My curiosity was awakened by the very extraordinary commencement of his narrative; and I determined, if possible, to hear it out: so, assuring him that I meant nothing either of slight or wickedness by my laughter——that I had too serious ideas of such things to treat them with levity——and, what was more convincing logic with him, promising to reward him for it——he proceeded with his story as follows:
“Well, Sir, you say you were not sporting with those Spirits——and fortunate it is for you: at all events, Saint John of God be our guide, and bring us safe to Innspruck. Just so the great Maximilian was wont to laugh at them; and you shall hear how he was punished for it——and that was the story I was about to tell you. The Emperor Maximilian, that glory of the world, (he is now in the lap of the blessed Virgin in Paradise), once on a time, before he was Emperor, that is to say, when he was Archduke, was always laughing at the country people’s fears of those spirits——and an old Father of the Church forewarned him to beware, lest he should suffer for his rashness: so one day he went out hunting, and at the foot of that mountain a most beautiful Chamois started before him; he shot at it, and missed it——(the first shot he had missed for many years, which you know was warning enough to him)——however, he followed, shooting at and missing it, the animal standing every now and then till he came up within shot of it: thus he continued till near night, when the goat disappeared of a sudden, and he found himself buried, as it were, in the bowels of the mountain: he endeavoured to find his way out, but in vain; every step he took led him more astray, and he was for two days wandering about, Christ save us! in the frightful hollows of those mountains, living all the time on wild berries: on the second night he bethought himself of his want of faith, and of the saying of old Father Jerome; and he fell on his knees, and wept and prayed all night; and the Virgin heard his prayers, he being a good man, and above all, an Emperor——God bless you and me! we should have perished——In the morning, a beautiful young man, dressed in a peasant’s habit, came up to him, gave him victuals and wine, and desired him to follow him, which he did, you may be sure, joyfully——but, oh blessed Virgin! think what his surprise must have been, when, getting again into the plain out of the mountain, the young man disappeared and vanished all of a sudden, just at the foot of that steep rock which I shewed you, and which ever since goes by the name of the Emperor’s rock——You see what a dangerous place it is, and what dangerous spirits they must be that would not spare even the holy Roman Emperor. In my mind, the best way is to say nothing against those things, as some faithless people do, and to worship the Virgin and keep a good conscience, and then one will have the less to fear.”
By the time he had ended his narrative, we were in sight of Innspruck, when I annoyed and terrified him afresh, by laughing immoderately at the end of his story——but attoned in some measure for it, by giving him half a florin.
On inquiring at Innspruck, I found that Maximilian had actually lost his way in the mountain, and had been conducted out of it by a peasant, who left him suddenly; the rest was an exaggerated traditionary tale, arising from the superstitious fears of the country people.
LETTER XXII.
In all Nations under Heaven, and at all times since the Creation, there have been men formed to make a noise in the world——to increase or impede, to direct or disturb, the calm, sober progress of social life——and, in the eagerness and violence of their efforts to reach the goal[goal] of superiority, overturn or thrust out of their ordinary path the rest of Mankind, till either they provoke against them a general conspiracy of their fellow-creatures, or, till reaching the point of their pursuit, they become elevated objects of homage and admiration. Such men are generally composed of great materials for mischief:——having strong natural talents and violent ungovernable spirits; according to the direction these get, they are harmless or mischievous——but, like morbid matter in the animal system, if not let loose by some channel or other, they never fail to disturb the whole economy of the body they belong to, and produce fatal consequences to it and to themselves: Colonial possessions have, therefore, in some views, been of use (as America formerly to England) to draw off those dangerous spirits, who, though they are in times of peace better at a distance, in times of war are found to be the toughest sinews of a Nation.
The county of Tyrol, such as I have described it, formed by Nature for the residence of the Sylvan Deities, rich in the products of the earth, the people contented and happy, and the whole the region of peace; manufactures, the first root of low vices, and commerce, the great instigator of war, have scarcely been able to set their feet there: hence it happens, that there is no channel through which those exuberant spirits I have alluded to can take their course, or expand their force. Home, therefore, is no place for those of the Tyrolese, who are cursed or blessed (call it which you please) with those very combustible qualities; and they are obliged to roam abroad in search of opportunities of distinguishing themselves, giving vent to their spirits, and manifesting their talents. They are found, therefore, scattered all over the Continent: and as it rarely happens that opportunities occur in life of signalising such talents in a dignified line, rather than be idle they do what they can, and apply to chicanery as a wide and appropriate field for their genius and vigour to work on——the emigrant Tyrolese are, therefore, by most Nations of the Continent, reckoned among the most expert and accomplished sharpers in the world——the people, however, who remain at home, are of a different character——they are, generally speaking, tall, robust and vigorous; the women strong, and very fair; and both sexes exhibit a very pleasing mixture of German phlegm and Italian sprightliness; or, to speak more properly, they are a mean between those two extremes.
Innspruck, though a small city, is handsome and agreeable, standing in a very beautiful valley, surrounded with mountains, which, while their lower parts are well cultivated, are capped on the tops with perennial snow. The castle formerly the residence of the Austrian Princes is stately and magnificent, adorned within with fine paintings, and decorated without by natural and artificial fountains, statues, pleasant gardens, groves, walks and covered galleries, leading to five different Churches.