." 
 
 " And you /"' asked Tausdorf, in deep emo- 
 tion, 
 
 " I !" replied Rasselwitz; " why I remain here 
 in the mean time, and laugh at the Serjeants, 
 when they come and find the nest empty." 
 
 *' That laugh would cost you dear/ 1 said 
 Tausdorf; " Heaven be praised that I have 
 more forethought than yourself. The council 
 and the provosts thirst after my blood like hun-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 381 
 
 gry tigers. They would be mad on finding me 
 snatched from them, and your head would 
 fall instead of mine." 
 
 " Not so," insisted Rasselwitz. " They would 
 fling me into the Hildebrand, which I already 
 know full well, and there I will abide patiently 
 till the bishop frees me." 
 
 " It might this time easily turn out other- 
 wise, and I dare not set the life of my preserver 
 on such possibilities, not to speak of the abuse 
 of the holy sacrament which you would per- 
 suade me to. I thank you for your noble offer, 
 but I remain." 
 
 " Pray take it, Herr von Tausdorf," cried 
 Rasselwitz, urgently. " I should delight in ha- 
 zarding something for you, more especially as 
 it seems to me as if I were half the cause 
 of your misfortune, although with no evil in- 
 tention. I have unconsciously drawn you into 
 the snare which, in the end, has closed de- 
 structively about you, and therefore I owe you 
 an atonement. Pray you now accept it." 
 
 " I do not understand your words, my young 
 friend, but only the good heart that speaks in
 
 232 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 them. You may, however, spare them in my 
 case ; for by my knightly word I stir not from 
 this room till my hour strikes. If you have 
 done me any wrong, knowingly or unknowingly, 
 I forgive you with all my heart, even without 
 atonement; for, that our Saviour has offered for 
 us all by his death upon the cross." 
 
 " I cannot let you die," cried Rasselwitz, 
 wildly ; " if you will not save yourself as I pro- 
 pose, I will call together as many brave nobles, 
 and their people, as may be collected in the 
 town. Unfortunately Netz is wanting, with 
 his adherents ; and, as the gates are closed, I 
 can send no message to him ; but still I will 
 undertake to muster fifty heads. We set fire 
 to the nest in twenty places, and in the con- 
 fusion we break through to you, and snatch 
 you, by force, from the teeth of the dragon." . 
 
 " Heaven defend me from such a saving ! It 
 would cost much noble and innocent blood, 
 which, in truth, would be too high a price for 
 this head. Were I to accept it, I should de- 
 serve the fate which awaits me. Leave me at 
 least the conviction that I die innocently : it is
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 235 
 
 my best consolation in this hour, and now de- 
 part, my friend, for my moments are num- 
 hered." 
 
 " You are a saint," cried Rasselwitz, in 
 tears, and kissing Tausdorf 's hand before he 
 could prevent it. " You do well to leave this 
 world, for it is much too bad for you. I obey 
 your will, but I must find out the spider which 
 lurked in the centre of this hellish web that has 
 \vound about you to your ruin, and, when I 
 have found it, I will crush it under my feet, 
 though your spirit should call down from Hea- 
 ven, ' have mercy !' " 
 
 He rushed out, and Tausdorf again fell upon 
 his knees, while his looks flew through the iron 
 bars with burning enthusiasm to the seat of 
 everlasting freedom. " You have highly fa- 
 voured me in life, eternal Father!" he exclaimed. 
 " Unspotted honour, pure love, and true friend- 
 ship, have adorned, with their noblest garlands, 
 this head, which I must now lay down in the 
 long sleep of the grave. Now, then, crown 
 thy work of mercy through a good death. 
 Grant that I may depart with courage, and
 
 THE 1'ATRICIANS. 
 
 without bitterness against my enemies, so that 
 I may appear before thy throne, not unworthy 
 of thy immortal son. 1 ' 
 
 The gens-cTarmes had drawn a triple circle 
 of spears about the stone columns before the 
 sessions-house cellars. Within, by a heap of 
 strewed sand, waited the executioner with his 
 sword beneath his red cloak. On the other 
 side of the circle the people thronged in a 
 dense mass. All the windows of the market- 
 place swarmed with spectators, while the roofs 
 and the chimney-tops were covered with men, 
 all expecting, with anxious curiosity and a 
 strange painful pleasure, the victim which 
 they yet lamented. 
 
