A Twelve Months' Stay at Augsburg during the Diet--Something about the Emperor and Princes--Sebastian Vogelsberg--Concerning the Interim--Journey to Cologne

On July 27, 1547, I dismounted at an inn in the wine market at Augsburg. The host was a person of consideration, and endowed with good sense; he was a master of one of the corporations. The latter had administered the city's affairs for more than a century. During a similar number of years the corporations of Nuremberg had ceded their power in that respect to the patricians. The Augsburg corporations, being Evangelicals, had sided against the emperor; consequently His Imperial Majesty proposed to exclude them at the forthcoming Diet from the government, in favour of the aristocracy, which had remained faithful to the ancient faith.

I took two rooms (each with an alcove, or sleeping closet, attached to it), of which the host had no need for his travelling patrons. The ambassadors settled in one; the other was set apart for their administration, which was composed of Jacob Citzewitz, chancellor; two secretaries of Duke Barnim, and myself. I sold my horse with its equipment, which was not worth much. I took what I could get for it; fodder was very dear, and the animal was no longer of the least use to me.

The emperor and his army arrived at the end of July. The landgrave remained behind at Donauwerth, under the guard of a Spanish detachment, while the elector, brought to Augsburg, took up his quarters with the Welsers, two houses away from the Imperial residence, and on the other side of a kind of alley by the side of my inn. A passage made between these two houses by means of a bridge thrown over the alley provided communication between the apartments of his Imperial Majesty and those of the elector. The captive prince had his own kitchens. His chancellor, Von Monkwitz, was always near him; he was served by his own attendants, so that the Spaniards had no pretext to enter his room or his sleeping closet. The Duke of Alva and other gentlemen of the Imperial suite constantly kept him company; the time was spent in pleasant conversations and equally agreeable recreations. They had arranged a list for the jousts in the courtyard of the dwelling, which was as superb a mansion as any royal one. The elector went out on horseback to the beautiful sites and spots of the town, namely, the various gardens, cultivated with much art. He had been very fond from his youth of swordplay, and while he remained well and active he indulged in all kinds of martial exercise. They therefore left him to superintend the assaults at arms, but he did not stir without an escort of Spanish soldiers. He was left free to read what he pleased, except in the latter days, namely, after his refusal to accept the Interim.

At Donauwerth, on the other hand, the landgrave had a guard even in his own apartment. If he looked out of the window two Spaniards craned their necks by his side. Drums and fifes told him of the guard coming on duty and of the guard that was being relieved. Armed sentries watched in the prisoner's room; they were relieved once during the night, and when those coming on duty entered the room, the others, when the shrill music had ceased, drew the curtains of the bed aside, saying: "We commit him to your care. Keep a good watch." The emperor's words to the landgrave, "I'll teach you to laugh," were not an empty threat.

Before retiring to rest, his Imperial Majesty, to the terror of many, had a gibbet erected in front of the town hall; by the side of the gibbet, the strapado, and, facing it, a scaffold at about an ordinary man's height from the ground. This was intended to hold the rack, and the beheading, the strangulating, the quartering, and kindred operations were to be carried out on it.

The emperor had sent to Spain for his secretary, a grandee, it will be seen directly, who stood high in his favour. As the said secretary sailed down the Elbe, coming from Torgau, a faithful subject of the captive elector hid himself in a wood on the bank of the stream. He was a skilful arquebusier, and when the craft was well within range, he fired a shot. They brought the emperor a corpse. The mortal remains of the secretary were taken to Spain in a handsome coffin; the murderer fled across Hungary in the direction of Turkey, but active pursuit resulted in his capture, and he was dispatched to Augsburg. He was driven in an open cart from St. Ulrich to the town hall, by way of the wine market. Hence, the elector had the extreme annoyance of seeing him pass under his windows. The condemned man had between his knees a pole, to which his right hand was tied as high as possible. In the midst of the drive, the sword severed the wrist from the arm; hemorrhage was prevented by dressing the wound, and the hand was nailed to a post put up in the street for the purpose. In front of the town hall the poor wretch was taken from the cart and was put on the rack.

The landsknechten quartered at Augsburg had not received their pay for several months. It was to come out of the fines imposed upon the landgrave and the towns. The rumour ran that the fines had been paid, but that the Duke of Alva had lost the money gaming with the elector, so that the troops were still waiting.

In the thick of all this, a number of soldiers made their way into the rooms of the ensigns, carrying off three standards, unfurling them, and marching in battle array to the wine market. Near the spot where the arquebusier had had his hand severed from his wrist, a proud Spaniard, impelled by the mad hope of securing the Imperial favour by rendering his name for ever glorious, flung himself into the advancing ranks and tried to get hold of a standard; behind it, however, marched three men with big swords, and one of these split the intruder in two just as he would have split a turnip. "Qui amat periculum, peribit in eo." Thus it is written.

Roused to great excitement by the coming of the column, the Spanish soldiers promptly occupied the streets adjoining the market. The elector was transferred to the Imperial quarters, lest he should be carried off. The population were getting afraid of being pillaged in case the idea of paying themselves should present itself to the landsknechten. The tradesmen were more uneasy than the rest, for in expectation of the coming Diet their shops were crammed with precious wares, rich silk stuffs, golden and silvern objects, diamonds and pearls. There was an indescribable tumult to the accompaniment of cries and people foregathering in knots, though most of them barricaded themselves in their houses and armed themselves with pikes, muskets, or anything they could lay hands on. In short, as Sleidan expresses it, "the day bade fair to be spent in armed alarm."

The emperor sent to ask the mercenaries what they wanted. "Money or blood," replied the arquebusiers, their weapons reposing on the left arm, the lighted match in their right hands, and dangerously near the vent-hole. His Imperial Majesty promised them their arrears within twenty-four hours, but before dispersing they claimed impunity for what they had done, which demand the emperor granted. Next day they received their pay and were disbanded at the same time.

Now for the end of the adventure. Secret orders were given to accompany the ringleaders on their road, and at the first offensive remark on their part with regard to the emperor to call in armed assistance, and to bring them back to Augsburg. As a consequence, at the end of two or three days, some of the firebrands, having their wallets well-lined and sitting round frequently re-filled flagons at the inn, began to hold forth without more reserve than if they were on the territory of Prester John. The last thought in their minds was about informers being among them. "We'll give him soldiers for nothing--this Charles of Ghent!^[48] May the quartan fever get hold of him. We'll teach him how to behave. May the lightning blast him," and so forth. Not for long though. The words had scarcely left their lips than they were seized, taken to Augsburg, and hanged in front of the town hall, each with a little flag fluttering from the tab of their small clothes.

