yal Arms on it; and soon manufactured the necessary Passport, signeted
in due form;--which, however, gave a suspicion to the Innkeeper as to
the quality of his Guest. After which, Tuesday evening, 23d August,
"they at once got across to Strasburg," says my Newspaper Friend, "and
put up at the SIGN OF THE RAVEN, there." Or in Friedrich's own jingle:--

"We arrived at Strasburg; and the Custom-house corsair, with his
inspectors, seemed content with our evidences.

These scoundrels spied us,
With one eye reading our passport,
With the other ogling our purse.
Gold, which was always a resource,
Which brought, Jove to the enjoyment
Of Danae whom he caressed;
Gold, by which Caesar governed
The world happy under his sway;
Gold, more a divinity than Mars or Love;
Wonder-working Gold introduced us
That evening, within the walls of Strasburg."

[Given thus far, with several slight errors, in Voltaire, ii.
24-26;--the remainder, long unknown, had to be fished up, patch by patch
(Preuss, _OEuvres de Frederic,_ xiv. 159-161).]

Ces scelerats nous epiaient,
D'un oeil le passe-port lisaient,
De l'autre lorgnaient notre bourse.
L'or, qui toujours fut de ressource,
Par lequel Jupin jouissait
De Danae, qu'il caressait;
L'or, par qui Cesar gouvernait
Le monde heureux sous son empire;
L'or, plus dieu que Mars et l'Amour,
Le soir, dans les murs de Strasbourg.

Sad doggerel; permissible perhaps as a sample of the Friedrich
manufacture, surely not otherwise! There remains yet more than half
of it; readers see what their foolish craving has brought upon them!
Doggerel out of which no clear story, such story as there is, can be
had; though, except the exaggeration and contortion, there is nothing
of fiction in it. We fly to the Newspaper, happily at least a prose
composition, which begins at this point; and shall use the
Doggerel henceforth as illustration only or as repetition in the
Friedrich-mirror, of a thing OTHERWISE made clear to us:--

Having got into Strasburg and the RAVEN HOTEL; Friedrich now on French
ground at last, or at least on Half-French, German-French, is intent to
make the most of circumstances. The Landlord, with one of Friedrich's
servants, is straightway despatched into the proper coffee-houses to
raise a supper-party of Officers; politely asks any likely Officer,
"If he will not do a foreign Gentleman [se