CHAPTER VI.

"A Daniel! yea, a very Daniel !"-SHAKESPEARE.

"Doubtless the pleasure is as great

Of being cheated as to cheat;

As lookers-on feel most delight,

That least perceive a juggler's sleight;

And still the less they understand,

The more they admire his sleight of hand."

"Rome shall perish-write that word

In the blood which she hath spilt.
Perish, hopeless and abhorr'd,
Deep in ruin as in guilt."

BUTLER.

CowPER.

UNTIL every thing was arranged for my prosecution, by my long-headed legal adviser, I was obliged to remain behind the scenes, never going out, except at nightfall, and then disguised; and as the house was too poor to maintain a porter, I could easily pass in and out unnoticed. If my visible presence was lost to society, the loss was amply made up by the free use of my name, which appeared to enjoy ubiquity, and in the short space of a fortnight had become a very by-word, from the palace to the cottage. Every body knew all about me; it seemed as though it would have been criminal to have been ignorant on such an interesting

subject. A thousand different versions of the tale appeared, few of the relaters caring to be very particular in regard to an individual supposed to possess supernatural powers, perhaps thinking that the more they distorted truth, the more natural would appear any relation about the Father of lies.

A new synonym was discovered by the happy people of Leipsic; if any thing wonderful or unaccountable happened, they immediately said it was "Gruberized." It must have been done by the Devil or Gruber. A ready excuse was found for all roguery, whatever was missed, Gruber must have invisibly abstracted it. The very nursery maids began to employ my dreaded name, to still their obstreperous charges, and thus frighten those whom they could not coax. Infamy had fixed its burning stamp on my unfortunate name, and every one made merry with it; some with scoffing, some with trembling; but not one of my maligners ever dreamt of the possibility, not to say probability, of the discovered and hated demon again appearing among them.

It is curious to observe, how fond mankind in all countries and places are of deceiving themselves, and how angrily any interference is received which would tend to remove the thick scales of superstition from the eyes of the wilfully deluded. Free from the shackles of any faith, and deriding, in my heart, the cut-throat zeal of all churches, I feel that I am justified in making this remark. My own case, at present, proved it; for the few sensible and enlightened men who rejected the fiction, of my having been Satan embodied, drew upon

themselves the odium of being singularly hard-headed and obstinate, and, of course, wrong in every thing, because they differed in this one particular from their more credulous neighbours.

The climax to my wishes was placed by an eloquent sermon, delivered by one of the Romish priests to a most confiding congregation, on the subject of diabolic possession. This man had been one of those who had visited my chamber, immediately after my disappearance, and had attributed that circumstance to the power of the Church, working through him, its unworthy agent. He had fulminated anathema after anathema, and exorcism after exorcism; and now, that a fortnight had passed, and no Gruber had reappeared, he began to feel as true, what he had been endeavouring to impress on others; and, at length, full of devotion and courageous piety, he declaimed on the subject publicly from his pulpit, and proudly proclaimed, that the disappearance of Beelzebub from the city was owing to his prayers, and to the sacred relics he possessed, and an answer to them from the Lord of his Church. '

My astute adviser had marked him for his own; and when I paid my usual evening visit, told me that if I would make over to him as fees, just what he should draw from the coffers of the boastful priest, he would gain my cause, and leave me all the rest of the damages for myself. To this proposal I readily agreed; and Herr Lugelkopf smiled at my readiness, whilst he made a mental calculation of the probable sum he should extract from the rich Benedictine, who was the

favourite Confessor of half the female population, and the legatee of every rich old lady in his neighbourhood, who might happen to depart this life in the odour of sanctity.

On the fifteenth day, from that on which I had been so unceremoniously expelled from my lodgings, the Crown Court was sitting for the hearing of appeals and sundry other business of a very dry and uninteresting character. It was the first day of Session, and the galleries were crowded with ladies; many young aspirants to judicial honors were to be invested with the robe,—a ceremony similar to calling to the bar in England. The whole strength of the legal profession was present; and the business of the day was about to close, when Herr Lugelkopf rose, and demanded the protection of the Court for a client of his, whose enemies were so numerous and influential, as to render it dangerous for him to appear in public; "and yet," he added, "this oppressed and endangered individual is a good subject, and a true German!"

The protection being accorded, the lawyer made a signal to some one in the crowd, and an individual who stood near, closely muffled in a cloak, wearing green goggles, and having a black handkerchief tied round his head, as if recovering from recent illness, advanced.

The crowd made way, and every eye was bent on the muffled figure, which was placed conspicuously at the bar of appeal; but the disguise was too well contrived to permit of any scrutiny prying out the mystery.

To raise curiosity, already intense, still higher, the lawyer begged that some of the municipal guard might be introduced, previous to removing the disguise from the person of his truly innocent client, and much injured friend.

This was also granted him; and then, when a sufficient guard had surrounded him, he proceeded leisurely to remove the mufflings of the unknown. At this moment the silence of expectation was so profound that no sound could be heard, but the rustling of the garments, as the lawyer loosened them; but it was—

"The torrent's calmness ere it rush below."

Then, having loosed every thing, he suddenly dashed all to the ground, and the face and figure of the supposed tenement of Satan, Gruber, was displayed to the astonished eyes of the multitudė.

After the first moment of tongue-tied surprise, a deafening burst of horrified exclamation arose on every side; women shrieked, and strong men's hearts beat uncontrollably, nay, the very guard, introduced for my protection, started back from the supposed Agent of Evil, and for several minutes I stood

"The cynosure of every eye,"

in that awe-struck Court.

One man alone enjoyed the scene,—the wily lawyer, who had planned it: triumph was sparkling in his little eyes, as he saw the astounding effect of the hit he had made he felt that his fame, hitherto high, was