LETTER XCII.
Vienna.
I returned very lately from Prince Lichtenstein’s house at Felberg in Austria, where I passed a few days very agreeably. The Lichtenstein family is one of the first in this country, whether considered in point of antiquity, wealth or dignity. This Prince, besides his lands in Austria, has considerable estates in Bohemia, Moravia, and that part of Silesia which belongs to the Empress. Like Prince Estherhasie, he has body-guards in his own pay.—I believe no other subjects in Europe retain this distinction.
Felberg is a fine old mansion, about forty miles from Vienna. The apartments are large, convenient, and furnished in the magnificent style which prevails in the noblemen’s houses of this country. The company consisted of the Prince and Princess, the Count Degenfeldt and his Lady, a very accomplished woman; the D—— of H——, Mr. M——, an English officer, another English gentleman, and myself. Our entertainment was in every respect splendid, particularly in the article of attendants. Some of the Austrian nobility carry this point of magnificence to a height, which could scarcely be supported by the best estates in England, where one footman is more expensive than four in this country.
The day after our arrival, breakfast was served to the company separately in their own apartments, as is the custom here. We afterwards set out for another villa belonging to this Prince, at six miles distance, where he intended to give the D—— the amusement of hunting. The Princess, the Countess Degenfeldt, the D——, and Captain M——, were in one coach; the Prince, the Count, and I, in another; the two young Princes, with their governor and the young English gentleman, in a third, with a great retinue on horseback.
As the day was well advanced when we arrived, I imagined the hunting would begin immediately:—But every thing is done with method and good order in this country, and it was judged proper to dine in the first place. This in due time being concluded, I thought the men would have proceeded directly to the scene of action, leaving the ladies till their return.—But here I found myself again mistaken:—The ladies were to assist in the whole of this expedition. But as there was a necessity to traverse a large wood, into which coaches could not enter, vehicles of a more commodious construction were prepared. I forget what name is given to these carriages. They are of the form of benches, with stuffed seats, upon which six or eight people may place themselves one behind the other. They are drawn by four horses, and slide over the ground like a sledge, passing along paths and trackless ways, over which no wheel-carriage could be drawn.
After being conveyed in this manner across the wood, and a considerable way beyond it, we came to a very large open field, in which there were several little circular inclosures of trees and underwood at wide intervals from each other.—This hunting had hitherto been attended with very little fatigue; for we had been carried the whole way in coaches, or on the sledges, which are still easier than any coach. In short, we had been perfectly passive since breakfast, except during the time of dinner.
But when we arrived at this large plain, I was informed, that the hunting would commence within a very short time. I then expected we should have some violent exercise after so much inactivity, and began to fear that the ladies might be over-fatigued, when, lo! the Prince’s servants began to arrange some portable chairs at a small distance from one of the thickets above mentioned. The Princess, Countess, and the rest of the company took their places; and when every body was seated, they assured me that the hunting was just going to begin.