1832.] Rambles in Germany. 571 



each other, and their rivalry is often the source of serious brawls. 

 Nothing can convey a stronger idea of the intensity of this feeling than 

 the question of a Prussian Colonel to the Mareschal Suchet, on the field 

 of Jena, as a column of Prussian prisoners defiled before him : " Did we 

 fight to-day as well as the Austrians at Austerlitz ?" To have been sur- 

 passed in military prowess by the detested Austrians, would have mortified 

 more the vanity of this " Sabreur" than the loss of his country's inde- 

 pendence. 



Both the wines and the viands were of the most costly descriptions ; 

 the various tongues of the company the gorgeous uniforms of the chas- 

 seurs of the Russian noblesse the rich deep melody of the Bohemian band -, 

 but above all the blaze of female loveliness that graced the hall, presented 

 an ensemble of high-bred fascination and attraction which we would look 

 for in vain at any of the watering places in our own island. After dinner 

 the company lounged in the park, or drove to some of the beautiful vil- 

 lages in the environs. A ball or a concert, (the ladies en demie toilette) 

 with the more exciting pleasures of roulette and rouge et noir, were the 

 amusements of the evening. There were several Polish ladies at the 

 baths, of surprising loveliness. The Polish woman of rank combines all the 

 feminine softness and delicacy of mind of the high-bred English female, 

 with that fascinating polish of exterior and amiable vivacity that so dis- 

 tinguishes the dames of France ; in fact, their personal charms are " au 

 negreau" with the gallantry of their countrymen, Alas! poor Poland ! 

 Many of those gallant spirits who, in the summer of 1829, by their elabo- 

 rate cultivation of mind and manner, shed such charms over the society of 

 Toplitz, have perished in the late glorious struggle, while others are 

 dragging their exiled steps towards the dreary wilds of Siberia. To use 

 the language of the ruthless autocrat, " Poland has ceased to exist j" but 

 the memory of her sublime efforts to recover her wonted independence, 

 will descend in the brightest hues to future generations, when the name 

 of the barbarian ruler shall only be acknowledged in the page of history 

 as their destroyer ! 



While lounging in the park on the third evening of our arrival at the 

 baths, my attention was arrested by a coterie of ladies and gentlemen in 

 the adjoining walk. Their calm dignity of deportment, and their distin- 

 guished air, announced them as belonging to the highest walks of society. 

 On one of the party my eye rested with a kind of fascination ; the 

 ensemble of his exterior was strikingly graceful, a high broad forehead, 

 a Grecian nose, clear blue eyes that bespoke frankness and sincerity ; a 

 beautiful mouth, round which played a heavenly smile j a slender figure, 

 graceful in all its movements, and eminently calculated to impress the 

 spectator favourably - } such was the man that arrested my gaze; a 

 man universally execrated from Archangel to the Mediterranean, from the 

 Bosphorus to the Channel, Freedom's most determined foe, the arch- 

 diplomatist, I had almost said, the arch-enemy, of Europe the Austrian 

 Prince Metternich ! 



" Qui cuncta ferit dum cuncta timet." 



2 Q 2 