An Execution at the Time of the Reformation.

Two Spaniards, probably guilty of robbery, as was their custom, were strung up at the same gibbet. Towards night the hangman came with his cart, cut the ropes and took the bodies of the seditious men outside the town. After which there appeared a gang of Spaniards who, with more ceremony, detached their countrymen, and placed them in a bier covered with a kind of white linen. Then they spread the funeral cloth over them, and the procession started. Young scholars dressed in white cloaks marched at its head, intoning psalms; the rest, in handsome dresses and carrying lighted tapers, followed two by two. They proceeded in that manner to the church given up to the Spaniards for their worship, where the two bodies were buried. It is difficult to withhold solemn funerals from thieves when you yourself are an incorrigible thief.

The Italian and Spanish troops were distributed in the towns of the Algau and Swabia. Memmingen and Kempten compounded their liability to quarter them respectively for thirty thousand and twenty thousand florins. Thereupon a certain Imperial commissioner hit upon the idea of presenting himself in various towns as having been instructed to quarter a couple of hundred Spaniards for the winter. The terror-stricken burghers implored him to spare them such a scourge, and considered themselves only too happy to present the commissioner with a little gratification of two, three, and four hundred crowns, paid on the nail. Thanks to that ingenious system, the commissioner managed to pocket some important sums. But the rumour of the thing having reached the emperor's ears, the cheat was arrested, sentenced to death, and executed in front of the town hall at Augsburg. The work of the hangman began by strangulation. The patient (?) was placed on a wooden seat against the rail of the scaffold, his forehead tightly bound in case of convulsions, his arms bound behind his back, and fastened to the balustrade. The hangman, after having flung a rather short rope round his neck, slipped a thick stick down his nape, and began to twist it round in the manner they press bales of wares. When the wretch was strangled, he was undressed except his shirt, laid out on a board, the hangman lifted the shirt, cut away the sexual parts, ripped open the body from bottom to top, removed the intestines, and threw them into a pail under the board, and finally cut the body into four quarters.

George von Wedel stayed at my hotel. He invited the Duke of Brunswick and his steward to dinner, and chose me as the third guest. The repast consisted of six courses; the first was soup with a capon in it. I know that our landlady paid a crown for the bird, and that she charged Wedel a crown per head. I did not forget to mention to my host and my fellow guests that at Rome I had seen the hanging of the Spaniard, his servants, and the two Jews. The duke was delighted at my recollecting this, and he himself reminded us that the banquet had been given in his honour. His account of the story was, however, much longer than mine.

While awaiting the arrival of the Pomeranian delegates, I borrowed two hundred crowns of the captive Elector of Saxony, for my functions at the Diet necessitated a decent appearance, considering that I was called upon to confer with grand personages, such as the Vice-Chancellor Seld, the Bishop of Arras and Dr. Johannes Marquardt, Imperial counsellor. Besides, everything was horribly dear at Augsburg; there was no possibility of getting along without money. Our ambassadors arrived on St. Matthew's Day (September 21). I immediately refunded the two hundred crowns.

Since we left Wittenberg I had never missed an opportunity of speaking to the Imperial counsellors and advisers, sometimes to one, then to another. More than once, for instance, I happened to be riding by the side of the Bishop of Arras, intimus consiliarius imperatoris. I solicited his intervention for a safe-conduct for our princes, in order that they might come and plead their cause in person, or be represented by some high dignitaries. The kindly tone of his answers afforded me much hope, although he abstained from all positive promises.

One evening between Nuremberg and Augsburg chance made me alight at the hostelry where Lazarus von Schwendi was putting up.^[49] At that time he was a beardless young man. We supped together, and he declared quite spontaneously that, having been sent by the emperor to the Brandenburg march as far as the Pomeranian frontiers to get information about the attitude of the dukes during the late war, he had not been able to find the slightest charge against them. He further stated that he had written to that effect to the emperor, and he announced his intention of repeating it to him by word of mouth.

In spite of this evidence, when I saw the Bishop of Arras, his father, Messire de Granvelle, the most trusty adviser of his Imperial Majesty, Dr. Seld and Dr. Marquardt at Augsburg, they seemed to vie with each other at looking askance at me, and at formulating a refusal in hard, haughty terms and entirely unexpected by me; such as: "Bannus decernetur contra principes tuos."^[50]

Our dukes sent their principal advisers. To do them justice, they spared neither time nor trouble, but it was all in vain, for the Bishop of Arras went as far as to growl at them: "To suppose the emperor capable of punishing innocent people as your princes pretend to be; that alone already constitutes the crime of treason against the sovereign, and deserves chastisement." His Imperial Majesty closed his ears to the truth; he was determined to act against the Dukes of Pomerania. At Wittenberg Dr. Seld had said to me: "We are going to examine the challenge of Ingoldstadt and will note for reference its instances of audacity, its offensive expressions, and its provocations. His Imperial Majesty means to show to the whole of the empire that he is neither deficient in German blood nor in power to chastize as he thinks fit no matter whom." This was an allusion to the following passage of the document defying him: "And we inform Charles that we consider him a traitor to his duty to God, a perjurer towards us, and the German nation, and deserving the Divine punishment, and also as too devoid of noble and German blood to carry out his threats."

Our ambassadors paid daily visits to the important ecclesiastical personages. They went in couples, save Chancellor Citzewitz, who considered himself, not unjustly, capable of dispensing with assistance. He laboured, however, under the disadvantage of "repeating himself," and of wearying his listeners. The chancellor of the Elector of Cologne, to whom Citzewitz paid a visit one night, said the next day to two of our ambassadors: "What is your chancellor thinking of? He constantly repeats the same things. Does he credit me with so short a memory as to forget in three or four days the status causae vestrorum principum, or does he imagine that our affairs leave me sufficient leisure to listen to his never ending litanies. He reminds me of a hen about to lay. At first she flutters to the top of the open barn door, clucking, 'An egg, an egg.' Then she gets a little higher up to the hay-loft: 'An egg, an egg; I want to lay an egg.' From there she goes up to the rafters: 'Look out, friends, look out. I am going to lay an egg.' Finally, when she has cackled to her heart's content, she goes back to her nest and produces the tiniest imaginable egg. I prefer the goose who squats silently on the dung-heap and lays an egg as big as a child's head."

