It appears that the two Mecklenburgs, the two Hesses, the Grand Duke of Baden, and the three free towns have withdrawn from the Union. No positive statement has been issued, as the conference was still in progress, but the rumour seemed highly probable. On this question the Duke of Coburg is in such a fury that he said he would like to strangle the recalcitrants with his own hands. The question of the presence of Radowitz at the meetings has been settled by the King's formal desire that he might have a seat at the meetings in order that he could offer the assembled Princes the advantage of his talents.
Sagan, May 16, 1850.—A letter from Berlin dated yesterday says: "At a long conference yesterday the princes patched up some sort of a reconciliation and the refractory members consented to withdraw their proposals for leaving the Union, in view of the fact that they have all resolved to send their plenipotentiaries to Frankfort under certain conditions; they have also decided to form a provisional government for two months. The majority seem well pleased that they have thus avoided a rupture which would have deprived the Union of so many members. On the other hand Prokesch is furious and declares that Austria will never consent to the conditions of the princes. The calmer spirits on the contrary believe that Austria would be well advised to let them all go to Frankfort and not to force a dissolution which the nature of the situation will inevitably bring about. As the mission of the princes is thus practically finished, they will take their leave to-morrow and the next day, except the Duke of Meiningen who is staying for his son's marriage. Sir Henry Wym, the English Minister at Copenhagen, has arrived for a consultation with Lord Westmoreland and Meyendorff concerning Danish affairs. I have no doubt that a conclusion will be reached."
Sagan, May 23, 1850.—Herr von Meyendorff writes to me from Berlin under date the day before yesterday: "I have this morning received news of an attack upon the King's life which was committed yesterday and full details of which you will see in all the newspapers,[ [232] but the following is a curious fact which naturally will not appear in any newspaper. The King said to some one present who repeated his words to me exactly, 'I was warned of this attempt; it is a plot which also threatens other Sovereigns.'"
Sagan, May 25, 1850.—From a large number of letters which I have received from Berlin I can confidently infer, in spite of the inexplicable efforts which the Government has made hitherto to represent the assassin as a madman acting on his own initiative, that he is simply an emissary from that frightful association of regicides, which has its headquarters at London, and which makes a business of procuring wild fanatics who are given arms and known as "the blind." The Government had received warning of the attempt. There are said to be five of these emissaries in Berlin. Meyendorff and Prokesch rushed to Herr von Brandenburg and Herr von Manteuffel, urging them to take advantage of this providential miracle and of the warning which it provides to close the clubs, adopt strict measures and terrorise the faction meetings; but weakness and cowardice are at their height and the Government think only of saving the criminal. Alarm is reasonably felt in view of the possibility of similar incidents at Warsaw and Vienna.[ [233]
Sagan, May 29, 1850.—The King is better, though his arm causes him much pain, but that is said to be a sign of cure. The Queen is pale as death, gentle as an angel and courageous as a lion. It seems that the evidence which shows the assassin to have been affiliated to demagogue societies is so complete and so obvious that the theory of insanity has been gradually abandoned, and that a more serious attempt is being made to penetrate these bloodstained mysteries. The plot is growing clearer: the authorities think that they have more than one clue, but we are not energetic, nor are we capable of seizing the right opportunity. It is God alone who can help us, for certainly we do not help ourselves.
The two correspondents then met at Baden-Baden and their correspondence was interrupted until the month of August, when they again separated. When the Duchesse returned from her journey she had with her companion, Fräulein von Bodelschwing, a lady of Courlande, who was most loyal to her, and remained with her until her death.
Stuttgart, August 4, 1850.—After leaving the platform of Carlsruhe I slept in my carriage as far as Pforzheim, though I sometimes opened an eye to admire the beautiful country in the intervals of sleep. I arrived here at five o'clock amid fresh and smiling valleys. I drove in an open carriage to visit Schiller's monument which pleased me, and through the splendid park which adjoins the castle we then mounted to the little palace of Rosenstein. The situation and the view are splendid, but the palace is very poor. The pictures and statues are quite ordinary and the proportions insignificant. We returned by way of Canstadt and stopped at a mineral spring to taste the water, which I thought detestable. All this neighbourhood is very pretty and far superior, I think, to modest Carlsruhe. We were not allowed to see the Wilhelma, a Moorish garden and palace built by the reigning King, but as we went along the outer wall I was able to catch glimpses of it which consoled me for my inability to cross the threshold.