 The bells of the parish church began to toll, 
 and the death-procession approached slowly 
 from the custom-house. By the side of the city- 
 marshal, surrounded by spearmen, walked the 
 uoble Tausdorf, free from fetters, and with his 
 accustomed nobleness. The tight red suit of 
 velvet sate handsomely upon his well-formed 
 limbs, and in his raven locks was woven a coronet 
 of flowers. The features of the pale face were
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 235 
 
 calm and cheerful, and in the glance of his 
 large black eye beamed a light that no longer 
 seemed to be of this world. With friendly 
 greetings to the by-standers, he entered the 
 circle. 
 
 " I die innocent," he exclaimed in a loud 
 clear voice, that sounded far beyond the mar- 
 ket-place. " But what earthly son shall dare 
 to boast himself free from all earthly failings ? 
 I therefore humbly pray to Heaven for pardon 
 for any acknowledged and unacknowledged 
 sins, and hope also, from your Christian charity, 
 that you will forgive me such, and put up your 
 prayers in my behalf, that I may have a blessed 
 end!" 
 
 A general sobbing answered this address, 
 and amidst it, from the distance, sounded the 
 lamenting voice of the poor Althea. 
 
 " If I could but see you once again !" 
 
 " This is more bitter than death," sighed 
 Tausdorf half to himself, and, turning to the 
 quarter whence her voice had come, he cried, 
 " My dear Althea, that c*n no more be in this
 
 236 THE PATRICIAN'S. 
 
 world, but we shall meet again in life everlast- 
 ing!" 
 
 The sobbing of the people grew louder, and 
 here and there were heard single words of dis- 
 content. But the marshal gave a sign to two 
 of the gens-d'armes, who went with their spears 
 to that part whence the voice of Althea had 
 come. Then advancing to Tausdorf, he said 
 earnestly, " It is time !" 
 
 Tausdorf immediately undid his doublet 
 with his own hands, and flung it amongst the 
 people ; then, loosening his ruff, he did the 
 same with that. And now he knelt upon the 
 sand-heap, with unbound eyes, looked up to 
 Heaven, and exclaimed joyfully, "To thee, my 
 Saviour, I commend myself Amen !" 
 
 With the amen, the sword glittered behind 
 him, and his head fell. 
 
 The council was still assembled in their 
 sessions-chamber. Erasmus sate again at the 
 green-covered table, with deep sorrow in his 
 iron features, for now that the spirit of venge-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 237 
 
 ance was satisfied, pain had found more room 
 in his hard heart. The city-marshal entered. 
 
 " All is done as you ordered, worshipful Mr. 
 Burgomaster. Your son and von Tausdorf 
 have been solemnly interred, with the attend- 
 ance of the whole college, the preachers, and 
 a considerable train of mourners, and I caused 
 the bodies to be laid in ONE grave, according 
 to your order, and in the family burial-place. 
 I have also had the town gates re-opened." 
 
 " You have done well,'* replied the burgo- 
 master, with a hollow voice, and made him a 
 sign with his hand to depart. 
 
 " Moreover," continued the marshal, " all the 
 noble inquilines* of the city wait without, and 
 request admittance to the honourable council. 
 
 " Be it granted, then," said the burgomaster 
 with a heavy heart, and the city-marshal left 
 the room. 
 
 In a short time he returned, conducting a 
 train of sable figures. First came the gouty 
 
 * The reader must forgive me the coining of a very useful 
 word, which will be easily understood by reference to the Latin 
 inquilirnts.
 