The Archbishop of Cologne would not forgive our princes for having secularized the monastery of Neu-Camp, a branch of the parent institution of Alt-Camp, in the diocese of Cologne. Besides, the clergy of Pomerania had become suspect to him ever since its choice for the See of Cammin had fallen upon the pious, able and learned chancellor Bartholomew Schwabe. Hence, the terms in which the emperor forbade our princes to recognize the new dignitary as such were the reverse of courteous, and he moreover summoned the chapters to Augsburg to take the oath of fidelity and do homage, pending his own selection of a chief for them. The princes, the chapters, the landed gentry, and the towns, with the exception of Colberg, appealed; the Pomeranian mission was entrusted with the negotiations; the States also delegated Martin Weyer, canon of Cammin, who subsequently became a bishop.

Nor was the Elector of Brandenburg in the emperor's good books. Where then could we find somebody successfully to intercede for us? All my supplications were in vain, for at courts and in large towns causae perduntur quae paupertate reguntur. Finally, Dr. Marquardt hinted discreetly that a well trained small horse would be very useful to him to proceed to the council, according to Imperial etiquette. I immediately wrote to Pomerania, whence they sent me a pretty animal, with instructions to buy an equipment to match. The present, supplemented by three "Portuguese,"^[51] seemed to please the doctor mightily, and he accepted everything without much persuasion.

The melting of double ducats and Rhenish florins gave us some excellent gold of crown standard, which served to make two cups, each weighing seven marks. Citzewitz took them several times to Messire de Granvelle without finding the opportunity of offering them to him. These were indeed untimely scruples. That present, or even one of double its value, would no more have been refused then than it was later on at Brussels. In fact, in return for his friendly offices with the emperor, Granvelle willingly submitted to be presented with gold, silver, and precious objects, so that at his departure there were several vans and numerous mules laden with them. When he was asked what were the contents of that long convoy, he answered: "Peccata Germaniae!"

After many fruitless efforts our ambassadors found themselves reduced to inactivity, and compelled as a pastime to read two Latin pamphlets they received. The one dealt with the personality and acts of "Carolus Quintus"; the title of the other was, "De horum temporum statu," with Pasquin and Marforio as interlocutors in Roman fashion.

There were ten flag-companies of landsknechten quartered at Augsburg, besides the Spaniards and Germans accompanying the emperor, while the outskirts held Spanish and Italian fighting men. Six hundred horsemen from the Low Countries and more than twelve flag-companies of Spaniards, who had been quartered during the winter at Biberach, were posted on the shores of Lake Constance; seven hundred Neapolitan horsemen, who had wintered at Wissemburg, lay in the Nordgau. The days, therefore, were truly spent in "armed alarm," but there was also extraordinary splendour, pomp, and magnificence.

Augsburg, in fact, had the honour of having within its walls his Imperial Majesty, his Royal Majesty, all the electors in person, with imposing suites; the Elector of Brandenburg with his wife; the Cardinal of Trent, Duke Heindrich of Brunswick and his two sons, Charles Victor and Philip; Margrave Albert; Duke Wolfgang, count palatine; Duke Augustus; Duke Albert of Bavaria; the Duke of Cleves; Herr Wolfgang, grand master of the Teutonic Order; the Bishop of Eichstedt; his Grace of Naumberg, Julius Pflug; AbbÉ Weingarten; Madame Marie, the sister of the emperor, who was accompanied by her niece, the Dowager of Lorraine; the wife of the margrave; the Duchess of Bavaria, and the envoys of the foreign potentates. The King of Denmark was represented by a learned and prudent man, who had given proof of his wisdom in many a mission, namely, Petrus Suavenius, the same who had accompanied Luther to Worms and had returned with him. The King of Poland was represented by Stanislas Lasky, a magnificent, experienced, learned, eloquent and elegant, amiable, great magnate, and most charming in familiari colloquio.

Ferdinand the First.

It is almost impossible to enumerate the crowd of vicars, counts and other personages of note, but I must not forget the Jew Michael, who aped the great lord, and showed himself off on horseback in gorgeous clothes, golden chains round his neck, and escorted by ten or a dozen servants, all Jews, but who might have fairly passed muster as horse troopers. Michael himself had an excellent appearance; he was said to be the son of one of the counts of Rheinfeld. The old hereditary Marshal von Pappenheim, who had grown very short-sighted, came up with him one day, and, not content with taking off his hat, made him a low bow, as to a superior. When he discovered his mistake, he vented his anger very loudly: "May the lightning blast you, you big scoundrel of a Jew," he bellowed. The presence of so many princesses, countesses and other noble dames, handsome, and attired in a way that baffles my powers of description, afforded daily opportunities for banquets, Welch and German dances. King Ferdinand was rarely without guests. He gave magnificent receptions, splendid ballets, and beautiful concerts by a numerous and well trained band of vocal and instrumental performers. Behind the king's chair there stood a chattering jester; his master had frequent "wit combats" with him. The king kept up the conversation at table, and his tongue was never still for a moment. One evening I saw at his reception, a Spanish gentleman, with a cloak reaching to his heels, dancing an "algarda" or "passionesa" (I do not know the meaning of either word) with a young damsel. They both jumped very high, advancing and retreating, without ceasing to face each other. It was most charming. After that another couple performed a Welch dance.

The emperor, on the contrary, far from giving the smallest banquet, kept nobody near him; neither his sister, nor his brother, nor his nieces, nor the Duchess of Bavaria, nor the electors, nor any of the princes. After church, when he reached his apartments, he dismissed his courtiers, giving his hand to everybody. He had his meals by himself, without speaking a word to his attendants. One day, returning from church, he noticed the absence of Carlowitz. "Ubi est noster Carlovitius?" he asked of Duke Maurice. "Most gracious emperor," replied the latter, "he feels somewhat feeble." Immediately the emperor turned to his physician. "Vesalius, gy zult naar Carlowitz gaan, die zal iets wat ziek zyn, ziet dat gy hem helpt." (AnglicÉ, "You had better go and see Carlowitz. He is not well; you may be able to do something for him.")

