LETTER LXXXVII.

Presburg.

The Viscount de Laval having proposed to me lately to make a short tour with him into Hungary, I very readily consented, and we arrived at this town yesterday morning.

Presburg, which is the capital of Lower Hungary, like Vienna, has suburbs more magnificent than itself. In this city the States of Hungary hold their assemblies, and in the cathedral church the Sovereign is crowned.

The present Empress took refuge here when the Elector of Bavaria was declared Emperor at Prague, when she was abandoned by her allies, and when France had planned her destruction. Her own magnanimity, the generous friendship of Great Britain, and the courage of her Hungarian subjects, at length restored her fortunes, and secured to her family the splendid situation they now hold in Europe.

What politician in 1741 could have thought that in the course of a few years the Empress would be in strict alliance with France, and one of her daughters seated on the throne of that kingdom?—Should a soothsayer of Boston prophesy, that John Hancock, or his son, will, sometime hence, demand in marriage a daughter of England,—pray, do not lay an uncommon odds, that the thing will not happen.

Mons. de Laval and I walked up this morning to the castle, which is a noble Gothic building, of a square form, with a tower at each corner. The regalia of Hungary, consisting of the crown and sceptre of St. Stephen, the first king, are deposited here. These are carefully secured by seven locks, the keys of which are kept by the same number of Hungarian noblemen. No Prince is held by the populace as legally their Sovereign till he be crowned with the diadem of King Stephen; and they have a notion that the fate of their nation depends on this crown’s remaining in their possession. It has therefore been always removed in times of danger to places of the greatest safety.

The Turks, aware of the influence of such a prejudice in the minds of the vulgar, have, it is said, made frequent attempts to seize this Palladium.—The fate of Hungary seems now to be pretty much decided; so that exclusive of the value they put upon the crown, as a relic of considerable antiquity, the Hungarians need not be solicitous whether it remains in this castle or in the Imperial palace at Vienna.

By the constitution of Hungary, the crown is still held to be elective. This point is not disputed. All that is insisted on is, that the heir of the House of Austria shall be elected as often as a vacancy happens.

The castle of Presburg is the usual residence of Prince Albert of Saxony, who married one of the Arch-duchesses, a very beautiful and accomplished Princess. As M. de Laval and I entered one of the rooms, we observed them at a window. We immediately started back, and withdrew, being in riding frocks and boots. Mons. de Laval had seen their Highnesses a few days before at Schonbrun, and thought they had been there still. The Princess sent a polite message after us by a servant, who had orders to conduct us through every apartment of the castle; she herself stept into another room, that we might see that which she left.

All the Princesses of the Austrian family are distinguished by an attentive and obliging politeness, which is the more remarkable, as those who live much at courts often acquire a species of politeness which is by no means obliging. The splendor and distinctions of a court frequently inspire an overweening vanity, and have a peculiar tendency to shake the steadiness of the female understanding. Court ladies in general, but particularly such as submit to be abject sycophants to Queens and Princesses, are apt to render themselves ridiculous by the arrogant airs they assume to the rest of the world, and while they usurp the importance of royalty, fill the breasts of all who know them with as much detestation as is consistent with contempt.

The view from this citadel is very extensive, commanding the vast and fertile plains of Hungary.

Having dined at the inn, and regaled ourselves, at no great expence, with tokay, we went to visit a villa at the distance of four miles from Presburg, belonging to a Hungarian nobleman. This house is delightfully situated,—the gardens laid out a little too methodically; but the park, and fields around, where less art has been used, display a vast luxuriancy of natural beauties.—While wandering over these, we entered a little wood in a very retired place; as we advanced into this, we saw a venerable looking old man with a long beard, who, stretching out his hand, seemed to invite us to an hermitage which we observed hard by.

The Viscount, impatient to cultivate the acquaintance of a person of such an hospitable appearance, ran before me toward him; when he got up to him, he stopped short, as if surprised, and then, to my utter astonishment, he raised his foot with every mark of indignation, and gave the poor old hermit a violent kick.

I do not remember that I was ever more shocked in my life; I was at the same time quite confounded at an action so unworthy in itself, and so incompatible with the character of Mons. de Laval.—I was soon reconciled, however, to the treatment the old fellow had received, when I discovered that this venerable personage was not the honest man we took him for, but a downright impostor, made of painted wood, and dressed in the robes of a hermit to deceive passengers.

Over the door was an inscription from Horace—

Odi profanum vulgus,

On the inside of the door—

Fata volentes ducunt, nolentes trahunt.

And in another part, within the hermitage—

Omnes eodem cogimur: omnium

Versatur urna, serius ocius,

Sors exitura, et nos in æternum

Exilium impositura Cymbæ.

There were also several inscriptions taken from Cicero, in favour of the soul’s immortality, which I am sorry I neglected to transcribe.—We returned in the evening to this place, and are to set out to-morrow for Prince Estherhasie’s.