Ulm, August 5, 1850.—This morning, before leaving the capital of Würtemberg, I visited the chapter church which is interesting, as it contains the tombs of the first Counts of Würtemberg. I then went to the castle: the only part shown is that intended for receptions; we visited the stables and the royal riding school where some Arab horses, newly arrived from their native sand, were being broken in. The heat was such that they might easily have thought themselves in their native climate. I was roasted by the time we reached the villa of the Prince Royal: it is not yet finished, but it will be delightful in the most beautiful renaissance style; it is admirably situated with splendid views, but there is no shade, the garden is badly laid out, and the scene is one of despairing sterility. A messenger from the King arrived bringing us written permission, for which we had not asked, to see the Wilhelma. We accordingly made our way there. There is a Moorish bath and hothouses for tropical plants which took my fancy. The garden is not entirely satisfactory. Generally speaking the Stuttgart gardeners do not seem to me to be very clever. The railway then took us through a fertile country well watered and wooded, full of ruins, churches and villages. Here we have come upon the Sänger-Vereine,[ [234] composed of thirteen hundred singers who blocked up the railway and the little winding streets of the old city of Ulm. We visited the cathedral which is very imposing, the town hall and the Gothic fountain, which are not without interest.
Augsburg, August 7, 1850.—I arrived here yesterday and saw nothing of the town except the part through which we passed. It seemed somewhat curious by reason of its old character as an imperial town in past times. The bronze fountains are very beautiful: there are Roman remains, a prison and a chapel, the scene of the martyrdom of Saint Affre. The hotel in which I am staying, the Three Moors, is the oldest in the whole of Germany, and I am on historical ground. I have seen the chapel in which Charles V. heard mass; the fireplace in which the rich weaver, Fugger, burnt the Imperial receipts, and in short everything that my head, which is swimming in the heat, can take in.
Münich, August 8, 1850.—I arrived here yesterday in the afternoon. I have visited the church of Saint-Louis which reminds me of one of the side chapels in St. Peter's at Rome. I spent the rest of the day visiting the statues of Tilley and Wrede, the Street of Saint-Louis with all its buildings, and the castle garden which is surrounded by arcades painted in fresco. To-day at nine o'clock in the morning we started off and first went to the Frauenkirche where we heard mass, the sound of which came into my room, and was made irresistibly beautiful by the organ with its fine harmonies. We then hastened to the Leuchtenberg Gallery which is only open on special days at certain hours. I was attracted only by a very expressive portrait of Petrarch's Laura, painted by Bronzino; she is depicted half turning in a severe widow's dress, with noble and slightly sharp features and speaking eyes wide open and pure. I then saw an admirable picture by Murillo representing a monk kneeling before an angel who is conferring the bishop's mitre upon him: this is a marvellous composition, both for colouring and design, and as I have always had a great liking for Murillo, I was pleased by this further confirmation of my tastes. From the Leuchtenberg Palace I then went to the Basilica and was struck by the beauty of the frescoes, the richness of the marble and with the perfection both of the materials and of the workmanship. The Basilica has not yet been consecrated. The convent which King Ludwig has built for the Benedictines and which is joined to the Basilica by the crypt, is ready to receive the monks, but is not yet inhabited: the money has been all carried off by the wretched Lola Montes. As I came back I revisited the Church of Saint-Louis with its fourteen beautiful Stations of the Cross, each denoted by a fresco full of religious feeling: the Stations of the Cross in the open air are quite to my taste, and I greatly prefer them to those set up in the interior of churches which form an unpleasant interruption to the lines of pillars and columns. I was delighted to find that certain churches here, the new ones at least, have no chairs as in France and no pews as in Prussia. The Italian churches compel the congregation to kneel upon the flags, a more humble and picturesque position and infinitely more favourable to the architectural effect. Before coming in I saw the church of the Theatins, the parish church for the Court: its rococo style of architecture is so rich as to attain a certain beauty. The church of Saint Michael is very ugly and decorated or rather degraded by horribly tawdry ornaments; but the carved tomb of Prince Eugène of Leuchtenberg[ [235] by Thorwaldsen interested me. Thus, I think I did a good day's work.