I have often been present (at Spires, at Worms, at Augsburg, and at Brussels) at the emperor's dinner. He never invited his brother, the king. Young princes and counts served the repast. There were invariably four courses, consisting altogether of six dishes. After having placed the dishes on the table, these pages took the covers off. The emperor shook his head when he did not care for the particular dish; he bowed his head when it suited, and then drew it towards him. Enormous pasties, large pieces of game, and the most succulent dishes were carried away, while his Majesty ate a piece of roast, a slice of a calf's head, or something analogous. He had no one to carve for him; in fact, he made but a sparing use of the knife. He began by cutting his bread in pieces large enough for one mouthful, then attacked his dish. He stuck his knife anywhere, and often used his fingers while he held the plate under his chin with the other hand. He ate so naturally, and at the same time so cleanly, that it was a pleasure to watch him. When he felt thirsty, he only drank three draughts; he made a sign to the doctores medicinae standing by the table; thereupon they went to the sideboard for two silver flagons, and filled a crystal goblet which held about a measure and a half. The emperor drained it to the last drop, practically at one draught, though he took breath two or three times. He did, however, not utter a syllable, albeit that the jesters behind him were amusing. Now and again there was a faint smile at some more than ordinarily clever passage between them. He paid not the slightest attention to the crowd that came to watch the monarch eat. The numerous singers and musicians he kept performed in church, and never in his apartment. The dinner lasted less than an hour, at the termination of which, tables, seats, and everything else were removed, there remaining nothing but the four walls hung with magnificent tapestry. After grace they handed the emperor the quills of feathers wherewith to clean his teeth. He washed his hands and took his seat in one of the window recesses. There, everybody could go up and speak to him, or hand a petition, and argue a question. The emperor decided there and then. The future emperor Maximilian was more assiduously by the side of the emperor than by that of his father.

Duke Maurice soon made acquaintance with the Bavarian ladies, and at his own quarters melancholy found no place, for he lodged with a doctor of medicine who was the father of a girl named Jacqueline, a handsome creature if ever there was one. She and the duke bathed together and played cards every day with Margrave Albrecht.^[52] One day, the latter, thinking he was going to have the best of the game, ventured several crowns. "Very well," answered the damsel; "equal stakes. Mine against yours." "Put down your money," retorted the margrave, "and the better player wins." All this in plain and good German, while Jacqueline gave him her most charming smile. Such was their daily mode of life. The town gossiped about it, but the devil himself was bursting with pleasure.

Clerics or laymen, every one among those notable personages did as he pleased. I myself have seen young Margrave Albrecht, as well as other young princes, drinking and playing "truc" with certain bishops of their own age, but of inferior birth.^[53] At such moments they made very light of titles. The margrave cried abruptly; "Your turn, priest. I'll wager your stroke isn't worth a jot." The bishop was often still more coarse, inviting his opponent to accompany him outside to perform a natural want. The young princes squatted down by the side of the noblest dames on the floor itself, for there were neither forms nor chairs; merely a magnificent carpet in the middle of the room, exceedingly comfortable to stretch one's self at full length upon. One may easily imagine the kissing and cuddling that was going on.^[54]

Both princes and princesses spent their incomes in banquets of unparalleled splendour. They arrived with their money caskets full to overflowing, but in a little while they were compelled to take many a humiliating step in order to obtain loans; the rates were ruinous, but anything, rather than leave Augsburg defeated and humbled in their love of display. Several sovereigns, among others the Duke of Bavaria, had received from their subjects thousands of dollars as "play money." They lost every penny of it.

Our ambassadors lived very retired. They neither invited nor were invited; nevertheless, when a visitor came, they were bound to offer a collation, and to amuse their guests. One day they entertained Jacob Sturm of Strasburg.^[55] During dinner the conversation turned on Cammin. Sturm gave us the history of that bishopric, of its foundation, of its expansion. Then he told us of the ancient prerogatives of the Dukes of Pomerania; of the negotiations set on foot seven years before at the diet of Ratisbon. In short, it was as lucid, as complete, and as accurate a summary of the subject as if he had just finished studying it. Our counsellors greatly admired his wonderful memory. Verily, he was a superior, experienced, eloquent, and prudent man, who had had his share in many memorable days from an Imperial as well as from a provincial view; for, in spite of his heresy, the emperor had at various times entrusted him with important missions. Without him, Sleidan could have never written his History. He avows it frankly, and renders homage to Sturm in many passages of his Commentaries. Nobody throughout the empire realized to the same degree as he the motto: "Usus me genuit, mater me peperit memoria." A person of note having asked him if the towns of the League of Schmalkalden were all at peace with the emperor, he answered: "Constantia tantum desideratur."^[56] It would be impossible better to express both the isolation of Constance and the mistake to which the Protestants owed their reverses. Should my children have a desire to know what Sturm was like facially, they will only have to look at my portrait, which bears such a remarkable resemblance to him as to have baffled Apelles to improve upon it.^[57] Our ambassadors also received the visits of Musculus and Lepusculus, but each came by himself. The moment for serious debate had struck, for the Interim was being gradually drawn up. The time for jesting had gone by; the only thing to do was to get at the root of matters.^[58]

I sometimes brought my countryman, friend, and co-temporary Valerius Krakow home with me. He was secretary to Carlowitz, and, excluded as they were from all negotiations, our counsellors were glad to learn from his lips what was being plotted. During the campaign he had not stirred from the side of Carlowitz, who, in reward for his services, had got him into the chancellerie of Prince Maurice. Another countryman of mine who came to see us was the traban Simon Plate, one of my old acquaintances, for we had pursued our studies together more or less usefully at Greifswald, under George Normann. The counsellors did not care for him, for he was of no earthly use to them. The trabans had some respectable, honest, well set-up and plucky fellows in their ranks, and enjoyed a certain amount of consideration. The emperor was particular about their dress; they wore black velvet doublets, cloaks with large bands of velvet, and the Spanish head-dress of the same material.

Plate was never tired of praising his fellow-soldier sleeping next to him, and the ambassadors gave him leave to bring his friend. He wore a most beautiful golden chain. Plate had not exaggerated. Finally he even took umbrage at the favour shown to the new comer, so that one day he exclaimed: "No doubt he is very upright and honest. He has shown his courage, consequently he pleases the emperor. It is a pity, though, that he is not a gentleman by birth." The remark, I am bound to say, displeased our ambassadors greatly, and above all Chancellor Citzewitz; but let my children look to it. I have heard many Pomeranian nobles hold the same language. According to them, intelligence, sound judgment and ability were the exclusive appanage of birth.

