As already stated, in the highest as in the lowest ranks drinking to excess was the universal practice. Kings set the example and subjects followed it. One of the most temperate of the old Kaisers, Rudolph of Hapsburg, is said to have called out in a loud voice in the streets of Erfurt, holding a glass of beer up to the light, “Well! well! (Wohlan! wohlan!) What splendid beer! I am sure it comes from Conrad of Bustede,” and by this exclamation to have made himself extremely popular amongst the Erfurters; just as our own Prince of Wales is believed by some to have won the hearts of all true Britons by asking for a glass of bitter beer on recovering consciousness during a dangerous illness. The stories which are told of excesses in noble families, and of cruelties practised in their indulgence, are not fit to be narrated in these pages. In some noble households registers were kept from generation to generation, called drink-albums, in which not only the men entered their exploits, but—_O tempora, O mores_—the Gräfin von Schwillensaufenstein was allowed to inscribe her name and sentiments (if she was able to write) side by side with those of the Baron von Saus und Braus.[199] To be considered of gentle blood, a man must of necessity be capable of draining off his bumper at a draught. The goblet was an essential part of all ceremonies; when the vassal swore fealty to his lord; at christenings, funerals, tournaments, archery meetings; wherever knight met knight or burghers congregated, there drinking followed. Bargains were concluded over the goblet; indeed, a certain stipulated quantity of beer, to be drunk there and then, formed part of the contract. The language of modern Germany, and of England, for that matter, bears testimony to the universal thirst. “Trink-geld” or drink-money—“allowance” with us—means a gratuity for services rendered or not rendered. The “thirst” for gold, for glory, or for fame; “intoxicated” with success or with love; “drinking” one’s fill of some sensual delight, and many more such expressions, serve to remind us of the paramount influence of drink in bygone days. German intemperance had really become a byword amongst nations, as the edict of Karl IV. declared. Antonius Campanius, an official witling who represented the Pope at the Court of Frederick III., wrote to his master, “Nil hic est aliud vivere, quam bibere,”—“Living here is nought but drinking.” He might have gone further, and have said that even snoozing was nought but boozing; for not only had each hour of the day and each occasion its appropriate drink, but even the “schlaf-trunk,” _i.e._, the sleeping-draught, was taken to the bedside of guests at night.[200]