 238 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 old Schindel, leaning on Rasselwitz and Net/ ; 
 Althea, holding her child by the hand, followed 
 next. Many old nobles, male and female, who 
 had settled at Schweidnitz, brought up the 
 procession. All were in deep mourning, the 
 women veiled in long black veils. When they 
 had reached the council-table, Netz fetched a 
 chair from the wall, and respectfully placed it 
 before von Schindel. The latter, with difficulty, 
 seated himself, and then, looking up to Netz 
 and Rasselwitz, said, " You remember your 
 promise, knights ? You leave me alone to speak, 
 is it not so ?" 
 
 " Have no fear, uncle," replied Netz, grind- 
 ing his teeth. " The affair, besides, cannot be 
 ended with words. We will be silent as the 
 grave, that swallowed up our Tausdorf." 
 
 " Gentlemen," began the old man, with a 
 trembling voice, " you have done that which is 
 not right before God. The innocent blood has 
 flowed ; to save and repair is no longer pos- 
 sible. I will, therefore, spare you and myself 
 the sorrow of explaining how much you have 
 erred, and on what grounds. I do not come
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 239 
 
 to find fault or dispute with you ; I come only 
 to take leave of you for this life, and, at the 
 same time, to bid you farewell in the name of 
 all those nobles who have hitherto lived in 
 peace under the shelter of your walls. You 
 must yourselves find it natural, that none of 
 them deem their life safe in a town that could 
 let so noble a head fall under the sword of the 
 executioner ! Fear, indeed, has no longer any in- 
 fluence with me ; I am too old for that, although 
 I openly avow that I myself should not like to 
 die here now, as I would not have my grave 
 amongst you. A higher purpose compels me 
 hence. My poor niece, whom you have made 
 a widow, intends going, with her orphaned 
 child, to Bohemia, to the old father of her be- 
 trothed, that she may console him for the loss 
 of his only son, and wait there in patience till 
 death shall free her from her sufferings, and 
 re-unite her with the beloved of her heart. I 
 go with her, and remain with her, for she needs 
 a paternal friend hi that foreign land. There will 
 we sit alone together incur sorrow, and weep and
 
 240 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 comfort each other ; and on my knightly word, 
 we will never curse you. Heaven bless you ! 
 Heaven bring you to the consciousness of 
 that which you have done, and awake in you 
 a forgiving heart through holy penitence, that 
 henceforth no more innocent victims may be 
 sacrificed to the discord that is between you 
 and us. If this wish should be fulfilled, if 
 the blood shed in yonder grave should ripen 
 into the fruit of peace, hail ! thrice hail to the 
 dust of the martyr !" 
 
 The speaker was silent ; his companions 
 wept aloud, and those of the council turned 
 away to dry their eyes unmarked. Only the 
 old Erasmus stared before him, tearless, gloomy, 
 and full of thought. 
 
 " I am ready," said Schindel, looking up to 
 his two guides, who took him by the arms, and 
 helped him to rise. Supported by them, he 
 bowed to the council, and was led away. 
 
 The mourning procession followed him ; the 
 door closed behind them, while the council look- 
 ed in silence at each other, and then gloomily
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 at the old burgomaster, who, surprised by this 
 measure, was not master of his speech. 
 
 " The young Lord Hochberg of Fursten- 
 tein," announced the city-servant. 
 
 " He, too, must have little that is consolatory 
 to say to us," exclaimed Alderman Trentler . 
 and Erasmus, almost lost in insensibility, signed 
 to the servant to admit him. 
 
 The youth entered in complete armour, lifted 
 up his visor before the counciUtable, and, lean- 
 ing on his sword, cast fierce and burning glances 
 amongst the troubled faces about the table. 
 