Plate showed himself in a better light on another occasion. Our counsellors had received several visits, and some flagons had been joyously emptied. When our guests were gone, Moritz Damis, captain of UkermÜnde, a rollicking, lively creature, suddenly took a fancy to go to the court ball which was taking place that evening, not in the apartments of the emperor, but in those of his sister and niece, who likewise occupied the Fugger mansion in the wine market. His colleagues, who had not forgotten the emperor's threat to the landgrave, "I'll teach you to laugh," were afraid of a scandal, and pointed out that our princes were in disgrace; but Damitz got angry. "Our princes will give me money, but they cannot give me health," he exclaimed. "What am I doing here? Why should I deny myself the sight of such rejoicings? How am I to keep alive? I may as well make up my mind never to cast eyes on Pomerania again." Saying which, he rushed down the stairs; a counsellor tried to hold him back by his golden chain, the links of which, however, broke, and our captain ran to the ball.

Simon Plate had remained perfectly cool, and they asked him to follow the madcap. There was no difficulty for Plate to get inside the ball-room, and the first person of note of whom he caught sight was the puissant and renowned warrior-chief, Johannes Walther von Hirnheim,^[59] moodily walking to and fro at the lower end of the room. Damitz had noticed standing close by the dancers a handsome woman gorgeously dressed and glittering with jewels, and in less time than it takes to tell he had addressed her: "Charming creature," he said, "are you not going to dance?" "Oh no, sir," was the answer; "dancing is only fit for young people, and I am an old woman." "What, are you married?" asked the captain. "I could have sworn that you were only a girl, and if I were told to choose with the most beautiful woman here, my choice would fall upon you." "Ah, sir, you are merely jesting." "And what is your husband's name?" the captain went on unabashed. "Johannes Walther von Hirnheim." "Johannes Walther? Oh, I know him well." The husband, somewhat curious with regard to the captain's conversation, had drawn near, though still continuing to walk up and down in silence. Damitz, though, taking no notice of either him or Simon Plate, continued his interrogatory. "Have you any children?" "No; God has ordained it otherwise." "Ah, if I had such a wife, I know what I am. God would soon grant us children." This incursion of the captain into the physical domain induced Simon Plate to interfere, to turn the conversation, and to take Damitz back to his domicile.

In December our ambassadors decided to send one of their body to Pomerania, and Heindrich Normann was selected for the journey. It was bitterly cold, and Normann endeavoured to provide against it. He put on a linen nightcap, over that a fur one, and a second of cloth, with a big muffler fastened behind and in front (just as the peasantry still wear it), and finally a thick hat, embroidered in silk. On his hands white thread gloves, chamois leather ones lined with fur; over these, and over the latter again thicker gloves of wolf's skin. His body was encased in a linen shirt, a knitted tightly-fitting garment in the Italian fashion; over that a vest of red English cloth, a doublet wadded with cotton, another lined jacket, a long coat of wool trimmed with wolf's skin, covering the whole; finally, on his feet, linen socks, Louvain gaiters reaching above the knee, cloth hose, stockings lined with sheep's skin, and high boots. When everybody had done giving special commissions, the servants hoisted him into the saddle, for he could have never got into it without their help. He went as far as Donauwerth; when he got there, his equipment decidedly seemed to him too uncomfortable. As, however, he had no desire to be frozen to death, he turned his horse's head and made for the good city of Augsburg.

Inasmuch as the narrative of Sleidan is very incomplete, I am going to write the story of Sebastian Vogelsberg. Having been an eye-witness, I made it my business to note down his last speeches. Vogelsberg was tall and of imposing appearance, his width being in proportion to his height; in short, a handsome, well-proportioned man with a head as round as a ball, a beard reaching to his waist, and an open face. No painter could have found a better model for a manly man. He had a certain amount of education. According to some people, he had been a schoolmaster in Italy. Count Wilhelm von FÜrstenberg, who entered the "paid" service of the belligerent monarchs as a colonel, took him as a semi-secretary, semi-accountant. Vogelsberg, having been promoted to an ensignship, rendered distinguished service in the field; Ambitious, glib of tongue, not to say eloquent and rarely at a loss what to do, he quickly attained the grade of captain, and high and mighty potentates soon preferred him to FÜrstenberg. The latter felt most annoyed at this, belonging as he did to a class of men to whom merit is inseparable from birth. He constantly inveighed against Vogelsberg, who, in his turn, did not spare his rival. Pamphlets were printed on both sides. The count appears to have begun; he appealed to his peers, their honour seemed to him at stake. The Protestant States sided with Vogelsberg, their co-religionist, while the popish camp swore mortal hatred to him.

Weary of fruitless polemics, and knowing full well that it would have been folly to take the law into his own hands, Vogelsberg decided upon bringing an action before the Imperial Chamber for damages for defamation of character. I was at the time clerk to his procurator, Dr. Engelhardt; consequently, I knew every particular of the affair. After protracted debates, the court finding for Vogelsberg, condemned Count Wilhelm to a fine of four hundred florins, a sentence which caused Wilhelm's brother, Frederick von FÜrstenberg, and everybody who bore the title of count to consider themselves the injured parties.

Three causae proÆgoumenae, to use the language of the dialecticians, may be plainly discerned in this drama; namely, religion, the soldierly qualities of Vogelsberg, and the hostility of the nobles and papists. We may add two causae procatarcticae: the first, mentioned by Sleidan, to the effect that a twelvemonth previously Vogelsberg had taken a regiment of landsknechten to the King of France; the second, which I saw with my own eyes at Wissenburg on the Rhine, that Vogelsberg had built himself in that Imperial town a beautiful mansion of hewn stone with the arms of France, three big fleurs de lis artistically sculptured over the door. The papists, feeling confident that in the probable event of a new war of religion, the valiant captain would give them a great deal of trouble, and thirsting as they did for his blood, like a deer in summer pants for cooling streams, they took time by the forelock. Their skill in exploiting with his Imperial Majesty the causae irritatrices stood them in good stead. They were instrumental in getting two doctors of their following appointed as judges. The one was German, and the other Welch, but both promptly pronounced a sentence of death which was immediately carried out.

On February 7, 1548, shortly after eight in the morning, an ensign-corps of soldiers from the outskirts of "Our Lady," and two other ensign-corps from the outskirts of "St. Jacob," took up their position in the square of the Town Hall. Sleidan says the scaffold was erected for the purpose of executing Vogelsberg. This is an error on Sleidan's part. The scaffold had been there for six months, and had served many times. An officer from the Welch, whom they call magister de campo was detached from the troops with about thirty men to fetch the condemned man from the Peilach tower. The latter was brought back to the sound of drums and fifes.

