safety for thee?--Ah, the worm is again at my
heart--oh, it oppresses me so that I can scarcely breathe! Tell me,
Caroline, what else has Baron von Stein written to you?"

"He describes the deep and painful impression which the marriage of the
Archduchess Maria Louisa with the Emperor Napoleon has made throughout
Austria. There was no rejoicing, for all regarded it as another
humiliation of Austria--as a chain by which she fastens herself to
France, and makes herself a vassal of a powerful enemy. The Viennese
particularly received the intelligence with profound indignation, and
even seditious gatherings took place, which had to be dispersed by the
troops. In their sorrow, the inhabitants of the Austrian capital
consoled themselves with a little wit; for, on the day when the Viennese
had to illuminate their city in honor of the betrothal, the populace,
marching through the streets, reached the residence of the French
ambassador, and shouted in a loud and scornful tone: 'Napoleon is now
ruined! We have at last played him a trick! We have inoculated him with
Austrian bad luck and Austrian stupidity!'"[52]

[Footnote 52: Hormayr, vol. I., p. 89, and other historians relate this
occurrence.]

The queen laughed. "That sounds very silly, and does not indicate much
self-esteem, but there is a deep meaning in it after all. A connection
with Austria has always been disastrous to France. Louis XVI. died of
his marriage with Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon will not derive much
benefit from his with the archduchess. He intends to strengthen his
empire by this step, but it will alienate his own people from him. By
this connection with an old dynasty he recedes from the people and from
the liberal ideas of the revolution, which enabled him to ascend the
throne. If this throne should ever be shaken, he would find that Austria
will not support him."

"It will be shaken and fall!" exclaimed Madame von Berg. "There is an
ominous commotion everywhere. Spain is the first fruit of the new era
about to dawn upon us. She has not yet been conquered, nor will she be,
notwithstanding Napoleon's high-sounding phrases and so-called
victories. She is as a rock that will first break the waves of his
haughty will. As a proof of the hatred prevailing in Spain, Baron von
Stein sent me a page from the catechism, which the priests are teaching
the people at the present time, and he added to it a few passages from
the new French catechism. Will your maj