 " You have caused Tausdorf to be seized by 
 your people within the Fiirstentein jurisdic- 
 tion," he began with bitterness ; " you have mur- 
 dered him by a mockery under the name of a 
 trial, and thus have invaded the jurisdiction of 
 his imperial majesty as lord paramount, and of 
 my mother as holder of the fief. The rascally 
 peasants at Saltzbrunn who abetted your people 
 in this crime are already in prison, and shall 
 be severely punished in body and goods. We 
 have sent a messenger^to the^emperor with the 
 relation of the business. What he may deter- 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 342 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 mine upon your conduct, as far as concerns 
 himself, is for you to look to ; we, however, 
 are resolved to defend our own rights in par- 
 ticular, and not to lay down our heads in peace 
 till this monstrous crime is punished and atoned 
 for. But since his imperial majesty has strictly 
 forbidden private feud, we shall, in our just 
 anger, better observe the will of our sovereign 
 than you the aggressors have done; and you shall 
 answer us before the court of fiefs : and to that 
 I cite you herewith, for the first, second, 
 and third time." 
 
 " The emperor's town is not bound to ap- 
 pear before the feudal court," replied Erasmus 
 sullenly. " Rather have we a right to summon 
 the nobles, who, from the time of Eider's murder 
 up to the present day, have tormented us with- 
 out stint or measure. 1 " 
 
 " You will not, then, appear ? " said the noble- 
 man warmly. 
 
 " Never, my young squire," cried the stout 
 old man, striking his breast " Never, while I 
 govern in Schweidnitz !" 
 
 " Well then," retorted the noble indignantly,
 
 THE PATRICIAN'S. 243 
 
 " you have forfeited all right and all honour, 
 and I herewith pronounce you outlawed and 
 infamous ; and disclaim you in the name of the 
 nobles of this principality. We will not make 
 war upon you without the emperor's order, but 
 your Schweidnitz shall henceforth be like a 
 town, in which the pest rages. Woe to our 
 serfs if they dare to bring you provisions ; woe 
 to your citizens if they dare to go beyond their 
 walls; woe to yourselves if you are caught 
 upon our land and soil. You shall see with 
 terror that we know how to administer justice 
 in our way: as a pledge of it I leave you my 
 gauntlet. Whichever of you has courage enough 
 may bring it after me. I will wait an hour for 
 the messenger on the borders of your territory." 
 
 And he hurled the iron gauntlet upon the 
 table with a violence that upset the inkstands 
 and sandboxes, and then rushed out. 
 
 Erasmus foamed hi silent indignation. On 
 a sudden he thrice pulled the bell-handle 
 which hung over the table, and at the summons 
 three city-servants immediately hastened into 
 the room. 
 
 B-8
 
 244 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Take four of the horse-police to your assist- 
 ance," he exclaimed to them. " Seize me the 
 young lord of Hochberg, and fling him into 
 the Hildebrand until farther orders/' 
 
 But at this there arose a murmur of contra- 
 diction amongst the aldermen, who stood up 
 from their seats and shook their heads; and 
 Martin, the youngest amongst them, found 
 courage to speak out his sentiments. 
 
 " Under favour, worshipful Mr. Burgomaster. 
 The young lord was indeed somewhat too 
 rough here, but in the main point he was un- 
 fortunately right ; and if we would imprison all 
 those who blame our this day's proceedings, we 
 shall soon have to convert our sessions-room 
 into a Hildebrand. I vote against the arrest.'' 
 
 " And I !" cried Miller and Trentler, as if 
 from one mouth. 
 
 " Have you a wish for another execution?" 
 said Kaspar Franz to the gloomy despot. 
 
 " We are already deep in the mire through 
 Tausdorf," observed Doctor Grenwitz, shrug- 
 ging his shoulders : and the vice-consul Dres-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 245 
 
 cher whispered to the burgomaster, " Recall 
 your order P 
 
 Erasmus bit his lips till they bled. 
 
 " What are you standing for, idiots ?" he ex- 
 claimed to the three servants who remained at 
 the door in anxious uncertainty as to which com- 
 mand they were to obey. " Don't you know that 
 the majority of voices decides in our sittings? 
 The arrest of Von Hochberg may remain." 
 
 The servants left the room ; Erasmus, rising 
 from his chair, said, "The sitting is over/gentle- 
 men; but we will, with your good pleasure, 
 have a meeting extraordinary to-morrow, to 
 weigh maturely what farther is to be done in 
 this matter." 
 