Vogelsberg wore a black velvet dress and a Welch hat embroidered with silk. At his entrance into the circle surrounding the scaffold he caught sight of Count Reinhard von Solms, whose nose was half-eaten away by disease, and Ritter Conrad von Boineburg. Without taking any notice of the count, a relentless papist, who detested him on account of FÜrstenberg, he asked of the ritter: "Herr Conrad, is there any hope?" "Dear Bastian," replied Boineburg, "May God help you." "Certainly, He will help me," was Vogelsberg's rejoinder. And with his firmest step, his head erect, and his usual assurance, he climbed the steps to the scaffold.

He looked for a long while at the crowd. All the windows were occupied by members of the nobility. At those of the Town Hall there were serried rows of electors, princes of the Church and of the empire, barons, counts, and knights. In a manly voice and as steady a tone as if he were at the head of his troops, Vogelsberg began to speak: "Your serenissime highnesses, highnesses, excellencies, noble, puissant, valiant seigneurs and friends. As I am this day ..." At that moment the magister de campo (quarter-master-general) told the executioner to proceed with his duty, but the latter, addressing the condemned man, said: "Gracious sir, I shall not hurry you. Speak as long as you please." Thereupon Vogelsberg went on: "I am to lose my life by order of the emperor, our very merciful and gracious master, and I now will tell you the cause of my death-warrant. It is for having raised ten ensign-companies last summer for the coronation of the praiseworthy King of France. No felonious act can be imputed to me during the ten years I served the emperor. As I am innocent, I beseech of you to keep me in kind memory, and to pity my undeserved misfortunes. Watch over my kindred, so that they may not come to grief on account of all this, and may benefit by the fruit of my services, for the whole of my life was that of an honest man. I am being sacrificed to the implacable resentment of that infamous Lazarus Schwendi." The latter was at the window facing the scaffold, and suddenly disappeared, but Vogelsberg did not interrupt his speech. "He came to me to Wissemburg to tell me that he was in disgrace in consequence of the murder of a Spanish gentleman in the suite of his Imperial Majesty, and that the Spaniards were also looking for me. He proposed to me to fly to France together, and borrowed two hundred crowns of me. I even gave him a horse as a present for his advice. Well, the traitor took me straight to the Spaniards. While I was in prison I asked him, for my personal need, for some of the crowns I had lent him, but he turned a deaf ear to all my requests. I beg of you to be on your guard against that skunk of a thief who bears the name of Lazarus Schwendi. No one ought to have any dealings with him. He has even dared to denounce to his Imperial Majesty his Serenissimo Highness the Elector Palatine as having entered into a league with the King of France. It is an infamous slander. If I had another life to stake, I should stake it on that. I have been refused the last assistance of a minister, of a confessor--a refusal which has no precedent. I nevertheless die innocent and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ." After this he walked round the circle, though above it, asking everybody to forgive him as he forgave everybody. Then he seated himself. The executioner divided his long beard into two and knotted the two ends together on the skull. Having craved his pardon, and invited him to say a Pater and the Credo, he performed his office. The head rolled like a ball from the scaffold to the ground; the executioner caught it by the beard and placed it between the legs of the body, spreading a cloak over the whole, except the feet which showed from under it.

After that the officer and his thirty arquebusiers went to fetch Jacob Mantel and Wolf Thomas, of Heilbron, who had been brought to Augsburg at the same time as Vogelsberg. Thomas was left at the foot of the scaffold. Mantel walked round the platform and said a few words, which many people could not hear. As his stiff leg made it difficult for him to kneel down, the executioner slipped a footstool under the paralyzed limb. He failed to sever the head at the first stroke, and had to finish the operation below; then he once more covered up the body.

There only remained Wolf Thomas. To judge by his dress and bearing he was not an ordinary man. He stared fixedly at the feet of Vogelsberg, showing from under the cloak; then he took his eyes off, and told those around that he had been a loyal and faithful soldier for twenty-seven years, and that he died absolutely innocent, his sole crime consisted in having served the King of France during three months, as many an honest noble and squire had done before him without incurring the least punishment. He asked those around to forgive him as he forgave them, and to pray for him as he would intercede in their favour, he being firmly assured of a place near the Almighty. He asked those who promised to say a Pater and the Credo for him to hold up their hands. After that he was beheaded.

At the termination of the triple execution the executioner cried in a loud voice from the scaffold: "In the name of his Imperial Majesty it is expressly forbidden to any one to serve the King of France on the penalty of sharing the fate of these three men."

The death of Vogelsberg caused universal regret. The unanimous opinion was that a soldier of such mettle was worth his weight in gold to a warlike monarch. Sleidan alleges erroneously that the two judges exculpated Lazarus von Schwendi. It was the emperor who caused to be printed and distributed everywhere a small proclamation of half a sheet, declaring Schwendi free from all blame, inasmuch as he strictly carried out the Imperial orders, and that the speech of Vogelsberg was obviously dictated by the desire to escape the most fully deserved punishment.

The King of France, it was said, was so displeased at the cry of the executioner from the scaffold that by his orders the Marquis de Saluces, on his return from Germany, was arrested and beheaded. This was the nobleman who at Wittenberg had disadvised the execution of the Elector of Saxony.

In April, Augsburg witnessed the arrival of Muleg-Hassan, King of Tunis. Thirteen years previously he had been driven forth by Barbarossa; subsequently he was re-established on his throne by the emperor, but his eldest son had ousted him and put his eyes out. A fugitive and wretched, he came to place himself under the protection of the emperor, and was soon joined in his exile by one of his sons. I often met these two on horseback, in company of Lasky, the Polish ambassador, who spoke their language.

As the pope opposed, against all expectation, the holding at Trent of a Christian, free and impartial council, and experience having taught people besides that the learned men of both parties would never come to an agreement, the States of the empire proposed to his Imperial Majesty to confide to a restricted number of learned and God-fearing men the task of drawing up a document for the furtherance of the reign of God and the preservation of the public peace.

In pursuance of this the emperor delegated personally the Bishop of Mayence, Dr. George Sigismund Seld, and Dr. Heindrich Hase.

