but far transcending the last in crime and infamy. In his own early experiences he had perceived that more than one of these had expatriated themselves suddenly, carrying away to foreign shores considerable wealth, and, that, too, under circumstances where the acquisition of property seemed scarcely possible. Others he had seen as suddenly, throwing off their political associates, rise into stations of rank and power; and one memorable case he knew where the individual had become the chief adviser of the very state whose destruction he had sworn to accomplish. Such a one he now fancied he had detected among the advisers of his Prince; and deeply ruminating on this theme, he sat at the bedside. “Is it a dream, Stubber, or have we really heard bad news from Carrara? Has Fraschetti been stabbed, or not?” “Yes, your Highness, he has been stabbed exactly two inches below where he was wounded in September last,--then, it was his pocket-book saved him; now, it was your Highness's picture, which, like a faithful follower, he always carried about him.” “Which means, that you disbelieve the whole story.” “Every word of it.” “And the poniards found at the Bocca di Magra?” “Found by those who placed them there.” “And the proclamations?” “Blundering devices. See, here is one of them, printed on the very paper supplied to the Government offices. There 's he water-mark, with the crown and your own cipher on it.” “_Per Bacco!_so it is. Let me show this to Landelli.” “Wait awhile, your Highness; let us trace this a little farther. No arrests have been made?” “None.” “Nor will any. The object in view is already gained; they have terrified you, and secured the next move.” “What do you mean?” “Simply, that they have persuaded you that this state is the hotbed of revolutionists; that your own means of security and repression are unequal to the emergency; that disaffection exists in the army; and that, whether for the maintenance of the Government or your safety, you have only one course remaining.” “Which is--” “To call in the Austrians.” “_Per Bacco!_ it is exactly what they have advised. How did you come to know it? Who is the traitor at the Council-board?” “I wish I could tell you the name of one who was not such. Why, your Highness, these fellows are not _your_ Ministers, except in so far as they are paid by you. They are Metternich's people; they receive their appointments from Vienna, and are only accountable to the cabinet held at Schönbrunn. If wise and moderate counsels prevailed here, if our financial measures prospered, if the people were happy and contented, how long, think you, would Lombardy submit to be ruled by the rod and the bayonet? Do you imagine that _you_ will be suffered to give an example to the Peninsula of a good administration?”