 "If in this extraordinary sitting," said Kaspar, 
 as he broke up, to his neighbour, " we do not 
 find the art of replacing heads that have been 
 chopped off, we shall descend from the Sessions- 
 house as wise as we went up." 
 
 The other aldermen said nothing, but saluted 
 the burgomaster in silence ; and the old man 
 soon stood alone before the council-table in the 
 empty chamber.
 
 246 TUB PATRICIANS. 
 
 " Yes," he muttered ; " I must no longer 
 conceal it from myself; it is coming to an end 
 with the old lion. Teeth and claws grow blunted. 
 The brutes, that once shook at his roar, now 
 renounce their obedience, and mock the feeble 
 monarch; even the ass must give his kick. 
 Die, therefore, Erasmus, die soon, that you 
 may not outlive yourself." 
 
 " A new misfortune has happened, Mr. 
 Burgomaster," cried the city-marshal, entering 
 hastily. " The gardener in the park, who ex- 
 hibited the aloe for some time past, has sud- 
 denly disappeared ; but the Netherlandress, 
 who lodged with him, was found dead in her 
 room an hour ago. I went thither with two 
 officers to seal up every thing, and took the 
 town-physician with me ; for the flight of the 
 host, and the lady's death, seem to stand in a 
 doubtful connexion. The people of the house 
 talked of poison. I found the woman lying on 
 the floor, in an upper room, horribly disfigured; 
 and on the table was a cup, the dregs of which the 
 physician positively declared to be poison. In 
 her stark right hand the corse held fast this
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 247 
 
 writing. It is addressed to you, Mr. Burgo- 
 master, and sealed moreover." 
 
 " To me !" said Erasmus, in alarm ; tore the 
 writing away from the marshal, and broke it 
 open. A quantity of dry leaves fell out of it to- 
 wards him" Strange !" he murmured, and be- 
 gan to read ; and, as he read, the hand in which 
 he held the letter trembled more and more, 
 till at last he grew so faint that he sunk back 
 into his chair. But he forced himself to read 
 it to the end, and then burnt the letter in the 
 flame of the expiring candle, waiting with great 
 patience till the paper was entirely converted 
 into ashes. He then turned to the marshal : 
 " Let the body be watched by six gens d'armes 
 till night; then let it be carried behind the 
 wall to the churchyard, and there silently in- 
 terred. I will myself take an inventory of all 
 that is left, and you will be silent as to the 
 whole transaction on your oath of office." 
 
 The old man's voice broke at the conclusion 
 of his discourse, and with tottering steps he 
 left the Sessions-chamber.
 
 248 THE PATRICIAX9. 
 
 Three years had passed since Tausdorfs 
 death. Christopher Friend had remained a 
 widower, and by all means, just as well as unjust, 
 had considerably increased his mammon. He 
 was asleep in his own bedroom, on a beautiful 
 summer's night, when he was awakened by a 
 grasp at his throat, and, on opening his eyes in 
 terror, there sat upon the bed two men, fear- 
 fully illuminated by the moon. They were 
 enveloped in dark cloaks, with black masks on 
 their faces, and held two daggers glittering at 
 his breast, in the pale yellow light. The one 
 figure had his hand about Christopher's throat, 
 and seemed ready to close it at the slightest 
 motion of his victim. 
 
 "Gracious Heavens! what does this mean?" 
 groaned Christopher ; but at the instant he felt 
 a tighter pressure of the hand about his throat, 
 and the daggers pricked him in the region of 
 the heart. 
 