The King of the Romans selected Messire Gandenz von Madrutz. The Elector of Mayence chose his Bishop Suffragan; the Elector of Treves, Johannes von Leyen, canon of Treves and of Wurzburg; the Elector of Cologne, his provincial; the Elector Palatine, Ritter Wolf von Affenstein; the Elector of Saxony, Dr. Fachs; the Elector of Brandenburg, Eustacius von Schlieben.

The princes selected the Bishop of Augsburg, Dr. Heinrichmann; the Duke of Bavaria, Dr. Eck.

The prelates selected the AbbÉ von Weingarten; the counts, Count Hugo de Montfort; the towns: Strasburg, Jacob Sturm; Ulm, George Besserer.

These personages met on Friday, February 11, 1548, but they failed to agree, which might have easily been foreseen. The ecclesiastical members of the Diet took advantage of the opportunity to have the book of the Interim composed respectively by the Bishop of Naumburg, Johannes Pflug; by the Bishop Suffragan of Mayence, appointed a little later on to the See of Meiseburg, and by the court preacher to the Elector of Brandenburg, Johannes Agricola, otherwise Eisleben, who coveted the bishopric of Cammin. The Imperial assent to this had to be obtained; they set to work in the following manner.

The Elector of Brandenburg and his wife lived on a sumptuous footing at Augsburg. The elector was fond of display; the electress, the daughter of a king of Poland, was even more lavish than her spouse. The dearth of everything and the frequency and the profusion of the entertainments had already for a long time reduced the finances of his Serene Highness to a critical state. Seven years previously, at the gathering of Ratisbon, Dr. Conrad Holde had already lent the prince close upon six thousand crowns. Their repayment had been constantly, but unsuccessfully demanded. Finally, at Augsburg, in default of ready money, he received the written promise of repayment in four instalments at the dates of the Frankfurt fairs. It was duly signed and sealed. Nothing was wanting to its perfect legality; the most suspicious would have been satisfied. Nevertheless, the payments were not made when due, and the creditor instituted proceedings before the Imperial Chamber. The elector did not know which way to turn; there was not a purse open to him. He was absolutely at a loss how to get his wife and his numerous suite decently away from Augsburg when the Bishop of Salzburg made an end of his embarrassments by advancing him sixteen thousand Hungarian florins on the duly executed promise of their being repaid in a short time. But the principal condition of the loan was that the Elector of Brandenburg should present to his Imperial Majesty the work of the three above-named personages, and bind himself and his subjects to submit to its provisions.

The Elector of Saxony instructed Christopher Carlowitz to send a copy of the "Interim" to Philip Melanchthon.^[60] The latter's reply was singularly devoid of courage. It was supposed to be inspired by the theologians of Wittenberg and Leipzig, who in that way sounded the first notes of "Adiaphorism." Carlowitz promptly communicated this epistle everywhere. It aroused general surprise, as well as the most opposed feelings; grief and consternation among the adherents to the Augsburg confession, matchless jubilation among the Catholics. And the Lord alone knows how they bellowed it about in the four corners of Germany, how they availed themselves of it to proclaim their victory.

Melanchthon.

The ecclesiastical electors sent Melanchthon's letter, together with the book, to the pope, and what with backslidings and plotting the pear was very soon ripe. The publication of the "Interim" took place on May 14, at four o'clock in the afternoon, in presence of the States assembled. The emperor had it printed in Latin and in German. In the first proofs handed to the emperor the passage from St. Paul, "Justificati fide pacem habemus," was altogether changed by the suppression of the word fide; the confessionists protested energetically, and confounded the would-be authors of the fraud.

The stern tone of the act of promulgation stopped neither speeches nor scathing writings. Sterling refutations were published even outside Germany; the two best known are the Latin treatise of Calvin, which spread all over the empire--in Italy, in France, in Poland, etc.; and a piece of writing in German, which was more to the taste of everybody, and one of whose authors was Æpinus, superintendent of Hamburg.

Seigneur de Granvelle and his son, the Bishop of Arras, strongly persuaded the Elector of Saxony to adhere to the "Interim," in order to regain his freedom, but the prince remained faithful to the Confession of Augsburg. Thereupon they took away his books; there was no meat on his table on fast days, and his chaplain, whom he had kept with him with the consent of the emperor, had to fly in disguise. The landgrave, on the other hand, who did not care to profess greater wisdom than the fathers of the Church, consented to recommend the book to his subjects, and begged to be pardoned for the sake of Christ and all His saints.

At the closure of the Diet, I took, like his Imperial Majesty, the road to the Low Countries. The stay of the emperor at Ulm brought about the dismissal of the council, which was replaced by more devoted creatures. The six ministers were bidden to accept the "Interim." Four of them were not to be shaken, and they were led away captive in the suite of the emperor; the other two, in spite of their apostasy, had to leave wives and children, and scant consideration was shown to them. At Spires, the prior of the barefooted Carmelites was, like all the brothers of his monastery, a good evangelical, though all had preserved the dress of their order. During four years I had seen him going to and fro in the town, dressed in his monk's frock; each Sunday he went into the pulpit and the church was crowded to the very porch. Never did he breathe a word about the pope or about Luther, but he was a master of pure doctrine, and at the approach of the emperor he fled in a layman's dress. Worms and the whole of the country lost their preachers. Landau possessed a select group of learned and distinguished ministers, because the town offered many advantages; a delightful situation, excellent fare, and a splendid vineyard at the very gates of the town; but the ministers had to abandon the place to the popish priests, scamps without experience, without instruction, without piety, and without decency.

I often had occasion afterwards to go to Landau, where the advocate of my father, Dr. Engelhardt, resided. One Sunday, at the termination of the mass, I heard a young and impudent good-for-nothing hold forth from the pulpit in the following strain: "The Lutherans are opposed to the worship of Mary and the saints. Now, my friends, be good enough to listen to this. The soul of a man who had just died got to the door of heaven, and Peter shut it in his face. Luckily, the Mother of God was taking a stroll outside with her sweet son. The deceased addresses her, and reminds her of the Paters and the Aves he has recited to her glory, the candles he has burned before her images. Thereupon Mary says to Jesus, 'It's the honest truth, my son.' The Lord, however, objected, and addressed the supplicant: 'Hast thou never read that I am the way and the door to everlasting life?' He asks. 'If thou art the door, I am the window,' replies Mary, taking the 'soul' by the hair and flinging it into heaven through the open casement. And now I ask you, is it not the same whether you enter Paradise by the door or by the window? And those abominable Lutherans dare to maintain that one must not invoke the Virgin Mary." That was the kind of scandalous irreligion exhibited in the places where formerly the healthy evangelical doctrine was preached.

