ll
of soldiers, and, indeed, the whole very much resembled the state of an
earthly monarch, only more magnificent. We passed through several courts
into a vast hall, which led to a spacious staircase, at the bottom of
which stood two pages, with very grave countenances, whom I recollected
afterwards to have formerly been very eminent undertakers, and were in
reality the only dismal faces I saw here; for this palace, so awful and
tremendous without, is all gay and sprightly within; so that we soon
lost all those dismal and gloomy ideas we had contracted in approaching
it. Indeed, the still silence maintained among the guards and attendants
resembled rather the stately pomp of eastern courts; but there was on
every face such symptoms of content and happiness that diffused an air
of cheerfulness all round. We ascended the staircase and passed
through many noble apartments whose walls were adorned with various
battle-pieces in tapistry, and which we spent some time in observing.
These brought to my mind those beautiful ones I had in my lifetime seen
at Blenheim, nor could I prevent my curiosity from inquiring where
the Duke of Marlborough's victories were placed (for I think they were
almost the only battles of any eminence I had read of which I did not
meet with); when the skeleton of a beef-eater, shaking his head, told me
a certain gentleman, one Lewis XIV, who had great interest with his
most mortal majesty, had prevented any such from being hung up there.
"Besides," says he, "his majesty hath no great respect for that duke,
for he never sent him a subject he could keep from him, nor did he ever
get a single subject by his means but he lost 1000 others for him." We
found the presence-chamber at our entrance very full, and a buzz ran
through it, as in all assemblies, before the principal figure enters;
for his majesty was not yet come out. At the bottom of the room were two
persons in close conference, one with a square black cap on his head,
and the other with a robe embroidered with flames of fire. These, I was
informed, were a judge long since dead, and an inquisitor-general. I
overheard them disputing with great eagerness whether the one had hanged
or the other burned the most. While I was listening to this dispute,
which seemed to be in no likelihood of a speedy decision, the emperor
entered the room and placed himself between two figures, one of which
was remarkable for the roughness, and the other for the beauty of