Zigzag Journeys in Northern Lands Part 10

"'Tis the magic herb the old woman used in the soup," said the dwarf. "Thank the Fates! we may now be delivered from our enchantment."

He took a long, deep sniff of the herb. He then sneezed with delight, and lo! he began to grow, and his nose began to shrink, and he was transformed to the handsomest young man in all the land.

He took the goose under his arm, and walked out of the palace yard.

He carried her to a great magician, who delivered her from her enchantment, and she sneezed three sneezes, and became the handsomest lady in all the kingdom.

Now, Mimi's father was very rich, and he loaded Jamie with presents, which were worth a great fortune.

Then handsome Jamie married the lovely Mimi; and he brought his old father and mother to live with them in a palace, and they were all exceedingly happy.

"What is the moral of such a tale as that?" asked one of the Club.

"If you have any crookedness, to find the magic herb," said Charlie.

Charlie Leland, the President, closed the exercises with some translations of his own, which he called "Stories in Verse." We give two of them here; each relates an incident of Eberhard, the good count, whom German poets have often remembered in song.

THE RICHEST PRINCE.

In a stately hall in the city of Worms, A festive table was laid; The lamps a softened radiance shed, And sweet the music played.

Then the Saxon prince, and Bavaria's lord, And the Palsgrave of the Rhine, And Wurtemberg's monarch, Eberhard, Came into that hall to dine.

Said the Saxon prince, with pride elate, "My lords, I have wealth untold: There are gems in my mountain gorges great; In my valleys are mines of gold."

"Thou hast boasted well," said Bavaria's lord, "But mine is a n.o.bler land: I have famous cities, and castled towns, And convents old and grand."

"And better still is my own fair land,"

Said the Palsgrave of the Rhine: "There are sunny vineyards upon the hills; In the valleys are presses of wine."

Then bearded Eberhard gently said, "My lords, I have neither gold, Nor famous cities, nor castled towns, Nor convents grand and old.

"I have no vineyards upon the hills, In the valleys no presses of wine; But G.o.d has given a treasure to me As n.o.ble as any of thine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EBERHARD.]

"I wind my horn on the rocky steep, In the heart of the greenwood free, And I safely lay me down and sleep On any subject's knee."

Oh, then the princes were touched at heart, And they said, in that stately hall, "Thou art richer than we, Count Eberhard; Thy treasure is greater than all."

EQUALITY.

The banners waved, the bugles rung, The fight was hot and hard; Beneath the walls of Doffingen, Fast fell the ranks of Suabian men Led on by Eberhard.

Count Ulric was a valiant youth, The son of Eberhard; The banners waved, the bugles rung, His spearmen on the foe he flung, And pressed them sore and hard.

"Ulric is slain!" the n.o.bles cried,-- The bugles ceased to blow; But soon the monarch's order ran: "My son is as another man, Press boldly on the foe!"

And fiercer now the fight began, And harder fell each blow; But still the monarch's order ran: "My son is as another man, Press, press upon the foe!"

Oh, many fell at Doffingen Before the day was done; But victory blessed the Suabian men, And happy bugles played again, At setting of the sun.

CHAPTER V.

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE CLUB.

CONSTANCE.--THE STORY OF HUSS.--BISMARCK AND THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT.--THE STORY OF THE HEART OF STONE.--POEM.--SEVEN NIGHTS ON THE RHINE: NIGHT FIRST.

The second meeting of the Club was opened by Mr. Beal with an account of Constance, and of the great Council that convened there in 1414.

"_Via Mala!_ So the old Romans called the road near the source of the Rhine. It pa.s.sed over and through dark and awful chasms, that the river, as it came down from the Alps, had been tunnelling for thousands of years.

"The Rhine is the gift of the Alps, as Egypt is the gift of the Nile.

From its source amid the peaks of the clouds to its first great reservoir, the Lake of Constance, it pa.s.ses through one of the wildest and most picturesque regions in the world. It is not strange that the Romans should have called their old Swiss road _Via Mala_.

"Lake Constance! How our heads bent and our feelings kindled and glowed when we beheld it! It is the most beautiful lake that Germany possesses. It is walled by snow-capped mountains, whose tops seem like islands in the blue lakes of the skies. Quaint towns are nestled among the groves of the sh.o.r.e; towers, with bells ringing soft and melodious in the still air. The water is like emerald. Afar, zigzagging sails flap mechanically in the almost pulseless air.

"There is color everywhere, of all hues: high, rich tones of color; low tones. Piles of gems on the mountains, gloomy shadows in the groves; a deep cerulean sky above, that the sunlight fills like a golden sea. At sunset the lake seems indeed like the vision that John saw,--'a sea of gla.s.s, mingled with fire.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRIDGE IN THE VIA MALA.]

"The town of Constance, once a great city, is as old as the period of Constantine. When Charlemagne went to Rome to receive the imperial crown, he rested here. Here a long line of German kings left the a.s.sociations of great festivities; here those kings pa.s.sed their Christmases and Easters. Here convened brilliant regal a.s.semblies.

Here the amba.s.sadors from Milan appeared before Barbarossa, and delivered to him the golden key of the Italian states.

"But these events are of comparatively small importance in comparison with the so-called Holy Council of Constance, in 1414. It was a time of spiritual dearth in the world. Arrogance governed the Church, and immorality flourished in it. There were three popes, each at war with the others,--John XXIII., Benedict XII., and Gregory XII.

"The Council was called to choose a pope, and to reform the Church.

The town for four years became the centre of European history. Hither came kings and princes; the court of the world was here.

"The town filled, and filled. It was like a great fair. Delegates came from the North and the South, the East and the West. There were splendid fetes; luxury and vainglory. At one time there were present a hundred thousand men.

"The Council accomplished nothing by way of reform, except to induce the three rival popes to relinquish their claims to a fourth; but it stained its outward glory with a crime that will never be forgotten.

"When we were in Florence,--beautiful Florence!--the tragedy of Savonarola rose before us like a spectre in the history of the past.

Savonarola tried to reform the conduct of the clergy and to maintain the purity of the Church, but failed. He made the republic of Florence a model Christian commonwealth. Debauchery was suppressed, gambling was prohibited, the licentious factions of the times were there publicly destroyed. He arraigned Rome for her sins. The Roman party turned against him and accused him of heresy, the punishment of which was death. He declared his innocence, and desired to test it with his accusers by walking through a field of living fire. He believed G.o.d would protect him from the flames, like the worthies of old. His enemies were unwilling to go with him into the fiery ordeal. He was condemned and executed. The martyr of Florence in after years became one of its saints.

"At Constance a like tragedy haunted us. Constance has been called 'the city of Huss.'

"Among the mighty ones who wended their way to the city of the lake, to attend the great Council, was a pale, thin man, in mean attire. He had been invited to the Council by the Emperor Sigismund, who promised to protect his person and his life. He was a Bohemian reformer; a follower of Wycliffe. He was graciously received, but was soon after thrown into prison on the charge of heresy.

"They led him in chains before the Council, which a.s.sembled in an old hall, which is still shown. The emperor sat upon the throne as president.