The landgrave's submission to the "Interim" only brought him into contempt. His wife, who had hastened to Spires to beseech the emperor, was allowed to remain day and night with the prisoner during his week's stay there. At the departure for Worms I saw the landgrave pass at eight in the morning, with his escort of Spaniards with long arquebuses. They hemmed him in in front, behind, and at the sides, while he himself was bestriding a broken-down nag with empty and open holsters, and the hilt of his sword securely tied to its sheath. A serried crowd of strangers and inhabitants, women and servants, old and young, were pressing around his escort, as if there had been an order given to that effect. They cried: "Here goes the wretched rebel, the felon, the scoundrel that he is." They said worse things which, from certain scruples, I abstain from repeating. It looked like the procession of a vulgar malefactor who was being taken to the scaffold.

Pure chance made me an eye-witness of a diverting scene at Augsburg. I have already said that Duke Maurice had ingratiated himself very much with the Bavarian court ladies. One Sunday, in December, when the weather was fine, he was ready to go out in a sleigh. I happened to be at the door with several others, who also heard the following dialogue. Carlowitz came down the stairs of the chancellerie in hot haste, exclaiming: "Whither is your Highness going?" "To Munich," was the answer. "But your Highness has an audience to-morrow with the emperor." "I am going to Munich," repeated the duke. Thereupon Carlowitz: "If, thanks to me, the electoral dignity is practically yours, it is nevertheless true that your frivolity causes you to be despised of their Majesties and of all honourable people." Maurice merely laid the whip on his horses, which started off at a gallop, Carlowitz shouting at the top of his voice: "Very well, then; go to the devil, and may heaven blast you and your sledge." When the prince returned, Carlowitz announced his intention of going to Leipzig. "If I miss the New Year's fair," he said, "I shall lose several thousand crowns." The elector had only one means to make him stay, namely, to count out the sum to him.

As the restoration of the Imperial Chamber necessitated my return to Spires to watch my father's lawsuit, I wrote to Pomerania to be dispensed from following the emperor. This is the answer from our princes.

"Greetings to our loyal and well-beloved. Our counsellors have informed us of thy request, which we should willingly grant thee if it were not prejudicial to our interests and those of the country, and which thou hast up to the present administered. We therefore invite thee to exercise some patience, and to serve us with zeal and fidelity as heretofore; inclined as we are to recall thee after the Diet to give thee unquestionable proofs of our great satisfaction, as well as the means satisfactorily to bring to an end the paternal affairs. We rely on thy obedience, and bind ourselves to confirm all our promises as above. Given under our hand at Stettin-the-Old, Sunday after St. James, in the year 1548."

I had lived uninterruptedly for a twelvemonth at Augsburg, save for one ride to Munich, a city well worth seeing. The Diet being about to dissolve, I bought a horse, an acquisition which that big dreamer of a Normann deferred from day to day. Of course, the inevitable happened. The moment the emperor had announced his forthcoming departure everybody wanted horses, and he who had ordered himself a handsome dress, sold it at half-price in order to get a roadster. Normann, who, in spite of my warnings, had waited till the eleventh hour, unable to find a suitable mount, took mine, which had been well fed and looked after in anticipation of the long journey. I by no means relished this unceremonious proceeding, but I could not help myself, and was compelled to put up with a seat on a big fourgon, in which I placed the golden cups intended for Granvelle. At Ulm, Martin Weyer decided that Normann should give me back my horse when we reached Spires, and that he should go the rest of the way by the Rhine. When we got to Spires, Normann was not to be found there, and we finally learnt that he had gone to the baths of Zell with the chimerical hope of getting rid of his pimples which disfigured him.

I confided the two pieces of goldsmith's work to Dr. Louis Zigler, the procurator to our princes, then went by coach to Oppenheim, and by water to Mayence. On 10 September our ship reached Cologne, and next morning I went in search of a good horse to pursue my route in company of friends, when, whom should I meet in the street but Normann. As a consequence, I was obliged to change my inn, and to part with my company. Normann was in treaty for a horse, which he finally bought. In that way we were both provided for, but without a servant, each man taking care of his own horse; however, the ostlers were excellent, and there was no need to watch; one had only to command.

We started for the Low Countries on September 12, the emperor going down the Rhine in a boat. Next day, at the branching off of the high road, we hesitated. On inquiring at the nearest inn we were told that one road led to Maestricht, and the other to Aix-la-Chapelle. The first-named was the shorter by six miles; on the other hand, Aix-la-Chapelle is the famous city founded by Charlemagne. It contains the royal throne, it is the city where the emperor is crowned after his election at Frankfurt. After we had discussed the "for" and "against" at some length, we hit upon the idea of giving our horses their heads, and leaving the bridles on their necks. By some subtle and mysterious intuition the animals chose, according to our secret desire, the road to Aix-la-Chapelle.

The city itself is large and in ancient style. The country around is barren, the soil consisting of coal, stone and slate. Previous to the foundation of the city it was simply a wilderness. There are some excellent mineral springs; the bath, constructed in beautiful hewn stone, is square, and about fourteen feet long; three steps enable one to sit down with the water up to the throat, or to be immersed at a small depth. Except the baths of the landgravate of Baden, I know of no other arrangement equally comfortable. At the town hall, castle, and arsenal of Charlemagne there are hundreds of thousands of sharp iron arrows stowed away in closed chests. On entering the church one immediately notices an ivory and gold armchair, fastened with exceeding great art. At the lower end of the nave, to the west, a huge crown of at least twelve feet diameter is suspended. I do not know the nature of the material, but it is gilt and painted in colours. In the way of relics there are the hose of Joseph. They are only shown at stated times, but whoever has the privilege of seeing them has a great many of his sins remitted.

On September 24 we reached Brussels in Brabant, and there I received the order to go back to my country, the functions of solicitor to the Imperial Chamber having been conferred upon me. Hence, on St. Denis' Day, I began this journey of more than a hundred miles, alone and across unknown countries, with abominable roads, above all in Westphalia. I was often obliged to stay the night at places which were more than suspect, and when only half-way my horse came to grief in consequence of Normann's former rough usage. I had to swop it, paying a sum of money besides, and was unfortunate enough to have come across a veritable crock which I was obliged to keep, there being no help for it. Finally, through good and evil I reached Wolgast on All Saints' Day.