 " Still !" whispered one of the masks. " A 
 loud word, a cry for help, sends you in the 
 same moment to hell. We are here to sit in 
 judgment on you, though, indeed, in a fairer
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 249 
 
 way than your father used three years since. 
 It has cost no little time, and trouble, and gold 
 nay, even two journies to Bohemia to penetrate 
 your tricks and blinds ; but at last all has be- 
 come clearer to us than the day. We had 
 paid you a visit long before this, but that the 
 noble Althea prayed so irresistibly for you, 
 that during her life we could not undertake 
 any thing against you. Now at last she has 
 sunk under the grief for her betrothed : Taus- 
 dorf's old father has to weep for his daugh- 
 ter, and the last chain is snapped in which 
 our revenge lay bound. Your father has to 
 answer to the emperor for his notorious crimes ; 
 but you have done and concealed your deed 
 with equal cunning, and no earthly court of 
 justice will ever be able to convict you of it. 
 You tomst, therefore, answer to our secret tri- 
 bunal, of which we are ourselves the chief and 
 the judges, the accuser and the executioner. 
 You have had intercourse with the Nether- 
 landress at the nurseryman's in the park ; and 
 this very woman wanted to hound me on to 
 your brother's murder."
 
 250 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " By Heavens ! I know nothing of it," whined 
 Christopher. 
 
 " Still P continued the mask. "Failing in 
 that, she has a long conversation with you 
 in private. Upon this you invite Tausdorf to 
 your murderous banquet, and, while youpromise 
 Althea that your brother shall not be pre- 
 sent, you secretly induce him, through a third 
 hand, to appear : then comes the Netherland- 
 ress, masked, to your party. After a conversa- 
 tion with her, the most violent wrath is perceived 
 on the face of Francis. You pour him out an- 
 other glass of wine, like oil in the flame, upon 
 which he allures into the park Tausdorf, whom 
 he had never seen before, and that event takes 
 place which thousands of honest people lament. 
 Now then answer for yourself, but with a low 
 voice, or we strike you down on the spot." 
 
 " How can I answer for all the unlucky 
 events, the chain of which has cost me a be- 
 loved brother ?" whispered Christopher, in a voice 
 which, from fear of the daggers, was scarcely 
 audible. " What motives could I have to de- 
 stroy Tausdorf, who had never offended me ?
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 251 
 
 Why, too, should I particularly fix on my 
 brother as the instrument of my evil purpose ? 
 By the " 
 
 " Still !" said the mask again. " I hate you 
 as the serpent that stung my friend to death, 
 but I would not send you to the devil with 
 perjury upon your tongue; you have without 
 that enough of old sin posted in the great 
 reckoning-book above. You ask, why you 
 should wish to destroy Tausdorf? Because 
 Althea refused your hand for his sake. Why 
 you chose your brother for the instrument ? 
 Because, with true brotherly affection, you 
 hoped the instrument might be broken on the 
 occasion, that so you might stand as the ONLY 
 son of the rich Erasmus. Recollect your former 
 calumnies against Tausdorf; recollect what you 
 said to Althea at your father's door on the morn- 
 ing after the misfortune, and deny no longer. 
 You will not lie yourself out of our hands again, 
 and a frank repentant confession of your sins 
 may propitiate the wrath of the judge before 
 whom you will stand ere the morning breaks." 
 
 " Mercy !" murmured Christopher in low,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 piteous tones. " Only spare my life, and I 
 will confess all. The woman seduced me into 
 bringing Tausdorf together with my brother 
 that they might quarrel, but it was not so evilly 
 intended as it turned out."" 
 
 " The woman seduced you ?" exclaimed the 
 mask. " It was so our grandfather, Adam, 
 excused himself, and the seducer laid it all 
 upon the serpent ; but the angel with the fiery 
 sword drove them all out of Paradise, to which 
 they no more belonged, as you no more belong 
 to life. Therefore pray a short farewell prayer, 
 for we are Christians." 
 
 " Mercy !" groaned Christopher piteously. "I 
 cannot pray. Take half my wealth as an atone- 
 ment, but do not kill me." 
 
 " Ay !" retorted the mask, with cold stern- 
 ness. " You and your whole race, with all 
 your gold, would not outweigh the single head 
 of the noble Tausdorf, whom your iniquity has 
 slaughtered. There can be no talk between us 
 of mercy or atonement, but of well-earned re- 
 tribution : therefore, away with you, scoundrel ! 
 away to death !"
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 253 
 
 And he flung a noose about Christopher's 
 neck, and dragged him from the bed. 
 
 " Heaven be thanked !" said the other mask, 
 pulling strongly at the rope. " At last we come 
 from words to deeds." 
 
 Like vultures upon a lamb, they pounced 
 upon the unhappy Christopher with murderous 
 hands, and dragged him out of the door in 
 spite of his impotent strugglings ; fainter and 
 fainter sounded his half-stifled cries at last 
 there was a heavy fall in the distance, and a 
 sound as of the splash of water from a depth : 
 then another short, low groan; and the old 
 silence of night resumed her reign, and the 
 clock of the Sessions-house struck the third 
 hour. 
 
 The next morning when the old Erasmus 
 entered the Sessions-chamber, he found the 
 assembled provosts standing with gloomy faces 
 about the butcher, George Heymann, master of
 
 254 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 the shambles, who was showing a bloody wound 
 in his neck, and took on most piteously. 
 
 " Things cannot go on in this way any 
 longer, Mr. Burgomaster,' 1 cried the Alderman 
 Kaspar Franz, in a tone that the old man had 
 not been accustomed to hear in Schweidnitz. 
 " It is inconceivable what our good city suffers 
 from your violence and blunders. It is not 
 enough that we must frequently submit to a 
 scarcity of provisions, because the vassals of 
 the nobles no longer dare to come to market 
 here, but our citizens are no more secure of 
 their lives if they venture beyond the walls. 
 As this poor man was driving sheep to town, 
 Hans Ecke of Viehau, and Hans Hund of In- 
 gersdorf, fell upon him with naked weapons, 
 struck at his neck, and when he stood on his 
 defence, wounded him severely with a dagger. 
 In this manner things go on daily ; they already 
 level their guns at our watchmen upon the 
 walls, and we shall soon be forced to put on 
 armour when we go to the sessions -house. For 
 all this evil we have to thank no one but you ; 
 and do you, therefore, find a remedy. You
 
 THB PATRICIANS. 255 
 
 have cooked this bitter broth for us, and do 
 you now help in eating it, that we may at last 
 have clean dishes. 11 
 
 " Lead the wounded man to the nearest 
 surgeon,' 1 said Erasmus to the servant in wait- 
 ing. " He shall be dressed at my expense. 1 * 
 
 The servant obeyed. The burgomaster 
 crept up to his seat of honour, and sat himself 
 down exhausted, as he turned to the last 
 speaker." It is hard of you, colleague, to lay 
 to my charge the consequences of measures 
 which were adopted by the general consent 
 of the council. Besides, the affair is not yet 
 settled, and your reproaches, therefore, in any 
 case, are too early. If the emperor should re- 
 ceive our answer as valid, we shall then as- 
 suredly not be denied satisfaction for the way- 
 layings of these knightly robbers. From Ingol- 
 stadt, too, the legal opinion has been sent in 
 reply to our inquiries, that we proceeded well 
 with Tausdorf, and I still, therefore, entertain 
 good hopes." 
 
 " If these hopes should not happen to be 
 built on sand," exclaimed Alderman Franz;
 
 256 THE PATRICIANS. 
 
 " the Emperor will hardly decide on us hy the 
 opinion of the gentlemen of Ingolstadt. The 
 whole investigation was of so hostile a nature, 
 and so humiliating in the forms for us, that 
 we may thence infer a severe sentence with 
 tolerable certainty. Besides, I have heard a 
 bird whistle on this subject, whose tune by no 
 means pleases me." 
 
 The burgomaster stared in alarm at his 
 colleague, when the door opened, and the ser- 
 vant announced, " The delegates returning from 
 Prague." 
 
 " Returned already !" exclaimed Erasmus, 
 and the last blood-drops forsook his face, so 
 that he looked quite awful, like the alabaster- 
 bust of some evil old Roman emperor. 
 
 And the old Christopher Drescher, the 
 Alderman Melchior Lange, the Syndic Dr. 
 Lange, entered slowly, with downcast eyes, 
 and in silence took their places at the sessions- 
 table. They were followed by the Secretary 
 Jonas, who, with a heavy sigh, laid down his 
 leathern portfolio on a side-table and opened it. 
 "You bring us nothing good ?" asked Eras-
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 257 
 
 mus, after a long pause ; and the Syndic ex- 
 claimed, " What is the use of delaying, for you 
 must know it at last? You sowed the seed 
 hy handfuls, and therefore the harvest cannot 
 much surprise you. The wrath of Heaven 
 lies heavy on us ; the sentence could not be 
 more severe. The city is declared to have for- 
 feited its right of jurisdiction, and of electing 
 its own council, the fief and land-court of the 
 principality is removed to Jauer, and the pu- 
 nishment of the council, and others, for the 
 execution of Tausdorf, the Emperor has re- 
 served to himself peculiarly. In a short time 
 we may expect the Emperor's delegate, who, 
 in his name, will annul our council, and con- 
 duct the further proceedings against us." 
 
 In silence they listened to these evil tidings, 
 in silence they remained sitting, when the 
 Syndic had ceased to speak, all equally over- 
 whelmed by the heavy fate that was hurrying 
 upon them. Their eyes only, which were iixed 
 on the burgomaster, expressed the reproaches 
 they intended him. In the meantime the secre- 
 tary had drawn from his portfolio the imperial 
 
 VOL. i. s
 
 258 THK PATRICIANS. 
 
 * 
 
 decree, and taking it from its double envelope, 
 now laid it with a condoling gesture on the 
 table before Erasmus, who first glanced hastily 
 below at the Emperor's seal and subscription, 
 and then attempted to read. But he could not 
 accomplish it ; he still gazed on the first side, 
 and soon his eyes stared vacantly from the 
 paper on the air. The Vice-Consul was on 
 the point of wakening him from this lethargy 
 of the spirit, when the city-marshal rushed into 
 the room with a face of horror. And now 
 Erasmus started up from his stupefaction. 
 " Another Job's post," he exclaimed ; " I read it 
 in your countenance : but speak it out ; we have 
 already heard the worst ; what is still to come 
 cannot much affect us."" 
 
 " Would to heaven it were so !" replied the 
 bailiff. " My tidings concern you in particular, 
 Mr. Burgomaster. Your son Christopher has 
 been found dead in his night-clothes, in the well 
 of his garden." 
 
 A cry of horror burst from the lips of all 
 present, and the old Erasmus clasped his long 
 thin hands. " My last !"he exclaimed piteously 
 then suddenly, in a louder voice, he added,
 
 THE PATRICIANS. 259 
 
 "Thou art just, O God P and his head, with its 
 silver locks, fell back, so that it hung over the 
 elbow of his chair. 
 
 The council crowded about him in terror. 
 The vice-consul looked at the old man's broken 
 eyes, felt his pulse, and cried with deep emo- 
 tion, " He is dead !" 
 
 " He who does not walk in fear, does not 
 please God !" cried Caspar, in his dark fanati- 
 cism, with the words of Sirach. 
 
 " De mortuis nil nisi bene, collega, 1 " ad- 
 monished the vice-consul. " The deceased, 
 with all his failings, was yet a MAN, in the full 
 sense of the word, and therefore always esti- 
 mable. If he has erred, he has severely suf- 
 fered. Peace be with his ashes !" 
 
 He went to the head of the corse, and 
 folded his hands in prayer. The others stood 
 around and did the same ; and from every lip 
 trembled a low and devout supplication for the 
 dead. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRIXTF.n BY THOMAS OAVISOV, WHIT* ' 1,1 MtS.
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 
 
 NON-RENEWAPLE 
 
 JUN 1 3 2001 
 
 DUE 2 WKS FROM DATE RECEIVED 
 
 r UCLA URL/If 
 
 CES BL 15
 
 3 1158 00670 8373 
 
 !JNIYERr 
 
 
 
 ij**u&M* ^_^ 
 
 CO 
 
 A 001 300915 4 
 
 Ji I g 
 
 ft J CO